Canada just announced two new pipelines — so where’s private capital? The CEO of one of Canada’s largest pipeline operators weighs in. On this special episode of In the Money with Amber Kanwar, Amber sits down with Greg Ebel, President and CEO of Enbridge (TSX: ENB, NYSE: ENB), live from the Calgary Stampede for his first interview since the pipeline announcements — including the Northern Shield West Coast pipeline and the Alberta-Ontario pipeline proposal. Greg explains why Enbridge isn’t a proponent on either project, and why he thinks the industry’s focus on pipelines has been “ass-backwards” — the real bottleneck, he argues, is production, not pipes.
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I’d like to believe there are few signs I am hurtling toward a major birthday this fall. I’m doing my best to keep my mid-life crisis impulses in check and suppress the urge to do something crazy like have a mid-life crisis baby or get bangs. I did, however, purchase a weighted vest recently so I am not completely immune to the cliche.
Here are five things to know today:
It all comes down to this: Markets are under pressure ahead of a catalyst filled week as US and Iran tensions remain elevated. Oil is up 3% while gold and silver slip on renewed fears of higher rates thanks to inflation. We will get further details on the rate path forward US inflation hits the tape tomorrow morning – we could see a negative print month over month. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh will be pressed on what the fresh data means for interest rates when he testifies in front of Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday. The so-called Humphrey-Hawkins testimony will test his ability to remain tight lipped about what comes next (remember, Warsh doesn’t like forward guidance). The Bank of Canada will also weigh in on interest rates with a rate decision on Wednesday. They are widely expected to hold rates for a sixth consecutive meeting. “The Bank has made it clear that the hurdle for a policy shift, in either direction, is quite high at the moment,” wrote BMO’s Benjamin Reitzes. And then there are earnings. Banks kick off second quarter earning season tomorrow with JPMorgan, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citi and Wells Fargo all reporting. Consensus expects this quarter to be gangbusters with 23.6% profit growth for the aggregate S&P 500 companies according to FactSet (Financials only expected to grow 6.6%). This would be the second straight quarter of +20% profit growth and is a test of the S&P 500’s elevated valuation.
Bad memory: Robust sales growth from Taiwan Semiconductor isn’t enough to save memory stocks from a sharp sell off today. June sales at Taiwan Semi increased nearly 68% from last year to a record setting the company up for an earnings beat when it reports Thursday. Still, we are seeing big pressure across the chipmakers this morning – particularly the memory stocks with South Korea’s SK Hynix plunging 10% in pre-market after just going public last week. The past month has been tumultuous for the sector – down 11% from its record high. Under the hood names like Micron, Intel, and Lam Research are down 20% over the past month. Interestingly, Nvidia has actually perked up over that time and has started to outperform peers after a year of lagging behind.
Waterous strikes: Greenfire Resources is popping 4% in the pre-market after it announced it is buying Connacher Oil & Gas in an all-cash deal worth $1.27 billion. Adam Waterous took control of Greenfire in late 2024 and prior to that it was a basket case of execution issues and poor asset quality. Connacher filed for insolvency and was delisted in 2016 and has been a private company undergoing restructuring since then. With the acquisition, Greenfire will gain control of the “Great Divide” oil sands project which will produce about 20,000 barrels per day this year and has a 62-year reserve life index. The asset is right beside Greenfire’s Hangingstone assets. Greenfire says the deal will allow them to reduce expenses by about $30 million per year and give them production of about 34,000 barrels of oil per day.
Buyify: Shopify is getting upgraded to buy at Jefferies on the agentic AI commerce opportunity. This is the second upgrade in less than a week and comes as the stock is down 24% so far this year. Agentic commerce is when an AI agent essentially handles every step of the shopping experience from comparison shopping, to adding to cart, to executing a purchase. Shopify’s AI tools are being increasingly used by merchants on the platform, and that should allow the company to raise prices argues Jefferies in the upgrade. They also think there is a good chance that the company will beat earnings expectations when it reports August 5th. The price target is $160US/share.
Ringing the register: Sun Life Financial is being downgraded at Evercore following a 35% rally in the shares in 2026. The analyst believes that headaches in its US insurance business aren’t over yet and that there may be concerns cropping up in its lucrative Asian business. Sun Life benefits from mainland Chinese visitors going to Hong Kong to purchase life insurance. The analyst notes that recent regulatory crackdown on outflows in China could pressure the market. “Shares of AIA and Prudential plc, who are major players in that market, traded off while shares of SLF and MFC remained largely intact,” observed Thomas Gallagher of Evercore in the downgrade. He argues that Sun Life’s premium valuation may no longer be justified in light of these risks.
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