US core inflation hit a four-decade high last month, which, to be clear, is the opposite of what Jerome Powell & Friends need to prove their plan to cool the economy and achieve a “soft landing” is working. Canada is famous for many things: Poutine, hockey, ketchup chips—and high, high prices. According to The National Post, Canadians are paying a serious premium for products, including mobile plans, grocery hauls, and some basic services. It’s already put a dent in Meta’s advertising busine...
Oct 14, 2022•8 min
Canada-based Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management’s renewables division have buddied up to buy nuclear company Westinghouse Electric for US$7.9 billion amid a global frenzy to find climate-friendly alternatives to Russian energy, per The Wall Street Journal. Meta is betting that companies will pay $1,500 for the company’s new Quest Pro virtual reality headset, in its push to bring the metaverse to the corporateverse. Experts believe there are now tens of thousands of skilled immigrants waiting...
Oct 13, 2022•9 min
Seven months into the Bank of Canada’s rate hike spree, some Canadians are already taking to their local parks to protest higher interest rates on their mortgages. Dream job alert: Get paid millions of tax-free dollars to help design a gleaming city of the future from the ground up. There’s only one catch: Your employer is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and that city is Neom, the brainchild of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The world’s largest toy company is starting to play in the $1 trillion ...
Oct 12, 2022•10 min
Hockey Canada has officially lost every last one of its top-tier corporate sponsors after Nike suspended its 23-year partnership with the organization Have you been spending time in the metaverse? No? That makes you, everyone else you know, and even Meta's own employees. Six years after the release of the Panama Papers, it’s not clear if the government has collected any tax-evasion-money hidden in Central American offshore accounts. Celebrating something? Let us know here: https://thepeak.typefo...
Oct 11, 2022•8 min
Six companies, including the famous Boston Dynamics (BD), pledged not to weaponize or support the weaponization of their robots, and urged others to follow suit. A nurse, an accountant, and an engineer walk into a province. They all get jobs. That’s one of several cheeky ads, paid for by the government of Alberta, taking over Canada’s busiest transit stations lately. It’s all part of a $2.6M “Alberta is Calling” campaign, which aims to lure skilled workers to the province with affordable housing...
Oct 07, 2022•9 min
Starting today, you might see a new surcharge on your receipt when you tap your plastic. Businesses in Canada are now allowed to pass credit card processing fees onto customers. OPEC+, the Middle Eastern energy cartel that accounts for 40% of the world’s oil supply, agreed to cut its collective output by 2 million barrels a day or roughly 2% of global output. Wannabe McKinsey consultants and Bay Street executives are starting to realize that in today’s red-hot labour market, an MBA might be noth...
Oct 06, 2022•9 min
Phil Collins and Genesis no longer have publishing rights to their recordings. But they aren’t throwing it all away. They’re the most recent musicians to receive a hefty sum for them. HSBC has launched a review into its Canadian business that could end in a US$9B sale, as the bank faces pressure to ditch less profitable markets to focus on Asia and Europe. After all the bot disputes. The whistleblowing. The texts to Joe Rogan. The poop emoji. After all that drama… Elon Musk might actually end up...
Oct 05, 2022•11 min
Francois Legault will stay in power as Quebec’s premier as his centre-right nationalist CAQ party secured a majority government in a cakewalk. Credit Suisse saw a gauge of its credit risk rise to a record high while its stock hit record lows, raising doubts about its financial stability. From Nike, to Walmart, to Canadian Tire, retailers and brands have more merch than they know what to do with as inventories bulge while consumers cut down on their spending. Celebrating something? Let us know he...
Oct 04, 2022•10 min
Canada Post has expanded its MyMoney loan program in partnership with TD Bank to locations across Canada, offering loans between $1000 and $30,000, with approval in as little as 10 minutes. Text messages made public as part of Elon Musk’s court fight with Twitter (along with being highly entertaining) shed insight into his early motivations for buying the business and show how Silicon Valley heavyweights rallied to his cause. Meta—the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp—plans to ...
Oct 03, 2022•9 min
Google announced at its Search On conference that it’s testing updates to Search and Maps that will push its flagship tools in a “visual-forward” direction. An ownership group including NBA superstar LeBron James bought a professional pickleball team that will join Major League Pickleball (MLP) for its upcoming season. Russia will annex four regions in Ukraine today after tightly controlled “referendums” that Kremlin officials claim resulted in 99% of locals voting to join Russia Celebrating som...
