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A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading today on the Web

Canadian GDP growth was reported this morning at 4.6 per cent when 4.1 per cent year over year was expected.

Domestic economic growth remains very dependent on finance and real estate so it's clear that sharp slowdown in housing prices will cause some pain. It won't, I think, cause anything resembling the U.S. financial crisis because I don't see the same derivatives-based dominos set to fall. This story from the Financial Times, however, gave me pause,

"There is … another, less commonly discussed flow of European money into the Canadian market … First fashioned in 18th century Prussia, covered bonds are at the heart of European finance. The instruments, regarded as ultra-safe, are issued by banks to investors to fund mortgage lending. The debt is then secured against the mortgages, providing bondholders with extra security in the event of a default… Covered bonds in all currencies now finance nearly 10 per cent of the entire Canadian mortgage market, which is close to C$1.4tn in size."

"Covered bonds: the European link to Canada's house price boom" – Financial Times

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Global energy markets finally had a good week,

"U.S. crude and gasoline inventories fell much more steeply than expected this week and the world's biggest oil exporter Saudi Arabia said it would further reduce oil output in August.

"Brent crude futures were up 22 cents at US$51.71 a barrel at 0931 GMT after reaching a fresh two-month high of US$51.75 a barrel. The front of the crude oil curve jumped into backwardation, with the month-ahead trading above the subsequent month, showing investors are not expecting recent gains to last."

"Oil extends gains, on track for biggest weekly gains this year" – BNN
"Oil Companies Trim Drilling Budgets in Sign of Rising Caution" – Bloomberg

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The technology stocks driving U.S. markets are weak after Amazon.com 's earnings report disappointed. Amazon seems to be able to turn on the profit taps whenever it wants, so besides the fact the stock in insanely expensive, I'm not overly concerned about the broader technology sector yet,

"Amazon plows ahead with high sales and spending; profit plunges" – Reuters
"Amazon Extends 20-Year Streak of Double-Digit Revenue Growth" – Bloomberg

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For those interested in market structure issues, the always-great Matthew Klein explodes some myths about share buybacks and the declining number of available stocks to buy,

"Clearing up some misconceptions about how the stock market works" – Klein, FT Alphaville

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BNN reports that "Cord-cutting pace is slowing in Canada: CRTC," and this is partly my fault. I've have picked up the phone a few times to cancel cable programming and found an excuse not to,

"Cord-cutting pace is slowing in Canada: CRTC" – BNN

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Tweet of the Day: "@NinjaEconomics The Most Hated Office Jargon" – (chart) Twitter

Diversion: Nothing about the future scares me more than gene-editing technology CRISPR. It's amazing power to prevent suffering means it's unstoppable, but I can't help thinking it won't just be used ethically,

"Rewriting Life: First Human Embryos Edited in U.S." – M.I.T. Technology Review

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