Makin' waves

A dose of Aquaman on Saturday mornings back in the day was always rad. He didn’t fly like Superman, but he was super strong and could see and hear ten times greater than mere mortals on land or underwater! And c’mon, he was king of the seven seas 😎

With those epic powers, this superhero would’ve come in handy in Norway recently at the scene of a bizarre incident. A container ship accidentally ran aground right beside a man’s garden! Sadly, Aquaman was nowhere to be found.

Was probably visiting his boo ;)

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

IN THE NEWS

Long-term care nurses leaving profession

Pandemic-era fatigue is continuing to drive nurses out of their profession at a time when the healthcare system’s reliance on them is expected to grow rapidly over the coming decades.

According to a study published by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), long-term care capacity will need to double in the next decade alone to meet the demand from Canada’s fastest-growing age group—those who are 85 and older.

Fewer staff worked in long-term care in 2023 than before the pandemic, the study found. 13.6% of the country’s total staff, or 50,216 providers, continued to work in the area, including nurse practitioners, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists.

Especially alarming was the decrease in the number of psychiatric nurses working in long-term care. Their ranks plummeted between 2014 and 2023, from 548 to 315, or 42.5%.

Vacancies for nursing roles in long-term care have “steadily risen” since 2015, according to CIHI, and roles that are typically associated with long-term care continue to have the most vacancies across the Canadian healthcare labour force.

ECONOMY

Bond markets under pressure

It appears the next financial crisis may be in debt markets, as investors slowly start to decide the risk of buying debt isn’t worth the reward.

In Japan, 30-year and 40-year bond yields soared to 3.14% and 3.6% last week, both of which represent an all-time high. If the Bank of Japan raises interest rates to protect the value of the yen and combat inflation, it would cause increased strain on the cost of servicing the country’s 30 trillion yen (about $289 billion) in debt. If it maintains its current rate, it could further lower demand for bonds.

Similar trends are appearing elsewhere, most notably in the United States, where President Donald Trump has been increasingly calling out Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell for not lowering its policy rate of 4.5%, which is keeping America’s debt service costs elevated on the staggering $36 trillion U.S. debt.

While a scare in U.S. treasury markets was averted in early April after Japan and China unloaded some American treasuries, demand for them is still weakening.

Bond markets are clearly attempting to tell governments—America’s in particular—to rein in spending and attend to the growing debt problem. The lack of fiscal discipline in Washington is showing no sign of slowing down, however, as the government prepares to pass another sweeping tax cut without materially cutting spending.

BUSINESS

B.C. mall owner takes over Hudson’s Bay leases

The Bay may be liquidating and closing its doors for good but the dream of a successful Canadian department store is still alive for B.C. mall owner Ruby Liu.

The Hudson’s Bay Company filed for creditor protection in March, and is in the process of liquidating all 96 of its stores under the flagship banner and Saks Fifth Avenue.

It announced Friday that it will seek permission from the court to sell the leases of 28 stores in B.C., Alberta, and Ontario to Liu.

Liu says she wants to focus on “bridging the gap between generations, providing immersive shopping experiences, and becoming a destination where all age groups thrive together."

The court request appears to be a formality, after a video that was posted on Chinese social media platform, RedNote, showed Liu in a boardroom signing a document, popping champagne, and celebrating the birth of a new company.

"You see this logo, right? Next time you spot it, I hope you will stop by and support my store," she says in Mandarin in the video, referring to the new department store she envisions, called “New Bay.”

TRAVEL TUESDAYS

Post-pandemic travel boom screeches to a halt

The concept of so-called “revenge travel” was a reaction to being locked down during the pandemic for so many years. Pent up frustration and pent up demand converged to create a boom that returned the frequency of travel to pre-pandemic norms.

That seems to be over, though, as travel advisors warn of a slowdown and how it will impact their businesses.

“You can’t just take one angle and say, ‘Oh, the economy is having an issue. So let’s find something less expensive,’” said Beci Mahnken, CEO of MEI-Travel. Others are saying, “‘I don’t want to travel to the United States,’ or ‘I don’t want to travel outside the United States’…It’s like a rock tunnel, going and going.”

The downturn seems to be a direct result of the market volatility induced by the White House’s global trade war, which triggered a flurry of travel cancellations as consumers began to worry about their retirement savings.

According to Cirium, flight bookings from American cities to European destinations between January and May—when summer trips are usually booked—were down 10% compared to last year.

SCIENCE

Researchers track ultraprocessed food in blood

Scientists have a difficult time accurately understanding the exact impact ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) can have on the human body, mostly because it’s so hard to track exactly how much of them people eat. They rarely remember which items they consumed or how much, leading researchers to try finding another way of measuring.

Erikka Loftfield, a National Cancer Institute researcher led a study published last week in PLOS Medicine on the topic, in which 1000 older adults provided blood and urine samples, along with memory recall of their diets over the prior year for Lotfield and her team to analyze.

The object of the study was to determine how much energy had been consumed from UPFs, and the team identified 33 urine markers and 28 blood markers that can “reliably predict” how much UPF a person has consumed.

To test their findings, the researchers had the study participants live at a National Institute of Health centre for a month, and tracked their diets, some of whom ate UPFs and others ate unprocessed foods. They developed a scoring system based on the presence of each blood and urine marker, which they found could accurately predict at the individual level the volume of UPFs consumed, bypassing the need to know exactly which ones the participant could remember.

HEATLH

Science backs Japanese Interval Walking

There are tons of walking trends these days, many of which are easy and accessible but don’t necessarily have scientific backing. The Japanese Interval Walking technique is one with research to back it up.

Simply put, it involves three minutes of brisk walking to get your heart beating at about 70% to 85% of its maximum rate (220 minus your age). Then, you slow down to a moderate pace that lets your heart rate slow to about 40% to 50% of its maximum rate. Repeat each five times to complete a 30 minute walk.

Researchers published by Dr. Hiroshi Nose in Mayo Clinic Proceedings found continuous moderate intensity walking and no walking produced somewhat positive results, but interval walking resulted in significantly greater improvements in aerobic capacity, muscle strength, and resting systolic blood pressure.

“High-intensity interval walking may protect against age-associated increases in blood pressure and decreases in thigh muscle strength and peak aerobic capacity,” the researchers wrote.

Let’s go! 🚶‍♀️‍➡️

WEEKLY POLL RESULTS

Here’s what you said

MUSIC

Billy Joel diagnosed with brain disorder, cancels shows

Billy Joel, 76, cancelled a string of shows in February, March, and April due to what was described as a “medical condition” that required surgery and physical therapy to remedy.

The other day he cancelled all remaining tour dates for the foreseeable future after announcing he’d been diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus, a rare brain disorder that doctors say has been exacerbated by performing, ultimately “leading to problems with hearing, vision, and balance.”

The condition is often misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, and according to the Alzheimer’s Association, “less than 20% of people with the disease are properly diagnosed.”

According to a statement released by Billy’s team, he is "undergoing specific physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period. Billy is thankful for the excellent care he is receiving and is fully committed to prioritizing his health."

The now-cancelled shows were set to be played between April and July. Those with tickets don’t need to take any action, and will be automatically refunded.

STAKE TRIVIA

Raisin to be

It’s National Grape Day, and that got us thinking about one of our fave brand mascots, the California Raisins! 😎 

We’ve done it before, but there’s no shortage of fun mascots out there, so we’ll be quizzing you once again on iconic ’70s and ’80s mascots with today’s trivia! Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 Tim Hortons eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified tomorrow afternoon—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.