Canadian Economic News

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The bill for climate change: $45 trillion

TOKYO–The world needs to invest $45 trillion in energy in coming decades, build some 1,400 nuclear power plants and vastly expand wind power in order to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to an energy study released Friday.

The report by the Paris-based International Energy Agency envisions a "energy revolution" that would greatly reduce the world`s dependence on fossil fuels while maintaining steady economic growth.

"Meeting this target of 50 percent cut in emissions represents a formidable challenge, and we would require immediate policy action and technological transition on an unprecedented scale,`` IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said.

http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/438416

 

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No growth or recession seen in new forecast

There will be no economic growth in Canada in the first half of this year but no recession either, according to the first major forecast prepared after news of the unexpected economic contraction in the first quarter of this year.

The forecast by Global Insight, a think-tank that helps the federal government prepare its budget projections, was released yesterday amid economic reports of an unexpectedly strong rebound in an index of business activity and in residential building permits.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/b...da-d41ab217ddb9

 

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Analyst sees TSX topping 15,200 on oil prices

The Toronto Stock Exchange`s benchmark index will breach 15,200 this year, thanks to unexpected strength in energy prices, which has little to do with market speculation or weakness in the U.S. dollar, says CIBC World Markets chief strategist Jeff Rubin.

The target represents a 700-basis-point increase over CIBC`s previous target for the S&P/TSX composite index, and is based on a crude market stronger than CIBC had earlier forecast.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/b...d6-be2c20174162

 

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Generous but smart

There have been a number of terrible disasters around the world recently and it is only natural for caring Canadians to want to donate money to help with the recovery efforts. In fact, Canadians are a very giving people. According to the most recent statistics from the Canadian Survey of Giving, Participating and Volunteering over 85% of Canadians over 15 years of age made a charitable donation in 2004. These donations equalled almost $9 billion and averaged $400 per donation.

http://www.ottawasun.com/Money/2008/06/06/5788881-sun.html

 

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Expect interest rate break: expert

OTTAWA -- Canadian consumers and businesses should get another quarter-point injection of interest-rate relief this week.

That assumes the Bank of Canada still sees the weakness in the economy as a greater threat than the risk of a spike in inflation from soaring global energy and food prices.

However, that`s a no brainer, according to CIBC World Markets economist Avery Shenfeld.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...29-7f6fe77cf549

 

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How low can real estate go? California homes for free

As though Southern California`s fine weather and beaches weren`t attractive enough, a San Diego developer desperate to clear inventory is offering potential home buyers a buy-one-get-one-free scheme.

In a market beset with foreclosures and plummeting sales following the mortgage meltdown in 2007, Michael Crews Development will give away a row home valued at $400,000 with the purchase of a $1.6-million luxury estate home in the upscale city of Escondido in northern San Diego County.

"We are targeting a niche market of investors who are interested in the opportunity to buy a new home for themselves and get a free rental property or second home for family members," developer Michael Crews said in a statement.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonis...3b-3048a4d4db89

 

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Property sale to your kids should be structured properly

Some people inherit things the rest of us can only dream of. A friend of mine had a father who was a collector of all things weird. When his dad passed away, my friend inherited a cannon that was once used in a circus act to shoot a woman across a tent. His brother inherited the 25-foot catapult that his father used to keep trespassers off his property (he`d shoot chicken dung that he collected from the farm across the road).

The rest of us can only dream about such things. Rather than making generous gifts, some parents prefer to sell their assets to their children. Consider the following situation that appeared in a recent Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) technical interpretation (document 2007-0244941E5).

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/st...ialEvents2/home

 

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High costs fuelling creative techniques

As gas prices continue to climb -- edging the $1.50-a-litre mark in Newfoundland on Thursday and rocketing up a stunning six cents overnight Friday in Toronto and in Ottawa -- drivers are adjusting their behaviour to get the most from every last drop.

For some people, driving less is hardly an option, so they have turned to either modifying their purchasing habits -- visiting gas stations more often but filling up less -- or to trying to maximize their car`s fuel efficiency by changing the way they drive.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/new...cd-f4f772fd9b92

 

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U.S. housing crisis, changes in China drive global markets
Canada now regarded `as maybe the best place in the world to invest`

EDMONTON -- Brad Willock, a vice-president with RBC Asset Management, says economies and stock markets are being driven by two events -- the floundering U.S. housing market and the movement of people in China from farms into cities.

In his annual presentation for the Salloum Wealth Management Group, Willock said the U.S. housing market is "the epicentre of the world`s issues right now." He said protracted low interest rates after the tech bubble broke and plunged the U.S. into recession in 2001 caused Americans to buy all sorts of houses, and banks recklessly bundled mortgages and dealt them off to investors.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix...65-676c282d922e

 

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Tax refunds worth millions go unclaimed

OTTAWA -- Despite its best efforts to throw around millions in tax money, sometimes the federal government just can`t seem to give it away.

