American railway regulator the Surface Transportation Board has blocked Canadian National Railway's bid to buy Kansas City Southern in its current form because the deal would include a voting trust that runs afoul of the rules.
CN's offer has the support of KCS's board, which has rejected CP's offer. But CP has the advantage that the Surface Transportation Board has no objection to its offer despite incorporating a voting trust structure of its own.
The voting trust in question is a structure ostensibly set up by CN to keep Kansas City Southern's assets independent and while the deal gets ironed out, but the regulator's ruling says in its current form, such a voting trust runs afoul of regulations.
"The proposed use of a voting trust in the context of the impending control application does not meet the standards under the current merger regulations and therefore denies the applicants' motion for authorization to establish and use the proposed voting trust," the STB said.
Amtrak had opposed CN's voting trust, saying its pledge to divest the Baton Rouge to New Orleans line will harm future passenger service in Louisiana.
CN says it has the support of thousands of KCS customers and other stakeholders for the deal. The railway had no immediate comment on the STB ruling, but previously said it is committed to working out any issues that arise.
"As we have stated before, we are committed to addressing any competitive concerns under the current merger rules in order to successfully complete a CN-KCS combination," CN said earlier this summer when it was announced the STB would review the deal.
The decision does not kill the proposal entirely, but does mean that CN will have to completely rework the details of the offer if it wishes to continue.
EDMONTON --
Alberta Health Services employees, including frontline healthcare workers, will have to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
AHS announced its vaccine mandate on Tuesday and required all workers to be fully immunized by Oct. 31. The latest day employees can get their second dose to be in compliance of the new policy is Oct. 16.
“This is an extraordinary but necessary measure to help protect our vital frontline healthcare teams and help us maintain a safe environment for all patients and clients” said AHS president and CEO Dr. Verna Yiu.
The mandate also applies to employees at Alberta Precision Labs, Carewest, CapitalCare and Covenant Health, as well as contracted continuing care providers and healthcare workers.
AHS employees who can't get vaccinated due to a medical reason or a reason protected under the Alberta Human Rights Act "will be reasonably accommodated," AHS said.
The U.S. rail regulator dealt a blow to Canadian National Railway Co.’s takeover dreams as it blocked CN’s first of two steps to take over U.S. carrier Kansas City Southern.
The Surface Transportation Board on Tuesday rejected CN’s proposal to create the voting trust in which it planned to independently own and operate KCS while awaiting STB approval of the takeover itself.
“The board has determined that the proposed voting trust is not consistent with the public interest standard under the board’s merger regulations,” the STB said in a statement.
The STB’s rejection throws into question CN’s US$29.8-billion for the U.S. railway announced in May and could allow rival bidder Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. to re-enter the battle to build a railway that links Canada, the United States and Mexico.
In a 33-page ruling, the STB said CN and KCS did not convince the regulator the voting trust would be in the public interest.
The railways “have failed to establish that their use of a voting trust would have public benefits, and the board finds that using a voting trust, in the context of the impending control application, would give rise to potential public interest harms relating to both competition and divestiture. Accordingly, applicants’ motion to approve the use of a voting trust will be denied,” the STB said.
STB rulings can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals. However, appealing a unanimous decision by a regulator while awaiting a ruling on the takeover from the same regulator would place CN in an awkward situation. And given the public interest concerns the STB raised, CN’s takeover appears to be a long shot.
Mathieu Gaudreault, a CN spokesman, declined to comment.
CN and KCS’s next moves were not immediately known. KCS shareholders, who are scheduled to vote on the CN takeover on Sept. 3, face a choice between approving a CN offer that does not come with the immediate payout that a voting trust would present, and waiting to pursue a cheaper offer from CP that has an already approved trust.
Shares of KCS tumbled on the news, falling to about US$284 from about US$293 on the New York Stock Exchange. CP shares also slipped, dropping to about $87.30 from above $90 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. CN shares rose slightly.
Voting trusts are features of some U.S. takeovers that are intended to preserve the operation independence and viability of an economically important company during the lengthy period in which the takeover is reviewed by regulators. Shareholders of the target company see the immediate benefit by selling their shares into the voting trust, which then operates the company independently of the would-be buyer. If the takeover is ultimately rejected, the company is sold out of the trust.
The STB cited opposition from groups that represent large rail customers, who argued CN would have no incentive to compete with a KCS that is held in a trust. Shippers expressed worry about “irreversible and adverse” damage to the rail industry and service if CN decided to abandon the takeover or saw it rejected. Others feared CN would break up KCS if the takeover never happened, eliminating network links with other railways.
