Category: Uncategorized

The word independent, as defined by the Webster dictionary reads as follows: adjective Over the last 4 days, I have witnessed 4 separate actions that challenge this. For those of you who are not aware, the Bank of Canada – and most central banks in a democracy are supposed to be independent. If we read…

No, this isn’t in reference to the current trial going on in Ottawa this week!!! This was simply an update on the BOC interest rate announcement. As expected the BOC held rates steady at the September meeting. While we will not know the deep details, data that went into the decision, and statement for a…

While many will be using the last long weekend of summer to down a pint, I am more concerned with a different type of brew on the horizon – And that is the nasty concoction of Stagflation!! We have all witnessed INFLATION over the last 18 months, we lived through a mostly DEFLATIONARY environment from…

GDP is a term that is thrown around on a regular basis in business, economic, and financial circles. We often hear about it, but do we really understand it? GDP is a very large part of what drives things like rate decisions from the central banks, and can help shape and form government policy. Lets…

Today was a double whammy of reports. At 8:30 am we had both the US non farm payrolls for August, and in Canada we had the June release of GDP. Both of these indicators will help both the Federal reserve and the BOC with their data for the September meeting. The US employment report slightly…

A very hot topic these days seems to be the ‘ extend and pretend’ game that banks have been playing. Basically if you extend the amortizations for mortgage holders, we can pretend that everything is just fine…dandy even. Are we about to hit a wall with this game? Will the music stop and we find…

Based on the title, and my current residence on the Florida Gulf Coast, you may think I am talking about Hurricane Idalia ( what a stupid name for a hurricane ), but no, I am referring to the storm clouds gathering over the Canadian housing market. Anyone who has talked with me or follows me…

Canada and the United States share a long and storied past. The 2 countries, while vastly different on many fronts, are also very similar in many aspects. We share the longest unprotected border in the world, allow the free passage of each others citizens, and were founded on many of the same democratic and capitalistic…

Field of dream is an iconic movie. We all know about a corn field in the middle of nowhere America. We all know the line ” If you build it, they will come”. However, with the global rise in real estate prices, and some choppy water on the horizon, should we look to change it…

From 2002 to 2010, United Parcel Service ( UPS ) used a slogan ” What can Brown do for you?”. It was a way to get businesses and individuals to consider using UPS for shipping, logistics, LTL, print and copy, and pretty much every service they offered. It was the most aggressive ad campaign in…