Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

Apple is testing its pricing power today. And based on the overnight crowds, there’s no sign that iPhone X’s steep price (starting at $1,319 when purchased directly from Apple) is repelling the company’s loyal user base. The product launch comes one day after Apple blew past fiscal fourth-quarter profit and sales forecasts, on top of a bullish revenue outlook for this crucial holiday season – driven in no small measure by the X. We know the diehards are willing to camp out overnight; but once those lines dissipate, how much demand is there for the pricey phone? We’ve got Jameson on the ground at Apple’s flagship Toronto store to gauge demand.

SOFTWOOD FALLOUT           

It’s a waiting game now for the softwood industry and Canadian politicians. After the U.S. Commerce Department announced its final determination on duties Thursday the file heads to the U.S. International Trade Commission for a ruling in mid-December. Today we’ll assess next steps in the process and the risk of jobs being lost as a result.

WHAT ABOUT GARY COHN?

After formally nominating Jerome Powell to lead the Federal Reserve, U.S. President Donald Trump is off to Asia. First order of business back in D.C. for the GOP is pushing ahead with tax reform. Against that backdrop, there are valid questions to ask about Trump's top economic advisor Gary Cohn’s future inside the White House. 

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES:

-Trump’s Twitter account abruptly went down for about 11 minutes yesterday. Twitter is blaming the outage on “a Twitter customer support employee who did this on the employee’s last day. We are conducting a full internal review.”

-Stelco Holdings has priced its IPO at $17 per share, the midpoint of its previously-stated target range

-Fairfax Financial managed to post nearly a half-billion-dollar profit in the third quarter despite taking a $791-million after-tax hit as a result of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. We’ll await CEO Prem Watsa’s view of the markets and economy on a conference call later this morning.

-Something notable in an otherwise in-line quarterly report: OpenText is still hungry for deals. “M&A remains our leading growth contributor, complemented by organic growth,” its CEO said in a press release.

-Mortgage insurer Genworth MI Canada is raising its quarterly dividend, even as more stringent mortgage rules hurt its year-over-year comparisons

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

-Notable earnings: Cara Operations, Fortis, RioCan

-Notable data: Canadian labour force survey, Canadian trade balance, U.S. non-farm payrolls, U.S. trade balance, U.S. factory orders, ISM U.S. services index

-8:30 a.m. ET: Fairfax Financial holds quarterly conference call

-9:00 a.m. ET: Justin Trudeau meets in Ottawa with American Ambassador Kelly Craft 

-1:00 p.m. ET: PMO holds technical briefing on Trudeau’s trip to Vietnam and Philippines

-Apple's iPhone X hits store shelves

-Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna meets with provincial counterparts in Vancouver 

Every morning BNN's Managing Editor Noah Zivitz 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.