Alberta and Ontario see gains in Non-residential building which means places that create jobs. Look in the stats for towns and cities as another tool for your property gold mine score card
Carney Signals More Rate Cuts to Boost Canada`s Economic Growth
Mark Carney, who used his first decision as Bank of Canada governor to cut interest rates half a point yesterday, may follow with quarter-point moves at his next two meetings amid a slump in exports, a Bloomberg survey shows. Carney highlighted an ``intensifying`` export slump caused by a slowing U.S. economy and a high Canadian dollar, in explaining the country`s biggest easing since 2001. The central bank`s statement also said more ``stimulus`` is probably needed to prop up the world`s eighth-largest economy and keep inflation from sliding below its 2 percent target.
More than 2,500 investors across Canada may be victims in an international investment scheme that offered guaranteed commissions and high annual returns of 87.5 per cent, say regulators in British Columbia and Manitoba.
The B.C. and Manitoba securities commissions launched investigations Wednesday into an offshore financial company called Gold-Quest International.
OTTAWA -- The federal government`s plan to phase out incandescent light bulbs isn`t such a bright idea, according to Canadians who wrote to the federal Environment Department.
Environmentalists think the plan to ban the energy-sucking incandescent bulbs by 2012 makes perfect sense.
But in 33 pages of feedback on the plan from Canadians to the federal government, people were almost unanimous in panning the initiative. They didn`t like being forced to make the change, argued the new bulbs wouldn`t fit their lamp shades, worried about more mercury being released into the environment, and said they had major health concerns.
While stock markets plunge in 2008, the physical building blocks of economic growth -- metals such as copper and aluminium -- have defied fears of bad times ahead for the world economy by jumping up to 30 per cent.
Investors seeking profits as other parts of the economy suffer have poured money into the sector, and now some analysts believe speculative fervour has overcome fundamental logic.
LONDON (Reuters) - Spot gold prices hit an all-time peak in Europe on Thursday as a dollar slump and inflation fears prompted investors to look for safe-haven assets.
Spot gold rose as high as $999.90 an ounce and was at $991.00/991.80 at 2:15 p.m EDT (1815 GMT), compared with $981.90/982.70 late in New York on Wednesday.
This sparked buying of U.S. gold futures, which extended a record-breaking advance across the $1,000-an-ounce threshold. Analysts said spot prices could soon reach that level as well.
I included this article because the world is losing faith in the US dollar and investors are looking for a safe haven to place their money. In uncertain times, hard assets (i.e. things you can touch) outperform paper assets (stocks, bonds, mutual funds). Generally speaking, the worldwide trend is towards hard assets such as gold, silver, uranium, oil and real estate.
I still recall the talk I had with my son four years ago after he punched his sister. You see, he was five years old at the time, she was four, and he had just returned from his Taekwondo class. After the incident, I explained to my son that we were going to take him out of Taekwondo if he was going to use it on his sister. "But Dad," he replied, "that wasn`t my Taekwondo punch, it was a regular punch." In his mind, there was a subtle difference between the two.
Subtle differences can create confusion, or grey areas, when it comes to tax planning. There can be, for example, a subtle difference between a business and a hobby. If you`re thinking of reporting "business" activity on your tax return this year, and you`re expecting to report a loss, understand the taxman`s viewpoint first.
CALGARY - A report released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows that 78 per cent of Canadians who recently purchased a new home intend to pay off their mortgage as quickly as possible, and many have already taken steps toward that goal.
REITs are like those books that everybody quotes but nobody has read. So, let`s just say that a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is like a mutual fund that deals only in real estate investments. You put your money in a common pool with which properties are bought, sold and moved in and out by a fund manager. As an owner of shares in the REIT, you will get a proportional profit as share value appreciates.
Giving money away can buy happiness, research finds
Money can buy happiness, according to a study by University of B.C. psychologist Elizabeth Dunn. Even spending $5 in the right way can make you happier.
But people usually get it wrong when they try.
Dunn had always been nagged by the notion that money can`t buy happiness. Reliable research across the developed world finds that once a person`s basic needs are being met, surging incomes are only marginally related to happiness. A wealthy nation is not necessarily a happy nation.
My editor breathlessly relayed the news: This could be my big chance to expose the Canada Revenue Agency doing something right!
I was intrigued. This would be quite a change-of-pace from the taxpayer abuse columns I`ve been writing of late.
What triggered this enthusiasm was a news release noting that more than 300 CRA investigators have conducted 50 raids across Western Canada in the last week in a crackdown on RRSP and investment fraud.
Investors work, save and invest to achieve their goals. But how conversant are they with the real meaning of wealth management?
I`m reminded of the song Follow the Yellow Brick Road from the classic 1939 children`s movie Wizard of Oz. A timeless line from it goes, "Becoz of the wonderful things he does." Our oldest must have watched the movie at least 200 times.
Well, investors may face a host of roads. The lack of time is a frequent gripe when it comes to managing personal wealth effectively. It also requires extensive expertise in a variety of areas and the ability to stitch them together.
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.
Are you waiting for more tax slips to finish your 2007 income tax return? Note that March 31 is the deadline for mutual funds (and income trusts) to mail out T3 slips.
Many investors will be understandably annoyed by rather large capital gains distributions shown on their T3 tax slips. How can there be capital gains to distribute when the equity mutual fund unit price has dropped in recent months?
Get ready to pay more on your insurance premiums. And you can thank poor weather for that as well.
Canadian insurers are warning that climate change is forcing them to re-examine their coverage policies as costs spiral upward from floods, wind storms and other natural phenomena.