Canadian Economic Outlook

May 21, 2013

Some investors are betting against Canada. Should we be worried? Part 2

Canada’s resource sector isn’t the only one struggling to stay afloat in this storm-tossed boat. Coal miners in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana — where 40% of total U.S. production occurs — want to tap into the lucrative export markets of China and India.

May 17, 2013

Some investors are betting against Canada. Should we be worried? Part 1

Some investors are placing bets against Canada. They’re short selling our currency, avoiding our equities and talking down our economy. Should we be worried?

May 16, 2013

Gender Equality in Canadian Politics

When Margaret Thatcher died in early April, there was a great deal of public discussion about her legacy. Underlying all the commentary was the fact she was Britain’s first female Prime Minister.

May 16, 2013

World’s most expensive country – Australia; cheapest – India

According to the latest (March) inflation statistics released by Statistics Canada, the cost of a basket of goods purchased by an “average” Canadian household has risen by 1% over the past twelve months. Further, the Statistics Canada CPI report for March revealed that, on average, it cost the average household almost 5% more to live in Edmonton than in Toronto.

May 15, 2013

Colour the U.S. and Canadian economies beige

The advance estimate for U.S. economic growth in the first quarter of this year is +2.5%, seasonally adjusted and annualized (SAAR), according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

May 13, 2013

Unlocking one of the mysteries of U.S. politics

Political machinations around the world are becoming increasingly chaotic. The prime examples may be in Europe, where the austerity-versus-stimulus debate has resulted in governments being replaced in Greece, France, Spain and Italy.

May 10, 2013

An overview of prices and sales in the diverging U.S. and Canadian housing markets

There is a wealth of information available about residential real estate markets in the U.S. and Canada. With home starts in the two countries now taking divergent paths — trending upwards to the south and downwards to the north — this is a good time to review some the latest data.

May 9, 2013

Keeping an Eagle Eye on Canadian Home Starts - So Far, a Genteel Decline

National new home starts in April were 175,000 units seasonally adjusted and annualized (SAAR), according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

May 7, 2013

Canada’s precarious dependence on the commodity price super-cycle

Mid-April was not a good time for Canada’s raw materials sector. In the course of just a couple of days, an already weakening price of gold surrendered all restraint and plunged the most in three decades.

May 6, 2013

U.S. new home starts in March breached one million units

How long has it been? The answer: 57 months or nearly five years. June 2008 was the last time U.S. monthly housing starts, seasonally adjusted and at an annual rate (SAAR), were higher than one million units.

May 3, 2013

Canada falls off a foreign trade cliff and North Korea ups the ante

There’s a clear dividing line. The change occurred in November 2008, near the start of the recession in Canada.

April 30, 2013

March’s labour market report a dip into tepid water in U.S.; a cold shower in Canada

If the U.S. labour market report in March was a dip into tepid water, Canada’s was a cold shower.

April 29, 2013

A new computer game called, “what’s my population density?”

A long-term problem for most of the world’s industrialized nations will be an aging citizenry, accompanied by minimal population growth or actual declines.

April 26, 2013

Reviewing the motor vehicle sales of the “international big four”

U.S. total motor vehicle sales in March were 15.27 million units, seasonally adjusted and annualized (SAAR), according to Autodata Corporation, a New Jersey-based statistics monitoring company.

April 25, 2013

OECD cautiously optimistic about the global outlook

Following a temporary hiatus in late 2012, there are clear indications the overall health of the global economy is starting to improve.

April 23, 2013

March marked the end of rehab for stock market prices

March 2013 was a month to circle with a colored marker for North America’s major stock market indices. Both the Dow Jones Industrial average (at a level of 14,585) and the S&P 500 (reaching 1,570) set new all-time highs.

April 19, 2013

Why is inflation still under wraps? A world tour

Canada’s overall inflation rate in February accelerated to +1.2% from a quite low +0.5% the month before, according to Statistics Canada.

April 16, 2013

A U.S. housing recovery like never before?

U.S. new home starts in February were 917,000 units, seasonally adjusted and annualized (SAAR), according to a joint press release from the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

April 12, 2013

A U.S. 2.0% inflation rate leads to a discussion about China’s flaws

The U.S. items inflation rate in February, spurred on by an uplift in gasoline prices, recorded an out-sized seasonally-adjusted month-to-month gain of 0.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

April 11, 2013

Expect a tailwind from the U.S. to help drive Quebec’s economy in 2013 & 2014

Midway through the first half of 2013, a number of key indicators suggest that Quebec’s economic engine has picked up some speed despite the persisting climate of uncertainty about the health of the global economy in general and the outlook for the U.S. in particular.