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NEW EPISODE: EQB was the worst-performing bank stock last year. A housing slowdown, a spike in provisions for credit losses, and the sudden passing of longtime CEO Andrew Moor left investors with a lot to digest. But in the banking sector, there’s an old market adage — “worst will be first” — the idea that last year’s laggard often leads the group in the following year. On this episode of In the Money with Amber Kanwar, Amber sits down with Chadwick Westlake, the new President & CEO of EQB. Westlake opens up about stepping into leadership during a moment of crisis, stabilizing the business, and resetting focus at a disruptive Canadian financial institution. TUNE IN HERE!
Crisis strategists, publicists, legal experts, and corporate executives are all descending at the most important summit in Europe this week. No, not Davos. The Beckham residence. Brooklyn Beckham’s explosive rebuke of his parents, David Beckham and Victoria Beckham, has everyone on the internet asking one question: where are the tapes? Forget the Epstein files, we need footage of Victoria’s dance with her son at his wedding. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, that’s on you. The most defining crisis of our time is playing out right in front of us, try to keep up.
Here are five things to know:
Green means red: The pursuit of Greenland is roiling global markets as US President Donald Trump expands his threats of tariffs. Futures are plunging more than 1% while gold is surging 3% to a fresh record of $4,735/oz. Silver is also along for the ride. The real pain is in the bond market with the US 10-year yield spiking to 4.2% – a five month high. Trump said in addition to targeting 8 European countries for 10% tariff, he would install stiff levies on France’s champagne. This is a high stakes set-up for US President Donald Trump’s address to Davos tomorrow. It was previously thought he would focus on domestic issues like housing affordability but he could use the speech to double down on Greenland. There are also a bunch of side meetings aimed at talking him off his “all or nothing” Greenland position. Today we will hear from Prime Minister Mark Carney who speaks at 10:30. If that wasn’t enough, Japan is also rocking the bond market with a steep sell off after the newly elected Prime Minister proposed expansionary fiscal stimulus (including no taxes on food for two years). If ever there was a day for so-called bond vigilantes, today is it. Between keeping the US and Japan in line, I hope they had their Wheaties. Tech is bearing the brunt of the sell off this morning. For stock investors, geopolitics has been a poor guide for stock market returns and these events have proven to be buying opportunities.
Regionals: It is a mixed bag from US regional banks that are reporting this morning. KeyCorp is under pressure, down 1.3%, despite profit, revenue, and net interest income coming in above expectations. I don’t really see an obvious blemish in the bank, which is partially owned by Canada’s Scotiabank (15% stake). Expenses were also lower than expected. The outlook for profit was also higher and they signalled the ability to keep expenses under control. US Bancorp is up nearly 2% in the pre-market after profit and its outlook for 2026 came in higher than expected. Recall last week it announced it would be buying broker dealer BTIG for $725 million in a bid to boost their capital markets business. Fifth Third Bank is down nearly 2% on what looked like a solid quarter with earnings beating, although aided by a lower tax rate. Fifth Third’s purchase of Comerica will close in 2026 and supported their outlook for 2026 which was slightly higher than consensus. Taken together, the banks mostly delivered with very little to quibble about. What’s interesting is that regional banks are outperforming their large cap peers since earning season kicked off last week. This follows the broader market trend we have seen away from large caps and into smaller caps with the Russell 2000 crushing the S&P 500 so far in 2026.
M is for mad: 3M is falling 5% in the pre-market after its outlook fell short of expectations. The momentum around the industrial giants turn around which helped power the stock through 2025, is facing a reality check in 2026. An uneven economy and wild policy swings could show up in the bottom line. The quarter was also lacklustre with sales slightly missing estimates. Margins were also a problem spot – expanding but not as much as expected. This shows that recent investments in technology and tariffs have taken a bite. When there is a turnaround, momentum is a must and the commentary from analysts is that more needs to happen in order to get the stock moving.
Artic blast: Natural gas prices are surging 25% right now as forecasts show an artic blast will be sweeping across North America. The average temperature is expected to be 4 degrees below normal, stoking demand for natural gas for heating. Watch producers like Tourmaline, Peyto, and Birchcliff.
Notable call: JPMorgan is shuffling its ratings of Canadian energy producers downgrading Cenovus, upgrading Suncor, and trimming its price target of Canadian Natural Resources. It is part of a broad sector outlook which favours US majors over Canadian integrateds due to relative valuation. The downgrade of Cenovus is primarily on valuation with analyst Arun Jayaram complementing “execution” at the business but saying “relative valuation is no longer compelling” especially with the wider discount on Canadian crude. On the other had, Jayaram feels Suncor’s valuation remains compelling in addition to its balance sheet and “return of 100% of its free cash flow to shareholders.”
Don’t miss our next episode with one of the biggest hedge fund managers in Canada!
