Wealthsimple

July 20, 2026

In This Issue

8 min read

Salary confessions, the sequel

Record-setting dino bones

An end-times AI ad

When will rich people learn that messing around with dinosaurs never ends well? Have beloved movie paleontologists taught us nothing? We explain below. | Universal Pictures/Murray Close

The Week in Markets

Moonshot causes chip jitters

Just last week in this space, we shared the tale of shiny new AI princeling SK Hynix, the South Korean memory chipmaker whose US$28 billion opening set a NASDAQ record, and we observed that it was so far avoiding the same fate as princeling predecessors Super Micro Computer (down 75% from its 2024 peak) and CoreWeave (down 52% from its 2025 peak). Welp, it did not avoid it for long.

Hynix was the most high-profile victim last week of a global chip sell-off so intense that 1 in 30 South Korean brokerage accounts (1.2 million total) got margin-called — thanks in part to a surge in leveraged bets. The culprit this time was another surprise breakthrough out of China — a DeepSeek 2.0 called Moonshot whose latest model, Kimi K3, reminded investors of all the reasons that the sector makes them nervous: a flood of competition, an over-supply of compute, and an under-delivery of profits. One analyst described what we’re witnessing in the AI market as “maturing rather than breaking,” so it’s probably a mistake to panic. Unless, perhaps, you live in South Korea.

TSX:	+0.0% (+11% YTD)

S&P 500:	-1.2% (+8.4% YTD)

One Chart That Explains Everything

Superlatives of the Week

Roughest mea culpa by a tech CEO: IBM suffered a gobsmacking 25% drop last week, erasing US$69 billion in market value, its largest intra-day loss ever. In his letter to shareholders, CEO Arvind Krishna blamed a failure to anticipate how fast IBM clients would shift from spending money on software to shiny new AI and memory products, which, if you’ve been reading this newsletter, is a wild thing not to see coming!

Hottest new super-old status symbol: Speaking of dinosaurs (see what we did there?), the fossilized remains of a 67-million-year-old T. rex named Gus sold at auction for more than US$50 million to an anonymous buyer. That’s the most money anyone has ever spent on an old bag of bones, breaking the record set by Citadel founder Ken Griffin, who dropped US$45M on a 150-million-year-old stegosaurus in 2024. Dino bones are the new sports franchise/mega-yacht — but scientists worry that selling them as rare artworks is stifling research. Dr. Alan Grant (RIP) would not approve.

Source: Getty

Most satisfying comeuppance for a mega-landlord: In a victory for Ontario renters, Toronto-based property manager CAPREIT has lost its appeal of a court ruling that it had been overcharging tenants. Back in 2013, CAPREIT and the province’s rental tribunal reached a 10-year deal for annual rent hikes to offset renovation costs. The renos stopped in 2023, but the hikes were reduced by just 2.5% — not 8.3%, as promised. There’s a good lesson here for all of us: read your lease very carefully. One lawyer told the Star she suspects thousands of renters are paying above-guideline increases.

Sh*ttiest reason for a panic sell-off: The now-infamous explosive diarrhea parasite sent fast-food stocks into a brief free fall on Thursday after a multi-week investigation led U.S. health officials to the doorstep of the most obvious culprit all along — Taco Bell. Its lettuce, specifically, which it sources from California-based Taylor Farms. Taco Bell’s parent company, Yum Brands Inc., dropped by 7% in one day.

Least reassuring AI ad meant to reassure us about AI: Anthropic’s new commercial — which flirts with (but ultimately rejects!) the notion that AI may kill every living creature — is getting so-so reviews.

—Jenna Benchetrit

From Our Sponsor

The FOMO Index

by Stacey Woods

Important

Experts unsure if Quebec’s explosive diarrhea outbreak is linked to U.S. one. For now, consider it Diarrhea Without Borders.
Source

Nine new emoji are coming, including monarch butterfly and butterfly net. Actually, forget all the others — those two pretty much say it all.
Source

Meta pulls the update that let Instagram users make deepfakes of each other. Right after you finished a flawless Kylie Jenner reverse-mortgage ad!
Source

Astronomers discover a type of sugar between stars in the Milky Way. Could bring us even closer to finally understanding nougat.
Source

Crash & Burn

To the Moon

Mexico gets its first Chipotle. Should tide them over until they can get a proper Taco Bell.
Source

Zara’s ultra-wide-legged “death pants” are causing serious injuries. Still preferable to the emotional injuries from skinny jeans.
Source

There’s a collectible Trojan Horse popcorn bucket for The Odyssey. Fill it with popcorn, give it to your enemy, and let it destroy everyone’s dignity.
Source

Vancouver hosted the first influencer-style gathering of “CPAP Baddies.” They’re a new group, but there’s a bit of crossover with the GERD Girlies.
Source

Who Cares?

