It is no surprise to anyone that the Bank of Canada maintained its target overnight rate at 1/2 percent today, judging that the underlying trend in inflation continues to be about 1.5 to 1.7 percent. Even before the landslide sweep of the Liberal Party into power, assuring a more stimulative fiscal policy next year, the […]

Brokers can breathe a sigh of relief, following Stephen Poloz’s latest comments on what role the central bank should play in setting economic policy. “The Bank of Canada’s view is that monetary policy should be the last line of defence against threats to financial stability, behind the joint responsibility of borrowers and lenders, appropriate regulatory […]

Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz spoke over the weekend about the rising levels of household debt and the effect that monetary policy has had on house prices. Mr Poloz said that using policy including interest rates to address the increasing debt of many Canadians should be the last resort. With the ratio of debt […]

NEW YORK _ A voting member of the Federal Reserve’s policy committee said Friday that he believes the economy is on a satisfactory track and that an increase in interest rates is likely to be appropriate in either October or December. Dennis Lockhart, president of the Fed’s Atlanta regional bank, said the economic data has […]

The last employment report before the October 19 federal election has to be disappointing for the Harper campaign. The unemployment rate edged up to 7.1 percent–slightly higher than the 7.0 percent posting in August–and employment grew a mere 12,000, in line with modest expectations. At least job seekers must be a bit more optimistic as the number […]

Top 4 Reasons Why a Variable Rate Mortgage Can Put You Farther AheadThe general consumer will be hard pressed when left to their own devices to shop on their own for their next mortgage, especially if they visit with one of the BIG banks. Typically they will talk about their most popular and profitable product, […]

Mortgage broker Toma Sojonky says a recent move by lenders to prune their discounts to the prime rate for new variable rate loans has borrowers pausing and considering their options. And combined with fixed rates drifting lower, some borrowers with variable rate mortgages are starting to make the switch and lock in their loans. “Variable-rate […]

What Is a Mortgage Broker? One thing Canadians have in common is that most of us are paying off a mortgage. The mortgage market can sometimes be confusing. There are a vast array of choices – open, closed flex down, equity take-out, cash back, and of course the rates themselves. While we would not attempt […]

Real gross domestic product (GDP) for July was posted at an better-than-expected 0.3 percent, confirming that the economy rebounded in the third quarter from the contraction in the first half of the year. Although oil prices remain depressed and commodity prices in general have fallen, the economy has been bolstered by the fall in the […]

A significant slide in a preliminary measure of China’s factory activity for September is getting more attention than usual because Janet Yellen mentioned concern about China’s economic outlook as a reason for Fed caution. This reduces the odds of a rate hike in October. Data released in China last night showed that companies are struggling […]