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On Saturday, March 12, 2022, 03:01, The Peak <hello@readthepeak.com> wrote:
The Peak
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Good morning. Have you seen the collection of people trying to sell limited-edition Mario milk online? It's just like regular milk, but expires on MAR10…
Today's edition:
- Canada flexes new job gains
- NHL says sports bets are on
- That $69.3 million NFT sale
MARKETS
TSX 21,461.83
-0.56%
S&P 500 4,204.31
-1.30%
DOW 32,944.19
-0.69%
NASDAQ 12,843.81
-2.18%
GOLD 1,988.90
-0.57%
OIL 109.32
+3.11%
DOLLAR 0.7843
+0.18%
BTC 49,541.98
-2.14%
POTASH: Shares in Saskatchewan-based Nutrien, the world's biggest potash producer, continue to rise in response to fears concerning the invasion of Ukraine's effects on the global potash inventory.
UKRAINE: Russian airstrikes hit three cities in Ukraine on Friday—including two in the country's west. Hundreds of thousands of civilians remain trapped and under fire in Ukrainian cities, but the situation in Mariupol is especially dire.
HOUSEHOLD DEBT: Statistics Canada reports that the ratio of household debt to disposable income has hit a record high, with borrowing costs going up (at the expense of fun money) as people race to get a piece of the real estate market.
ECONOMY Job gains blow past expectations 
Some good news to start your Saturday: Canada's economy added 337,000 new jobs in February—blowing past analyst expectations and driving the unemployment rate down to its pre-COVID 19 levels for the first time.
Why it happened: With capacity limits on indoor venues lifted across most of the country, people are getting back to something that resembles normal life, which is good for business—and the job market.
- The accommodation and food services sector (which includes hotels and restaurants) saw the largest gains with 114,000 new jobs created.
- People are also returning to the office in great numbers, with the share of people working from home falling by 5.8% from January.
Why it matters: One metric to keep an eye on is average hourly wages, which rose 3.1% in February from the same time last year.
- Not long ago that would have been something to cheer for, but with inflation reaching 5.1% in January it's no longer enough for workers to keep up with the increasing cost of living.
- There's reason to worry inflation may be getting even worse: we don't have official data for February from Statistics Canada yet, but Salesforce's latest Shopping Index Report pegged price hikes in Canada at 10.4% in February.
Lots of new jobs means more competition for workers which could drive up wages and offset the pain of inflation, but at the same time, higher labour costs for firms may also contribute to inflation pressures.
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BY THE NUMBERS 🇷🇺 5. The number of Russian oligarchs Canada sanctioned yesterday alone, including (you guessed it) Roman Abramovich, part-owner of steel manufacturer Evraz that has operations in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Canada also sanctioned another 32 organizations and companies.
🛰 8.5. Length (in meters) of the proposed CanadArm3, a highly autonomous robot that will aid astronauts in long-term moon explorations. The Canadian Space Agency awarded Canadian spacetech company MDA $269 million Thursday to continue work on it.
🐋 330. The number of right whales left globally. The federal government released its fishery and vessel management measures for 2022, including safety measures aimed at protecting right whales as they migrate into Canadian waters.
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BETTING New bets on the good old hockey game Canada's legalization of single-game sports betting back in August has opened the door for the NHL to sign its first-ever sports betting partner in Canada: sportsbook ProLine+.
Sports leagues are still navigating the new waters of betting legislation as more sportsbooks set up shop in Canada, but they've also come under scrutiny for taking on gambling sponsors.
- The NFL is facing criticism for suspending Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley for an entire season after he bet on his team while he was injured.
- Last year, the NHL faced their own scandal when Edmonton Oilers star Evander Kane was accused by his (now ex) wife of illegally betting and throwing games.
Why it happened: Canadians spent $10 billion a year gambling through illegal bookies and grey market offshore sportsbooks. Legalizing single-game betting will keep some of this money within our borders.
The NHL (Canada's most popular sports league) and its players intend to capitalize on a newly available market.
- Last week Edmonton Oilers captain (and arguably the world's best player) Connor McDavid signed a deal with sportsbook BetMGM to be a "brand ambassador."