The Big Important Story

Salary Confessions, The Sequel: 6 More Canadians Get Candid About Their Wages

We recently convinced seven Canadians to tell us how much money they make. They also told us about the joys and frustrations of their jobs — and why many of them feel underpaid. Their candour was so fun and refreshing that you, dear readers, begged for even more anonymous salary confessions. And since we aim to please here at TLDR, we found six more people who were willing to dish on money. You can read the full collection here.

Exterminator

Winnipeg

$150,000
Business owner

I’m 65. My income is about $150,000, and I also have a pension. If I can double my income in the next five to seven years, I plan to sell my company, pay off my mortgage, and fully retire. I started my own pest-control business during COVID-19 because I wanted to apply my academic experience to the real world. I have a PhD in medical entomology, I did field studies on mosquito-borne diseases in the Middle East for six years, and then I worked for the Public Health Agency of Canada for about 20 years. Wasps are the hardest insects I deal with. They can build nests anywhere, they’re not always easy to access, and, of course, they have a defence mechanism.

Oil-patch supervisor

Strathmore, Alta.

~$200,000
Business owner

I supervise oil-and-gas-drilling operations; it takes me to both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. I think I can hit all my financial goals. I already have my own incorporated business, I’ve got a great truck, I’ve got a house — all that fun stuff. I guess I’d want to start a family in the future. I’m only 25 now, and I want to retire by the time I’m 50, so I’m well on my way.

Software engineer

Montreal

$475,000
$125,000 in equity

I’ve been a software engineer for about 15 years. I was on the management track for a few years, but now I write code for most of the day and solve product problems. I think I’m more than fairly compensated; I feel very lucky. My goal is financial security; I want to pay off my mortgage and retire early if I decide to, and I want to have the means to help our children transition into adulthood. I’m fortunate that, if I keep saving at the same rate, that’ll be possible within the next five to 10 years.

Home organizer

Saskatoon

$70,000
Business owner

I’m 46, and I work about 30 hours a week. I’d like to semi-retire in 10 years. My husband and I are in good financial standing, and we have no debt. I don’t get paid a huge salary, but I’m lucky to do something I absolutely love.

Our clients are usually young families who need to declutter or seniors who are downsizing; our hourly rate is $65 per person. Some of the seniors we work with have lived in their homes for 50 years. Those are the clients that I really get to know, because we’re digging through their lives. I spent six months helping one woman downsize. She passed away a few years later. When I read her obituary, I knew everything that was in there because I’d heard all her stories.

Primary-school teacher

Waterloo, Ont.

$119,000

Sometimes I feel like I get paid a lot, but more often I think, “No, I don’t get paid enough.” If you judge a society by how well it treats its most vulnerable, schools are the canary in the coal mine. And right now, there’s a lack of support in elementary schools, especially for kids with behavioural issues.

Woodworker

Toronto

~$20,000
Business owner

Our studio offers woodworking and crafts classes. Sometimes we pull in $6,000 a month after expenses, other times as much as $12,000. But I only pay myself $1,500 because I reinvest as much money as I can back into the business. Some of our customers are concerned about AI making their jobs redundant. Others are not finding much fulfillment in their jobs, and they want to make objects with their hands. So I’ve seen a surge of different people becoming semi-professional woodworkers.

—Jenna Benchetrit

The Big Read

🧑‍🎤 Why Is Everybody Nostalgic About the ’80s?

Pop culture is saturated with ’80s nostalgia. Psychologist Christopher J. Ferguson makes a contrarian case for why teens are doing just fine today. | Secrets of Grimoire Manor

Wisdom of X

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This week’s newsletter contributors: Brennan Doherty (writer), Devin Gordon (writer), Stacey Woods (writer), Jenna Benchetrit (news writer), Ambrose Martos (fact checker), Ciara Rickard (copy editor), Maude Campbell (copy editor), Sara Black McCulloch (fact checker), Eva Grace Clement Cruz (specialist, product engagement), Lauren Edwards (production coordinator), Matthew Karasz (markets editor), Jared Sullivan (senior editor), Peter Martin (senior editor), and Devin Friedman (editor-in-chief).

TWIM: Total returns shown in local currency, via TradingView.

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🤑 Canadian salaries — the sequel!