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Bird Flu Sends U.S. Egg Prices Soaring

Egg prices in the United States have doubled since August 2023, reaching $4.10 per dozen at the end of 2024, as a widespread bird flu outbreak continues to disrupt supply chains.

The US Department of Agriculture forecasts a 20% price increase for eggs in 2025, far outpacing the projected 2.2% rise in overall food costs.

The virus has affected more than 145 million birds across all 50 states since 2021, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. A recent surge killed approximately 17.2 million egg-laying hens in November and December alone.

You can read more on the matter here.

What’s going on?

• Fake News! Panama Rejects White House Assertions of Free Canal Passages (theDeepDive)

• Trump’s annexation threats draw calls for Canada to deepen ties with other Arctic countries (Globe)

• Federal Worker Buyout Program Falls Short of White House Target (theDeepDive)

• Bank of England halves growth forecast and cuts rates to 4.5% (FT)

• Cruise Ends Robotaxi Ops: “We Will Not Be Relaunching Our Ridehail Service” (theDeepDive)

• OpenAI Eyeing More Data Centers in Texas, Other States for Stargate (Bloomberg)

• China Retaliates: 15% Tariff On US Imports, Antitrust Probe For Google (theDeepDive)

• Lawmakers Push to Ban DeepSeek App From U.S. Government Devices (WSJ)

• Trump Administration Looking Into Setting Up A US Bitcoin Reserve (theDeepDive)

• U.S. to boycott G20 meeting because of South Africa’s diversity push (Globe)

• Quebec Blocks Energy East Pipeline Revival Plans (theDeepDive)

What’s the latest?

• Amazon: Amazon is set to surpass Walmart in quarterly revenue for the first time, with analysts expecting $187 billion in Q4 sales versus Walmart's projected $180 billion. Walmart still leads in annual revenue, forecasted at $681 billion for the latest fiscal year, while Amazon is expected to reach $638 billion, surpassing the $600 billion milestone for the first time. Amazon's growth is driven by its cloud division, AWS, which now accounts for 17% of total sales, and a 100% increase in North American e-commerce revenue since 2019.

• TD Bank: TD Bank clients attempting to access the lender’s mobile application and website say they found both out of service on Thursday morning. Dozens of users took to social media at around 10 a.m. EST to voice their frustration at the timing of the outage, early in the North American trading day.

• BCE: BCE Inc. reported Q4 net earnings of $461 million (51 cents per share), up from $382 million (42 cents per share) a year ago, despite a slight revenue decline to $6.42 billion from $6.47 billion. Adjusted earnings per share rose to 79 cents, beating analyst expectations of 72 cents. For 2025, BCE forecasts revenue changes between -3% and +1%, an 8-13% decline in adjusted EPS, and an 11-19% increase in free cash flow while maintaining its dividend.

• Suncor Energy: Suncor Energy reported Q4 2024 earnings of $818 million (65 cents per share), down from $2.82 billion ($2.18 per share) a year ago. Adjusted operating earnings declined to $1.57 billion from $1.64 billion, impacted by lower refined product realizations and higher royalties. Upstream production rose to 875,000 barrels per day from 808,100, while refinery crude throughput increased to 486,200 barrels per day with a utilization rate of 104%.

• Peloton: Peloton reported Q2 revenue of $674 million, down 9% year-over-year but above analyst estimates of $652.1 million. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $58.4 million, and full-year guidance for EBITDA and free cash flow was raised. Despite cost-cutting efforts, revenue is expected to drop 14% in Q3 to $605M-$625M, missing Wall Street’s $653.4M forecast. App subscriptions fell 1%, hardware-linked subscriptions declined 21%, and further declines of 15% and 6%, respectively, are expected next quarter.

Why gold is poised for an epic bull run in 2025

The stock market and stuff

• First Majestic Significantly Expands Footprint Of Navidad Discovery BCE Hits 16.1% Q4 Profit Jump As Operating Revenues Fall (theDeepDive)

• Tesla’s sales plummet across Europe (FT)

• Barrick Gold Grows Gold Reserves To 89 Million Ounces At 0.99 g/t (theDeepDive)

• Roblox fans gaming industry gloom with weak forecast, shares tank (Reuters)

• Eldorado Gold Delays Production At Skouries To 2026 (theDeepDive)

In the juniors

• Lithium Chile Applies For Production License Under New Joint Venture (theDeepDive)

• CanAlaska Hits 5.0 Metres Of 34.38% eU3O8 At Pike Zone (theDeepDive)

• Cytophage Launches Trials For OvaPhage Under Hatchery Partnership (theDeepDive)

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