Here are five things you need to know this morning:
Lightspeed mulling its options
Shares of Lightspeed will be ones to watch today after the Montreal-based payment firm confirmed reports that it may be up for sale. Shares in the company popped late yesterday after a report that the company has been talking with bankers about a potential sale. The company confirmed in a press release this morning that it is looking at a number of options as part of “a strategic review of its business and operations with a view to realizing its full potential.” The release didn’t go into detail about a sale per se but did not rule it out as part of a “range of potential strategic alternatives.”
National Bank gets Competition Bureau OK
National Bank has gotten the thumbs up from Canada’s competition watchdog for its proposed takeover of Canadian Western Bank. The $5-billion deal still needs the OK of OSFI and the Ministry of Finance, but the details of the proposal seem to be headed in a positive direction, and ahead of schedule, National Bank said recently. Shareholders have already signed off on the deal.
Micron shares jump on earnings
Shares of Micron Technology are trading sharply higher in the premarket today after the microchip company beat sales and profit expectations. Even better, the company forecast higher-than-expected revenue in the current reporting period. Micron is one of only three providers of high-bandwidth memory chips used in artificial intelligence applications, where white-hot growth is showing no signs of slowing.
Gold hits another record high
The price of bullion reached a new record as investors ponder the path of rate cuts. Gold hit an all-time high of $2,675.69 an ounce this morning, topping the previous record it hit yesterday. Rate cuts tend to be bullish for gold because it doesn’t pay interest. The price of gold has also been buttressed by central bank buying this year.
U.S. GDP grew by three per cent in Q2
New numbers out of the U.S. this morning showed that country’s economy expanded at a three per cent pace in the second quarter. That number was ever so slightly above what economists were expecting to see, and a strong gain from the 1.6 per cent pace clocked in the previous three-month period.
