The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that while Scotia Capital's Ben Isaacson's long-term view on Methanex's earnings power remains intact, he says he is "stepping to the sidelines" and downgraded its shares to "sector perform" from "sector outperform" on Monday, citing three reasons. The Globe's David Leeder writes that Mr. Isaacson says in a note: "First, Methanex has taken G3 offline until May. ... During the downtime, Methanex will bring forward its three-week planned maintenance. While required repairs won't have a material cash outlay, it will impact Q2 via lower produced sales. ... Rightly or wrongly, another G3 issue will shake near-term confidence, in our view. Second, as the winter eases in Iran, gas is being redirected back to methanol plants, with a subsequent ramp in exports to follow. ... We've already seen urea output increasing. Third, there is no question that macro headwinds are accelerating -- through both data and investor sentiment; markets are becoming increasingly shaky too. Market meltdowns on growing recession risk will be most painful for deep cyclicals like Methanex, by definition!" Mr. Isaacson cut his share target to $53 (U.S.) from $66 (U.S.). The consensus is $62.10 (U.S.).