Noah Zivitz

Managing Editor, BNN Bloomberg

Archive

It’s a stunning admission by Loblaw and George Weston: 14 years of fixing bread prices in this country. The two companies fessed up yesterday afternoon, saying the scheme was underway from late 2001 to March 2015 and that it involved “other major grocery retailers and another bread wholesaler.” Loblaw and Weston say they self-reported to the Competition Bureau in 2015, fired employees who were responsible, and are now trying to win back some goodwill with $25 vouchers – which will result in Loblaw taking up to a $150-million provision this quarter. There’s still risk, with class action lawsuits underway. But both companies say they won’t face criminal charges or related penalties.

Tons of angles to explore today. Among them:

• Can Loblaw and Weston rebuild trust?
• Should investors fret the consequences? Lolaw said its exposure to legal proceedings is larger than Weston’s, but neither see a “material adverse impact” on their finances.
• Who’s next, if anyone? Metro said in a statement it’s “fully [cooperating]” with the Competition Bureau and has launched an internal investigation, but there’s no early sign of Competition Act violations.

BLACKBERRY BEATS ESTIMATES IN Q3 

BlackBerry shares inched up in pre-market trading after the one-time smartphone kingpin reported fiscal third-quarter revenue and profit that beat estimates. Cash (and equivalents) balance at the end of the quarter was US$2.5 billion. CEO John Chen says his turnaround momentum "continues" and the company is standing by its full-year forecasts. We’ll speak with Chen later today on BNN. 

AWAITING BOMBARDIER DUTIES

For three days running, we’ve been waiting for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s final determination on CSeries duties. We were advised by Commerce that its announcement will happen today. Precise timing is still up in the air. The decision is about whether duties will hold at the 79.82 per cent and 219.63 per cent anti-dumping and countervailing levels, respectively, as announced in the preliminary findings. And, as BNN's Paige Ellis has pointed out: even if the ITC ultimately signs off, the tariffs’ impact will only be felt when CSeries planes are exported into the States.  

U.S. TAX RELIEF NEARLY REALITY

Shortly before 1 a.m. ET, U.S. senators voted 51-48 in favour of the US$1.5-trillion tax overhaul, which has to go back to the House for what will presumably be the final vote before the bill lands on President Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law. Interesting to see how U.S. stocks drifted lower in the last 90 minutes or so of trading yesterday after the House sent the bill over to the Senate, thus begging the question of how much is “priced in”. Regardless, we’ll continue sizing up the impact for Canada’s competitiveness.

TRUDEAU ON CANNABIS LEGISLATION

Justin Trudeau ruled out recreational cannabis legalization taking effect on July 1 in an interview yesterday with TVA. "The date will not be July 1, I can assure of that. I don't know where that date came from," he's quoted as saying, while confirming the legalization will take effect next summer.

BELL HOLDING OUT HOPE IN SUPER BOWL AD DISPUTE

Bell Media, which owns BNN, says it’s hoping the CRTC “will take a close look” at the impact of its simsub ruling after Bell’s argument was dismissed this week by the Federal Court of Appeal. Recall that Bell’s parent, BCE, asked the CRTC to rescind its controversial rule in August, and that BCE CEO George Cope told us a few weeks ago he was “still optimistic” that “over time” the rule will be changed.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES:

-The Ontario Securities Commission holds a hearing today on the ongoing takeover fight between Aurora Cannabis and CanniMed Therapeutics. It boils to this: Aurora wants to buy CanniMed, which wants to buy Newstrike, which Aurora doesn't want it to buy. Background for today’s hearing here. 

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

-Notable earnings: BlackBerry (8:00 a.m. ET conference call)

-Notable data: Canadian wholesale trade, U.S. existing home sales

-Ontario Securities Commission holds hearing on CanniMed-Aurora dispute (1:00 p.m. ET)

-U.S. Commerce Department to announce final determination on CSeries duties 

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.