CTV National News: U.S. added just 73,000 jobs in July
U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after job numbers were lower than expected in July.
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Winnipeg Free Press
31 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Limited options for Democrats to retaliate if Texas Republicans redraw congressional map
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Republicans move to redraw legislative maps in red states to pad their narrow House majority in Washington, some Democrats are rethinking their embrace of a nonpartisan approach to line-drawing that now complicates their party's ability to hit back before next year's midterm elections. In many Democratic-controlled states, independent commissions rather than the state legislature handle redistricting, the normally-once-a-decade task of adjusting congressional and legislative districts so their populations are equal. Parties in the majority can exploit that process to shape their lawmakers' districts so they are almost guaranteed reelection. The commission model limits parties' ability to game the system, leading to more competitive districts. Not all redistricting commissions were created at Democrats' insistence. And, like Republicans, the party has exploited line-drawing for its own gain in the handful of states where it controls the process. But unlike Republicans, many Democratic Party leaders have embraced the nonpartisan model. That means Democrats have fewer options to match Republicans, who are redrawing the U.S. House map in Texas at President Donald Trump's urging to carve out as many as five new winnable seats for the GOP. That could be enough to prevent Democrats from winning back the majority next year. Democrats have threatened payback. During a gathering Friday in Wisconsin of Democratic governors, several of them said they wanted to retaliate because the stakes are so high. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, who has pushed for a nonpartisan redistricting commission in his state, said Democrats must 'do whatever we can' to counter the Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps. 'When you have a gun against your head, you've got to do something,' he said. Despite the ambitious talk, Democrats largely have their hands tied. Democratic states have limited ability to redistrict for political edge California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he and the Democratic-controlled Legislature will try to redraw his state's congressional map. But they would need to repeal or defy the 2008 ballot measure creating an independent redistricting commission. Voters extended its authority to congressional districts two years later. Newsom supported the constitutional amendment at the time, when he was mayor of San Francisco. The Texas redistricting, which is expected to pass the Legislature next week, led him to modify that position. 'We can act holier than thou, we can sit on the sidelines, talk about the way the world should be, or we can recognize the existential nature that is this moment,' Newsom said earlier this month. In New York, which also has a commission, the state constitution bars another map this decade. Democrats have moved for a change, but that could not happen until 2027 at the earliest, and then only with voter approval. In other states where Democrats control the governor's office and legislature, including Colorado and Washington, the party has backed independent commissions that cannot redraw, let alone rig, maps in the middle of the decade. Democrats say 'foundations of our democracy' at stake When the redistricting cycle kicked off in 2021, after the last census, independent commissions were in charge of drawing 95 House seats that otherwise would have been drawn by Democrats, but only 13 that would have been created by Republicans. In a marker of the shift among Democrats, former Attorney General Eric Holder, who heads the party's redistricting effort and has called repeatedly for a more nonpartisan approach, seemed to bless his party's long shot efforts to overrule their commissions. 'We do not oppose – on a temporary basis – responsible, responsive actions to ensure that the foundations of our democracy are not permanently eroded,' Holder said in a statement last week. In states where they weren't checked by commissions, Democrats have redistricted just as ruthlessly as Republicans. In Illinois, they drew a map that gave them a 14-3 advantage in the congressional delegation. In New Mexico, they tweaked the map so they control all three House seats. In Nevada, they held three of its four seats in November despite Trump winning the state. Even in states where they have a lopsided advantage, Democrats are exploring ways to maximize it. On Friday, Maryland's House Majority Leader, Democratic Del. David Moon, said he would introduce legislation to trigger redrawing of the congressional lines if Texas moves forward. Democrats hold seven of the state's eight congressional seats. 'We can't have one state, especially a very large state, constantly trying to one-up and alter the course of congressional control while the other states sit idly by,' he said. Commissions promote 'fair representation,' advocates say Advocates of a nonpartisan model are alarmed by the shift among Democrats. They say the party would redistrict just as aggressively as the GOP if not held in check, depriving voters of a voice in districts whose winners would essentially be selected in advance by political leaders. 'We're very desperate — we're looking for any port in a storm,' said Emily Eby French, Common Cause's Texas director. 'This Democratic tit for tat redistricting seems like a port but it's not a port. It's a jagged rock with a bunch of sirens on them.' The group's director of redistricting, Dan Vicuña, said using redistricting for partisan advantage — known as gerrymandering — is highly unpopular with the public: 'This is about fair representation for communities.' Politicians used to shy away from discussing it openly, but that has changed in today's polarized environment. Trump earlier this month told reporters about his hopes of netting five additional GOP seats in Texas and more out of other Republican-controlled states. He has urged new maps in GOP-controlled states such as Indiana and Missouri, while Ohio Republicans are poised to reshape political lines after neutralizing a push to create an independent redistricting commission. Democrats are divided over how to respond to Texas In a sign of the party's divide, Democrats have continued to push for a national redistricting panel that would remove partisanship from the process, even as some call for retaliation against Republicans in defiance of state limitations. 'No unilateral disarmament till both sides are following the law,' said Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, like Newsom a possible 2028 presidential contender, wrote on X. Gallego's post came a day before his Democratic colleagues gathered to announce they were reintroducing a bill to create the national commission. An identical bill died in 2022 when it couldn't overcome Republican objections despite Democrats controlling Congress and the presidency. It has no chance now that the GOP is in charge of both branches. Sen. Chris Murphy, another potential 2028 contender, didn't express regret over past reforms that have implemented independent redistricting boards in Democratic states, saying the party 'should never apologize for being for the right thing.' But he added that Republicans 'are operating outside of the box right now and we can't stay inside the box.' 'If they're changing districts in the middle of the 10-year cycle, we have to do the same thing,' he said. That approach, however, hasn't caught on across the party. 'We shouldn't stoop to their tactics,' Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said. 'It's an ideal that we have accurate and fair representation. We can't abandon it just because Republicans try to manipulate and distort it.' ___ Riccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles, Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York, and Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, contributed to this report.
