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Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

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The price of oil has levelled off this morning after West Texas Intermediate crude hit a fresh seven-year high north of US$82 per barrel yesterday and triggered another wave of concern about global inflation. The breather isn’t arresting talk of more gains ahead; notably, Nouriel Roubini told our Bloomberg partners he reckons oil will hit US$100 per barrel “in the next few months.” We’ll fold this into our markets coverage today and consider how the inflation storyline will factor into the earnings season that’s about to take hold in the United States.

CFIB PLEADS WITH FREELAND FOR AID

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has delivered a laundry list of requests to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland as the country’s small- and medium-sized businesses drown in debt and face the prospect of soon-to-expire aid programs. Among the requests: extend and enhance the wage and rent subsidies, expand the Canada Emergency Business Account, and tighten up the Canada Recovery Benefit – which the CFIB says is “contributing to a growing shortage of part-time labour availability across Canada.”

PALACE INTRIGUE AT ROGERS

Where will the reported power struggle at Rogers Communications lead the telecom as it navigates the arduous task of closing its planned takeover of Shaw Communications? The Globe and Mail reported over the weekend that the abrupt exit last month of Chief Financial Officer Tony Staffieri was the result of a power struggle between Chairman Edward Rogers and CEO Joe Natale. We’ll watch Rogers shares closely today and chase reaction.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

  • Bitcoin is attracting a fair bit of interest this morning after three straight days of gains through yesterday propelled the cryptocurrency to within approximately US$7,000 of its all-time high. Nonetheless, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon yesterday called it “worthless.”
  • Canadian David Card is the winner of one half of this year’s Nobel Prize in economics, in recognition of his studies and work on a minimum wage’s impact on the labour market. In a statement last night, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saluted Card for “helping us to better understand the economy.”
  • China’s Zijin Mining is taking out another TSX-listed miner. This time, it’s Neo Lithium; which announced late Friday that it agreed to Zijin’s $6.50-per-share offer, which works out to a deal that’s worth $960 million. Zijin has previously acquired TSX-listed Continental Gold, Nevsun Resources, and Guyana Goldfields.
  • Allied Properties REIT said today that it’s currently in negotiations with four potential new tenants for its massive downtown Toronto joint-venture with RioCan (dubbed The Well), which would push the property to 96.5 per cent leased, from the existing 86 per cent occupancy.
  • Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund is on our radar today after the company announced after Friday’s closing bell that it’s hiking its distribution 30.8 per cent to 8.5 cents per unit every month. 
  • Shares of Dorel Industries nearly doubled in value in the first half hour of trading today after the company announced an agreement to sell its bicycle division to Pon Holdings B.V. for US$810 million, with net proceeds estimated at US$735 million. 

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

  • 8:45: G20 leaders hold virtual summit re. Afghanistan
  • 9:00: International Monetary Fund releases World Economic Outlook
  • 10:00: Ontario Superior Court resumes hearing Cineworld-Cineplex case
  • 10:30: IMF releases Global Financial Stability Report
  • 11:15: U.S. Federal Reserve Vice-Chair Richard Clarida delivers speech "U.S. Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy"
  • 12:30: Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic delivers speech "The Outlook for Inflation"