”Many rail users said they are concerned that the 45-per-cent price premium CN has offered to acquire KCS, and the related debt burden it will incur to finance the purchase, would create incentives for CN to charge higher prices to current customers or decrease investment in CN’s network in order to improve financial performance,” the STB said.
CN said it would add US$19.3-billion debt to complete the takeover.
CN’s cash and share offer, worth US$200 a share plus 1.126 in CN shares, topped the latest cash-and-stock bid by rival CP, worth US$27.2-billion or US$300 a share.
Both Canadian railways are competing to expand their routes and link three countries that trade largely tariff-free. KCS has a network that begins in the industrial and agricultural heartland of the United States, touches the consumer-rich cities of Dallas and Houston, the port of New Orleans and Mexico’s Gulf and Pacific coasts.
A takeover of KCS would be the first major U.S. railway deal in more than 20 years.
The STB has already given approval to CP for its voting trust, a structure designed to ensure a takeover target remains viable and independent while the regulator weighs the takeover.
A combined CP-KCS would be the smallest of the large railways operating in the United States, and a merger of the two is not expected to face high hurdles in the regulatory process.
KCS has 6,500 employees and an 11,400-kilometre network that runs south from Springfield, Ill., to U.S. and Mexican ports on the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean.
CP has a network that is 21,000 km, with 12,000 employees.
CN is Canada’s largest railway, with 24,500 employees and 32,000 kilometres of track in Canada and the United States.
The battle for KCS kicked off in March, when CP and the Kansas City, Mo.-based railway said they had a US$25.2-billion deal that would see Calgary-based CP take over the company to form a railway called CPKCS.
The STB approved the company’s voting trust, the first of two approvals required from the U.S. regulator.
However, CN moved to block that deal with a richer offer of US$29.8-billion. In May, KCS’s board accepted the CN deal, which came with US$700-million to cover the termination fee owed to CP.
CP refused to abandon the chase, despite being outbid. Keith Creel, CP’s chief executive officer, said he would not saddle CP with debt to engage in a bidding war. But on Aug. 10, he raised the share component of CP’s offer, and repeated his argument that CP’s deal was the only one that stood a chance of being approved by the STB.
The new bid increased the share exchange ratio but not the cash component of US$90 a share.
KCS’s board again declared CN’s bid superior.
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First contraction since the depths of the pandemic last year
Author of the article:
Bianca Bharti
Publishing date:
Aug 31, 2021 • 48 minutes ago • 2 minute read • 55 Comments
A pedestrian wearing a mask walks past COVID signs on a store in downtown Toronto in May. The third wave of the virus hit the economy harder than economists thought.Photo by Peter J Thompson/National Post
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Canada’s economic recovery lost momentum in the second quarter after posting consistent growth since the depths of the pandemic and delivered a shock to forecasters.
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The economy contracted 0.3 per cent between April and June, or 1.1 per cent on an annual basis, Statistics Canada reported on Aug. 31. Adding to the dismal report, the federal agency delivered preliminary data for July that showed gross domestic product declined 0.4 per cent, a worrisome start to the third quarter.
A decline in housing activity and slowed exports overshadowed gains in business investment, which caused a drag on the economic recovery. It’s the first quarterly drop in GDP since the second quarter of 2020, which saw the economy contract 11.3 per cent, or 38 per cent annualized.
“It’s a jaw-dropper,” BMO chief economist Douglas Porter told Reuters. “Completely different from what Statistics Canada was estimating and what every economist was predicting.”
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The data missed economists’ estimates, which had expected growth of 2.5 per cent for the quarter, and dampened initial optimism about broader business reopenings as much of the country exited the wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Canadian economy was not quite as resilient as pretty much everybody thought and there’s more ground to make up at this point,” said Benjamin Reitzes, economist and Canadian rates and macro strategist at Bank of Montreal. “It’s a longer road to recovery.”
Housing has been a sector of the economy that experienced a flurry of activity over the pandemic, driven in part by historically low interest rates and extraordinary government stimulus. But, in recent months the real estate market has cooled, which is reflected in the GDP data. Home ownership transfer costs, which includes all costs associated with the sale of a home, declined 17.7 per cent in the quarter.
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Exports also experienced negative growth in the quarter, dropping four per cent. Reitzes attributed the declines to woes in the manufacturing and auto sectors that are currently battling global chip shortages and supply-chain disruptions.
“Looking further ahead, clouds are forming for the Canadian economy,” Sri Thanabalasingam, a senior economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank, wrote in a note to clients.
The latest data suggests the Bank of Canada, which had forecast second-quarter growth of two per cent, will likely revise down its projections for GDP.
