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French farmers to end blockades

Two of France’s major farmers’ unions have decided to lift nationwide protests following the introduction of new governmental measures aimed at safeguarding their livelihoods.

These measures, announced by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, have been acknowledged by the unions as a step forward in addressing their concerns, which include low earnings, burdensome regulations, and competition from imports that they consider unfair.

The FNSEA and Young Farmers Union, leading voices in the protest, have agreed to suspend the blockades while committing to monitor the implementation of these measures closely. Thousands of French farmers have joined in demonstrations around the country over the past couple of weeks. Others from across Europe have also joined in, extending the demonstration to the European Union headquarters in Brussels.

You can read more on the matter here.

What’s going on?

• Ottawa Gives $362 Million To Provinces As Stopgap Measure For The Immigration Problem It Created (theDeepDive)

• US Payrolls and Wages Surge, Likely Keeping Fed Rates on Hold (Bloomberg)

• US Regulator Hits RBC-Owned City National With $65 Million Fine For Risk-Control Lapses (theDeepDive)

• Hiring Accelerated With 353,000 Jobs Added in January (WSJ)

• CMHC: Record Immigration Drove Rental Demand (theDeepDive)

• Iran, Syria, and Binance Are Lawsuit Targets in Connection with Hamas Attack (theDeepDive)

• January auto sales jump nearly 15% as 'pent-up demand' continues to drive trends (BNN)

• Canadians Have Been Slow To Move Away From Cash — Bank Of Canada (theDeepDive)

• Homebuyers in Canada Are So Frenzied They Won’t Wait for Rates to Go Down (Bloomberg)

• Tesla Settles Hazardous Waste Lawsuit In California (theDeepDive)

• Trump sees diminishing fundraising returns from combative court appearances (Reuters)

What’s the latest?

• Meta Blowout: Meta reported a significant upswing in its financial performance with a threefold increase in fourth-quarter profit and 25% revenue growth to $32.2 billion, marking its fastest growth since mid-2021. This surge was propelled by a rebound in the online ad market, leading to a 20% jump in Meta's stock price in morning trading. Additionally, Meta declared its first-ever cash dividend of 50 cents a share and announced a $50 billion share buyback program.

• US Jobs Data: The U.S. job market added 353,000 jobs in January, surpassing December's gains and defying the expectations set against the backdrop of the highest interest rates in two decades. This performance kept the unemployment rate steady at 3.7%, slightly above a half-century low.

• Auto Sales: Canadian auto sales saw a significant increase of 14.9% in January compared to the same month last year, with manufacturers reporting an estimated 112,862 transactions, up from 98,259 units in January 2023. The sales not only surpassed January 2023 figures but also exceeded those of January 2019. This growth marks the 15th consecutive month of expansion, with the seasonally adjusted annual rate for January reaching 2.06 million.

• Indigo Buyout Offer: Trilogy Retail Holdings Inc. and Trilogy Investments L.P., both personal holding companies of Gerry Schwartz, a board member of Indigo, along with being the spouse of Indigo's CEO Heather Reisman, have made a non-binding offer to acquire the shares of Indigo Books & Music they do not already own for $2.25 per share in cash. Schwartz, through these firms, owns approximately 56% of Indigo's issued and outstanding common shares, while Reisman owns another 4.6% through a different holding company.

• Tesla Probe: The U.S. NHTSA has intensified its investigation into Tesla over concerns of power steering loss, advancing the probe to an engineering analysis stage, a critical step before potentially mandating a recall. This upgraded investigation now encompasses approximately 334,000 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles from the 2023 model year.

The rise and impact of Buy Now Pay Later programs

The stock market and stuff

• FTX Anticipates Full Repayment to Crypto Customers Amid Bankruptcy Proceedings (theDeepDive)

• Mark Zuckerberg’s Wealth Surges by $27 Billion as Meta Rallies (Bloomberg)

• Exxon beats estimates, ends 2023 with a $36 billion profit (Reuters)

• Amazon jumps as AI, retail strength power revenue growth (Reuters)

In the juniors

• Numinus Sees Integrated VC, MAPS Lead $6.0 Million Funding Round (theDeepDive)

• Superdry shares soar more than 100% as company considers going private (CNBC)

• Hut 8 Mining Loses Majority Of Managed Service Capacity After Marathon Digital Site Purchase (theDeepDive)

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