Plus: a drop-shipping showdown January 16, 2023 Made in Canada IN THIS ISSUE Estimated read time: 7 mins 🥚 Eggxaggerated prices 🥚 Eggsausted creditors 🥚 Eggceptional AI WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK As all-star retirees, the Golden Girls are shocked by anyone who fails to open a retirement account. For a simple way to choose the one that’s right for you (retirement account, not Golden Girl), see below. | Getty Images THE WEEK IN MARKETS We don’t want to jinx it, but we’re two whole weeks into 2023 and hopes of “immaculate disinflation” have yet to be dashed. Data out Thursday showed a noticeable fall in the U.S. inflation rate through the end of the year. (It’s now hovering at about 6.5% in the U.S. and Canada). That’s the latest in a series of encouraging economic data (see: last week’s wage numbers, December’s consumer-price report). And the TSX and S&P 500 both finished the week up more than 2% on the news (both now up 5%-ish YTD). More speculative investments, like the ARK Innovation fund and Bitcoin, did even better. The reason behind the rally? Investors hope good news like this means central banks will slow down their economy-crushing rate hikes. But good news only lasts until we get bad news. That’s why investors get paid for taking risks — by the time we actually know the future, it won’t be the future any more. THE WEEK IN ONE NUMBER 7% The dip in temporary jobs since October. And historically, when temp jobs have declined, full-time jobs have followed. Yay? IMPORTANT Earning expectations get low. Nope, lower. In late 2021, investors were on top of the world — and so were their hopes for the upcoming year. But then 2022 decided to light itself on fire, burning those expectations up with it. So instead, investors are bracing for a 4% drop in fourth-quarter earnings. If you can see through all those tears, there is a silver lining: the lower expectations get, the easier they are to beat. And that can be a boon to stock prices. Good news for Canadian carmakers: it just got easier to be “Made in North America.” To avoid U.S. tariffs, cars need to be assembled in North America from parts that were mostly made in North America. But thanks to a decision released last week, those restrictions are about to get looser, saving Canadian automakers money. FTX recovered US$5 billion in assets! Too bad they probably owe $8 billion. Considering lawyers for the bankrupt crypto exchange expected to find only $1–2 billion, this is a relative boon for Kevin O’Leary and the other 9 million creditors pressing IOUs against the courtroom windows. One person it doesn’t help is disheveledgraced former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Though he at least found himself a new outlet: a newsletter. INTERESTING Meanwhile, in egg news: American emotions are scrambled after word spread that eggs cost 60% more than they did a year ago, thanks mostly to a global avian-flu outbreak. In Canada, egg prices have risen a comparatively poultry 17%. Why the big difference? Our agriculture prices are yolked to the decisions of a hard-boiled (and hotly-debated) cartel that, for once, we’re eggstatic to have. Is AI the new metaverse? With crypto winter hitting Nunavut temperatures, venture capital is pouring into AI instead. (Last year saw $1.84 billion invested, and Microsoft is in talks to put another $13 billion into OpenAI.) It’ll take a minute to find out whether software like ChatGPT ends up replacing labour or enabling it. (We’d like to see AI nail this “how do you do, fellow kids?” tone commenters acuse TLDR of having every week.) But in the meantime, it’s encouraging to see such investment in these sucky economic conditions. Bezos orders salt through Buy With Prime, then pours it directly into Shopify’s wounds. Amazon announced a large-scale expansion of Buy With Prime, its streamlined payment and shipping services for unaffiliated retailers. It’s a direct challenge to Ottawa-based Shopify — and a promising new revenue stream for Amazon as it adjusts to the bust after e-comm’s tremendous pandemic boom. FROM OUR SPONSOR You Can Put More in Your TFSA This Year 💰 Welcome to 2023. One improvement? This year’s TFSA contribution limit is $6,500 – and all that money grows totally tax-free. If you don’t have a TFSA yet, Wealthsimple makes it super easy to get started. Open a TFSA THE FOMO INDEX IMPORTANT 🏠 Toronto hustlers who sell houses that don’t belong to them strike again. Nobody’s mad. They just want to hire them. Source 🥖 Subway considering sale that would place its value at US$10-billion, or half that if they use code BOGOFOOTLONG. Source 🌤️ UN announces hole in ozone should be fully healed by 2066. The hole in our hearts? That’s getting better too. Source 🎁 Canada buys Ukraine a surface-to-air missile system and expects to see it on the mantel the next time it visits. Source CRASH & BURN TO THE MOON 🚽 Gadget market flooded with new in-toilet devices that can screen your urine for diseases — and the earliest signs of self-obsession. Source 👑 Spare the rod: Prince Harry’s todger pops up all over his new memoir. Source 🚊 Toronto’s GO trains will now close doors one minute before departure, giving punctual riders time to point and laugh at latecomers. Source 🍽️ Noma, world’s top-rated restaurant, is closing. Whatever, reindeer brain’s better when you cure it yourself. Source WHO CARES WHAT’S UP THIS WEEK Earnings season continues! (Monday) Look out for numbers from some big U.S. banks, Procter & Gamble, and Netflix. And maybe brace yourself for mediocrity. Will we keep up (down?) with the U.S.? 👯 THE BIG IMPORTANT STORY PERSONAL FINANCE RRSP vs TFSA: Which Is a Better Choice? Some choices are a cinch: of course you’re going to order a donair tonight rather than make cauliflower rice with that dumb food processor you got for Christmas. More daunting is choosing between a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) and a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). And, no pressure, you should probably pick one fast: the deadline for 2022 RRSP contributions is March 1st (!)*. Both of these accounts come with huge tax advantages, but they’re different — so which option is best for you depends on your income and debt. We made the handy chart below to help you figure it out. If, after checking out the chart, you’re still hungry for more info, we go into the finer points of tax-sheltered accounts here. *Unused contribution room in your TFSA gets carried forward, so you can really add to it whenever. OTHER VERY GOOD READS 📜 An Obituary for the Man Whose Forgeries Saved Thousands* Adolfo Kaminsky’s fake documents helped Jews escape the Nazis. | The New York Times 📺 How Much Netflix Can the World Absorb?* The streamer wants to “super-serve” viewers globally. | The New Yorker 🍼 Could a Staffing Crisis Jeopardize $10-a-Day Child Care? Low wages are pushing childhood educators out of the field. | Chatelaine *Article is paywalled, which, yeah, is kind of annoying. But we think good journalism is worth paying for. SHARE TLDR WITH FRIENDS 🤝 Put this link in your group chats, in your Slack threads, on a tattoo on your back — whatever works for you! THE WISDOM OF TWITTER *Farmers everywhere right now*: 💅 THOUGHTS ON TODAY’S ISSUE? Love it Good So so This week’s newsletter contributors: Brennan Doherty (writer), Devin Gordon (writer), Stacey Woods (writer), Sarah Rieger (news writer), Ambrose Martos (fact checker), Ciara Rickard (copy editor), Sara Black McCulloch (fact checker), Jared Sullivan (senior editor), Peter Martin (senior editor), Kat Angus (managing editor), and Devin Friedman (editor-in-chief). Disclosures: Contributors to this newsletter own stock in Amazon. At least one contributor also ate an omelette for breakfast today. 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