Top headlines: West Fraser Timber closing B.C. sawmill, affecting 175 jobs
Today’s headlines
Pret A Manger opens first stand-alone restaurant in Canada with Toronto location
Threat of another Trump presidency puts Canada-U. S. relations in focus at cabinet retreat
Big increases in CRA’s funding could be better spent elsewhere
Canadian Solar unit wins $500 million investment from BlackRock
Top story
West Fraser Timber closing Fraser Lake sawmill
West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. is permanently closing its sawmill in Fraser Lake, B.C., after an orderly wind-down.
The Vancouver-based company said it’s unable to access economically viable fibre in the region.
West Fraser says the closure will affect about 175 employees, and it will mitigate the impact by providing work opportunities at its other operations.
The closure will reduce the company’s Canadian lumber capacity by around 160 million board feet.
The news comes after an announcement earlier in January that West Fraser was closing its Maxville, Fla., sawmill and indefinitely curtailing operations at its Huttig, Ark., sawmill.
The company attributed the decision to high fibre costs and soft lumber markets.
The Canadian Press
4:38 p.m.
Market close: Base metal stocks help lift TSX as U.S. markets mixed
Strength in base metal stocks helped Canada’s main stock index gain more than 100 points Tuesday, while U.S. markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 110.29 points at 21,034.59.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 96.36 points at 37,905.45. The S&P 500 index was up 14.17 points at 4,864.60, while the Nasdaq composite was up 65.66 points at 15,425.94.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents U.S. compared with 74.33 cents U.S. on Monday.
The March crude oil contract was down 39 cents at US$74.37 per barrel and the March natural gas contract was up four cents at US$2.17 per mmBTU.
The February gold contract was up US$3.60 at US$2,025.80 an ounce and the March copper contract was up three cents at US$3.79 a pound.
The Canadian Press
4 p.m.
Nuvei signs partnership deal with Adobe
Nuvei Corp. has signed a partnership deal with software company Adobe to provide customers access to its payment technology.
Financial terms of the agreement were not immediately available.
The company says the partnership will allow businesses operating on Adobe Commerce to simplify payments and expand into new markets.
Jason Knell, senior director of content and commerce partnerships at Adobe, says the deal will help Adobe Commerce provide merchants with greater flexibility.
The agreement with Adobe follows a partnership deal between Nuvei and Microsoft Corp. announced last year that will see the software company start using Nuvei’s payments technology in the Middle East and the Africa.
Nuvei shares were up $2.02 at $32.89 in early afternoon trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The Canadian Press
1:47 p.m.
First Nation-led financing model hits $2 billion in effort to close infrastructure gap
A First Nation-led financing model has reached $2 billion in loans issued as it works to close the economic and infrastructure gap between member nations and the rest of Canada.
The First Nation Finance Authority is crossing the lending threshold a decade after issuing its first debenture — a type of long-term loan that isn’t backed by collateral.
The not-for-profit FNFA pools resources of member nations into a scale that allows it to offer discounted interest rates to borrowers, similar to what’s accessible to municipal or provincial governments.
Ernie Daniels, chief executive of FNFA, says in a release that the institution’s re-lending rate is 2.92 per cent below bank prime rates, allowing members to build much needed infrastructure.
The latest debenture, its tenth so far, will go towards building housing in Cook’s Ferry, B.C., the construction of a grocery store in Glooscap, N.S. and a wastewater treatment plant upgrade in Mississaugas of Scugog Island, Ont.
The FNFA says lending since 2014 has helped create almost 20,000 jobs, including through its help in funding the Mi’kmaw First Nations’ acquisition, in partnership with Premium Brands, of Clearwater Seafoods in 2020.
The Canadian Press
12:26 p.m.
Midday markets: Wall Street drifts near records as earnings reporting season heats up
Wall Street is hanging near its record heights as earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies gets going.
The S&P 500 was 0.1 per cent lower in midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 183 points, or 0.5 per cent, a day after topping 38,000 for the first time. The Nasdaq composite was 0.1 per cent lower as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern time.
Yields were mixed in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.14 per cent from 4.11 per cent late Monday, though it remains well below its five per cent level during October.
In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 41.85 points at 20,966.15.
Earnings season is kicking into gear, and more than a dozen companies in the S&P 500 reported their latest quarterly results this morning. More than 50 are scheduled to follow up later this week, including Tesla Inc. and Intel Corp.
The Associated Press, The Canadian Press
11:33 a.m.
‘Pharma Bro’ lifetime ban from drug industry upheld on appeal
Martin Shkreli, the “Pharma Bro” who served almost seven years in prison for defrauding investors, will remain ineligible to work in the drug industry, after an appeals court upheld a judge’s lifetime ban.
The Manhattan-based federal appeals court on Tuesday cited “Shkreli’s pattern of past misconduct, the obvious likelihood of its recurrence, and the life-threatening nature of its results.” It upheld the ban and an order that he pay US$64 million over a scheme to control the market for the drug Daraprim.
The court rejected arguments from Shkreli, 40, the former chief executive of Vyera Pharmaceuticals, who claimed the 2022 court order violated his constitutional rights, blocking him even from getting a job as a Walgreens cashier.
The three-judge panel noted that the ban allows Shkreli to accept limited types of employment with drug companies, subject to objections from the United States Federal Trade Commission and several states, including New York and California, that sued Shkreli for violating antitrust law. If he finds their objections unreasonable, he can take his complaint to the judge, the court said.
