Housing starts were 20K short of estimates in March, falling to 236K on weakness in multi-unit activity…

… but still up versus last year, with gains in Ontario and Quebec carrying softer numbers out of Western Canada.

Unabsorbed inventory moderated slightly, the second straight monthly draw - but the time it takes to move those units ticked up…

… which should keep a lid on new unit construction in the near-term.

On a net basis security flows were down in February, with $6B of foreign investment and $25B of Canadian investment abroad…

… nearly all of which ended up in the US, with a record $33M of demand for equities (mostly big tech)…

… carrying another big outflow from US paper, government bonds in particular - which lost another $13B during the month.

Here at home, foreign demand for equities flipped negative - with resources names leading the $9B outflow…

… while the appetite for Canadian paper remains healthy, with the $23B inflow shared between public and private issuers.

Flagging Carney’s “Forward Guidance” address, which was centered around internal initiatives in housing, infrastructure, and defense - as well as external initiatives to reduce US trade reliance…

… that includes deals with China and Korea. While trade diversification is positive, we’ll need to figure out a way to do it sustainably - given our non-US deficit is both large and consistent ($5-10B per month).

Since the initial ceasefire, the unwind of the “Iran trade” we highlighted previously has played out…

… with impacted commodities and the companies sitting downstream from them selling off. Might be time for a breather on this reversal though, with the US Navy seizing an Iranian ship over the weekend…

… which could hinder peace talks set to take place in Pakistan this week.

Was this forwarded to you? Join 10,000+ investors reading The Morning Meeting by clicking the button below.