Scott Barlow
A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading this morning on the Web
The list of "Ten Headlines You'll Never See in the Financial Media" from financial author Dan Solin is too cynical, even for me, but it's worth reading as a thought exercise. The key member for me are "Our advertisers pay us to provide 'news' that enriches their bottom line at the expense of yours" and "When you trade, it's likely an institution is on the other side. We don't like your chances."
"Ten Headlines You'll Never See in the Financial Media" – DanSolin.com
See also: "What to do every time you see a scary headline" – GlobeInvestor
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Quebec's feudal socioeconomic structure and favoured status with the federal government meant that Bombardier was always going to get government assistance with a minimum of strings attached. It's almost like complaining about the weather but for those investors intent on tearing clumps of hair out in fits of irritation, here are some links,
"Bombardier Delays Part of Executive Pay to 2020 After Uproar" – Bloomberg
"Bombardier's compensation committee chair: Pay hikes for senior executives are justified" – Report on Business
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Crude prices aren't doing much this morning but there was an important energy-related report released over the weekend. Bloomberg cites Morgan Stanley research noting that global energy stockpiles are beginning to decline, and this may signal the beginning of the end for the global supply glut,
"There are signs OPEC's policy is starting to have an impact. Oil had its biggest weekly increase this year last week amid speculation OPEC will extend its deal to curb output, and after a U.S. government report showed the nation's refineries boosted crude use by the most in almost three years while fuel supplies fell. Morgan Stanley said in a report that 'less visible' crude stockpiles, including in China, Japan and floating storage around the world, have declined 72 million barrels this year."
"OPEC's Barkindo Sees Progress in Oil Cuts as Stockpiles Drop" – Bloomberg
Counterpoint: "America's Gas-Pump Puzzle" – Gadfly
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Economist Noah Smith discusses how automation could be stealing jobs while productivity fails to improve. Wonky, but interesting, in my opinion at least,
"if faster technological progress led to downward pressure on wages which led to deeper recessions which led to slower productivity growth, then recessions would slow down robotization and allow wages to rise again."
"Robuts takin' jerbs" – Noahpinion
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Remember Blackberry? Analysts and pundits are making positive noises about a corporate resurrection,
"BlackBerry surpassed its target of $640 million in software revenue for fiscal 2017, achieving [CEO] Chen's goal of increasing sales from that division by 30 percent in the year. It posted profit of 4 cents a share, beating out the highest estimate from analysts, and said it would be profitable for its entire fiscal 2018, which began this month. Gross margins were around 60 percent, the company said in a statement Friday. BlackBerry expects to achieve margins of 70 percent for fiscal 2018, Chief Financial Officer Steve Capelli said on a call with analysts."
"Free From Phones, BlackBerry Posts Profit, Says More to Come" – Bloomberg
"@SBarlow_ROB RBC on BB: "Turnaround Complete" – (RBC research excerpt) Twitter
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Tweet of the Day: "@LJKawa Also, Canada's economic surprise index hit its highest level since 2010 on Friday after that monster January GDP print ' – (chart) Twitter
Diversion: An older piece, but I did not know the full story behind Syd Barret, founding member of Pink Floyd, previously. Fascinating and tragic,
"The glory and torment of being Syd Barrett, by David Bowie, David Gilmour, Mick Rock, Joe Boyd, Damon Albarn and more…" – Uncut
Scott Barlow