Canadian Economic News

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Global food inflation to hit home: report

OTTAWA -- While Canadians so far have largely been insulated from global food inflation thanks to the strength of their currency, that won`t last, analysts here are warning.

CIBC World Markets -- in a recent report titled Food Inflation: Coming to a Grocery Store Near You -- said the strong appreciation of the Canadian dollar won`t continue.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix...cc-57caf6268d34

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Meat prices up, but so is feed, fuel and the dollar

Beef and pork prices are being driven higher by the surging price of corn -- one of the main ingredients used to fatten livestock for eating.

Cattle futures on the Chicago Board of Trade suggest live-fed cattle prices may rise by about 13% by the end of the year as increased input costs discourage production amid rising global demand for meat. But Canadian farmers are not revelling in the gains, with the high Canadian dollar and rising fuel costs eroding the value of their products.

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=546478

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Biofuels not the answer, says UN report

UNITED NATIONS - Rising investment in grain-consuming biofuels is a key reason food prices will stay high for at least a decade, an influential study released Thursday says.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...ed-4e2e7f8c3522

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Canada poised to be Arctic leader: researcher

EDMONTON - Canada is positioned to become a world power in creating new Arctic technologies, provided it starts making the proper investments now, a top research director told an Edmonton conference Thursday.

New methods of power generation, food production and border security specifically tailored to the North are among the breakthroughs within the country`s reach, said the National Research Council`s Mary Williams.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...d7-17993898235d

 

[joeiannuzzi]

High gas prices force workers to change commuter habits

OTTAWA -- Rising fuel prices are increasingly becoming a factor in how people get to their place of employment and arrange other aspects of their work life, according to a report released yesterday.

A poll of 539 U.S. workers by staffing firm Robert Half International showed 44 per cent of respondents have made changes to their commuting habits or work arrangements to ease the financial burden of higher gasoline costs.

That was up from 34 per cent when a similar poll was taken two years ago.

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/mon...98-779fab42984e

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Who knew?

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/mon...79-fd8f9f50aae5

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Lack of cheap food will last up to 2017

PARIS–World food prices are set to fall from current peaks in coming years but will remain "substantially above`` average levels from the past decade, a key report said yesterday.

The world`s poorest nations are most vulnerable – particularly the urban poor in food-importing countries – and will require increased humanitarian aid, says a joint agricultural report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said.

"Rising prices now translate, unfortunately, as an increase in hunger and civil strife," FAO chief Jacques Diouf said in Paris.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/433806

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Court overturns real estate fee ruling

OTTAWA -- The Supreme Court of Canada has clamped down on a Quebec real estate firm that charged its customers an annual "membership fee" regardless of whether the company sold their homes.

The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 ruling Friday, sided with two vendors, who complained to the association governing Quebec real estate brokers that Proprio Direct, of Laval, Que., charged them each more than $1,000 in annual fees.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix...3a-566023b30687

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Higher transportation costs grounding restless travellers

Susannah Benady`s vacation planning now involves seeking favour from the "the gods" that govern fuel prices in a bid to find affordable airfare to London in July.

"I just can`t face it any more," Benady said, describing the frustration of factoring in fees and fuel surcharges, only to find that 2008 fares are hundreds of dollars higher than the advertised sticker price and what she paid last summer.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...ba-541667ceaca7

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Real estate boom hits Iran

TEHRAN -- Negar Ehteshami just paid the equivalent of $6 million in rials in cash for a luxurious apartment. But it is not in New York or London. It is in the capital of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

"I am a millionaire because of this 300-square-metre (3,229 square feet) apartment," said Ehteshami, a 56-year-old interior designer from a rich Iranian family who has always lived in an affluent northern Tehran neighbourhood.

"But nothing else in my life resembles the life of a millionaire," she said, moving her Hermes handbag out of the way as she closed the window of her apartment.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/st...28-73a1e96a3263

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Believe it or not, there`s still room on energy bandwagon

Bet you wish you had invested in solid oil stocks back when crude first hit $60 US a barrel. That was in June 2005 when most believed that the price of oil couldn`t go much higher, but the smart money thought otherwise. Three years later, we know the smart money was right.

