Canadian Economic News

[joeiannuzzi]

Investment club focuses on some volatile holdings

For better or worse, the American arm of the Vancouver-based Freedom Investment Club is seeking to sell more stock to U.S. investors.

FIC Investments USA Corp. is currently restricted to selling shares to accredited U.S. investors who have a minimum net worth of $1 million US. This has limited the amount of equity capital it has been able to raise in the United States.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/bu...a2-04e508d2f04b

 

[MONEY]

QUOTE (joeiannuzzi @ Mar 22 2008, 11:38 AM) Canada on brink of water crisis, official says
The country is on the brink of a freshwater crisis and if we don`t start to take action the economy will suffer, according to the chairman of the Canadian Partnership Initiative of the UN Water for Life Decade.

But Canadians, it seems, are blissfully unaware. According to an RBC poll out this week 80 per cent of Canadians are "confident" that Canada has enough fresh water to meet the country`s long-term needs and two-thirds of respondents don`t think there is a water shortage problem at all.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/bu...c9-ea27930ed623


UN rejects water as basic human right
http://www.tinyurl.com/2vzuex

 

[joeiannuzzi]

One million scam victims

When Brad Buxton received a surprise cheque for $2,500 in the mail two weeks ago, alarm bells went off. His instincts proved correct.

Buxton had answered an ad in a community newspaper for mystery shoppers needed to test service at commercial businesses. He gave them his name, address, but witRating 2eld his bank account information.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...ef-897c18edda2e

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Most Canadians unaware of debit card liability, survey finds

Canadians are among the world`s most prolific users of debit cards. However, according to new research done for the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, many may be too complacent about the security of their cards.

The research, conducted last year by Environics Research Group and released this month, found evidence that consumers have a poor understanding of their potential liability for losses from debit card fraud.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...ad-b11a13ea91c0

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Home ownership the new `thing to do` in your 20s

Today`s young adults aren`t about to let lingering student loans, uncertain career tracks and stratospheric housing prices stop them from finding their first home sweet home.

This investment-savvy generation of 20- and 30-somethings knows a hot market when they see one, and many have developed creative strategies to reach home ownership at a younger age, often without the benefit of a spouse`s salary.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/s...84-c3cec67e3244

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Deductible interest on investments loans makes a difference

Tax time is an appropriate time to review borrowing strategies. Let`s appreciate the costs of incurring deductible versus non-deductible borrowings.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/bu...89-a0d4454a05b7

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Loonie curbing Canada`s cost advantage

Canada may rank as one of the top places in the world to do business, but Canadians need to embrace the ideas of life-long learning and adaptability if the country is to keep its razor-thin competitive lead, experts say.

In its study of 10 nations, consulting firm KPMG International placed Canada second only to Mexico in terms of the most cost-effective place to do business. But the soaring Canadian dollar has eaten away at the country`s competitiveness, and Canada`s cost advantage is only a nominal 0.6 per cent over third-place United States.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...PStory/Business

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Federal surplus $10B

OTTAWA -- The federal government was sitting on a $10-billion surplus 10 months into the current fiscal year, just $200 million shy of what Finance Minister Jim Flaherty last month projected for the full year.

The $10-billion surplus amounts to about $300 for each of Canada`s 33,220,831 people.

The latest surplus, reported Friday by the Finance Department, was also just $600 million less than chalked up over the same period a year earlier, during which the government took in nearly $14 billion more than it spent.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...dc-f7aeb0d73c72

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Blindsided by the subprime storm

There may be no Canadian company that better epitomizes the financial turmoil wrought by the subprime mortgage crisis than Xceed Mortgage Corp.

The alternative lender, which relied on the securitization of its loans to finance new mortgages, has been hammered by the collapse of the market for asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP).

The company, whose stock hit $10.45 a share in early 2006, is now trading at a little over a dollar. Xceed has suspended its dividend and its line of uninsured mortgage products. In the past two months, it has cut 100 staff, or nearly three-quarters of its work force, to help in its attempt to return to profitability.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...NStory/Business

 

[joeiannuzzi]

The new global menace: food inflation

WASHINGTON — First it was shelter. Now food. Still reeling from the U.S. housing collapse, global markets are confronting a dangerous new bubble: food inflation.

The price of the world`s three main grains – rice, wheat and corn – have all more than doubled in the past year, affecting just about everything people eat, and fanning social unrest in some of the most unstable corners of the world.

