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WestJet Strike Countdown: What to Do If You're Flying This Long Weekend

  Published July 31, 2026  |  Canadian Money Brief If you've got a WestJet flight booked for this weekend, here's the situation in one line: a strike or a lockout could ground the airline's cabin crew as early as Saturday, August 1 at 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time / Sunday, August 2 at 12:01 a.m. MT — right at the start of the busy August long weekend. Nothing has happened yet. WestJet and the union representing its roughly 4,400 flight attendants, CUPE Local 8125, are both still at the table. But both sides have now filed the legal paperwork that makes a work stoppage possible within days, so this is the moment to actually check your booking rather than hope it sorts itself out. HOW WE GOT HERE Flight attendants voted 99.4% in favour of a strike mandate back on July 15. On July 30, the union issued a 72-hour strike notice over wages and unpaid ground work — CUPE says the average flight attendant does about 35 hours a month of unpaid boarding, security, and delay-related work...
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TSX Rebounds, Nikkei Explodes 3.5% as Amazon's Blowout Quarter Offsets Apple's Stumble

 

Friday July 31, 2026

It was a wild 24 hours on Wall Street, and the aftershocks are rippling across global markets this morning. Amazon soared and Apple sank in dueling earnings reports last night, Wall Street staged a furious rebound from Wednesday's Fed-fuelled selloff, and Japan's Nikkei is having one of its best sessions of the year. Here's what moved markets overnight and what it means for your money.

🇨🇦 TSX: Back in the Green

The S&P/TSX Composite closed up 0.49% Thursday at 35,505.84, adding back 172.06 points after Wednesday's pullback to 35,333.78 in the wake of the Fed's hawkish rate hold. Healthcare, materials and energy sectors led the gains, with advancers outnumbering decliners 576 to 375 on the exchange.

IndexCloseChange
S&P/TSX Composite35,505.84+0.49%

Notable movers: Bausch Health surged over 28% on earnings, while Lightspeed Commerce fell 12.8% and Bombardier dropped 7.9%. Canadian Natural Resources and Fairfax Financial report after today's close.

🇺🇸 Wall Street's Round Trip

US markets staged a powerful rebound Thursday, more than recovering Wednesday's steep Fed-driven losses. Microsoft rocketed as much as 16% after a blowout cloud quarter, and chip stocks caught a bid after weeks of brutal selling.

IndexCloseChange
Dow Jones52,208.06+1.2%
S&P 5007,437.63+1.7%
Nasdaq Composite25,122.18+2.8%

The after-hours split: Apple and Amazon reported after Thursday's close, and investors could not have reacted more differently:

  • Apple beat estimates ($109.42B revenue, $2.02 EPS) on 22% higher iPhone sales, but shares still fell as much as 6% on weak forward guidance citing supply constraints.
  • Amazon jumped roughly 8% as AWS cloud revenue grew 37% year-over-year, its fastest pace in 18 quarters, plus a boost from an AI startup investment.

Expect that split to show up in Canadian bank and pension tech holdings today, given how heavily both stocks are weighted in RRSP and TFSA index funds.

🌍 Europe & Asia

Europe: Major European bourses closed sharply higher Thursday on strong Eurozone GDP data and solid corporate earnings (L'Oreal, Ferrari), though Adidas tumbled 16% on World Cup marketing costs. Futures point to a higher open again Friday, with Eurozone inflation data due out today.

Asia: A blowout session in Tokyo this morning, with the Nikkei 225 up roughly 3.5% to around 64,050, tracking Wall Street's tech-led rebound and Amazon/Microsoft's strong results. South Korea's Kospi is also rallying as chip stocks stabilize after last week's brutal selloff, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng is roughly flat and Shanghai is modestly higher.

💰 Commodities & Currency

AssetPriceChange
Brent Crude~$92/barrelroughly flat
WTI Crude~$84/barrelroughly flat
Gold~$4,086/oznear 2026 highs
USD/CAD~1.41holding steady

Oil is holding near $92 Brent as the Middle East conflict continues to simmer. Gold is being supported by a weaker US dollar amid suspicion that Japan intervened again to prop up the yen, and remains on track for its first monthly gain in five months.

💡 What It Means for You

If your RRSP or TFSA holds a broad US equity or S&P 500 index fund, expect a mixed morning: Amazon's rally should offset some of Apple's drag, and Microsoft's blowout quarter is a net positive for tech-heavy portfolios. On the currency side, a steady loonie near 1.41 means cross-border shopping and US travel costs aren't moving much today, but keep an eye on gas prices at the pump — oil near $92 Brent is keeping them elevated compared to a month ago.

📅 What's Ahead

Today brings a heavy earnings slate with ExxonMobil, Chevron, AbbVie, Eaton and Enbridge all reporting, plus the final University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading and Eurozone inflation data. Canadian Natural Resources and Fairfax Financial report after the TSX close. Markets are closed Monday, August 3 for the Civic Holiday, and all eyes remain on the Aug. 19 deadline for the new US 50% tariff on Canadian goods.

MoneySavings.ca · Canadian Money Brief · Market data as of market close July 30, 2026 and pre-market July 31, 2

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