Apr 17, 2018
BNN's Daily Chase: Notley raises stakes in pipeline dispute as Weaver blasts Trudeau
By Noah Zivitz
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is raising the stakes in the ongoing dispute over Kinder Morgan Canada's controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Her government revealed legislation late yesterday that would empower it - if it sees fit - to impose restrictions on oil, natural gas and gasoline exports. For now it's just a threat, with Premier Notley station she's "confident that we will not have to use it", but it's another dramatic escalation in the interprovincial fight. Some angles to pursue:
-What would B.C. do? Already Environment Minister George Heyman and Attorney General David Eby have made it clear their province won't stand idly by.
-What would consumers do? Brace for sticker shock at the pumps, presumably. Gas expert Dan McTeague told CTV he reckons prices could hit $2 per litre.
-What would shippers do? Evidently, not be happy – with a spokesperson for the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association already expressing concern.
We'll chase reaction from reaction from all of those stakeholder groups.
ANOTHER ROUND WITH WEAVER
B.C. Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver warned on BNN yesterday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is “about to create a constitutional crisis in Canada like we’ve never seen before.” In his second conversation with Catherine in the last week, Weaver also said it’s “utterly outrageous” for Trudeau to consider using taxpayers’ money to save the Trans Mountain expansion and declared the dispute is “not affecting investment in Canada”. I suspect Brett Wilson will have something to say about that when we speak with him at 3:00 p.m. ET. See the full Weaver interview here.
BIG CALL
We're looking forward to catching up with David Doyle from Macquarie Group at 9:35 a.m. ET. His team is telling clients to get into energy stocks. Making the call even more compelling: he says investors should sell banks to finance the move amid "green shoots" in the energy sector.
OTHER NOTABLE STORIES:
-Take note of the latest data on foreign investment flows into Canadian stocks. StatsCan’s release today on international securities transactions shows foreign investor picked up $2.9 billion worth of Canadian shares in February – the most in five months.
-Restaurant Brands International has slumped into bear market territory. QSR closed yesterday 20.2 per cent below its recent high of $86.20, and is trading at its lowest level since February 2017. We’ll make it a stock in the spotlight today and aim to gather insight on what it can do – beyond resolving its fight with Tim Hortons franchisees – to rebuild investor confidence.
-Netflix shares are rallying in pre-market trading after subscriber growth exceeded expectations in the first quarter, with more street-defying gains anticipated this quarter. As an aside in our coverage, worth pointing out how the company is taking aim at Cannes for restricting Netflix films at this year's festival.
-China’s overnight data dump was pretty much in line on all fronts. GDP rose 6.8 per cent year-over-year in the first quarter, retail sales surged 10.1% in March and industrial production rose 6 per cent y/y last month.
NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS
-Notable earnings: Goldman Sachs, IBM, CSX, Johnson & Johnson, UnitedHealth
-Notable data: Canadian manufacturing sales, Canadian international securities transactions, U.S. housing starts, U.S. industrial production
-8:30 a.m. ET: Aphria to release details about recreational cannabis branding at event in Toronto
-9:00 a.m. ET: Parliamentary Budget Officer releases report Costing a National Guaranteed Basic Income Using the Ontario Basic Income Model
-9:00 a.m. ET: International Monetary Fund releases World Economic Outlook
-3:00 p.m. ET: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago
-IMF/World Bank spring meetings begin in Washington, D.C. (agenda here: http://www.imf.org/external/meetings/NewSchedule.aspx?meetingid=49
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.
