Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

Global stocks opened the new year on solid footing, and futures are pointing to a higher open when the bells ring on Wall Street. Credit today is going to the People’s Bank of China for easing reserve ratio requirements, meaning the country’s banks need to set aside less cash. Today we’ll drill into the outlook for markets in 2020, with a long list of major catalysts looming — most notably, the U.S. presidential election in November.

HEXO OUTLOOK

The Ottawa-based cannabis producer ended 2019 as one of the TSX Composite Index’s worst performers, with its stock down 56 per cent. This morning, the company said it filed restated financials for the most recent full year and subsequent quarter, which cleaned up reporting on its tax liability and also resulted in a $2.4-million impairment being moved into the last fiscal year. Hexo also confirmed it closed the US$25-million share sale that was announced on Boxing Day and unnerved investors.

HBC WATCH

We’re waiting to see whether the buyout group led by HBC Chairman Richard Baker comes up with the sweetened bid that Bloomberg News reported could be in the works. On Tuesday, our partners said Baker’s consortium “floated the idea” of going from $10.30 per share to “around” $11, which would be on par with the rival offer from Catalyst Capital. HBC shares surged 20.9 per cent Tuesday, but still closed well short of the existing takeout price. We’re looking forward to getting ex-HBC CEO Gerald Storch’s view of the retail landscape today in Bloomberg Markets.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

-TC Energy (and its new partners AIMCo and KKR) scored a legal win on New Year’s eve, when a B.C. Supreme Court judge extended an injunction against protests targeting the Coastal GasLink pipeline project.

-The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is out with its annual reminder that CEOs are well compensated, with average pay of $11.8 million for the 100 highest-earning chief executives among TSX-listed companies in 2018 — meaning they’ll have made as much as the average Canadian by 10:09 a.m. ET today.

-Boyd Group is promoting COO Tim O’Day into the CEO role. Touch act to follow after the company’s stock returned more than 4,000 per cent over the last decade. Read all about that, and the 2010s other star performers, here. 

-Another star performer from the last decade is in the news today: Enghouse Systems is buying New Jersey-based Dialogic Group for $52 million.

-And the mystery surrounding how former Nissan and Renault leader Carlos Ghosn made his way to Lebanon still hasn’t been cleared up. One thing to watch: Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper is reporting Ghosn is planning to speak out at a news conference on Jan. 8.

Every morning BNN Bloomberg's Managing Editor Noah Zivitz writes a ‘chase note’ to BNN Bloomberg's editorial staff listing the stories and events that will be in the spotlight that day. Have it delivered to your inbox before the trading day begins by heading to www.bnnbloomberg.ca/subscribe.