Spin Master Taps Media Veteran Christina Miller as New CEO
Miller succeeds Max Rangel, who has been CEO of the Toronto-based company behind brands such as Paw Patrol, Rubik's Cube and Melissa & Doug since April 2021. She brings to the toy maker more than 25 years of leadership experience in the media, sports and entertainment industries, including roles at WarnerMedia Red Ventures and the National Basketball Association. Her new position is effective July 7.
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These are the best Canadian wines under $40 — plus how to tell if a bottle is worth your cash
Plus wine insiders share the secrets to finding the best bottles at an affordable price point. Twenty years ago, asking for Canadian wine recommendations might have raised eyebrows. Today, sommeliers from Toronto to Tokyo are championing bottles from the Okanagan Valley and Prince Edward County. The transformation has been remarkable: What was once considered a novelty has evolved into one of the world's most dynamic wine scenes. The sweet spot for discovery? The under-$40 CAD range, where established producers offer genuine quality without the premium markup of their flagship bottles. Whether you're just beginning to explore Canadian wine or seeking exceptional value, here's how to shop smarter and drink better. If you're looking to switch from your current U.S.-produced bottle or just want to learn more about local Canadian wines, read on for everything you need to know. The golden rule for finding great wine in Canada: Producer over everything When it comes to Canadian wine, experts say quality varies far more by who makes the wine than what grape appears on the label. This is especially important when navigating a relatively young wine scene. "It's very much about producer," says Geoffrey Moss, one of only 400 Masters of Wine globally and an Okanagan, B.C.-based educator. Matthew Landry, sommelier and wine educator, puts it simply: "Always go for the entry-level from a top producer. Chances are, they know what they're doing." A $25 bottle from a respected winery will almost always outperform a $35 bottle from a mediocre one. Know your Canadian wine geography Canada's wine regions span three provinces that dominate quality production. Ontario, anchored by the Niagara Peninsula, produces elegant cool-climate wines. British Columbia's Okanagan Valley delivers both powerful reds and mineral-driven whites. Nova Scotia's emerging scene, particularly the Annapolis Valley, specializes in sparkling wines and aromatic whites. Within these broader regions, certain subzones are producing exceptional results. "The areas around Kelowna, particularly East Kelowna and South Kelowna Slopes, are producing mineral-driven cool climate reds and whites that really speak to the terroir," says Barbara Philip, category manager for BC Liquor. Terroir — the combination of soil, climate and geography that gives wine its sense of place — is increasingly evident in Canada's best bottles. "Vancouver Island, particularly the Cowichan Valley, is a region to keep a watch on for delicious pinot noir," Philip adds. Meanwhile, Prince Edward County has emerged as Ontario's answer to Burgundy, with limestone-rich soils producing exceptional pinot noir and Chardonnay. The insider's secret: Riesling rules Ask any wine professional to name the most undervalued Canadian grape, and riesling emerges as the unanimous answer. This represents perhaps the best opportunity for wine lovers seeking exceptional quality at modest prices. "Perhaps fortunately for riesling lovers, the grape is still misunderstood by a large segment of the population, which pulls down the price wineries can ask for these bottles," explains Landry. "Really high-end, chiselled riesling at the $35 price range is easy to find all across the country." Canadian riesling competes directly with Germany's finest expressions but often costs 30 per cent less. "You can buy some of the top rieslings across Canada, whether from Niagara or the Okanagan, which are truly world-class in quality," Moss adds. From a retail perspective, this insight holds especially true for dry styles. "The great rieslings, the dry styles especially, are still under the radar for many consumers," notes Philip. Decoding Canadian wine labels Canadian wine labels can be challenging to navigate, but understanding key indicators helps you shop more effectively. The most critical information often appears in small print. "The most critical thing to pay attention to is the source of the grapes," emphasizes Moss. "Are they grown in Canada or are they International-Canadian blends, which are largely composed of cheap imported bulk wine with little to no Canadian inputs?" Look for specific regional designations for the best chances of quality. For riesling specifically, alcohol content provides a sweetness clue if you're worried about finding a bottle that's simply too sugary. "For riesling, less than 11 per