Tax specialists at the Canada Revenue Agency are trying to distribute millions of dollars rightly belonging to Canadian taxpayers, with mixed success.

Over the past 12 years, more than $25.4 million in undeliverable tax returns have piled up in a government bank account. Almost 40,000 cheques, averaging $657 each, have yet to find their way back to their rightful owners.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonis...49-ca4b0fd3333c

 

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Canada, Colombia reach free trade deal

OTTAWA — Canada has completed negotiations with Colombia that will establish a free trade agreement between the two countries, the federal government announced Saturday.

Negotiations also resulted in agreements on environmental and labour deals between the two countries.

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister David Emerson said the deal with Colombia, in conjunction with similar agreements reached with Peru, fulfills Canada`s promise to strengthen its economic and social involvement in Latin America.

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

 

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Parking RRSPs `common but costly mistake` for investors

Are you parking your RRSP these days?

The recent wild ride in stock markets is enough to make even the most seasoned investor a bit queasy and want to get off the roller-coaster and take a breather.

It seems that`s what a lot of Canadian investors decided to do this year, waiting until the very last minute to make their 2007 contributions to their retirement savings plans.

A recent BMO Financial Group/Leger survey found that one-third of Canadians admitted to leaving this year`s RSP contribution to the last minute.

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

 

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Oil price expected to plummet

OTTAWA -- Oil is set to tumble to $75 to $80 a barrel, driven from its current lofty peaks as global demand falls below growth in supply, says Clement Gignac, chief economist at National Bank Financial.

Oil prices have almost doubled during the past 12 months, spiking to new highs of nearly $140 a barrel last week on unrelenting demand from Asian markets, its role as a hedge against inflation and the presence of speculators in the market, observers say.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix...33-77c1cf4ad1ab

 

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It`s easy doing business here

OTTAWA -- Three Canadian cities made MasterCard Worldwide`s second annual rankings of the 75 urban centres most influential to the global economy.

All Canadian locations, however, saw their "worldwide centres of commerce index" rankings decline from a year earlier, with the credit-card company citing the emergence of cities in Asia and eastern Europe as a key trend.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonis...e5-2604de3055c3

 

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Bank holds firm on rates

OTTAWA-Worried about the skyrocketing cost of energy, the Bank of Canada surprised the financial markets today by holding its key interest rate steady at three per cent.

Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney had been widely expected to continue ratcheting down interest rates to boost an economy that showed negative growth in early 2008 for the first time in five years.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/440378

 

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BoC rate freeze could boost mortgage rates

Fixed mortgage rates could rise in the coming days as banks adjust to a two-day rally in government bond yields that received extra ammunition on Tuesday when the Bank of Canada kept interest rates unchanged.

But any increases in fixed mortgage rates may be limited by competition for customers in a cooling housing market, particularly as credit market conditions improve.

http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=577724

 

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Cost of being Canadian calculated as 24% higher

For the past year, the Canadian loonie has been on par with the U.S. dollar. So you might think consumers in both countries should be paying the same prices for the same goods.

But you would be wrong.

According to Bank of Montreal deputy chief economist Douglas Porter, who studied retailing price differences between Canada and the U.S. on 22 items, the Canadian consumer is paying an average of 18 per cent more for those items than the U.S. consumer.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/st...50-22e1e9875299

 

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Paying more for CIBC, TD mortgages

Residential mortgage rates began an upward climb late yesterday, just one day after the Bank of Canada stunned consumers by holding its key interest rate steady at 3 per cent.

Economists had predicted that consumers could see a rise in borrowing costs but most suggested that mortgage rates would only start rising in 2009. For at least two big banks, the higher rates are effective today.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was first to hike mortgages rates. The benchmark five-year closed mortgage rate jumped 0.3 of a percentage point to 6.95 per cent.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/441670

 

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Divorced couples must share future debts, top court rules

OTTAWA -- Just as divorced couples sometimes share future assets, they also should have to share future debts tied to the marriage, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled yesterday.

The 6-1 decision puts a Vancouver woman on the hook for part of her former husband`s liability arising from tax shelters he bought during their marriage.

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sto...87-f4b0251d1b78

 

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Canada in good shape for a food-price crisis

OTTAWA -- Canada is well positioned to weather, even profit from, the world food-price crisis, and the Canadian economy is in better shape than recent economic indicators suggest, according to separate government and private-sector analyses Thursday.

And that`s fortunate, because a separate analysis warns that global storm clouds are still gathering.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/bu...99-8ace1fde8d54