First contraction since the depths of the pandemic last year
Author of the article:
Bianca Bharti
Publishing date:
Aug 31, 2021 • 18 minutes ago • 2 minute read • 40 Comments
A pedestrian wearing a mask walks past COVID signs on a store in downtown Toronto in May. The third wave of the virus hit the economy harder than economists thought.Photo by Peter J Thompson/National Post
Article content
Canada’s economic recovery lost momentum in the second quarter after posting consistent growth since the depths of the pandemic and delivered a shock to forecasters.
Article content
The economy contracted 0.3 per cent between April and June, or 1.1 per cent on an annual basis, Statistics Canada reported on Aug. 31. Adding to the dismal report, the federal agency delivered preliminary data for July that showed gross domestic product declined 0.4 per cent, a worrisome start to the third quarter.
A decline in housing activity and slowed exports overshadowed gains in business investment, which caused a drag on the economic recovery. It’s the first quarterly drop in GDP since the second quarter of 2020, which saw the economy contract 11.3 per cent, or 38 per cent annualized.
The data completely missed economists’ estimates, which had expected growth of 2.5 per cent for the quarter, and dampened initial optimism about broader business reopenings as much of the country exited the wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article content
“The Canadian economy was not quite as resilient as pretty much everybody thought and there’s more ground to make up at this point,” said Benjamin Reitzes, economist and Canadian rates and macro strategist at Bank of Montreal. “It’s a longer road to recovery.”
Housing has been a sector of the economy that experienced a flurry of activity over the pandemic, driven in part by historically low interest rates and extraordinary government stimulus. But, in recent months the real estate market has cooled, which is reflected in the GDP data. Home ownership transfer costs, which includes all costs associated with the sale of a home, declined 17.7 per cent in the quarter.
Exports also experienced negative growth in the quarter, dropping four per cent. Reitzes attributed the declines to woes in the manufacturing and auto sectors that are currently battling global chip shortages and supply-chain disruptions.
“Looking further ahead, clouds are forming for the Canadian economy,” Sri Thanabalasingam, a senior economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank, wrote in a note to clients.
The latest data suggests the Bank of Canada, which had forecast second-quarter growth of two per cent, will likely revise down its projections for GDP.
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes's claims that she was abused by the company's chief operating officer, who at the time was her boyfriend, could complicate jury selection in her highly anticipated fraud trial, legal experts said.
The in-person questioning of prospective jurors, up to roughly 170, is expected to begin on Tuesday in federal court in San Jose, Calif.
Holmes, 37, has pleaded not guilty to defrauding Theranos investors and patients by falsely claiming that the company had developed technology to run a wide range of tests on a single drop of blood.
Known for dressing in a Steve Jobs-style black turtleneck, Holmes herself has long been an object of fascination in Silicon Valley.
Dramatic rise and fall
The meteoric rise and spectacular fall of Theranos turned Holmes from a young billionaire to a defendant who could face years in prison if convicted.
Her lawyers have said she may make the unusual move of taking the stand in her own defence, something that most defendants choose not to do because it opens them up to cross-examination by prosecutors.
Court papers submitted more than 18 months ago and unsealed late Friday revealed that Holmes had accused former Theranos COO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani of psychological and sexual abuse.
Holmes's lawyers said her "deference" to Balwani led her to believe allegedly false statements about parts of Theranos that he controlled, including a claim about a partnership with drugstore chain Walgreens.
The lawyers told U.S. District Judge Edward Davila, who is overseeing the case, last year that Holmes was "highly likely" to testify about these claims, court papers show.
Balwani denied allegations of abuse in a 2019 court filing. He is scheduled to be tried on fraud charges related to Theranos after the end of Holmes's trial.
Holmes became one of the youngest self-made billionaires in the United States by claiming her company, Theranos, had invented a device that could test a single drop of blood for numerous things, quickly and accurately. But prosecutors allege it was all a lie. (Jeff Chiu/The Associated Press)
Lawyers for Holmes and Balwani did not immediately return requests for comment on Monday.
33 potential jurors already excused
Before coming to court, 200 potential jurors filled out questionnaires about their familiarity with Holmes, who has been the subject of two books, two documentaries and a podcast. Thirty-three potential jurors were excused last week, including some who admitted bias.
Christina Marinakis, a jury consultant with IMS, a provider of expert and litigation consulting services, said prosecutors and Holmes's lawyers have likely combed through potential jurors' social media posts for their views about abuse, since they generally "don't like to talk about these things in open court."
Marinakis said jurors may be reluctant to admit to a tendency to view a claim of abuse as an "excuse" for Holmes's conduct.
"They may fear they are going to be looked at as misogynists," she said.
