Sponsored by Element 29 Resources

Spain walks away from nuclear energy

Spain has officially unveiled plans to shut down all of its nuclear plants by 2035 in a move towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy future. The announcement, made on Wednesday, outlined a comprehensive set of energy measures, including adjustments to renewable project timelines and modifications to renewable auctions.

The closure process for the nuclear plants, responsible for generating approximately 20% of Spain’s electricity, is set to commence in 2027. The cost of managing radioactive waste and dismantling the plants is estimated at a substantial 20.2 billion euros ($22.4 billion). Notably, the financial burden will be borne by a fund supported by the operators of the nuclear plants, according to statements from the government.

You can read more on the matter here.

What’s going on?

• NDP’s Jagmeet Singh Doesn’t Want To Work With Liberals Again… But People Are Focused On His Pension (theDeepDive)

• Maine Becomes The Second State To Ban Donald Trump From 2024 Presidential Race (theDeepDive)

• The messy rise of weight-loss drugs (BI)

• Congress Moves To Remove SEC Chair Gary Gensler (theDeepDive)

• Trump Ballot Fights Threaten Voting Chaos Just Weeks Before Iowa (Bloomberg)

• 2023 was a bad year for DEI, with companies slashing jobs and high-profile court losses (FOX)

• No, The Universal Basic Income Is Not Yet Coming to Canada, and There’s A Long Way To Go (theDeepDive)

• Exclusive: Drugmakers set to raise US prices on at least 500 drugs in January (Reuters)

• Musk’s X Fails to Block California Content Moderation Law (Bloomberg)

• Colorado GOP Asks SCOTUS to Keep Trump on 2024 Ballot (theDeepDive)

• From FedEx to airlines, companies are starting to lose their pricing power (CNBC)

What’s the latest?

• Housing Plan Update: In 2024, the Canadian government plans to unveil a comprehensive strategy to address the housing crisis. This initiative, as announced by Housing Minister Sean Fraser, will integrate existing policies with new measures targeting homebuilding cost pressures and productivity in the sector. Amidst concerns about rapid population growth due to immigration, the plan aims to balance the influx of temporary residents with the country's housing needs.

• Recession Fear Drops: A recent survey conducted by Leger reveals that 72% of Canadians are worried about a recession in 2024, a decrease from 81% a year ago. This change in sentiment likely stems from the non-occurrence of a predicted severe recession in 2023, as well as the Bank of Canada's aggressive interest rate hikes which have reduced inflation to 3.1% from 8.1% last year.

• Russia Bombs Ukraine: Russia launched its largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, deploying 122 missiles and 36 drones. The Ukrainian air force intercepted most of the attacks, but there was still significant damage across various cities, including Kyiv, Dnipro, Lviv, Odesa, and Kharkiv. The assault resulted in at least 24 civilian deaths and more than 130 injuries, affecting various structures including a maternity hospital, residential buildings, and schools.

• Google Settlement: Google has reached a preliminary settlement in a lawsuit alleging that it secretly tracked the internet activities of millions of users who believed they were browsing privately. The lawsuit, which demanded at least $5 billion in damages, accused Google of tracking user activity through analytics, cookies, and apps, even when users employed "Incognito" mode in Chrome or "private" browsing in other browsers.

• Russia Scale Manufacturing: Russia's manufacturing sector experienced its most rapid expansion in nearly seven years in December, as indicated by the S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI). The PMI rose to 54.6, up from 53.8 in November, marking the highest reading since January 2017 and indicating a strong expansion phase. This growth was driven primarily by domestic demand, as new export orders declined for the second consecutive month due to reduced requests from key export markets.

The rise of buy now pay later

The stock market and stuff

• South Carolina Treasurer Says State Will Not Invest In ‘Far-Left Aligned’ Disney Anymore (theDeepDive)

• Crypto Options Trading Volume Hits Record as ETF Deadline Nears (Bloomberg)

• Apple’s Lucrative Ad Business Revealed (theDeepDive)

• Dunkin Faces Scrutiny Over Non-Dairy Milk Surcharges (theDeepDive)

In the juniors

• Rokmaster Delivers PEA On Last Trading Day Of Year, Outlines After-Tax NPV(5%) Of $454 Million For Revel Ridge (theDeepDive)

• Fisker up 9% on huge increase in deliveries between Q3 and Q4 (SA)

• Neotech Metals Cuts References To Neighboring Wicheeda Project After BCSC Probe (theDeepDive)

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