by Arnold Joe
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Interest Rates:
The FOMC did as expected and cut short term interest rates by 25 basis points and as you would expect they also signaled their concern about inflation even though fighting inflation isn’t their priority.
Economics:
Stagflation from the US might be spreading to Canada as monthly GDP in February dropped 0.2% and the industrial producer price […]
Housing:
There were more negative housing statistics released this morning. The most reliable measure of housing prices is the S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Index. The index (for 20 cities) reported that y/y prices were down 12.7% for February. This represents the biggest fall since the index was created. For the month, the price decline accelerated to […]
Stock Portfolio:
Today I bought call options on BCE Inc (T-BCE, N-BCE) with a May expiry when the stock was trading at $36.10 USD. BCE is the object of a friendly takeover at $42.75 Cdn, which means it trades at a fairly steep discount of around $6.00. The stock was down on news that a filing […]
There’s lots of talk about what Helicopter Ben Bernanke and the FOMC will decide to do with short term interest rates next week. Apparently the market is no longer pricing in a 50 basis point cut in rates with some economists expecting only 25 or even no rate cuts. My feeling is that Helicopter Ben […]
Economics:
The Bank of Canada reported that it doesn’t see credit conditions returning to normal until 2010. Growth in 2008 is expected to be weak but still positive 1.4%; 2009 should see strengthening to 2.4% and 2010 should see growth of 3.3%. Given the weakness forecasted, expect the BOC to continue cutting interest rates at […]
Canadian retail sales decreased 0.7% in Feb, still up 5.7% y/y. This is another sign that Canada could be heading for a rough patch and might be an indication of the more conservative nature of Canadians compared to Americans when it comes to spending.
Commodities:
Weekly oil inventories (all grades) showed a drop of […]
Interest Rates:
Bank of Canada did as expected and cut interest rates by 0.50% Analysts are still expecting at least another 25 point cut at the next meeting.
Commodities:
Crude oil was up again setting another record high at $119 a barrel. China reported that Angola overtook Saudi Arabia as the top supplier of oil in the […]
