Are we caught in a liquidity trap?
Despite showing a marginal increase in personal income, consumer spending in the U.S. remains stalled as inflation continues to gnaw away at income gains. Chris Christopher, senior principal economist at Lexington, Mass.-based IHS Global Insight, expressed concern over the dwindling consumer spending pattern in the U.S. in a recent commentary on personal income and consumption […]
Debaters decide prices are headed up.
AIMA Canada presented its 8th annual luncheon debate on May 25 at The National Club in Toronto. The tongue-in-cheek debate looked at which risk investors should be prepared for in the next few years: inflation or deflation. Hubert Marleau, co-founder of Palos Management in Montreal, argued for inflation and Derek Holt, vice-president of Scotia Capital […]
Banks aren't lending, consumers aren't buying...now what?
How should policymakers tame prices?
Choppy economic waters are rocking the retirement boat forcing an ever increasing number of Canadian retirees to return to the workforce. And a higher-than-expected inflation rate of 3.3%, as reported by Statistics Canada, doesn’t help matters. A recent RBC poll found that in the past 12 months 41% retirees returned to work in 2011 compared […]
Canada seems to be losing its charm as a destination for nervous money. Although still attracting slightly more than its “fair” share of global foreign direct investment (FDI), its share has dropped significantly in recent decades, according to the Conference Board’s latest release of its How Canada Performs series. “For some time now, the Conference […]
Institutional money managers are bracing for rough times over the coming six months, according to a new survey by Northern Trust. Seventy percent of managers expect inflation to rise, while 62% see increased market volatility as measured by the VIX Index. The survey found that 36% of managers are more risk averse, up from 20% […]
And why it's not time to worry about interest rate risk.