Big picture: Whether your gambling habits rival Adam Sandler's in "Uncut Gems" or you couldn't care less about sweaty adults getting paid millions to hit pucks and shoot balls, more gambling would spur economic growth across industries.
- Bets alone are a big business: a recent Deloitte report predicts that bettors will place $28 billion in legal wagers within five years of legalization.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, legal gambling could bring over 2,600 new full-time jobs to Canada and boost the GDP by $425 million.
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E/R/W/L Eat: Mindful eating and conscious consumers are on the rise, so here are the top 10 healthy food trends of this year. Remember, you are what you eat, and health is wealth!
Read: Working (on anything, from anywhere) can hinder clear thinking, but New York Times bestseller, "Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again," will be sure to clear your brain fog.
Watch: Valentine's Day may be over, but hopeless romantics will never get over cheesy rom-coms! If you're a fan of romance, check out the 75 best romantic comedies of all time.
Listen: The Ambie Awards celebrate the top podcasts of the year, and this article lists the nominees—take a look, take a listen, and tune in on March 22 to watch the livestream.
BLOCKCHAIN Pulse check on NFTs 
A year ago, a NFT artwork sold for US$69.3 million and forever changed the world of art, blockchain, the relationship between the two, and how we generally assign value to anything.
- But now, NFTs are stuck between criticism for generating massive carbon footprints, low values and slowing sales. Only 3,200 NFTs were sold on Thursday from a daily high of 795,000 in August, according to NonFungible… so, what happened?
Catch up: In 2021, Mike Winkelmann–an artist known as Beeple–sold the NFT-linked "Everydays: The First 5000 Days" artwork to cryptocurrency investor and programmer Vignesh Sundaresan, at the revered British auction house Christie's.
- A refresher for the newbs, NFTs are digital tokens (like images and videos) that exist on a blockchain, a secure record-keeping system that can validate their ownership.
- The artwork is made up of 5,000 images that Beeple released on the web, one a day, for fourteen years (here's a rare look at the full piece and some of the images).
The work became the third-most-expensive ever by a living artist and launched the mainstream NFT boom, sparking other jaw-dropping sales including a mix of CryptoPunk pieces selling for millions and a New York Times article explaining NFTs for US$560,000.
- The sale of 'Everydays' also overshadows the success of HUMAN ONE, another Beeple work which is the third most expensive NFT, sold for a cool $28.9 million.
But, how: According to The Conversation, collectors were attracted to a world where rarity can be transparently recorded and easily verified (offering a digital extension of existing hobbyist pursuits), and for the creators, NFTs provided a clear path toward monetization.
- But as NFT hype grew, so did the appetite of cash grabbers and scammers, including social media influencers like YouTubers Logan and Jake Paul and Melania Trump, who has released several NFT projects (at least one of which she bought herself).
And, now: Experts also point to inflation, the war in Ukraine, and increased regulatory scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission to justify the $12 billion drop in market capitalization (from $22 billion), according to CoinMarketCap.
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WAIT, THERE'S MORE Easy returns: DoorDash is testing a new feature that lets you return packages to the nearest post office, UPS, or FedEx location (Uber shut a similar feature down in 2018).
CryptoPay: Stripe is launching crypto payments support for customers to buy and store crypto tokens, cash out, trade NFTs, and handle compliance workflows.
Red alert: Google is introducing a rapid Air Raid Alerts system for Android phones in the country to supplement Ukraine's existing air alert system.
Message sent: Over 60 major companies (including Apple, Google, and Meta) took out an ad in the Dallas Morning News decrying new state legislation that targets trans children.
Blocked: Russia will limit Instagram access, apparently in response to Meta's hate speech regulations. The move further consolidates Russia's control of information flow.
Not that guy: Spotify has lost over 1.5 million paying subscribers so far in 2022, but they claim it has more to do with turmoil in Ukraine than turmoil with Joe Rogan.
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- What it's like to live out of a van for $700 per month.
- This is what Russian state TV is telling Russians about what's going on in Ukraine.
- Someone built a huge Hot Wheels track in their backyard complete with waterfalls and waterslides. Watch a video of the course.
- Take a look at some of the luxury superyachts owned (for now) by Russian oligarchs.
- Long read: "Of course we're living in a simulation."
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GAMES 
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Written by Sarah Bartnicka and Quinn Henderson.
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