Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

Unifor isn’t letting a cease-and-desist order get in the way of its fight with General Motors over the Oshawa plant that’s slated to close late this year. National President Jerry Dias said in a release yesterday his union will "not be intimidated" after lawyers for General Motors told him to abandon Unifor’s latest marketing campaign, claiming "substantial and irreparable damage" to the automaker as a result of the ad.

INSIDE HUAWEI STING

Bloomberg Businessweek has a feature detailing an FBI sting operation targeting Huawei. It involves Chicago-based Akhan Semiconductor, a broken piece of glass, and a conversation near a burger joint in a Vegas food court. The story notes there’s no telling where the sting will lead the FBI, and poses an important question about what’s driving the U.S. in its crackdown on Huawei: “Is it based on hard evidence of wrongdoing or driven by a desperation to catch the Chinese company doing something — anything — bad?”

NAMASTE FIRES CEO, LAUNCHES REVIEW

Namaste Technologies has fired CEO Sean Dollinger (and it's suing him, too) after wrapping up an internal investigation sparked by a short seller's allegations. Namaste says it identified breaches of fiduciary duty and self-dealing relating to the sale of the company's U.S. division. The medical cannabis company has appointed its chief product officer as interim CEO and is separately launching a review of strategic alternatives after receiving a "recent expression of interest in the company."

STOCKS STEADY

After last week’s barrage of major market moving events, this week is a slower burn and futures are little changed this morning. In Canada, earnings season will slowly ramp up with names like WestJet and BCE on deck this week. The TSX’s winning streak was snapped on Friday after six straight days of gains.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

-Pembina Pipeline and Petrochemical Industries Company of Kuwait have given the green light for a $4.5-billion petrochemical plant in Alberta. Pembina's share of the cost is $2.5 billion.

-Bill Gross is retiring from Janus Henderson to focus on managing his own assets. Gross is best known as a co-founder of PIMCO. He joined Janus in 2014 after an abrupt exit from PIMCO.

-Shares of Papa John's are surging in pre-market trading (+11 per cent last time I looked). The pizza maker just confirmed Starboard is taking a US$200-million stake in the company. Starboard CEO Jeffrey Smith has also been appointed chairman of PZZA.

-The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is part of a consortium that’s buying Nasdaq-listed Ultimate Software in an US$11-billion deal.

-The Sunday Telegraph reported Douglas Putnam’s Sunrise Records is a lead contender to buy HMV Group Plc after having earlier acquired most of HMV’s Canadian stores in 2017.

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

-Notable earnings: Alphabet

-Notable data: U.S. durable goods orders, U.S. factory orders

-Canada hosts Lima Group ministerial meeting re. Venezuela turmoil

-4:00 p.m. ET: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley delivers remarks at unveiling of ex-Premier Jim Prentice’s portrait in Alberta legislature

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.