Sep 30, 2022•10 min
Employers have come up with a novel idea to retain and sustain their workforce during these trying times. You may have heard of it. It’s called ‘paying people more.’ IT giant Cloudflare introduced a new breed of CAPTCHA test called Turnstile that promises to reduce the average test time from 32 seconds to one second. A new drug slowed the rate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients in large-scale clinical trials, according to its developers Biogen and Eisai. Celebrating something? Let us k...
Sep 29, 2022•9 min
Vancouver-based International Battery Metals claims to have developed a first-of-its-kind mobile lithium mining plant that can extract and process lithium with minimal environmental impact. There’s buyer’s remorse over that late-night Amazon purchase, and then there’s real buyer’s remorse (to the tune of $1 trillion)—the latter is what China is experiencing right now as it tries to salvage its troubled Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. Sweden reported two leaks in the Nord Stream 1 pipeli...
Sep 28, 2022•10 min
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the UN body responsible for setting global communications standards, will elect its new leader this week—a decision that could shape the future of the internet. The British economy is experiencing some serious turbulence—or an omnishambles, they might say across the pond—as investors give a big thumbs down to the UK government’s new fiscal plan. Sales of plant-based meats have declined over the past year while negative perceptions of the product ...
Sep 27, 2022•10 min
Russia’s decision to mobilize military reserves for the first time since WWII has triggered a crisis, as protests erupt and men flee to neighbouring countries. Block is rolling out out BNPL options on its point-of-sale platform, Square. Canada has joined a new US-led alliance aimed at strengthening ties with Indo-Pacific nations—which include Australia, New Zealand, and dozens of Asian countries bordering the Pacific Ocean, although notably not China or Taiwan. Celebrating something? Let us know...
Sep 26, 2022•8 min
Canada Jetlines flew its inaugural flight yesterday carrying passengers from Toronto Pearson to Calgary International Airport. The unexpected casualty of Quebec’s new language laws: OtterBoxes. For our last story, Forget maple syrup and Tim’s franchises, the two Canadian exports everyone is clamouring for are critical minerals and natural gas. South Korea is the latest country to express interest. Celebrating something? Let us know here: https://thepeak.typeform.com/to/MNdYA3TO Join us for a liv...
Sep 23, 2022•10 min
Congratulations to anyone with a US bank account, because the currency is on a tear. Meet Flippy, Sippy, and Chippy. No, they aren’t knockoff versions of Snap, Crackle, and Pop. They’re a trio of service robots, and they could soon be preparing your fast food order. TikTok is banning accounts for politicians, parties, and governments from asking for donations and from using monetary features like tipping, gifting, and e-commerce. Celebrating something? Let us know here: https://thepeak.typeform....
Sep 22, 2022•10 min
Canadian consumer prices fell 0.3% last month, the biggest monthly drop in two years. Spotify launched its long-awaited audiobooks feature in the US and will eventually roll it out in all of its markets as it strives to become the one-stop-shop for everything audio. Russian-installed leaders in the occupied Eastern Ukrainian provinces of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia have announced planned referendums on joining Russia. Celebrating something? Let us know here: https://thepeak.typef...
Sep 21, 2022•10 min
Toronto-based video site Rumble, which bills itself as a free speech alternative to sites like YouTube, went public after a successful SPAC merger valuing the company at US$2 billion. While Ukraine’s war efforts have garnered positive results in recent weeks, its economic prospects are looking increasingly bleak as it continues to seek outside help. Porsche, owned by Volkswagen Group, will debut on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange later this month, selling ~25% of its shares with hopes of fetching a...
Sep 20, 2022•9 min
If you’ve been on the internet this week, there’s a good chance you already know that the Michelin guide awarded its first Canadian stars to 13 restaurants. Offices are back up and running, but employers are having trouble actually filling them with employees… who remain perfectly fine at home thank you very much. Uber confirmed its internal systems suffered a breach perpetrated by someone alleging to be an 18-year-old. Celebrating something? Let us know here: https://thepeak.typeform.com/to/MNd...
Sep 19, 2022•9 min
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, along with his family, gave away control of the ~US$3 billion company to a trust and a nonprofit organization tackling environmental issues. Adobe agreed to buy design software company Figma for US$20 billion in what will be the largest acquisition ever of a private software company if it gets approved. Walmart has launched its Be Your Own Model tool, which uses a user’s full-body photo to simulate the dressing room experience with Walmart fashion finds. Celebra...
