Straight talking on BNN 
The chase by Marty Cej:

BNN's focus today will be in getting straight answers from straight talkers at some of Canada's most influential and dynamic companies. We'll also throw in a few chats with key policy-setters and a legendary hedge fund manager or two. Myron Scholes, Canadian-born economics whiz who won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1997, came up with the Black-Scholes equation for valuing derivatives and stuff and co-founded Long-Term Capital Management, kicked off our coverage of the Milken 2012 Global Conference this morning at 7:45 a.m. ET.

Bo Lundgren, who oversaw Sweden's bold and successful response to the financial crisis and pummeled Rocky Balboa in their first match, joins Howard Green just after 10:00 a.m. ET to discuss Europe's "muddling through" of its ongoing crisis, monetary policy and how to make austerity work. Pierre Beaudoin, President and CEO of Bombardier, is in California at the conference as well and sits down with us at 1:00 p.m. T. Boone Pickens, founder of BP Capital Management, weighs in on natural gas and U.S. energy policy at 1:15.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan reported earning last week that sent the stock lower. CEO Bill Doyle will tell us what farmers' planting intentions for 2012 will mean for the bottom line at the world's biggest potash producer. "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon." Gregg Saretsky, CEO of WestJet, will fill us in at 3:10 p.m. on his plans for a new regional airline and his purchase of 20 new Bombardier planes yesterday. Peter Marrone, CEO of Yamana Gold, joins us at 4:30 p.m. to talk about, oh, I don't know, all that glitters?

Barrick, the world's biggest gold company, reported a short time ago, saying first-quarter adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.09, short of the $1.11 average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. The company reiterated its production forecast for the full year but said second-quarter production would be lower than the first quarter. Barrick was kind enough to raise its dividend 33 percent to 20 cents a share.

Loblaw Cos. looks to be an important story for us today. The company missed expectations, again, and said full-year profit will decline and the first-half of the year promises to be fraught with "more pressure."

Other earnings we're watching include Devon Energy, Maple Leaf Foods, First Quantum, Time Warner, Beazer Homes, Green Mountain Coffee, Whole Foods, Visa, MasterCard and Comcast.

Along with its earnings this morning, Intact Financial says it has agreed to buy Westaim's Jevco insurance unit for $530-million. That's more than half a billion dollars, FYI.

CP has written another letter to shareholders, exhorting them to vote for its slate of directors, not Pershing Square's. CP has now written more letters than all the characters in Dickens' novels. Dear Mr. Micawber…

WestJet revenue takes off
The chase by Marty Cej:

Happy May Day! U.S. stock index futures are pointing to a mixed start with a host of markets abroad closed for the holiday, including Hong Kong, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland, Sweden, Ireland, Switzerland, Russia, Mexico and Brazil. We in North American celebrate International Workers' Day by working, if begrudgingly. Occupy Wall Street protestors are planning protests in New York and elsewhere, if weather permits. Bloomberg reports this morning that the organizers of the protests in New York plan what they call an 8 p.m. "radical after-party" in an undetermined location in the Financial District. Many bank employees are hoping to get home, get changed and get back downtown before the first dj starts spinning.

BNN reports today from the Milkin Institute Conference in Los Angeles where some of the world's top business leaders and economic thinkers are meeting to discuss the issues most affecting countries, economies, industries and markets. Mohamed El-Erian, CEO of PIMCO, sits down with Howard Green just after 10:00 a.m. ET. We'll get some insight into the outlook for the U.S. economy and interest-rate policy from Richard Fisher, head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, at 1 p.m. and talk real estate with David Simon, CEO of the Simon Property Group at 1:10 p.m. Airlines and entrepreneurship are on the agenda at 1:20 p.m. in a conversation with David Neeleman, Founder of JetBlue Airways and Azul Brazilian Airlines.

