Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

Royal Bank of Canada missed profit expectations in its third quarter as a dearth of deals hammered its investment banking revenue and the risk of future loan losses compelled it to set aside hundreds of millions of dollars in provisions. We’ve got plenty of detail at BNNBloomberg.ca and will wait to see how investors greet the performance. Meanwhile, National Bank of Canada lived up to profit expectations in the quarter as it managed to buck the trend by posting higher net income in its capital markets unit.

SCOTIA THUMPED

Bank of Nova Scotia fell the most since March 2020 yesterday after an ignominious start to earnings season. Looks like at least five analysts downgraded the stock in the aftermath, including Darko Mihelic at RBC Capital Markets, who cut BNS to sector perform from outperform, while stating “our thesis on International is not panning out.” Sidebar on Scotia: this is the day that its customers in Grand Manan, N.B., had been hoping wouldn’t come as the island’s only bank branch is scheduled to permanently close this morning.

MARKET WATCH

West Texas Intermediate continued its ascent today, rising almost two per cent to top US$95 per barrel at one point this morning. We’ll see if that holds after today’s U.S. inventory data. Sticking with the energy space, we’ll be watching shares in uranium miners today after Japan’s prime minister said that country will consider building new nuclear reactors after “Russia’s invasion changed the global energy situation.” Meanwhile, futures were basically flat as of 8 a.m. EDT as traders bide their time ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday. We’ll tee that up this morning with former Chicago Fed insider Carl Tannenbaum at 10:30 a.m. EDT.

CLOSING THE LOOP ON CLEAN HYDROGEN

After all the buildup, Germany and Canada put pen to paper late yesterday afternoon on their clean energy ambitions. Rather than any firm contract, the two sides agreed to a non-binding joint declaration of intent that includes a target to start exports from Canada by 2025.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

• There was more retail misery after yesterday’s closing bell, as Nordstrom’s chief executive said “customer traffic and demand decelerated significantly beginning in June.” And so now the higher-end department store chain is “aligning inventory and expenses to recent trends” and slashing its full-year profit outlook. Its shares are sliding in pre-market trading.
• BRP is now saying some employee and supplier information has shown up on the dark web after a recent data breach.
• Bed Bath & Beyond shares keep yo-yoing around, today the direction is higher after the Wall Street Journal reported the home-furnishings retailer has lined up a lender to help address its liquidity needs.

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

• Notable data: U.S. durable goods orders
• Notable earnings: Royal Bank of Canada (600, 830 call), National Bank of Canada (630, 1300 call), Salesforce, Nvidia
• 1230: Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tours Mosaic facility (plus media avail at 1415)
• Bank of Nova Scotia closing last bank branch on Grand Manan Island; new branch on 11 Main Street St. George NB
• Tesla three-for-one stock split takes effect after close of trading
• Rio Tinto is taking another crack at buying Turquoise Hill Resources, announcing a sweetened proposal worth $40 per share, up from $34 previously (and which was rebuffed).