These are stories Report on Business is following Tuesday, June 7. Get the top business stories through the day on BlackBerry or iPhone by bookmarking our mobile-friendly webpage.
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Europe looks at second bailout The first bailout for Greece isn't even done yet, but European leaders are already looking at a second package to aid the debt-burdened nation.
According to Reuters today, officials are looking at a possible three-year deal worth up to €100-billion. That would replace the existing aid.
One wonders how much money Greece will continue borrowing, and when it all comes home to roost.
Having said that, markets are taking some solace today in suggestions from the chief of the European Central Bank that he's comfortable with Greek creditors effectively rolling over their debt via new bonds.
Such a move, said Jean-Claude Trichet, would not constitute a default.
The ECB, one of three groups involved in Grece's aid package, has opposed a debt restructuring, though creditors buying fresh Greek debt is "something the ECB would consider apprpriate," he said yesterday in Montreal.
"The rollovers the [EU finance ministers]are talking about will be entirely voluntary," said Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics.
"People who hold bonds that are going to mature soon - like the lucky folks who own the €6.6-billion in 3.9-per-cent bonds due to mature on Aug. 20 - are going to be asked to accept newly issued bonds instead of cash ... voluntarily," he said in a research report.
"Well, doesn't that just put people on the spot ... So we are betting that the 'voluntary participation in the bond rollover proposed by the EU politicos will not see a huge take-up in the market."
Canada a retail hot spot Canada may be a hotspot for retail expansion, but lease costs in the country's fanciest downtown shopping districts are still a relative bargain compared to other global centres, Globe and Mail real estate writer Steve Ladurantaye reports.
Toronto's Bloor Street area was the priciest in Canada at $291.66 (U.S.) a square foot, according to Colliers International. Toronto is the only Canadian city to make the Top 50 in the report, coming in as the world's 37th most expensive retail leasing market sandwiched between Perth, Australia and Athens.
Canadian workers head abroad International corporate relocations froze during the recession, but that trend is now thawing, The Globe and Mail's Tavia Grant writes.
Canadian firms are assigning employees around the globe in growing numbers, according to a Canadian Employee Relocation Council poll to be published today. Top five destinations are the U.S., the EU, China, Australia and South America.
Bombardier scores another order Bombardier Inc. says it has scored another order for its new C Series aircraft.
An airline, which Bombardier says has requested anonymity, has placed a firm order for three planes, with options on three more, meaning a value of between $186-million (U.S.) and $385-million.
"As we have been saying for some time now, the C Series family of aircraft is an unmatched value proposition in its segment," Charles Fuller, senior vice-president of sales, marketing and asset management at Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, said in a statement.
"The orders announced last week and today confirm that the C Series aircraft's widebody-style comfort, exceptional performance capabilities, low cash operating costs and environmental credentials make it an ideal air transport solution worldwide."
Last week, Bombardier ended a C Series sales drought with a 10-unit order to Sweden's Braathens Aviation.
"We believe that the order announced today is a positive development although it is not financially material," said analyst Benoit Poirier of Desjardins.
"It increases the positive momentum around the C Series, and we believe that Bombardier is confident it will announce further orders at the Paris Air Show to be held on June 20-22 (the company says it does not time its orders with airshows)," he said in a research note.
"We believe the stars are aligned for Qatar Airways to announce a C Series order at the air show, although we do not expect an order from a Chinese customer. However, we believe an order from a Chinese customer could be placed at Aviation Expo, which will be held in Beijing on Sept. 21-24 and where the C919 (168-190 seats) will be on display."
TimberWest finds no better deal TimberWest Forest Corp. says it hasn't found anyone who could top the proposed $1-billion takeover by British Columbia Investment Management Corp. and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board.
"TimberWest ... announced today that its 60-day 'go-shop solicitation process has not yielded a superior proposal, indicating that the proposed acquisition of the company by two leading Canadian pension funds will deliver maximum value to unitholders," the Vancouver-based company said in a statement.
TimberWest said its adviser, BMO Nesbitt Burns, contacted 31 parties, five of which went over the books. The deadline passed with no better offer, it said, and it doesn't expect one to emerge.
TD boosts Cenovus TD Securities has boosted its outlook for shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. after it unveiled its 10-year production and spending timeline yesterday.
Analyst Menno Hulshof hiked his 12-month price target to $41 from $40, though kept his recommendation at "hold" after Cenovus said it planned to boost its oil sands output six-fold over the next decade, as The Globe and Mail's Carrie Tait reports today.
The new production targets add about 50,000 barrels a day to oil sands production.
Cenovus now sees total oil production of about 500,000 barrels a day by the end of 2021, and oil sands output of more than 400,000 in the same time frame, Capital spending is expected to average $3-billion to $3.5-billion a year over the next 10 years.
"These new disclosures are a clear positive, although the sheer volume of capital moving into [steam-assisted gravity drainage]development is becoming a concern," TD said.
Sunshine reportedly eyes IPO Alberta's Sunshin Oilsands Ltd. is reportedly looking at an initial public offering that would raise $1-billion (U.S.) in Hong Kong this year.
Sunshin, backed by Chinese and other investors, have chosen BOC International Holdings, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley to handle the IPO, Bloomberg News said.
In from the cold It's not how Ian Fleming might have ended the saga of Anna Chapman, but the celebrated Russian spy is now in the venture capital industry, trying to help Prime Minister Vladimir Putin keep comrades at home as entrepreneurs.
Ms. Chapman, part of a sleeper cell kicked out of the United States last year, has been an adviser with Moscow's Fondservisbank, an investor in the tech sector, for several months. She also edits Venture Business News, Bloomberg News reports today.
Ms. Chapman, celebrated as a modern day "Bond girl," told Bloomberg she hopes she can play a role in the success of Skolkovo, a Moscow suburb that has been pegged as a tech sector, Russia's answer to Silicon Valley.
"I've always been fascinated with technology," said the 29-year-old, whose real name is Anna Vasil'yevna Kushchyenko. "And right now, I want to make my own input into developing this industry, the venture capital industry."
In Economy Lab today
Yesterday's budget was an implicit admission of a problem whose existence the Conservatives had spent quite some time denying: Ottawa is running a structural deficit that won't go away on its own when the economy fully recovers from the recession. Stephen Gordon examines the issue.
In International Business today
As Greece's interior minister puts it, "anyone who drives the nation toward elections now will be effectively be pushing it over the cliff." Anthee Carassava reports from Athens.
In Personal Finance today
- E-services are a good substitution for the mailman
- Plane, train or automotible? Which way makes the most financial sense
- Why a later Tax Freedom Day is a good thing
From today's Report on Business