Investors will turn their attention to earnings for market direction today. In Canada, WestJet will be a mover after the company topped forecasts and decided to buy 20 Bombardier Q400 planes for its planned regional airline. Revenue in the quarter rose 15 percent but the company cautioned that it expects average revenue per available seat mile to "moderate slightly" in the second quarter.

Suncor and Talisman reported this morning and the market will have to decide whether it will pay more attention to cash flow per share or earnings per share. Suncor reported a decline in operating earning that still topped forecasts while cash flow rose modestly. Talisman appears to have missed expectations for earnings from operations even as cash flow rose 5 percent. Decisions decisions.

Two pieces of the TMX bid puzzle fell into place last night as Maple Group said it had reached agreements to buy the Canadian Depository of Securities, or CDS, for $167.5 million, and said it plans to buy Alpha for $175 million. The agreements will help the market put a value on the whole deal -- the TMX, clearing house and Alpha -- and handicap the likelihood of the whole getting done by the new deadline of July 31.

Research In Motion kicks off its 2012 conference in Florida today where it hopes to inspire programmers to build new stuff for its next wave of products. The crowds at this conference have dwindled in recent years. With so much at stake, this year's conference could be a turning point.

Other earnings we are watching this morning and after-hours include Yamana Gold, Cameco, Xstrata, Fairfax Financial, Thomson Reuters, Archer Daniels Midland, Valero, Sirius XM and CBS.

In economics, the U.S. ISM manufacturing data could be the market mover today. A reading of 53 for April is due at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Leaders TSX

Volume Leaders

• TSX
• TSX Venture
• US
• NASDAQ
• AMEX
• NYSE

Symbol	Name	Last Trade	Change	Volume	Related Info
TGA-UN.TO	TRANSGLOBE APARTMENT REIT	14.273:59PM EDT	1.98 (16.14%)	9,618,123	Chart, Profile, More
G.TO	GOLDCORP INC	38.054:00PM EDT	2.44 (6.03%)	6,675,532	Chart, Profile, More
LUN.TO	LUNDIN MINING CORP.	4.954:00PM EDT	0.38 (8.32%)	6,000,659	Chart, Profile, More
BBD-B.TO	BOMBARDIER INC., CL. B, SV	4.154:18PM EDT	0.11 (2.72%)	5,268,368	Chart, Profile, More
ECA.TO	ENCANA CORP.	19.444:00PM EDT	1.08 (5.88%)	4,309,645	Chart, Profile, More
K.TO	KINROSS GOLD CORP.	8.764:00PM EDT	0.13 (1.46%)	4,024,136	Chart, More
SU.TO	SUNCOR ENERGY INC.	31.484:23PM EDT	0.01 (0.03%)	3,885,105	Chart, Profile, More
MFC.TO	MANULIFE FIN	13.324:00PM EDT	0.06 (0.45%)	3,303,454	Chart, Profile, More
ATH.TO	ATHABASCA OIL SANDS CORP	10.444:00PM EDT	0.22 (2.06%)	2,832,283	Chart, Profile, More
ABX.TO	BARRICK GOLD CORPORATION	39.334:00PM EDT	0.00 (0.00%)	2,627,814	Chart, Profile, More
CLL.TO	CONNACHER OIL	0.823:59PM EDT	0.01 (1.20%)	2,624,708	Chart, Profile, More
POT.TO	POTASH CORP OF SASK INC	42.254:17PM EDT	1.40 (3.21%)	2,545,809	Chart, Profile, More
ELD.TO	ELDORADO GOLD	13.994:00PM EDT	0.21 (1.52%)	2,512,615	Chart, Profile, More
TLM.TO	TALISMAN ENERGY INC.	13.034:00PM EDT	0.29 (2.28%)	2,497,166	Chart, Profile, More
BSX.TO	BELO SUN MINING CORP	1.004:15PM EDT	0.05 (5.26%)	2,314,853	Chart, More
RCI-B.TO	ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS INC. CL B	36.544:19PM EDT	0.27 (0.73%)	2,298,979	Chart, Profile, More
BNK.TO	BANKERS PETROLEUM LTD.	3.583:59PM EDT	0.06 (1.70%)	2,181,028	Chart, Profile, More
BNS.TO	BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA	53.974:21PM EDT	0.32 (0.59%)	2,143,773	Chart, Profile, More
YRI.TO	YAMANA GOLD INC	14.364:00PM EDT	0.02 (0.14%)	2,116,528	Chart, Profile, More
NXY.TO	NEXEN INC.	19.104:16PM EDT	0.00 (0.00%)	2,084,297	Chart, Profile, More
LSG.TO	LAKE SHORE GOLD CORP.	0.904:00PM EDT	0.09 (11.11%)	2,081,701	Chart, Profile, More
CVE.TO	CENOVUS ENERGY INC.	34.004:00PM EDT	0.20 (0.59%)	2,067,930	Chart, Profile, More
RY.TO	ROYAL BANK OF CANADA	56.594:52PM EDT	0.31 (0.54%)	1,999,202	Chart, Profile, More
CR.TO	CREW ENERGY INC	7.644:00PM EDT	0.71 (10.25%)	1,956,988	Chart, Profile, More
TCK-B.TO	Teck Resources Limited	36.754:00PM EDT	0.08 (0.22%)	1,956,846	Chart, Profile, More

