Business Blog

by Leah Walker  — Plenty of us are still beaming over Canada’s performance at this year’s Winter Olympic games in Vancouver. Don’t we love that our athletes achieved the most gold medals of any host country in any previous Winter games, and more gold medals than the Americans — thankfully, including hockey — whose country [...]

By Leah Walker — Baby, it’s cold outside. The time of year when if your caulking is inadequate, you either look into replacing those windows and blowing insulation into the attic, or you wear wool work socks and a hoodie to bed at night. Just as you’ll want to protect your home from an unwanted [...]

By Leah Walker — Temptation is headline news lately. Even our central bank is buzzing about it, warning of the danger of taking on monstrous debt, due to enticingly low interest rates. In its semi-annual report, the Bank of Canada says while Canadian household debt as a share of personal disposable income may be lower [...]

By Leah Walker – Not only has the housing market staggered to its knees, but it’s now showing signs of sparring. Canadian housing has made a remarkable turnaround, to the point where the Bank of Canada is now keeping an eye on its growing strength as a potential influence on interest rates. Royal Lepage says [...]

By Leah Walker — It seems safe to say this summer it’s not just the pipsqueaks in the back seat asking again and again, “Are we there yet?”.  Investors, too, have been full of nervous energy, squirming in their seats waiting for the economy to work its way out of recession. Instead of the traditional [...]

By Leah Walker — Love may be in the air, with the confetti-throwing season in full swing, but this year’s wedding to-do’s may be a tier or two smaller in scale than last year’s. The recession is proving to be one big wedding crasher. Where once fountains gushed Veuve Clicquot champagne and centrepieces burst with [...]

By Leah Walker — Better put down the plastic guitar. The rock ‘n roll lifestyle is so last year. A report by TD Bank Financial Group Economist Diana Petramala shows over the five years leading up to the current recession, Canadians were shopping hell bent for leather.  “Households,” she notes, “bought new cars, fancy home [...]

By Leah Walker — When you think back to last fall, and the weeks and months leading up to the misery that was February for the Toronto stock market, the rebound for its benchmark stock index since March is almost unfathomable. From the depths of despair to heady exuberance, the market is up 35% or [...]

By Leah Walker — Maybe we should call her a baby bloomer. It didn’t take long for Michelle Obama to break sod for a vegetable garden on the White House lawn. The First Lady said she wanted to be able to offer fresh food to her family, friends and visitors, and to promote a healthy [...]

By Leah Walker — The home show season is upon us, and what fun it is to browse the exhibits and daydream about improvements that could be made to the home, sweet home. My honey-do list goes on for pages. But there can be a sour side to inviting some contractors in to quote on projects. One or two will always present the “cash-only” option — [...]