Jul 22, 2016
BNN's Daily Chase: Husky oil spill, hotter-than-expected Canadian inflation
By Noah Zivitz
Husky Q2 loss overshadowed by a pipeline spill into the North Saskatchewan River
The glimmers of optimism in the oil patch are being eclipsed this morning by another environmental setback. One of Husky Energy’s pipelines spilled almost 1,600 barrels of oil into a crucial source of drinking water in Saskatchewan. The breach is stealing some of the spotlight from Husky’s latest results, which show the company swung to a loss even as it continued driving down costs in the second quarter.
Suncor sets environmental targets
There’s no room for interpretation when it comes to Suncor CEO Steve Williams’ view on the environment: “Climate change is happening,” he said in a statement last night. “Doing nothing is not an option.” So what’s Suncor going to do about it? The company has set a self-imposed target of cutting its emission intensity 30 per cent by 2030. We’ll consider what it’ll take to get there.
Retail sales, inflation running hotter than expected
The Canadian dollar inched up off a two-month low on the heels of two major data releases that show Canada’s economy is faring a little better than expected. Retail sales rose 0.2 per cent in May – marking a sharp deceleration from April, but still above the consensus. Beer, wine and liquor stores showed the strongest growth (+6.0 per cent), which probably tells us all we need to know about consumer sentiment. Inflation also came in above estimates; the housing market has its fingerprints on the data, with shelter costs rising 1.6 per cent. One notable outlier for the cost of living: beef prices fell for the first time since August 2010.
Premiers wrap in Whitehorse
Health care, climate change and disaster management are the official agenda items today for the premiers’ meeting. Of course, we can presume that haggling over interprovincial trade will surface during the closing news conference at 1630 ET. Hard to imagine anything will be more compelling than former Finance Minister John Manley’s rebuke of the premiers yesterday on BNN.
Make way for ZTE
Shenzen-based handset maker ZTE Corp. is carving out a niche for itself in Canada. You'll be able to find its branding alongside the likes of RBC, Molson Canada and WestJet at the RBC Canadian Open. How much of ZTE's strategy in Canada is about occupying some of the space that BlackBerry used to dominate? Business Day will learn more about ZTE's plan with one of its senior North American executives at 1040 ET.
RNC: Recap
The Republican National Convention has wrapped up with Donald Trump as the Party’s official nominee. In case anybody’s noticed, next up is the Democratic convention next week in Philadelphia. In the interim, we’ll get one last batch reports from Cleveland and gather market intel on election risk as the campaign heads into its next phase.
Releases/events:
-Notable earnings: Husky Energy, General Electric
-Notable data: Canadian CPI (0830), Canadian retail sales (0830)
-1125 ET: Transport Minister Marc Garneau announcement with Via Rail’s CEO in Montreal
NOTE: G20 finance ministers and central bankers meet this weekend in China
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. Today's note was written by BNN's Managing Editor Noah Zivitz. Have it delivered to your inbox before the trading day begins by heading to www.bnn.ca/subscribe.
