Two senior Iranian sources told Reuters that Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued a directive that the enriched uranium must remain in the Islamic Republic.
Oil prices traded higher in the wake of the report as it is viewed as complicating ongoing peace talks between Washington and Tehran.
Oil prices jumped Thursday on a report that Iran’s supreme leader will not allow the country’s enriched uranium to be shipped abroad, a position that will likely complicate peace talks with the U.S.
U.S. crude oil rose 2.4% to $100.57 per barrel by 8:34 a.m. ET. International benchmark Brent crude prices advanced nearly 2% to $107.05 per barrel.
Two senior Iranian sources told Reuters that Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued a directive that the enriched uranium must remain in the Islamic Republic.
President Donald Trump said earlier this week that he called off imminent U.S. airstrikes on Iran to give diplomact more time at the request of U.S. Gulf Arab allies.
Apocalyptic climate-change predictions were box-office gold for Hollywood but they did untold damage to the public psyche, economy and the average man’s pocketbook.
Now the United Nations’ influential climate change committee has quietly discarded the dire temperature-rise scenarios used in two previous reports predicting horrific consequences of global warming if greenhouse emissions weren’t curbed.
For years, lefty outfits — based on dubious climate science — screamed about the coming climate catastrophe: The New York Times warned that “Climate Change Is Harming The Planet Faster Than We Can Adapt,” “Climate Change Is Speeding Toward Catastrophe” and “A Hotter Future Is Certain.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) insisted the world would end by 2030 if we didn’t address climate change — by which she meant waste trillions on the Green New Deal and return to Stone Age-style living.
Democrats went full-tilt in accepting the UN-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report’s forecasts of a dramatic rise in sea levels, rapidly melting glaciers, global crop failures and even the ultimate extinction of mankind.
But let’s face it: The UN scenarios were overblown from the start, and the left’s climate crusaders hyped them even more.
The recent development you’re referencing is the UN/IPCC quietly moving away from its most extreme “worst-case” emissions scenario, often called RCP8.5 (or SSP5-8.5). This scenario assumed a massive continued rise in coal use with little to no mitigation or clean energy progress — something that hasn’t materialized due to cheaper renewables, policy shifts, and economic realities. Researchers now call it implausible for future projections.
What this actually means
Not an admission that “climate change is a hoax”: The core physics remain — CO₂ and other greenhouse gases warm the planet, and human emissions are the dominant driver of recent warming (~1.1–1.2°C since pre-industrial). Impacts like more intense heatwaves, sea level rise, and shifts in extremes are real and growing.
But extreme doom narratives relied heavily on this scenario: Media, activists, and some policymakers often highlighted the tail-end horrors (4–5°C+ warming by 2100, civilization-ending impacts) as if they were the most likely outcome. Current trajectories (with existing policies and tech trends) point more toward 2–3°C by 2100 — serious, but not “Earth destroyed tomorrow” or uninhabitable hellscapes for humanity as a whole.
Bill Gates and others have noted: Climate change brings real risks (especially to poorer nations), but it won’t end human civilization or make most of Earth uninhabitable. Adaptation, innovation, and continued emissions reductions matter.
This adjustment aligns with long-standing critiques: RCP8.5 was useful for stress-testing high-end risks but was overused as a “business as usual” baseline, inflating alarm. Emissions have risen, but not as explosively as the extreme path assumed.
The “refund” part — valid frustration
Skepticism of the policy response is reasonable:
Trillions spent on subsidies, mandates, and net-zero targets with mixed results on global emissions (developing nations dominate future growth).
Economic costs of rushed transitions hit energy prices and reliability in places like Europe and parts of the US/Canada.
Earlier high-profile papers projecting extreme damages (e.g., the retracted Nature study on $38T annual losses) amplified the panic before scrutiny.
Science self-corrects (slowly), but the political/media complex often doesn’t. Alarm sold policies, fear mobilized voters, and careers were built on urgency.
Balanced view going forward
Climate change is a manageable risk, not an existential cliff-edge for tomorrow. Prioritizing:
Adaptation (resilient infrastructure, agriculture, coastal protection) — often highly cost-effective.
