AB Economic Fundamentals 2008-08

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Still no wrecking ball for historic Oliver Building

Additional safety fencing has been placed. But that doesn`t mean demolition of the historic Oliver Building is imminent.
That`s the word from Mayor Bob Tarleck, who says city officials still hope the structurally weak building can be saved. But that depends on its owner or someone willing to buy it for restoration.
"We would love to see the building preserved and restored," the mayor said Monday.
The two-storey downtown building, erected in 1900, has sat empty for about a year. After the July 1 downpour, city officials determined one of its rear corners had become unstable.

http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/article_11646.php

 

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Influx of U.S.-made factory-built homes sparks concern

A local pre-built home manufacturer is crying foul over an influx of factory-built homes from the U.S. that may fail to meet Canadian building code requirements.
Since the downturn in the U.S. housing market last year and the rise in the Canadian dollar versus the American greenback, U.S.-manufactured homes have increasingly shown up in the Canadian marketplace, says Peter Angyal, vice-president of Triple M Housing.
"We build to a pretty high standard in Canada. We know that American product is not built to the same standard," he says.

http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/article_11645.php

 

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Shell installing more efficient equipment at Waterton complex

Shell Canada is temporarily shutting in operations at its Waterton complex to install more efficient equipment and decrease production to make the plant more sustainable in the long term.
Once the work is complete, the workforce will also be downsized to 90 from about 175.
"We`ve been working for the past two years to make sure those jobs are redundancies so that retirements and transfers absorb most, if not all, of the losses," said Jeff Gabert, Shell Canada spokesman.
The work includes closing one of two sour gas processing trains, both of which are more than 40 years old.
In addition, the Scot tail-gas cleanup unit is being replaced with Superclaus technology that will allow the plant to maintain its sulphur recovery at more than 98 per cent while reducing fuel gas usage, operating costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/article_11644.php

 

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Housing starts spell gloom

There are more signs that the bloom is now off the wild Alberta rose.

The boom that the catch-up Alberta Tories are now chasing with billions in inflated Alberta tax and energy royalty bucks may not have actually gone bust, but clearly slowed.

Yesterday, my tell-it-like-it-is buddy Rich Goatcher -who counts holes in the ground for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. - released his latest Edmonton housing start stats. The senior market analyst immediately concluded that when it came to single-detached starts: "last month`s activity represented the worst July performance since 1986."

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Alberta/20...421786-sun.html

 

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Our housing market`s correction is not a calamity

EDMONTON - Is the city`s housing market going into the tank, as it did in the 1980s? Or is it already showing signs of emerging from its year-long funk?

My guess? With the average price of a single-family detached home in Edmonton down to $379,224 in July -- nearly $38,000 or 9.1 per cent below the July 2007 peak of $417,150 -- the recent downturn is largely history.

Sales volumes are picking up, the bloated inventory of unsold homes is shrinking, new housing starts are down by more than 70 per cent, and current prices better reflect what buyers are willing to pay to live in what has become one of Canada`s most consistently prosperous cities.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...12-c96d8f71bb3d

 

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StatoilHydro eyes further upgrader delay

StatoilHydro ASA, Norway`s largest oil company, may postpone the start of an upgrader at its Alberta oilsands project for a second time because of rising costs and lack of clarity regarding regulations.

StatoilHydro took control of the project when it bought closely held North American Oil Sands Corp. last year for about $2.2 billion. In May the company delayed the start of the upgrader by two years to 2016. Nexen Inc. has also put on hold expansion of an upgrader at its Long Lake refining project. StatoilHydro is targeting development of Canada`s oilsands to offset dwindling output in the North Sea.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...1f-4e8d06e5757f

 

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New home sales slow

It`s not a sudden, whiplash-inducing stop, but Calgary`s real estate market continues to tap on the brakes as ever fewer foundations are poured in town and new-home prices are falling flat.

Two separate reports released yesterday show that in late spring and summer prices of new homes have almost stagnated in Calgary, while housing starts continue to plummet as the market, in face of dropping demand, is searching for a new equilibrium. Housing starts in the Calgary census metropolitan area slumped by 19.1% in July compared to last year, falling from 1,084 to 877 units, says a report released by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/Business/2008/08/12/6421141-sun.html

 

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Real estate collapse unlikely

Ever since last year, forecasters have been predicting that Canada`s hot housing market was about to slow to a much more sedate pace. Well, it`s happened.

Except that sedate is hardly the word for the 14 per cent plunge in construction activity that turned up Monday in the housing starts data for July. To many, this sharp drop will be downright alarming, raising fears that the catastrophic housing meltdown in the U.S. has now spread across the border.

They can relax. Or at least most of them can.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...cc-316504da5ad8

 

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Calgary Chamber refutes gloomy economic outlook

Maybe it`s the $80 hit to the wallet to fill up the minivan or broader worries of an economic slowdown, but consumer confidence in Alberta has sunk to one of its lowest points in recent years, a new survey has found.

But the Calgary Chamber of Commerce said the survey numbers don`t reflect the reality of Calgary`s strong performance, especially on employment and job creation fronts.

"We know from the business community`s perspective that big deals are still being made, and there`s a lot of confidence that projects can be delivered on time, on budget," said Chamber president Heather Douglas.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...32-7cdad1fd6eb4

 

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Extended shopping hours irk mall staff

Being able to shop until you drop may seem like a good idea, but some staff at the Bower Place Shopping Centre say longer hours will stretch them too far.

More than 300 staff and customers have signed a petition asking the mall it adjust its plan for a new Saturday closing time.

As of Aug. 16, the mall will be open until 9 p.m. on Saturdays, three hours later than before.

