Good morning. It may be the time of year when geese fly south, but a flock of ducks is about to migrate to Canada.
The owners of the Rubber Duck Museum in Point Roberts — an odd little community that’s part of Washington State despite only being attached to B.C. — are moving their exhibit of vintage bath toys to B.C.’s Tsawwassen Mills mall, about a 15-minute drive due north.
Though that distance might seem negligible, the fact that it requires a border crossing has meant a severe decline in visits from Canadian tourists, necessitating the move to B.C. proper. We’re chalking this up as a win for Team Canada on the trade war scoreboard.
Today’s reading time is 5½ minutes.
MARKETS
| ▲ | TSX |
30,604.35 |
+1.47% |
|
| ▲ | S&P 500 |
6,705.12 |
+1.55% |
|
| ▲ | DOW JONES |
46,448.27 |
+0.44% |
|
| ▲ | NASDAQ |
22,872.01 |
+2.69% |
|
| ▲ | GOLD |
4,133.8 |
+1.33% |
|
| ▲ | OIL |
58.89 |
+1.43% |
|
| ▼ | CAD/USD |
0.71 |
-0.04% |
|
| ▲ | BTC/USD |
89,001.94 |
+1.39% |
Markets: Canada's main stock index had a strong outing yesterday, lifted by investors optimistic that the Fed will cut U.S. interest rate cuts next month, and strong performances from firms in the tech and mining sectors. Standouts include Celestica (up 15%) and Barrick (up 8.5%).
BUSINESS
Will lawsuits slow Quince’s roll?
Source: Quince.com/ca.
The king of the holiday gift guide is taking on the (alleged) king of the dupes.
What happened: Williams-Sonoma — a top name in fancy cookery and home goods — sued Quince, alleging that the online retailer misled shoppers with false advertising, marketing products Williams-Sonoma never sold as "like Williams-Sonoma, but half the price.”
Catch-up: Quince has garnered devoted fans in recent years by promising luxury quality at reduced rates. It does this by hocking a vast array of wares — usually sporting the muted, greige look beloved by elder millennials — to consumers straight from manufacturers.
These products aren’t really luxury (and the company has issues keeping popular items in stock), but they’re generally high enough quality considering the price point.
Yes, but: Quince has come under fire for essentially being a gussied-up dupe factory. As Williams-Sonoma points out, it’s invited that criticism by explicitly comparing its goods to well-known brands. Also, let’s be real, many items look nearly identical to other products.
Quince has already been sued twice for stealing designs, by Uggs-owner Deckers Brands (Quince won), and by Coach-owner Tapestry (that case is still pending).
Why it matters: Quince is expanding. In fact, it started shipping to Canada just this month. As more consumers turn towards dupes to save money, it looks like legal threats might be the only things standing in the way of a proliferation of ‘Temu, but actually decent quality,’ D2C businesses.—QH
BIG PICTURE
Source: Iryna Imago / Shutterstock.
OpenAI launches a personalized shopping tool in ChatGPT. Just in time for the busiest shopping day of the year, OpenAI is rolling out a new tool that it says can give users tailored advice on what to buy, beyond simply comparing prices. You can personalize searches based on your budget and who you’re shopping for. Maybe it can even help with the annual ‘what to get Dad for Christmas’ conundrum. (CNBC)
Barrick ends Mali gold mine dispute. The Canadian miner and the Malian government have reached a deal to end a years-long dispute that has seen several Barrick managers put in jail, an arrest warrant issued for Barrick’s CEO, and $117 million worth of gold seized by the military. As part of the deal, four Barrick employees will be released from prison. (Bloomberg News)
Novo Nordisk's Ozempic pill fails Alzheimer's test. The Danish drugmaker saw its shares tumble yesterday on news that its semaglutide pill was ineffective at reducing Alzheimer's progression in a clinical trial. Some researchers believed that GLP-1 drugs like Ozempiic could help in Alzheimer’s treatment, though many saw Novo Nordisk’s clinical trial as a long shot. (Wall Street Journal)—LA
HEALTH
Cigarettes are staging a cultural comeback
Source: @Dualipa / Instagram.
