The Daily Chase: U.S. Fed, Russia whipsaw markets; CP Rail lockout notice
BNN Bloomberg
The U.S. Federal Reserve almost never fails to give global markets pause.
The U.S. Federal Reserve almost never fails to give global markets pause. Sure, we had the rally into the close of trading yesterday. Overnight and this morning, however, stocks and U.S. futures have been wobbling in and out of positive territory. Good thing we have a stellar lineup of market professionals to walk us through the mood of the market – not to mention RBC Capital Markets Chief U.S. Economist Tom Porcelli at 10:30 a.m., and before that we’ll hear from former Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart at 9:10 a.m. We’ll highlight here what another former regional Fed president told us late yesterday afternoon. Jeffrey Lacker, who used to run the Richmond Fed, said he doesn’t “think it plausible” that the Fed’s forecasts will work out as planned, and he also questioned whether the central bank’s roadmap for rate hikes (including six more this year) is “going to be sufficient.” We’re of course mindful there’s plenty more than the Fed for traders to consider, including more mixed messaging today emanating from Ukraine-Russia talks.
CP SERVES LOCKOUT NOTICE
Canadian Pacific Railway turned the table on the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference last night, warning it will lock out the union’s workers if the two sides don’t reach a new labour deal by one minute past midnight on March 20. Teamsters, which represents more than 3,000 CP workers, has been in a position to strike since yesterday morning, but balked at serving 72-hour notice. Now, CP CEO Keith Creel says “we simply cannot prolong for weeks or months the uncertainty associated with a potential labor disruption.” For its part, the union indicated it’s ready to stay at the bargaining table as long as necessary.
NUTRIEN HIKING PRODUCTION
When we think about sectors with something at stake in the CP-Teamsters talks, potash producers are near the top of the list (CP generated $115 million in revenue from that group in its most recent quarter, 12 per cent more than a year earlier), and so that’s another wrinkle to news last night from Nutrien. The Canadian giant of the global crop nutrient industry announced it now intends to produce ~15 million tonnes of potash this year – approximately one million more than previously planned. Interim Nutrien CEO Ken Seitz said in a release that his company is motivated by “this period of unprecedented market uncertainty” that’s been caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
RELIEF FOR THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