Globe and Mail
31 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
3 Growth Stocks to Invest $1,000 in Right Now
Key Points Amazon's core e-commerce business remains remarkably resilient and continues to dominate the global retail landscape. Nvidia remains the undisputed leader in supplying the advanced chips powering today's artificial intelligence revolution. Meta Platforms leads the social media landscape, operating three of the world's top-five most-used platforms and reaching 3.4 billion daily users. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › The last year has been a wild ride for many investors, with a huge swing down in the market in the spring before rocketing back up to today's highs. For investors who want to keep that momentum going, here are four growth-focused companies that would be a smart place to park $1,000. Amazon continues to dominate With all the tariff drama, it makes sense that investors have been a bit wary of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) compared to its big tech rivals. I think this fear is overblown. Yes, the trade war between the U.S. and China could reignite, and this would definitely impact Amazon's business, but any disruptions would more than likely be temporary. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More » The fact is, Amazon's e-commerce business is highly resilient, and I don't see its dominance meaningfully threatened. Amazon enjoys a moat that few companies in history have. It is hard to overstate how ingrained it is in the daily lives of consumers across the globe. And beyond its retail business, Amazon Web Services (AWS) -- the company's cloud service -- continues to thrive, growing rapidly in the age of artificial intelligence (AI); revenue was up 17% year over year in the first quarter of 2025. CEO Andy Jassy recently drove home the potential of AWS, saying in an earnings call, "before this generation of AI, we thought AWS had the chance to ultimately be a multi-hundred-billion-dollar revenue run rate business. We now think it could be even larger." Nvidia is still on top It's no secret that the most dominant company leading the most dominant industry is Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). Data centers across the globe, especially those running today's most advanced AI models, are filled to the brim with the company's advanced graphics processing units (GPUs). Thus far, no other chipmaker managed to rival Nvidia when it comes to delivering the most advanced GPUs needed to power modern AI, and although competitors like Advanced Micro Devices have begun to make some headway, Nvidia is still miles ahead. It also has an incredible amount of capital -- dollars and people -- to deploy in defending its lead. While this would already be a substantial moat, Nvidia's CUDA architecture provides it with an incredible advantage. This is a key component, and although it's definitely talked about, it remains poorly understood by investors given its importance. Without going into too much detail, CUDA is essentially a software layer upon which most AI technology is built. If a company is already in Nvidia's ecosystem, switching to rival chips would require the overhaul of their entire workflow, making them unlikely to leave. As a result, Nvidia's ecosystem keeps clients loyal and willing to pay a premium. Meta Platforms dominates social media Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) is the undisputed leader in social media. Of the top five most used social media platforms in the world, Meta has No. 1, 3, and 4 in Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. All told, its platforms are actively used by more than 3.4 billion people around the world on a daily basis. This massive user base continues to fuel massive growth for the tech behemoth. Its latest quarterly earnings showed a 22% jump in sales year over year (YOY) and a 38% jump in net income. To capitalize on its success, the company is investing aggressively in its future -- especially in AI -- where its enormous and engaged user base gives Meta a unique advantage. It has access to vast amounts of data to train its models and a captive audience to roll out its AI products to. And unlike some in the AI space, Meta also has the financial strength to continue investing even if the short-term return is less than stellar. Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now? Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $625,254!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,090,257!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,036% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 181% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 29, 2025
CBC
32 minutes ago
- CBC
Piece by piece, cranes lift 84 prefabricated rentals into place in downtown Calgary
Along a busy street on the west end of downtown, another new rental building is going up — but instead of being built from scratch, prefabricated units are being craned into place, piece by piece. Each box being stacked contains two studio apartments, already filled with appliances like fridges, stoves, washers and dryers. Altogether, the pieces will make up 84 studio apartments across six storeys. "We can crane in all the modules into place in 10 days, which is a very fast pace in a highly densified area," said Adam Beattie, president of ATCO Structures. The modular units were manufactured at ATCO Structures' factory in southwest Calgary. They took roughly three months to complete. Jaydan Tait, CEO of Attainable Homes Calgary — the city-owned agency behind the project — says the speed of modular construction is a major advantage as Calgary tackles an ongoing housing crisis. "From the starting point of manufacture to a fully-stacked building will be from April 15 to the middle of August, so just a few months, unlike a typical construction build which can be on average about two years," said Tait. Compared to traditional builds, this approach requires less labour, says Tait, and the construction costs are lower since it takes less time to complete. He says that's reflected in the price charged to tenants. "We're going to be able to rent every single studio unit, 84 studios in there, for under $1,100 a month," he said. "So if you make about $44,000 to $50,000, you're the kind of client we want to live in this building and that's calculated on you not spending more than 30 per cent of your income on rent." Once all the elements — including stairwells and elevators — are in place, ATCO will work on adding external cladding and other finishing touches. The building is expected to be complete in December and will be ready for its first tenants on Jan. 1. Despite the haste of modular construction, Beattie said quality isn't an issue. "The modular structure actually has more structural components than a traditional build because not only do you have the structural requirements of the overall envelope of the building, but each module has intensified structural elements so it can be transported to site in a safe and effective manner," said Beattie. "It's got a huge amount of durability and longevity that can endure as much, if not more, than a traditional build and the quality of finish." Both Beattie and Tait say they're expecting the residential modular approach to become even more common as Canada tackles an ongoing housing shortage, especially with the federal government backing the technique as part of its housing plan. In the meantime, Attainable Homes Calgary is developing another modular project — this time, in Sunnyside — with manufacturing slated to begin in the fall.
