Bloomberg holds economic summit in Toronto

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The prognosis for the Canadian economy is: we’re in for a couple of slow years, but it’s not doom and gloom as many strategists on both sides of the border see Canada as slow, but stable. That’s the feeling from leaders at today’s Bloomberg Business Summit in Toronto.

Once called the most accurate strategist on Wall Street, Brian Belski is the chief strategist for BMO Capital Markets. “It’s not as bleak as everyone would tell you.”

He says we can expect a correction in areas like the housing market, but we’re not in a bubble. “If you jump in a cab, and your cabbie’s talking about this great condo that he’s flipped, that’s when you should worry.”

“They bought a condo and sold it 30 days later, that’s when you should worry about excess. We’re nowhere near that type of behaviour.”

Another area of concern is last winter’s drop in the price of oil. Once down to $45 dollars a barrel, the Alberta job market was hit hard but as ATB Financial’s chief economist Todd Hirsch puts it, “I think the worst case scenario is looking less and less likely, now that these prices have stabilized a bit, clawed their way up a little bit. I think what we’re looking at is a slow year both for Alberta and nationally.”

As part of the summit, a panel looked forward to this fall’s federal election, and Nik Nanos from Nanos Research says our economic stability may have seen a turn in their polls. “It’s the direction of the numbers that count. Right now, the direction’s favouring the Conservatives, the Liberals are starting to slide, and the New Democrats have actually had a few good weeks too.”

And the panel on the economics of sport are predicting a very bright future for professional leagues, and those who broadcast live events. Says Lyle Wilpon of BMO mergers and acquisitions, “the desire for sports, correlates into higher values in television contracts, and ultimately has been leading to higher values in franchises.”

When asked whether the NFL will come to Toronto, Larry Tanenbaum said he thought it would be a foregone conclusion that the league would come to the city, but it has to look after Los Angeles first.

Additional video: CHCH’s Sean Leathong interviews summit participants one-on-one:

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