Those who didn`t recognize that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 could lead to higher oil prices paid for their lack of foresight.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/bu...80-19633c24b3c3

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Doctor shortage a global challenge: Clement

The shortage of doctors is a planetary problem, says Canada`s Minister of Health.

"In the world we are short five million medical professionals," said Tony Clement during a short stop in Orillia on Friday afternoon.

He said Canada`s struggles are echoed in Britain, the U.S., Australia and elsewhere: "We`re all facing the same challenge."

Ottawa helps the provinces with doctor recruitment and retention through a $175-million fund, said Clement.

http://www.orilliapacket.com/ArticleDispla...uth=Colin+McKim

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Canadians need extra national pension plan

Millions of middle-income Canadians need a new pension plan, argues consultant Keith Ambachtsheer, or their living standard will fall. National pension plans provide no more than about $16,300 a year per person, and only a minority of private-sector workers have company pension plans. Many individual savers are not setting enough money aside, and those who do forfeit too much to investment-management fees and their own inexperience, he argues.

In a new paper for the C. D. Howe Institute, he proposes a way to fill the hole. A worker with no private pension plan should be enrolled in a new national plan, or a provincial one, if the idea does not win national support.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/434470

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Food commodities can be a risky ride for investors

TORONTO

Commodities have roared to life this decade as developing countries build a seemingly insatiable appetite for raw materials.

Those segments alone are largely responsible for the strong performance on the Toronto stock market since 2003.

And while many investors have benefited hugely from soaring prices for oil and metals, many wonder how to benefit from the latest commodities to catch fire -- the ones related to food production.

http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/359751

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Canadians looking south

The subprime mortgage crisis and bursting of the housing bubble in the United States has many of Canada`s neighbours to the south running from the bank.

In recent months the same issues have many Canadians, including Reginans, running to the bank.

"A year or two ago, most Canadians were watching the U.S. (housing) market and thinking about buying. Since November, they`re actually writing contracts and purchasing real estate," said Craig Adam, a local real estate agent with Re/Max.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...c5-d841fe412047

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Buying real estate in the U.S. a tricky proposition

"He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes. He who does not ask a question is a fool forever." - Chinese Proverb.

- - -

I do admit, dear Reader, I enjoy your questions. The most asked questions now center on `whither the market` and `should we the United States`. Here are a few more commonly asked ones on these topics.

http://www.canada.com/mapleridgetimes/news...00-7f2db85ad988

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Tax probe threatens charitable funding

Two local non-profit organizations are anxiously awaiting the resolution of a Canada Revenue Agency probe to see whether promised annual funding will come through now that a relied-upon national foundation is being put under the microscope.

"It`s a concern that people might lose faith in the philanthropy of it all," said Steve Armstrong, southern Alberta regional director of the Canadian Red Cross.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...77-9cb20648295e

 

[joeiannuzzi]

World has enough oil, says Shell

Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Jeroen van der Veer said Monday he did not see any shortage of physical oil supplies, echoing the view of many OPEC ministers who say the world market is well-supplied.

Oil prices have risen more than fourfold since 2004 and gained about a third this year, partly on increased fears among investors that producers will struggle to produce enough oil to meet demand in a decade`s time.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...69-b1bea8eaad5e

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Updated Internet Explorer 8 coming in August: Microsoft

SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. said yesterday it plans to test-release a feature-complete version of its Internet Explorer 8 web browser in August.

Microsoft released a first test version of IE 8 in March, providing developers and web designers a preview of the latest update to the world`s most widely-used browser.

The next test release, IE 8 Beta 2, will be targeted more at ordinary web users. It will come with all the features that the browser will have when it is officially launched -- although it may still contain bugs, since it is a test version.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/b...18-199f736288ac

 

[joeiannuzzi]

Canada takes lead in oil-industry centre

HOUSTON -- The U.S. may show little awareness at times of Canada as its top energy supplier, but in this global oil-industry centre, Canada is hot.

It`s a big change in sentiment from a few years ago, when U.S. companies would rather cozy up to Russia or the Middle East than tough it out in the frozen north. Now, the size of the tar sands, the strong loonie, even the emerging Horn River natural-gas play in northeast B.C., a lookalike of the fabulously successful Barnett Shale near Fort Worth, are big topics of conversation in this city`s grand oil towers.

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/mon...09-623ce6caafc8