Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

That was fun while it lasted. U.S. futures are pointing to a sharp reversal at the start of trading today after U.S. stocks surged yesterday by the most since 2009. For one day at least, almost everything was working in the market’s favour (including the White House, with top economic advisor Kevin Hassett declaring Jerome Powell’s job is “100 per cent” safe). A quick refresher of what happened Wednesday:

-The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.98 per cent (or 1,086 points) with every member posting gains. Even after yesterday’s rally, the Dow is still down more than 10 per cent this month alone.

-The S&P 500 soared 4.96 per cent, with all but one member (Newmont Mining) rising. Context: Even after yesterday’s surge, the index essentially only retraced two days’ worth of losses.

-The Nasdaq climbed 5.84 per cent, with names like Facebook, Amazon.com, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet each rising more than six per cent.

-Western Canada Select Oil rose 14.2 per cent to US$29.72/barrel, while West Texas Intermediate oil futures closed 8.7 per cent higher at US$46.22/barrel.

NEW YEAR, SAME OLD DEBT WOES

Stop me if you've heard this before: A new poll indicates paying down debt is the top personal finance priority for Canadians heading into the new year. It's the ninth straight year CIBC's polling has shown Canadians are putting their balance sheets at the top of their to-do lists. Amazingly, just six per cent of respondents say saving for retirement is their top priority; and of the 29 per cent of respondents who say they took on more debt in 2018, 34 per cent say they did so to cover day-to-day bills.

SHUTDOWN CONTINUES

The partial U.S. government shutdown continues with no end in sight to the impasse as President Donald Trump digs in his heels over funding for his border wall. The shutdown will be felt in the market today, with the scheduled release of U.S. new home sales being postponed (along with other data gathered by the U.S. Commerce Department).

BUSINESS LEADERS JOINING ORDER OF CANADA

The Governor General of Canada announced 103 new appointees to the Order of Canada today, including several prominent Canadian business leaders like Brent Belzberg (Torquest founder and CIBC director), Darren Entwistle (Telus CEO), Charlie Fischer (ex-Nexen CEO), Blake Goldring (AGF Management Executive Chairman), Linda Hasenfratz (Linamar CEO), Jay Hennick (Colliers International Global Chairman), Jefferson Mooney (A&W Food Services director), Henri-Paul Rousseau (ex-Caisse de dépôt CEO), and Peter Simons (La Maison Simons CEO). We’ll chase them.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

-Bloomberg is reporting Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish will lead a delegation that’s heading to Beijing for a round of trade negotiations during the first full week of January. Recall the clock is ticking on a 90-day standstill agreement between the world’s two largest economies that’s scheduled to expire on March 1.

-According to Reuters, Trump is considering an executive order that would block American companies from deploying telecom equipment made by companies that pose national security risks. The report indicates ZTE and Huawei likely won’t be singled out by name in the order but are the obvious targets.

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.