October 2011 Canadian Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

How self-employed can easily get a mortgage





According to Industry Canada, about 16 per cent of the workforce was self-employed workers in 2010, about 2.7 million people. Some are likely looking at low mortgage interest rates and thinkning about buying a home.







It can sometimes work against you in a mortgage application to be self-employed. Marcy Berg, a mortgage broker at Mortgages For Women, says the main reason isn't what you do for a living, but the lack of proof of income in the form of tax records.







`It`s not anymore difficult to get a mortgage when you`re self-employed. The basic rules still apply for getting a mortgage,` said Berg. `But if you don`t declare your freelance income, then you may have a problem.`







Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Creating Jobs and Prosperity: Canada as a Resource Superpower - Speech by Minister of Natural Resources




I am pleased to be back at the Toronto Board of Trade, which has been such an important organization in representing and generating ideas for the business community in the GTA and beyond. Toronto is an economic engine with a world-class capital market and banking industry that finances our abundant natural resources and related industries right across the country. The relationship between our resources and the economy is ` not surprisingly ` what I want to talk to about this morning.




This summer and fall, I have traveled across Canada and the United States. I co-chaired the federal-provincial Conference on Energy and Mining in Kananaskis. I attended the APEC Conference of Energy and Transportation Ministers in San Francisco a few weeks ago and met with business leaders, legislators and government officials in Sacramento, LA, New York and Washington. Last week, I visited Washington and Calgary again.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canadians continue to travel




Most Canadians will travel this fall or winter, despite an uncertain economy, a survey done for Bank of Montreal suggests.




Survey results showed 61 per cent of those polled planned to take a trip in the coming months. That compares with 79 per cent who travelled in the summer.




Many are going outside of the country, taking advantage of the relatively strong Canadian dollar. Fourteen per cent planned to go to the United States, while five per cent were headed for another country.




The rest with travel plans were staying in Canada.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canada expected to gain jobs with EU trade deal




The ninth and potentially final round of negotiations begins Monday in Ottawa on a controversial Canada-European Union free-trade deal that could profoundly impact Canadian jobs and consumers.




Opponents of the deal are planning a week of events and protests in Ottawa - including stationing a giant wooden Trojan horse on Parliament Hill - to highlight what they say are hidden implications of the agreement and the need for the government to proceed more cautiously.




The multibillion-dollar Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) will give Canadian companies preferential access to a European Union market of 500 million consumers in 27 member states.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

10 most entrepreneurial cities in Canada





The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has put together a list of the most entrepreneurial cities in Canada.





See the list here.

 

[Ally]

Bank of Canada seen delaying rate hike until Q3 of 2012: Poll




The Bank of Canada will keep rates on hold until the third quarter of next year amid slow global growth and the risk that Europe's debt crisis will linger on, according to a Reuters survey released on Tuesday.







The Reuters poll of 40 economists and strategists showed the median forecast for the next interest rate increase was pushed back by three months from the second-quarter of 2012 projected in an August poll.







Analysts said Canada's central bank need to raise borrowing costs less than they previously thought, because the domestic economy has not recovered as strongly as expected and the European debt crisis still is dampening the global outlook.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

'Buy America' provision won't harm 'strong' U.S.-Canada relations: Diplomat




OTTAWA ` The Obama administration's recent "Buy America" provision will not harm U.S.-Canada relations and was introduced as a political compromise to persuade Congress to pass a jobs bill that helps the economies of both countries, says the American ambassador to Canada.







David Jacobson delivered the message Tuesday in a speech he said was designed to correct some misconceptions on this and two other developing issues: suggestions the U.S. is considering a new levy on cargo entering the U.S. from British Columbia and the impact on people with dual citizenship of a new U.S. plan to crack down on people who create tax havens.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Wow! World wealth set to surge




ZURICH ` Global wealth could rise 50% to US$345 trillion over the next five years, spurred by a near doubling of total household wealth in China and strong growth in Asia Pacific, Latin America and Africa, a Credit Suisse report released on Wednesday said.




The Global Wealth Report 2011 from Credit Suisse research said total global wealth jumped 14% between January 2010 and June 2011, ending the period at US$231 trillion, with Asia Pacific countries responsible for 54% of the rise.




`These are times of unprecedented economic change, and a radical reconfiguration of the world`s economic order is taking shape,` said Osama Abbasi, Chief Executive Officer for Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Ben Bernanke starting to read Bank of Canada's playbook



Ben Bernanke has been keeping an eye on how Mark Carney has been fighting the financial crisis.





The U.S. Federal Reserve chairman cited the Bank of Canada governor`s conditional commitment in April, 2009, to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.25 per cent until June the following year as a `successful` experiment in central bank communication.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canada's economy to continue modest growth in volatile environment





Ottawa, October 20, 2011 ` Canada`s economy will avoid slipping back into recession, but growth will remain modest in 2011 and 2012, according to the Conference Board`s Canadian Outlook` Autumn 2011.







