The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, Jan. 30, edition that CIBC World Markets analyst Nik Priebe has lowered his recommendation for goeasy to "neutral" from "outperformer." The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Priebe continues to target the shares at $160. Analysts on average target the shares at $178.89. Mr. Priebe says in a note: "After reviewing draft regulations for the new interest rate cap, it has come to our attention that a consultation process was recently completed examining a further reduction to the rate cap. The timing of the consultation was much earlier than expected, and we are left to wonder if it was scheduled intentionally to conclude in advance of the 2024 Budget. We have no basis to speculate on the outcome and no proprietary insight on the decision-making process of the finance minister's office. However, we fear that a political lens might be more appropriate in assessing the probability of further action on the interest rate cap than an academic one. There has clearly been some forward progress on this file and it simply doesn't feel prudent to maintain an 'outperformer' rating on goeasy in advance of the budget."