Ottawa Courts Chinese JVs To Build Canadian EVs
Canada’s new auto strategy is to trade limited market access for Chinese EV know-how and domestic production, aiming to seed joint ventures and investments within three years that can produce a Canadian electric vehicle using Chinese expertise. The policy shift begins with a recent decision to allow up to 49,000 Chinese EVs per year into […]
Dalio Warns of ‘Capital Wars’ as Markets React to Trump Greenland Push
Billionaire investor Ray Dalio warned Tuesday that escalating tensions over Greenland could trigger what he termed capital wars, with countries potentially dumping US assets as trust in American financial leadership erodes. Speakingto CNBC at the World Economic Forum, the Bridgewater Associates founder cautioned that geopolitical conflicts increasingly threaten to spill beyond trade disputes into capital […]
Ontario Housing Starts Fall 31% In Toronto As Ford’s 1.5M Target Slips Further
Ontario saw a sharp decline in housing construction in 2025, with Toronto posting a 31% drop in housing starts that has put Premier Doug Ford’s goal of building 1.5 million homes by 2031 increasingly out of reach. Housing starts across the Greater Toronto Area and Greater Golden Horseshoe region fell more than one-third in the […]
US Drops Security Protection for Oil Companies Operating in Venezuela
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Thursday the US will not provide security guarantees to oil companies operating in Venezuela, backing away from President Trump’s promise of “total safety” after executives rejected the administration’s $100 billion investment pitch. “We are not going to get involved in providing on the ground security for people in Venezuela,” Wright […]
Georgia Financial Adviser Pleads Guilty to $380 Million Ponzi Scheme
A Georgia financial adviser admitted Wednesday to orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in state history, defrauding more than 2,000 investors of $380 million to finance a lavish lifestyle of yachts, luxury condos and private jets. Todd Burkhalter of St. Petersburg, Florida, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in federal court. He founded Drive Planning LLC, an […]
European Lawmakers Warn Trump Could Cut Off Visa, Mastercard Access Across Continent
European lawmakers are sounding an alarm over the continent’s near-total dependence on American payment networks, warning that President Donald Trump could weaponize Visa and Mastercard to cut off transactions across Europe with little warning. “Visa, Mastercard… the emergency is our payment system. Trump can cut us off completely,” Aurore Lalucq, chair of the European Parliament’s […]
China Dumps To $680B In US Treasury, Holdings Plunge To 18-Year Low As Gold Holdings Rise
China’s reported US Treasury holdings have fallen to about $680 billion, described as an 18-year low, alongside a stated rise in gold reserves to near 74 million ounces, and the pairing is being framed publicly as a deliberate rotation out of US paper into bullion. Northern European investors are also reportedly increasingly wary of holding […]
Indonesia Revokes Permits for 28 Companies After Deadly Sumatra Floods
Indonesian authorities revoked permits for 28 resource companies on January 21 after linking their alleged forest violations to devastating floods that killed more than 1,000 people in Sumatra in December. The revocations affect companies across mining, logging, pulpwood plantations, and hydropower operations covering more than one million hectares, according to a government presentation on Wednesday. […]
Oracle-Led TikTok US Deal Clears China Despite Algorithm Concerns
China appears to have signed off on a TikTok deal that would spin out the app’s US business to a mostly US-led investor consortium, with an announcement described as imminent. People familiar with the matter said the transaction is set to close this week, capping a yearslong dispute that has repeatedly stalled on regulatory approval […]
Canadian Oil Headed To Non-US Countries Surges, China Leads
Canada’s oil export model is shifting fast enough that non-US markets are now the primary driver of year-over-year export growth, with October’s non-US share surging to nearly 16% and the US share falling to about 84% of total exports. The non-US share is roughly 5 times the pre-TMX level, implying a pre-expansion baseline near 3% […]