North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump are trading barbs over their nuclear buttons, and investors are looking the other way. Global stocks are rallying and futures are pointing to a strong open on Wall Street. Yes, we’ve been down this road before, but it begs asking again what it will take for the feud to derail markets.

LOONIE HOLDS NEAR 80 CENTS U.S.

After touching that threshold yesterday for the first time since October, the Canadian dollar pierced through that round number this morning. Some potential catalysts are on the way with U.S. oil inventories tomorrow and jobs reports on Friday. The next Bank of Canada rate decision is two weeks away; as of now, investors see a 43 per cent chance of a bump in the benchmark lending rate to 1.25 per cent.

COTT HITS U.K. SPEED BUMP

Cott's plan to sell its pop and juice business to Rotterdam-based Refresco for US$1.25 billion has hit a snag. The United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority said it has concerns about implications for the country's juice market. Refresco said in a statement it's "willing to offer suitable remedies".

WATCHING FOR PRE-B20 STAMPEDE

Vancouver data is likely on the way later today, and Toronto’s December housing data is due tomorrow. Before numbers from the country’s two most-scrutinized markets land, Calgary is giving us the first look at how a major market fared in December ahead of the new mortgage stress tests. Sales rose 8.3 per cent year-over-year, and homeowners appeared eager to cash in with new listings surging 32 per cent.

OTHER NOTABLE STORIES

- Bitcoin is off the high it rose to on the back of The Wall Street Journal’s report that Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund has put as much as US$20 million into the cryptocurrency.

- Apple is buying Buddybuild, a Vancouver-based app development software startup.

- BlackBerry and Chinese Internet giant Baidu announced a statement of intent today to partner up on technology for self-driving vehicles.

NOTABLE RELEASES/EVENTS

- 2 p.m. ET: U.S. Federal Reserve releases minutes from last meeting

- Automakers report monthly sales

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.