It's a small, small world

It’s often the little things that have the biggest impact. Case in point? Gnomes. Published in English back in ’77, the book was everywhere, and so were gnomes—in your granny’s garden, your neighbour’s, and maybe even yours where you no doubt made their life interesting 😂

The popularity of gnomes may not be what it once was, but gardening is still huge. If you’re interested in developing a green thumb, check out five delicious herbs that anyone can grow at home. 

And some peaches to go with ‘em ;)

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

WEEKLY POLL

What are we thinking?

IN THE NEWS

Tariff uncertainty impacted Canadian real estate

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) says home sales in January fell 3.3% compared to December on a seasonally adjusted basis, but listings surged 11%.

Both metrics were strange compared to usual circumstances, but CREA noted these are indeed unusual circumstances.

“The standout trends to begin the year were a big jump in new supply at an uncommon time of year, as well as a weakening in sales which only showed up around the last week of January,” said CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart.

“The timing of that change in demand leaves little doubt as to the cause—uncertainty around tariffs."

The 11% jump in listings was the biggest month-over-month gain since the 1980s. New residential listings specifically were up 23%, and in the Greater Toronto Area, where they rose a staggering 50%.

The tariff uncertainty translates to uncertainty about inflation, the value of Canadian money, and the Bank of Canada’s plans for interest rates.

“You’ve got so much uncertainty out there that at the beginning of the month, everybody threw their place on the market,” said Shawn Zigelstein, broker and head of Team Zold with Royal LePage Your Community Realty.

ECONOMY

Trump hints at 25% auto tariffs

U.S. president Donald Trump announced the other day that he’ll reveal details of new 25% auto tariffs on Apr. 2 in a dramatic escalation of his budding international trade war.

Trump’s cabinet is expected to submit a report the day before outlining recommendations for the president’s next round of tariffs. He has repeatedly made claims that the international trade environment is unfair to American companies, particularly when it comes to auto manufacturing.

Currently, the U.S. collects 25% duties on pickup trucks made outside the U.S.—not including in Mexico or Canada—allowing American manufacturers to profit handsomely from their own models of these automobiles. Broadening the scope of those duties could mean Canada and Mexico will be targeted.

The threat of auto tariffs isn’t novel. Trump made similar attempts in 2018 and 2019 after a Commerce Department report suggested the importing of foreign auto parts “weakened the domestic industrial base” and posed a threat to national security.

While that report didn’t result in new tariffs at the time, it very well could be used this time to justify the aggressive tactics the president is keen on using in the first 100 days of his second term.

BUSINESS

Loblaw to open 80 stores

Loblaw announced it’s opening 80 new stores this year, including pharmacies and grocery stores, about 50 of which will be under discount brands. It will also renovate 300 existing stores.

The plans are being financed by a US$10 billion investment over the next five years, $2.2 billion of which will go into the 2025 projects.

“From opening one of the largest fully automated distribution centres in North America, to introducing dozens of small-format, hard discount stores to communities that need them most, this investment will have a positive impact across the country,” said chief executive Per Bank in a press release.

Discount brands like No Frills, FreshCo, and Food Basics have seen a meteoric rise in popularity among Canadian shoppers over the last several years, as inflation has pushed grocery prices through the roof.

The Canadian grocery giant has taken steps to make its discount brand more available, partly in response to consumer backlash over grocery inflation, which rose at a much quicker pace than overall prices during the worst days of the inflationary cycle.

THIRSTY THURSDAYS

Coca-Cola enters prebiotics market

Coca-Cola announced the other day that it’s launching Simply Pop, a soda beverage loaded with fiber, zinc, and Vitamin C, designed to maintain and improve gut health and immunity.

The beverage titan is making its foray into prebiotics as consumers do the same, pivoting as far away from sugar as possible and more towards functional beverages that serve their health in ways beyond simple hydration.

“You would have to be under a rock…to not have seen the growth that is happening in the prebiotic soda space,” said Terika Fasakin, senior director of brand marketing for Simply.

The soda is being introduced under Coca-Cola’s preexisting Simply juice brand, which will allow it to hit the ground running with Simply’s familiar “fruit-forward” profile.

