Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

What’s to be done about red-hot housing markets that are being inflated by investors at a time when average Canadians are heaping on debt to keep pace? That’s the question stemming from this week’s headline-fetching warnings from the Bank of Canada and the country’s top banking regulator. We’ll keep chasing informed perspective; and, if you missed it, check out Greg’s conversation with mortgage expert Rob McLister, who warned about the potential for a “snowballing” effect if the hot money pulls out amid extreme valuations.

CIBC UNVEILS COSTCO CARD STRATEGY 

When Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce announced in September is was going to replace Capital One as Costco’s exclusive credit card partner in this country, there were all sorts of questions about how it would keep members happy and bring them deeper into the bank’s tent of offerings. Today, we found out, and it looks like cash back is the key. Jameson has details at BNNBloomberg.ca

ROGERS-SHAW HEARING NEARS FINISH LINE

Competition and job security are bound to be hot topics in this penultimate day for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications’ hearing into Rogers’ planned $20-billion takeover of Shaw. BCE (which owns BNN Bloomberg via Bell Media) is among the parties scheduled to address the regulator, as is Unifor. We’ll monitor developments as we await Shaw and Rogers’ opportunity tomorrow to respond to what other stakeholders have said about the deal this week.     

B.C. SUPPLY CHAIN RECOVERY

We learned this afternoon of a setback in that recovery process. Canadian National Railway said that due to weather related issues, its service between Vancouver and Kamloops had not resumed overnight as previously planned. For its part, Trans Mountain struck a more cautious tone in its most recent update. Late yesterday afternoon, the pipeline operator said it’s preparing for another deterioration in weather conditions in the days ahead, but for the time being it’s sticking to its goal of having the line up and running at a reduced capacity by the end of this week if weather cooperates. Later today, the head of the Vancouver Port Authority will address the local board of trade; we’ll of course track that closely. And will point out here that the federal government announced $4.1 million in aid for the port yesterday evening.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

• The Fraser Institute’s annual survey about the appeal of doing business in various geographies is not casting Canada in a favourable light. According to the survey, which is based on a poll of 71 senior executives in the oil and gas industry, not a single Canadian jurisdiction was ranked in the top ten, based on the Fraser Institute’s policy perception index.
• The C.D. Howe Institute is out with a report today making the case for the Bank of Canada to introduce its own digital currency, in part to ensure the Canadian dollar doesn’t eventually lose its standing as cryptocurrencies flourish. This, by coincidence, comes one day after ex-Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins shared her views with us about the merit of central bank-backed stablecoins.

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

• 9:00: Parliamentary Budget Officer releases reports “Assessing the Insurance Properties of the Fiscal Stabilization Program″ and  “Assessment of PBO’s Election Proposal Costing Service for the 44th General Election″
• 11:00: CRTC’s Rogers-Shaw hearing resumes
• 15:30: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority President and CEO Robin Silvester addresses Greater Vancouver Board of Trade
• Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development tables fall reports