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These are stories Report on Business followed this week.

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Bank of Montreal's chief economist doesn't want to use the phrase "kicking the can down the road" because it has been so overused.

But, says Douglas Porter, that's "essentially what at least five decision-makers did, or seemed to do, this week."

In a new report, Mr. Porter took a look at events across the globe, and determined that certain hard calls have simply been delayed:

The Bank of Canada
Markets seemed to think that Governor Stephen Poloz and his colleagues would follow their surprise January rate cut with a not-so-surprising second cut next week. But Mr. Poloz surprised them again in a speech at Western by saying the "insurance" he took out with last month's cut of one-quarter of a percentage point was "appropriate" under the circumstances.

Mr. Porter actually questioned the January move, as the central bank had given no signal, opting instead for shock and awe. On the other hand, there's a "very real possibility" that markets are underplaying the potential impact from the oil slump.

"We expect no move next week, but still give reasonable odds to a further trim in the spring," said the BMO economist.

Others also expect Mr. Poloz to hold tight next week, though not forever.

"We continue to believe that given the size of the negative shock on the economy, another rate cut will likely be needed," said Charles St-Arnaud of Nomura.

"However, the timing of this cut will depend on incoming data, especially the price of oil, non-energy exports, signs that the weakness affects regions and sectors not linked to oil production and changes in household indebtedness."

The Fed
Mr. Poloz's counterpart, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, didn't shed a lot of light in her congressional testimony this week.

"But the main message was that the Fed is no rush to begin tightening," Mr. Porter said.

Many observers – Mr. Porter isn't one of them – think the U.S. central bank will unveil its first rate hike in June. Others suggest later.

Ms. Yellen said she doesn't see a hike for at least two meetings – she's patient, remember – but it's now anyone's guess. And her testimony this week appeared to "dampen chances of an early move," Mr. Porter said.

"Among forecasters, the line now seems to be as sharply divided between the June and September meeting, as between whether the dress on the Internet is blue/black or white/gold," Mr. Porter said.

"We continue to believe the Fed will wait until September before hiking rates (and that it's blue)."

Senior economist James Marple of Toronto-Dominion bank didn't offer a guess on the dress, and I wasn't going to ask, but here's how he sees it:

"Absent a major shock to the outlook, a first rate hike from the Federal Reserve is in the cards for 2015. Nonetheless, while the Fed is intent on getting interest rates off the floor, they are likely to remain at relatively low levels for an extended period of time."

Greece
I've personally lost count of the number of weeks, months and years this thing has been kicked down the road.

Basically, Athens got a four-month extension on its bailout provisions this week after everyone wrung their hands and the German newspaper Bild urged the Bundestag, in a huge one-word headline, to say nein.

"This stop-gap deal appears to be the very essence of 'kicking the can,' and the issue looks likely to re-emerge big time in June," said Mr. Porter.

He's not alone.

"The song and dance that played out over the last month about Greece's finances was a political stage show, and we will go through it all over again in a few months when the extension runs out," said market analyst David Madden of IG in London.

The Keystone XL pipeline
What's it been now? Six years.

President Barack Obama this week vetoed the bill aimed at pushing Keystone along, to no one's surprise.

Not that TransCanada Corp. had expected him to do anything differently.

No, no, no, it wasn't a final decision, the White House stressed.

It was simply meant to stop the Republicans and ensure that proper procedure is followed.

Or, as the president put it in his letter to the Senate, the attempt by Congress that "cuts short thorough consideration of issues that could bear on our national interest."

Right. After six years, why cut it short now?

The weather
Mr. Porter's fifth can-kicker is Mother Nature: "Judging by the relentless deep freeze in much of North America, spring has been kicked down the road a few months."

The loonie
Yes, this makes six. Because Mr. Porter's fifth is only partly markets-related, I decided to add my own.

Reprieve may be too strong a word, but the Canadian dollar got something approaching that this week, having hit a low not that long ago of 78.22 cents U.S. but reaching a high point yesterday above the 80-cent mark.

Mr. Poloz's clarification helped that along earlier in the week.

But, fear not, the loonie's going down again. Maybe not to 69 cents, as Macquarie projected this week.

But at least to 75 cents, according to many forecasters.

"After a 9-per-cent depreciation in January, the Canadian dollar (CAD) traded within a range throughout most of February," noted chief currency strategist Camilla Sutton of Bank of Nova Scotia.

"From here there are three major drivers of CAD: 1) oil prices; 2) BoC and Fed policy developments; and 3) the broad USD move," she added, referring to the U.S. dollar by its symbol.

"The bulk of CAD depreciation has likely occurred, but we expect further weakness to materialize before year-end."

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 9:34am EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
AAPL-Q
Apple Inc
-1.16%171.3
BMO-N
Bank of Montreal
+0.31%96.68
BMO-T
Bank of Montreal
+0.21%131.04
BNS-N
Bank of Nova Scotia
+0.14%51.23
BNS-T
Bank of Nova Scotia
+0.26%69.6
CADUSD-FX
Canadian Dollar/U.S. Dollar
-0.01%0.73695
TRP-N
TC Energy Corp
+0.76%39.94
TRP-T
TC Energy Corp
+0.26%53.94

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