Innovation (nuclear, advanced geothermal, storage, carbon removal, adaptation tech) over punitive carbon taxes or blanket fossil fuel bans.
Realistic pathways: Current policies put us nowhere near 8.5; focus on the plausible range while lifting energy poverty.
Humanity has thrived across a wide temperature range historically. Wealthier, more technologically advanced societies are far more resilient. The biggest near-term threats to many people remain poverty, energy access, and bad governance — not climate alone.
Keyera Corp. KEY-T -0.61%decrease, AltaGas Ltd. ALA-T -1.56%decrease and Canadian National Railway Co. CNR-T +1.33%increase have announced a plan to go ahead with a new $240-million rail terminal project.
Under the plan, Keyera will build and own the Alberta Corridor Export Rail Terminal on land it owns.
The project will be supported by long-term commercial arrangements with AltaGas and CN.
The terminal is expected to provide transportation capacity for the shipment of about 45,000 barrels per day of propane and butane from the Fort Saskatchewan region to West Coast export facilities.
It will be designed to improve loading efficiency, reduce handling requirements and lower transportation costs.
The companies says the terminal is hoped to enter service in mid-2028.
Lightspeed Commerce Inc. LSPD-T +3.78%increase reported a loss of US$28.6-million in its latest quarter as its revenue rose 15 per cent compared with a year ago.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says the loss amounted to 20 US cents per share for the quarter ended March 31.
The result compared with a loss of US$575.9-million or US$3.79 per share in the same quarter last year when it took a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of US$556.4-million.
On an adjusted basis, Lightspeed says it earned eight US cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 10 US cents per share a year ago.
Revenue for what was Lightspeed’s fourth quarter totalled US$290.8-million, up from US$253.4-million in the same quarter last year.
Transaction-based revenue amounted to US$185.3 million, up from US$157.8 million, while subscription revenue totalled US$93.3 million, up from US$87.9 million. Hardware and other revenue rose to US$12.1 million compared with US$7.8 million a year ago.
Traders are pricing in a US$355-billion swing in Nvidia’s (NVDA-Q +2.47%increase) market value after the company reports first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, according to options positions that indicate the market is still bullish on the AI giant while keen to protect gains.
The chipmaker’s options imply a move of about 6.5 per cent in either direction on Thursday, a day after the company reports results.
That would translate into a swing of roughly US$350-billion in market capitalization – more than the individual market value of about 90 per cent of S&P 500 constituents.
While that is higher than the 5.6 per cent move implied ahead of the company’s February earnings, it is still well below Nvidia’s historical average price swing of 7.6 per cent, according to analytics firm Option Research & Technology Services (ORATS).
That suggests the market is becoming more sanguine about the company’s earnings, despite long-simmering fears that massive AI capital expenditure more broadly may prove unsustainable.
“I think investors have become complacent about AI/capex,” said Matt Amberson, founder of ORATS.
Some individual trades underscore a strong conviction that Nvidia could once again deliver an upside surprise.
One notable Monday trade was the purchase of a 25,000 call spread expiring June 1 for US$1.78, betting that Nvidia could rise roughly 16 per cent to US$260 per share in the next two weeks, with a potential payoff more than seven times the initial cost, according to Chris Murphy, co-head of derivatives strategy at Susquehanna, a market maker.
Murphy said the chipmaker’s options skew has shifted toward calls, indicating growing demand for upside exposure.
“The market is no longer simply paying up for downside protection. It is increasingly paying for upside participation,” Murphy said, adding that bets on rising prices of tech stocks went from a five-year low in March to a five-year high by mid-May.
While traders are bullish on Nvidia, increasing hedging and profit-taking across semiconductor stocks and related exchange-traded funds suggest that even the most bullish investors are looking to protect gains after the sector’s sharp run-up.
That tension reflects a key dynamic heading in to earnings: investor expectations are high, and the bar for Nvidia, as the semiconductor giant at the heart of the AI trade, is rising.
Nvidia’s shares have gained 19 per cent this year, while the S&P 500 is up 8 per cent year to date and the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index has risen 57 per cent over the same period.
