The Peak Daily

The Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 basis points to 0.5% yesterday. And if that sentence isn’t dull enough to put you back to sleep, we want some of whatever coffee you’re brewing. A growing number of Canadian and international companies, including Apple and Canada Goose are suspending operations in Russia over its invasion of Ukraine*.* Major League Baseball (MLB) has  c...

Member states of the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves in an attempt to calm energy markets thrown into turmoil by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Netflix is the latest tech company to take a side in the Ukrainian-Russian war, opening up a Pandora’s box of questions around the ethics of censorship during the conflict, as they...

Ontario will become the first place in North America to set a minimum wage for gig workers, the provincial government announced yesterday. Find out how technology firms with offices and employees in Ukraine are working to help staff leave the country amid the intensifying Russian invasion. With services like Apple Pay going out of service and the Ruble losing value by the minute, Western sanctions...

Russian tanks rolling down highways, missiles raining down on cities, and soldiers readying for battle have dominated the “For You” feeds of TikTok users this week, as the war in Ukraine becomes the first major conflict documented on the social media app. A long-predicted nursing shortage has hospitals across the country scrambling to find staff and businesses are stepping up to fill the gap (and...

President Biden announces sanctions against Russia as Russian forces invade Ukraine. Biden also warned that these sanctions may hike prices at the pump. After two years of uncertainty (which in light of recent events, might last some time longer) and periods of isolation, Canadians are cautiously beginning to dust off their wallets and spend again, according to a study by Paybright. If you already...

Trump Media & Technology Group, a private media company founded by Donald Trump, launched Twitter lookalike Truth Social this week to users in the US and Canada as political users consider alternative platforms to big tech. Starbucks is known for its formulaic drinks, chill ambiance, and friendly baristas who know your name (even if they misspell it) but behind the counter, unrest is brewing w...

We don’t want to alarm you, but you may not be able to find Doritos at your local super-market for a while: snack giant Frito-Lay is  cutting Loblaw off  from its products amid a dispute over price hikes. A $30 million settlement between US Soccer and female players over equal pay with men has ended a six-year fight that pitted the World Cup-winning team against their sport’s governing body. Swedi...

The ballooning cost of the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion could fall on taxpayers,  industry experts say , despite federal government assurances that no more public funds will be used to finance the project. A car transport ship  carrying thousands of luxury cars  is still stuck in the Atlantic Ocean after it caught fire last week, troubling an industry already grappling with pandemic-related s...

The Emergencies Act, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked for the first time ever in response to ongoing protests in Ottawa, expanded the powers of banks and other financial institutions. Yet, Canadian bankers are still scratching their heads in figuring out how to implement the orders. Looks like Disney is now bringing the magic to a residential development near you , starting with a a sol...

Despite exceeding analysts expectations, Shopify’s stock dropped 20% yesterday after warning that revenue growth would slow in 2022 as the pandemic-era e-commerce boom ends. A  new report  released by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) says crypto assets, especially stablecoins, could present a significant risk for markets and calls for more regulatory oversight. Google has announced plans to  ov...

Tim Hortons had a great fourth quarter as it almost double (doubles) its quarterly profit, as the coffee chain recovers from its pandemic woes. Apple announced that they’ll modify their AirTag technology to better protect against criminals using it to track unsuspecting victims. A new study has found that there is one thing that makes Canadian housing prices go down: flooding, which researchers fo...

A Toronto PetSmart is the latest retail location to vote to unionize since the pandemic began, as the percentage of unionized workers increases after years of a steady decline . Businesses are breathing a sigh of relief as Doug Ford announces Ontario’s accelerated re-opening plan. Confused about what’s going on between Russia and Ukraine? You aren’t alone: the markets are also struggling to make s...

High-level officials including President Biden and Pete Buttigieg are adding pressure to re-open the Ambassador Bridge, amid ongoing protests that are beginning to take a toll on both country’s economies. France’s President announced that the country  will build  up to 14 nuclear reactors, as part of a plan to ramp up energy production and phase out fossil fuels. It may not the “sexiest” way to in...