Shkreli in 2015 acquired the rights to Daraprim from the only supplier of the drug and immediately raised the price to US$750 a tablet from US$17.50, earning him the unofficial title of the “most hated man in America.”
The U.S> Probation Office in May said Shkreli was living with his sister in the New York City borough of Queens and making US$2,500 a month consulting for a law firm.
The case is Federal Trade Commission v. Shkreli, 22-00728, 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals (Manhattan).
Bloomberg
10:48 a.m.
BlackRock to invest $500 million Canadian Solar unit
BlackRock Inc. agreed to invest US$500 million in an arm of New York-listed Canadian Solar Inc. as it increases its bets on renewable power and energy storage. Canadian Solar shares jumped as much as 21 per cent.
A BlackRock fund is buying preferred equity in Canadian Solar’s Recurrent Energy unit that is convertible into a 20 per cent stake, according to a statement reviewed by Bloomberg News. Canadian Solar will continue to own a majority of the business.
The fresh capital will help Recurrent Energy expand its project development pipeline, as well as transition into being a developer and long-term owner and operator of assets in markets including the United States and Europe. The transaction is the first by BlackRock’s fourth climate infrastructure fund, which the firm launched in June with a target of US$7 billion.
The deal aligns with BlackRock’s ambitions to become a player in the rapidly growing market for alternative assets. This month, it agreed to buy Global Infrastructure Partners for about US$12.5 billion.
Recurrent Energy had a development pipeline of 26 gigawatts in solar and 55 gigawatt-hours in storage as of end-September, according to the statement. The BlackRock investment will exclude Recurrent Energy’s project development business in Japan and China, as well as some assets in Latin America.
Founded in 2001, Canadian Solar has operations in more than 30 countries with 20,000 employees, its website shows. It holds a majority stake in Shanghai-listed CSI Solar Ltd., which encompasses solar module and battery storage manufacturing.
Bank of America Corp. and Banco Santander SA advised Canadian Solar on the deal.
Bloomberg
10:00 a.m.
Markets open: Wall Street mostly up on solid earnings outlooks
Stocks on Wall Street kept to small ranges ahead of a slew of company results that should offer insights on the state of the global economy.
The S&P 500 edged up 0.07 per cent while the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.14 per cent after positive earnings reports from United Airlines Holdings Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Johnson & Johnson. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.18 per cent.
Netflix Inc., which made its first big move into live events by announcing a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment, is scheduled to release results after the close. Investors will also be watching for results from the Republican presidential primary as voters in New Hampshire head to the polls.
“The fourth quarter U.S. earnings season is off to a solid start, with over 80 per cent of companies that have reported so far beating profit estimates and forward guidance largely unchanged,” according to Solita Marcelli at UBS Global Wealth Management. “This bucks the normal trend whereby companies typically guide analysts to lower estimates.”
Equities have broadly shrugged off the United States Federal Reserve’s warnings that interest-rate cuts are some way off. Instead they have cheered the economy’s resilience even after the most aggressive policy-tightening cycle in decades.
In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.51 per cent at 21,031.04.
Bloomberg
9:29 a.m.
Pret A Manger joins rush of fast food outlets to Canada
Pret A Manger’s first standalone Canadian restaurant is opening today.
The U.K. cafe chain with hundreds of international locations says the Toronto store is located at 90 Adelaide St. W in the heart of the city’s Financial District.
Its menu features a range of baked goods, salads, wraps, soups and sandwiches prepared onsite daily.
Pret favourites including its ham and cheese baguette, Mediterranean salad, croissants and organic coffee and tea will all be on offer.
The standalone store comes after A&W Food Services of Canada Inc. and Pret signed a deal in 2022 to bring the brand to Canada, initially through a pilot with grab-and-go Pret items sold at some A&W locations.
The store marks the next phase of Pret’s entry to the market and comes amid an influx of international fast food companies such as Shake Shack, Jimmy John’s and Jersey Mike’s that also plan to expand in Canada this year.
The Canadian Press
7:30 a.m.
Stock markets before the opening bell
Stocks kept to small ranges ahead of a slew of company results that should offer insights on the state of the global economy.
Europe’s Stoxx 600 index slipped about 0.3 per cent, boosted by commodity companies. U.S. equity futures were flat after another record close on Monday. Netflix Inc., Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble Co. will report quarterly results today, and results from Tesla Inc. and Intel Corp. are due later this week.
Meanwhile, Chinese markets rebounded after Bloomberg News reported that authorities are considering a package of measures to stabilize the slumping stock market. In currencies, the yen rose after the Bank of Japan signalled the door was open for an interest-rate rise in April.
“There’s been no sign so far of a U.S. recession, that’s why the fourth-quarter earnings season is so important,” said Kenneth Broux, a strategist at Societe Generale SA in London. “Investors will want to see what companies’ guidance is for 2024 on consumer demand and profit margins.”
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 0.09 per cent on Monday.
Bloomberg
What to watch today
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet retreat continues in Montreal.
The Association of Mineral Exploration hosts its annual industry conference in Vancouver.
Canadian National Railway Co., Netflix Inc., Procter & Gamble Co., Johnson & Johnson report earnings today.
Need a refresher on yesterday’s top headlines? Get caught up here.
Additional reporting by The Canadian Press, Associated Press and Bloomberg
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