Business

Today's news: Trending business stories for November 10, 2023 – Financial Post

Published

10 months ago

November 10, 2023

Harry Miller

The latest business news as it happens

The incomes of Canada’s wealthiest rose by 10 per cent in 2021, Statistics Canada said. Photo by Getty Creative

Today’s top headlines

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5:05 p.m.

Here are the top 3 performers on the TSX this week

Nuvei Corp. ($25.64, 21.75 per cent)
Investors in the global payments technology business boosted shares of the Montreal based company after it raised its full-year and fourth-quarter revenue guidance and Citi Group lifted its price target to US$20 from US$17. Analysts have 12 buys, six holds and no sells on the stock and a 12-month price target of $39.20, according to Bloomberg.

Stella Jones Inc. ($83.03, 11.32 per cent)
Shares of the maker of utility poles and other wood products such as railway ties continue to rise after the Montreal-based company reported earnings that beat estimates and CIBC World Markets raised its price target to $83 from $74. Analysts have six buys, one hold and no sells on the stock and a 12-month price target of $91, according to Bloomberg.

Stelco Holdings Inc. ($42.45, 10.06 per cent)
Investors pushed up shares of Hamilton, Ont., based Stelco 12 per cent on Thursday after it reported earnings that beat estimates, leading investment banking firm Stifel to raise its price target for the steelmaker to $41 from $37. Analysts have two buys, five holds and no sells on the stock and a 12-month price target of $46.43, according to Bloomberg.

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Gigi Suhanic

4:39 p.m.

Market close: TSX posts small gain boosted by energy, while U.S. markets rally

Canada’s main stock index rose to make a small gain today, buoyed by strength in energy stocks, while U.S. markets rallied to end the week, led by a two-per-cent gain on the Nasdaq.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 67.06 points at 19,654.47.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 391.16 points at 34,283.10. The S&P 500 index was up 67.89 points at 4,415.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 276.66 points at 13,798.11.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.36 cents U.S. compared with 72.56 cents U.S. on Thursday.

The December crude oil contract was up US$1.43 at US$77.17 per barrel and the December natural gas contract was down almost a penny at US$3.03 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$32.10 at US$1,937.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was down five cents at US$3.59 a pound.

The Canadian Press

2:15 p.m.

S&P 500 on track for 7-week high

U.S. stocks rebounded as Treasury volatility abated, with traders looking past a disappointing reading on consumer sentiment and the United States Federal Reserve’s efforts to downplay the market’s dovish bid.

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The S&P 500 hit the key 4,400 technical mark and was on track for a seven-week high. Tech giants led gains, with the Nasdaq 100 up almost two per cent. Microsoft Corp. climbed toward a record and Nvidia Corp. rallied for an eighth straight day. Two-year yields traded above five per cent, while those on 30-year bonds fell after a surge triggered by a weak government sale and Fed chair Jerome Powell’s remarks that officials won’t hesitate to tighten if needed.

“Calm in the Treasury market” is what a sustained market rally would require, said Tom Essaye, a former Merrill Lynch trader who founded The Sevens Report newsletter. “Short, sharp declines are no more beneficial for stocks than short, sharp rises.”

Wall Street continued to keep an eye on the latest remarks from U.S. officials, with Fed Bank of Atlanta president Raphael Bostic saying policymakers can return inflation to their goal without the need to hike further. Data showed consumer long-term inflation expectations hit a 12-year high, while economic concerns weighed on sentiment.

The caution that pervaded equity markets in the past three months has now switched to “year-end greed” on expectations of a decline in US bond yields, according to Bank of America Corp.’s Michael Hartnett.

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Bloomberg

1:41 p.m.

Desmarais family member to invest in $3-billion green hydrogen project in Quebec

Tanks of hydrogen at a hydrogen electrolysis plant in Germany. Photo by Alex Kraus/Bloomberg files

The Canadian arm of Tree Energy Solutions GmbH will invest about US$3 billion to build a green hydrogen plant in Quebec.

The project is being financed privately — 60 per cent by Belgium-based Tree Energy and 40 per cent by a fund controlled by France Chretien-Desmarais, a member of the billionaire Desmarais family and the daughter of former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

The project is expected to produce 70,000 metric tons of hydrogen a year from a site in Shawinigan, about 100 miles north of Montreal, starting in 2028. It will be mostly powered by wind and solar farms to be built nearby.

“The economic spinoffs will be significant for Shawinigan and the Mauricie region, and will position Québec as a leader in decarbonization,” Eric Gauthier, general manager of TES Canada, said in a news release. Gauthier is a former executive at Power Corp. of Canada, the Desmarais family’s publicly traded holding company.

About one-third of the hydrogen will be used for long-haul transportation in Quebec, while the rest will be used to produce so-called “electric renewable natural gas,” or e-NG.

