The Daily Chase: Buyers eclipse sellers in premarket trading

Here are five things you need to know this morning.

Total eclipse of the chart: Unless you live on Mars, you’ll know that parts of Canada and the U.S. are going to experience a total solar eclipse for the first time in decades today, as the positioning of the moon in front of the sun will cast a shadow across a swath of North America in the middle of the day. It’s a major event for stargazers, but in terms of market-moving events, it’s not exactly a supernova. It’s proving to be a boon for tourism related industries, as airlines, car rental firms and the accommodation sector have all reported a surge in demand for people looking to get into the eclipse’s path. It’s a big deal for the solar power industry too, as it’s been estimated that it will reduce the output of U.S. solar panels by as much as 30 gigawatts, especially in regions of the U.S. south and southwest that are used to uninterrupted sun. That’s the equivalent output as about 30 nuclear reactors, but even so, that’s an amount the existing grid can probably absorb this time of year. It’s just my $0.02, but the real economic impact of this eclipse is likely to come from one of two things: the cost of any eye damage suffered by anyone foolish to look up at the sun unprotected while it happens, or the millions of hours of productivity that are likely to be lost from schools and businesses altering their hours or operations as a result. Early trading is up slightly in New York on the major indices, so the sun seems be shining on investors for now.

Gildan shareholder seeks court order to halt sale: The battle for control of TSX-listed apparel company Gildan keeps ratcheting up, as major shareholder Browning West is asking Quebec’s Superior Court to make sure the company isn’t allowed to sell itself until a critical shareholder vote happens at the end of next month. Browning West has been at the centre of the saga at the company, which began late last year when the board turfed long-time CEO Glenn Chamandy. Browning West and other shareholders don’t like that decision, and they stepped up their opposition once word emerged that the board is kicking the tires on a sale. Browning says the offers on the table now are too low and is trying to make sure that any sale can’t happen at least before May 28, when it has proposed a slate of new directors to replace the company’s current board.

Canadian housing problem on track to get worse, RBC says: Think Canada’s housing crisis is bad now? Just you wait. That’s the main takeaway from a sobering report published Monday by RBC. The bank says that without major systemic changes on everything from construction to zoning regulations and even design delays and inefficiencies in the supply mix, the affordability crisis is poised to get worse, not better. As things stand now, of the roughly 1.9 million new households that Canada is expected to form in the next half-decade, more than half of them will not be able to afford to own a home under the current system, RBC calculates. But it’s not like there’s an obvious solution in the rental market either, as almost 40 per cent of those who will be shut out of owning won’t be able to afford to rent at market rates, either.  So, where are all these people supposed to live? That’s the multi-billion-dollar question for Canada’s economy moving forward.