The Daily Chase: WestJet strike deadline down to the wire
BNN Bloomberg
Here are five things you need to know this morning.
WestJet cancels 25 flights ahead of possible Friday strike: Things are coming down to the wire between WestJet and its mechanics union, as the airline has pre-emptively cancelled 25 flights today and tomorrow, impacting 3,300 travelers ahead of the Canada Day long weekend. Members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association overwhelmingly rejected a potential labour deal earlier this month, setting the stage for a walkout that is scheduled to happen as of 5:30 p.m. mountain time tomorrow. WestJet says more than 250,000 people are scheduled to fly on its network over the next week, and those trips are now in doubt. The union says WestJet’s statement about a strike putting travelers “in peril” is “inflammatory” and is urging the airline to get back to the bargaining table while it still can.
Micron misses high expectations, dragging down AI names with it: The AI boom underway on U.S. markets could face a test today after earnings from Micron yesterday didn’t live up to lofty expectations. The company, which is the largest domestic maker of computer memory chips in the U.S., is down about five per cent premarket today after the company said it expects fourth quarter sales to come in between US$7.4 and $7.8 billion. That’s below the high end of the range analysts were hoping for. The small sell off comes after the company has seen its stock price gain more than 80 per cent this year. ‘The market is holding totally unrealistic expectations as many names who are beating street estimates by a wide margin are still being sold down,” Andrew Jackson, head of equity strategy at Ortus Advisors, told Bloomberg.
BlackBerry shares move up on better than expected results: Shares in BlackBerry are poised for gains on Thursday after the technology company posted quarterly results Wednesday showing the company is moving toward profitability. The company posted a net loss of US$42 million during its first quarter. That’s down from the $56 million posted in the previous quarter. On an adjusted basis, the loss works out to three cents per share, which is better than the five cents that analysts were expecting. The shares are up about five per cent in premarket trading.
Canada’s annual inflation rate slowed in February to 1.8 per cent, but many economists believe the new Statistics Canada data may be the dip before a spike driven by oil prices and the war in Iran.
Building or rebalancing your portfolio and wondering what investments to consider next? Here’s what leading experts featured on BNN Bloomberg say investors should consider adding and dropping from their portfolios today.
Canadian and U.S. stock markets gained ground on Wednesday as oil prices fell and tech stocks rose on both sides of the border.
Nvidia CEO CEO Jensen Huang has started his keynote at the chipmaker’s annual developer conference in San Jose, Calif., where he is set to detail its hardware and software plans.
Daily oil exports from the Middle Eastern Gulf, home to top exporter Saudi Arabia and other major producers, have dropped by at least 60 per cent in the week to March 15 compared to February due to disruptions and output cuts amid the U.S.-Iran war, according to shipping data and Reuters calculations.
Larry Berman says he can see a day in 2027 when the top 10 stocks in the S&P 500 are 50 per cent of the index similar to the Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 (QQQ) today that seem destined to move significantly higher.
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Member countries of the International Energy Agency could release more oil into the market later “as and if needed” after they have already agreed the largest-ever reserve release, Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Monday.
Oil prices are down, and stocks are up Monday, though such moves have been quick to reverse since the war in Iran began.
Statistics Canada says the annual rate of inflation dipped below two per cent in February as the end of last year’s federal “tax holiday” helped take some steam out of the yearly price comparisons.
Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and state-backed companies are unlikely to scale back renewable energy investments in Africa despite disruptions from the Iran war, analysts say, given the strong long-term economic and strategic reasons driving such funding.
Crude oil stayed above US$100 a barrel on Monday and Gulf countries reported more attacks by Iran as the war entered its third week, while share prices were mixed.
Representatives from Beijing and Washington began their economic and trade talks in Paris on Sunday, Chinese official news agency Xinhua reported.