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Canajun Finances Home » Bank Profits, Loose Money, Used House Salesfolk and #MoneyTalk

Bank Profits, Loose Money, Used House Salesfolk and #MoneyTalk

Three of the big banks in Canada announced good profits ( TD, CIBC, and RBC) which has caused another jump in their value, and dividend output. Michael James thinks that the Canadian Banking system is in for a day of reckoning (i.e. their profitability will drop), but  evidently not today.


Estimated reading time: 5 minutes


Canadian sportscasters have been lampooning Ottawa Sens fans for not selling out every playoff game. The Sens do, however, have the highest average attendance in the playoffs of the remaining teams. Financial talking heads are annoying, sports talking heads are wastes of space.

When is the best time to buy a house? The answer is simple – when you need it, period. Don’t let the real estate industry convince you otherwise. I have always purchased a house when I required it, and that’s how it should be. Renting may be an option, but if you need more living space and have enough savings for a down payment or rent, then go for it. Don’t be a follower of the herd mentality that urges you to buy a house just because everyone else is doing it. Make a logical decision based on your needs and financial situation, and don’t let anyone persuade you otherwise.

This weekend, the Indy 500 and the Grand Prix of Monaco. You can guess what I will be doing on Sunday, and no, I won’t be going to Church (this week). There is also the Coke 600 if you have a few hours spare.

The Bank of Canada announced no change in their interest rates, keeping that loose money policy in place. Their reasons are getting repetitive, but worth checking out.

The Canadian economy’s adjustment to lower oil prices is largely complete and recent economic data have been encouraging, including indicators of business investment. Consumer spending and the housing sector continue to be robust on the back of an improving labour market, and these are becoming more broadly based across regions. Macroprudential and other policy measures, while contributing to more sustainable debt profiles, have yet to have a substantial cooling effect on housing markets. Meanwhile, export growth remains subdued, as anticipated in the April MPR, in the face of ongoing competitiveness challenges. The Bank’s monitoring of the economic data suggests that very strong growth in the first quarter will be followed by some moderation in the second quarter.

They seem to imply that housing prices will start going up everywhere.

Ramadan begins on Saturday, so Happy Ramadan to my Muslim readers and friends.

Things I wrote this week

I did write something new this week, by cribbing Kerry’s presentation on RDSP‘s on the CBC. Being one of her researchers for her piece, I felt I had the right to use the intellectual property. The piece is called 5 Steps to an RDSP, which is a short synopsis  of  the  steps needed to  set up a Registered  Disability Savings Plan.

On the sister technology site, I wrote a short piece attempting to explain, What is Ransomware? Quite topical as Mrs. C8j was the victim this week of a FedEx phishing scam. Her boss received the infamous, “You have a package with FedEx” e-mail with a “hinky” link. Unfortunately she clicked the  link, but  luckily her anti­ virus software caught things before they got out of hand. Never trust links in an e­ mail from anyone, even on a trusted  web site, by the  way click here.

COBOL rules

For all of you lovers of FinTech, this tweet (from me) does sum it up quite nicely.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

In the United States it is Memorial Day, the start of the summer. In Canada it is the beginning of the mosquito season, which isn’t as nice.


Chess and Money

An interesting video I saw on Digg, where Maurice Ashley talks about what Chess trains your mind to do. Applying those same concepts to your finances might make for an interesting financial life.


2017 Random Thoughts

1st Quarter 2017 Random Thoughts


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