cent alcohol and you can expect some sweetness," explains Landry. Dry rieslings typically clock in at 12 per cent or higher. Beyond the classics: Exploring Canada's diverse wines While international grape varieties like Chardonnay and cabernet franc anchor many Canadian wine lists, exploring beyond these classics reveals exciting discoveries. Gamay, Burgundy's "other" red grape, produces exceptional results in Canadian conditions. "High-quality gamay can be found from terroir-driven producers like Niagara-based winemaker Thomas Bachelder, Jeff Moote of Divergence and Ilya Senchuk of Leaning Post," says Leah Spooner, a Toronto-based wine writer and communicator. But don't underestimate Canada's potential for reds in general. "We make every type," says Landry, "from powerful Bordeaux blends and savoury syrah in the South Okanagan, to elegant pinot and gamay on the Niagara Escarpment." Where to find the best bottles of Canadian wine While government liquor stores carry many Canadian wines, the most exciting discoveries often require more targeted hunting, experts say. "The majority of the best Canadian wines can only be purchased winery-direct because they are made with the precision that can only be derived from careful, small-batch winemaking," explains Spooner. "Get on the wine trail to see the true quality of Canadian wine." This means building relationships with independent wine shops, joining winery mailing lists and planning visits to wine regions. Best Canadian wines under $40 It's an interesting time to be a first-timer exploring Canadian wine, particularly from British Columbia. A devastating January freeze reduced the province's 2024 grape crop to less than five per cent of normal production. The B.C. government temporarily allowed wineries to source grapes from elsewhere in the country, or beyond the border in Washington, Oregon and California, creating "replacement wines" that showcase producer skill despite extraordinary circumstances. If you're looking for some of the best Canadian wines under $40, here are some recommendations. Canadian white wine Hester Creek Columbia Valley Viognier 2024, $24 Leaning Post Chardonnay 2023, $30 Roche Pinot Gris 'Artist' 2024. $27 Stratus Chardonnay 2021, $35 Tantalus Riesling 2024, $28 Tawse Sketches Riesling 2022, $20 Canadian red wine Bachelder Les Villages Gamay Noir Niagara 2023, $26 Blue Mountain Gamay Noir 2023, $26 Burrowing Owl Syrah 2022, $35 Road 13 Select Harvest Seventy-Four K 2021, $28 Ursa Major Fan Fiction 2024, $28 Canadian sparkling wine Benjamin Bridge NV Brut, $27 Fitzpatrick FITZ Brut 2020, $37
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EU, US Differ on Pharma Tariffs, Complicating Trump's Trade Deal
(Bloomberg) -- The European Union and the US appear to differ on some fundamental details in their new trade agreement, underscoring the difficulty they'll have in turning this deal into a reality. The High Costs of Trump's 'Big Beautiful' New Car Loan Deduction Can This Bridge Ease the Troubled US-Canadian Relationship? Trump Administration Sues NYC Over Sanctuary City Policy The EU said it would accept a 15% tariff on nearly all its exports to the US. President Donald Trump told reporters that the bloc also agreed to open up its 'countries to trade at zero tariff.' After he met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen Sunday, Trump said that the deal would not include pharmaceuticals, a contentious point in the negotiations, seeming to imply they would be subject to a higher tariff. In a separate news conference, von der Leyen said, 'The EU agreed we have 15% for pharmaceuticals.' But she added, 'Whatever decisions later – by the president of the US – that's on a different sheet of paper.' The US has initiated investigations into whether the import of certain products, such as pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, poses a national security threat to the country. This could lead to separate tariffs on those sectors. Trade accords typically require years of negotiations and can run thousands of pages long. Talks on the preliminary agreement clinched on Sunday began in April and concrete details appear scant. The EU and US also diverged on another controversial sector, with Trump saying that the 50% tariff on steel and aluminum 'stays the way it is.' Von der Leyen said that metal 'tariffs will be cut and a quota system will be put in place.' Von der Leyen argued that she won certainty and stability for companies on both sides of the Atlantic. But it's far from clear that the EU and US will be able to iron out all their differences on the many contentious issues yet to deal with. 'The focus will now turn to interpretation and implementation risk, posing a mix of political and technical questions,' Carsten Nickel, deputy director of research at Teneo, wrote in a note. 'Given the nature of the deal, major uncertainties are likely to persist.' Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash It's Not Just Tokyo and Kyoto: Tourists Descend on Rural Japan Confessions of a Laptop Farmer: How an American Helped North Korea's Wild Remote Worker Scheme Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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This Platform Makes It Easy to Own Rental Property Without Being a Landlord with as Little as $100