Hollywood A-listers are convincing Gen Z that cigarettes — while they may kill you — are still cooler than puffing on a vape that looks like a portable phone charger.
Driving the news: A new study from the University of Chicago found that over half of the top-performing movies last year featured scenes with tobacco consumption, up 10% from 2023.
Anti-smoking advocates warn that the resurgence of cigarettes in Hollywood could reverse a decades-long decline in smoking rates. Research has shown that young people, in particular, are far more likely to pick up smoking if they see it in movies.
Why it matters: Cigarettes are making a major pop-culture comeback. Celebrities like Timothée Chalamet, Dua Lipa, Jeremy Allen White and Charli XCX are all being glamorously photographed with cigs in hand (Charli XCX even gave out boutique trays of cigarettes at her wedding).
A popular Canadian-run Instagram account called @Cigfluencers, which boasts ~84,000 followers, strictly posts aesthetic photos of celebrities smoking.
By the numbers: Smoking was all but dead just a few years ago. In 2020, only 10% of Canadian adults smoked, down from ~50% in 1965. Now, cigarette sales are on the rise again for the first time in decades.
Our take: There’s no way to know whether someone will want to buy a pack of cigarettes because they saw Dua Lipa taking a puff, but it feels undeniable that the social shaming of cigarette smoking has begun to wane (especially for drunk cigs).—LA
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Source: Image generated with Canva AI.
What they’re saying: “Shopify is the best product I’ve ever sold in the most poorly run sales organization I’ve ever been a part of,” an anonymous source told The Logic. The quote came in a new report detailing how the Canadian tech giant fired several salespeople last year for falsifying the value of incoming deals, with sources pointing to unattainable sales quotas and a lack of accountability.
Why it matters: Viewed one way, the incident might have actually been a valuable lesson for Shopify that refocused the company. New CEO Jess Hertz kinda sorta implied as much when she said the departure of three senior execs last month was a “turning point.” One of those execs was CRO Bobby Morrison, whose changes to Shopify’s sales structure Logic sources blamed for the scandal.
WAIT, THERE’S MORE
After leaving astronauts stranded in space last year, Boeing’s Starliner will restart test flights next year, but with a reduced number of missions and without any passengers.
The U.S. and Ukraine drafted a new peace plan, a top Ukrainian official told the Financial Times, that’s much different from the one drafted by the U.S. and Russia.
As it tries to become more like Reddit and Discord, Facebook will allow users to give themselves nicknames in groups — a swerve from its long-lived “real-name” policy.
The Royal Canadian Navy is mulling a move to add more training vessels, and deploying those ships to operations in the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.
Jony Ive, the designer of the iPhone who is now in charge of making a physical OpenAI device, said that the mysterious product will be unveiled within two years.
Canadian author Thomas King, acclaimed for his works about Indigenous stories and issues, said he isn’t Indigenous. King believed he was Indigenous for most of his life.
BY THE NUMBERS
📦 52 million. Packages that Canadians are expected to ship during the holiday season, according to Purolator — up from 43 million in 2024.
🚗 78. Minutes that the average person spends in transit every day globally. A recent study found the number is more or less the same regardless of country or socioeconomic status.
☢️ US$700 million. Funding that Amazon-backed X Energy just raised, one of the largest funding rounds by a nuclear reactor company ever.
PEAK PICKS
Forget 10k steps — Fewer steps can spark real fat loss. Find out your optimal step count to finally move the scale.*
Don't let scammers crash your Black Friday party. RBC's guide helps you spot and protect yourself from scams this holiday season.
Why rage rooms are becoming so popular.
Cheat code: Vegas locals and visitors rode escalators for hours to watch the F1 race for free.
How Southeast Asia became the best place in the world to shop.
The next protein food craze? Costco pizza, apparently.
The secrets to enjoying winter in cold countries.
Read: How China made its cities less noisy (Financial Times, paywalled).
*This is sponsored content.
