Sponsored by Antimony Resources

Black Friday Records Hide Weak Demand

American shoppers broke spending records during Black Friday 2025, but the numbers reveal a troubling reality: consumers paid more to buy less as inflation and tariffs continued to erode purchasing power.

Online sales reached $11.8 billion on Black Friday, marking a 9.1% increase from 2024, according to Adobe Analytics. Consumers spent $6.4 billion on Thanksgiving Day, and combined with Black Friday, the figures initially suggested robust consumer confidence. But a closer examination of transaction data tells a different story.

Order volumes dropped 1% year-over-year, while the number of items consumers purchased per transaction fell 2%, according to Salesforce data. Average selling prices climbed 7% across categories, meaning shoppers paid significantly more while taking home fewer products.

You can read more on the matter here.

What’s going on?

• BC Industry Coalition Urges Eby, Carney To Pause DRIPA (theDeepDive)

• Sudan Offers Russia Its First Naval Base in Africa (WSJ)

• ChatGPT to Add Advertising, Beta Code Reveals (theDeepDive)

• Canada clinches deal to join Europe’s €150B defense scheme (Politico)

• OPEC+ Holds Steady on Output as Markets Rally on Supply Fears (theDeepDive)

• New Canadian app Gander Social to launch as alternative to Meta, X (BNN)

• Ontario Signs Marten Falls Pact To Accelerate Ring of Fire Road (theDeepDive)

• Carney to shuffle cabinet Monday after Guilbeault resignation (Globe)

• Canada Should Be as Rich as Saudi Arabia. But It’s Not! | Michael Gentile (theDeepDive)

• Top consultancies freeze starting salaries as AI threatens ‘pyramid’ model (FT)

• Saskatchewan Holds Key to India Trade Reset as Carney, Modi Meet (theDeepDive)

What’s the latest?

• Algoma Steel: Algoma Steel issued ~1,000 layoff notices (effective March 23, 2026) due to the 50% U.S. steel tariffs imposed by President Trump, which severely restricted its access to its primary U.S. market. The company will shut its blast furnace and coke operations and shift to Electric Arc Furnace production a year earlier than planned. Algoma employs ~2,700 workers, meaning layoffs affect about 37% of its workforce. Governments previously announced $500M in loan support ($400M federal, $100M Ontario) to help the company transition, and Ontario says retraining programs and procurement prioritizing Ontario steel will accelerate support for displaced workers.

• Oil: B.C. Premier David Eby says he’s open to a new pipeline only if the 2019 tanker ban stays in place (banning tankers >12,500 tonnes). The Alberta–Ottawa MOU requires Alberta to negotiate a carbon price floor of $130/tonne by April 2026, while Ottawa suspends clean-electricity rules and the emissions cap. Trans Mountain capacity is set to rise 40% by 2026, which B.C. cites as existing export expansion. The pipeline will proceed only if a private sector proponent emerges.

• Markets: U.S. stocks pulled back Monday, with the S&P 500 down 0.1%, the Dow down 215 points (-0.5%), and the Nasdaq down 0.1%. Bitcoin dropped sharply to below US$86,000 (-7% in 24 hours), dragging crypto-linked stocks like Coinbase (-5.4%) and Robinhood (-4.4%). Treasury yields climbed, with the 10-year up to 4.10%, after Japan signaled potential rate hikes. Manufacturing data weakened, while Nvidia-related Synopsys gained 4.3% after a US$2B investment.

• Shopify: Shopify reported widespread login and support-access errors beginning around 9:45 a.m. ET on Cyber Monday, affecting merchant logins, support channels, and POS checkout systems. The company is still investigating and applying fixes, advising merchants to stay logged in on any active devices. The outage comes during peak holiday traffic, even as Canadian online sales for the Black Friday weekend rose 9% year over year (Salesforce).

• Tech: OpenAI took an ownership stake in Thrive Holdings, a company created by major investor Thrive Capital, to accelerate AI adoption across accounting, IT services, and other “real economy” sectors. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but the deal is structured so OpenAI’s stake grows as Thrive Holdings’ companies succeed, effectively compensating OpenAI for embedded AI engineering, research and product work. This continues OpenAI’s pattern of taking equity stakes in partners like AMD and CoreWeave. OpenAI also announced ChatGPT Enterprise will roll out to tens of thousands of Accenture employees.

Nord Precious Metals [DD-on-the-GO]

The stock market and stuff

• Tether Abandons $500M Uruguay Mining Plan Over Energy Costs, Lays Off 30 Workers (theDeepDive)

• NexGen Energy Drills 21.4% U3O8 Over 5.5 Metres In Highest Grade Assays To Date At PCE (theDeepDive)

• Bitcoin champion Strategy launches ‘dollar reserve’ amid crypto sell-off (FT)

• Why Copper Is Heading To $30 And Silver To $200 | Craig Parry (theDeepDive)

• Barrick Mining Exploring IPO Of North American Assets (theDeepDive)

In the juniors

• Thesis Gold Outlines $2.4 Billion NPV For Lawyers-Ranch Project (theDeepDive)

• Antimony Resources Seeks To Raise $10 Million Under Financing With Trump-Backed Firm As Agent (theDeepDive)

• Highlander Silver Hits 20.82 g/t Gold Over 23.9 Metres, Makes New Discovery (theDeepDive)

FULL DISCLOSURE: Antimony Resources is a client of Canacom Group, the parent company of The Deep Dive. Canacom Group is currently long the equity of Antimony Resources. The author has been compensated to cover Antimony Resources on The Deep Dive, with The Deep Dive having full editorial control. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security.