TORONTO — Canada's main stock index gained more than 150 points Wednesday after the Bank of Canada cut interest rates, while U.S. stock markets were mixed, led by a 1.8 per cent gain on the Nasdaq after the latest inflation report. The Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 3.25 per cent. The outsized interest rate cut didn’t come as a surprise, but was welcomed by markets, said Brian Madden, chief investment officer with First Avenue Investment Counsel. On the TSX, “the leadership seems to be a combination of rate-sensitive areas like real estate and financials, and then pro-growth cyclicals like tech, indicating the strength in the U.S.,” he said. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 153.37 points at 25,657.70. “With the policy rate now substantially lower, we anticipate a more gradual approach to monetary policy if the economy evolves broadly as expected,” he said. It was noteworthy that the Bank of Canada gave such a strong indication of what’s to come, said Madden. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 99.27 points at 44,148.56. The S&P 500 index was up 49.28 points at 6,084.19, while the Nasdaq composite was up 347.65 points at 20,034.89. Governor Tiff Macklem said the central bank will likely take a more cautious tack after December. In the U.S., the latest report on consumer inflation showed price growth ticked higher in November to 2.7 per cent. The “hotly anticipated” report came in exactly as expected, said Madden, and markets took it largely as good news. The U.S. Federal Reserve is still “all but certain” to cut its own rate by a quarter of a percentage point next week, said Madden. Also helping markets Wednesday were tech stocks, with Google continuing its gains from the day before after announcing its new quantum computing chip. The tech giant’s stock rose 5.5 per cent. Another tech name in the news was Broadcom, which saw its stock rise 6.6 per cent after an announcement that it’s working with Apple to develop an AI chip, noted Madden. Broadly, Wednesday saw a continuation of the momentum markets have enjoyed since the U.S. election, said Madden. The Canadian dollar traded for 70.65 cents US compared with 70.59 cents US on Tuesday. The January crude oil contract was up US$1.70 at US$70.29 per barrel and the January natural gas contract was up 22 cents at US$3.38 per mmBTU. The February gold contract was up US$38.30 at US$2,756.70 an ounce and the March copper contract was down a penny at US$4.26 a pound. — With files from The Associated Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2024. Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD) Rosa Saba, The Canadian PressUnify League explainer: Could this really challenge UEFA's Champions League?Letter: I'm very happy with my gas vehicle
Notice of Convening Hearingexpert valuer Hilary Kay encountered a supposed rowlock from one of RMS Titanic's 20 lifeboats during the latest episode. Brought to her by a lone gentleman at Beaumaris Castle, she was informed that he'd found the ornamented relic in the garage of the house he'd recently bought, with no proof of its authenticity. Although thrilled to see such a potentially historically significant piece infront of her, Kay regrettably cast it aside as a "mystery". "When I woke up this morning I can assure you I didn't expect to see this, which is a brass rowlock on a board which says 'TITANIC LIFEBOAT NO.3.' So I have to ask you, which member of your family was on the Titanic and obviously survived?" she said, to which the Roadshow guest explained the situation. "Uhh, none of us!" he replied. "We recently purchased a house in Llandudno last year and as we [were] sifting through the house we came across this in the corner of the garage really." Kay went on to reveal that this particular lifeboat could've held 65 passengers, yet only between 36 and 38 individuals were counted when the RMS Carpathia picked it up in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912. The Titanic's lifeboats were subsequently transported to The White Star Pier in New York, where they remained for six months after the infamous maritime disaster before being dispersed. