HEADLINES
Organigram Increases Investment in Phylos Bioscience
Organigram Global has increased its investment in cannabis genetics company Phylos Bioscience which will give it priority access to its cannabis plant seeds.
The Canadian cannabis company said that it has expanded its innovation investment in Phylos which will give it priority access to Phylos' autoflower genetics pipeline, including preferential economic terms and long-term rights in its international markets.
Organigram said the investment establishes a foundation for product differentiation and growth in recreational and medical markets.
The investment is in the form of a loan agreement, which was amended from the original. Under the new terms, Organigram will consolidate its existing investment with a new $3 million advance for a combined total loan of $10 million.
PowerBank Shares Rise After $8 Million Loan Secured
PowerBank has entered an $8 million revolving credit facility with NY Green Bank to fund solar-power and energy-storage projects.
Shares rose 9.7% to $1.81.
The Toronto-based energy-infrastructure developer said the loan will be used to fund interconnection deposits for an initial portfolio of 50 MW of distributed solar power and battery-energy storage projects located in New York state.
An interconnection deposit is money developers pay to utilities to connect a new solar or battery project to the grid.
Tariffs Dragged Canada's Steel, Lumber Stocks to the Bottom of the TSX in 2025
Canada's steel and lumber producers were among the TSX's weakest performers in 2025 as U.S. tariffs and soft demand hit both pricing and profitability.
Canfor and West Fraser Timber faced lower lumber prices and as well as reduced operations in the year, while U.S. tariffs added significant pressure to margins. Canadian steel producer Algoma Steel was also hard-hit by U.S. tariffs which peaked at 50% on steel and aluminum products, limiting shipments to the U.S., one of its largest markets, and dragging earnings as a result.
Tariffs also weighed on sentiment for these stocks. Algoma shares fell 60% in 2025, while Canfor and West Fraser shares fell 23% and 33%, respectively. Canada's traditional resource names ended the year firmly among to worst performers on the TSX.
Gold Miners Enjoy a Bumper Year in 2025
Canada's gold miners were among the strongest performing stocks on the TSX in 2025 thanks to the soaring price of gold and a flight to safe-haven assets amid geopolitical and trade tensions.
Miners such as Lundin Gold, New Gold and OceanaGold saw their stocks skyrocket 276%, 237% and 230%, respectively.
The surge was driven by a 66% rise in the price of gold in 2025 to around $4,324 an ounce, after surging to around $4,550 an ounce earlier this month.
Steady central bank buying also added to the upward momentum, helping miners enjoy strong margins while operating costs remained relatively stable.
Apparel Retailers Rank Among Top TSX Gainers in 2025
Canadian apparel retailers turned in a surprisingly strong showing in 2025, even as performance across the sector varied widely.
The standout was Groupe Dynamite, which went public just over a year ago and had shares skyrocket nearly 330%, making it one of the TSX's top performers as its Garage and Dynamite brands roped in strong demand from younger shoppers.
Women's fashion retailer Aritzia also posted solid gains, benefiting from a rebound in U.S. sales after a challenging 2024 and managing to shrug off trade-tension concerns. While not every retailer kept the breakneck pace, other retailers such as outdoor apparel brand Roots saw its stock rise 44% while Canada Goose, known for its sturdy and pricy winter parkas, rose 24%.
Edward Rogers Buys Minority Stake in Canada's Only Professional Padel Franchise
Edward Rogers, the executive chair of Rogers Communications Inc., has purchased a minority stake in Canada's only professional padel franchise, the Toronto Polar Bears, marking Rogers's latest sports franchise investment, The Globe and Mail reported.
Padel, a co-ed racket sport played in an enclosed court, blends elements of tennis and squash. It is thought to have been founded during the 1960s in Mexico.
In 2023, Toronto entrepreneur Zale Turner acquired the rights for a Toronto franchise from the Pro Padel League and -- after bringing on minority partners -- launched the Toronto Polar Bears, Canada's only professional team. Toronto competes in the league against eight American teams and one Mexican team.
TALKING POINT
Silver, Gold and Copper Trounced Stocks. Here's What a Key Chart Level Suggests Could be Ahead for 2026.
By Joy Wiltermuth
Year-end turbulence only modestly slowed the surge in silver, gold and copper in 2025, with the metals providing important ballast to portfolios as President Donald Trump's tariffs rattled markets and a spending frenzy around artificial intelligence entered a new debt-funded chapter.
