Nov 23, 2016
BNN's Daily Chase: Branson calls Canada 'breath of fresh air' in wake of Trump election
By Andrew Bell
“[Solon] demanded to know why Thespis was not ashamed to tell so many lies before so many people. Thespis replied that such lying was harmless so long as it was done in play” -- Richard Brestoff, Great Acting Teachers and Their Methods
According to theatre tradition (get that black Scottish cat out of here!), on this day in 534 BC, Thespis of Icaria became the first person to appear on stage as an actor playing a character in a play as opposed to simply speaking as himself or herself. To this day, players are called thespians in his honour. He is also said to have invented theatrical touring, in which he would visit cities with costumes, masks and other props in a wagon. The Athenian lawmaker Solon accused Thespis of falsehood and when told it was just entertainment, struck his staff on the ground and said “Ah, if we honor and commend such play as this, we shall find it some day in our business.”
BRANSON CALLS CANADA 'BREATH OF FRESH AIR'
After a U.S. election campaign marred by falsehood, Canada is emerging as a stable and open-for-business destination for investment. Brooke Unger, Americas editor at the Economist, told BNN last month that this country stands out as free-trade beacon in world moving toward protectionism.
Our Top Line today: Virgin Group’s Richard Branson tells our own Paige Ellis that "Canada is even more of a breath of fresh air today than it was two months ago….We need a country like Canada."
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TRUMP INVESTMENT LANDSCAPE
We’ll have more on the new Trump-esque investment landscape at 9:45 a.m. ET when we’re joined by Robert Profusek, head of M&A at giant law firm Jones Day. He tells segment producer Adena Ali that "the current Administration is the most anti-merger of any Administration in decades, and over half of global M&A involves a U.S. buyer or target. Trump is perceived as pro-business, so most people are predicting that his election has to be good for M&A.
Gold has suffered in the wake of Trump’s election, hurt by a higher U.S. dollar. Bullion has slumped below US$1,200 an ounce today, slumping back to February levels, as the U.S. currency breaks out to fresh 13-year-highs. But on Commodities at 11:30 a.m. ET, we’ll hear from a gold mining CEO who has seen his company’s stock soar almost 140 per cent this year, twice the gain in the TSX index of gold stocks. Clive Johnson of B2Gold (BTO.TO) is building a mine in Mali that is set to produce more than 350,000 ounces of gold in 2018.
The Fekola project is in the very south of the West Africa but we’ll ask him about conflict in the north of the country, where Tuareg separatists and Islamists have been active.
Finally, there are those who say “military intelligence” is a contradiction in terms but sometimes we wonder if that applies to weapon designers too. The U.S. Navy’s stealthy new multi-billion-dollar destroyer just broke down in the Panama Canal and was ignominiously towed through the locks.
Oh, well, Fortunately there are no problems with the exciting F-35 figheter bomber. As long as they can keep it from catching fire.
Every morning Commodities host Andrew Bell writes a ‘chase note’ to BNN'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.bnn.ca/subscribe.
