Holy cow, interest rates went up another ¼ point this week, and the media is wetting itself. Indeed it is time to panic? Not yet, but a single jump could have been an isolated event. Two could signify a trend. Was this not expected? This is the only question to ask. The Canadian economy seems to have gone off the rails in terms of growth, and the Bank of Canada feels it needs to put the brakes on things, so this looks like a trend.

The Canadian Dollar has jumped in reaction to this rate rise. Your Canadian Dollar can buy more, but your Canadian products are now more expensive on the open market too.

My vacation didn’t go that well, but I did have a friendly conversation with Doug Hoyes. Doug will attempt to make it sound coherent, and there will be a podcast about a few things soon. Doug is an engaging chap to chat with, given he is a Bankruptcy trustee. Before you claim bankruptcy, I learned that you need to show your spending habits and all your assets to the trustee. Maybe folks should do that now, so they can figure out where the problems are before you call Doug?

Gasoline is back to over $1.20 a litre in Ottawa, and it is not likely to drop any time soon is the predictions from Gas Buddy and such. I guess I am glad I drive a Corolla. It might be time to look at electric cars, or better still, go back to a single vehicle for the family.

The NFL season has begun, and I wonder how long this sport will continue? I have loved football my entire life, especially the NFL, but given the concussion findings coming out, I wonder how much longer the sport can continue? Some have suggested that better equipment might change things, but I am not optimistic. I guess that football has about 10-15 years until it will fade away. Economically, what will the economic impact of this multi-billion dollar industry disappearing have?

Recent Writings

No, I am not getting into the travel blogging world. Far too competitive. The Big Cajun family went on vacation, so we figured we’d publish some Big Cajun Vacation Tips. The vacation didn’t go as expected with my son getting nasty strep throat, but it was still enjoyable. I also did a bit of work, chatting with Doug Hoyes, there is a Podcast planned out of those sessions.

What is the Importance of Financial Reports? Do you put together IKEA furniture without reading the instructions? Why don’t you read your financial reports? You need to be at least able to understand your Credit Card Bills and Bank statements, or you will be in trouble.

I tip my hat to David Letterman with Stupid Bank Tricks, showing some of the things I have done to make my bank help my financial plan.

Micro Blogging

I like when a tweet is self-contained, and this comment by John Bogle is just that.

The Winter has come to Ottawa, with frigid temperatures, that remind us that the concept of Global Warming is a bit of a misnomer, but climate change might be nice (a little warmer in January please). When your wheels freeze squared you know it is a cold day in Canada.

Thanks to a glut of oil on the market, gas prices continue to plummet to 20th Century levels. Here in Ottawa, we have seen 88.6 cents per litre gasoline and there are rumours of even deeper price cuts coming very soon. This is not very good news for the Canadian economy, with many layoffs in the Oil Patches, and Oil related businesses. What is causing this? I really don’t know, but it is causing troubles for countries like Russia and Venezuela, I wonder if someone is trying to make this happen? Interesting political intrigue if that is the case.

Normally I wouldn’t write about the horrific events in Paris, but seeing as I am a member of the media (note the small m) I am appalled by the events. Je suis Charlie, has become the battle cry for those in France, and I am glad to see the outpouring from the Political Satirists around the world. When 12 people are murdered in this fashion, for the reasons put forward, it is simply an abomination.

Site note: If you feel so inclined my site now has a cert, so you can now read https://www.canajunfinances.com if you so choose. I am still knocking the kinks out of things, but it should work just fine for you.

My Writings for Week Ending January 9th

The raw cold reminds me why I love the summers so much, and how I should cherish those days:

• Last week I wrote a quick note about Quicken and transferring Mutual Funds which really wasn’t about Quicken, it was more of a step by step on how to transfer I series Mutual Funds at TD to the much lower MER E-Series Funds
• Happy Financial New Year is me again reminding you of the importance of starting the new year on the right foot (or left foot if you wish) and some of the things you should be thinking about.
• Are the money media folks going into Financial Jargon Overload ? I think some of the TV outlets are way over the top, but most financial writers try to not overdo some of the more, shall we say, trite claptrap we here in other areas.