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Although skyscrapers may dominate the typical city skyline (and the imagination), the truth is that a large percentage of landlords in America are not REITs, but individuals who own less than 5 units. It's also true that a lot of Americans rent single-family homes. This, of course, raises the question; why do so many investment platforms focus on large commercial properties instead of single-family homes? After all, it's much easier for smaller investors to understand the mechanics of buying a single-family home and operating it as an investment property. It's also more affordable. The simple answer is money. Most real estate investment platforms focus on accredited investors and the best way to get them the kind of returns they expect is to buy large commercial properties. Arrived seeks to shift that paradigm by giving small, non-accredited investors the opportunity to buy shares of rental homes all over the country and get the benefits that real estate investing provides. Real estate is a diverse asset class with investment options that can fit any bank account when working with the right platform. How Does It Work? Arrived is run by a team of experienced real estate market and industry professionals who identify single-family homes with potential as rental properties and long-term upside. The main difference here is that while most real estate crowdfunding platforms focus on large multi-family or commercial properties, Arrived focuses on single-family homes. Once Arrived purchases a home, it turns the ownership of the property over to an individual LLC. The LLC sells individual "shares" to investors at a price of $10 per share, which is how the platform raises capital to renovate the properties and put them on the rental market. Investors can then buy 10 or more of these individual shares for as little as $100 until the funding goal for the property is met. It's important to note that investors who purchase shares will have to commit to the hold period, which varies with each individual property but is estimated to last between 5 to 7 years. Once those goals are met, Arrived teams up with a preselected management team in the area to handle the nuts and bolts of showing the property and collecting rents. After the property is rented, Arrived investors can earn income on the rent based on the number of shares purchased for the duration of the hold period. Investors can also earn money at the end of the hold period (usually between 5 to 7 years) if their chosen property has appreciated and is sold at a profit. Arrived has taken many of the benefits of REIT offerings (the chance to earn rental income while the property appreciates) and combined them with an investor-friendly business model that allows non-accredited investors to participate. Arrived investors will receive the same kind of detailed expense reports and balance sheets that shareholders in REITs get on an annual basis. Additionally, because Arrived investors are actual property owners, you can gain the annual tax breaks that come with property depreciation and write-off of the capital expenses associated with the property. Fees Almost every investment offering has fees, but Arrived does a good job of minimizing those fees. The company buys properties directly from owners, which usually eliminates broker commissions. After that, Arrived charges two basic fees. One is a sourcing fee, which is a reimbursement paid to Arrived for the cost of scouting out a property and running it through the platform's vetting process. This vetting is designed to make sure that the properties being targeted hit the sweet spot between affordability and market upside. There is also an annual asset management fee (AUM), which covers the cost of the property manager and maintenance for the investor's chosen property. These fees vary from property to property but they will be clearly spelled out in the investment prospectus for each of their offerings. Overall, it's a pretty straightforward fee structure, and considering that investors can buy in for as little as $100, Arrived deserves a lot of credit for keeping it simple and affordable. Ease of Use When it comes to using any web-based platform, the easier it is to use, the better off the platform and its users will be. That goes doubly so for investment platforms that have offerings for non-accredited investors. Arrived's founders understand this and have acted accordingly. Signup is incredibly easy, requiring only an email address and password. After completing the signup, investors are