Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

The country’s largest provincial economy will start reopening today, with outdoor dining resuming and non-essential retail allowed at 15 per cent capacity. It’s finally a bit of good news for some business operators and David George-Cosh will be bouncing around Toronto throughout the day for updates. We’re also looking forward to hearing from a couple of restauranteurs on the network, as well as the chief executive officer of Roots at 10:40 a.m. (fresh off reporting a sharply narrowed adjusted quarterly loss). But the Ford government’s framework for its reopening strategy definitely isn’t satisfying everyone; we’ll hear from someone who’s being shut out when Cineplex CEO Ellis Jacob joins The Open at 10:30 a.m.

WHY OPEC+ ‘NEEDS TO OPEN THE TAPS’

The International Energy Agency is out with a new forecast this morning, predicting oil demand will hit pre-pandemic levels and surpass 100 million barrels per day next year, and it’s imploring the influential coalition of oil-producing countries to keep the market in check. “Our first detailed look at 2022 balances confirms earlier expectations that OPEC+ needs to open the taps to keep the world oil markets adequately supplied,” the IEA said in its monthly report.

HOUSEHOLD DEBT BURDEN LIGHTENS UP

Some encouraging numbers in the latest update from Statistics Canada on balance sheets in this country. The key household debt ratio slipped to 172.25 in Q1 from 174, meaning we now owe almost $1.73 for every dollar of disposable income. Plenty of other interesting figures to chew on in the release, like housing investment spiking 15.1 per cent and pushing up the value of residential real estate by $595.5 billion. Meanwhile, the household savings rate accelerated to 13.1 per cent.

G7 SUMMIT

It stands to reason this meeting of leaders from Group of Seven nations will be spared from the fireworks and tension that we grew accustomed to in recent years -- like when U.S. President Donald Trump yanked support for the Charlevoix communiqué and blasted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “very dishonest and weak.” The meeting getting underway in the U.K. today (and wrapping Sunday) features U.S. President Joe Biden for the first time, with top agenda items including the global COVID-19 response, corporate taxes, and climate change.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

• Another member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s advisory panel has quit in the aftermath of the regulator’s controversial approval of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug earlier this week. Dr. Aaron Kesselheim blasted the move as “probably the worst drug approval decision in recent U.S. history,” adding there’s “no good evidence that the drug works.” He’s the third advisor who’s resigned this week.
• Royal Caribbean has disclosed that two guests on its Celebrity Millennium cruise tested positive for COVID-19.
• Resolute Forest Products is sharing the wealth from the lumber boom, announcing a special $1 per share dividend. The company also announced $50 million in investments to bolster three of its sawmills.
• Tourmaline Oil is doing yet another deal in the Montney region, this time it’s picking up privately-owned Black Swan Energy for $1.1 billion, including the assumption of up to $350 million in debt. The deal is being paid for in stock and Tourmaline says it will add 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent in average daily production. The company is also tossing in a one cent per share boost to its quarterly dividend.

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

• Notable data: Canadian national balance sheet and financial flow accounts, Canadian industrial capacity utilization rates, University of Michigan consumer sentiment index
• Notable earnings: Roots
• 9:00: G7 welcoming ceremony in Cornwall, U.K.
• 11:00: Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Paul Beaudry delivers lecture “Monetary Policy, Trends in Real Interest Rates and Depressed Demand” to North American Summer Meeting of the Economic Society