Simply Pop will come in multiple flavors, including Strawberry, Pineapple Mango, Fruit Punch, Lime and Citrus Punch. It contains 6 grams of fiber, and a healthy dose of Vitamin C and zinc.

Coke says it plans to have the wide variety on store shelves in select regions and available everywhere online through Amazon Fresh by late February.

HEALTH

Oyster protein battles bacteria

Last week, Stake Your Day reported on the growing threat of superbugs—bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. This week comes news from scientists in Australia who have discovered a potential solution in the form of a protein found in oysters.

Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Streptococcus pyogenes are bacteria responsible for diseases like STAPH infections, pneumonia, scarlet fever and strep throat, and have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics in recent decades.

The Australian scientists discovered an oyster protein in the bivalve’s “hemolymphs,” which are the equivalent of human blood cells in oysters. The protein attacks the bacteria’s ability to form “colonies protected by biofilm.” Biofilm allows bacteria to more easily bind to a cell’s membrane and defends them from antibiotic drugs.

The researchers discovered the protein could kill the antibiotic-resistant bacteria on its own, and when combined with antibiotics, the resistance strength doubled at minimum and in some cases, became 32 times stronger.

“We often think about bacteria just floating around in the blood,” said study co-author Kirsten Benkendorff, a marine scientist at Southern Cross University.

“But in reality, a lot of them actually adhere to surfaces. The advantage of having something that disrupts the biofilm is…it’s stopping all of those bacteria from attaching to the surfaces. It’s releasing them back out into the blood, where then they can be attacked by antibiotics.”

SPACE

Milky Way’s black hole dances

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (WST) fixed the gaze of its near-infrared camera on the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, called Sagittarius A* (pronounced A-Star), and discovered the accretion disc around the supermassive black abyss has been flaring up with gusto.

The flares typically occur in X-ray and infrared wavelengths, which is why the WST was the perfect set of eyes to capture them. Astronomers believe the flares are being caused by disturbances in the disc that compress its plasma, causing it to flare out in a cosmic dance difficult to imagine in size and scope.

Sagittarius A* is about four million times the mass of the Sun, and the flare-ups detected over 48 hours of observation spread out over a year are the most intense and frequent captured to date. No surprise coming from the majestic WST.

“Flares are expected to happen in essentially all supermassive black holes, but our black hole is unique,” said Farhad Yusef-Zadeh, an astronomer at Northwestern and lead author of the study, in a university release. “It is always bubbling with activity and never seems to reach a steady state. We observed the black hole multiple times throughout 2023 and 2024, and we noticed changes in every observation.”

CURIOSITIES

Playful people were less stressed during pandemic

A new study conducted by researchers at Oregon State University found those with a greater propensity for playfulness also demonstrated higher mental resilience during the pandemic than those who with less trait-playfulness.

“Highly playful people were just as realistic about COVID-19 risks and challenges as others, but they excelled at ‘lemonading’—creatively imagining and pursuing the positive, as well as discovering ways to create moments of joy even in difficult circumstances,” said Sharon Shen, the director of the Health, Environment and Leisure Research Lab (HEAL), who led the study.

“This is particularly relevant as we face increasing global challenges that require both realistic assessment and creative adaptation.”

Using their Adult Playfulness Trait Scale, Shen and co-author Zoe Crowley recruited two groups: those who were less playful and those with higher levels of trait-playfulness.

The two groups were both equally cognizant of risks and were equally protective against them, but the more playful subgroup “demonstrated greater optimism when envisioning future possibilities, engaged in more creative problem solving and managed to infuse quality and enjoyment into everyday activities,” according to Shen.

“They actively altered challenging situations, found creative substitutes for what was lost, viewed obstacles as opportunities for growth and maintained a strong sense of control over their responses.”

STAKE TRIVIA

Ruh Roh! Pet quiz

From Dino to Scoob, Snoopy and more, the pop culture we love has been full of loveable pets 😎 

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

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

Have a great day ahead Staker!

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


*SEE FULL STAKE TRIVIA CONTEST RULES HERE.