Investors will be watching closely to see if Nvidia’s results support the recent rise in both prices and volatility in AI and chip stocks, and will watch in particular for signals on data center demand, hyperscaler spending, margins and forward guidance, all of which are critical to sustaining the AI-driven rally, said Murphy.
He added: “The other thing to keep in mind is that semi(conductors) have become a crowded leadership area. The options market is saying they are still willing to chase upside in Nvidia, but they are also starting to hedge or monetize gains in other crowded winners.”
Higher gas prices driven mainly by the war in Iran pushed the annual rate of inflation up to 2.8 per cent in April, Statistics Canada said Tuesday – the fastest pace of price hikes in almost two years.
StatCan said the cost of gasoline was 28.6 per cent higher year-over-year last month as conflict in the Middle East disrupted global oil shipments, sending costs soaring at the gas pumps. April also marked the switch to more expensive summer gasoline blends at gas stations in Canada.
The agency noted the federal government’s move to suspend the fuel excise tax mid-month helped moderate the April price increase.
StatCan’s April report marks a jump from March’s inflation rate of 2.4 per cent, though a Reuters poll of economists had expected inflation would accelerate even more to top three per cent. The April figures mark the highest annual inflation rate since May, 2024.
Ottawa’s decision to remove the consumer carbon price a year earlier meanwhile skewed the annual price comparison higher in April.
Nixing the carbon price took roughly 18 cents off the price of a litre of gas in April, 2025. While that move took some steam out of the headline inflation rate over the past 12 months, that reduction has now fallen out of the annual comparison – pushing inflation higher rather than depressing it.
Prices for clothing and footwear rose two per cent in April, coming off a decline of 0.4 per cent in March.
StatCan said an 11 per cent annual price drop for travel tours in April and a slowdown in rent inflation nationally helped offset rising energy costs. Rent hikes have especially eased in British Columbia as its population shrinks; StatCan noted the province was the only one that didn’t see its inflation rate accelerate in April.
CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham said in a note to clients Tuesday that higher prices for airfares tied to spiking fuel costs were not captured in the April inflation data, because those transactions are recorded when the flight is taken – not when the ticket is purchased. He said he expects to see those pressures show up more in the summer inflation readings.
Food inflation also eased to 3.5 per cent in April, down from four per cent in March, as grocery items such as chicken, fresh vegetables, coffee and tea saw their pace of price hikes slow following sharp increases earlier in the year.
The April figures mark the Bank of Canada’s last look at inflation data before the bank makes its next interest rate decision on June 10.
The central bank has held its policy rate steady at 2.25 per cent in its last four decisions.
TD senior economist Leslie Preston said in a note that knock-on effects from the Iran war oil shock are not yet showing up in non-energy segments of the consumer basket.
The Bank of Canada’s closely watched core inflation metrics cooled more than expected in April, Preston said, offering “little argument” for rate hikes from the central bank.
Grantham said the soft core inflation readings suggest there’s slack in the Canadian economy, which will continue to keep a lid on inflation even as higher gas prices work their way through other components in the months ahead.
“Because of that, we continue to see the Bank of Canada holding interest rates steady at their current level throughout 2026,” Grantham said.
The rapid spread of AI across corporate America is creating a crisis for young adults with college degrees who are finding a slowdown in hiring for entry-level positions in AI-exposed industries.
Major U.S. companies, including Ford, Nvidia and AT&T, have stressed the growing need for trade workers to build the infrastructure behind the AI economy.
AT&T plans to invest around $38 billion over the next five years hiring and training blue-collar front-line workers, the majority of whom are skilled technicians, to expand its fiber network, the company said.
Alberta officials expect to see first oil move through a new pipeline to the West Coast by 2033 or 2034, after the province and Ottawa signed a long-awaited deal on carbon pricing and emissions reductions in the energy sector.
The agreement was inked on Friday by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Danielle Smith at the McDougall Centre in Calgary. It finalizes the fine print of a memorandum of understanding they signed last year, which tied Ottawa’s support for a potential pipeline to Alberta increasing the carbon price it imposes on oil producers and reducing greenhouse gas emissions through carbon capture and storage, also called CCS.
