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Andrew Bell

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The ongoing woes for Home Capital (HCG.TO) and the potential fallout for Canadian home prices top the agenda on BNN again today.

Cutting the company’s rating into murky CCC territory, credit watcher DBRS warns that the company’s trust arm “has not demonstrated an ability to stabilize its funding and liquidity, as accelerated withdrawals of on-demand high interest savings account deposits continue.”

CIBC UPS PRIVATEBANCORP OFFER

We’re also tracking Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) after the bank once again increased its takeover bid for Chicago-based PrivateBancorp (PVTB.O) to value the U.S. company at US$4.9 billion or US$60.43 per share, up 26 per cent from the original offer last year. “We believe that this does materially increase the likelihood of success,” Barclays analyst John Aikens says.

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ALLIED UP FRONT

Look out for a parade of CEOs today including Michael Emory of Allied Properties (AP_u.TO).

Allied has been a strong performer, with its units climbing 33 per cent over five years while the REIT group as a whole - as tracked by the iShares S&P TSX Capped REIT Index Fund (XRE.TO) - has seen no capital appreciation.

Desjardins says Q1 saw a solid occupancy increase for Allied, which helps preserve the fabric of cities by re-purposing old buildings (something Canada's municipalities need to take seriously).

PENN WEST EARNINGS

At 11:30 a.m. ET, we’ll talk about the Q1 results at Penn West Exploration (PWT.TO) with CEO David French.

Penn West stock has slid almost 90 per cent in five years to trade at $1.99 yesterday. In late April, Accountability Research stuck with its hold rating, cautioning that "general doubt still overhangs the stock despite successful execution of a strategic plan that has meaningfully lowered outstanding debt and focused PWT on fewer and more economic plays."

But it said survival fears have faded after the energy producer managed to fix “a portfolio that was too large to reasonably develop, with too much debt.”

RBC expects Penn West “to modestly outperform the broader energy group today” after first-quarter results topped expectations.

MANULIFE UPDATE

And Manulife (MFC.TO) Don Guloien joins us at 4:45 p.m. ET. Scotia says the insurer’s first-quarter results were a “strong and steady start to 2017.”

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.