Tausi Insider

As TC Energy Corp TRP-T prepares to unload C$5-billion (US$3.7-billion) in assets next year, investors and analysts say the North American pipeline operator has plenty of options without touching its core gas business. Chief executive Francois Poirier cleared up any ambiguities this week when asked how much of TC’s portfolio is in the shop window. “I remember reading a book once called Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers ,” Mr. Poirier said at the company’s investor day. “There are no sacred cows.” Calgary, Alta.-based TC is widely known for its Keystone oil pipeline, a critical artery for moving Canadian oil to U.S. refiners that dominated headlines over the past decade for an expansion that ultimately failed. But moving natural gas around the United States, Canada and Mexico is the bigger part of TC’s business. TC should consider selling Keystone along with its stake in Ontario’s Bruce Power nuclear facility, since they are not part of its core business, said Rob Thummel, senior port...

The CIBC headquarters in Toronto on Oct. 25, 2021. Evan Buhler/The Canadian Press Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CM-T could be forced to pay more than US$1-billion in damages after being found liable for losses incurred by a New York hedge fund over two debt deals dating back to the 2008 U.S. housing crisis. CIBC said Friday it intends to appeal the decision handed down by a New York State court late Thursday, which found the bank liable for damages in a case filed by Cerberus Capital Management LP in November, 2015. Banks prepare for economic turbulence after mixed annual results Canada’s Big Six banks reported fourth-quarter earnings this week. Here’s what you need to know While the court has not determined the exact amount the bank will have to pay, Cerberus has claimed damages of nearly US$1.1-billion, though CIBC said it will “vigorously dispute” that figure at a Dec. 19 hearing. CIBC said it expects to record a charge against its earnings for the first quarter of 2023, whic...

People shop at a mall in Arcadia, Calif., on Nov. 25. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images U.S. retail sales fell more than expected in November, but consumer spending remains supported by a tight labour market, with the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits decreasing by the most in five months last week. The biggest decrease in retail sales in 11 months reported by the Commerce Department on Thursday was likely payback after sales surged in October as Americans started their holiday shopping early to take advantage of discounts by businesses desperate to clear excess inventory. Economists also noted that goods prices tumbled in November, which could have weighed on retail sales last month. The discounts by retailers were also probably a drag on the dollar value of sales. Retail sales are mostly goods and are not adjusted for inflation. “It is hard to know at this point if the November weakness represented a fundamental change in the trend or reflected some inevitable c...

A worker arranges slabs in the factory at IceStone, a manufacturer of recycled glass countertops and surfaces, in New York, on June 3, 2021. ANDREW KELLY/Reuters New York State manufacturing contracted sharply in January as orders collapsed and employment growth stalled, pointing to continued weakness in national factory activity, and little improvement was expected over the next six months. The survey from the New York Federal Reserve on Tuesday offered an early read of conditions in one of the sectors hardest hit by the Federal Reserve’s fastest interest rate hiking cycle since the 1980s. It showed slumping demand and improved raw material supplies slowing inflation at the factory gate. National manufacturing has been shrinking since November, according to data from the Institute for Supply Management. “A variety of manufacturing surveys have been weak across recent months and the Empire State survey suggests that this weakness continued, or perhaps intensified, early this year,” s...