`The ongoing volatility in equity and commodity markets is a reminder of how fragile the state of the U.S. and global economy remains. While the turmoil is not expected to derail the global outlook altogether, growth has slowed markedly over the last few quarters,` said Pedro Antunes, Director, National and Provincial Forecast.







`Canada`s domestic economy is on stronger footing than many other developed economies. Employment has recovered from recession levels, housing markets are balanced, and business investment has surged at a surprising pace over the past year and a half. However, a sluggish outlook for the United States is not good news for Canada and the economic situation in Europe is even more uncertain and fragile than in the U.S.`







Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canada must address economic threats: TD chief




Governments around the world need to make tough, unpopular decisions to fix the world`s economic problems and get their own fiscal houses in order, says the head of Toronto-Dominion Bank.




But as those problems become more entrenched, attempting to address them in an era of heavily polarized politics and an `us-versus-them` mentality will only make things more difficult, TD chief executive officer Ed Clark said.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

'We are the 30%' a better chant for Canadian protestors




We are the 99 per cent?




I have had the privilege of living at both ends of the income distribution. No doubt about it, being poor sucks. But it`s not the poor leading the `We are the 99 per cent` protests. What has happened to create such discontent with capitalism?





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canada's housing market: 'Slowdown postponed'



A new report on Canada's housing market carries this notable title: "Slowdown postponed."





The report from National Bank Financial is in line with other forecasts, projecting the market will slow in 2012 and 2013, but it won't crash. National Bank's Shubha Khan also upgraded his projection for this year because of a stronger-than-expected third quarter and a longer-than-expected timeline for interest rate hikes in Canada.





"Given the resulting deterioration in the global economic outlook, the Bank of Canada is now expected to leave its policy rate unchanged until late 2012 or early 2013," Mr. Khan said.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

B.C. lawyer tackles CIBC over mortgages




You just made the largest purchase of your life based on borrowing more than you ever have before. Are you really going to bother reading that 25-page contract with all the rules on your mortgage?




The answer is usually no. The truth is you should.




The ambiguity in mortgage contracts has landed more than one consumer in trouble they didn't anticipate and now it has spawned a classaction lawsuit against one of Canada's largest banks.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Widening Canada-U.S. house price gap

 

[Ally]

Canada's trade deficit widens, but revisions point to healthier economy




OTTAWA - Canada's merchandise trade deficit widened in August as import growth outpaced exports in response to softening U.S. demand and a strong loonie, but analysts saw a positive side to Thursday's report from Statistics Canada.




The raw numbers were mildly negative and in line with expectations following a big exports surge in July. Merchandise imports grew 0.7 per cent, while exports rose 0.5, taking Canada's trade deficit to $622 million in August from a downwardly revised $539 million in July.




In volume terms, when currency fluctuations are factored out, exports declined 1.1 per cent, the agency said.




But the most important development, said economist Peter Hall of Export Development Canada, was the agency's revision of export growth in July to 4.6 per cent, from 4.1. That takes the sting out of much of August's retrenchment, he said.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Procurement politics: The ship stops here




The federal government`s decision to turn to a new process to award two major shipbuilding contracts breaks new ground. No one attaches more importance to precedents than governments, suggesting that what we saw we`ll see again.




Some 125 years ago, Woodrow Wilson published what would become the most often quoted article in the political science and public administration literature. Set in an American political setting ` he would later become president ` he wrote: `Administrative questions are not political questions. Although politics sets the tasks for administration, it should not be suffered to manipulate its offices.`





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

New gas, oil reserves a boon for pipeline construction






Spectra Energy Corp. (SE-N28.15-0.40-1.40%) is driving North America`s pipeline construction boom into the heart of New York City, part of a massive industry push to connect previously untapped shale gas and oil reserves to under-served markets.




From the growing Alberta oil sands to booming production in Pennsylvania`s Marcellus shale gas reserves, new fuel sources are prompting pipeline companies to refashion the continent`s energy arteries.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canadian manufacturing activity picks up





Canadian manufacturing activity picked up pace for a third straight month in September, boosted by both output and new orders, offering hope the economy will avert another recession.




The RBC Canadian Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, launched this year by Royal Bank of Canada and produced by research firm Markit, rose to 55.05 in September from 54.9 in August.




The climb above 50 (that separates expansion from contraction) signalled a general improvement in business conditions.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Lower growth forecast not 'doom and gloom': Flaherty





OTTAWA ` The federal government has substantially downgraded its economic forecast for this year and 2012 ` on the heels of a similarly weaker outlook from the Bank of Canada ` and signalled Tuesday it might not hit its target for eliminating the deficit.







Finance Minister Jim Flaherty maintained Tuesday it is "not doom and gloom" for the Canadian economy, but he wouldn't commit to having the government return to surplus by 2014-15, as promised, instead vowing to balance the books over the "medium term."







Standard & Poor's, meanwhile, signalled confidence in the outlook for Canada later Tuesday, calling the country "stable" and affirming its AAA long-term and "A-1+" short-term sovereign credit ratings. In a news release, S&P cited Canada's "superior political and economic profile and strong flexibility and performance profile."






Read the full article here.