Finance

Losses are piling up in the crypto market after its second-worst weekly decline of 2024, a reflection of cooling demand for Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and uncertainty over monetary policy.

A gauge of the largest 100 digital assets fell about five per cent in the seven days through Sunday, the steepest such slide since April, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Bitcoin shed four per cent to trade at US$61,153 as of 11:44 a.m. Monday in London, a more than one-month low. The leading token by market value has been buffeted by a six-day streak of outflows from dedicated U.S. ETFs. 

Adding to fears of increased selling pressure, the rehabilitation trustee of Mt. Gox — the Japanese crypto exchange that was hacked more than a decade ago — announced that it would start repayments of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash in July. 

Pages: 1 2 3

Economists are forecasting inflation slowed further in May, which would be welcome progress for the Bank of Canada after it cut its key lending rate for the first time in four years.

Tuesday’s report from Statistics Canada will offer the first inflation reading after the Bank of Canada delivered a quarter-percentage-point rate cut on June 5, bringing its benchmark rate to 4.75 per cent. Economists say the new data could set the stage for another cut in July.

BMO and TD are forecasting Canada’s annual inflation rate slowed to 2.6 and 2.5 per cent, respectively, down slightly from 2.7 per cent in April.

“It looks like it’s a fairly uneventful calm month for inflation. I would say at this stage, less news is good news,” said Douglas Porter, BMO’s chief economist.

The Bank of Canada’s decision to cut rates marked a major turning point in the central bank’s fight against inflation, which reached a peak of 8.1 per cent in mid-2022.

It was also the first G7 central bank to lower interest rates, though it was quickly followed by the European Central Bank, which cut its policy rate by a quarter-percentage point this month as well. 

Pages: 1 2 3

Almost no major Canadian pension manager has been spared.

The largest fund, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, lost five per cent on its property portfolio in its last fiscal year as the commercial real estate slump deepened. For the Public Sector Pension Investment Board, the pain amounted to a staggering 16 per cent loss on those bets, the worst fiscal year performance for those investments since the global financial crisis.

With the property market upended by higher borrowing costs, Canadian pensions — known for their massive real estate businesses that were the envy of the investing world for years — are feeling the sting. And it’s leading at least four major funds to now drastically retool their operations.

“What’s worked famously well for the last 35 years may not work so well for the next five to 10,” Jo Taylor, chief executive officer of the $248 billion Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Toronto office.

Pages: 1 2 3

The Bank of Canada is doing a formal review of its pandemic-era policies, when it bought hundreds of billions in government bonds to suppress interest rates. It may represent a last chance for Governor Tiff Macklem to explain himself before one of his fiercest critics comes to power.

Early next year, the central bank plans to release a report on the “exceptional” measures it took during the Covid shock. That’s likely to be shortly before Canada’s next election, which is due to take place by October 2025.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre — who’s leading Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by a hefty margin in polls — slammed the central bank during its first-ever foray into quantitative easing, saying it contributed to inflation. During his campaign for the party leadership in 2022, he even threatened to fire Macklem if elected.

Should Poilievre win next year, that would put him in the country’s highest office ahead of a scheduled review of the bank’s mandate in 2026 and the end of Macklem’s term in 2027. As the bank renews its framework, a Conservative government would likely want to scrutinize tools such as quantitative easing.

Pages: 1 2 3

The regulator responsible for overseeing Alberta’s oil and gas sector has released a new report projecting the province’s oilsands production will grow by more than 17 per cent by 2033. 

In the latest version of its annual forecast, released Monday, the Alberta Energy Regulator predicts production of raw bitumen — the thick, sticky oil found in Alberta’s oilsands region — will grow to four million barrels per day in 2033, up from the 3.4 million barrels per day that was produced last year.

Most of the growth is expected to come not from oilsands mines, but from in situ operations, which use steam to loosen up the oil deep below the surface of the earth.

The report paints a picture of a future in which the oilsands remains the No. 1 driver of Alberta’s energy sector, in spite of what the AER says are increased growth opportunities for alternative forms of energy like hydrogen, geothermal, helium and lithium.

Pages: 1 2 3