"We`re not asking them to get rid of it completely," said Nicole Raffa, an employee at Gord`s Smoke Shop. "We want it to be optional to stay open late because some places can`t afford that."

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...mall_staff.html

 

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Keep shoppers in city

Bower Place Shopping Centre compares favourably to any mall in Calgary or Edmonton, says the president of Vanreal Ltd.

John van Haastrecht, whose company is the managing partner of the Red Deer retail centre, is in the city to celebrate the completion of $45 million in renovations to the 700,000-square-foot mall.

During a news conference on Friday, he described how the five-year project was undertaken to help keep consumers in the city.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...rs_in_city.html

 

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Leader sells land in city

The former Leader Energy Services Ltd. property in Riverside Heavy Industrial Park has been sold.

Leader Energy (TSXV:LEE) announced on Thursday that it has been released from its leasing obligations with respect to the 4080 77th St. property, as a result of a sale.

The buyer was not identified.

Leader Energy, which is a well stimulation and cementing services company, purchased about 11 acres of the former Canada Packers site in 2005 and developed a 30,000-square-foot building there.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...nd_in_city.html

 

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Housing market still cooling

New home construction in Red Deer continues to plod along at a fraction of last year`s pace.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported on Monday that work was started on just 21 single-detached houses in July.

That`s down from 95 starts in this category during the same month in 2007.

Starts on units in multi-family buildings totalled 16 last month, as compared with 27 a year earlier.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...ll_cooling.html

 

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AltaLink to consider going underground

It`s been thwarted in its attempt to build a new Calgary-Edmonton transmission line. But now AltaLink — Canada`s largest "independent" electrical carrier — is hoping for better luck with its plans for an upgraded line to carry wind-power energy between Pincher Creek and Lethbridge.
The Calgary-based company, which took control of TransAlta transmission lines in 2002 as part of the Klein government`s deregulation scheme, has been planning the 240-kilovolt link since 2005. It also spent three years promoting a 500-kV line between the province`s two major cities, only to see that project shot down amidst allegations the government-appointed regulator hired investigators to spy on landowners who opposed its planned route.

http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/article_11661.php

 

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Landowners happy metal extraction plant won`t proceed

TWIN BUTTE — David Bairnes and other concerned landowners are grateful a metal extraction plant won`t be operating in their backyard but the battle may replay in a different arena.
Stanfield Mining is searching for a different site in British Columbia or Alberta. It plans to extract copper, silver and gold from raw ore from its Gallowai Bul River mine near Galloway, B.C., located between Fernie and Cranbrook.
Bairnes advises neighbours to be wary if such a proposal lands on their doorstep.
"I`d suggest they come and talk to me or any of my colleagues that were involved in the initial decision," Bairnes said in a telephone interview. "It`ll save them a lot in the long run."

http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/article_11656.php

 

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`Horizontal` pyramid schemes just as illegal, say RCMP

Pyramid schemes are victimizing far too many people, say RCMP. Up to 525 people were involved in the largest scheme uncovered so far, called Women Gifting Women, and Mounties are trying to put a stop to it.

"People in these times, everybody could use a financial lift and if it sounds legal they`re really going to go forward with it," said Const. James Moore of K Division`s Commercial Crimes Section. Mounties managed to uncover the Women Gifting Women scheme and have since unravelled threads into several other similar schemes operating in the Edmonton area.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2...430996-sun.html

 

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Petro-Can racing to get refinery back in production

EDMONTON - Petro-Canada is likely pulling out all stops to revive production at its Edmonton refinery as problems at the site have left at least a dozen gas stations in Alberta and British Columbia without supplies, says an energy policy expert.

"When these things happen, it`s like a military intervention. If they need to fly someone from Houston on a private jet, they`ll do it. There`s almost no cost that will be too great to get this refinery operating again," Joseph Aux, a professor of energy policy at the University of Alberta`s School of Business, said Tuesday.

"There are lots of incentives for the operators of the refinery to get it going and up to snuff and producing again, because the lost sales don`t get recovered."

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...60-99c511d0944d

 

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Fort Chip invites oilsands scrutiny

EDMONTON - Dr. John O`Connor will be returning to Fort Chipewyan to a hero`s welcome Friday to deliver the keynote speech at a "Water is Boss" conference.

O`Connor, the doctor who drew attention to health problems in the community downstream from the oilsands, is held in high esteem, said Athabasca Chipewyan Chief Allan Adam.

"He is perceived as a good man," Adam said Tuesday on the eve of the five-day conference that kicks off with an elders and youth gathering. "His name will be legend."

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...e5-82f25e65ac08

 

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Alberta dents Rona`s sales

EDMONTON - A cool-down in Alberta`s housing market is sending a chill into other parts of the economy beyond the homebuilding and real estate sectors.

Home improvement giant Rona singled out Alberta on Tuesday for pulling down its second-quarter profits and sales.

Rona, which calls itself Canada`s largest distributor and retailer of hardware, attributed the drop to its customers` gloomy economic outlook and slow home sales.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...e7-45943fbba82f

 

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Financially illiterate? Consider these crash courses

EDMONTON - A survey showing that 46 per cent of Canadians are worried about their money matters primarily due to a lack of knowledge of personal finances reinforces my recent column on the need for greater financial literacy.

The survey, taken by Harris/Decima for BMO Financial Group, indicated 35 per cent of people with annual household incomes of more than $100,000 say they have lost sleep worrying about their finances. Furthermore, 71 per cent of all people surveyed said they "just get by" when it comes to understanding and conversing about financial matters, and 51 per cent said financial institutions make money matters more complicated.

BMO Financial chief economist Sherry Cooper said the survey shows "a need for more clarity," adding: "There is a real opportunity for financial institutions to help Canadians better understand money matters."

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...bd-71e64fc7322d