Scott Barlow
A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading today on the Web
You didn't think the devoutly statist Ontario government would relinquish control of marijuana distribution, did you? One of the larger questions for me at this point is how severe the crackdown on underage smoking and black market sales will be,
"Ontario to sell cannabis at government-run stores, online" – Globe and Mail
"Ontario to open up dozens of marijuana outlets: Reports" – BNN
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Bloomberg has collected a list of money managers' top sources of market anxiety. The concerns include alleged asset price bubbles in bond markets, cryptocurrencies and China. The comments on government bond markets were particularly dire,
"'The average U.S. pension plan is still trying to generate a return of 7.5 percent,' [Schroder Investment Management's Remi ] Olu-Pitan said. 'They can't put everything in equities to generate that return, so there's a wall of money going into debt to get that extra yield. If that starts to unravel, everything unravels and there's nowhere to hide.'"
"In World of Supposed Bubbles Here's What Investors Fear Most" – Bloomberg
"Investor appetite for US junk bond funds returns" – Financial Times
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Hackers have allegedly lifted the personal data from as many as 143 million people from credit firm Equifax. The company stated that it had no idea the breach had occurred at the time and the news provides a further boost for companies like Check Point that specialize in network security,
"Consumers Struggle to Get Answers From Equifax After Massive Hack" – Bloomberg
"@MylesUdland Cybersecurity ETF $HACK up 0.6% in pre-market trade." – Twitter
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A plummeting U.S. dollar has provided a boost for gold and metals prices but in the latter case, there are rising concerns the rally has come too far, too fast
"'We've been advising clients to take profits [ in mining stocks] since the end of August, and if anything my position on that has hardened,' Guy Wolf, global head of market analytics at Marex Spectron Ltd., said by phone from London. 'We're definitely due a correction, but the hope that this will be a deep reversal is probably wishful thinking.'"
"Metal's Mad Rally Falters, Leaving Traders Pondering What's Next" – Bloomberg
"Miners Risk Falling Down Same Old Hole" – Wall Street Journal
"Dollar's Woes Deepen With Longest Losing Streak Since April 2011" – Bloomberg
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Tweet of the Day: "@markets A bond manager who oversees $6.6 billion just saw the scariest chart ever bloom.bg/2wKSL6L " – Twitter
Diversion: "A Stanford study finds the tech elite aren't libertarians at all–just a strange breed of liberals" – Quartz
Scott Barlow