Last week, Cenovus Energy and Husky Energy – two Canadian energy giants – announced they were teaming up to form one of the largest oil and natural gas producers in the country.

Their announcement is part of a trend of Canadian oil companies doing deals as the sector navigates a hard hit energy market. Other deals include:

Why is this happening? Oil conglomerates are bargain hunting as smaller players struggle to cope with the decline in oil prices and hit of COVID-19.

Buying discounted companies lets larger players use their stronger capital position and expertise to squeeze value out of the smaller companies.

Zoom out: With oil prices still struggling and COVID-19 stalling economic growth, the Canadian energy industry continues to be hard hit. Which is a problem because - whether we like or it not (and we don’t) – oil and gas is still a massive chunk of our economy. We’ll keep watching as Canadian energy companies navigate these uncertain waters.

Remember Snapchat... That app you deleted off your phone a few years ago because all your friends stopped using it?

Well, joke’s on you because Snapchat’s back and they’re back in a big way!

Last week, the company announced killer earnings for Q3, sending the share price soaring from $28 USD to $34 at closing.

You might be wondering... how did they pull off such a miraculous comeback? Here’s how:

Now the big question is what’s next for Snapchat. Can they keep up this sustained growth?

They’re certainly going to try. In the past few months, they’ve launched a TikTok competition, state-of-the-art augmented reality functionality for mobile commerce and new ad-tech to improve the effectiveness of their ads.

Will be it be enough to fend off Instagram/TikTok? We’ll have to wait and see.

John Horgan’s bet paid off. In late September, the BC premier made a gamble that support for his government would trump anger over calling an unnecessary election during a global pandemic. He was right.

On Saturday, British Columbians decidedly gave John Horgan and the BC NDP their long desired majority government.

Here’s what that means for British Columbians and the Canadian economy:

Real Estate: One of the BC NDP’s marquee election promise was to freeze rents province-wide till 2021 and cap rents to the rate of inflation after that.

COVID Recovery Benefit: Horgan promised to introduce a $1,000 recovery bonus for every British Columbian earning less than $125k.

Gig Economy: The BC NDP committed to providing more support and benefits to ‘gig economy’ workers.

Child Care: In the NDP’s platform is a promise to expand $10/day child care to more British Columbians.

Bottom Line: This is the first majority BC NDP government in over 16 years. Expect the re-elected Cabinet to make some big changes. Investors should expect increased scrutiny of energy companies, real estate developers, and gig economy contractors.

Here’s what’s being proposed:

Zoom out: The airline industry has been hardest hit by COVID-19. It’s also one of the most important to the country, hiring over 50,000 Canadians. That’s why this package is among the most important COVID-19 initiatives the Government is pursuing. On a personal note, The Peak team hopes this goes through because we can’t wait to get back in the air.

White House Infection: A number of Vice President Mike Pence’s staff were confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19. The Vice President tested negative and continues to campaign.

COVID-19: Quebec is officially the first province in Canada to reach 100,000 total COVID-19 cases as the infection continues to surge across the country.

Murder Hornets: The first murder hornet nest in North America was found in Washington State, just South of the BC border.

CBD: Toronto-based Mary Agrotechnologies is the latest recipient of a rare and hard to get license to grow hemp-derived CBD in China.

History of Internet Porn: A fun piece in Wired chronicling the history of internet porn and how the industry pioneered early internet marketing.

Groovy, Baby: Toronto psychedelics company Field Trip just expanded to New York and Inside Hook gives you a look at what to expect in their newest clinic.