It’s a deal: Canadian autoworkers have ratified a new three-year collective agreement with the Ford Motor Company, setting the stage for upcoming talks with General Motors and Stellantis. Unifor, which represents more than 5,000 employees at Ford Motor Co. of Canada, has said the agreed-upon wage increases represent the highest ever negotiated with an automaker in this country. The new deal will see workers’ pay increase 10 per cent in the first year, followed by a two per cent jump in the second year and a three per cent increase in the final year.  

Writers reach tentative deal with studios: Shares of Disney, Netflix and Paramount Global will be stocks to watch today, after screenwriters reached a tentative labour deal with Hollywood studios. The agreement, which still has to be ratified by members, could now shift the focus to reaching a deal with striking actors.

Amazon to invest as much as US$4B for AI startup: Amazon has agreed to invest up to US$4 billion in the AI startup Anthropic, which was founded about two years. In an effort to keep pace with rivals like Microsoft and Google’s parent company Alphabet in the push into generative artificial intelligence, the e-commerce giant will drop an initial investment of $1.25-billion into Anthropic and take a minority stake. Generative AI includes technology like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, as well as Anthropic’s Claude chatbots.

Other notable stories:

• The price of West Texas Intermediate is kicking off the week higher after posting a weekly loss. It is currently trading above US$90 a barrel
• Shares of Nike, Foot Locker and Urban Outfitters are down in the pre-market after each were downgraded to a hold at Jefferies due to consumer headwinds that lie ahead.
• Microsoft is getting an upgrade from Guggenheim and losing its only sell rating in the process after Analyst John DiFucci said generative artificial intelligence is “too positive a force to contend with.”