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Canada housing sales hit record in July

Canadian real estate sales had a record July. July housing sales across the country were the best on record for the month and the largest year-over year increase in two years, the Canadian Real Estate Association said. The Ottawa-based group, which represents about 100 boards across the country, said there were 50,270 units sold via [...]

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Flaherty, Carney to promote banks in China

Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney will travel to China next week to promote the country’s financial industry and help win business for its banks. Mr. Flaherty will also be joined by the head of the country’s regulator of financial services, Julie Dickson, and financial industry executives, the Finance [...]

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Invest in Canada sector profiles – Canada’s competitive advantages

Canada’s Industry Strengths Advanced Manufacturing: Canada’s global share of the aerospace industry has tripled in the last 20 years, and it is the third-largest exporter of automotive products in the world. Agri-food: Canada is the world’s fourth-largest exporter of agricultural products. Chemicals: 10 out of 10 G7 top locations for chemicals manufacturing. Enabling Technologies: The [...]

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Consumers becoming more confident

Consumer confidence edged slightly higher in Canada in July, according to a survey by the Conference Board of Canada. More importantly, confidence didn’t go down. The July increase, while small, was the fifth month in a row for a rise, from the worrisome depths reached last winter. The Conference Board’s index climbed a marginal 0.8 [...]

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Bank of Canada boosts economic outlook

The Bank of Canada said on Tuesday that a recovery from the “intense” recession is in the early stages, and as a result it has revised upward its economic outlook for the next year and a half. Further, in a sign that it believes credit conditions in capital markets have improved, the central bank announced [...]

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Bank of Canada expected to keep its rate promise-near zero levels

The Bank of Canada will stick to its conditional pledge to keep its benchmark interest rate at its current near-zero level through the second quarter of next year, most Canadian primary securities dealers said on Friday. Eight of Canada’s 12 primary dealers polled by Reuters predicted the slow pace of economic recovery will prevent the [...]

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BoC surveys imply GDP surge coming: report

Surprisingly positive results from two Bank of Canada business surveys would suggest the country is poised for a quarter or two of 10% growth, says a report released Wednesday from Merrill Lynch Canada. The surveys, unveiled this week, said businesses are the most optimistic about their future sales prospects in almost a decade, and obtaining [...]

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High-yield bonds remain attractive

The price of high-yield bonds has soared in the past three months as the economic situation has reverted into just a really awful recession. And now that a reprise of the Great Depression is averted, high-yield bonds still look like good value in spite of rising default rates and sizeable gains since March. Companies issuing [...]

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