Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the last 24 hours,
OSFI urged to free up capital reserve requirement to provide 'breathing room’ for banks: Canada’s banking regulator could free up capital available to the country’s large banks for lending purposes by trimming “countercyclical buffers” as the falling price of oil and worsening business climate increase the risk of a credit crunch, analysts say.
Fed to pump $1.5-trillion into financial system as stocks plunge into full bear-market rout: Stocks have fallen into a full bear-market rout and the bond market has revealed stresses of its own as financial players grapple with the complexities of a global economy now reeling over the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The situation is so severe that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York intervened on Thursday afternoon with an announcement that it will pump US$1.5-trillion into the financial system through the purchase of a full range of U.S. government debt. (David Berman)
Ottawa needs a new fiscal mantra: think short-term, and start now: For once, we want Canada’s political leaders to be more shortsighted. The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic is real. It’s time to take steps to counter it, starting with first things first: pumping money into efforts to fight the spread of the virus and to help people affected by it. (Campbell Clark)
If investors were looking for active leadership in global markets, they didn’t find it this week: The global market meltdown began as a medical crisis. It is turning into a leadership crisis. Judging from research reports, blog posts and tweets, many investors yearn to hear policy makers deliver a simple reassuring message. Something to this effect: We will all work together to stop this virus, while supporting workers and companies through a tough patch ahead. Instead, Canadians are still waiting for word about what measures Ottawa will take to cushion the mounting blows from an imploding stock market and a slowing global economy. (Ian McGugan)
How Canadian fund managers are reacting to one of the worst days ever for the TSX: The downward spiral of global stocks, which has pushed Wall and Bay Streets into bear territory, has portfolio managers reviewing their strategies of how to protect investors in the short term while maintaining long-term investment goals. In Toronto Thursday afternoon, the S&P/TSX Composite Index was flirting with its biggest drop since 1940. The Globe and Mail spoke with a handful of Canadian portfolio managers about their approach during this next leg of the market downturn. (Brenda Bouw)
The Streetwise newsletter is Monday to Friday. If you’re reading this on the web, or if someone forwarded this e-mail to you, you can sign up for Streetwise and all Globe newsletters on our signup page.