Top Business Newsmakers of 2014: Jack Ma, Bill Gross, Dov Charney And More

Top Business Newsmakers of 2014

Switch-up on the Street was a theme running through 2014. From the toppling of the bond king, to the making of a new dotcom billionaire, it was a year of upheaval for the business world. Here are some of the top newsmakers. Fall of the bond king J. Emilio Flores/The New York Times Bill Gross, a…

How a community bond turns social capital into financial capital

A recent real estate transaction garnered plenty of attention. That the purchase was an historic, 64,000-square-foot, brick-and-beam building in Toronto’s downtown core only accounted for part of the curiosity. What really got people talking was who bought it and how it’s being financed, the implications of which speak volumes about the power of everyday citizens to…

Who’s Winning: Passive Or Active Managers?

Who’s winning: Active or passive investors?

The Financial Post takes a weekly look at the tools and strategies that will help make your investment decisions. This week: Revisiting the active vs. passive investing debate. Market volatility is increasing and stocks are not far off their record highs, at least in the U.S., so the current environment seems perfect for active managers to…

With oil trading below US$60, provinces brace for impact of global oil price shock

OTTAWA – When provincial finance ministers meet Monday with their federal counterpart, routine gripes over equalization payments and pension reform will be pushed back by a much bigger concern – plunging global oil prices and the impact on Canada, particularly in the oil patch. The Conservative government has already warned that crude prices – now trading…

Subprime lending market in Canada skyrockets to record as banks tighten reins

Subprime lenders’ share of the Canadian mortgage market has reached record levels, according to data obtained by the Financial Post, putting increased risk on the housing market. Alternative lenders, who are major beneficiaries of that subprime market, now underwrite 2.2% of all mortgage loans – probably not enough to cause any major structural damage to the…

That giant sucking sound you hear is Silicon Valley reinventing the world

PALO ALTO, CA – Big ideas as well as big trees grow in this part of the world, a region with a distinctive ecosystem and a GDP bigger than Switzerland’s or Ontario’s. Catalyst for this unique ecosystem has been the U.S. military research budgets and Stanford University. This engineering, science and technology culture has grown for…

OSC not ‘shooting in the dark’ with regulatory proposals, commissioner says

Regulators in Ontario aren’t taking kindly to criticism they are “shooting in the dark” when it comes to regulating the exempt market. James Turner, vice-chair at the Ontario Securities Commission, told the Financial Post on Monday that he takes issue with a recent University of Calgary research paper that urges more study before new OSC proposals…

Bank of Canada warns house prices are overvalued by up to 30 per cent

OTTAWA – The Bank of Canada estimates that house prices in the country are overvalued by as much as 30% in a report released Wednesday that warned household debt remains the biggest risk to Canada’s economy. The Bank of Canada released its Financial System Review Wednesday, a bi-annual look at the major risks threatening Canada’s financial…

Is Yum! Brands Next For 3G Capital After Tim Hortons-Burger King Deal?

Is Yum! Brands next for 3G Capital after Tim Hortons-Burger King deal?

Burger King Worldwide Inc. was upgraded at RBC Capital Markets after Tim Hortons Inc. shareholders approved a takeover of the iconic Canadian coffee chain and as more consolidation is expected. Analyst David Palmer also raised his price target on Burger King to US$38 per share from US$30, in anticipation that the combined company (Restaurant Brands International)…

Google, Microsoft dominate mutual funds, Apple still most popular in hedge funds: Citigroup

Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. remained the most-owned stocks among the 50 largest mutual funds in the United States during the third quarter of 2014, while Apple Inc. is now the most widely held hedge fund holding south of the border. Google and Microsoft were both a Top 10 holding in 19 mutual funds through the…

It’s Official: The Hot Streak Canada’s Big Banks Were On Is Over

It’s official: The hot streak Canada’s big banks were on is over

Bank of Nova Scotia’s fourth-quarter results added another “miss” to an earnings season of discontent for Canada’s biggest banks, but it could get even worse for shareholders in the country’s financial giants before the choppiness subsides. “I thought overall this quarter was disappointing,” said Colin Cieszynski, market analyst at CMC Markets Canada. “Not only did the…

Burger King promises to ramp up Tim Hortons’ U.S. expansion as Ottawa approves takeover

TORONTO – The merger of the Whopper and the Timbit moved closer to reality on Thursday with the federal Industry Minister approving Burger King Worldwide Inc.’s $12.5 billion takeover of Tim Hortons Inc. But James Moore said he was granting permission only after the two restaurants agreed to a list of conditions from Ottawa that delved…

What Lower Oil Prices Mean For Canadian Rails

Declining oil prices will likely have a negative impact on Canadian railroads given their exposure to the energy sector, but the damage may not be as bad as some expect. Shares of both Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. and Canadian National Railway Co. fell sharply on Friday as OPEC’s decision not to cut production caused a sharp…

What will the end of cheap Chinese labour mean for Canadians?

Top 10 most competitive global manufacturers 552 industry leaders were asked to rank competitiveness by country. China Germany United States India South Korea Taiwan Canada Brazil Singapore Japan The 2013 Global Manufacturing Competitive Index by Deloitte can be found here. For decades China has lured multinational manufacturers with cheap labour, business-friendly policies and low-cost raw materials.…

IEA Says Canadian LNG Costs Among Highest In The World – Neck And Neck With Australia

CALGARY – As companies like Petronas prepare to make final investment decisions, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday it expects the cost to produce and export liquefied natural gas from Canada to be among the highest in the world – second only to Australia. Here’s who will win if B.C.’s LNG boom comes to life A…

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