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Launched in 2019, Tree Energy Solutions has HSBC Holdings PLC and UniCredit SpA among its investors. It’s also looking at other large-scale projects around the world, including one announced in May in partnership with TotalEnergies SE in the U.S.

Bloomberg

Noon

Midday markets: Losses in utility, base metal stocks weigh on TSX, while U.S. stocks up

Canada’s main stock index was down in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the utility and base metal stocks, while U.S. stock markets moved higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 13.80 points at 19,573.61.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 142.79 points at 34,034.73. The S&P 500 index was up 29.25 points at 4,376.60, while the Nasdaq composite was up 145.65 points at 13,667.10.

The Canadian dollar traded for 72.29 cents U.S. compared with 72.56 cents U.S. on Thursday.

The December crude oil contract was up US$1.31 at US$77.05 per barrel and the December natural gas contract was down a penny at US$3.03 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was down US$22.70 at US$1,947.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was down five cents at US$3.59 a pound.

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The Canadian Press

10:44 a.m.

Top 1% of tax filers saw incomes rise by almost 10% in 2021: Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada says the country’s top one per cent of tax filers saw their incomes rise by almost 10 per cent in 2021, while those in the bottom half saw their average income decline.

The agency says the incomes of the top earnings group, excluding capital gains, jumped 9.4 per cent higher to $579,000.

Meanwhile, filers in the top 0.1 per cent saw their average income increase 17.4 per cent to almost $2.1 million and those in the top 0.01 per cent experienced an average income increase of 25.7 per cent, bringing their earnings to about $7.7 million.

At the same time, filers in the bottom half saw their average income fall by $1,400 to $21,100 in 2021 as the government ended many of its pandemic benefit programs.

Statistics Canada adds women made up roughly 26 per cent of the top one per cent of income tax filers, up from 25.4 per cent in 2020 and 11.4 per cent in 1982.

Its research also looked at money made from the sale of a home or other asset, finding 12.2 per cent of tax filers received capital gains, which had an average value of $37,600 in 2021. Average capital gains were $29,300 in 2020.

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The Canadian Press

10:09 a.m.

Markets open: Caution switches to ‘year-end greed’

Stocks rose and bond yields fell, with Wall Street traders looking past the United States Federal Reserve’s efforts to downplay the market’s dovish bid ahead of a key reading on consumer sentiment.

The S&P 500 snapped back, following a slide triggered by a Treasury selloff and Jerome Powell’s remarks that officials won’t hesitate to tighten, if needed. While that’s roughly the message that several Fed speakers have been sending over the past few days, it served as a catalyst for a pullback in markets after a solid November rally. Two-year yields dropped below five per cent, while the dollar halted a four-day advance.

On Friday, the S&P 500 was up 0.34 per cent at 4,362.06, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.13 per cent to 33,937.42. The Nasdaq composite was up 0.49 per cent at 13,587.35.

“For the market to sustainably rally from here it still needs what it hasn’t received: Calm in the Treasury market,” said Tom Essaye, a former Merrill Lynch trader who founded The Sevens Report newsletter. “Short, sharp declines are no more beneficial for stocks than short, sharp rises.”

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Fed officials are trying to determine if they should keep raising rates after electing to leave the central bank’s benchmark unchanged at their last two policy meetings. It’s currently in a range of 5.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent, the highest level in 22 years. Fed Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said policymakers can return U.S. inflation to their goal without the need to hike further.

The caution that pervaded equity markets in the past three months has now switched to “year-end greed” on expectations of a decline in U.S. bond yields, according to Bank of America Corp.’s Michael Hartnett.

In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite was down 0.20 per cent to 19,548.48.

Bloomberg, Financial Post

7:30 a.m.

Trudeau government outlines $500 million in spending cuts

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has unveiled the details of $500 million in spending cuts, aiming to assure Canadians that fiscal responsibility is a priority amid high interest rates and stubborn inflation.

Still, the cuts represents only about 0.1 per cent of the $490 billion in spending budgeted for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. Treasury Board President Anita Anand put forward the plan for the cuts — which take aim at consulting, professional services and travel across 68 departments and agencies — in the House of Commons on Nov. 9.

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The reductions are an initial step in the government’s first spending review since taking power in 2015. In total, the government aims to chop $15.4 billion from spending over five years and $4.5 billion annually after that, and Anand promised to reveal more details in the months to come.

“Not only is this the first time our government’s undertaking a spending review, but we’re also in a time of high inflation and high interest rates,” Anand said. “What we need to do is to ensure that we are spending taxpayer dollars prudently.”

Bloomberg

Read the full story here.

Before the opening bell: Stock

Global equities retreated after United States Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s warning that interest rates may have to climb further.

The Stoxx 600 shed 0.6 per cent, undermined also by a set of poor corporate announcements. Energy shares outperformed as the WTI crude oil benchmark rose for the second day in a row.

