Coming down the pipe

Good morning. One of the casualties of the streaming era was the quiet joy of browsing video rental store aisles. Now, Letterboxd — the popular social media site for movie lovers, which is majority-owned by Canadian firm Tiny — is trying to bring that feeling back virtually. 

Next month, it’s launching the Letterboxd Video Store, which will offer a curated selection of digital rentals. The company said the selections are based on user interest, gleaned from analyzing millions of watchlists and reviews. 

We’ll see if this concept takes off. Who knows? Maybe it can outlive the last surviving Blockbuster. 

Today’s reading time is 5½ minutes.

Markets: Canada’s main stock index and top Wall Street indexes rose yesterday, as investor optimism over Nvidia’s quarterly earnings report led to a tech sector rebound. That hope was well-placed: Nvidia delivered earnings and sales numbers that topped analyst expectations.

Things haven’t exactly been peachy between Ottawa and Alberta over the past few years, but the two are willing to put differences aside in pursuit of a common goal: moving more oil. 

Driving the news: The federal and Alberta governments are reportedly nearing a deal to build an oil pipeline that would bring Albertan black tea to the northwest B.C. coast for export, according to the Globe and Mail. It could be announced as soon as next weekend.

Why it matters: The Carney government has played ‘will-they-won’t-they’ with pipelines, but a deal with Alberta would be confirmation the fossil fuel infrastructure is, in fact, part of the government’s nation-building vision.

Yes, but: Any pipeline will surely cause friction with environmentalists, Indigenous nations, and the B.C. government. For the project to go through, the feds would have to waive a ban on oil tankers in northern B.C. waters, which Premier David Eby has ardently opposed.—QH

U.S. lays out case against alleged Canadian drug lord. U.S. authorities laid more charges on Ryan Wedding — the Canadian Olympian snowboarder turned fugitive from justice and alleged international drug cartel ringleader — and upped the reward for his capture to US$15 million. 12 suspected Wedding associates were also arrested. (CBC News)  

Provinces agree to knock down trade barriers. The federal government, along with all provinces and territories, signed The Canadian Mutual Recognition Agreement, a deal that will get rid of internal trade barriers on all goods except for food. Once the agreement comes into effect next month, businesses that can sell their product in one province will be able to sell it across Canada. (Bloomberg)

Indigenous Alaskans want input on B.C. projects. A group of Alaska tribal nations filed a petition for a judicial review in B.C. Supreme Court, demanding the right to be consulted on several resource development projects in the province. They argue that their historical use of land in what is now B.C. means that they fit the criteria for Aboriginal peoples of Canada. (Globe and Mail) —QH

A Canadian startup is throwing its hat in the ring of the $5.4 trillion halal financing market. 

What happened: Toronto fintech Manzil launched its first-ever halal exchange-traded fund (ETF) on Nasdaq yesterday, with plans to roll out a suite of similar investment products in Canada over the next year. 

Catch-up: Halal ETFs fill a gap for many Muslims who don’t invest in companies or products tied to alcohol, gambling, or weapons. They also notably avoid any financial services that involve interest, including mortgages.

Why it matters: Halal investments are an increasingly popular alternative to traditional stocks, for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. A recent study found that Islamic investments even outperform conventional indexes like the S&P 500 in the short term during times of crisis.

Zoom out: Total assets in halal or Shariah-compliant funds doubled to $60 billion between 2013 and 2023, with major players like CIBC, RBC, and Wealthsimple now offering some halal-screened investment products in Canada.—LA

xAI is in advanced talks to raise US$15 billion in new funding at a $230 billion valuation. The Elon Musk-backed startup will have more than doubled its valuation from March. 

Sealed Air, the geniuses who invented the always fun-to-pop bubble wrap, is being taken private by PE firm CD&R in a deal that values the company at US$10.3 billion. 

Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management is partnering with Nvidia and the 

Kuwait Investment Authority to launch a US$10 billion fund focused on AI infrastructure. 

Adobe is buying digital marketing platform Semrush for US$1.9 billion. The deal will allow the software giant to provide marketers with more insights into the performance of their creative campaigns.

Major League Baseball has signed a trio of broadcasting deals with ESPN, NBC and Netflix worth a combined US$800 million annually. Netflix will pay $50 million for rights to two games and the Home Run Derby.

As an employee or member of our preferred partners, you’ll get:

Visit bell.ca/epp to learn more.

🤖 2%. Share of Canadian businesses that say they got a return on their generative AI investments. About 93% of organizations are now using AI tools, up from 61% a year ago. 

🖼️ 1,700. Pieces of art in Hudson’s Bay’s collection that are being sold, in addition to 2,700 artifacts. The Bay auctioned off 27 of its most valuable paintings in Toronto yesterday.

🏦 $34,000. Fine that Scotiabank will pay after the lender called a client over 100 times to collect debt. B.C.’s consumer watchdog ruled that the bank harassed its client.

^{*This is sponsored content.}

Get ready to rumble with today’s mini-crossword!