CMHC CEO Evan Siddall isn’t done speaking out after his letter to Canadian lenders elicited plenty of reaction. He took to Twitter yesterday to respond to, and undermine, arguments made by mortgage and housing industry experts on BNN Bloomberg. Today, we’re going to hear what former Royal Bank of Canada CEO Gord Nixon has to say about Siddall’s attempt to “expose the dark economic underbelly” of the mortgage-lending business. Read what he had to say here.
DON’T FORGET THE VENTURE
Sure, the S&P 500 gets most of the attention these days as it hovers near an all-time high after rallying 51 per cent since bottoming out in late March, but the TSX Venture has quietly been on an even hotter tear. The small-cap index has more than doubled since March 18 after a nearly decade-long slump. We’ve got a closer look at what’s lit up the Venture at BNNBloomberg.ca
INVESTING IN LONG-TERM CARE
Sienna Senior Living, which has been in the news for all the wrong reasons during Ontario’s COVID-19 long-term care crisis, has reported weaker second-quarter funds from operations, revenue and occupancy metrics. It also swung to a loss as expenses rose. Its shares are still down 45 per cent from pre-pandemic levels; we’ll explore the investment thesis for SIA with an analyst at 9:10 a.m. ET. And we’ll stay in the same space later in the morning when we hear from Chartwell Retirement Residences CEO Vlad Volodarski at 11:15 a.m. ET.
OTHER NOTABLE STORIES
-GMP Capital has negotiated a firm agreement to take full ownership of Richardson GMP. The deal's exchange ratio has been reduced to 1.76 from 2.0 when the non-binding arrangement was first announced in February. GMP Capital is also now adding a $0.15/share special dividend for its shareholders.
-Chorus Aviation shares jumped at the start of trading after second-quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA exceeded expectations (even though revenue sank 44.6 per cent). In the release, CEO Joe Randell blasted ongoing travel restrictions in Canada, including in Nova Scotia – which he singled out as “making doing business very difficult” thanks to the province’s two-week quarantine rule.
-Kirkland Lake Gold disclosed this morning it has sold 32.7 million shares of Osisko Mining for $145 million in proceeds.
-GFL Environment has struck another deal to expand in the United States. It’s paying US$1.2 billion for WCA Waste Corporation, which generates US$400 million in annual revenue. GFL says half the purchase price will be funded through a private placement of preferred shares. The company also says it will also consider raising up to US$750 million in a “strategic and opportunistic” debt financing. GFL shares are up approx. three per cent in pre-market trading.
-Cisco Systems shares are down more than five per cent in pre-market trading after the network-equipment maker reported a nin per cent drop in fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and warned sales could fall as much as 11 per cent this quarter. It’s not an encouraging signal for the state of business confidence and willingness to spend as the pandemic drags on.
-Stelco Holdings reported a four-per-cent drop in second-quarter revenue last night as a result of weaker average selling prices, albeit while expanding its adjusted profit in the period. We’ll be mindful of the conference call at 9am for any management commentary on the speculation that U.S. President Donald Trump could decide to also reimpose tariffs on Canadian steel.
-The International Energy Agency has trimmed its 2020 oil demand forecast to 91.9 million barrels per day, pointing to the collapse in global air travel as the main culprit.
-Lyft shares are flat in pre-market trading after reporting a 61 per cent plunge in second-quarter revenue that was essentially in line with estimates as COVID-19 sidelines riders.
NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS
-Notable data: U.S. initial jobless claims
-Notable earnings: Brookfield Asset Management, Extendicare, Algonquin Power & Utilities
-9:00 a.m. ET: Parliamentary Budget Officer releases costing note on Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy - 40 week program.
-1:00 p.m. ET: Infrastructure minister Catherine McKenna makes announcement in Ottawa on new initiative to support communities
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.
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