TENNIS
BiancaAndreescueyesBeijing
forreturnafterwinning
U.S.Open BSOCCER
TorontoFC’sPatrickMullins
relishesgoingbacktoNewYork
forbiggame BBASKETBALL
MarcGasoldidn’tthinktwice
aboutsuitingupforSpain
soonafterRaptorsseason BSPORTS
B11-BOTTAWA/QUEBECEDITION ■ WEDNESDAY,SEPTEMBER11,2019 ■ GLOBEANDMAIL.COMS&P/TSX
16,537.
+42.DOW
26,909.
+73.S&P
2,979.
+0.NASDAQ
8,084.
-3.DOLLAR
76.03/1.
+0.01/-0.GCAN10-YR
1.43%
+0.OIL(WTI)
US$57.
-0.GOLD(oz.)
US$1,499.
-11.Obsidian Energy Ltd.said it’s ex-
ploring “strategic alternatives”
after a key asset sale fell through,
but environmental liabilities and
a heavy debt load will make it
challenging for the struggling
Calgary oil producer to find a
buyer.
Obsidian, which was formerly
known as Penn West Petroleum
Ltd., has been quietly shopping
itself around for several years,
said Jeremy McCrea, an analyst
at Raymond James Ltd. Tues-
day’s announcement indicates
that a buyer has yet to material-
ize, and the company is now
ratcheting up its efforts by
advertising to a broader audi-
ence.
“Given the company’s history
and remaining assets and liabil-
ities, it will be difficult for it to
find a buyer in the current mar-
ket,” Mr. McCrea said.
Obsidian, once among Cana-
da’s largest oil and gas pro-
ducers, has downsized dramat-
ically in recent years by
selling off assets. Meanwhile, its
share price on the Toronto Stock
Exchange has tumbled from a
high of $92.75 on July 22, 2013, to
a closing price of $1.40 on Tues-
day.
The most dramatic decline
took place between June and De-
cember of 2014, when, amid the
collapse in oil prices, Obsidian’s
shares dropped more than 70
per cent.
OBSIDIAN, BObsidian
Energyeyes
strategic
options
includingsale
ALEXANDRAPOSADZKIC
anada’s main stock market
index is approaching a re-
cord high. In a curious
twist, that rally is being driven by
simmering concerns about a
weaker global economy.
But can Canadian stocks pow-
er ahead if the economic outlook
brightens?
After gaining for nine of the
past 11 trading sessions, the S&P/
TSX Composite Index is now just
132 points, or 0.8 per cent, below
the record set in April. Since the
start of the year, the index has
risen 15.5 per cent, closing at
16,537.34 on Tuesday.
All 11 of the index’s sectors
have contributed to the gains in
2019, suggesting a widespread
rally.
But there are clear differences
beneath the surface. Financials
and energy stocks, which are
closely associated with rising ec-
onomic activity and strong oil
prices, have been lagging the
broader index with gains of 12.
per cent and 8.2 per cent, respec-
tively.
Conversely, utilities, consum-
er staples, real estate investment
trusts and materials have been
leading the rally with respective
year-to-date gains of 26.1 per
cent, 20.6 per cent, 17.8 per cent
and 16.9 per cent, in what looks
like a nod to approaching eco-
nomic clouds. (Technology
stocks, up 50.3 per cent, are also
standouts, but the sector is large-
ly driven by one company, Shop-
ify Inc.)
BERMAN, BBrighteroutlook
foreconomy
couldhaltaTSX
rallyfuelledby
recessionfears
DAVIDBERMANANALYSISApple unveiled a new video-streaming
service that aims to go head-to-head with
Netflix as the smartphone giant shifts its
focus to subscription services in hopes of
boosting flagging iPhone sales.
In a year whenApple Inc.has been hit
by slowing revenues, the Trump adminis-
tration’s trade war with China and anti-
trust investigations in several countries,
the Silicon Valley company has increas-
ingly shifted its focus toward more affor-
dable iPhones, along with accessories and
services aimed at squeezing more money
out of existing iPhone users.
The new video-streaming service, Ap-
ple TV+, will launch in November at $5.
a month in Canada with a handful of orig-
inal shows, including Jennifer Aniston’s
The Morning Show, and children’s show
Snoopy In Space.
