Workin’ 9 to 5: Monday is a new day for investors after a sharp sell-off on Friday. Futures are in the green and gold is flirting with records. There is no real catalyst this morning for the enthusiasm, but we will get a read of US jobs tomorrow which is expected to be subdued. The bad news is good news trade seems to be winning out the day this morning in hopes that it will drive future rate cuts.
Tame: Inflation in Canada increased a little less than anticipated and held steady at 2.2%. Core measures of inflation also decelerated. This likely supports the Bank of Canada’s decision to keep rates steady. Some economists have speculated that barring anything major, the Bank of Canada could leave rates unchanged for the entire year. “Overall though, core inflation is still too high to allow further interest rate cuts, albeit not strong enough to justify recent market pricing for hikes before the end of 2026,” wrote CIBC’s Andrew Grantham after the print, “We continue to forecast the Bank of Canada to hold its overnight rate steady at its current level throughout next year.”
Canadians at the gate: Shares of OpenDoor are popping 4% in the pre-market after announcing that former Coinbase Canada president Lucas Matheson would be joining as President of OpenDoor and current interim CFO Christy Schwartz would become permanent. The meme stock has a cult-like following as fresh management tries to reinvigorate the home sales platform in the US. Much of the renewed interest was catalyzed with Eric Jackson, who has been on the podcast twice. He helped to install Kaz Nejatian, former Shopify President, as CEO in September. So to recap, a Canadian activist investor and a Canadian CEO working to turnaround an embattled US housing platform have just picked another Canadian as President of the business.
ByeRobot: iRobot is plunging 70% in the pre-market after declaring bankruptcy and handing itself over to its Chinese supplier three years after Amazon’s proposal to buy the robot vacuum maker was ultimately scuppered by European regulators. At the time, US regulators also had concern about Amazon’s proposed purchase. With the Roomba vacuum maker unable to be financially viable on its own, their journey as a public company has come to an end and shareholders will be wiped out. I wonder how those regulators, who were very concerned about the technology ending up in Amazon’s hands feel about it ending up in China’s instead.
Notable calls: Lots of changes this morning. BMO is shuffling its ratings on energy names upgrading Birchcliff to buy and downgrading Imperial Oil. Birchcliff is “better positioned than ever” to achieve its growth targets after years of delay, according to BMO’s Randy Ollenberger. Imperial Oil is downgraded mostly on valuation as the stock is up 47% in 2025, well ahead of the index (+19%) and crude itself (-20%). Sticking with energy, South Bow got an upgrade at Jefferies to buy. South Bow sports a 7% dividend yield and big growth prospects that aren’t being factored into the shares, argues Jefferies’ Sam Burwell. The price target is $45/share. National Bank is upgrading Atkins Realis after a short-lived stint on hold. Nationals’ Maxim Sytchev downgraded in June and the stock has underperformed since then. He is back to buy saying new nuclear build announcements could “reinvigorate fund flows” into the stock. “…This also makes the name different vs. other consulting peers that all of a sudden got grouped into the ‘AI losers basket,'” wrote Sytchev. Texas Instruments is under pressure in the pre-market after Goldman double downgraded the stock to sell, warning that margins and earnings recovery will be worse than peers.
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