Good morning. An army of humanoid robots ran in the Beijing half-marathon over the weekend, with one particularly speedy robo-runner actually breaking the human half-marathon record with a time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds. Not all participants had the same luck — one poor robot tripped over a curb at the starting line, shattering into hundreds of pieces.
To be fair, it’s hardly the first (or last) marathoner to have a breakdown on the starting line.
Today’s reading time is 5½ minutes.
MARKETS
| ▲ | TSX |
34,346.29 |
+0.86% |
|
| ▲ | S&P 500 |
7,126.06 |
+1.20% |
|
| ▲ | DOW JONES |
49,447.43 |
+1.79% |
|
| ▲ | NASDAQ |
24,468.48 |
+1.52% |
|
| ▼ | GOLD |
4,830.3 |
-1.01% |
|
| ▲ | OIL |
88.36 |
+6.99% |
|
| ▼ | CAD/USD |
0.73 |
-0.10% |
|
| ▼ | BTC/USD |
74,558.24 |
-1.28% |
Earnings to watch: Tesla, Boeing, and Rogers Communications will all report on Wednesday, while chipmaker Intel — which has been one of the S&P 500’s best-performing stocks this year — will release its Q1 results after the bell on Thursday.
ECONOMY
The summer barbecue is more expensive than ever
Source: Unsplash.
With the warmer weather starting to arrive, you may be looking forward to long, sunny afternoons spent hanging out in the backyard, enjoying a cold beverage or two, and flipping some burgers. The bad news is this classic summer activity now comes with a hefty price tag.
Driving the news: Beef prices are up 14% since this time last year and likely to stay high this summer, as new forecasts show North American beef production on track to fall again this year.
Over the past decade, beef prices have increased by 65%, more than double overall inflation.
Why it matters: For Canadians already burdened by high grocery prices, burgers are no longer the cheap and cheerful way to feed a crowd they once were, while steaks — even cheaper cuts — have turned into luxury splurges for special occasions.
Why it’s happening: Most of the run-up in beef prices happened in the past three years, triggered by a severe drought that made it more expensive for ranchers to feed their herds. They responded by thinning out their herds, which led to a supply crunch that we’re now experiencing in the form of higher prices.
Once a cattle herd is culled, it takes years to rebuild, and ranchers — still operating on thin margins because of higher land costs and expensive inputs (like feed and fuel) — may be hesitant to invest in expanding their herds and potentially driving prices down.
At the same time, demand for beef has held up, driven in part by consumers looking to up their protein intake. So long as demand is strong, there’s little reason for producers to lower prices.
Bottom line: If you want to barbecue on a budget, maybe consider hot dogs. It’ll likely be a couple of years before beef looks affordable again.—TS
BIG PICTURE
Source: Shutterstock.
Carney says U.S. relationship is now a weakness. In a video address Sunday morning, the prime minister said Canada’s ties to the U.S. have become a weakness that needs to be corrected, adding that he would not “sugarcoat” the situation for Canadians. On the other side of the border, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had some choice words of his own, saying “they suck,” referring to Canada and its trade strategy. He later clarified that he meant “Canada sucks off of our $30 trillion economy” (not sure that’s better). (CTV News)
IMF says Canada has the strongest fiscal position in the G7. A director at the International Monetary Fund said in an interview over the weekend that the organization sees Canada’s fiscal position as the strongest among G7 countries and that it has a “very strong focus on the debt path.” The feds’ November budget committed to pushing the country’s net debt-to-GDP ratio to 43%, which would be the lowest in the G7. (Bloomberg News)
Doug Ford backtracks on his private jet purchase. Just two days after his $28.9 million jet purchase was revealed publicly, the Ontario premier says he is now selling the private government plane following public backlash. Ford’s decision to buy the Bombardier jet for “more flexible travel” would’ve made his government an outlier nationally — premiers in other provinces, including Alberta and B.C., fly on commercial airlines. (CBC News)
📡 What else is on our radar:
Ontario university applications hit a record high thanks to renewed interest from international and out-of-province students.
The home shopping TV network, QVC, has filed for bankruptcy after almost four decades on the air.
After facing criticism from First Nations leaders, B.C. Premier David Eby reportedly walked back plans to suspend parts of the province’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act this legislative session.
The EU is asking people to work from home more to ease pressure on energy supplies.
A MESSAGE FROM THE PEAK
You probably know someone who should be on this list, so nominate them.