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could categorically say that this is from Lifeboat No.3 on the Titanic?" continued the specialist. "And if it was, we could be talking about in excess of £50,000 for value. "Although there's probably some fairydust sprinkled over it we can't say it for sure, so I'm afraid we've got to leave it out there as a mystery as to where it ultimately came from." Reacting to this interaction via social media platform X (formerly Twitter), one Antiques Roadshow fan : "It's not from the titanic, mate. Bin it." "Mass produced Titanic lifeboat item copy," . “If we could prove this was from the Titanic, it would be worth in excess of £50k, but we can’t. So it’s not” What a rollercoaster for that guy — Cath 🏴 (@Cathaclysmal) Bloke could be sitting on £50,000, could be a dud, coz they can't confirm if it was on a lifeboat from the Titanic — Jonsta (@Jonsta1990)
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An Italian renewable energy giant and Japan's largest oil and gas company are plugging into Australia's clean energy resources under the banner of a new company. Potentia Energy will be launched at the Sydney Opera House on Monday as an Australian renewable energy firm co-owned by Rome-headquartered Enel Green Power and INPEX. With rights in place for a development pipeline of over seven gigawatts across the country, Potentia is most focused on developing and acquiring assets in NSW, Queensland and Western Australia, chief executive Werther Esposito told AAP. The company is not deterred by the risk of political change, with opinion polls favouring the coalition ahead of the 2025 federal election. "The energy transition will go ahead in any case. There could be an acceleration or slowing down in the process," Mr Esposito said. "Renewables represent, from a technical and economic perspective, the solution for climate change," he said. "I don't think any government could deny that today wind and solar are cheaper than other technologies, and are faster in reaching the phase of deployment and construction and then supply of renewable energy." NSW had suffered some planning delays that had hit investment but there had been a "strong improvement" in the past 12 to 18 months, he said. The company also has a stake in Queensland, particularly in the north's Copperstring area, where the recently elected LNP government has pledged to stick by a massive transmission project begun under Labor. Enel won the bidding in 2024 to develop renewable energy to power a vanadium mining and processing project, which is one of a number of giant resources projects intended to be connected to the $9 billion Copperstring transmission line from Townsville to Mt Isa. WA offered a "huge opportunity" for the deployment of wind farms and battery energy storage systems, Mr Esposito said. With a decades-long footprint in Australia's north and west, INPEX is Japan's largest fossil fuel exploration and production company. Under pressure to reduce its global contribution to climate change, INPEX is already developing the production of liquid hydrogen and ammonia. "They elected Australia as the market to start diversification of the energy mix and huge investment in renewables," Mr Esposito said. "Of course in this regard, Australia is the place to be," he said. Enel and INPEX joined forces in a share purchase agreement in 2023, with the renewables business operating plants comprising 310 megawatts of solar capacity across South Australia and Victoria and a 75MW wind farm in Western Australia. A 93MW solar farm is under commissioning in Victoria and financial close was recently announced for a hybrid 98MW solar and 20MW battery project in NSW. But with international firms lining up to exploit clean energy resources, Australians living alongside projects are demanding a share of future profits through community funds, power bill rebates and other benefits. "The energy transition should be just. To be just it means that you need to support the communities and involve the communities in a proper way," Mr Esposito said. He said Enel was proud of its legacy in providing support to areas facing a changing landscape and the impact of new infrastructure, including community funds, a focus on local hiring and providing training to support new jobs. "It's an approach that is, for us, absolutely a pillar of our strategy," he said. "We are still facing some regulatory ambiguity in what a social licence means, and we are trying to be a leader in the industry in helping and supporting all the key stakeholders in determining and defining what it is."
