Carney in demand

This is no time to be glib.

• The want him in Ottawa! They want him in Basel! They want him in London! He may even get called up by the Vancouver Canucks tonight for game four of their series against the Kings! It's a Carney-copia of opportunity for the brainy kid from Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney sits down to take questions from a star-struck field of financial hacks this morning at 11:15 a.m. ET following the 10:30 a.m. release of the Monetary Policy Report. The document will provide more detail and clarity to the statement yesterday that accompanied the central bank's decision to leave its benchmark rate unchanged at 1 percent… for now. Specifically, the market will press in to hear some sort of colour on the bank's simple declaration that "some modest withdrawal of the present considerable monetary policy stimulus may become appropriate." The statement was a clear signal to consumers, companies and financial markets that Canadian economic growth and inflation may require higher rates even in the face of European debt woes and an inconsistent U.S. economic recovery. The benchmark rate has been set at 1 percent since September, 2010, the longest pause since the 1950s.

• Carney will also field questions on a Financial Times report late yesterday, citing unnamed sources, that someone from the court of the Bank of England has made an informal approach to Carney about taking the top job in London one day. The Bank of Canada tells BNN the report was "inaccurate" and the chairman of the court -- a quaint way to describe the be-whiskered chaps who oversee the Bank of England's affairs -- tells Reuters the court has "not approached anyone." Still, what constitutes an "informal" approach? "Oy, another for me and one for me mate Mark. Ta. Now listen 'ere, guv. 'Ow 'bout a brief jaunt abroad, like? It's bleedin' cold in Ottawa, innit? We'll catch a few matches at Stamford Bridge, set a bit o' policy an' 'ead out for a curry!" It could happen.

• Speaking of Canadians with global ambitions, Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard has agreed to buy Statoil Fuel & Retail RSA for $2.8 billion, giving North America's biggest convenience-store chain exposure to Scandinavia, the Baltics, Poland and Russia. The offer is a 53 percent premium to Statoil Fuel's closing price a day ago but will be "immediately and significantly accretive" to earnings, Couche-Tard said. Couche-Tard is also strapping on a lot of debt to get the deal done. We'll talk about that part of the story, too.

• SXC Health Solutions, one of the best-performing stocks on the TSX over the past 12 months, has ageed to buy Catalyst Health Solutions (that's a lot of solutions) for $4.4 billion to compete better in the booming pharmacy benefits managing business. SXC started life in 1993 as Milton, Ontario-based Systems Xcellence and went public in 1995 on the TSX. It moved its headquarters to Illinois in 2001 with its acquisition of ComCoTec.

• Tons of earnings today from the likes of Qualcomm, Metro, Haliburton, Abbott Labs, BNY Mellon, American Express, Yum Brands, eBay and TD Ameritrade. Movers today will include companies such as Intel, IBM and Yahoo, which reported after the close yesterday.

Every morning Managing Editor Marty Cej writes a "chase note" to BNN's editorial staff listing the stories and events that will be in the spotlight that day. Click here to have it delivered to your inbox before the trading day begins.