For the year, gold logged a 64.37% gain and silver was 141.44% higher, both notching their biggest annual percentage gains since 1979, according to Dow Jones Market Data based on the most-active metals contracts.
Copper's 41.22% jump this year, while slightly more modest, still marks its largest yearly increase since 2009 and amount to more than double the S&P 500 index's 17% gain.
The clamor around metals has stirred debate about potential bubbles forming in gold and silver that could end badly for investors, especially those arriving late to the party. Yet to close out 2025, all three metals were perched above their 50-day moving averages, a key technical level that can be a bullish signal for an asset's price.
"Big picture, it means there's a lot more buyers than sellers," Sameer Samana, head of global equities and real assets at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said of the uptrend. "That has to do with the dollar weakness in the early part of 2025, plus, you could argue, a lot of uncertainty around how countries will manage their fiscal health going forward."
The ICE U.S. dollar index, a measure of the buck against a basket of rival currencies, booked its worst first half of the year since 1973, when Richard Nixon was president. It since has recouped some of its 2025 losses but was still 9.4% lower on the year through Wednesday, according to FactSet.
A turbo rally in silver
Unlike gold and silver, copper isn't considered one of the world's precious metals. Yet like silver, it was added to the U.S. Interior Department's list of critical minerals this year, given its role in wiring, power generation and electrical transmissions, all which are essential to the AI buildout.
Recent bullishness helped silver gain more than 51% in the past three months alone, while copper shot up more than 17%, gold rose nearly 12% and the S&P 500 added almost 3% over the same span, according to FactSet data.
From a technical perspective, the most recent leg of the metals rally has pushed gold and silver above their 50-day moving averages for a relatively long 93 trading days through Wednesday, while copper was above that threshold for 25 trading days, according to Dow Jones Market Data based on most-active futures contracts.
That has happened only four other times for gold since 1993 and five other times for silver since 1982, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Shorter stretches of at least 25 days for copper have been fairly common in recent years.
While the past doesn't predict the future, similarly long trading stretches above the 50-day moving average have tended to skew bullish for stocks and gold in the weeks and months that follow, while silver has been mixed and copper has seen most of its gains after the three-month mark.
Importantly, gold showed its resilience this year after equities sold off in April following Trump's "liberation day" tariff announcement, which shocked investors and triggered an ugly reaction in the bond market.
"Fixed income sort of helped, but crypto also fell by the wayside, while gold held up," Samana at Wells Fargo said. "Given the nature of the beast, you look at your last best hedge when markets sell off, and I think it's fair to say that's gold."
Skepticism around inflation and whether it can be tamed next year, especially with tax breaks and the data-center boom likely to reaccelerate the economy, would likely work in favor of metals in 2026, Samana said.
Spending on AI infrastructure is also not expected to let up in the years ahead. The U.S. already has nearly 3,750 data centers, according to the Data Center Map, an industry research tool launched in 2007.
For every new data center, metals have a role in the process. "There's copper for wiring and silver in a lot of chips," Samana said. And at least globally, demands for power from data centers will mean harnessing alternative-energy sources, where silver has been playing a major role.
Mike DeStefano and Brian Benner contributed.
Expected Major Events for Friday
07:00/UK: Dec Nationwide House Price Index
08:45/ITA: Dec Italy Manufacturing PMI
08:50/FRA: Dec France Manufacturing PMI
08:55/GER: Dec Germany Manufacturing PMI
09:30/UK: Dec S&P Global UK Manufacturing PMI
14:30/CAN: Dec Canada Manufacturing PMI
14:45/US: Dec US Manufacturing PMI
16:00/US: Dec Global Manufacturing PMI
21:30/US: Federal Discount Window Borrowings
21:30/US: Foreign Central Bank Holdings
All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Friday
Bio-Path Holdings Inc $(BPTH)$ is expected to report for 3Q.
Black Titan Corp $(BTTC)$ is expected to report for 3Q.
Lifecore Biomedical Inc (LFCR) is expected to report $0.16 for 2Q.
Sonder Holdings Inc $(SONDQ)$ is expected to report for 3Q.
Taylor Devices Inc (TAYD) is expected to report for 2Q.
Powered by Factset and Dow Jones.
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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 31, 2025 16:30 ET (21:30 GMT)
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