

The Peak Daily
The Peak / Curiouscast
Fast Canadian business news. Get up-to-speed quick with a fun and smart breakdown of the three biggest Canadian and global business stories in less than 10 minutes.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 10, 2022 • 11min
Airline audit ✈️ — Netflix’s games aren’t taking off. The government is investigating Canadian airlines. And Google wants Apple to get rid of the green bubbles.
Netflix is struggling to build its gaming business as less than 1% of their users interact with them on a daily basisJust when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for Canada’s airlines and airports, the government has launched an investigation into the flight cancellations making headlines.Android users know that there is no greater indignity than being the only green bubble in a friend group of iPhone users. Google is now stepping up to fight this injustice.The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

Aug 9, 2022 • 9min
Embarrassing earnings 📉 — SoftBank has a bad quarter. Self driving cars are coming to China. And Ontario hospitals are in crisis.
Japanese technology investor SoftBank reported a record loss of US$23 billion last quarter, after a spending spree that CEO Masayoshi Son described as delirious.Baidu (China’s Google) is the country’s first company licensed to commercially offer fully driverless robotaxis without a human supervisor present through Apollo Go, its driverless ride-hailing platform.Canadian hospital shutdowns that began in small jurisdictions have now spread to the biggest cities as the healthcare system deals with a devastating labour shortage.The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

Aug 8, 2022 • 9min
Roomba and Ring 📦 — Canada’s implementing a handgun ban. Amazon buys iRobot. And Canada and India may do a free trade deal.
Canada will ban the import of restricted handguns this month, part of a broader effort to curb gun violence after the country’s deadliest mass shooting in 2019, per The Washington Post.A comprehensive free trade agreement with India would be a mega-win for the Canadian economy, according to a new study commissioned by business groups backing a deal.Amazon is buying iRobot, the maker of the Roomba vacuum and other home robots, for US$1.7 billion.The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

Aug 5, 2022 • 8min
Italian innovation 🇮🇹 — Nunavut workers may be out of jobs. Italy is getting a semiconductor manufacturing facility. And GM’s rolling out new self-driving features.
Over 1000 miners in Nunavut could be out of a job come September after receiving termination notices warning that their mine might be forced to shut down as it nears its yearly extraction limit.Italy is close to clinching a ~$5 billion deal with US-based Intel to build an advanced semiconductor (chip) packaging and assembly plant in the countryGood news for people whose hands get super sweaty when they grip a steering wheel for too long: GM’s advanced driver-assist system (ADAS) will soon be available on more Canadian highways.The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

Aug 4, 2022 • 10min
Metaverse dating ❤️ — Tinder is giving up on the metaverse. Nancy Pelosi is in Taiwan. And Warner Brother’s is shelving Batgirl.
After an earnings report more disappointing than a bad date who didn’t even offer to split the bill, Tinder is making some changes and curtailing its metaverse ambitions.If there’s anything we can learn from Nancy Pelosi’s jaunt to Taiwan–specifically, the criticism surrounding it–it’s that the world is pretty freaked out about China right now.If you’re wondering how bad a movie has to be for a studio to not even bother releasing it ask a member of the test audience for “Batgirl” because you’re not going to get a chance to see it for yourself after Warner Brothers shelves it before it was even released.The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

Aug 3, 2022 • 10min
Cash flow 💸 — Uber is cash flow positive. Amazon produces a bunch of emissions. And grain shipment is surging.
For the first time in the company’s history, Uber reported positive cash flow in a quarter on the back of a record US$8.1 billion in revenue.As last year’s lockdowns drove online spending to new heights, Amazon’s carbon emissions grew 18% from the year before, according to the company’s latest sustainability report.Canadian National Railway is predicting a big rebound for Canadian grain shipments after an off-year and expects to move up to 27 million tonnes of grain for the current crop year—a ~48% year-over-year increase.The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

Aug 2, 2022 • 10min
Definition 📖 — The oil business is booming. US regulators are blocking Meta’s acquisitions. And we’re arguing over the definition of a recession.
Tech companies may be struggling, but it’s a great time to be in a more old-school business: oil and gas companies are raking in record profits and earning windfalls for shareholders.US antitrust regulators are suing to block Meta’s purchase of virtual reality startup Within, a move that could seriously hamper the company’s metaverse ambitions and have ripple effects across Big Tech.The debate over we’re in a recession is heating up!The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

Aug 1, 2022 • 11min
Finish fertilizer 🌾 — DeepMind releases a new database. Global natural gas prices are on the rise. And the feds want farmers to use less fertilizer.
DeepMind is releasing an extended database with information for nearly every protein known to science, only eighteen months after introducing the AI behind it.Global natural gas prices are on the rise this week after Russia cut gas flows to Europe in half.The federal government wants to cut fertilizer emissions by 30% by 2030 per its latest climate plan, but farming critics believe that isn’t feasible without producing a lot less food.The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

Jul 28, 2022 • 12min
Cloud war ☁️ — Microsoft is assembling a coalition to fight Amazon for public sector contracts. It’s earnings season. And FTX is buying Bithum.
Microsoft is leading a crusade against Amazon’s dominance in the government cloud-computing space and is asking competitors to raise their voices, too.It’s earnings season and we’re breaking down the numbers from some of the biggest companies.FTX, the world’s second largest crypto exchange, is eying a purchase of South Korean crypto exchange Bithum as founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried looks to continue his shopping spree.The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.

Jul 27, 2022 • 11min
Expensive soap 🧼 — Shopify lays off 10% of staff. Unliver hikes the price on a bunch of brands. The Kardashians don’t like the new Instagram.
Shopify’s no-good, horrible, very-bad year only got worse after the company announced it was laying off 10% of its workforce, sending shares cratering by ~15%.Unilever increased prices across its 400 brands, from Dove soap to Hellmann’s mayonnaise, by 11%, as executives try to battle an “unprecedented cost landscape” without losing customers to cheaper alternatives.The Kardashians aren’t happy about Meta’s moves to make Facebook and Instagram more like TikTok, but not even their clout is powerful enough to stop the pivot to video.The Peak Daily is produced by 306 Media Productions. Hosted by Brett Chang and Jay Rosenthal.