These are stories Report on Business is following Friday, April 24, 2015.
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Loonie stronger
The Canadian dollar is on a roll, buoyed by stronger oil prices, a weaker greenback and the "fairly optimistic tone" coming from the central bank.
The loonie ended yesterday at a four-month closing high of 82.34 cents U.S., and so far today has been as high as 82.61 cents and as low as 82.06 cents.
The loonie's fortunes are tied to the price of oil, among other things.
Also playing into its recent rise is the "broadly weaker" U.S. dollar, noted chief currency strategist Camilla Sutton of Bank of Nova Scotia, and comments this week from Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz, who "continued to have a fairly optimistic tone."
She also pointed out that the currency has rallied 6 per cent since its most recent low of 77.93 cents in mid-March.
Where the loonie goes from here, of course, depends a lot on oil prices.
But commodities analysts are now taking a brighter view there, as well.
This week, for example, Société Générale raised its price forecasts, calling for a 2015 average of $53.62 a barrel for West Texas Intermediate and $59.54 for Brent, each up by more than $4.25 from earlier projections.
"U.S. crude production has reached a plateau and is expected to decline soon, in May," said Michael Wittner of Société Générale's commodities research group.
"Based on this, we have higher conviction in a balanced second half," he added.
"We also have evidence that the global rebalancing process, taking place on the back of U.S. shale oil, is finally getting under way."
Next week will be interesting, Scotiabank's Ms. Sutton added, because markets will learn from Statistics Canada how well the economy fared in February.
And it's not expected to be good. But the first quarter of the year was a writeoff, anyway, as the economy flatlined, so the report on gross domestic product shouldn't hammer the loonie.
"After BoC Governor Poloz highlighted that Q1 GDP was 'atrocious,' most are well prepared for a soft print and will accordingly look through this release towards Q2 data," Ms. Sutton said.
"So far this week, Governor Poloz has maintained his more optimistic outlook, suggesting that USDCAD at 1.21 is comfortable for the BoC," she added, referring to the symbols for the U.S. and Canadian dollars and meaning a loonie worth a bit more than 82.5 cents.
"As oil prices shift higher, the outlook for CAD improves."
Mr. Poloz, by the way, is speaking again this morning, this time on a panel in Washington. But it's not expected to be a loonie-moving event.
"He is one of four panelists plus a moderator packed into 45 minutes, which leaves precisely nine minutes on average for each participant to say something," said Derek Holt, Ms. Sutton's colleague at Scotiabank.
"I've done many of those and quite frankly could do without the experience."
- Luke Kawa in Inside the Market (for subscribers): Don't buy the Canadian dollar rally: Credit Suisse
- David Parkinson: Poloz paints rose picture of U.S. - and that's good for Canada
Comcast kills deal
Comcast Corp. is killing its $45-billion (U.S.) quest for Time Warner Cable Inc. amid concerns raised by American regulators.
"Today, we move on," Comcast chief executive officer Brian Roberts said in a statement.
"Of course, we have liked to bring our great products to new cities, but we structured this deal so that if the government didn't agree, we could walk away."
By that he meant that, among other things, there was no break free when the deal was struck last year.
U.S. news organizations have reported that regulators were standing in the way, concerned over the size of the market the merged company would have.
HSBC threatens to quit U.K.
HSBC Holdings PLC is throwing a curve ball into the British election campaign with a threat to move its head office.
"As part of the broader strategic review taking place, the board has now asked management to commence work to look at where the best place is for HSBC to be headquartered in this new environment," chairman Douglas Flint said today.
"The question is a complex one and it is too soon to say how long this will take or what the conclusion will be, but the work is under way," he told the bank's annual meeting, according to news reports.
HSBC, the biggest bank in Europe, with almost 50,000 employees in the U.K., has been pressed by investors to study a move after the latest British budget and its tax implications and plans by the Labour party to levy even more should it be elected May 7.
CPPIB says 'no' to Barrick
Canada's largest pension fund manager has thrown its support behind a campaign opposing executive pay practices at Barrick Gold Corp., saying it will vote against the gold miner's compensation plan this year, The Globe and Mail's Janet McFarland reports.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which manages $239-billion in assets for the Canada Pension Plan, said it will oppose Barrick's compensation in the annual say on pay vote at the company's annual meeting April 28 in Toronto, and will also withhold its support for the re-election of Brett Harvey to Barrick's board. Mr. Harvey is the chair of Barrick's compensation committee, which decides executive pay issues.
The fund said it is unhappy with compensation for Barrick executive chairman John Thornton, who was paid $12.6-million last year, a 36-per-cent pay increase over 2013.
Several other major shareholders have also indicated they will vote against Barrick's pay practices this year.
Barrick spokesman Andy Lloyd said last week that the gold miner is rewarding executives for creating long-term superior returns, noting they receive common shares that must be held until retirement.
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