Holmes was 18 years old when she met Balwani, who is 20 years older than her, and started living with him around three years later, according to Bad Blood, Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou's best-selling book on the Theranos saga. The book chronicles the rise and fall of the company Holmes started at age 19, concluding that she was a "manipulator" whose "moral compass was badly askew."
Tracy Farrell, a jury consultant who has worked on sexual assault cases involving clergy, said Holmes's lawyers may favour younger jurors, especially women, who might question any attempt by prosecutors to show the abuse defence as "just another con."
"It creates a kind of dissonance for women," Farrell said. "We want to believe them."
Marc Agnifilo, a New York lawyer, said Holmes's case had some parallels with that of Martin Shkreli, a former client found guilty in 2017 of bilking investors in his hedge funds.
Before his trial, Shkreli gained notoriety for hiking the price of Daraprim, a drug that treats life-threatening parasitic infections, by more than 4,000 per cent in one day.
Shkreli "inspired this visceral negative reaction that was pretty challenging to keep out of the jury," Agnifilo said.
Holmes's lawyers, he said, should seek out "smart, open-minded jurors [who] are not just going to buy into the government's view of the facts."
Toronto, ON- August 16 - Construction on restoring the mouth of the Don River continues in the Portlands. Ontario remains in stage three of reopening as COVID-19 cases rise in a fourth wave. in Toronto. August 16, 2021. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
Canada’s economy expanded in June, following two consecutive monthly declines.
The July decline came from weakness in manufacturing, construction, and retail trade.
Continued easing of public health restrictions in June led to another strong month for accommodation and food services. The sector was up 15 per cent in June.
Statistics Canada also provided an update on second quarter GDP. The agency says substantial declines in home resale activity and exports pushed GDP down 0.3 per cent.
Ownership transfer costs were down 17 per cent. Although prices have been steady, national home sales have fallen for four straight months.
The decline follows three consecutive quarterly increases after a steep 11.3 per cent fall in the second quarter of 2020 during pandemic-related business shutdowns and travel restrictions.
Statistics Canada says housing investment has become the predominant contributor to economic activities and to capital stock. Residential stock surpassed non-residential.
Average housing investment for the last four quarters was 17 per cent higher than the average over the last five years.
Another key economic driver slowed. Consumer spending was relatively flat (up 0.7 per cent), and outpaced by increases in disposable income (up 2.2 per cent) and savings rate up (14.2 per cent).
The Bank of Canada is on a path of tapering its massive stimulus program called quantitative easing (QE) but some say that plan might get put on hold.
“The unexpected decline in second-quarter GDP all but removes the chance that the Bank of Canada will press on with its tapering plans at its meeting next week, particularly as the preliminary estimate implies that GDP fell in July as well,” said Stephen Brown, senior Canada economist at Capital Economics.
Jessy Bains is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jessysbains.
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The Ring of Fire is now a hands-on project for Australian mining magnate Andrew Forrest.
Wyloo Metals, a subsidiary company of Forrest's Tattrarang private investment outfit, is promising new leadership to bring the promise of the James Bay mineral belt to reality as part of its takeover bid of Noront Resources.
In its latest pitch to Noront investors, Perth-headquartered Wyloo wants to clean house at Noront and appoint Forrest as chair of a new board of directors.
While in the early stages of a bidding war with rival BHP, Wyloo issued a new acquisition offer to Noront shareholders on Aug. 30 to acquire the Toronto junior miner's assets in the remote mineral belt 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.
In its news release, Wyloo said Forrest intends to "replicate" his success with Noront's Ring of Fire projects just as he did at Fortescue Metals in Western Australia, turning a junior mining company into a $65-billion mining giant in the process.
"After years of little progress, it's understandable that shareholders have lost hope in Noront," said Forrest, who vowed to overcome the infrastructure challenges in the Far North much like his company accomplished 17 years ago to open up the Pilbara region to iron ore production.
"We proved the critics totally wrong and we want to the same in the Ring of Fire," said Forrest.
Privately-held Wyloo is Noront's largest shareholder at 23 per cent and intends to increase that to 37 per cent shortly by converting a US$15-million convertible loan note into shares.
At $0.70 in cash per share,Wyloo said their latest offer to Noront shareholders represents a 192 per cent markup to Noront's closing price on May 21 and a 27 per cent premium to BHP's $0.55 per share take-over bid price.
Noront shareholders will have the option of either selling their shares or holding onto them and, in Andrew Forrest's words, "come along for the ride."
Luca Giacovazzi, the head of Wyloo, echoed the sentiment of his boss in an interview with Northern Ontario Business; Noront, in his eyes, has accomplished very little since the discovery of the flagship Eagle's Nest deposit more than 10 years ago.