CALGARY — The Calgary Stampeders re-signed veteran kicker Rene Paredes on Wednesday while also restructuring quarterback Vernon Adams Jr.'s deal. Calgary signed Paredes to a two-year contract extension. The Canadian was scheduled to become a free agent in February. The Stampeders acquired Adams last month from the B.C. Lions. The club and player agreed to terms on a restructured contract for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. "The restructured contract will give us more salary-cap flexibility to sign free agents and retain our own players who will be eligible for free agency in February,” Dave Dickenson, Calgary's head coach and general manager, said in a statement. “Vernon remains under contract for the next two seasons and we’re excited to have him in Calgary.” Adams, an eight-year CFL veteran, posted a 6-3 record last season with B.C., completing 197-of-302 passes (65.2 per cent) for 2,929 yards with 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He recorded six 300-yard passing games while also rushing for 213 yards and three TDs in 40 attempts. He completed 20-of-33 passes for 317 yards with two TDs and three interceptions in B.C.'s 28-19 West Division semifinal loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Paredes, a six-time all-star, has played 13 seasons with Calgary — ranking him fourth all-time in franchise history in terms of longevity — and his 229 regular-season games place him second in the Stampeders record books. He made 41 of his 44 field-goal attempts (93.2-per-cent success rate) over 18 games in 2024. Paredes has played 248 career regular-season and post-season games for the Stampeders since signing as a free agent in 2011. His 2,286 career regular-season points place him eighth on the CFL’s all-time list and he was part of Grey Cup-winning teams in 2014 and 2018. “I’m very excited to be back with the organization,” Paredes said in a release. “My family and I love the city and it’s a blessing to have spent my entire career as a Stampeder. The last two seasons have been a challenge for us as a team but I’m looking forward to doing everything I can to help turn things around.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2024. The Canadian PressPH company bags four awards at KMC Startup Awards 2024 for empowering sari-sari stores
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Evergold (TSXV: EVER) reported its highest-grade antimony assays yet from the DEM project near Fort St. James, B.C., putting it in the lead among juniors hunting for the critical metal in Canada, the company said Wednesday. Drill hole DEM24-05 returned 40 metres grading 0.42% antimony starting from 344 metres downhole, including 2.5 metres of 3.6% antimony and 0.50 metre of 8.37% antimony. “Most of our peers, all of our peers in fact, in Canada have been touting grab samples or the acquisition of properties but nobody has actually delivered drill results, but we have them, and they are very strong and very high grade over potentially mineable underground widths,” Kevin Keough, Evergold’s CEO, said by phone. The metal increases the hardness of alloys and is used in advanced military systems, some battery technologies, and other industrial applications, including the production of flame retardant chemicals. The West has been trying for years to loosen China’s grip on the supply of critical minerals and diversify its supply chains. But figures from the U.S. Geological Survey underscore just how little progress has been achieved—at least when it comes to antimony. China produced more than 40,000 tonnes of the silvery-white metal in 2023, about 48% of the world’s total production of 83,000 tonnes, according to the USGS. Other producers include Tajikistan (26%), Turkey (7.2%), Myanmar (5.5%), Russia (5.2%), Bolivia (3.6%), and Australia (2.8%). According to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, the U.S. has not mined antimony since the Sunshine mine in Idaho closed in 2001, and today imports about 63% of its antimony from China, 8% from Belgium, 6% from India and 4% from Bolivia. It retrieves the rest from recycling lead-acid batteries. Concerns about the critical mineral supply chain in Washington accelerated earlier this month when China banned exports of antimony, gallium and germanium to the U.S. on Dec. 3. That was in retaliation against U.S. restrictions on the export of advanced memory chips to China, unveiled on Dec. 2. The tit-for-tat sanctions and anticipation of more trade disputes under incoming U.S. president Donald Trump, along with reduced supply from other sources of antimony like Russia, have driven prices higher. At the start of the year antimony hovered around US$12,000 per tonne but the price is now closer to US$33,000 per tonne, Evergold says. “It’s a hot speculative commodity this year by virtue of the supply restrictions coming out of China and various other supply restrictions from other countries as well,” Keough said. “Internal conflict in Myanmar has led to limited and unreliable supplies coming out of Southeast Asia, and Russian supplies to the West have been eliminated due to sanctions imposed following their invasion of Ukraine,” Evergold said in a release. “These negative supply shocks drive home the importance of securing reliable sources of antimony, and other critical elements.” Evergold kicked off an initial three-hole drill program at its 28-sq.