Five things you need to know before starting your workday on March 27

Good morning everyone. Shari Kulha here, hoping to spark a smile before your workday begins. It was on this day in 2001 that California increased electricity prices by 46 per cent. Not that bumping hydro rates is funny, but a California Public Utilities Commissioner said it was necessary to prevent the utilities going bankrupt: “There is just no blood left in the turnip.”

GAUNTLET THROWN

Yesterday, China launched its crude futures exchange, its first commodity derivative open to foreign investors. Pricing oil in renminbi and launching a trading hub will give the world’s largest energy consumer more power in pricing crude sold to Asia. The Shanghai International Energy Exchange will boost the currency’s value and divert trading away from the U.S. dollar.

Quote: “This is the single biggest change in capital markets, maybe of all time,” said Hayden Briscoe, APAC head of fixed income at UBS Asset Management.

HARDHATS, EVERYONE

The Federal Court of Appeal declined to hear a B.C. government appeal of a ruling by the NEB, Geoffrey Morgan reports. This means Kinder Morgan Canada can seek construction permits for the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley yesterday cheered the victory, which now lets oil companies in her province expand to new markets outside the U.S.

Quote: “It wasn’t that we won the decision, it was the court wouldn’t even hear it. So it was a pretty definitive victory for the pipeline and for the people of Alberta and Canada,” Notley said.

BETTER PROSPECTS

And speaking of the oilpatch, slumping stock prices show that the oil and gas sector remains out of favour with investors. Not even Canadian institutional investors can be convinced to buy Canadian energy company shares, because of the lack of export pipeline space, Canada’s failure to match U.S. cuts to corporate taxes, our higher personal taxes and reviews and changes to regulatory systems. The Trans Mountain victory on appeal (above) could see that start to change; we’ll watch for today’s industry reaction.

Quote: “The question we are continually asked, whenever I’m on the road, is, ‘Why would we invest in Canada right now, when there isn’t a consistent policy on energy or the economy?’,” said Whitecap CEO Grant Fagerheim.

… AND THEY’RE BACK

The markets, that is. Yesterday saw the biggest one-day gain since August 2015, with 20 stocks climbing for every one that fell. Major benchmarks climbed more than 2.7 per cent on signs that an escalation of trade tensions was beginning to ease. We’ve got our helmets on to see whether the markets continue to climb, or freefall again on fresh news from some surprising quarter.

Quote: The Trump trade group tends “to negotiate to a more reasonable position, or more toward the centre, as time goes on,” said Maggie Gage at Credit Suisse. “We’re cautiously optimistic that that will apply here, too, with the Chinese tariffs.”

FIGHTING ON

This former Khmer Rouge slave battled to survive imprisonment during a horrid war. Once in the U.S. and having worked in debt collection at Wells Fargo for years, he became the whistleblower that accused it of fraud. He was incensed that the bank could demand money from customers without proof that they owed it. He sued, and it took five years to come to trial. Then one day, it was over. Wells Fargo was in trouble, and he was rich.

Quote: “I have a story to tell,” he said. “This is a true story…”