The Daily Chase: Shopify slashes jobs as pandemic boom fades; Walmart warns again
BNN Bloomberg
The magnitude of Walmart’s second profit warning in barely two months makes you wonder how other retailers will manage their way through inflationary turmoil.
The global screen of commodity prices on the Bloomberg terminal bodes well for the S&P/TSX Composite Index this morning amid a sea of green. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude has been up about 2.4 per cent, building on yesterday’s gains which propelled the energy subgroup higher. In the U.S., futures are suggesting the major indices will open lower as earnings season ramps up and as the U.S. Federal Reserve begins a two-day policy meeting, with another three-quarter-point rate hike expected tomorrow. Big Tech will steal the spotlight in today’s after-hours session as Microsoft and Alphabet release quarterly results. Not to be overlooked: Canadian National Railway also reports after the closing bell.
EMERGENCY MEETING ON EUROPEAN ENERGY CRISIS
Energy ministers from European Union nations are attempting to hammer out a formal political agreement today on the bloc’s proposal to cut natural gas consumption 15 per cent by the end of March. No doubt yesterday’s news that the flow of shipments in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was further curbed adds even more urgency to the discussion. Our Bloomberg partners have noted encouraging tweets by some participants at the meeting.