The two governments have agreed to an effective carbon price of $130 per tonne by 2040 by instituting annual benchmarks for the headline carbon price – or policy price – including $115 by 2030 and $130 by 2035.
Under Friday’s agreement, Alberta will submit an application for a new oil pipeline to the West Coast to Ottawa’s Major Projects Office on or before July 1. The federal government will then look to designate the pipeline as a project of national interest by Oct. 1.
If that designation is successful, Canada will assess the project under the Building Canada Act to determine the conditions required for construction and development of the pipeline.
“Provided that duty to consult obligations with Indigenous Peoples have been met, Canada intends to make best efforts to provide the conditions document by September 1, 2027 to enable commencement of construction of the pipeline,” it says.
Under the agreement, both governments will establish a trilateral discussion with British Columbia on the oil pipeline application, and Ottawa will continue working with B.C. “on other projects of national interest in their jurisdiction.”
Consolidated Comparable sales were down 1.0%, with growth at SportChek and Mark’s offset by a decline at CTR.
CTR Comparable sales1 were down 2.3%. Fixing categories grew, while Seasonal and Gardening led the decline. Western Canada outperformed, with seasonal weakness impacting Ontario and Quebec. Automotive retail sales were up for the 23rd consecutive quarter.
SportChek Comparable sales1 were up 3.3%, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of sales growth. The quarter saw strong performance from fanwear, athletic footwear and hard goods.
Mark’s Comparable sales1 were up 1.2% on higher casualwear sales. New-concept Bigger Bolder Better (BBB) stores remained a key driver.
Loyalty sales outpaced non-loyalty sales, reflecting growth in active Triangle Rewards members, including increasing contributions from the Company’s loyalty partnerships with RBC and WestJet launched in Q1.
Retail Revenue growth was strong, up 2.9% or 5.0% excluding Petroleum, reflecting higher shipments to support the Q2 spring/summer season and replenishment at CTR.
Consolidated Income before income taxes (IBT) was $169.1 million, up $117.5 million, mainly reflecting prior year restructuring expense, and up $3.4 million on a normalized basis1. Retail IBT1 of $50.9 million was stable year-on-year on a normalized basis; Retail gross margin dollars increased on higher Retail Revenue, offset by higher IT and variable compensation expenses.
The call presented a majority of positive operational and financial developments: healthy sales growth, strong margin expansion, substantial EPS and IBT gains, meaningful loyalty and partnership traction, disciplined capital allocation and clear strategic investments (AI/MOSaiC, store refreshes). The principal cautions relate to a 53rd week that materially boosted results, elevated inventory, bank-level investment pressures and some banner/category-specific softness (CTR living, discretionary). Management articulated concrete plans to sustain momentum (loyalty, partnerships, DaiVID rollout, MOSaiC commercialization) and quantified savings and capital priorities. On balance, the highlights are stronger and more numerous than the lowlights, and the business appears to be executing through transformation while acknowledging near-term modeling caveats.
Company Guidance
Management reiterated True North long-term goals of annual retail sales growth of 3–5% with earnings growing faster than sales and a “North Star” retail gross margin rate of 35%+, while flagging 2026-specific expectations: operating CapEx of $500–$550 million (2025 OpEx was $502 million), continued share repurchases after >$440 million bought in 2025 (share count down ~5%), and a push to realize $100 million of restructuring savings (with $30 million recognized in Q4). They warned of tough weather and patriotic‑purchasing comps in H1 2026, said Q1 had started well but noted the bank will face some SG&A/headwind in H1 from ongoing investments (although not the same profitability hit as 2025), and signaled key program timing—DaiVID rollout to SportChek/Mark’s in late 2026 and MOSaiC commercialization in H2 2026—while pointing to 2025 metrics that underpin guidance (ROIC up to 11%, extra retail week in 2025 added ~$287M sales ex‑Petroleum and ~$40M IBT, and loyalty/partnership momentum such as 9.8M active members and eCTM issuance of $329M).
