Economic Indicators

Promises, promises: Education, EI, credit cards

Election promises continued on Tuesday. This time it was the Liberals rolling out the big money programs with a $1-billion post-secondary education plan. Under the Liberals’ Canadian Learning Passport, every high school graduate headed to university, college or CÉGEP would receive $1,000 per year over four years, tax free. For students from low-income families, that […]

By Staff |March 29, 2011

2 min read

Economic Indicators

Survey: Homeowners need help fighting debt

Canadian homeowners need reinforcements to help in their war against household debt.

By John Powell |March 29, 2011

1 min read

Economic Indicators

Japan’s crisis energizes commodity markets

Commodity prices have started to shake off the negative impact of Japan’s tragedy as reconstruction efforts get underway, according to a Scotiabank Report. Global energy markets stand to gain as Japan turns to imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil to offset the shortfall in its nuclear capacity, the report said. “Re-construction in Japan […]

By Vikram Barhat |March 29, 2011

3 min read

Economic Indicators

Non-confidence vote a non-event: Industry

There has been a muted response from the Canadian financial services industry to the fall of Harper government as it treats the result of non-confidence vote as a bit of a non-event.

By Vikram Barhat |March 25, 2011

2 min read

Currency, not credit, the big risk in European bonds

Canadian investors in global bonds should keep an eye on recent events in Europe, but they shouldn’t lose sleep over the U.K. budget or the fall of Portugal’s government, according to fixed income experts. However bond pundits admit that tight fiscal policies are a negative for currencies. “The bad news is that historically when you […]

3 min read

Debt troubles rock Iberian Peninsula

Europe’s debt problems took a turn for the worse on Thursday, as the government of Portugal resigned and Spanish banks felt the sting of credit downgrades. The resignation of the Portuguese government pretty much guaranteed that the debt-laden nation will require a bailout from its European Union partners. The country’s 10-year bonds were sold off, […]

2 min read

American job losses slowing

The U.S. economy continues to struggle its way into a sustainable recovery. A double-dip recession is still a possibility, and that is viewed as the biggest threat to Canadian growth as well. The traditional driver of the American economy is the consumer, but unemployment remains stubbornly high. There was s spot of good news on […]

1 min read

Canadian oil stocks hit by UK tax hike

Apparently not all Conservatives are oilpatch friendly—Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has announced a “windfall tax” on oil companies operating in the North Sea. According to the UK budget tabled on March 23, the tax rate on production will rise from its current 50% to 62%, sucking up to $3.2 billion per years […]

By Staff |March 24, 2011

1 min read

Canada surefooted in wobbly world

Having turned the corner in 2010, Canada’s economy continues to inspire a positive outlook despite some uncertainties, according to the latest Economic and Financial Outlook by Desjardins Economic Studies. The study, released this morning, said the outlook for Canada’s economy is overall optimistic. The main sources of this sanguinity are the S&P/TSX, which has outperformed […]

4 min read

Household debt high, but not dangerous

Reader Alert: This editorial is in response to Stephanie Holmes-Winton’s March16th column ‘What debt issue?’. Household debt in Canada is at record levels, but the situation is not as dire as some reports have suggested. While average household debt is $112,000, assets are also at record levels and net worth will increase as the economy […]

3 min read