The Weston family’s finances, inflation fights and doom in AI: Business and investing news for July 2

Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of the Globe’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more.

Weston family shifts private investing strategy after $6.9-billion Selfridges sale

The Weston family, best known for being the controlling shareholder of Loblaw Cos. Ltd., also owns billions of dollars worth of private assets through its holding company, Wittington Investments Ltd. That vast private portfolio is undergoing an extreme makeover after its estimated $6.9-billion sale of British luxury retail company Selfridges & Co. The portfolio will finance more innovative areas of the global economy, including clean energy, early-stage technology companies and disruptive retail and consumer products companies, Sean Silcoff and Susan Krashinsky Robertson report.

Li-Cycle, the Canadian company at the forefront of EV battery recycling, readies for its big test

At the forefront of the burgeoning lithium-ion battery-recycling industry since launching operations in Kingston, Li-Cycle Corp. is facing one of its biggest tests. The plants the company has opened (and most of those in development) are known as “spokes,” where used batteries are broken down to produce black mass, a powdery substance containing the key minerals. Li-Cycle is preparing to open the first of its “hubs,” separate facilities where it will do the processing itself so it can sell the minerals, which is where the real value is. Li-Cycle chief executive officer Ajay Kochhar made clear to Adam Radwanski how much hinges on the new hub project – which the company expects will allow it to become profitable.

Global forces are key to the next stage of Canada’s inflation fight

A new report by Statistics Canada analyzing inflation over the past few years shows that higher import prices, over which the Bank of Canada has little control, have contributed a growing share to the country’s inflation burden. Commodity prices, global demand for goods and shattered supply chains were significant drivers of the country’s inflation, which means the bank must rely on the inflation-fighting fortitude of other central bankers and the fluctuations in foreign economies.

Homebuyers and homeowners struggle with ‘obscenely’ high building costs

The cost of building homes and apartment complexes across 11 major Canadian cities was up 54 per cent in the first three months of 2023 compared with the same period in 2019, according to new Statistics Canada data. Even as the supply chain snags linked to COVID-19 ease, labour shortages persist, materials are still expensive and rising interest rates have increased financing costs for developers. At the same time, demand for new housing remains strong amid record immigration and a resilient economy. This all means higher building expenses for buyers and owners, Erica Alini reports.

‘I hope I’m wrong’: Why some experts see doom in AI

Since raising the spectre that superintelligent AI could subjugate humanity, Geoffrey Hinton, emeritus University of Toronto professor, has been flooded with media requests. In an interview with Joe Castaldo, Prof. Hinton said it was humour, and AI’s ability to understand it, that changed some of his core beliefs. In his view, intelligence wins, and will seek to control. He’s not willing to game out how exactly AI could threaten our existence, though. “It’s such unknown territory and there are so many ways it could happen that I don’t like to speculate on the details,” he said.

How much rent should parents be asking adult kids to pay?

Should parents charge rent and if so, how much? How involved should parents be in their adult children’s finances? These challenging and emotional questions around money are being asked more and more across the country. With Canadian household debt levels at record highs, some parents are struggling to bear the brunt of financial responsibility for their children into adulthood, while also trying to find a middle ground between financially supporting their children and empowering them to be “launched” into the real world, Ana Pereira reports.

Now that you’re all caught up, prepare for the week ahead with the Globe’s investing calendar.

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