"If you look at it, the company's made very little progress, especially when we first made our investment in the company (last December). For us, that's a clear indication there needs to be a change at the leadership level and that's why we've proposed an alternative board."
Since coming aboard as Noront's largest shareholder late last year, Wyloo's relationship with Noront began to sour in the following months.
It was learned that Noront was in discussions with BHP about a partnership opportunity surrounding Noront's largely untapped greenfield properties in the Ring of Fire. A strategic exploration alliance was being considered that would make BHP a 19.9 per cent equity investor with cash-strapped Noront.
Wyloo wouldn't grant permission to that partnership.
"They (Noront) put us in a very difficult position. Instead of seeing our value eroded, we decided to make that intention toward a bid."
In April, Giacovazzi said he was informed by Noront CEO Alan Coutts that BHP had approached them to "farm out" their exploration assets for $25 million.
"We obviously see huge potential in the Ring of Fire and would love to be part of that story...and to sort of be confronted with that board wanting to just give away...
"The way I describe it is, they had stars in their eyes and it was very hard to shake them from doing this deal with BHP."
He accuses the current Noront board of creating a "roadblock" in denying them access to due diligence information in order make a better offer to shareholders. Giacovazzi said what they know of the actual value of Noront's projects is based on information that's in the public domain.
In siding with BHP's offer, Noront replied earlier this month it's customary for two parties to enter into a confidentiality agreement, something that Wyloo has declined to do.
Wyloo counters the confidential agreement contains an unacceptable standstill clause preventing them from making initial and subsequent offers to shareholders.
The ultimate prize for Wyloo and BHP is Eagle's Nest, regarded as one of the best undeveloped nickel sulphide deposits in the world.
It contains a proven and probable 11,131,000-tonne reserve of nickel, copper, platinum and palladium with an 11-year mine life, according to a 2012 feasibility. But that's only scratching the surface since the majority of Noront's 156,000-hectare land package hasn't come close to being fully explored, largely due to a lack of exploration capital.
Mine production is tentatively scheduled for 2026, the goal posts pushed back again due to delays in the start of the environmental assessments (EA) for a 300-kilometre north-south access road. The EA's are supposed to be completed by the end of 2023, immediately followed by a 30- to 36-month construction period of the roads, slated to start in early 2024.
"We've got a strong view on the geology," said Giacovazzi, "and we'd like to be able to verify that, but we'd also like to be able to see how the company's progressed with road development, the discussions they've had with First Nation communities and the agreements they've entered into with the host communities."
Giacovazzi said Wyloo wants to take a deep dive into any project-related studies Noront has completed and wants to review historical exploration data that Noront inherited when they acquired the Cliffs Natural Resources claims and exploration camp in 2015.
He didn't express any difficulty with Noront's exploration strategy, it's more a case of the lack of actual on-the-ground activity due to the lack of financing.
"When you say, are we happy with how they've gone about exploration, I almost say, what exploration? Because they've done very little over the last couple of years.
"For us, that's where we come with a different mentality, we want to put our energy in and resources behind progressing the Ring of Fire, there will be more discoveries. It is hugely prospective, which is why BHP is interested in the area."
Giacovazzi said if shareholders choose Wyloo, they'll see a company with a different management style as evidenced by their concept to develop Eagle's Nest as a zero emissions mine, award $100 million in contracts to First Nation businesses, and devote $25 million to study battery metal processing opportunities in Ontario.
"We want to see this to be a success," said Giacovazzi, "and there's no stronger endorsement than our chairman offering to step forward to chair Noront."
"I don't think I can stress enough the energy that Andrew will bring to the project is immense. He's been hugely successful at Fortescue (Metals) and he's going to bring that same mentality to Noront."
On the First Nations consultation front, Giacovazzi said they regret not being having a team on the ground for face-to-face discussions, but the pandemic has prevented them from flying to Canada.
"That's probably the biggest shame out of this whole process, that we've had to do everything virtually. He urges their Indigenous partners to ignore the noise and focus instead on building the relationship.
"We will always approach our First Nation partners with a lot of respect and lot of patience. Building our relationship with them is the most important thing to us. We're trying not to let the whole BHP-Wyloo bidding situation intervene with the conversations we're having with them. "
The humble chicken sandwich has traditionally played second fiddle on the fast-food menu.
It's better than a fish sandwich but not quite the Whopper or a Big Mac. But while the chicken sandwich may not yet be in the same class as a beef burger, poultry need not be humble anymore.
Different versions of the sandwich — whether breaded, saucy or spicy — have proliferated across the vast restaurant landscape in North America. Even seafood chain Red Lobster now sells a Nashville hot chicken sandwich.