Sep 16, 2022•10 min
Ethereum, a blockchain platform supporting over 50% of the total value of the decentralized finance industry, is shifting to a less energy-intensive way of validating transactions. Shopify restaffed most of its leadership team during the pandemic, and now the top brass of what was once Canada’s most valuable company isn’t looking very Canadian. European energy executives are doing a little too well these days. Celebrating something? Let us know here: https://thepeak.typeform.com/to/MNdYA3TO Join...
Sep 15, 2022•8 min
Join us for a live recording of The Peak Daily at the Bet on Canada Summit on November 8th. Buy tickets here: https://readthepeak.com/events/bet-on-canada-2022 As we await the start of Twitter v. Elon Musk (October 17 if you want to mark your calendar) the final pieces are falling into place for the tech trial of the century. The federal government gave small businesses $49 billion in pandemic loans but forgot one crucial part of doling out tonnes of cash: A plan to get it back. Higher-than-expe...
Sep 14, 2022•8 min
In 2021, 50 million people across the globe were in some form of modern slavery, including 28 million working under forced labour conditions, per a new UN report. If you’re kicking yourself over a bad stock pick recently, we’re here to tell you that even the safest investments are losing money this year. That’s right, a key index tracking global bonds has dropped 16.8% since January. Climate Proof, a coalition led by the Insurance Bureau of Canada, published an open letter calling the federal go...
Sep 13, 2022•9 min
Canada’s unemployment rate is up for the first time in seven months, which means that high interest rates have (done what they do best and) thrown cold water on the red hot labour market. The US Justice Department (DOJ) is accusing Google of paying companies billions each year to remain the default search engine on browsers, illegally. Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), which oversees federal mortgage rules, confirmed it will not loosen its borrowing requirements, per...
Sep 12, 2022•8 min
The federal government announced a new three-pronged plan to introduce temporary relief measures aimed at helping low-income Canadians beat back inflation pains. Speaking of the wealthy doing more than their fair share of spending, the superyacht rental business is booming as the well-to-do want to hit the high seas in luxury and comfort. Corporate swag bags may soon become an ancient relic of the past, disappearing with memories of money flowing freely through corporate America’s expense accoun...
Sep 09, 2022•10 min
As expected, the BoC delivered another oversized rate hike, bumping the overnight interest rates up to 3.25% from 2.50% (or 75 basis points, if you’re fancy like that). Apple held its latest product launch event, dubbed Far Out, yesterday, announcing a range of new goodies including the iPhone 14 and the Apple Watch Ultra. Freaked-out investors are pouring money into the US while pulling out of international stocks at a rate not seen since a 22-week run of outflows in 2019, per the WSJ. The Peak...
Sep 08, 2022•9 min
Record-high natural gas prices are climbing higher, sending inflation soaring across the region. According to the European Commission (EC), fixing prices could be an answer. Despite a year full of big electric vehicle (EV) announcements, Canada has fallen further behind its global peers in the race to electrify the roadways. Canada is the worst-performing G7 nation for reducing corporate sector carbon emissions, per a new study from CDP and Oliver Wyman. The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media P...
Sep 07, 2022•10 min
G7 nations have agreed to impose a cap on the price of Russian oil imports, despite Russian threats to cut off cold turkey any country that tries to mess with its energy business. The pumpkin spice latte isn’t the only hot arrival at Starbucks this fall. The company is bringing in a new CEO to oversee grand ambitions to modernize its espresso-slinging business. If you’re planning to buy an iPad any time soon, you may want to act fast. The Chinese manufacturing hub of Chengdu (where most of Apple...
Sep 06, 2022•10 min
The US is blocking chipmaker Nvidia from selling some of its advanced products to China, according to the company’s latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Disney is exploring the creation of an Amazon Prime-like membership, per The Wall Street Journal. A new study from environmental advocacy group Environmental Defence that tested items from Canadian dollar stores found that 25% of them included toxic chemicals like lead, cadmium, and antimony. The Peak Daily is produced by 3...
Sep 02, 2022•10 min
After a solid two-year run, the Canadian economy might be finally slowing down, growing at an annualzed rate of 3.3% in the second quarter (missing the Bank of Canada’s 4% forecast). In its first three months of operation, iGaming Ontario (IGO) reported over $4 billion in cash wagers placed resulting in net revenue of $162 million split between operators, gaming sites, and the province. Donald Trump’s free-speech-centric Twitter alternative Truth Social has run into financial, legal, and technic...
Sep 01, 2022•9 min
