I know it's gonna be...

Back in 1977, Bill Withers proved once again that we could always lean on him to bring the feels. Lovely Day may not have been a #1 hit single, but it’s way up there on the list of songs that will always add some pep to your step ☺️

Spring is finally almost here, and the days are getting longer, warmer, and lovelier. It’s a fitting time for “Touch Grass” to launch—the new app will prevent you from endlessly scrolling on your phone until you get outside and literally…you got it, touch grass.

Go on, feel the breeze ;)

(Love nostalgia? Play today’s trivia below for a chance to win a $25 Tim Hortons eGift Card!)

IN THE NEWS

G7 leaders meet in Quebec as trade war escalates

Leaders of the G7 began meetings at the Quebec summit yesterday as tensions continue to flare amid U.S. president Donald Trump’s escalating global trade war.

The summit commenced shortly after Trump threatened new 200% tariffs on European wine and champagne in response to an EU retaliatory tariff on American whiskey.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to have his hands full as America’s top diplomat, given the disarray that’s been made of international trade between many of the world’s top economies, almost entirely because of the erratic decision-making of Rubio’s boss.

On top of that, Canada and European allies have been frustrated by the American pivot in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Trump has taken a hardline approach to ending the conflict, most notably with the flareup that occurred in the Oval Office two weeks ago between him, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“Peace and stability is at the top of our agenda, and I look forward to discussing how we continue to support Ukraine in the face of Russia’s illegal aggression,” Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said at the start of the meetings.

GOVERNMENT

Carney to be sworn in today

Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney is set to be sworn in today and aims to hit the ground running with a nimble team prepared to move quickly as Canada remains in the economic crosshairs of U.S. president Donald Trump.

Sources close to Carney have suggested he plans to significantly reduce the size of the federal cabinet. Outgoing PM Justin Trudeau will resign this morning, dissolving his cabinet of 37 members, which Carney reportedly could reportedly replace with half as many members.

He’s expected to be sworn in at 11 a.m., along with between 15 and 20 ministers, many of whom will either be shifting from one ministry to another or completely new members.

However, it’s widely expected that key ministers at the forefront of Canada’s response to Trump’s trade war will not be shuffled, including Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne.

Former public safety minister Marco Mendicino will also serve as Carney’s chief of staff during the transition after being shuffled out of Trudeau’s cabinet in 2023.

Carney is widely expected to make the transition quick and seamless, and call an election before Parliament even resumes on March 24, setting up a late April or early May election.

HOUSING

House hunting during trade war

The housing market is currently in a condition that would normally be ripe for a spring rally. Inventory is on the rise and the Bank of Canada just made its seventh consecutive interest rate cut.

Nonetheless, there are no signs of any impending rally, given a lack of consumer confidence and uncertainty about the country’s short-term economic future.

“A March rate cut from the Bank of Canada would usually act as fuel for the spring housing market, but it’s hard to start a fire when the economy is soaked through with uncertainty,” said Clay Jarvis, a mortgage expert at NerdWallet Canada.

Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem noted after the 25 basis point cut on Wednesday that a prolonged trade war would be devastating for the Canadian economy, triggering job losses and dramatically stifling consumer demand.

He and others have also said such an economic environment would all but guarantee a 2025 Canadian recession.

“Tariff uncertainty has thrown cold water on what otherwise would have been a robust early spring market,” said Penelope Graham at Ratehub.ca. “Home buyers are hesitant to buy properties as a potential recession looms, while sellers pile inventory onto an already saturated market.”

FEASTING FRIDAYS

Texture is the name of the game

Food companies are scrambling these days to secure as big a piece of the pie as they can of the fast-growing market for healthy alternatives in pretty much every category.

According to Illinois-based ingredient provider, Ingredion, the key to getting people to choose your healthy alternative is to make sure you get the texture right.

“Texture is very complimentary to a lot of the healthy things,” says Rob Ritchie, senior vice president for food and industrial ingredients at Ingredion. “We think there’s untapped market there that we’re going to continue to grow upon.”

The company has a top secret dictionary that contains 274 terms used to rank and evaluate the texture of a given food or ingredient. The book includes words like “spongy, sticky, gooey, firm, chewy, juicy, flaky and creamy.”

