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Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce

Daily Update: May 13, 2022

Niagara College hosts Moose Hide Campaign, antitrust watchdog open to deal on Rogers bid, gas prices expected to top $2/l, and more.

In this edition:

Niagara College hosts Moose Hide Campaign against violence
Antitrust watchdog open to deal on Rogers bid for Shaw
Gas prices expected to top $2 per litre tomorrow
Crypto markets tumble, investors burned
Google finally announces the Pixel Watch
Musk Twitter deal ‘temporarily on hold’


Niagara College hosts Moose Hide Campaign to stand against violence

Pinning their hopes on ending violence against women and children, Niagara College hosted its first Moose Hide Campaign event on May 12, in partnership with Brock University.

Held on Moose Hide Campaign Day, the day of ceremony calls for all Canadians — Indigenous and non-Indigenous – to take a stand against violence towards women and children, and take practical steps for a collective journey of reconciliation.

Click here to read more.


Canada antitrust watchdog open to deal on Rogers bid for Shaw

Canada’s competition bureau said on Friday that its decision to start litigation to block a C$20 billion ($15.5 billion) bid by Rogers Communications for Shaw Communications does not mean a settlement cannot be reached.

The Canadian antitrust agency this week rejected the proposed deal, saying it would undermine competition in a country that has some of the world’s steepest wireless rates.

It also dismissed a proposed full divesture of Calgary-based Shaw’s wireless business, Freedom Mobile, saying this was insufficient to address competition concerns.

A Competition Bureau spokesperson said in a statement sent to Reuters on Friday that proposed divestitures “will not eliminate the substantial lessening of competition and any remedy proposal would be assessed individually”.

But it also left the door open to a settlement.

Click here to read more.


Gas prices expected to top $2 per litre when you wake up tomorrow

Gas prices across Niagara are expected to cross the two dollar a litre mark tonight.

gaswizard.ca says the average price at the pumps will jump another five cents tonight.

That will push the average across the region to $2.02 per litre.

Gas prices have gone up about 50% since last May when drivers were paying roughly $1.30 per litre to fill up.

Click here to read more.


Crypto markets tumble and investors get their fingers burned

People who put their hard-earned cash into a tumbling cryptocurrency unit that is at the heart of the latest sharp decline in digital coins may be regretting they did not read a recent paper by Canadian financial technology scholar Ryan Clements demonstrating why it was bound to fail.

In fact, all investors who have piled into any crypto assets since the end of 2020 and have not already sold may be feeling remorse for failing to take Clements’s comments in my last column on cryptocurrency as a word to the wise. Most will be deeply under water: In other words, their investments will be worth a lot less than they paid for them.

“I’m not sure … that people knew what they were getting themselves into,” Clements said on Thursday as he surveyed the damage on his computer screen.

Click here to read more.


Google finally announces the Pixel Watch

After weeks of rumors and leaked photos, Google finally confirmed that the Pixel Watch is real. Today’s announcement is more of a tease than a full reveal, however, with the watch arriving later this fall alongside the Pixel 7.

Given that the Pixel Watch is the worst-kept wearable secret of 2022, there wasn’t anything too surprising in terms of design. As suspected, the Pixel Watch has a circular, domed design and features a “tactile” crown and side button. It’s made of recycled stainless steel and has swappable proprietary bands. It’ll also run on an “improved” Wear OS 3 that features a “refreshed UI” with better navigation and smart notifications. You’ll also have the option to pick a cellular version of the device for standalone connectivity.

Click here to read more.


Elon Musk says Twitter deal ‘temporarily on hold’

Elon Musk said Friday that his planned $44 billion US purchase of Twitter is “temporarily on hold” pending details on spam and fake accounts on the social media platform, another twist amid signs of internal turmoil over the proposed acquisition.

Musk tweeted early Friday that he wanted to pinpoint the number of spam and fake accounts on the social media platform. He has been vocal about his desire to clean up Twitter’s problem with “spam bots” that mimic real people, and he appeared to question whether Twitter was underreporting them.

But the company has disclosed in regulatory filings that its bot estimates might be low for at least two years, leading some analysts to believe that Musk could be raising the issue as a reason to back out of the purchase.

Click here to read more.


Reading Recommendations

Market rout means it’s time for a portfolio gut-check

BNN Bloomberg

This year has been ugly for equity markets. Through the close of trading Thursday, the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 had tumbled 17.5 per cent since the calendar turned to 2022, and the Canadian benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was down seven per cent.

Markets don’t always go up, but considering most Canadians need to invest in those two indices to meet their retirement goals, who wouldn’t be rattled?

This is definitely not the time to sell stocks that are already down. The winning plan is to buy low and sell high.

Market weakness often presents a good opportunity to assess how well your portfolio is equipped to handle the bad times.

Here are a few things to consider if you have the stomach to do a portfolio gut-check. You can do it on your own, but a qualified advisor can provide better insight and do an assessment with less of an emotional stake.

Click here to read more.


The Election Section

Niagara poll tracker

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Provincial poll tracker

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The 338Canada project is a statistical model of electoral projections based on opinion polls, electoral history, and demographic data.

GNCC election platform

The GNCC asks that the next Government of Ontario financially support recovery and growth by supporting small businesses owned by women, Indigenous, and racialized entrepreneurs with financing, legal advice, mentorship, training, and supplier diversity programs. Entrepreneurs from equity-seeking groups often have trouble accessing resources or are overlooked by investors. To build more social and economic diversity, the government should work to nurture entrepreneurship in all Ontarians.

Click here to read the full platform.


Through the Daily Updates, the GNCC aims to deliver important business news in a timely manner. We disseminate all news and information we feel will be important to businesses. Inclusion in the Daily Update is not an endorsement by the GNCC.


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