a. Alimentation Couche-Tard., based in Laval, Que., is attempting to complete the biggest ever foreign takeover of a Japanese company. Its US$47-billion bid for Seven & i highlights growing international interest in Japanese assets. It also highlights the resistance that foreign acquirers face when trying to buy Japanese companies.

c. Appoint a head of deregulation. Mr. Ferreira complained that Canadian companies face excessive regulation. He suggested the federal government appoint a non-partisan head of deregulation to recommend ways to reduce “unproductive red tape.” Hmmm. Don’t we have a form for that?

a. Blackwell. You could practically hear investors let out a sigh of relief when Nvidia said orders for its new Blackwell semiconductors were “amazing.” Only a month ago, Chinese start-up DeepSeek rattled markets by developing a highly competent chatbot for what it said was a fraction of the cost of similar Western products. DeepSeek’s statements had spurred fears that companies might be overspending on artificial intelligence, including chips from Nvidia.

d. Temu, which originated in China but now spans 90 markets, said Canadian companies will be able to list their products directly on its site and app. The move challenges Canada’s Shopify on its home turf.

c. Around US$85,000. Bitcoin hit a three-month low this week. Its slide may have something to do with the hack of US$1.5-billion in ether from the Bybit exchange last week. Or it may reflect waning confidence in the economy. Or it could be about something else entirely. With crypto, who knows?

b. TC Energy. Gosh, Mr. Trump, it’s nearly as if Canadian companies are wary of fickle U.S. politicians. TC Energy, formerly called TransCanada, first proposed the Keystone XL pipeline in 2008 to bring crude to U.S. refiners from Alberta’s oil sands. The controversial project was halted in 2021 after Joe Biden revoked a key permit. TC then became a natural gas infrastructure and power business late last year. It spun off the oil side of its operations into a new company called South Bow – which said this week that it has “moved on” from Keystone.

a. Mass layoffs of corporate employees. Chief executive Brian Niccol was hired last year to reinvigorate the chain’s slumping U.S. sales. Some of his first moves, though, look a lot like simple old-fashioned cost-cutting. He told employees this week that he plans to lay off 1,100 corporate staff members.

c. About 50 per cent of all spending. It’s a rich person’s world; the rest of us just window-shop in it. According to Moody’s Analytics, the top 10 per cent of households – those making about US$250,000 a year or more – now account for 49.7 per cent of all spending in the United States. Three decades ago, the well off accounted for only about 36 per cent of spending.

b. A term for what coffee shops used to call an Americano. British Columbia-based Kicking Horse Coffee has called on Canadian coffee shops to change the name of their Americanos to Canadianos. The name change may not make a lot of historical sense, but it does seem to be striking a chord with patriotic customers.

d. The lowest number in 125 years. Ouch. Japan recorded only 720,988 births in 2024, the lowest number since records began 125 years ago. Combined with a record 1.6-million deaths, the figures mean Japan’s non-immigrant population shrank by around 900,000 people.

b. Aston Martin. The car company famed for building James Bond’s vehicle of choice is struggling. Its losses are up sharply and it has postponed plans for an electric vehicle while it focuses on launching its Valhalla line of hybrids. Don’t count on any discounts, though. Each Aston Martin Valhalla will sell for roughly US$1.1-million.

d. Six. It takes more than the threat of U.S. tariffs and a slowing economy to put a lid on Canadian banks. In results announced over the past few days, all six of Canada’s big banks managed to beat analysts’ expectations for the most recent quarter.