A roundup of what The Globe and Mail’s market strategist Scott Barlow is reading today on the Web
U.S. President Donald Trump has sucked up all he media oxygen with a story that won’t affect investor portfolios for the second day in a row.
It was surprising that domestic bonds and the Canadian dollar were unaffected by the Prime Minister’s emotional exchanges with U.S. leadership Sunday, but the Singapore summit was always going to be a non-event for investors.
“Trump says Trudeau’s comments are going to cost Canada ‘a lot of money’” – CNBC
“North Korea commits to denuclearization at summit, Trump says” – CBC
“A Canada-U.S. trade war would be bad news for the loonie” – Barlow, Inside the Market
“The case for invading America” – Maclean’s
Ritholtz Wealth Management’s director of research Michael Batnick notes that a rising number of investors are no longer prioritizing growth in their portfolios. I’ve heard this from Canadian brokers also – many clients are more concerned with safety of capital and risk management than beating the market,
“I believe that the baby boomers who invested with Peter Lynch in the 90s now have different priorities. When they were 40 and in their peak earning years, they wanted to beat the market. Now that they’re either approaching or in retirement, they don’t have as much interest in the pursuit of alpha. Today they want to know, am I going to be okay? Will the assets that I’ve accumulated last me for the rest of my life? And it’s the advisor’s job to help them answer those questions, which are really the only ones that matter.”
“What Do Clients Want?” – Batnick, Irrelevant Investor
=====
Global mining giant Vale is preparing for the mass adoption of electric vehicles,
“Vale SA reached agreements to sell future production of cobalt for $690 million upfront as producers look to capitalize on the battery-commodity boom to raise cash for investments. The deal includes $390 million from Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. and $300 million from Cobalt 27 Capital Corp., the companies said in separate statements Monday. Vale will “sell an aggregate total of 75 percent cobalt stream,” with deliveries to begin January 2021. The funds will help pay for a $1.7 billion project to mine underground at the Voisey’s Bay complex in Canada, an operation that predominately churns out nickel.”
“‘Momentous’: Vale gives green light to Voisey’s Bay mine expansion” - Report on Business
“Vale Reaches $700 Million Deal to Sell Cobalt Output” – Bloomberg
=====
Crude prices are treading water Tuesday ahead of the OPEC meeting later in the month which could result in more global production hitting the market,
“Oil prices eased on Tuesday, paring earlier gains, although volatility subsided to its lowest in three weeks, as investors prepared for a key meeting of the OPEC producer group next week… “The market has been rangebound for two weeks and that is likely to remain the case,” Ole Hansen, senior manager at Saxo Bank, said.”
“Oil eases; OPEC cites uncertain market outlook for 2018” – Reuters
“Oil rises again as OPEC’s split deepens over whether to boost output” – Bloomberg
=====
Tweet of the Day:
Diversion: “Bourdain, Spade suicides show how even those at the top can know the lows of depression” – CNBC
Scott Barlow