The sandwiches have even proven to be pandemic resistant. While overall restaurant visits were down significantly over the last year and a half, chicken sandwich purchases were up 14 per cent, according to NPD Group.
"Chicken sandwiches are just booming," said Vince Sgabellone, food service industry analyst for NPD Group, which tracks industry data and trends.
"They're back to where they were two years ago, despite the lack of traffic of people going into restaurants."
A fowl war, indeed
It's no wonder, then, that at least 20 restaurant chains across North America have added some kind of new chicken sandwich to their menu over a two-year period.
It's been dubbed the chicken sandwich wars by some, with the first salvos launched in the United States in 2019, when Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen began offering its fried chicken sandwich.
A customer in Texas holds up a Popeyes chicken sandwich at the height of their hype, in August 2019. (Eric Gay/The Associated Press)
That move was considered a direct challenge to competitor Chick-fil-A, which began selling its chicken sandwich in 1967.
Observers had predicted that the market had already reached peak chicken in 2016, but its popularity has since skyrocketed.
While those observers may be surprised by where things have gone since then, two sisters with a chicken restaurant in Calgary saw potential back in 2017.
Francine and Nicole Gomes, who own the Cluck N Cleaver restaurant, went on a chicken-eating tour of the U.S. South in 2017 for a kind of tasty fact-finding mission.
The Cost of Living ❤s money — how it makes (or breaks) us. Catch us Sundays on CBC Radio One at 12:00 p.m. (12:30 p.m. NT). We also repeat the following Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. in most provinces.
"We ate so much fried chicken on that trip," Francine said in an interview with CBC Radio's The Cost of Living, as she described multiple stops at famous chicken joints, as well as roadside chicken shacks.
One thing the restaurateurs concluded is they wanted to add a chicken sandwich to their menu, which they did just a few weeks after their return. They now offer two chicken sandwiches.
The Gomes sisters told The Cost of Living that their chicken sandwich sales have increased year over year by 40 per cent, even as other competing restaurants opened.
"It's going bonkers," said Nicole Gomes, also well-known as a champion from the Top Chef Canada Allstars television show.
Francine Gomes, left, and her sister, Nicole, own the Cluck N Cleaver restaurant in Calgary. They say there's room for everyone in the growing chicken sandwich craze. (Julie Van Rosendaal)
"There's room for everybody," she said, adding that she welcomes the growth.
Her comments underscore that the chicken sandwich phenomenon isn't driven exclusively by fast-food chains, with many independent restaurants joining the trend.
"Even before the pandemic, there was an increase in restaurants opening that focused on one single item, like ramen or pizza or burgers or fried chicken sandwiches," said Calgary-based food journalist Julie Van Rosendaal, who appears on CBC Radio.
"And so even beyond fast food, there have been a lot of small restaurants opening up that focus just on fried chicken or even just fried chicken sandwiches. And that has helped drive the trend as well."
A hot plate of punishment pays off
The chicken sandwich isn't a new item, with newspaper ads for the meal found as far back as the 1930s. But the spicy chicken sandwich gaining popularity has a more contemporary origin.
Lately, variations of "Nashville hot chicken" have drawn attention, with one of the dish's birthplaces, Prince's Hot Chicken, serving as a mecca for chicken fans such as Calgary's Gomes sisters. They included the restaurant on their trip four years ago.
The story behind its signature dish is the stuff of legend — and is actually rooted in revenge.
According to family lore, James Thornton Prince III was a handsome man who never struggled to find a date on a Saturday night, but he wasn't too popular with one particular woman left behind while he enjoyed an evening out on the town.
After returning home, Prince was ready for a meal. His girlfriend provided one in the form of an extra-spicy serving of chicken, which she thought would teach him a lesson.
The meal did not have the desired effect and ultimately led to his famous hot chicken.
"After he devoured it ... I'm sure he asked for more," Jeffries said in an interview with The Cost of Living. He apparently enjoyed the chicken so much, he eventually tried to recreate it and then sell it.
"I think he would be rather surprised if he knew his punishment is still being recognized [today]."
More money in the chicken coop
Few other chicken sandwiches on the market these days can promise the same benefits as Prince's legendary offerings, but regardless of why people flock to the bird, they are doing so more often than before.
Spending by Americans on chicken sandwiches has quadrupled in just a two-year span, and a growing appetite for the sandwiches in Canada is something chicken farmers are trying to better understand as well.
The former location of Prince's Hot Chicken in Nashville, serving as a mecca for chicken fans. The popular restaurant has since moved to a new spot, but the chicken is just as spicy. (Submitted by Francine Gomes)
"Every week it seems like you have a bit more of an update on what the next sandwich is going to be," said Jason Born, chair of the Alberta Chicken Producers.