-km DEM property last year. The company is earning up to a 100% stake in the project, which also hosts gold, silver, cobalt, rhenium, molybdenum and tungsten. “We’re really just getting going on the project,” Keough said. “Like so many juniors we’ve been struggling really to get the drill metres in. It’s been tough to raise money but the few holes we’ve managed to date are really turning up extremely promising results.” In mid-afternoon in Toronto, Evergold’s shares were down 37.5% to 2¢ apiece on Wednesday afternoon in Toronto, giving the junior a market cap of about $3 million.LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — Christian Shumate's 22 points helped McNeese defeat NCAA Division-member LeTourneau 103-69 on Saturday night. Shumate also contributed five rebounds for the Cowboys (5-4). Quadir Copeland added 20 points while shooting 7 of 8 from the field and 6 for 6 from the line while they also had nine rebounds, 11 assists, and three steals. Sincere Parker had 16 points and went 7 of 11 from the field. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a week
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Seeds of successRomania's far-right candidate Calin Georgescu on Saturday urged voters to go to polling stations despite the country's top court having scrapped the presidential elections over alleged irregularities amid claims of Russian interference. The court's shock ruling, coming just before the presidential run-off which had been due Sunday, opens the way for a new electoral process starting from scratch in the EU and NATO member state bordering war-torn Ukraine. The annulment follows a spate of intelligence documents declassified by the presidency this week detailing allegations against Georgescu and Russia, including claims of "massive" social media promotion and cyberattacks. Georgescu -- who unexpectedly topped last month's first round of voting -- called for voters on Sunday "to wait to be welcomed, to wait for democracy to win through their power", said a statement from his team. "Mr. Calin Georgescu believes that voting is an earned right," said the statement. "That is why he believes that Romanians have the right to be in front of the polling stations tomorrow." Georgescu himself would go to a polling station near Bucharest at 0600 GMT, said his team. Earlier Saturday, police raided three houses in Brasov city in central Romania as part of the investigation "in connection with crimes of voter corruption, money laundering, computer forgery". Among the houses searched was that of businessman Bogdan Peschir, a TikTok user who according to the declassified documents allegedly paid $381,000 to those involved in the promotion of Georgescu, Romanian media reported. Peschir has compared his support for Georgescu to the world's richest man Elon Musk's backing of US president-elect Donald Trump. Little-known outsider Georgescu, a 62-year-old former senior civil servant, was favourite to win the second round on Sunday against centrist pro-EU mayor Elena Lasconi, 52, according to several polls. But the constitutional court on Friday unanimously decided to annul the entire electoral process as it was "marred... by multiple irregularities and violations of electoral legislation". President Klaus Iohannis said on Saturday that he had discussed with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, and they agreed on the "need to strengthen the security of social media". The European Commission announced earlier this week that it had stepped up monitoring TikTok after Romania's authorities alleged "preferential treatment" of Georgescu on the platform -- a claim the company has denied. Following the court's decision, the United States said it had faith in Romania's institutions and called for a "peaceful democratic process". Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., on X branded the vote's cancellation an "attempt at rigging the outcome" and "denying the will of the people". Georgescu called it "a formalised coup d'etat" and said democracy was "under attack". His team on Saturday declined to comment on the raids, saying they "will not comment or provide answers until we have exact data". Georgescu and another far-right party, the AUR, have said they plan to appeal the decision to stop the voting to the High Court of Cassation and Justice. A past admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Georgescu, an EU and NATO sceptic, in recent days had reframed himself as "ultra pro-Trump," vowing to put Romania "on the world map" and cut aid for neighbouring Ukraine. In an interview with US broadcaster Sky News on Saturday, Georgescu said there were no links between him and Russia. Political scientist Costin Ciobanu told AFP that the annulment has "further polarised Romanian society". With trust in institutions and the ruling class already low, the vote's cancellation poses a "major danger that Romanians will think that it doesn't matter how they vote", Ciobanu added. Elsewhere in the EU, Austria annulled presidential elections in 2016 because of procedural irregularities. In Romania, a new government is expected to set another date for the presidential vote. In last weekend's legislative elections, the ruling Social Democrats came top. But far-right parties made big gains, securing an unprecedented third of the ballots on mounting anger over soaring inflation and fears over Russia's war in Ukraine. In a joint appeal on Wednesday, the Social Democrats and three other pro-EU parties -- together making up an absolute majority in parliament -- signed an agreement to form a coalition, promising "stability". bur-jza/jj