A roundup of what The Globe and Mail’s market strategist Scott Barlow is reading today on the Web
It is not an exaggeration to call Mary Meeker’s annual report on Internet trends the most important release in technology. The full presentation, in all its 294-page glory, was posted by Recode.
Key concepts are voice recognition, which for Google has reached an important 95-per-cent accuracy level, the acceleration of cloud computing revenue growth, and artificial intelligence as an increasing share of corporate technology spending,
“Mary Meeker’s 2018 internet trends report: All the slides, plus analysis” – Recode
“@SBarlow_ROB Meeker: Cloud revenue growth re-accelerating” – (excerpt) Twitter
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There does not seem to be a lot of room for compromise regarding the Trans Mountain pipeline, as Maclean’s reports,
“[ the B.C. governing coalition] promised to “immediately employ every tool available to the new government to stop the expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline, the seven-fold increase in tanker traffic on our coast, and the transportation of raw bitumen through our province.””
The column also notes that prime minister Trudeau has, to some extent, bet his political future on getting the pipeline built, which makes the feds’ position immutable.
“The federal government gets Trans Mountain—and B.C. gets a new, tougher foe” – Maclean’s
“John Horgan: ‘It doesn’t matter who owns the Kinder Morgan pipeline, the risks remain’” – Maclean’s
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The Canadian government has planned retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods if the White House goes ahead with duties on aluminum and steel. This would take the trade situation from a diplomatic negotiation to full trade war,
“Two sources said Canada has prepared detailed options for retaliation, including an investigation into steel dumping from several countries, including the United States, with the possibility of imposing its own tariffs. Canada is also considering imposing levies on high-profile U.S.-made consumer goods and luxury items, with the goal of hurting the United States in a visible way without damaging Canada’s economy by restricting necessary imports.”
“Trump set to impose steel, aluminum tariffs on Canada” – Report on Business
“China says reserves right to retaliate to U.S. actions against its investments” – Reuters
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Crude prices are again lower Thursday morning after a Wednesday report on U.S. inventories showed a higher build than expected,
’“With the OPEC meeting still another three weeks away, oil prices are likely to remain sensitive to headlines,” ANZ bank said in a note.
Global inventories have been broadly falling, but U.S. crude stockpiles rose by 1 million barrels in the week to May 25, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API). That beat analyst expectations for a decrease of 525,000 barrels.”
“Oil retreats but cautious before OPEC meeting” – Reuters
“Exxon says the world needs even more oil” – Bloomberg
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Tweet of the Day:
Diversion: “Why Does Sweetness Taste So Good?” – The Atlantic