Inflation remains the trigger, and we'll have more to sort through today with the release of the U.S. producer price index at 8:30 a.m. At home, the S&P/TSX ...
- So long (sort of) to the salad king. However, company management warned on a conference call that growth will slow in the second half of the year. Looks like asset management was the saving grace as underlying profit from that business rose 12 per cent to $326 million. CEO Kevin Strain said the “challenging economic environment and ongoing COVID-19 impacts” weighed on the company in its latest quarter. And Crescent Point Energy joined the fray, announcing its dividend is jumping almost 45 per cent to $0.065 per share after reporting a doubling of first-quarter adjusted funds flow (to $534 million). Its Mark’s banner led the way during the first quarter, with sales at those stores that were open at least a year up 17.1 per cent. In its earnings release (which included a narrow beat on profit), the company said it’s looking “with increasing favour” on expanding its wireless business — whether by scooping up Shaw Communications Inc.’s assets or building on the spectrum it has acquired. A quick scan of the Bank of Canada Act shows the governor and deputy governor’s terms are dependent on “good behavior”; we’ll try to get clarity on how open that is to interpretation. As for crypto, using Bitcoin as a barometer, the wild fluctuations continue: it has swung this morning between a loss of 10.5 per cent and a gain of 5.9 per cent. Take Birchcliff Energy. It posted record first-quarter free funds flow ($95.4 million) and said it’s doubling its quarterly dividend to two cents per share. But today we’ll get a chance to really focus on the role it’s prepared to play as the Montreal-based cable and wireless operator reports earnings, holds its annual meeting, and has a management Q&A with reporters. Inflation remains the trigger, and we have more to sort through today with the U.S. April producer price index rising 11.0 per cent year-over-year; that’s a slight moderation from in March, but it was hotter than anticipated.
Poilievre is capturing and whipping up a mood of frustration about inflation woes and a desire to assign blame. The Bank of Canada, which is tasked with ...
The single mom who can’t afford food, the worker who can’t afford to fill his gas tank and the 32-year-old living in his mom’s basement because the government inflated the cost of living to generational highs,” Mr. Poilievre said. While the likelihood of a deflationary tailspin was hard to measure in the profound uncertainty of the spring of 2020, the Bank of Canada knew that among the risks it faced, this one absolutely took priority. But the fact that the economy didn’t sink into a deflationary depression, but rather rebounded much faster and healthier than anyone imagined from the massive pandemic downturn, suggests that the Bank of Canada’s actions were sound. It’s the original sin in a string of mistakes on inflation that the bank has been making throughout the pandemic. It’s proof that the bank has been turned 180 degrees in the wrong direction. Mr. Poilievre is certainly not the only critic who believes the Bank of Canada has stumbled in managing inflation threats during the pandemic.