"It's something that we're very happy to see, of course."
Born said it's difficult to specifically quantify the value of the chicken sandwich boom to the Canadian sector, but it is an expanding slice of the restaurant business.
"If a significant portion of your business — in our case 40 per cent — is through these restaurant channels, it'll have an impact on volume and production," he said.
Consumers have seen grocery store prices for chicken jump in recent months, in part due to increased demand. However, the rising cost of chicken feed and supply-chain issues are also causing prices to go up. (Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images)
Chicken processors now worth billions of dollars
Industry officials say demand for chicken and chicken production are both rebounding from the impact of the pandemic, which saw many restaurants close under public health restrictions.
Consumers have seen grocery store prices for chicken jump in recent months, in part due to increased demand. However, the rising cost of chicken feed and supply-chain issues are also causing prices to go up.
The average retail price for a kilo of chicken was more than $8 in Canada in July, up 15 per cent in only six months, according to Statistics Canada.
It's not just chicken that's selling for a premium these days — it's also chicken processing companies.
The price represented a whopping 30 per cent premium on Sanderson's stock price in mid-June, a clear indication both companies see a big future in chicken.
Social media, takeout popularity behind chicken's flight
But sales figures and stock markets aside, why are chicken sandwiches climbing up the pecking order of foodies' favourites?
Food columnist Van Rosendaal said she believes a few key things have helped chicken sandwiches take flight even after others thought they'd hit their peak years ago.
We decided it was the peak in 2016, and we were wrong.- Julie Van Rosendaal, food columnist for CBC Radio
For one, she said takeout food has performed relatively well during the pandemic, and chicken sandwiches travel well while also being "indulgent."
While marketing is a big part of the chicken sandwich wars, Van Rosendaal pointed out that the food's popularity on Instagram has also helped raise the sandwich's profile.
"When it's really visually appealing, it does very well on social media," she said. "So chicken sandwiches have been driven by social media."
As for how long the trend can last, Van Rosendaal said she finds it "fascinating" that not only does the chicken sandwich trend have staying power, but it doesn't even seem to be slowing down.
"We decided it was the peak in 2016, and we were wrong."
Written and produced by Tony Seskus. Click the play icon above this story to hear this segment, or download the Cost of Livingpodcast.
The Cost of Living airs every week on CBC Radio One, Sundays at 12:00 p.m. ET (12:30 NT).
BCE Inc. is asking the federal government to block Quebecor Inc.'s purchase of 5G spectrum in Western Canada, stating the company didn't meet the requirements to bid on airwaves there.
Bell's court challenge comes after an auction of a key 5G spectrum by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada this summer.
The company said Quebecor subsidiary Videotron was able to purchase spectrum in Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia that was set aside for smaller carriers, allowing it to access airwaves at a cheaper price than Canada's largest carriers.
Bell said the set-aside spectrum for smaller carriers was only eligible to companies that have pre-existing operations in the jurisdiction, and argued Quebecor doesn't have a presence in those provinces.
It's asking the federal government to block Quebecor's purchase and hold the auction again.
However, Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau said his company is eligible because its affiliate Fibrenoire Inc. provides business services in several provinces outside Quebec.
Stocks mostly gained on Monday, extending last week's advances and reaching fresh all-time highs at the start of a busy week for new economic data.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each edged up to set record intraday levels. The Dow traded flat to slightly higher.
Optimism that the Federal Reserve will not immediately and jarringly remove its highly accommodative monetary policies has helped buoy equities over the past several sessions. Namely, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in a virtual Jackson Hole Symposium speech on Friday that an "ill-timed policy move" while the pandemic is still denting economic activity could be "particularly harmful," suggesting the central bank leader was inclined to ensure the recovery was on a steady path forward before changing policies.
Still, he noted that "it could be appropriate to start reducing the pace of asset purchases this year" in the Fed's quantitative easing program if the recovery continues as expected.
Powell "did three things very, very right, and obviously the markets are celebrating that," Julian Emanuel, BTIG chief equity and derivatives strategist, told Yahoo Finance on Friday, adding that the first was in keeping the speech succinct.
"Second thing he did right is, he sent the rest of the Fed governors out over the prior four weeks to basically tell us all that the taper was coming," Emanuel added. "He merely had to reiterate, and reiterate softly, that message, which he did very effectively."
"Then the third thing ... is that he really tackled inflation head on. He knew that that's been the preoccupation of the markets for these last couple of months," Emanuel said. "While he didn't give any new real evidence as to why he views inflation as transitory, he did cite the ongoing moderation in commodity prices and the view that past history would indicate that inflation is likely to be transitory."
