Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

The TSX just closed out a month that saw Canadian stocks surge 8.5 per cent, with only three losing sessions along the way. TD, Enbridge and RBC contributed the most to the composite index’s rise; while Cronos, Canopy and Aphria logged the heftiest percentage gains.

TECK WARNS

Sometimes companies bury warnings in their press releases. Not Teck Resources, which said late last night fourth-quarter profit will be “significantly below” the average analyst estimate. It’s pinning the blame in part on the “significant negative impact” of the gap between WCS and WTI oil prices. It’s also taking a bunch of writedowns, totaling $80 million – almost half of which stems from its stake in the Fort Hills oil sands project. All told, Teck estimates the challenges will knock $0.30/share off its Q4 profit.

YOUR MONEY MONTH

It begins today. The annual countdown to the RRSP contribution deadline for the previous tax year. But this month is about so much more than registered retirement savings plans. Get ready for extensive coverage, led by Dale Jackson and Pattie Lovett-Reid, on the endless opportunities and strategies for investors to sift through in a period of tremendous economic uncertainty.

IMPERIAL CEO TAKES SWIPE AT NOTLEY

No surprise, but some dramatic divergence in Imperial Oil’s upstream ($310M q4 loss) and downstream ($1.14B profit) units in the latest quarter. CEO Rich Kruger also took a shot at Rachel Notley’s Alberta government in the release, decrying recent intervention as adding “further uncertainty and unpredictability into the business and investment climate.”  

CHINA-U.S. TRADE TALKS

No shortage of mutual admiration in the Oval Office yesterday after two days of trade talks between China and the U.S. "I cherish the good working relations and personal friendship with you," China President Xi Jinping wrote in what U.S. President Donald Trump described as a "beautiful letter." U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer tempered expectations, saying it's "impossible for me to predict success". Then Trump pumped up expectations for a major breakthrough, saying he thinks the two sides can agree on everything when he meets with Xi.

IN CONVERSATION WITH CARSON BLOCK

The short seller best known in Canada for his call on Sino-Forest joins Amanda Lang today to opine on this week’s Globe and Mail report about securities regulators potentially preparing to crack down on so-called short-and-distort practices. Watch for it on Bloomberg Markets.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

-Amazon.com’s revenue surged 20 per cent in the fourth quarter to US$72.4 billion. That’s not good enough to satisfy investors when the company is calling for sales to rise a mere 10-18 per cent in the first quarter and sounding the alarm about India during a conference call with analysts. Shares were down almost five per cent in pre-market trading.

-Open Text’s appetite for deals still isn’t satiated. “M&A will continue to be our largest growth driver,” the company’s CEO said yesterday while reporting flat second-quarter revenue, a profit beat, and the $75-million acquisition of a company specializing in “e-discovery solutions” for the legal industry. We’ve got Opex Text’s CEO on The Open.  

-CSE-listed Weekend Unlimited has emerged as the winner of this week’s lottery for the POT ticker symbol.

-Pembina Pipeline announced late yesterday it will proceed with an expansion of its Peace pipeline system at a capital cost of $500 million.

-Brookfield Business Partners, with backing from institutional partners, will pay $4.1 billion to buy Healthscope, a leading operator of private hospitals in Australia

-A new Angus Reid Institute survey shows 38 per cent of Canadians think trade and investment opportunities should be more important considerations than human rights and the rule of law in the context of our relationship with China.

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

-Notable earnings: Imperial Oil, Exxon Mobil, Chevron

-Notable data: U.S. non-farm payrolls, ISM U.S. manufacturing index