Good morning! In this weekly snapshot:

• How AI has gained popularity in 2023🤖

• Boeing Ground Max 9 aircraft safety concerns🛩️

New Year’s Revelations

Of all the S&P 500 companies in 2023, over 150 of them referenced the term “AI” in its earning call for Q3. Following this trend is Deloitte, who is kicking off 2024’s AI popularity with its new generative AI chatbot, PairD, which has been rolled out to nearly 75,000 employees across the Middle East and Europe. Developed by Deloitte’s internal AI institute, PairD is designed to streamline day-to-day tasks such as writing code, drafting written content, creating presentations, and web scraping.

Time is money! The pandemic fueled a three-year surge in consulting operations, with Deloitte’s YoY growth in consulting greatly outpacing that of its other operations (Figure 1). 

Figure 1: Revenue of Deloitte worldwide from 2017 to 2023, by service line (in billion U.S. dollars)

By 2023, as the economy recovered and third-party advisory spending had decreased, major consulting firms, including Deloitte, found themselves over-staffed from their pandemic hiring frenzies. In response, the Big Four – Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC – collectively laid off over 9,000 employees since February. PairD, beyond serving as an acclimation tool for the New Year’s AI-driven environment, is a strategic move to cut costs while minimizing the damage inflicted on Deloitte’s internal workforce.

U.S. Officials Ground Boeing 737 Max 9 Aircrafts as Safety is Threatened

Last Friday night, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 plane heading to Ontario from Portland was forced to make an emergency landing after a panel blew out shortly after takeoff.

Prior Concerns: Although no serious injuries were reported, the incident has made global headlines and raised serious safety concerns. This occurrence is the newest event amid issues involving Boeing aircraft, with nearly a dozen problems documented dating back to 2012. Most notably, two crashes of the 737 Max 8, in 2018 and 2019, resulted in the deaths of 346 passengers. These tragedies led to the eventual grounding of all 737 Max 8s for 18 months. Recently, during the last week of December 2023, Boeing requested all carriers to inspect 737 Maxes for potential loose bolts in the rudder system. It’s unclear if this vulnerability contributed to Friday’s incident.  

What’s next on the runway?

Following the incident, the FAA ordered the indefinite grounding of every Boeing 737-9 Max with a plug door. Operators will complete inspections to investigate cabin door exit plugs, components, and fasteners, and have already found additional vulnerabilities in the aircraft. While no Canadian airlines fly the 737-9 Max, 171 American planes have been grounded, which are operated by two carriers, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines. Understandably, travellers have expressed concern as a result of the compounding string of problems with Boeing’s Max jets in particular, and customers are warned to anticipate delays as they weigh the risks of flying on Boeing’s Max lines.

📈 Market Updates

Economic Pulse 🌐 

At the start of the fiscal year, the United States of America announced that over December 2023, they recorded a budget deficit of 129 billion dollars. Experts estimate that by the end of the year, the deficit will add a total of 2 trillion dollars of national debt. In other news, the FAA demanded the grounding of Boeing 737 max nine planes after an Alaskan Airlines flight had one of its panels detach midair. This mandate will affect 171 of the 218 7373 max 9s in service.

Money Moves 💰️ 

This past week, Chesapeake Energy announced that it will purchase Southwestern Energy for 7.4 billion dollars. This move would make Chesapeake the largest natural gas producer in the United States. In other news, Skydance Media has announced they are exploring an all-cash purchase of Paramount Entertainment. The company’s market cap is 9.4 billion dollars, but analysts believe the company is ‘grossly undervalued.’

👀Job Opportunities

• Holman is hiring a Finance Intern for this summer.

• Entuitive is looking for a Business Development Coordinator Co-op student.

• Equitable Bank is looking for someone with strong analytical skills for their Compliance Intern position.

• Loblaws is hiring a Market Strategies summer student.

📞Word on the Street

• Toronto has the worst traffic in North America.

• Houthi attacks Red Sea commercial ships.

• Golden Globes 2024: the results are in.

Writers: Jeremiah Lim, Tomas Serrano and Simon Ing

Senior Editor: Amyn Dehal

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