“I like Los Angeles. So many artistic people, and I just love the weather" - Carly Rae Jepsen 

On this day in 1953, Los Angeles opened the world’s first four-level or “stack” highway interchange, 32 lanes of traffic in eight directions at once. It was said to avoid the dangerous merging forced on drivers by traditional cloverleaf intersections but History.com says even locals “dread their encounters with the four-level: It’s as crowded (500,000 drivers use it every day), stressful and treacherous as the cloverleafs of yesteryear. Still, it’s an indispensable part of the fabric and the mythology of Los Angeles.”

We’ve got plenty of traffic on BNN today in the form of crowded housing markets around the world with buyers frantic to break in and trade up.

Inflated home prices

BNN Managing Editor Noah Zivitz points out that central bankers continue to mew warnings about inflated home prices – even as they pour on gasoline by sticking with wispy interest rates.

“House price inflation remains excessive, posing concerns for financial stability,” the Reserve Bank of New Zealand said, while leaving its rate at two per cent.  

Norway’s Norges Bank kept its main rate at 0.5 per cent while noting that “house price inflation has accelerated and been higher than projected…Low interest rates may contribute to a persistently high rate of increase in house prices and increase the vulnerability of the financial system.” 

Yes, the press release is in English. It’s well past time the Bank of Canada started issuing its proclamations in Norwegian.

Even former Tory finance minister Joe Oliver admits he has to retch a little… and recommend a tax. “The Ontario government should quickly impose a 15 per cent on purchases by non-residents and foreigners of residential property in certain Greater Toronto Area communities,” he writes in a Financial Post op-ed. 

Whoa -- that sounds like screeching tires. BNN's Jameson Berkow points out that just two months ago, Oliver said “the last thing we need is for government to use a hyped-up crisis as an excuse to impose new taxes that would reduce housing affordability.”

Mr. Oliver tells Jameson this morning that “what I didn’t want and what I don’t want is a tax on Canadians, but this is very specific and would be directed at non-residents … I didn’t comment that B.C. should impose such a tax, but now that it has, there has to be an appropriate response from Ontario.”

Look for Oliver on our channel tomorrow at 9:50 a.m. ET.

Record-high oil production

Speaking of inflation, bloated oil production is still a plague for energy investors.

“There is a strong possibility that OPEC disappoints the oil markets in the coming days, offering either no production limit or a toothless agreement,” Nick Cunningham warns. “In any event, a freeze on record-high production was always going to be an underwhelming result, even if the oil markets did not catch on to that fact right away.

Still, the theory that oil markets are rebalancing has its adherents. At 11:30 a.m. ET on Commodities we’ll be joined by Mark Keenan, head of commodity research for Asia at Société Générale.

“Oil markets have transitioned from huge global oversupply, seen in 2Q14 – 1Q16, to a rough balance forecast for the next four quarters,” SocGen says. “The next transition, from rough balance to a significant global supply deficit, is expected in 3Q17.”

 

---

GET READY FOR YEAR-END WITH BNN ADVISOR

BNN Advisor looks at the news and trends driving the wealth management business. Get the latest news and videos at BNN.ca/advisor. Also, catch BNN's complete Advisor program as Catherine Murray looks at year-end statements with perspective from SunLife, Raymond James, and Peak Financial.

Check out more Advisor content on BNN.ca:

Striving for balance

More Women Controlling More Wealth

What is event-driven investing?

Are you a financial advisor interested in appearing on BNN? Contact Catherine Murray at bnnadvisor@bellmedia.ca

---

 

Big metal players 

Like many other metal players, the bank favours zinc on supply curbs but “we would recommend waiting for a retracement in the zinc price before putting on this trade as speculators are already very long.”

And it says “the copper price should remain under downward pressure over coming months as supply growth is substantial and demand growth in China appears to be slowing.”

Finally, speaking of traffic, we’ve all  become frustrated when a highway lane is closed, but some drivers scuttle up the empty lane and then cut in ahead of cars that waited in line.   

But Usatoday.com says the Colorado Department of Transportation maintains that it is most efficient approach. Officials argue that “the ‘zipper method’ or late-merge strategy speeds up traffic…In heavy congestion, this strategy reduces delays by as much as 35 per cent, according to the department. When people merge early, they create a more severe backup because they leave a lane unused.”

Well, maybe, but we still enjoy preventing the smart-alecks from cutting in…with ugly little expressions on our face.

 

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