Good afternoon. In today’s letter we’re covering:
Iran war surges energy costs
AI tax errors
Earning rewards from rent
Today’s reading time is 3 minutes.
Oil prices jump, stocks slide as Middle East war rattles markets
Crude oil surged more than 6% Monday as fears of a widening Middle East conflict threatened global supply, pushing U.S. benchmark crude to US$71.23 a barrel and Brent to US$78.15. The S&P 500 dipped, with airlines and cruise lines taking the hardest hits — Norwegian Cruise Line dropped nearly 12% — but Morgan Stanley strategists said oil would need to top US$100 a barrel to cause lasting stock market damage. Natural gas prices also climbed after a major European supplier halted production, raising the spectre of inflation taking off.
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Wall Street Just Named the Most Crowded Trades of 2026
AI stocks. Metals. Crypto.
Surprise, surprise; gold crashed 16%. Silver plunged 34%. Bitcoin dropped to 1 year lows.
All supposedly "uncorrelated" assets moving in lockstep largely because of overleveraged margin.
JPM strategists warn that the same leverage is still a risk.
Those markets may be recovering now, but cascading liquidations could trigger quickly across several asset classes simultaneously.
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Beware of error-prone AI during tax season
A new survey shows you’ll want to be careful about depending on AI to do your taxes. A Dext survey of 500 accountants and bookkeepers found 44% are now spending up to three hours a month fixing mistakes caused by clients acting on AI-generated tax advice, with another 38% spending four to 10 hours, according to a report in The Logic. The most common errors involve misinterpreted business expenses and payroll slip-ups. LLMs can get Canadian-specific tax questions wrong, and provide users with incorrect guidance. Even trickier: about 70% of respondents say clients are using AI outputs to push back on professional advice.
Paying rent can finally earn you rewards
A new platform called Casa is letting renters earn Scene+ points on rent and condo fee payments with zero processing fees — a first in Canada. Renters can earn rewards even if their building doesn’t accept credit cards, but there is a catch: you need the ScotiaGold Passport Visa, an exclusive Scotiabank card with a $110 annual fee that's only available through Casa. The program lets users earn 1 Scene+ point per dollar on rent (worth about 1 cent each), meaning a renter paying the national average of $2,057 a month would net roughly $137 a year after the card fee.
Get your tax slips organized
Quick check:
Do you know when your T4, T5, and T3 slips are due?
Have you signed up for digital delivery from your bank and employer?
Are you tracking which slips you're still waiting for?
Why it matters: T4s should have arrived by now. T5s and T3s have until the end of March. If you file early without all your slips, you'll have to amend your return later, which delays refunds and creates hassle. Waiting until you have everything makes filing cleaner and faster.
If this is you: Make a list of every slip you expect (employer T4, bank T5, investment T3, RRSP contribution receipts). Check them off as they arrive in your CRA My Account or email. If you're missing something by early March, contact the issuer directly. Don't file until you've got them all, unless you're certain nothing else is coming.
FROM THE FEED
WHAT ELSE IS ON OUR RADAR
Citadel Securities: The case against AI causing a financial crisis.
Financial Times (paywalled): The anti-Trump trade is here.
Bloomberg: How much should you have saved to retire at 60?
Wall Street Journal (paywalled): Why Gen Z Is Unprepared for the Workplace. “Through a combination of having fewer real-world relationship experiences, spending their education years in remote environments, and learning to communicate largely through asynchronous methods, these 20-somethings have missed opportunities to develop the skills needed to navigate the complex world of work.”
