Canada’s recovery, OECD’s caution and pessimistic Americans.

Tags: Canadian economy / economic recession / economic recovery / financial planning / market volatility

If there has been a silver lining somewhere in Canada’s dark recession clouds, it is the residential real estate market.Contrary to the expectations of almost everyone, home prices have continued to rise this year. Fueled by historically low interest rates and a drop in supply, valuations continue to rise to the point where some are asking an alarming question. Is Canada in the early stages of a housing bubble?

Tags: Canadian economy / economic recession / economic recovery / financial planning

The Canadian and U.S. dollars will be of equal value on global currency markets early next year. That call comes from Matthew Strauss, a senior currency strategist with RBC Capital Markets. In a research note released Friday, Strauss wrote: “We remain confident that … parity is not an issue of ‘if’ but ‘when.’” Our dollar closed at 95.37 cents U.S. last week.

Tags: financial planning / retirement planning / market volatility

Europeans celebrate an end to their recession, while Canadians see little hope for a V-shaped recovery. Are you putting off retirement?

Tags: Canadian economy / economic recession / economic recovery / financial planning / market volatility

We had a group of grade nine students visit our offices last week as part of a bring-your-kids-to-work day. If you’ve ever been asked to speak to a group of teenagers, you’ll know that they can be a bit unforgiving at times. They bore easily, and they’re not good at hiding it.

 Tags: financial planning

There is a remarkable post up on Million Dollar Journey called When Money Doesn’t Matter. It was posted by Kathryn last week. The piece is about her son – 18 months old at the time – becoming seriously ill during a stay on a remote island in the Philippines. She and her husband faced every parent’s worst nightmare; their son was dying and no-one could help. The story of how they got him to a Manila hospital, without regard for the cost, obviously, is one of the best I’ve read in a long while. It’s a wonderful piece of writing.

Tags: financial planning / health and wellness / stress relief

Shorting Canada, the turning of a bull and two more takes on H1N1.

Tags: Canadian economy / economic recession / economic recovery / financial planning / retirement planning / market volatility / job loss / health and wellness

I've been reading reports of the impact the H1N1 flu virus could have on Canada's economic recovery with a healthy dose of skepticism. These stories have struck me as alarmist, and to be frank, written to appeal to search engines. Squeeze H1N1 and recession into the same headline and you’re bound to get Google’s attention.

Tags: Canadian economy / economic recovery / health and wellness

Homeowners can expect good news from the Canadian residential real estate market. That’s according to a report released yesterday by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Housing starts will strengthen in the last two months of this year, and then grow about 16% in 2010. This comes after a 33% drop in 2009. Resale prices are expected to rise too, in the new year.

Tags: Canadian economy / economic recovery / financial planning / job loss

Pension reform, 1929 revisited and Halloween on the cheap.

Tags: Canadian economy / economic recession / economic recovery / financial planning / retirement planning / market volatility