Feb 3, 2017
BNN's Daily Chase: Toronto's housing market gets hotter, all eyes on Trump
By Andrew Bell
Our coverage on BNN today is centred on Canada’s hot housing market and the next moves on U.S. President Donald Trump.
TORONTO HOUSING HEATS UP
Prices for all types of homes in the Toronto area soared 22 per cent in the past year to $770,745, the local real estate board says, as inventory plummeted (total listings were 49.5 per cent below year-ago levels.
“There is a serious supply problem,” warns Jason Mercer, the board's director of market analysis. "The result will be very strong price growth for all home types again this year."
Tune into Market Call at 1 p.m. ET when we get real estate insight from Derek Warren of Lincluden Investment Management. He’ll be taking viewers' calls on real estate investment trusts and equities but we’ll ask him for his take on frothy home prices.
TRUMP TO SCALE BACK DODD-FRANK
Meanwhile, Trump plans to sign a measure to scale back the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law. It’s “a sweeping plan to dismantle much of the regulatory system put in place after the financial crisis,” the Wall Street Journal says.
He also plans to start rolling back a “fiduciary” rule, set to kick in this spring, that would require retirement advisers to act in the best interest of their clients.
Ex-Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn, who was named in December as Trump’s director of the National Economic Council, told the WSJ that to meet the rule, companies would have to offer retirement options with the lowest fees even if they aren’t the best for the investor.
The Investment Funds Institute of Canada, the mutual fund lobby group, has also argued that “there is no need to legislate a fiduciary duty into the relationship.”
It argues that “investors need to remain focused on what is the best investment for them, rather than rejecting good investment recommendations simply because of how much their advisors would be paid.”
BNN ADVISOR EXAMINES WILLS AND ESTATE PLANNING
Helping clients when they need you most
U.S. JOBS NUMBERS
We’re also tracking market reaction to those strong jobs numbers from south of the border. Employers added a net 227,000 jobs last month, which Associated Press calls a “sign that President Donald Trump has inherited a robust job market.”
But wages barely rose and there was an increase in people stuck in part-time jobs who want full-time positions.
At 2:20 p.m. ET, we hear from Lindsey Piegza, Chief Economist at Stifel Nicolaus, who will spell out the Fed Reserve’s tricky task in adapting its interest rate strategy to a new national leader who has promised to spur the economy.
NAFTA CONCERNS CONTINUE
Trump’s sweeping condemnation of trade pacts has raised concerns that Canada will lose out in a reworking of the North American Free Trade Agreement
At 10:30 a.m. ET, BNN will be joined by trade lawyer Chuck Gastle. Segment producer Sarah Traynor says we’ll look at Trump's trade and tariff proposals and ask Gastle the question on everybody's mind: "Can he really do that?"
Finally, we’re talking uranium at 11:20 a.m. ET with David Cates, CEO of Denison Mines (DML.TO). He has just raised more than $40-million - without a dilutive stock issue - by selling an income stream from processing ore at the fabulously rich Cigar Lake uranium mine in Canada operated by Cameco (CCO.TO)
Happy Friday to one and all.
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.