Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

Oil is going to take the spotlight today. Our partners at Bloomberg News are reporting the Biden administration is considering releasing up to 180 million barrels (in increments of ~1M barrels per day) over the coming months in an attempt to wrestle down runaway gas prices, with the U.S. national average sitting at US$4.225 per gallon today (and almost US$6 in California), according to AAA. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude has been down almost 6.8 per cent this morning on the back of that reporting. U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak about “actions … to lower gas prices” at 1:30pm. We’ll chase insight into the impact of a release of that magnitude, and will contrast it with the OPEC+ meeting today, where the cartel and its allies agreed to boost production by 432,000 barrels per day in May.

As for the outlook for gas prices in this country: fuel-price tracker Dan McTeague is predicting a jump of six cents per litre to 173.9 in much of Ontario tomorrow (though that prediction was made before WTI sank on Bloomberg’s reporting).

RBC BULKS UP WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Royal Bank of Canada has joined BMO and TD in announcing a multi-billion-dollar international deal this morning. Only this one is in the United Kingdom, it’s worth $2.6 billion, and it’s all about expanding in wealth management. The takeover target is Brewin Dolphin Holdings Plc, which had £59 billion ($96.9 billion) in assets under management at the end of December, according to a release. We’ll dig into the strategy and expected payoff from the deal.

ECONOMIC CHECK-UP

The domestic economy is revving up. Statistics Canada this morning estimated that gross domestic product jumped 0.8 per cent in February, with big gains in manufacturing as well as in resource sectors, accommodation/food services, and construction. That comes on the heels of a 0.2-per-cent gain in January, which StatsCan confirmed this morning after providing that figure in an earlier flash estimate. And how’s this for another reminder of how dependent we are on housing: residential building construction surged 4.3 per cent in January — the most since March 2021, according to StatsCan.

FIRST-QUARTER REVIEW

It’s the final day of the quarter — an opportunity to take stock of performances. The S&P/TSX Composite Index is current sitting at #25 among global indices, with a return of 4.02 per cent. We’ll dive into what was working (hello, Turquoise Hill), and what wasn’t, for investors during the first three months of the year, and what they can look forward to in the coming months at central banks tighten up policy.

WOULD YOU INVEST IN TRANS MOUNTAIN?

In fairness, every Canadian taxpayer is already invested in Trans Mountain, but the outgoing head of the pipeline suggested another opportunity could be in the cards as the government maps out its exit strategy. “An initial public offering that takes part of it public would be a very exciting thing to let Canadians have the opportunity to own,” Ian Anderson said in his exit interview with Tara Weber yesterday afternoon. We’ll explore the appetite for such an offering. If you missed the interview, check it out here.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

• Canfor announced yet another curtailment last night. The lumber company said it will scale back operations for at least four weeks at its sawmills in Western Canada as of Monday “due to the cumulate effects of the unprecedented global supply chain crisis.”
• Unifor warned yesterday that time is running out to avoid a strike by workers at a Metro distribution warehouse in Etobicoke, Ont. According to a release, more than 900 full-time workers could walk off the job tomorrow as negotiations drag on. The warehouse supplies Metro and Food Basics stores between Kingston and Windsor.
• Topaz Energy said this morning it's issuing almost 4.2 million shares to cover the tab as it acquires Keystone Royalty Corp. for $85 million. According to the release, Keystone's portfolio covers 480,000 gross acres, primarily in Saskatchewan, with royalty production of 450 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
• Based on Well Health Technologies' results this morning, it looks like telemedicine is still booming. The Vancouver-based company said its fourth-quarter revenue surged 573 per cent to $115.7 million, and its adjusted net income more than doubled to $5.3 million. Kudos to Kumutha for pointing out that this is a favourite among analysts. All 13 who cover the stock have buy recommendations, and the consensus price target implies 123-per-cent upside.
• Chartwell Retirement Residences is doing a deal that lives up to its name. The company is selling 16 long-term care homes in Ontario to AgeCare Health Services and Axium Infrastructure. The buyers are also picking up Chartwell’s property management platform that handles six other LTC homes. They’ll also acquire another home in Ontario that’s under development. Chartwell said net proceeds will be approximately $277 million. Its CEO said in a release the deal made sense as the company hones its focus on retirement properties.

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

• Notable data: Canadian GDP (Jan), U.S. initial jobless claims
• Notable earnings: Well Health Technologies, BlackBerry, Galaxy Digital Holdings, Walgreens Boots Alliance
• 1000: U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai addresses U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing on U.S. trade policy agenda
• 1330: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the White House on “actions to reduce the impact of Putin’s price hike on energy prices and lower gas prices at the pump for American families”
• OPEC+ meeting