Economic Indicators

U.S. default seen as buying opportunity

The risk of America technically defaulting on its debt is increasing rapidly, with the odds of such an event rising to 1 in 5 as a result of political bickering south of the border. That’s the view of Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of BMO Harris Bank in the U.S., who said the risk was […]

By Staff |July 21, 2011

3 min read

Economic Indicators

Bank of Canada holds fast on rates

The Bank of Canada has announced it will maintain its target for the overnight rate at 1%, holding the Bank Rate at just 1.25% and the deposit rate at 0.75%. While the global economic recovery is largely unfolding as expected, the Bank cited slower than anticipated growth in the U.S. as a concern. The Bank […]

By Staff |July 19, 2011

3 min read

Economic Indicators

Carney bound by macro forces

It can’t be easy being Mark Carney these days. With a mandate to keep inflation in check, the Bank of Canada governor should be facing an easy decision on interest rates Tuesday. But there are a lot of details outside of inflation he must contend with, according to a report from Desjardins Securities. “In the […]

By Staff |July 18, 2011

3 min read

Economic Indicators

Who’s to blame for global inflation?

Inflation, a global concern, is almost everywhere considered to be a monetary phenomenon. In reality, money is not what really drives inflation. “It’s fiscal pressure and bankrupt governments,” said Dylan Grice, global strategy research analyst with Société Générale. He was speaking at the CFA Institute’s annual conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, earlier this year. Most of […]

By Vikram Barhat |July 8, 2011

5 min read

Jobs reports: A tale of two countries

It may not have been the best of times, nor the worst of times on the North American jobs market in June, but there was a marked difference between how Canada and the U.S. are shaping up. The Canadian economy created 28,000 jobs last month posting its third consecutive month of growth, helped by a […]

3 min read

Inflation glass half full: expert

Statistics Canada’s recently released inflation figures are a mainly positive sign both for the Canadian economy and investors, suggests Serge Pépin, head of investments at BMO Investments Inc. “There’s a good side and a bad side to inflation,” he said. “When inflation is rising, it usually means there’s good economic growth behind it, so you […]

3 min read

Economy loses steam, remains on track

The tenuous Canadian economic growth cycle has downshifted to its weakest quarter since recession, according to a new report from CIBC World Markets Inc. The report expects Canadian real GDP to grow by only 1% this quarter before rebounding in the third and fourth quarters to the expected annual average of 2.7%, outpaced by the […]

2 min read

Global investor confidence falls

After a brief recovery in May, global investor confidence fell back below 100 to settle at 99.2, according to the results of the State Street Investor Confidence Index for June 2011. This represents a decline of 5.1 points from May’s revised reading of 104.3 The decline was most pronounced among North American investors, whose confidence […]

By Staff |June 28, 2011

2 min read

Economic Indicators

U.S. default seen as buying opportunity

Bank of Canada holds fast on rates

Carney bound by macro forces

Who’s to blame for global inflation?

Jobs reports: A tale of two countries

More Cdns planning to buy first home

Inflation glass half full: expert

Economy loses steam, remains on track

Global investor confidence falls

U.S. consumers holding back