According to a 2021 survey by IT company Novipro and polling firm Leger, a quarter of Canadian businesses have been the victim of a cyber attack, half of which paid a ransom. Canadian businesses, like Telus and Bombardier, that narrowed their focus and sold off secondary business lines are now reaping the rewards, new earnings reports show. Canada is the third most sleep-deprived country - and we...

How many protesters does it take to freeze a quarter of Canada-US trade? Shockingly few, as we learned by the recent blockade at the Ambassador Bridge, shutting down traffic on one of Canada’s busiest border crossings. Canadians be able to legally bet on the Super Bowl for the first time ever as legal single game sports betting comes online in Canada. European scientists set a new record for the h...

A Housing Affordability Task Force convened by the Ontario government says 1.5 million new homes must be built in the province over the next 10 years in order to make housing affordable again. Toronto’s Financial District is starting to look less like a ghost town as some Bay Street bankers start heading back to the office this week. There’s a thriving economy out there for maple syrup — and New B...

Spotify is deleting over 70 episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience as Toronto-based Rumble offers Rogan $100 million to join their platform. “The Matrix Resurrections” studio Warner Bros. could use some of Neo’s bullet-dodging skills about now as it faces a lawsuit over the decision to release the movie simultaneously on streaming platforms and in theatres. Big changes to Canada Post could be coming...

Hopper, the Montreal-based travel app, is flying high after  selling  $44.6 million worth of equity to Brookfield Asset Management this week. Canada’s job market is struggling, new job numbers show that the economy shed 200,000 jobs in January, well above analyst forecasts of 110,000 losses. IBM plans to launch its first Canada-based quantum computer in Quebec, in partnership with the provincial g...

Housing prices could drop up to 20% in some of the most over-heated Canadians markets, according to one of the country’s top banking regulators. Facebook’s parent company Meta’s stock collapsed by as much as 26% yesterday morning —wiping out over US$200 billion from its market cap — after the tech giant forecasted weaker revenue growth this quarter. The Saudi Arabian-backed Super Golf League (SGL)...

Vancouver-based TerraZero Technologies has processed one of the first-ever metaverse mortgages , facilitating the transaction for a new landowner in Decentraland, a virtual world. Self-driving car company Cruise is gearing up to launch a fully self-driving robotaxi service to the public in San Francisco. Alphabet is reducing the price of its shares to make investing in the company more accessible....

Show Notes: Talk about a strong start to the Year of the Tiger: three Canadian tech companies have announced a combined ~CA$511 million in funding yesterday, a sum that amounts to around a fifth of what Canadian companies raised in all of Q1 2021. The internet is divided–again–only this time, it’s surrounding The New York Times’ (NYT) decision to buy Wordle, the new and wildly popular online puzzl...

Blackberry is selling tens of thousands of patents for US$600M to a single company to turn its focus towards its core business: cybersecurity and software used by automakers—yeah, it’s been a while since they’ve made money from smartphones. A new Canadian Airline called Lynx Air has emerged, as new competition between low-cost airlines and its larger counterparts—Air Canada and WestJet—heats up. C...

Wireless plans in Canada are (finally) getting cheaper—or are they? A new federal government report shows progress on price cuts but the full picture is a bit more complicated. Apple reported its best quarter ever—partly because they have a supply chain advantage. Facebook has found a new way to make money from your face according to new patents filed by the company. Celebrating something? Let us...

Uber has struck a deal with Canada’s largest services sector union to represent the ride-hailing company’s Canadian 100,000 drivers and delivery workers. Canadian high-end car, plane and boat makers are bracing for cancelled orders under the Liberal government’s luxury tax, per The Globe and Mail . Apple will soon roll out a feature that turns iPhones into payment terminals, eliminating the need f...

Canadian National (CN) Railway named a new CEO after an activist investor waged a months-long campaign for the railroad to juice up its financial and stock performance. The latest company to enter the war between fintechs, startups, and tech giants for talent? Big banks. You know you're doing something right (or horribly wrong) when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) starts paying attention as the...