A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading today on the Web
Credit Suisse global strategists are recommending high-quality stocks (as measured by dependable cash flow generation) with strong price momentum. The team's top investment theme is "potential of the internet," and they have narrowed things down to 27 stock picks accordingly,
"@SBarlow_ROB High quality socks with momentum in CS' top "Potential of the Internet' investment theme" – (full table) Twitter @SBarlow_ROB
See also: "@SBarlow_ROB [Morgan Stanley] High conviction stocks into earnings seasons" – (Table) Twitter
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Bloomberg reports on signals that Liberal Party tendencies toward sanctimony doesn't work as well in trade negotiations as it does in federal elections,
"The U.S. is serious about its threat to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement if there's no breakthrough on proposals the Trump administration has made … U.S. officials are particularly frustrated with what they see as Canada's intransigence at the table… At a negotiating round in November in Mexico City, U.S. officials were flabbergasted when Canadian negotiators delivered a presentation suggesting the U.S. proposal on autos is misguided, an approach the U.S. considered to be more of a lecture than a counteroffer."
"U.S. Is Losing Patience With Nafta Talks, Sources Say" – Bloomberg
"@Alex_Panetta The U.S. view. I've heard similar - with Americans miffed about 3 things, in particular, from Canada: leaks of their proposals, constant talk of red lines and non-starters, and the lecturing rather than counter-proposing." – Twitter
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Crude prices are weaker Friday morning on fears that the recent rally in the commodity price will result in a ramp up in U.S. shale production,
"[The International Energy Agency] warned that rapidly increasing production in the United States could threaten market balancing. "Explosive growth in the U.S. and substantial gains in Canada and Brazil will far outweigh potentially steep declines in Venezuela and Mexico," the IEA said of 2018 production."
"Oil prices fall as U.S. output rise outweighs crude stock falls" – Reuters
"IEA Sees 'Explosive' Growth in U.S. Oil Output as Prices Rally" – Bloomberg
"OMR: Is seventy plenty?" – IEA
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An Ireland-based gambling site puts the odds of Toronto being awarded the new Amazon headquarters a 14-to-1, the same as New York City and Philadelphia. Boston, Austin, Texas and Atlanta are the favourites .
I don't have any more information than anyone else, but I'd put my money on Boston because of the talent pool and the shorter flights to the U.K. and Europe for executives.
"The Problem With Courting Amazon" – The Atlantic
"Don't be fooled, Toronto is still a long-shot for Amazon's next HQ" – Willis, Report on Business
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Tweet of the Day: " @SBarlow_ROB Good point from UBS: "Real rates are stable, suggesting no rethink of trend growth, but also providing little resistance to the cyclical rally." – (research excerpt) Twitter
Diversion: Gregg Popovich is a fascinating, well-rounded person and I think his management style is interesting even for non-basketball fans,
" The Five Pillars of Popovich" – Business Week
Scott Barlow