John Apple

Good morning. The final captive beluga whales left Marineland yesterday, marking the end of a massive relocation effort that saw the beleaguered park ship out 30 belugas and four dolphins to five aquariums in the U.S. and Spain this year. 

However, the Marineland saga is far from over. A deal to sell the land that the theme park sits on is reportedly done; meanwhile, advocates are calling for an investigation into the death of one of the recently moved belugas. 

This is all going to make for one wild book when it’s all said and done. 

Today’s reading time is 5½ minutes.

Markets: Canada’s main stock index fell to nearly a four-week low yesterday, with one analyst telling Reuters that “investors may be taking profit ahead ⁠of the month of September,” which, historically, has been a rocky month for U.S. stocks.

There’s a new boss calling the shots at the world’s second-most valuable company. 

What happened: John Ternus is now Apple's CEO, as Tim Cook shifts to executive chairman of the board of directors after 15 years at the helm (where his main job will be managing relations with Donald Trump, the man who bestowed on him his famous nickname). 

Catch-up: During his tenure, Cook did a sterling job scaling up what Steve Jobs had built, reaffirming the dominance of the iPhone and turning its services arm from an afterthought into a crucial pillar. Under his direction, revenues roughly quadrupled and market cap grew more than 13-fold. However, he never oversaw the release of anything as big as the iPhone.

Why it matters: Ternus is a device guy, previously Apple’s head of hardware since 2021, and has heavy expectations to make Apple synonymous with innovation once again — an association it has lost now that other companies are setting the pace for AI development.

What’s next: Ternus will oversee his first product launch as CEO on September 9, where he is expected to unveil what could be Apple’s next killer product: the foldable iPhone.—QH

U.S. Treasury Secretary says Canada isn’t capable of a tit-for-tat trade war. Scott Bessent dismissed the idea of a trade war between the two countries (while making an oddly specific West Edmonton Mall reference), saying that you can’t “be in a tit-for-tat with someone that's 13 times larger than you are." He added that Prime Minister Mark Carney turned down “the best trade deal of any country on the globe” for political reasons. (CBC News)

Unifor tries to wrap up its last deal with the Big Three automakers. The union begins negotiations today with Stellantis on a new labour deal for its Canadian workers, looking to land its third collective agreement after reaching pacts with both General Motors and Ford. Earlier this month, Unifor reported that Stellantis is considering closing its Brampton, Ontario, plant, which has sat idle since 2023. (The Canadian Press)

The FTC is suing Amazon for allegedly deceiving advertisers. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and 22 states filed a lawsuit against the e-commerce giant, alleging that it pocketed US$20 billion by secretly raising the minimum price advertisers had to pay for a placement on its platform. Amazon runs auctions to set prices for its ad slots; the lawsuit alleges the company would secretly submit its own bid to jack up those prices. (TechCrunch)

📡 What else is on our radar: 

The news isn’t always the most fun thing to read (we do our best to keep things light, but sometimes we don’t have the best source material).

You’ve earned a break for a puzzle, and we’ve got you covered with a daily mini-crossword and sudoku.

Plus two original games:

Check out all our games on Peak Games now.

What they’re saying: “Hey @Kalshi thanks for the lifetime ban from your gambling platform. Let’s see how much longer you guys are around for. 💋,” Republican ex-congressman and convicted criminal George Santos posted on X after becoming the first person to receive a lifetime ban from the prediction market. Santos allegedly placed a bet on whether or not he would attend Donald Trump’s State of the Union address; he also faces a US$71,356 fine.

Why it matters: Kalshi is trying to prove that it’s serious about fighting insider trading, also handing out three-year bans to other users who used insider political knowledge on bets. Santos is an easy whipping boy for the cause, but more safeguards are needed from Kalshi, governments, and other companies to prevent such bets from happening in the first place.

Ottawa is having a tough time getting its defence bank out of the G7 group chat. 

Driving the news: The Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), a global defence bank championed by Prime Minister Mark Carney, is struggling to get other countries to sign up and meet its €100 billion capital goal, per Reuters. 

Catch-up: When the DSRB was announced back in April, it was reported that nearly 20 countries, including NATO members and their allies, were in talks to join. Since then, countries like Germany, Japan, and the U.K. have been non-committal, citing concerns about overlapping initiatives and the value for money that the bank would provide.

Why it matters: Ottawa has committed to the largest increase in military spending since WWII, and plans to give 70% of all defence contracts to Canadian companies in the next decade. To make that happen, those homegrown defence firms need a lot of cheap capital — from a friendly lender like the DSRB — to ramp up production. 

Our take: Getting allies on board for the DSRB is a test of Carney’s ability to coordinate the so-called middle powers he believes can help reduce Canada’s reliance on the U.S.—LA

🚂 ~$150 billion. Estimated cost of the Alto high-speed rail project, according to internal documents, significantly more than the publicly cited price tag of $60–$90 billion. The Toronto–Quebec City train has faced increasing opposition over its price tag and the impact it could have on communities along the route.

Have no fear! Today’s mini-crossword, the daily sudoku, Codebreaker, and Who’s Who are here!