The Daily Chase: Sounding the alarm on home prices; Meta shares sink
BNN Bloomberg
Canada's banking regulator is bracing for what could amount to a bear market in housing.
Canada's banking regulator is bracing for what could amount to a bear market in housing. "In some markets where you had really rapid increase in prices, you could see a fall of 10, 20 per cent," said Peter Routledge, the superintendent of financial institutions, in a podcast with David Herle. He said there's a "speculative fever" right now, but he expects that will ease when rates rise and some semblance of "sanity" returns. As for the role of investors in the market, he said prices have reached a point where “a smart investor would think twice and maybe look at other outlets.” Lots to chew on here, particularly on a day when we’re getting fresh data from the country’s largest housing market.
META PUNISHED
Meta shares are collapsing after Facebook's parent company disappointed investors with slowing fourth-quarter revenue growth, user numbers that trailed expectations, a US$3-billion loss in the Reality Labs (ie, Metaverse) division, and a warning that revenue in the current quarter might rise as little as three per cent. The chief financial officer said Meta is dealing with challenges associated with changing user habits and also the ongoing hit from Apple's changes to its iOS platform. This will be the market-rattling story of the day. And yet analysts are still giving Mark Zuckerberg the benefit of the doubt: as of 6 a.m., there were 51 buy recommendations, nine holds, and two sells. Only one analyst tracked by Bloomberg flipped to a sell from a buy overnight.
BOOM TIMES AT SUNCOR
Much like its peers, the oil sands giant is swimming in cash. Suncor reported a record $3.1 billion in fourth-quarter adjusted funds from operations (more than double year-ago levels), and it swung to a net profit of $1.56 billion. That’s despite a drop in production amid what CEO Mark Little described as “operational challenges.” And even though Suncor is making strides whittling down its debt, it is demonstrating restraint by narrowing its 2022 capital spending plan to $4.7 billion, versus the $5 billion cap that it previously announced.
ENERPLUS EXITING CANADA
