This week in charts
U.S. retail bankruptcies
Inflation 3% or higher
Historical Fed cutting cycles
Average fixed income prices
BBB bonds on downgrade watch
U.S. leveraged loans
Housing affordability
Rail delays
Nasdaq 100
Big Tech exposure
Cargo Floods Into US West Coast to Beat Tariffs
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which account for roughly a third of all US container imports, have seen a surge this summer just shy of an all-time high reached in May 2021.
Back then, a wave of inbound consumer goods caused supply bottlenecks on land and a queue of cargo ships waiting for a berth offshore was getting longer by the day.
This time around, cargo is moving more smoothly through the twin ports, as businesses bring goods in ahead of potential tariff increases and the threat of a dockworker strike hangs over alternate ports.
The Port of Los Angeles processed more than 960,000 20-foot container units in August, marking the trade gateway’s busiest non-pandemic month ever.
Canada opens new critical minerals hub in push to end China’s dominance
North America’s latest rare earth processing centre opens in the city of Saskatoon this week, part of an effort to counter China’s global dominance in the supply of the critical minerals needed for the green technology, defence and aerospace industries.
The Saskatchewan Research Council, a 75-year-old government-funded scientific research and development institute, has built the commercial venture that will process rare earth minerals from Australia, Brazil and Vietnam until large-scale Canadian mines are operating.
The SRC Rare Earth Processing Facility marks a small but important step in western countries’ efforts to undermine China’s dominance in the critical minerals industry.
China controls about 60 per cent of the world’s rare earth mining production, but close to 90 per cent of processing and refining, according to the International Energy Agency. Rare earths are a set of 17 elements commonly found in the Earth’s crust but are hard to extract affordably in large quantities.
The Saskatchewan centre’s opening comes as a slump in rare earths prices over the past two years has knocked the business case for projects that can challenge China’s dominance over the minerals essential for electric cars and wind turbines.
Over the past four years, the US Pentagon has invested close to $1bn around the world in rare earths projects through the Defense Production Act — a cold war-era tool used to guarantee the supply of materials and technologies essential to the US’s economy and defence.
Washington has invested tens of millions of dollars in rare earths projects in its northern neighbour as part of these efforts to secure vital minerals.
This week’s fun finds
The EdgePoint soccer team played its season finale, marking the end of an amazing two-year run! Over the past two years, we had participation from various departments across the company: Investments, Sales, Operations and Investment Analytics - and from a diverse range of age groups, including interns just out of school and industry veterans with 30 years of experience. Trophies and medals remained elusive, but we took the win on team culture and chemistry! Stay tuned for updates on the EdgePoint basketball and volleyball team!
This Brazilian dog is a footvolley star. He teaches beachgoers how to play their own game
Rio de Janeiro’s main beaches bustle with commotion on sunny weekends. But activity ground to a near standstill on one stretch of sand. People held up their phones to record athletic feats they’d never before witnessed, or even imagined.
The game? Footvolley, a combination of soccer and beach volleyball. The athlete? A 3-year-old border collie named Floki.
