Trading Ideas

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSE:CM) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the… …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — The pickup in China’s economy in November adds to the optimism from the trade deal announced last week, though plenty of downside risks remain as the nation heads into 2020.Industrial output and private consumption were both much stronger than expected, with production jumping 6.2% from a year earlier and retail sales climbing 8%, data released Monday showed. At the same time, fixed-asset investment in the first 11 months of this year grew at 5.2%, the slowest pace since at least 1998.If the trade deal is signed early next year as the U.S. has indicated and tariffs on some …read more […]

I’ve got a story for you. It’s funny.
And, better still, it could put some extra jingle in your pocket.
It involves a man who lives in Alaska, not too far from where I once called home.
He’s a duck hunter.
But this time the ducks won. They just about burned his house down.
About a week ago, he did what he always does when he bags a few birds. He tied them to a string and hung them on his front porch to dry out overnight.
It never caused a problem before. But the hunter recently painted his house. And when he did, he pulled …read more […]

Dec.16 — International Flavors and Fragrances has reached a $26.2 billion agreement to buy DuPont’s nutrition unit. The latest deal in the fast-growing food ingredients business is the biggest ever for the New York-based company. IFF has fought off competition from Irish dairy producer Kerry Group in order to win this deal. Bloomberg’s Manuel Baigorri reports on “Bloomberg Markets: European Open.” …read more […]

Google has told its Turkish business partners it will not be able to work with them on new Android phones to be released in Turkey, after the Turkish competition board ruled that changes Google made to its contracts were not acceptable. Turkey’s competition authority had fined Google 93 million lira ($17.4 million) in September 2018 for violating competition law with its mobile software sales. Turkey’s competition board ruled on Nov. 7 that changes which Google made in its contracts with its business partners in line with the board’s demands were inadequate as they still did not allow changes …read more […]

(Bloomberg Opinion) — The U.K.’s election of a right-wing, pro-market government with a thumping majority would certainly seem like a green light to foreign companies wanting to buy London-listed rivals. But the new political climate for takeovers may be hazier than it seems.Boris Johnson’s administration is still only four months old, so it’s hard to know precisely how it would approach a sizable, serious, fully funded foreign takeover bid. The old chestnuts that surface now and again include an attempt on the big drugmakers, AstraZeneca Plc or GlaxoSmithKline Plc, a tilt by Exxon Mobil Corp. for BP Plc, or even …read more […]

Cineworld has offered to buy Toronto-based Cineplex for C$34 ($25.56) per share, a premium of 42% to the Canadian firm’s closing price of C$24.01 on Friday. The deal, which comes nearly two years after Cineworld bought U.S.-based Regal cinemas for $3.6 billion in February 2018, will add 165 cinemas and 1,695 screens to the company’s existing global network of 9,498 screens across 786 sites. “Going forward, our immediate post-acquisition objectives will be to combine Cineplex with our U.S. business,” Cineworld Chairman Anthony Bloom said. …read more […]

(Bloomberg Opinion) — As 2019 draws to a close, there’s more than a whiff of banking deregulation in the air. The U.S. has relaxed its lender stress tests and made it easier again for Wall Street to trade using its own funds. In Europe, capital requirements are being softened.The reining in of bank risk after the financial crisis is giving way to a loosening of the rules just as the desperation for yield makes banks more willing to gamble. This seems imprudent: Although banks are safer than they were before Lehman Brothers imploded, critical weaknesses remain.Sheila Bair was chair of …read more […]

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Brits haven’t felt very much like shopping this year, and understandably so. There’s been political gridlock and upheaval, the repeated threat of a hard Brexit and an election in December for the first time since 1923. No wonder despite strong employment, and wage growth outpacing inflation, U.K. consumers have been acting as if they’re in a recession.As a result, Britain’s army of shoppers have been choosing more classic colors such as black, navy, gray and camel rather than trendy shades at high-street stalwart Marks & Spencer Group Plc. Families have put off buying new fridges and dishwashers …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — The U.S. and China agreed to the first phase of a broader trade agreement that will see the U.S. reduce tariffs, and at least temporarily calm fears of an escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies.The deal announced hinges on China increasing purchases of American farm goods such as soybeans and pork, and making new commitments on intellectual property, forced technology transfer and currency. Speaking to reporters in Washington, President Donald Trump said he expects China’s agriculture buying to hit $50 billion annually “pretty soon.”The U.S. will also suspend new import taxes that were set to …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — A Chinese chip designer who helped Bitmain Technologies Ltd. become the world’s largest maker of Bitcoin mining rigs before starting his own company has been arrested, according to three people familiar with the matter.Yang Zuoxing, a tech mastermind with Bitmain until June 2016, was detained by police in Shenzhen at the end of October in relation to a legal dispute with his former employer, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing legal matters.Prosecutors in the city’s Nanshan district said in a Dec. 12 statement that Yang was arrested recently on suspicion of embezzlement, and that …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — A YouTuber in Taiwan said his Chinese talent agency is demanding he remove a video in which he addressed Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen as president, the latest clash over China’s assertions of territorial control in Asia.Chen Chia-chin, better known as Potter King, published a video on Facebook and YouTube Saturday, showing Tsai visiting his media startup. He used his signature humorous pickup lines and repeatedly addressed Tsai as “president,” which is in fact her title.His Chinese agency, Papitube, demanded he not use the word in his videos, nullified his contract and took over his Weibo account without his …read more […]

(Bloomberg) — Financial markets are set for a “risk asset melt-up” in the first quarter of the new decade, according to Bank of America Corp.As Brexit and trade war risks recede, and with the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank still adding liquidity, the outlook for the beginning of 2020 is bullish, strategists including Michael Hartnett wrote in a Dec. 12 note to clients.“We continue to expect returns to be front-loaded in 2020,” the strategists said. Positioning is turning bullish and December’s global fund manager survey on Tuesday should confirm the positive sentiment, they added.The strategists expect the S&P 500 …read more […]

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Imagine if Toyota Motor Corp. stopped making Corollas, or Coca-Cola Co. stopped making Diet Coke, or McDonald’s Corp. stopped serving Big Macs.That’s the best way of looking at reports that Boeing Co. is considering halting production of its troubled 737 Max single-aisle jet. Making and servicing commercial airplanes accounts for about 80% of Boeing’s operating income, and the 737 series in turn accounts for about 70% of commercial deliveries. A Boeing that’s not making 737s is shutting down close to half its business.The company could disclose a decision as early as Monday on whether to further cut …read more […]

Asian stock markets were mixed Monday following a U.S.-Chinese trade deal that disappointed some investors. The two sides agreed to reduce some punitive tariffs imposed in their fight over China’s technology ambitions and trade surplus. Market choppiness reflects concern “the details were disappointing,” said Mizuho Bank in a report. …read more […]