Through years of research and tens of millions of dollars of investment, Ingredion has determined the significance of texture to be fundamental for the success of a food product. It can impact the enjoyment of the food, how satiating it is, how healthy it’s perceived to be, etc.

It found over half of consumers would choose not to eat a food again if they didn’t like its texture, and labels on a product describing its texture could impact up to 70% of consumers’ decisions to buy it.

SPACE

Galaxy one million times smaller than Milky Way

A group of astronomers at the University of Michigan discovered a satellite galaxy orbiting Andromeda, the Milky Way’s closest galactic neighbour. Called Andromeda XXXV, it is reportedly one millionth the size of the Milky Way.

To put that into perspective, that means the entire galaxy is only ten times the size of the Sun.

“These are fully functional galaxies, but they’re about a millionth of the size of the Milky Way,” said Eric Bell, an astronomer at the University of Michigan and senior author of the study, in a university release. “It’s like having a perfectly functional human being that’s the size of a grain of rice.”

The Milky Way itself is about 1.5 trillion times the size of our Sun, making it almost impossible to imagine how stars would even form in such a compact galactic environment as Andromeda XXXV.

In fact, in the only previously known satellite galaxies around the Milky Way, star formation completely stopped long ago. Andromeda XXXV provides new insight into how these types of galaxies formed and functioned.

“Most of the Milky Way satellites have very ancient star populations. They stopped forming stars about 10 billion years ago,” said Marco Arias, the lead author of the study, in the same release. “What we’re seeing is that similar satellites in Andromeda can form stars up to a few billion years ago—around 6 billion years.”

CURIOSITIES

Secret tunnels associated with da Vinci discovered

A series of tunnels that had been the source of a more-than-500-year-old mystery associated with Leonardo da Vinci were finally discovered by researchers at the Polytechnic University of Milan.

Using radar, lasers, and other special high-tech tools, the researchers discovered the tunnels under the Sforza Castle in Milan.

The castle was commissioned in 1358, but political unrest and war caused a delay and ultimately resulted in it being significantly damaged. It wasn’t completed for over a hundred years, and at that time, the Duke of Milan hired da Vinci to decorate its interior.

The mystery of the tunnels dates back to that time, because while da Vinci was decorating the walls of the castle, he also released a series of sketches that portrayed the tunnels. For over five centuries, no one was able to confirm if the sketches were based on a real place or just a product of the Renaissance genius’s mind.

“This passageway is immortalized in Leonardo’s drawings and has long been the subject of legends and considerable speculation,” according to a press release. “But now, thanks to technology, it seems that its existence can be confirmed.”

MUSIC

Metallica launches virtual reality concert with Apple

The other day Stake reported on the ways Apple is trying to boost the popularity of its virtual reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro. One of those ways is the partnership it announced with Metallica to produce a concert that will give fans a virtual front row seat to the band’s M72 World Tour.

Metallica brought Apple Immersive Video cameras to their Mexico City concert from September of last year, and gave them unprecedented up-close-and-personal access, filming from inside the band’s “snake pit,” as well as distant outskirts that gave wide-angle views of the enormous stadium.

The special release is basically a futuristic live EP; it features Metallica staple tracks Whiplash, One, and Enter Sandman, and is being released today for Vision Pro, but also as an EP on Apple Music available in Spatial Audio.

If you don’t already own a Vision Pro, it may not be worth your time. The device costs $3,500, the same price as the Diamond-level “I Disappear” VIP package Metallica offered for the M72 tour. It came with general admission access to every Metallica show across two continents for two years.

All things considered, that’s a damn good price to travel the world with a band featured on the Mount Rushmore of heavy metal.

The tour picks back up for the next North American leg in Syracuse on May 19.

STAKE TRIVIA

Another wave

Earlier this week we quizzed you on British new wave. The genre is often linked with the Brits, but we had our own version on this side of the pond too 😏 

Think you know your American new wave? Find out with today’s trivia! Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 Tim Hortons eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified on Monday afternoon—keep an eye on your inbox!*

Have a great weekend Staker!

Today’s issue written by Michael Cowan, Joey Cowan, and Maureen Norman.


*SEE FULL STAKE TRIVIA CONTEST RULES HERE.