A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading this morning on the World Wide Web.
North American cable companies are so entrenched by the monstrous cost of building networks that they could afford to just ignore or swat away competition. No reasonable CEO, however, would ever take Apple Inc.'s frontal assault on the cable business lightly.
"Tectonic shifts are remaking a television landscape it took decades to sculpt, opening up a range of other possibilities for 'cord cutters' who don't want traditional pay TV. Apple is working on an Internet-TV service with some 25 channels, which is expected to be priced between $25 to $35 (U.S.) a month, according to people familiar with its plans. It will join Dish Network Corp. and Sony Corp., which are pitching their own online-TV bundles."
Domestically, I suspect Apple's ongoing incursion into broadcasting is already causing consternation. It's not a coincidence that Bell Media management has been so strident recently about Canadian content and restricting domestic access to U.S. programming.
"Unbundling pay-TV brings new questions" – Wall Street Journal
"Apple vs. Comcast has the makings of a great corporate rivalry" – Quartz
Canadian holders of mid- and small-cap energy debt might want to consider prayer as part of their investment strategy. Things are getting dicey in the U.S. energy-related corporate debt market, as Bloomberg reports.
"Oil prices have fallen more than 15 percent since March 4 to a six-year low of $42.3, wiping out $7-billion of market value of high-yield debt issued by energy companies."
In Canada, price discovery for corporate debt in the oil patch and elsewhere is hit and miss – many issues rarely trade and the banks that control bids and offers prices like to keep these numbers close to their chests in volatile markets.
"Oil bonds lose investors $7-billion in 10 days" – Bloomberg
See also: "Global oil glut set to grow as China slows crude imports" – Reuters
Many global markets will likely come to a virtual standstill ahead of the Federal Reserve's update on interest rate policy today – it's that big of a deal. As the Fed begins to remove the training wheels from U.S. credit markets, any change in policy introduces complications that go well beyond the obvious potential effects of higher interest rates. The best previews for today's decision are from Bloomberg's Matthew Boesler and Cronus Futures founder Kevin Ferry.
"FOMC preview: From patience to reasonable confidence" – Boesler, Bloomberg
"We're all free riders now" – Ferry, Contrarian Corner
The U.S. dollar continues to rocket skyward versus every major currency but global portfolio managers have are apparently losing faith in the S&P 500. The latest version of Bank of America's widely followed survey of fund positioning:
"The percentage of global money managers who are underweight American equities is the highest since 2008, a survey by Bank of America Corp. shows. At the same time, clients of exchange-traded funds have pulled about $14-billion from U.S. equities this quarter and added $29-billion to international stocks."
"Everyone hates U.S. stocks" – Bloomberg
(Chilling) Tweet of the Day: "@spbaines Fortescue Metals initially tried to price its bond in the high 7s, then had to pull it when 9% wouldn't work. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/18/fortescue-debt-idUSL3N0WJ68620150318 "
Diversion: "Cervantes' remains have been found in Madrid, scientists say" – National Public Radio
Follow Scott Barlow on Twitter @SBarlow_ROB
Scott Barlow