This week, Canada witnessed a significant political shift as the Liberal Party made a Holyfield-esque comeback in the parliamentary elections, securing 168 seats. Although they fell short of the 172 seats needed for an outright majority, the victory marks a notable achievement for the party and its leader, Mark Carney. Carney, who is the first to lead two G7 central banks, is expected to quickly gain international credibility due to his extensive experience, according to experts.
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Carney has pledged a firm stance against Washington’s import tariffs and emphasized that Canada would need to invest billions to reduce its dependence on the U.S. This comes at a crucial time as data revealed that the Canadian economy contracted throughout Q1 2025, coinciding with U.S. President Donald Trump’s first 100 days of his second term in office.
Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. (NASDAQ:DJT, Forum) has been making headlines for its poor performance, with its stock plummeting 28.04 per cent since the beginning of the year. This week, the company published a letter to shareholders, not explaining its poor performance, but rather defending its products and criticizing the “legacy media’s customary blizzard of fake news, undisguised propaganda, and manufactured hysteria about both our company and President Trump.” The letter also talked about how Trump warned that Americans can expect to find store shelves empty sooner than later. Just kidding, it obviously didn’t.
The U.S. imposed, then delayed, a 10 per cent tariff on Canadian energy imports in February 2025, targeting crude oil and natural gas. Despite these challenges, Canadian energy stock Whitecap Resources Inc. (TSX:WCP, Forum) reported strong operating and unaudited financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2025. Whitecap’s production averaged 179,051 boe/d, including 115,932 bbl/d of total liquids and 378,715 mcf/d of natural gas. This production was over 6,000 boe/d higher than their internal forecast due to strong production from new wells and better-than-expected base production.
Key highlights from Whitecap’s first quarter include:
- Production growth: Production increased by 6 per cent compared to Q1 2024, with stronger-than-expected volumes from both unconventional and conventional assets.
- Funds flow: First quarter funds flow of $446 million ($0.75 per share) was 17% higher on a per share basis than Q1 2024 and 7% higher than Q4 2024. Free funds flow totaled $48 million after capital investments of $398 million.
- Return of capital: $107 million ($0.1824 per share) was returned to shareholders in base dividends, with an annual base dividend of $0.73 per share.
- Balance sheet: Net debt of $987 million at the end of Q1 equates to a net debt to annualized funds flow ratio of 0.6 times, with significant available liquidity on their credit facility.
Another industry in focus is healthcare, which PM Carney pledged to protect in the face of the Trump Administration, saying we have relied on health cards, not credit cards, for our healthcare.
Theralase Technologies (TSXV:TLT, Forum), a healthcare stock focused on treating select cancers, bacteria, and viruses, recently discovered that its lead drug candidate, Ruvidar, has the potential to inhibit deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs), which are linked to certain cancers and neurodegenerative diseases.
Ruvidar has been shown to induce oxidative stress in cancer cells through the production of Reactive Oxygen Species, facilitating their destruction without affecting healthy cells. The drug, alone and/or in combination with Transferrin to produce the compound Rutherrin, has delivered promising results against bladder cancer, lung cancer, and various viruses, including recent breakthroughs in the treatment of herpes.
According to this week’s news release, DUBs cause cellular damage by removing ubiquitin or ubiquitin-like molecules from target proteins, which play an essential role in regulating gene expression, DNA repair, cytokine signaling, cell metabolism, cell cycle, and cell death. Theralase’s study aims to build upon recent evidence that the alteration of DUBs is a key cause behind cancer drug resistance.
Keep an eye on this stock and you can find out more on the latest episode of Stockhouse’s newest podcast, “The Five-Minute Investor”, which will feature more on Theralase on the next episode. Stay tuned!
After reading this, investors ought to deepen their due diligence into these news-making stocks to ensure their portfolios are up to date. The political and economic landscape is rapidly evolving, and staying informed about key developments can provide valuable insights for making strategic investment decisions.
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(Top image via Global News on Twitter / X.)