Nasdaq 100 index futures slipped 0.2 per cent, while 10-year Treasury yields held steady around 4.63 per cent, after surging on Thursday on renewed concern about higher interest rates. Earlier, Asian shares fell, tracking Wall Street’s lower close.

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In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index closed up 57.20 points at 19,587.41.

Bloomberg

What to watch today

The United States is observing Veteran’s Day today, so bond markets will be closed. Stock markets are open.

The Bank of Canada’s senior loan officer survey for the third quarter will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

In the U.S., the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index will land at 10 a.m.

Sleep Country Canada Holdings Inc. will release its third quarter earnings and hold a conference call at 8 a.m. SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., which recently changed its name to AtkinsRealis, will also release earnings.

Business

The #1 Skill I Look For When Hiring

Published

2 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Nick Kossovan

File this column under “for what it’s worth.”

“Communication is one of the most important skills you require for a successful life.” — Catherine Pulsifer, author.

I’m one hundred percent in agreement with Pulsifer, which is why my evaluation of candidates begins with their writing skills. If a candidate’s writing skills and verbal communication skills, which I’ll assess when interviewing, aren’t well above average, I’ll pass on them regardless of their skills and experience.

Why?

Because business is fundamentally about getting other people to do things—getting employees to be productive, getting customers to buy your products or services, and getting vendors to agree to a counteroffer price. In business, as in life in general, you can’t make anything happen without effective communication; this is especially true when job searching when your writing is often an employer’s first impression of you.

Think of all the writing you engage in during a job search (resumes, cover letters, emails, texts) and all your other writing (LinkedIn profile, as well as posts and comments, blogs, articles, tweets, etc.) employers will read when they Google you to determine if you’re interview-worthy.

With so much of our communication today taking place via writing (email, text, collaboration platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, ClickUp, WhatsApp and Rocket.Chat), the importance of proficient writing skills can’t be overstated.

When assessing a candidate’s writing skills, you probably think I’m looking for grammar and spelling errors. Although error-free writing is important—it shows professionalism and attention to detail—it’s not the primary reason I look at a candidate’s writing skills.

The way someone writes reveals how they think.

Clear writing = Clear thinking
Structured paragraphs = Structured mind
Impactful sentences = Impactful ideas

Effective writing isn’t about using sophisticated vocabulary. Hemingway demonstrated that deceptively simple, stripped-down prose can captivate readers. Effective writing takes intricate thoughts and presents them in a way that makes the reader think, “Damn! Why didn’t I see it that way?” A good writer is a dead giveaway for a good thinker. More than ever, the business world needs “good thinkers.”

Therefore, when I come across a candidate who’s a good writer, hence a good thinker, I know they’re likely to be able to write:

Emails that don’t get deleted immediately and are responded to
Simple, concise, and unambiguous instructions
Pitches that are likely to get read
Social media content that stops thumbs
Human-sounding website copy
Persuasively, while attuned to the reader’s possible sensitivities

Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: AI, which job seekers are using en masse. Earlier this year, I wrote that AI’s ability to hyper-increase an employee’s productivity—AI is still in its infancy; we’ve seen nothing yet—in certain professions, such as writing, sales and marketing, computer programming, office and admin, and customer service, makes it a “fewer employees needed” tool, which understandably greatly appeals to employers. In my opinion, the recent layoffs aren’t related to the economy; they’re due to employers adopting AI. Additionally, companies are trying to balance investing in AI with cost-cutting measures. CEOs who’ve previously said, “Our people are everything,” have arguably created today’s job market by obsessively focusing on AI to gain competitive advantages and reduce their largest expense, their payroll.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that most AI usage involves generating written content, content that’s obvious to me, and likely to you as well, to have been written by AI. However, here’s the twist: I don’t particularly care.

Why?

Because the fundamental skill I’m looking for is the ability to organize thoughts and communicate effectively. What I care about is whether the candidate can take AI-generated content and transform it into something uniquely valuable. If they can, they’re demonstrating the skills of being a good thinker and communicator. It’s like being a great DJ; anyone can push play, but it takes skill to read a room and mix music that gets people pumped.

Using AI requires prompting effectively, which requires good writing skills to write clear and precise instructions that guide the AI to produce desired outcomes. Prompting AI effectively requires understanding structure, flow and impact. You need to know how to shape raw information, such as milestones throughout your career when you achieved quantitative results, into a compelling narrative.

So, what’s the best way to gain and enhance your writing skills? As with any skill, you’ve got to work at it.

Two rules guide my writing:

Use strong verbs and nouns instead of relying on adverbs, such as “She dashed to the store.” instead of “She ran quickly to the store.” or “He whispered to the child.” instead of “He spoke softly to the child.”
Avoid using long words when a shorter one will do, such as “use” instead of “utilize” or “ask” instead of “inquire.” As attention spans get shorter, I aim for clarity, simplicity and, most importantly, brevity in my writing.

