Energy & Commodities

Goldman Sachs Calls 10-Year Commodity Supercycle

While the markets digest the inflation numbers on Wednesday, all eyes will be focussed on the Federal Reserve’s reaction to the inflation data. Many economists expected the 7% gain in the Consumer Price Index, marking a 39-year high. Many markets, including stocks and bitcoin, have come under pressure this year on expectations that the Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates sooner and more frequently than earlier anticipated.

Experts consider rising inflation one of the biggest market risks this year because runaway inflation could corrode asset values, limit buying power and eat away at corporate margins. In a research note, Goldman Sachs’ Jan Hatzius has warned that rapid progress in the U.S. labor market and hawkish signals in minutes from the Dec. 14-15 Federal Open Market Committee suggest faster normalization, with the central bank now likely to raise interest rates four times this year and start its balance sheet runoff process in July, if not earlier.

But the commodities sector is a different beast altogether.

Commodities outperformed other asset classes in 2021 and are widely expected to remain competitive in 2022.

Indeed, Goldman Sachs global head of commodities research Jeffrey Currie has reiterated his earlier call saying we are merely at the first innings of a decade-long commodity supercycle…read more.

Average Vancouver rent still highest in Canada; Victoria in third place

The average rent for both one- and two-bedroom apartments in Vancouver remains the highest in Canada, according to Zumper (formerly PadMapper).

One-bedroom apartments went for $2,130 in B.C.’s largest city in January, with Toronto coming in a distant second at $1,850.

As for two-bedroom units, the average for Vancouver was $3,050, which is 27% higher than the average of $2,400 in Toronto.

Victoria was in third place for both home types, with an average rent of $1,840 for one-bedroom apartments and $2,300 for two-bedroom units.

“In the top markets, Vancouver was the only city that had one-bedrooms priced above the $2,000 threshold and Victoria’s one-bedroom rent was only $10 behind Toronto’s,” Zumper said in its report…read more.

B.C. tops all provinces during record year for IPOs: report

Initial public offerings from Copperleaf Technologies Inc. (TSX:CPLF), Thinkific Labs Inc. (TSX:THNC) and Telus International (Cda) Inc. (TSX:TIXT) helped make B.C. the go-to centre for IPOs in Canada last year.

The West Coast was home base for 90 out of the 171 IPOs across the country, according to a report released Wednesday by Toronto-based CPE Analytics.

Overall 2021 was a recording-setting year for Canadian companies, both in terms of the number of IPOs as well as the $10.18 billion raised by going public.

Despite B.C. dominating in sheer volume, Ontario companies led all provinces with the amount of dollars raised: $6.69 billion from that province’s 55 IPOs.

B.C., meanwhile, raised $2.2 billion — the second most out of all the provinces — from its 90 IPOs (52 of which were capital pool companies)…read more.

Quebec to force unvaccinated to pay ‘significant’ financial penalty

Quebec has become the first province in Canada to announce a financial penalty for residents who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Adult Quebecers who won’t get vaccinated and don’t have a medical exemption will be forced to pay a health “contribution,” Quebec Premier Francois Legault told reporters on Tuesday. Legault said the amount of the penalty hasn’t been decided but will be “significant.”

About 10 per cent of adult Quebecers aren’t vaccinated, but they represent about half of all patients in intensive care, Legault said, adding that the unvaccinated should be forced to pay for the extra burden they are placing on the health-care system.

“I think right now it’s a question of fairness for the 90 per cent of the population who made some sacrifices,” Legault said. “I think we owe them this kind of measure.”

The government last week announced it would expand the vaccine passport system by requiring proof of vaccination to enter liquor and cannabis stores. Health Minister Christian Dube has said he was mulling extending the passport further, to shopping malls and personal care salons…read more.

House Republicans Release Damning Fauci Emails Suggesting Concealed Knowledge Of Lab Leak

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have released several emails which suggest Dr. Anthony Fauci may have known that Covid-19 originated from a lab leak, and that it may have been “intentionally genetically manipulated.”

“We write to request a transcribed interview of Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director, U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Excerpts of emails we are making public today (see enclosed Appendix I) reveal that Dr. Fauci was warned of two things: (1) the potential that COVID-19 leaked from the Wuhan Institute Virology (WIV) and (2) the possibility that the virus was intentionally genetically manipulated. It is imperative we investigate if this information was conveyed to the rest of the government and whether this information would have changed the U.S. response to the pandemic,” reads the letter from Reps. James Comer and Jim Jordan to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.

The letter goes on to state that Fauci – despite claiming otherwise on multiple occasions – was in fact aware of the monetary relationship between NIAID, the NIH, EcoHealth Alliance and the Wuhan lab – by January 27, 2020. Fauci also knew that EcoHealth and NIAID worked together to craft a grant policy which would ‘sidestep the gain-of-function moratorium at the time.’

“This allowed EcoHealth to complete dangerous experiments on novel bat coronaviruses – and with little oversight – that would have otherwise been blocked by the moratorium,” the letter continues, adding that in January 2020, Fauci was also aware that EcoHealth was delinquent in submitting an annual progress report to NIAID, “presumably to hide a gain-of-function experiment conducted on infectious and potentially lethal bat coronaviruses.”…read more.