The price for the video service is nearly
half of what many analysts had predicted
and well below competing offerings from
Netflix and Amazon Prime. It poses a di-
rect challenge to Walt Disney Co., which
plans to launch its own streaming service
in Canada in November for $8.99 a
month. Apple said it would offer a free
year-long subscription to the video ser-
vice for customers who purchased a new
device.The company also announced a trio of
new phones with prices for iPhone 11
starting at $979 – a $50 discount to last
year’s XR model.
The pricing of Apple TV+ “is a show
stopper and a major shot across the bow
at the likes of Netflix and Disney among
others,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan
Ives said. A new video-game streaming
service, Apple Arcade, will also cost $5.
a month in Canada.
Apple rose to become one of the
world’s most profitable companies by cre-
ating new categories with its hardware in-
novation. But it has been years since the
company has had a major hit with a new
device, as it did with the iPhone in 2007.
APPLE, BApple’snewstreamingservice
targetsNetflix,AmazonPrime
TechgianthopestoboostflaggingsalesforiPhonebybundlingcontentsubscriptions
CEOTimCooktellsthelaunchcrowdatAppleheadquartersinCupertino,Calif.,thatthechildren’sshowSnoopyInSpacewillbeincluded
withitsstreamingservice.STEPHENLAM/REUTERS
TAMSINMcMAHON
U.S.CORRESPONDENT
CUPERTINO,CALIF.
ALIBABAGROUP....................................B
BOEING ..................................................B
CANADIANNATURALRESOURCES ........BDEVONENERGY .....................................B
H2OINNOVATION..................................B
MAJORDRILLINGGROUPINT’L.............BSNC-LAVALINGROUP.............................B
SOFTBANKGROUP................................B
THEWECO. ............................................BCOMPANIESA
lberta looks to be moving toward
a green version of the Red Scare.
Premier Jason Kenney’s United
Conservative Party has launched
its offensive against what it says is a
scourge of environmental opposition to
the oil industry.
The taxpayer-funded probe into foreign
funding of environmental groups delivers
everything the staunchest oil-patch back-
ers would want, with the starting point
that opposition, be it partly funded by for-
eigners or not, could make one anti-Alber-
tan.
Most worrisome, judging from details
published by thegovernment this week, is
the apparent open-endedness of the proc-
ess, its lack of transparency and the threat
that reputations could get impugned by
the government, with little apparent re-
course for those targeted.
This looks to be politics masquerading
as public policy and, with its anti-demo-
cratic tone, threatens to repel as many Al-
bertans as it delights.
Concerns about the process have al-
ready gone global. On Tuesday, Amnesty
International wrote to Mr. Kenney to warn
of human-rights concerns tied to his “ag-
gressive approach to defending the oil and
gas industry,” including the public inquiry.
This summer, Mr. Kenney appointed fo-
rensic accountant and former Calgary Eco-
nomic Development chairman Steve Allan
as commissioner to lead the Public Inquiry
into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns he
had promised during the recent provincial
election. It is one part of his multipronged
attack on behalf of the industry, which also
includes an information war room to fire
barrages at anti-oil-patch messaging.
Mr. Kenney pledged to fight back
against the “defamation” of Alberta’s oil
industry allegedly wrought by environ-
mental groups that have received money
from U.S. charitable foundations and
trusts. This week, thegovernment publish-
ed the terms of reference and set up a web-
site to invite submissions from the public –
critics have already dubbed it a snitch line.
Mr. Allan will “inquire into anti-Alberta
energy campaigns that are supported, in
whole or in part, by foreign organizations.”
The idea is to look into the funding, report
back to the government and possibly con-
duct a public hearing.
JONES,BAlbertadisguisespoliticsaspublicpolicy
withoffensiveagainstoil-sandsfoes
JEFFREYJONES
OPINIONJUSTINLANE/EPAOFFICESHARING
TheWeCo.IPO
valuationcoulddip
below$20-billion BREALESTATE
Housingstartsstrong
inOntarioandQuebec,
weakintheWest BPERSONALFINANCE
RobCarrickonwhy
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