Apple did it again $$$

The chase by Marty Cej:

For market direction today earnings may get the nod. Apple topped expectations by a wide margin (My breathless style of reportage was honed at Bloomberg) last night, reporting a near-doubling in second-quarter profit to $11.6 billion US, or $12.30 a share, more than $2 above analysts' average expectation. The result appears to have put to rest recent concern that growth is slowing and may make the two-week 12-percent slide by the stock look a little silly. The stock is up almost 8 percent in the pre-market.

But it's not all about Apple, no. Rogers Communications reported after the close yesterday as well, and its take on Apple's success may be a little different than the financial markets'. Profit and revenue fell short of expectations even as it activated 35 percent more iPhones in the quarter. Trouble is, retention costs such as subsidies for longer-term contracts also rose as wireless data growth slowed. The battle for dominance in the Canadian smartphone and tablet market won't be cheap.

Canadian energy heavyweights EnCana, Nexen and Cenovus reported this morning with EnCana looking to be the market standout. The company reported first-quarter earnings per share, ex-items, of $1.33. The average estimate? Three cents! (insert smug snort here) Analysts who cover the sector put more emphasis on cashflow per share, however, which provides a better metric for the companies' ability to put more money into the ground to get oil and gas out of it. EnCana reported cashflow per share of $1.39 vs. an estimate of $1.12; Nexen say cashflow per share hold steady at $1.27, still topping the $1.22 estimate, and Cenovus saw cashflow per share rise to $1.19, exceeding the average forecast by 7 cents. The energy sector will be one to watch today.

Caterpillar will be one to watch today as well after the company topped first-quarter expectations and raised its forecast for the full year on the back of growing demand for construction equipment in the U.S. As it stands, U.S. companies are topping expectations at the highest rate in two years, according to Bloomberg data, thanks in large part to an improving U.S. economy. We are also watching earnings today from Boeing, Harley-Davidson, Sprint-Nextel, Delta Airlines, Nasda OMX, and Eli Lilly.

Other Canadian names to keep an eye on include Methanex, Goldcorp, CGI Group and Bell Aliant.

While U.S. companies have plenty good to say about the U.S. economy, the Fed is likely to be a little more circumspect when it releases a statement on interest rates at 12:30 p.m. ET, then provides more details on its economic forecasts at 2:00 p.m. and sits Ben Bernanke down in front of a room full of journalists at 2:15 p.m. Some say that the Fed's increased transparency and rate forecasts are forcing the central bank into a corner that it can't escape, like Rocky Balboa trapped on the ropes by a furious Clubber Lang (get outta there, Rock!!!), but Bernanke may surprise with his bobbing and weaving this afternoon.

We may even see a bit of offense.