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Trump Eyes Military Bases for U.S. Metal Refining

President Donald Trump is reportedly pursuing a plan to build metals refining facilities on Pentagon-owned land. According to two senior administration officials involved, the strategy was designed to lessen the country’s reliance on China for critical minerals essential to national defense.

Fighter jets, submarines, and countless other military assets contain metals processed largely by Beijing, a reality that reportedly alarmed Trump’s inner circle when signs emerged that China could restrict vital mineral exports.

“We’re going to take historic action to dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths here in the USA,” Trump told Congress in one of his speeches.

You can read more on the matter here.

What’s going on?

• Carney To Be Sworn In As Next Prime Minister Friday, Expected To Call For Election (theDeepDive)

• Tesla products now excluded from B.C. Hydro rebates in response to U.S. tariffs (CBC)

• Northvolt’s Bankruptcy Filing In Sweden Shakes Europe’s EV Push (theDeepDive)

• Majority of Canadians worried immigration levels 'too high' despite policy change (NP)

• Liberals Are Scrambling to Figure Out How to Remove the Carbon Tax (theDeepDive)

• Donald Trump threatens 200% wine tariff if EU doesn’t remove whiskey tariff (Globe)

• Poilievre: “Canada Must Hit Back With 50% Tariffs” (theDeepDive)

• Donatella Versace steps down as design chief as Prada circles (Reuters)

• Waymo Expands Robotaxi Service to Silicon Valley Communities (theDeepDive)

• States Sue to Stop Trump’s Education Department Layoffs (WSJ)

• US To Require Canadians To Register Stays Beyond 30 Days (theDeepDive)

What’s the latest?

• Adobe: Adobe shares dropped 13% despite beating earnings estimates with $5.08 EPS (vs. $4.97 expected) and $5.71B revenue (vs. $5.66B expected). The company expects Q2 adjusted EPS of $4.95–$5.00 on $5.77B–$5.82B revenue, slightly below analysts’ forecasts. AI-related recurring revenue reached $125M this quarter, with expectations to double by year-end. Total revenue grew 10% YoY, and net income rose to $1.81B from $620M a year earlier.

• 407 Highway: AtkinsRéalis sold its remaining 6.76% stake in Ontario's 407 toll highway for $2.79 billion, completing its shift to a pure-play engineering firm. The company’s Q4 net income fell 42% YoY to $52.4 million, despite revenue rising to $2.59 billion from $2.28 billion. Adjusted EPS dropped to $0.26 from $0.45 a year ago. The company forecasts 7–9% organic revenue growth in engineering services, with nuclear revenue expected to reach $1.6B–$1.7B. Its services backlog hit a record $17.2 billion, up from $13.7 billion last year.

• AI: Cohere Inc. released Command A, a new enterprise AI model claimed to be on par or better than GPT-4o and DeepSeek-V3. The Toronto-based company's model offers high performance with lower hardware costs and excels at agentic tasks requiring complex reasoning. It is particularly strong in securely processing internal company data and, when integrated with Cohere’s North platform, enhances productivity for data analysis and report summarization. This launch positions Cohere alongside OpenAI and DeepSeek in the competitive AI space.

• Tariffs: U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick praised the U.K. and Mexico for avoiding retaliatory tariffs against the U.S., contrasting them with the EU and Canada. Trump imposed a 200% tariff on EU alcohol after the EU retaliated against U.S. steel and aluminum duties, with Lutnick warning that nations responding aggressively will face harsher consequences. He emphasized Trump’s goal to boost U.S. manufacturing in key industries. Lutnick also suggested that Canada’s response was politically motivated ahead of its elections.

• Egg Prices: Egg prices dropped 15% in early March, with large white shell eggs averaging $6.85 per dozen, down $1.20 from late February, according to the USDA. The decline follows no new major avian flu outbreaks in two weeks, easing supply shortages. Despite this, prices remain 170% higher than a year ago, prompting a DOJ antitrust investigation into large egg producers like Cal-Maine Foods. Inflation concerns persist, with egg prices rising 10.4% in February alone, leading some consumers to change their breakfast habits.

Endeavour Silver Q4 Earnings

The stock market and stuff

• AtkinsRealis Sells 6.76% Interest In Highway 407 For $2.79 Billion (theDeepDive)

• Adobe shares drop 13% as concerns about AI growth overshadow better-than-expected results (CNBC)

• OpenAI Signs $11.9 Billion Deal with CoreWeave (theDeepDive)

In the juniors

• CGX Energy, Frontera See Guyana Petroleum Prospecting License Terminated (theDeepDive)

• enCore Energy Doubles Flow Capacity At Alta Mesa, Utilization Hits 75% (theDeepDive)

• Aris Mining Touts Record Gold Production in Q4 2024 (theDeepDive)

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