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5 Things to Know Today: Canada Enters Recession, Oil Slips on Iran Ceasefire Talk

Saturday, May 30, 2026 — Your quick-hit Canadian financial briefing for the day. 1.Canada Officially Meets the Definition of a Technical Recession Statistics Canada confirmed Friday that real GDP contracted 0.1% on an annualized basis in Q1 2026 — following a revised 1.0% drop in Q4 2025 . That's two straight quarters of negative growth, which meets the technical definition of a recession. The miss was a big one: economists had forecast growth of 1.5% . The main culprits were a surge in imports (up 2.9%, largely gold), declining business capital investment (down 0.7% — its fifth consecutive quarterly drop ), and weakness in resource extraction and construction. On a per-capita basis, GDP actually edged up 0.2% as Canada's population shrank for the second quarter in a row. Not everyone is ready to call it a full recession: some economists note that three of the four weak months were isolated, and early April data points to a sharp 0.4% rebound . Still, the numbers ...

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Netflix and Tech Earnings Lift S&P 500 to New Record

 

The S&P 500 index reached a new all-time high on Wednesday, as strong earnings reports from technology companies boosted investor confidence. Netflix was the star performer, surging 10% after adding more subscribers than expected in the fourth quarter of 2023. The streaming giant also announced plans to buy back up to $5 billion of its shares this year.

Other tech firms also delivered impressive results, such as ASML, the world’s largest supplier of chip-making equipment, which saw its orders more than triple in the fourth quarter. Microsoft also hit a record high, becoming the first company to surpass $3 trillion in market value.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index rose 0.7%, outperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell 0.3%. The Dow was dragged down by losses in Boeing, Chevron, and Goldman Sachs.

Meanwhile, the TSX Composite index edged lower by 0.1%, as gains in energy and materials stocks were offset by declines in financials and industrials. The Canadian dollar weakened against the US dollar, as the Bank of Canada kept its key interest rate unchanged at 0.25%.

Investors are now looking ahead to the European Central Bank’s policy meeting on Thursday, where it is expected to maintain its ultra-loose monetary stance and signal its readiness to support the euro zone economy amid rising Covid-19 cases and lockdowns.

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