Investors are set to receive more data on the strength of the labor market recovery this week, with the Labor Department's August jobs report due out on Friday. Consensus economists are looking to see that 750,000 payrolls came back during the month, representing an eighth straight month of gains but a slight pullback from July's 943,000.
The report will be another important data point in informing the Fed's monetary policy plans going forward. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller told Yahoo Finance's Brian Cheung on Friday that he would support beginning the Fed's asset-purchase tapering process as soon as this fall if the August jobs report shows another strong payroll gain. The Fed next convenes for a policy-setting meeting on Sept. 21 and 22.
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3:24 p.m. ET: Nasdaq outperforms, climbing more than 1% as shares of Alphabet hit all-time high
Technology stocks led the major stock indexes higher on Monday, leading the Nasdaq to outperform with a gain of more than 1%.
Within the index, tech heavyweights including Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) were among the major leaders to the upside. Google's parent-company set an all-time high on Monday, bringing the stock's year-to-date gain to more than 65%, for by far the strongest advance among the FAANG tech names. Facebook has so far posted a year-to-date gain of nearly 40%, while Apple's 2021 advance has so far been 15.5%.
The company has been viewed by some as a member of the "reopening" trade given the boost it has received from the return of advertisers, and especially travel company advertisers on the platform.
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1:44 p.m. ET: 'Valuations have become a little bit more attractive over the course of the past few months': CIO
The S&P 500 has continued to log new highs this year, fueled by a combination of a recovering economic, still-accommodative Federal Reserve, and rebound in corporate profits. The recovery in earnings especially has helped bring down valuations even as stock prices marched higher.
"Valuations have become a little bit more attractive over the course of the past few months, not because prices have decreased — as we've seen 53 different days of record closes for the S&P 500 in 2021 thus far — but because of the strength in earnings," Kevin Mahn, chief investment officer of Hennion & Walsh, told Yahoo Finance. "As it stands right now, the P/E [price-to-earnings] ratio of the S&P 500 is roughly 27. Now, that's high relative to a 10-year average P/E for the market of roughly 19.5, but it's much lower than the 32.5 level where we were just a couple of months ago."
"Then we see these updated year-end forecasts from the likes of Goldman Sachs, forecasting a 4,700 level at the end of the year, [and] Wells Fargo, 4,850 by the end of the year," Mahn added. "And that suggests to us that there's more upside potential for the markets between 4-7%, but perhaps even more in certain select areas of the market such e-commerce, biotechs or some of those more revolutionary technologies such as cybersecurity, blockchain and even artificial intelligence."
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1:26 p.m. ET: Travel stocks fall after EU recommends U.S. travel halt amid Delta surge
Shares of travel and leisure stocks slid Monday afternoon after the European Union issued a new recommendation to restrict nonessential travel to member countries from the U.S. due to rising COVID-19 cases. Previously, the EU added the U.S. to a travel safe lift in June.
Shares of airlines came under pressure following the news. United Airlines (UAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL) and American Airlines (AAL) were each off more than 3% intraday following the news. Other travel-related stocks including Wynn Resorts (WYNN), Marriott International (MAR) and Hilton Worldwide Holdings (HLT) also dipped.
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10:33 a.m. ET: Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity index sinks to 9.0 in August
The headline index reached 9.0 in August, sinking from 27.3 during the prior month. Consensus economists were looking for 23.0, according to Bloomberg data.
Beneath the headline index, the production index fell to 20.8, dipping by about 10 points compared to July. New orders, capacity utilization, shipments and outlook indices each also dropped. Meanwhile, the outlook uncertainty index rose to its highest level since May 2020 in August, reflecting fresh concerns over the Delta variant's impact on demand.
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10:03 a.m. ET: Pending home sales unexpectedly dropped in July
Contract-signings for homes dipped by 1.8% in July compared to June, nearly matching June's 2.0% monthly decline. Consensus economists were looking for pending sales to tick up by 0.3% in July, according to Bloomberg consensus data. Over last year, pending home sales dropped 9.5% on an unadjusted basis.
By region, pending home sales increased in the Northeast and Midwest, but dropped on a monthly basis in both the South and West.
"The moderate slowdown in sales is largely due to the huge spike in home prices," Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said in a press statement. "The Midwest region offers the most affordable costs for a home and hence that region has seen better sales activity compared to other areas in recent months."
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9:33 a.m. ET: Stocks open in the green
Here's where markets were trading just after the opening bell:
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 10: People walk by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on August 10, 2021 in New York City. Markets were up in morning trading as investors look to a rare bipartisan effort in the Senate to pass a massive infrastructure bill that, if passed, will infuse billions into the American economy. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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