The US jobs report for July was surprisingly weak, with payrolls falling 23k while there were 103K of downward revisions to the past two months' data, leaving the 3M average at 20,000. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2%, but not for good reasons. It was primarily because of a further drop in the participation rate – unemployed people leaving the workforce entirely. Average hourly earnings growth slowed to just 3.2% year-on-year from 3.5%.

In terms of payrolls details, the leisure and hospitality sector lost 40k jobs, which may reflect the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup, but we had also seen a 43k drop in June when it was in full swing. The financial sector lost 14k roles while retail lost 19k. The offsetting strength was in construction (+22k) and, as usual, private education and healthcare services (+25k). The chart below shows the cumulative job creation since December 2022 and indicates that, after a decent March and April, we have reverted to the very weak trend experienced from January 2025-February 2026.

(Continue Reading – ING)

Canada and the U.S. are discussing a prospective deal in which Ottawa would agree to a long list of Trump administration trade demands in exchange for some relief on sectoral tariffs, as talks intensify ahead of another round of threatened American levies.

According to three industry sources with knowledge of the negotiations, the two sides have discussed in-depth proposals and traded written bargaining positions, but an agreement has not yet been reached. The Globe and Mail granted the sources anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks.

At the centre of the proposals is a swap: Canada would concede on a range of trade issues that the U.S. considers the biggest bilateral trade irritants, including the removal of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products such as autos; the return of American alcohol to shelves; removing provincial procurement restrictions; and agreeing to Washington’s interpretation of how dairy quotas should be allocated. One of the sources said the U.S. has a priority list of around 10 items it wants dealt with.

(Continue Reading – Globe And Mail)

By a large, bipartisan margin, the US Senate on Friday approved a bill intended to punish Russia and countries that buy its petroleum exports over the invasion of Ukraine, capping a legislative push that was spurred by the death of its champion, the Republican senator Lindsey Graham.

The measure, renamed the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia Act in honour of the late senator’s work on the issue, was approved by an 86-11 vote.

The bill would impose new sanctions and visa bans on Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, and top military commanders, as well as put tariffs of up to 500% on the country’s exports. It would also allow Donald Trump to impose levies of up to 100% on goods from countries that are the top five importers of Russian oil and gas.

(Continue Reading – Guardian)

Argus upgraded SpaceX to Buy from Hold on Thursday and set a price target of $160.

The research firm cited the company’s first-quarter results as a public company, which showed revenues of $7.8 billion, up 92%. SpaceX signaled a year-end 2026 revenue run rate approaching $100 billion, significantly above Argus’s initial forecast.

Argus said it is encouraged by the rapid payback on higher-than-expected capital expenditures, mostly for AI infrastructure, given the robust growth in computing capacity. The firm noted that SpaceX shares have been volatile since the initial public offering, rising as much as 67% and then declining more than 50% from their highs. The stock currently trades at $114.92, down roughly 49% from its 52-week high of $225.64, with shares posting a negative 28.6% return over the past six months.

(Continue Reading – Investing)