Birds of a feather

Good morning. Retail investors in South Korea must now take a one-week simulated trading course before they can trade certain products. The move follows a rollercoaster few months for SK’s main stock index, the volatility of which was partly driven by a deluge of inexperienced investors. 

There are probably a lot of investors, and not just in South Korea, who could benefit from this. Just saying!

Today’s reading time is 5 minutes.

Markets: The world might be crazy, but the vibes are good on the TSX. Canada’s main stock index rode a tech rally to another record high and its longest daily winning streak since April.

When it comes to surveillance cameras, maintaining ‘public safety’ seems to have a pretty loose definition.

Driving the news: Surveillance technology company Flock is implementing new guardrails for its car-tracking software following reports that police officers used the system to stalk women with no connection to their investigations in at least 50 cases.

Catch-up: Flock, which has a network of 120,000 AI-powered cameras across the U.S., has also come under scrutiny for helping ICE detain and deport kids at schools, tracking Americans based on a loose suspicion of buying marijuana, and being used by law enforcement to track a woman in Texas who had an abortion. 

Why it matters: Flock has so far stayed out of Canada, but that might not be the case for long. Homeowners in Toronto’s Rosedale neighbourhood have recently considered using Flock cameras to create Canada’s first “virtual gated community.” One of those residents, Craig Campbell, purchased the licensing rights for Flock’s tech in Canada.—LA

Anthropic is expected to go public at a US$2 trillion valuation. In what would be the largest IPO in history (surpassing a record SpaceX set in June), investors expect the Claude maker to more than double its current valuation when it goes public in the fall. The company last raised capital at a $965 billion valuation. In other Anthropic news, it’s reportedly in talks to buy AI startup Decart for US$6 billion, which would be its largest-ever acquisition. (Financial Times)

Canadian and U.S. trade negotiators met again yesterday. These two just can’t get enough of each other! Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and co. met with top U.S. trade rep Jamieson Greer for the second time this week, with both sides reportedly trying to iron out a trade deal proposal by Monday. Trump has yet to be briefed on the status of the talks, but the goal is to present a framework to him before Wednesday's tariff deadline. (BNN Bloomberg)

Ontario will charge data centre operators more for electricity. The provincial government released a proposed rulebook for new data centres that, similarly to Alberta, will force operators to pay for their own power. Those who do not supply their own power will pay a higher rate to access the public grid. Data centres have faced public opposition in Ontario, as they have across North America. Oakville recently passed a one-year moratorium on approving new ones, while Mississauga is working on a similar ban. (The Canadian Press)

📡 What else is on our radar: 

With the recent acquisition of PC Financial®, EQ Bank is making this happen. This August, EQ Bank celebrates its new role as the exclusive financial services partner of the PC Optimum™ program with a month of rewards-rich experiences – and chances to win PC Optimum™ points – during everyday shopping trips.

It all kicks off in Toronto! Stop by the EQ Bank Pop-Up Pavilion at Loblaws Leslie Street (17 Leslie St.), until August 16 (11-7 p.m.) to:

EQ Bank is also sponsoring The Grand Scan Contest, the biggest-ever PC Optimum™ points giveaway for a single winner, of 25 million points. 

EQ Bank will be popping up in Vancouver and Calgary later this month, so keep your eyes peeled, Western Canada friends! 

Swedish AI vibe-coding startup Lovable raised US$400 million in new capital at a $13.3 billion valuation. That’s more than double the valuation it carried in December. The funding puts the three-year-old startup among the most valuable in Europe. 

Why it matters: The popularity of vibe-coding — which lets users build custom software tools with plain language instructions — has been a major driver of the software stock selloff, or “SaaSpocalypse.” With some startups now running their entire business with Lovable (or programs like it), the value of specialized SaaS tools has taken a substantial hit.  

Canada’s only Amazon union is facing some disunion. 

Driving the news: Amazon has asked the B.C. Labour Relations Board (LRB) for a pause in bargaining with Unifor Local 114 — the union representing workers at the company’s only unionized Canadian warehouse — as a faction of workers tries to get the union decertified.

Zoom in: After two years of organizing by Unifor, the LRB certified the union at Amazon’s YVR2 facility in Delta in July 2025, with the board ruling that it had violated B.C.’s Labour Code, running a “deliberate, calculated, [and] pervasive” anti-union campaign. These tensions have bled into bitter negotiations for the union’s first collective bargaining deal. 

Why it matters: Throughout this saga, the LRB has consistently sided with Unifor, which bodes well for a favourable arbitration. The decertification push could derail progress, even if the union stays in place. If it gets decertified, that could sound the death knell for Amazon workers organizing nationally following the closure of the only other unionized plant last year.—QH

🌎 Hint: Once a frequent target of pirates, this port city is home to massive seaside fortifications and a tunnel system that are now part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s famous for colourful colonial architecture, horse-drawn carriages, and local foods like arepas and ceviche. 

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🛴 10. Canadian children who died from an e-scooter accident last year, according to a new report. There were also 12 ICU admissions and 26 hospitalizations. The number of e-scooter injuries in Canada has skyrocketed over the past three years, jumping tenfold in some cities. 

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