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Iran May Halt Uranium Production

Iran has indicated it may stop producing highly enriched uranium in exchange for avoiding formal condemnation over its years of blocking United Nations nuclear inspectors. According to a new IAEA report, Iranian officials raised this possibility during meetings in Tehran on November 14.

The UN nuclear monitoring agency verified on November 16 that Iran has begun implementing preparatory measures to stop increasing its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity at its major enrichment facilities. This level of enrichment is close to weapons-grade material, which typically requires 90 percent purity.

You can read more on the matter here.

What’s going on?

• Troubled Battery Maker Northvolt Faces Bankruptcy as Funding Runs Dry (theDeepDive)

• Canada weighs cutting Mexico out of trade pact as Trump taps pro-tariff CEO for commerce secretary (Globe)

• Iran Considers Halting High-Grade Uranium Production (theDeepDive)

• Alleged 'potato cartel' accused of conspiring to raise price of frozen fries, tater tots across U.S. (CBC)

• Baltic Sea Cables Cut in Suspected Russian Sabotage, European Officials Say (theDeepDive)

• Growing distress in Canada condos turns lenders into developers (BNN)

• Comcast Reshapes Media Empire With Spinoff of Cable Networks (theDeepDive)

• ECB warns low growth and high debt risk Eurozone crisis (FT)

• Texas Pushes for “Advanced Nuclear Energy” In A Bid To Be The “Energy Capital Of The World” (theDeepDive)

• Service Canada holding 85,000 passports as Canada Post strike continues (CBC)

• Worker Protections Under Siege As Amazon, SpaceX Take Labor Board To Court (theDeepDive)

What’s the latest?

• Rogers: Rogers Sports and Media has laid off a "few dozen" employees in its audio division, citing challenges in the advertising market despite a reported 11% increase in media revenue in Q3 2024, primarily from sports-related income. In October, Rogers shut down CityNews Ottawa radio, laying off fewer than 10 staff, while competitors like BCE Inc. have also implemented major cuts, including 4,800 jobs across divisions earlier this year.

• Ford: Ford plans to cut 4,000 jobs in Europe (14% of its workforce) by 2027, mainly in Germany (2,900) and the UK (800), citing challenges in its EV transition and growing competition, especially from subsidized Chinese manufacturers. Ford's European market share has fallen to 3.3% from 4.1%, with reduced production planned for Explorer and Capri EVs in Cologne. The broader industry faces declining EV sales, reduced government support, and sluggish growth, with Germany’s industrial base under pressure as economic contraction persists.

• ECB: The ECB's Financial Stability Review highlights weak eurozone growth (0.4% in Q3) and inflation at 2% in October as key economic challenges. Rising trade tensions, geopolitical risks, and U.S. tariff policies could worsen volatility and drag on exports, potentially prompting further ECB rate cuts. Additional risks include high borrowing costs, fragile corporate balance sheets, and increased credit risks for SMEs and lower-income households amid subdued growth forecasts of under 1% in 2024.

• Comcast: Comcast announced plans to spin off cable networks like CNBC, MSNBC, and E! into a new entity, "SpinCo," projected to generate $7 billion in annual revenue. SpinCo will also include digital assets like Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes, led by Mark Lazarus and Anand Kini, with the separation expected to take a year. The move aims to focus NBCUniversal on its core assets, including Peacock, NBC, and sports programming, while SpinCo gains flexibility for investment, mergers, or acquisitions. Comcast lost 365,000 TV subscribers in Q3 amid cord-cutting trends, despite reporting $8.23 billion in media revenue.

• FTX: Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX, was sentenced to time served and three years of supervised release on four criminal counts, avoiding a potential 50-year sentence. He was ordered to forfeit $11 billion, matching penalties for other FTX executives. Wang cooperated extensively with prosecutors, helping decipher FTX's complex code and developing fraud detection tools. His sentencing concludes the criminal proceedings for FTX’s collapse.

Orla Mining buys a producing asset

The stock market and stuff

• Make Crypto Great Again? Trump’s Truth Social To Gamble In Crypto Trading With Bakkt Acquisition (theDeepDive)

• Alphabet’s VC arm backs little-known SAP rival Odoo, boosting valuation to $5.3 billion (CNBC)

• Feds Move to Strip Google of Chrome in Push to Reshape Tech Industry (theDeepDive)

• FTX co-founder Gary Wang avoids prison after assisting in Sam Bankman-Fried case (FT)

• Metro Ends 2024 with Mixed Results: Sales Up 2.1%, Earnings Drop 8.5%(theDeepDive)

In the juniors

• Solaris Resources Plans To Exit Canada Entirely By January 1, 2025 (theDeepDive)

• Amarc Resources Completes Extensive 2024 Drilling Across Its JOY, DUKE and IKE Copper-Gold Districts (JMN)

• 1911 Gold Publishes Mineral Resource Estimate For True North Gold Project (theDeepDive)

FULL DISCLOSURE: Cytophage Technologies is a client of Canacom Group, the parent company of The Deep Dive. Canacom Group is currently long the equity of Cytophage Technologies. The author has been compensated to cover Cytophage Technologies 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.