Canadians might be forgiven for not noticing. The remarkable rise of the loonie has so far largely insulated them from the kind of rampant inflation that is hitting much of the rest of the world. Canadian prices were up 1.8 per cent in February compared with last year, less than half the U.S. inflation rate – a gap economists say is largely due to the strong dollar.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...0080329.wfood29

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Shareholder agreements - essential, but tricky

Almost every private corpor- ration with more than one shareholder has -- or should have -- a shareholder agreement.

The challenge is that shareholder dynamics vary. A corporation might have two shareholders with 50/50 ownership. Or there might be a majority shareholder who founded the corporation and several minority employee shareholders, or perhaps a foreign parent corporation with deep pockets and a few local shareholders of more modest means.

The point is that the type of agreement required depends upon the number and type of shareholders. And to make it more complicated, shareholder agreements must try to address all scenarios that could possibly arise -- a near impossibility.

http://news.therecord.com/Business/Small%2.../article/315088

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Canada to be penniless?

NDP MP Pat Martin doesn`t want a penny for your thoughts. In fact, he doesn`t want a penny at all.

The Winnipeg Centre MP will introduce a private members` bill when Parliament returns from its Easter break today that would eliminate the penny from circulation in Canada.

"It`s a completely vacuous thing to hold on to," Martin said.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/st...0b-4136a0c30e91

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Effective investing cannot be taught to mere mortals

James Surowiecki, business columnist for The New Yorker magazine, can quickly list the qualities it takes to make an outstanding investor. He just isn`t sure they can be taught to ordinary mortals.

Surowiecki, who was in Montreal last week, is an entertaining conversationalist and a keen observer of human nature and the markets.

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/mon...67-9c277706fc58

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Canadian job growth expected to slow

OTTAWA -- The March jobs report Friday is expected to show Canada`s surprisingly strong growth in employment is finally slowing, reflecting what many analysts suspect will be the only marginal growth in the economy through the first quarter of this year.

"The quarterly GDP figure grew at a 0.8 per cent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2007, and we judge that the overall economy will perform as badly in the first quarter," said BMO Capital Markets economist Michael Gregory.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/bus...a9-4fcc8796305e

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Privacy ruling alters Home Depot routine

EDMONTON - Home Depot Canada has been ordered by Alberta`s privacy commissioner to stop collecting driver`s licence information and storing it on its American database.

But the Canadian arm of the multinational chain says it stopped getting the information shortly after a complaint was laid in 2005 by a customer seeking a refund on merchandise.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...8b-9f6dae39d279

 

[joeiannuzzi]

More rate cuts likely says Bank of Canada

OTTAWA -- More interest rates cuts may be necessary to buffer Canada from the impact of the U.S. economic slowdown, according to the senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada.

Paul Jenkins said "the risks surrounding the Canadian economy have shifted to the downside, resulting in our decision to lower our policy interest rate by 50 basis points to 3.5%."

http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=417176

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Longer payback loan fuels housing market

There`s a revolution going on in Canada`s housing market, one that is propping up prices and extending the boom. More buyers are choosing mortgages with longer payback periods.

By stretching payments over 30 to 40 years (instead of the usual 25), they can enter the market sooner or buy a better property.

Mortgages with longer amortizations have caught on like a house on fire (pardon the pun).

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/408925

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Canada expected to outperform U.S.: RBC

RBC`s latest economic forecast says Canada`s economy is expected to grow by 1.6 per cent in 2008.

That`s down from 2.7 per cent in 2007, as a result of strain from a slowing trade sector, unfavourable financial markets and a weak U.S. economy.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/409528

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Gambling on variable rate pays off

Nearly every decision when buying a new home hinges on money. The price of the property, the regularity of the payment, the mortgage term and the amortization period are all decisions dictated by money and being able to pay the mortgage on time.

There is one decision, however, that is influenced primarily by emotion and the tolerance for risk.

It`s the choice between a fixed rate and a variable rate.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/s...33-4f920bec34a3

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Income tax challenge goes ahead

OTTAWA - George Calogeracos will get his chance to argue that the Income Tax Act discriminates against divorced parents who pay child support -- a view that even some judges at the Tax Court of Canada have endorsed.

Tax Court Judge Joe Hershfield adjourned the North Gower, Ont., cook`s case Wednesday to give him time to prepare his arguments and to meet legal notification obligations.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...a7-c07f20689950