A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading this morning on the World Wide Web.
There are a few tidbits of market news this morning but the interesting stuff comes from outside the world of business. Scientists have discovered a frozen salt water ocean on one of Jupiter's moons (link to story below) and Kevin Bacon has signed to be a spokesperson for the egg industry. That's right, Kevin Bacon and eggs.
Domestically, a fresh report shows that Canadians have again set a record for household indebtedness. The debt to disposable income ratio now stands at 163 per cent. I read the "ticking time bomb" metaphor a lot, but I think smoking or obesity works better – habits you can get away with for a long time while psychologically repressing the short odds of a sudden, painful reckoning.
"Household debt hits new high as country's financial stability questioned" – Report on Business
"Canadians can't stop lying to themselves about their debt" – Macleans
See also: David Keohane shows where Canadians' debt levels stack up globally : "Debt, charted" – FT Alphaville
The International Energy Agency has piled on to the oil price-related pessimism by projecting that recent gains in the sector are not justified.
"'Steep drops in the U.S. rig count have been a key driver of the price rebound. Yet U.S. supply so far shows precious little sign of slowing down,' the report said. Quite to the contrary, it continues to defy expectations."
"IEA warns of more oil price volatility" – Financial Times
"Have oil prices hit their floor?" – Wall Street Journal
Every time the absurdity of Greek politics seems to have peaked, things like finance minister Varoufakis' highly un-socialist "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" photo spread in Paris Match happen.
Far more seriously, Nouriel Roubini warned of serious financial repercussions – including bank runs – in the event Greece leaves the euro zone.
"Varoufakis, la nouvelle star de match" – Paris Match
"Roubini: A massive contagion if Greece left the euro" –Bloomberg (video)
Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Emanuella Enanajor wrote a man-bites-dog report noting that the weakness in the loonie is far less important to Canadian export growth than U.S. consumption. I tweeted an excerpt from the report yesterday along with a disturbing chart supporting the idea.
"BoA says Cdn exports more correlated to U.S. consumption than C$" - Twitter
"You Americans want to do us a solid and start buying stuff?" – Twitter (chart)
Tweet of the Day: This is from the too-good-to-verify category. If real, potentially the greatest response to a shareholder complaint ever. " @nihoncassandra FANUC's reply to ThirdPoint's "Mr Pink" http://t.co/butqPBHvLs
Diversion: "Scientists just found an ocean trapped under the ice of Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon" – Vox
Follow Scott Barlow on Twitter @SBarlow_ROB
Scott Barlow