Canada's next generation of business leaders is out there doing remarkable work, and The Peak wants to make sure they get the recognition they've earned. For the sixth year running, we're building the Emerging Leaders list — and nominations are open now.
Since we launched, we've recognized over 1,000 leaders from coast to coast across 12 categories covering every major industry. Whether your nominee is reshaping healthcare, scaling a startup, or leading a team that punches well above its weight, there's a place for them here.
Here's why this matters:
Over 1,000 Canadian leaders have already been celebrated through this program
12 categories mean virtually every industry has a spot at the table
Recognition reaches 150,000 engaged business readers across the country
LOOKOUT
What’s happening this week
Source: View of Tehran from Milad Tower / Diego Delso, Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
🇺🇸 Ceasefire between U.S. and Iran set to expire. The U.S. dispatched negotiators to Pakistan to resume peace negotiations ahead of the ceasefire with Iran’s Wednesday expiry date. Iranian state media said the talks could not go forward while the U.S. blockaded its ports, and tensions ratcheted up yesterday after the U.S. seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz. The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon also expires on Sunday. Stocks rallied last week as investors bet on the peace holding, but that could quickly reverse if the war restarts.
📊 Inflation expected to tick up. You can thank the war in Iran if (as widely expected) inflation comes in significantly higher later today. Forecasts show inflation for March up 2.5% year over year, compared to 1.8% in February, largely because of a 21% jump in gas prices. The Bank of Canada will be watching closely to see if higher energy prices are bleeding into other sectors of the economy and pushing up core inflation (which strips out energy) — that’s the sort of trend that could prompt them to hike rates.
⚖️ Incoming Fed chair to face questions at Congress. Kevin Warsh, Donald Trump’s pick to replace Jerome Powell as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, will appear before a Senate committee tomorrow. It’s an early step in a nomination process that could prove challenging, with senators from both parties promising to block Warsh’s nomination until the Department of Justice ends its investigation of Powell.
TECH
Sam Altman’s ID startup is gaining traction
Source: World.
If Sam Altman gets his way, it may not be long until you’ll have to scan your eyeball to buy concert tickets.
Driving the news: World (formerly Worldcoin), the startup co-founded by OpenAI chief Sam Altman, has upgraded its human verification tool, World ID, and is now integrating it into a number of companies’ apps, including Shopify, Zoom, Tinder, and DocuSign.
To guard against deepfake impersonation and fraud, Zoom and DocuSign plan to use World ID to verify that the users on video calls or signing documents are, in fact, the people they say they are.
Another World ID feature called Concert Kit would allow artists to only sell tickets to verified human buyers, blocking out bots that buy tickets en masse for the resale market.
Catch-up: World ID is like a more extreme version of that little “I’m not a robot” box that pops up sometimes. It has three tiers for confirming identity: a selfie, a government ID, and an in-person biometric eye scan at one of the company’s iris “orbs.” Companies using World ID then decide what level of verification they require from users.
Why it matters: We may not be far away from a reality where we will have to hand over our biometric data to prove our “humanness” before doing anything from signing a legal document to making an online dating profile.
Our take: The need for a human-verification system in the age of AI agents and deepfakes is real, but entrusting a Sam Altman-led startup with that immense responsibility (and power) may be shortsighted.
Altman has been described by people close to him as a pathological liar, was temporarily ousted from OpenAI (in part) for prioritizing quick product releases over public safety, and reportedly tosses off one-liners that sound close to something a movie villain would say, like “I don’t care about money. I care more about power.”
Bottom line: A JPMorgan note earlier this month summed up the irony of AI tools being positioned as the only solution to problems caused by AI tools: it “feels like an arsonist selling fire extinguishers.”—LA
ONE BIG NUMBER
🍝 US$34,000. Value of Lego sets purchased by a man in California who then replaced the pieces with uncooked pasta shells before returning them for a full refund. The scheme worked 70 times before police caught the thief.
PEAK PICKS
A rare underwater drone captured a “fish city” on Lake Huron.
Why Ecuador is an underrated retirement destination (Wall Street Journal, paywalled).
This college prof is battling cheating by making students use typewriters.
How astronauts go to the bathroom in space.
Cheap gadgets that don’t suck.
Anthropic launched a new AI design tool.
Why would anyone launch a print magazine in 2026? (Peak Premium, paywalled).
Without further ado, today’s mini-crossword, the daily sudoku, Codebreaker, and Who’s Who.
