Here are four things you need to know this morning
Copper chases record highs: Copper hit a fresh all-time high above US$12,000 a ton as severe mine outages and trade dislocations linked to US.. President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda put the crucial industrial metal on course for its biggest annual gain since 2009. Prices rose as much as 0.9 per cent to $12,031.50 a ton on the London Metal Exchange, extending a rally that has lifted prices by about 37 per cent this year. The impact on global trade flows has been so extreme that prices have rallied even though underlying usage has deteriorated rapidly in China, which consumes about half the world’s copper. Investors often view copper as a barometer for global industrial activity, but the slowdown in China has done little to put the brakes on the rally.
Federal interim budget officer apologizes: Jason Jacques says he learned a lot about the importance of choosing his words carefully in his first few months as the interim parliamentary budget officer. Tapped over the Labour Day long weekend to step into the role for a six-month term, Jacques quickly made waves among parliamentarians and the media with his blunt assessment of Ottawa’s fiscal management. After Jacques released a fiscal forecast in September, he told MPs on a parliamentary committee that the current state of federal finances was “unsustainable,” “shocking” and “stupefying.” But in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press earlier this month, Jacques said he would not have used those words if he could rewind the past three months. “It was totally unnecessary,” he said. “People make mistakes. And again, for myself, it was a learning opportunity.”
Booze may cost more in 2026: Some alcohol prices in Ontario could rise in the new year, with several changes to the alcohol marketplace set to take effect. The changes flow from Premier Doug Ford’s plans to expand and modernize how alcohol is sold in the province, which has seen beer, wine and coolers now sold in convenience stores, a sharply reduced footprint for The Beer Store and a shifting system for empties. When the expansion was announced last year, the government said all retailers would have a 10 per cent wholesale discount from the LCBO until an overall new wholesale pricing structure is rolled out in 2026. This spring, the government temporarily increased that discount to 15 per cent for bars, restaurants and convenience stores, citing the need to protect them from impacts of U.S. tariffs. That is set to end Dec. 31, and some of those businesses say it may mean they have to pass their price increase on to their customers.
American shoppers spending more: Sales for U.S. retailers have increased by about four per cent so far this holiday season but American shoppers were more deliberate with their purchases, often using artificial intelligence tools to discover and compare prices so that they could stretch discretionary budgets, Visa’s chief economist, Wayne Best, said in a statement. Michelle Meyer, chief economist at Mastercard Economics Institute, added that consumers shopped early and leaned on promotions to get the best deals. Retailers rolled out early promotions to lock in sales amid muted expectations heading into the holiday season due to weak consumer confidence and tariff-fueled inflation. Yet sales data from Cyber Week - the five-day stretch including Thanksgiving and Black Friday - showed consumers largely shrugged off economic worries.
