Gotta catch ‘em all

Good morning. And happy World UFO Day! On this occasion, odds analytics firm CSB shared some fun data with The Peak. Apparently, Sherbrooke, Quebec, is the Canadian city with the most UFO sightings per capita, with 52 reported sightings between 2020 and 2024. 

The city with the most reports over that span was Toronto with 275, but because of the difference in population size, Sherbrooke’s per-person sighting rate was actually 3.5 times higher. 

Drunk college kids seeing things, or the first step in a massive alien invasion of southern Quebec? Only time will tell.

Today’s reading time is 5 minutes. 

Markets: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq just capped their best quarterly performances since 2020, but Michael Burry (of “Big Short” fame) thinks we have reached the “beginning of the end” of the bull market. Writing on his Substack, Burry said he’s shorting Tesla, Caterpillar (which has benefited from data centre construction), an ETF that tracks semiconductor stocks, and adding to his bets against Nvidia.

After a juicy raise, a Canadian defence darling is angling for an even juicier contract. 

What happened: Ottawa-based Dominion Dynamics secured $139 million in new funding, the largest Series A raise ever for a Canadian defence tech startup. It comes on the heels of a $21 million round in January, bringing its total to $169 million raised since launching last year. 

Catch-up: Arctic security is top of mind for Canada and its NATO allies as melting ice opens up new lanes, and China and Russia make overtures in the region. Dominion has made the issue its niche, and wants to be the company providing threat detection in Canada’s north.

Why it matters: Dominion has trialled prototypes of its system with Canada’s military, but hasn’t secured a federal contract. The company believes this round will help it make the leap from making prototypes to producing scalable products, thus securing the bag from Ottawa. 

Zoom out: The company’s business model doesn’t really work without a federal contract, which it has found hard to come by even with new defence spending initiatives. If it doesn’t get one soon, Pence warned the company’s first contract could very well be in the U.S.—QH

The U.S. said it does not intend to renew CUSMA. Instead, the agreement will remain in force, subject to rolling annual reviews. Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. will have 10 years to try to reach a long-term agreement — if they can’t, then the trade pact will expire in 2036. The decision by the U.S. was expected, but still means uncertainty will continue for companies operating in North America and points to difficult negotiations ahead. (CTV News)

Alberta is moving forward with its West Coast pipeline without private backers. The provincial government is set to submit its pipeline proposal to Ottawa’s Major Projects Office for fast-tracking infrastructure buildouts — a plan that won’t initially include any financial backing from the private sector. Both Alberta and Ottawa have previously said that the West Coast pipeline project would be led by private backers rather than taxpayers. (Globe and Mail)

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Trump’s order to limit birthright citizenship. In a 6-3 decision, the court struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order that would have stripped future children of American citizenship if their parents were living in the country illegally or on temporary visas. Trump, who has made curtailing birthright citizenship a pillar of his immigration crackdown, even attended a Supreme Court hearing on the matter in April — a first for a sitting president. (Associated Press)

📡 What else is on our radar: 

A team of Canadian researchers conducted a two-year study in Ottawa on reducing tick populations in recreational areas. They discovered that adding woodchips treated with acaricide (a type of pesticide) could decrease tick density by 99%. 

Why it matters: Climate change has started pushing ticks into colder habitats like Canada, and experts say that shift will continue to accelerate as temperatures rise further. Solutions like these can help limit tick populations and reduce the risk of illnesses like Lyme disease, which Canada has seen a dramatic increase in since 2009.

Childhood relics are now a multi-billion dollar asset class. 

Driving the news: With demand for all things Pokémon at an all-time high, two rare cards sold at auction last month for over US$100,000 apiece. They’re just the latest blockbuster deals in a fast-growing Pokémon resale market that’s valued at $15.8 billion. 

Why it’s happening: The generations that grew up collecting Pokémon cards as kids now have money to spend. Instead of buying alternative assets like art or wine, many Millennials and Gen Zers are investing in and profiting from these cards, turning auction houses into schoolyards.  

By the numbers: The Pokémon Co. International (TPCI) —  the joint owner of the Pokémon brand — brought in US$12 billion in sales last year. Despite owning only the Pokémon IP, it is now the seventh-most valuable licensor in the world. 

Why it matters: In some ways, Pokémon cards have gotten too popular for their own good — TPCI’s own execs have said as much. Collectors have priced out kids, people are camping out overnight to get new card shipments, and shops are getting robbed.

Our take: This writer really wishes he hadn’t thrown out his binder of Pokémon cards from 2006. They’d probably cover a down payment on a house by now.—LA

⚽️ 11.8 million. Canadian viewers who tuned in to watch Team Canada’s knockout stage match against South Africa on Sunday, making it the most watched non-final FIFA World Cup match of all time in the country. 

Restart your workweek brain with today’s mini-crossword, the daily sudoku, Codebreaker, and Who’s Who!