Stock market futures are pointing to a muted open to kick off the day after a solid showing last week. Call it flat-ish at the moment, but let’s not discount last week’s moves – the Dow snapped four straight weeks of losses, while the Nasdaq popped a shade over 2.5 per cent. We’re also staring down some more commentary from U.S. Fed Chair Jay Powell, which could set the tone for trading this week – he’s before Congress tomorrow and Wednesday, where we’ll be looking for commentary on the central bank’s view of the inflationary picture and the path of future rates increases.
OIL DIPS ON CHINA GROWTH OUTLOOK
Another reminder that when China sneezes, energy markets catch a cold. Oil prices are down the better part of 1.5 per cent after Beijing said it expects growth to come in at around five per cent this year, shy of expectations for 5.5 per cent or so. Now, that’s still pretty robust growth – most Western economies are in the one-to-two per cent range these days, but it’s a reminder of the impacts COVID lockdowns have had on the world’s second-largest economy.
BIG MISS FROM CARGOJET
No way around it, it’s just a brutal quarter from Canada’s largest air-freight carrier. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.90 against an estimate of $1.96, but it’s probably the commentary in the release that’s more interesting, given the macro environment: the company says that given a potential recession, it’s got some concerns over consumer spending. That’s something, just given ecommerce growth was a big driver for the company during the pandemic as consumers shopped from home out of necessity.
A TRUCE IN THE FIRST CAPITAL FIGHT
It appears we’ve cleared an impasse in the fight over at First Capital. The company says it’s reached an agreement with Artis REIT and Sandpiper Group, which have been agitating for change at the company – the latter two are withdrawing their requisition for a meeting, and their board nominations. The dissidents had been arguing that current management had overseen a long period of underperformance and lost the faith of unitholders, and made the case for a slowdown of First Cap’s asset sales (from about $1 billion to $400 million), focusing on just its worst performing properties. In any case, this sort of spells an end to one of the more complicated board battles of the last few months.
PDAC KICKS OFF IN EARNEST
The world’s top miners have descended on Toronto for the annual Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference. We’ve got Andy Bell on the scene, and he’s got a great lineup of guests – Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm is first off the hop at 9:45 a.m. EST, followed by Wheaton Precious Metals chief Randy Smallwood at 10:45 a.m. EST and executives of Ivanhoe Mines and Ivanhoe Electric not soon thereafter.
AIMIA MAKES ANOTHER ACQUISITION
The former operator of loyalty rewards program Aeroplan is buying Italian specialty chemicals maker Bozzetto for $328 million, a deal that is expected to close before the end of the second quarter. The deal comes on the heels of its acquisition of Indian maritime netmaker Tufropes for a quarter billion dollars back in January, which was also jarring – you don’t necessarily expect a loyalty-rewards company to pivot quite that hard. (They also used to own Nectar, a U.K.-focused loyalty program sold to Sainsbury’s back in 2018. Like I said, a hard pivot.)
NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS
- Notable data: U.S. Factory Orders, Global Supply Chain Pressure Index
- Notable earnings: Cargojet, Resolute Forest Products, Element Fleet Management
- PDAC conference
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