Canada Sets 2026 Study Permit Cap at 408,000
Canada will approve up to 408,000 study permits in 2026, continuing a trend of declining international student admissions as Ottawa works to shrink the temporary resident population. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada released the allocations on November 25. The department plans to grant 155,000 permits to new international students and 253,000 to returning students applying […]
Silver, Not Gold, Could Be The Bigger 2026 Swing
Bank of America expects gold to be the primary hedge and performance driver in 2026, projecting an average gold price of $4,538 per ounce in real terms, while arguing silver could top out between $135 and $309 if the gold to silver ratio compresses toward prior cycle lows. In a Monday report, Michael Widmer, Head […]
Trump Administration Plans Long-Term Control of Venezuelan State Oil Company
The Trump administration is pursuing a plan to exert control over Venezuela’s state-run oil company for years to come, going beyond Wednesday’s announcement that the US will indefinitely market Venezuelan crude to potentially managing operations at Petróleos de Venezuela SA itself. A plan under consideration envisions the US “exerting some control” over PDVSA — including […]
Warner Bros Discovery Rejects Paramount’s $108.4B Hostile Bid for Second Time
Warner Bros Discovery‘s board unanimously rejected Paramount Skydance‘s revised $108.4 billion hostile takeover offer on Wednesday, reaffirming its commitment to Netflix’s $82.7 billion agreement despite Paramount’s higher per-share price. The board called Paramount’s $30 per share all-cash proposal a risky leveraged buyout that would create approximately $87 billion in total debt, making it effectively the […]
Trump: “I Am Instructing My Representatives To Buy $200B In Mortgage Bonds” To Drive Rates Down
President Donald Trump is attempting to force mortgage rates lower by directing a multiillion purchase of mortgage bonds, arguing the buying spree will cut monthly payments and restore housing affordability. The move is summarized as Trump ordering “the US government to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds to drive mortgage rates down,” pairing the directive […]
Iran Enters Blackout As Protests Spread Nationwide
Iran’s internet disruption is registering as a regional connectivity shock that deepens into a de facto digital blackout in at least one province, while protests continue to spread and operational aviation notices stack up across January into March. NetBlocks data for the region shows sharp divergence across provinces at the latest timestamp, with Hamadan Province […]
Freeland Sets Friday Resignation Date, Ending 13-Year Parliamentary Career
Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland will vacate her seat in Parliament on Friday, January 9, confirming the end of her 13-year career as a member of the House of Commons. Freeland announced the specific resignation date on Wednesday in a social media post, two days after saying she would leave Parliament “in the coming weeks” to […]
GM Books $6B EV Impairment, Pivots Orion To ICE
General Motors (NYSE: GM) is taking a $6 billion impairment charge tied to electric-vehicle investments that are no longer expected to generate profits as originally planned, disclosing the hit in an SEC filing on Thursday. The automaker described the charge as an impairment, a reset to reflect assets that are now expected to be less […]
Canada Leverages Submarine Deal For Auto Manufacturing Guarantees
South Korean and German officials face an unusual condition in their competition to build Canada’s next submarine fleet: commitments from their countries’ automakers to expand manufacturing operations in Canada. Senior executives from Hyundai and Hanwha Ocean plan to visit Canada later this month alongside South Korean government officials for meetings with Prime Minister Mark Carney, […]
Dell Drops AI-First Marketing as Consumers Show No Interest
Dell Technologies reversed its AI-first marketing strategy at CES 2026 after concluding that consumers show little interest in purchasing computers based on artificial intelligence features. “What we’ve learned over the course of this year, especially from a consumer perspective, is they’re not buying based on AI,” Kevin Terwilliger, Dell’s head of product, told PC Gamer […]