The cold was already intense, 17 degrees below zero. This occasioned great losses to the army -- Jean-Roch Coignet

On this day in 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte began withdrawing his starving army from a Moscow that had been left  burning and deserted by the Russians. The retreat saw the destruction of his Grande Armée, which had invaded the country with more than 500,000 men.

Another ominous anniversary today: In 1987, Black Monday saw stock markets around the world crash, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping just under 23 per cent, still its biggest percentage decline. Causes are hard to pin down but Iran missiles had hit an American-owned supertanker off Kuwait and another U.S.-flagged ship. U.S. warships shelled an Iranian oil platform.

Trudeau's one-year anniversary 

Today also marks one year since the election that saw Justin Trudeau’s Liberals take office. “Trudeau is enjoying a political honeymoon longer than most leaders,” the Montreal Gazette reckons. But it adds that “storm clouds may be gathering as his government embarks on sweeping changes, like legalizing marijuana and deciding whether to build a pipeline to get Alberta oil to world markets. Trudeau will have to balance economic imperatives with climate commitments and the expectations of First Nations. All of his considerable political skills will be needed to meet these challenges.”

Meanwhile, TD warns that “the economic situation in Canada has deteriorated…The federal deficit is likely to come in at about $34 billion in fiscal 2016/17, roughly $5 billion higher than projected in the March budget.”

Former Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) Gord Nixon told BNN yesterday that he agrees with  Trudeau’s overall plan to run a cumulative deficit of almost $120 billion over the next few years but has misgivings about any increase in that figure. “What I worry about is, it’s a slippery slope,” he said. 

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Are You a Financial Advisor?

As we approach the final months of 2016, BNN’s Catherine Murray looks at some of the best ways to utilize TFSAs and RRSPs - and the tax implications that are making the TFSA extremely popular among high-net-worth clients.

Compensating advisors for selling mutual funds and ETFs

Sponsored: What to do with the Family Cottage?

Explaining life cycle investing to clients

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Bank of Canada's rate decision 

We’ll get an economic update from Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz and Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins at 11:15 a.m. ET when the duo answers reporters’ questions after the bank releases its interest rate decision at 10 a.m. ET. Those journalists include our own Greg Bonnell who is in Ottawa and will file regular reports.

We’ll be joined at 11 a.m. ET by Derek Holt, head of capital markets economics at Scotiabank and at 12:05 p.m. ET by Conference Board of Canada economist Craig Alexander.

Poloz’s low rates have fueled the rise in home prices and almost half of the respondents to BNN’s online survey says  the bank should hike borrowing costs to limit bubble risks.

Jim Pattison on Vancouver's hot housing market

B.C. tycoon Jim Pattison tells BNN he’s worried about losing employees because they can no longer afford to live in Vancouver. “Anybody that lives here has never seen anything like it before,” he says, warning that that sky high housing costs will have a “huge impact on the entire labour force.” That interview airs around 10:30 a.m. ET. 

Finally, the Los Angeles Times says scientists have worked out why refrigerating tomatoes leaves them tasteless.  “When a tomato’s environment drops below 68 degrees, the genes responsible for making it taste like a tomato get turned off.”

But it warns that “most tomatoes at the supermarket are chilled at a distribution centre, and then again at the store to keep them looking pretty enough for purchase.”

Very sensible. As Oscar Wilde pointed out: “It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances.”

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.