offered the chance to participate in their choice of a weekly webinar with a Q&A for new investors, a Google call, or a live telephone call with an Arrived team member who will walk them through how the platform works and what they can expect as investors. This small gesture goes a long way toward building investor confidence. Investors can ask direct questions and receive answers from an actual Arrived team member. Investors who wish to dive right in can skip past the intro session and dive right into investing, where the offerings will also feature the relevant information to make an informed decision. The process for investing in properties on the platform is just as simple. Investors can browse all available offerings or apply filters to find properties that meet their investment criteria. Investors can view property-specific details for each offering and then purchase shares in homes they want to add to their portfolios. Investor Education Arrived realizes that no online real estate investing platform can accomplish its mission without a highly developed investor education section. This commitment to investor education starts at sign-up and the webinar for new investors with time for a Q&A session, it's incredibly reassuring to a new investor that there is a live person to whom they can ask questions right out of the gate. The Learn tab on the platform's home page will lead investors to an incredibly informative series of blogs on a variety of learning topics. Each of the blogs is well-organized and accessible to novice investors with no experience in real estate. The platform's education efforts do not cut short any topic, and it seems topics in the Learn section are carefully selected. Another great resource here is the How Arrived Works section, which can be accessed under the Learn tab. Clicking this section will direct investors to a simple-to-use page that features a comprehensive article on how the platform works. The article is dedicated to informing investors how the platform targets properties and how investors make money. The Help & FAQ section on Arrived is much more than an afterthought. It's well stocked with information, and investors can get answers to any questions not covered here by clicking on the message widget at the bottom right corner of the page. Arrived's investor education is concise, complete, accessible, and thorough. Offerings Arrived's business model of scouting out rental properties in markets with upside is solid. It's so solid that the company has already fully funded over 180 rental properties with a total value of more than $65 million. The platform typically adds new properties every 1 to 2 weeks, with some of the most popular properties selling out in a matter of minutes. Arrived also launched its first batch of short-term rental properties in September 2022 to allow investors to add even greater diversification to their portfolios and benefit from the greater potential upside of investing in vacation rentals. Arrived also offers diversified funds with the Single Family Residential Fund and an opportunity to invest in real estate-backed debt through the Private Credit Fund. Returns In the first quarter of 2024, 352 individual properties paid dividends of over $1.1 million, which reflects a quarter-over-quarter increase of 16%. Additionally, more than 11,700 investors invested $9.8 million in the Arrived Single Family Residential Fund during the quarter. In the last quarter of 2024, 365 individual properties paid dividends of over $1.84 million, which reflects a quarter-over-quarter increase of 19%. Additionally, over 18,500 investors invested $19M+ in the Arrived Single Family Residential Fund by the end of 2024. Arrived ended Q4 with a stabilized occupancy rate of 92% for 387 operational properties, helped by 66 new leases that were signed during the quarter. The new leases had an average term of 15.5 months, and 63% leased higher than the forecast rent. Should You Use Arrived Homes? The Arrived platform does an admirable job of combining the best aspects of REIT investing with a business model that caters to everyday investors. The opportunity to earn passive income with $100 buy-ins, and the ability to take advantage of tax breaks that are usually only available to large investors, only sweeten the package. Yes, there is a hold period and risk of loss, but at current interest rates, $100 in a savings account isn't going to be a lot in 5 to 7 years. Arrived gives investors the chance to put even small amounts of money to work for them by investing in a tangible asset; without accreditation. Overall, Arrived is worthy of serious consideration by any investor. That goes doubly so for non-accredited investors who want to jump into investing in a real estate property. This article This Platform Makes It Easy to Own Rental Property Without Being a Landlord with as Little as $100 originally appeared on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
