(Kitco News) All eyes are on the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech Friday morning, with gold bulls betting on more patience from the central bank when it comes to the highly anticipated tapering announcement.
Investors are still on the fence whether or not Powell might reveal a tapering plan at the Jack Hole Symposium, which is being held virtually this year. However, the release of the more cautious July FOMC meeting minutes has shifted the tapering timeline to the end of the year.
“It’s all gone very quiet in the markets, which is hardly surprising under the circumstances. The combination of light news flow, few economic releases and caution ahead of the Jackson Hole event has taken all of the excitement out of the markets. Instead, it’s been replaced by nervous anticipation as we wait to see what the Fed will do next,” said OANDA senior market analyst Craig Erlam. It is unlikely the markets will get any clarity on the Fed tapering its $120 billion in monthly bond purchases come Friday. In light of slightly disappointing macro data and the quickly spreading delta variant, Powell is more likely to opt for caution, Erlam added.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if this turns out to be one big anticlimax, with Powell saying very little of note and instead insisting that the data will dictate any decisions in the upcoming meetings. In other words, the Chairman may simply kick the can down the road and buy the central bank a few more weeks,” he said on Tuesday.
Strategists at TD Securities are also not expecting any earth-shattering news when it comes to tapering.
“We expect the Chair’s speech to echo the latest July meeting minutes, suggesting that QE tapering is likely by year-end, but we don’t expect a September announcement. This leaves November and December as likely timelines for the taper announcement,” the strategists said in a note.
No clear announcement would be good news for gold, which has been sitting around the $1,800 an ounce, waiting to make a move one way or the other.
OANDA’s senior market analyst Edward Moya noted that Powell’s speech would be critical for the gold market.
“Friday will be a make-or-break moment for gold bulls, but the narrative post the last policy meeting suggests Powell will likely avoid making any firm commitments about the timing of tapering, but confirm it will be announced before the end of the year,” he said. “The $1,850 level is everything for gold and if after the Jackson Hole Symposium, prices can’t make a fresh August high, bullion investors might be quick to the sidelines.”
Until Friday at 10 a.m. E.T. time, when Powell is scheduled to speak, gold is likely to continue to trade sideways, said Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann.
“Few market participants appear willing to make any firm commitments before the speech Fed Chair Powell is due to give on Friday. Not much is likely to happen ahead of his speech … The U.S. dollar has had considerable influence on the gold price in recent weeks,” Briesemann said.
Some analysts, however, are not ruling out some new hawkish sentiment coming out of Powell’s speech.
“In order to keep this proposed timeline, Chair Powell should make it clear that tapering discussions are ongoing even as new data suggest further progress in meeting its dual mandate,” said BBH Global Currency Strategy global head Win Thin. “Our current call is for an explicit tapering announcement at the September FOMC, tapering of $20 bln in USTs and $10 bln in MBS at each meeting starting November 3, and completion by March 2022. If the economy continues to develop as the Fed expects, then this would allow for rate a waiting period of 6-9 months before lift-off in Q4 2022.”
Jackson Hole Symposium officially begins on Thursday and ends on Saturday. This year’s topic is “Macroeconomic Policy in an Uneven Economy.”
HALIFAX – Ottawa is negotiating a $500-million bailout for Nova Scotia’s privately owned electric utility, saying the money will be used to prevent a big spike in electricity rates.
Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson made the announcement today in Halifax, saying Nova Scotia Power Inc. needs the money to cover higher costs resulting from the delayed delivery of electricity from the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric plant in Labrador.
Wilkinson says that without the money, the subsidiary of Emera Inc. would have had to increase rates by 19 per cent over “the short term.”
Nova Scotia Power CEO Peter Gregg says the deal, once approved by the province’s energy regulator, will keep rate increases limited “to be around the rate of inflation,” as costs are spread over a number of years.
The utility helped pay for construction of an underwater transmission link between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, but the Muskrat Falls project has not been consistent in delivering electricity over the past five years.
Those delays forced Nova Scotia Power to spend more on generating its own electricity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