Don’t just string words together; learn to organize your thoughts, think critically, and communicate clearly. Solid writing skills will significantly set you apart from your competition, giving you an advantage in your job search and career.

_____________________________________________________________________

Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers “unsweetened” job search advice. You can send Nick your questions to artoffindingwork@gmail.com.

Business

Politics likely pushed Air Canada toward deal with ‘unheard of’ gains for pilots

Published

15 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

MONTREAL – Politics, public opinion and salary hikes south of the border helped push Air Canada toward a deal that secures major pay gains for pilots, experts say.

Hammered out over the weekend, the would-be agreement includes a cumulative wage hike of nearly 42 per cent over four years — an enormous bump by historical standards — according to one source who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The previous 10-year contract granted increases of just two per cent annually.

The federal government’s stated unwillingness to step in paved the way for a deal, noted John Gradek, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it plain the two sides should hash one out themselves.

“Public opinion basically pressed the federal cabinet, including the prime minister, to keep their hands clear of negotiations and looking at imposing a settlement,” said Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University.

After late-night talks at a hotel near Toronto’s Pearson airport, the country’s biggest airline and the union representing 5,200-plus aviators announced early Sunday morning they had reached a tentative agreement, averting a strike that would have grounded flights and affected some 110,000 passengers daily.

The relative precariousness of the Liberal minority government as well as a push to appear more pro-labour underlay the prime minister’s hands-off approach to the negotiations.

Trudeau said Friday the government would not step in to fix the impasse — unlike during a massive railway work stoppage last month and a strike by WestJet mechanics over the Canada Day long weekend that workers claimed road roughshod over their constitutional right to collective bargaining. Trudeau said the government respects the right to strike and would only intervene if it became apparent no negotiated deal was possible.

“They felt that they really didn’t want to try for a third attempt at intervention and basically said, ‘Let’s let the airline decide how they want to deal with this one,'” said Gradek.

“Air Canada ran out of support as the week wore on, and by the time they got to Friday night, Saturday morning, there was nothing left for them to do but to basically try to get a deal set up and accepted by ALPA (Air Line Pilots Association).”

Trudeau’s government was also unlikely to consider back-to-work legislation after the NDP tore up its agreement to support the Liberal minority in Parliament, Gradek said. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, whose party has traditionally toed a more pro-business line, also said last week that Tories “stand with the pilots” and swore off “pre-empting” the negotiations.

Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau had asked Ottawa on Thursday to impose binding arbitration pre-emptively — “before any travel disruption starts” — if talks failed. Backed by business leaders, he’d hoped for an effective repeat of the Conservatives’ move to head off a strike in 2012 by legislating Air Canada pilots and ground crew to stick to their posts before any work stoppage could start.

The request may have fallen flat, however. Gradek said he believes there was less anxiety over the fallout from an airline strike than from the countrywide railway shutdown.

He also speculated that public frustration over thousands of cancelled flights would have flowed toward Air Canada rather than Ottawa, prompting the carrier to concede to a deal yielding “unheard of” gains for employees.

“It really was a total collapse of the Air Canada bargaining position,” he said.

Pilots are slated to vote in the coming weeks on the four-year contract.

Last year, pilots at Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines secured agreements that included four-year pay boosts ranging from 34 per cent to 40 per cent, ramping up pressure on other carriers to raise wages.

After more than a year of bargaining, Air Canada put forward an offer in August centred around a 30 per cent wage hike over four years.

But the final deal, should union members approve it, grants a 26 per cent increase in the first year alone, retroactive to September 2023, according to the source. Three wage bumps of four per cent would follow in 2024 through 2026.

Passengers may wind up shouldering some of that financial load, one expert noted.

“At the end of the day, it’s all us consumers who are paying,” said Barry Prentice, who heads the University of Manitoba’s transport institute.

Higher fares may be mitigated by the persistence of budget carrier Flair Airlines and the rapid expansion of Porter Airlines — a growing Air Canada rival — as well as waning demand for leisure trips. Corporate travel also remains below pre-COVID-19 levels.

Air Canada said Sunday the tentative contract “recognizes the contributions and professionalism of Air Canada’s pilot group, while providing a framework for the future growth of the airline.”

The union issued a statement saying that, if ratified, the agreement will generate about $1.9 billion of additional value for Air Canada pilots over the course of the deal.

Meanwhile, labour tension with cabin crew looms on the horizon. Air Canada is poised to kick off negotiations with the union representing more than 10,000 flight attendants this year before the contract expires on March 31.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:AC)

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Business

Federal $500M bailout for Muskrat Falls power delays to keep N.S. rate hikes in check

Published

1 day ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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