18 Sep

Fed Postpones Rate Hike

General

Posted by: John Dunford

The Fed kept the overnight rate unchanged today, choosing to delay an increase owing to stubbornly low inflation, an uncertain outlook for global growth and recent financial market volatility. It appears that recent losses in China’s equity markets reflect deeper worries over growth prospects for the world’s second largest economy. Slowing growth in China has […]

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10 Sep

No Surprises From The Bank Of Canada

General

Posted by: John Dunford

As expected, the Bank of Canada refrained from cutting interest rates at today’s policy meeting. The recent economic news has shown a marked improvement, precluding the Bank from following on the previous two rate cuts this year. The key policy overnight rate is only 50 basis points (one-half of one percentage points) and another 25 […]

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8 Sep

Bank predicts BoC rate decision

General

Posted by: John Dunford

The Bank of Canada will maintain its benchmark rate when it meets next week, according to one ScotiaBank economist. “We expect the Bank of Canada to remain on hold on Wednesday with the overnight rate unchanged at 0.5%,” Derek Holt, vice president of Scotia Economics, writes in the bank’s latest economic forecast. “It will be a statement-only […]

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1 Sep

StatsCan Addresses Recession

General

Posted by: John Dunford

Statistics Canada is reporting that GDP fell in the second quarter, confirming fears that the economy was in recession for the first half of 2015. StatsCan says the economy contracted at an annual pace of 0.5 per cent in the second quarter of the year. That was a smaller decline than analyst estimates but Statistics […]

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27 Aug

National Bank Predicts Canadian Interest Rate Cut

General

Posted by: John Dunford

National Bank Financial predicts that the BoC will cut interest rates next month. In a note the bank says that it would be better for the central bank to act now and withdraw some of the cut later if conditions improve, rather than wait until it’s too late. The BoC’s meeting is set for Sept. 9.

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26 Aug

11-Year Low For Loonie Prompts Calls For Interest Rate Cut

General

Posted by: John Dunford

Analysts were talking about an increased chance of an interest rate cut Monday following the Canadian dollar’s decline to its lowest value against the greenback in 11 years. Concern about the global economy and the dollar’s weakness have led to speculation as to whether the two interest rate cuts so far this year will do enough to […]

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24 Aug

Beware Of Early Discharge Penalties!

General

Posted by: John Dunford

Beware Of Early Discharge Penalties!Have you ever needed to get out of your mortgage before the maturity date? It can be a confusing and surprising experience. Don’t forget that your mortgage is a legal contract, therefore, like most contracts it is expected that it would cost you something to break it. The lending institution will […]

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19 Aug

Fed Minutes Hint At Rate Hike

General

Posted by: John Dunford

The Fed minutes from its July 28-29 meeting, released Wednesday afternoon, reveal a rate hike is still in the cards but that a hard date has not yet been reached. “In determining how long to maintain this target range, the Committee will assess progress— both realized and expected—toward its objectives of maximum employment and 2 […]

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17 Aug

Association Lobbies For Mortgage Rule Change

General

Posted by: John Dunford

Brokers may have just found their campaign issue, with an industry association calling for something that could bring thousands more buyers into the market The CMBA is advocating for 30-year amortizations for first-time homebuyers in the wake of a Conservative Party proposal to increase RRSP withdrawal limits. “The Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association urges the implementation […]

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