CSI Blog & Newsroom

“Canada’s housing market is faltering just as the U.S. market roars back to life. This sudden reversal of the narrative that has prevailed since the U.S. housing bust in 2006 is about to make Mark Carney’s interest rate juggling act much trickier. The Bank of Canada’s next rate-setting announcement is Tuesday, followed by the monetary policy report Wednesday,” Barrie McKenna of The Globe and Mail wrote for the newspaper on Monday. The article continued, “There won’t be a rate hike – not yet, anyway. But the betting among some Carney watchers is that the bank governor will drop his implicit projection of higher rates soon, or at least modify the bank’s now-familiar pledge of ‘some modest withdrawal’ of rock-bottom rates and monetary stimulus. Mr. Carney is facing an unusually uneasy global economic environment. China’s potent economy is slowing. Europe’s debt crisis continues to fester. And while U.S. prospects are looking up – most notably in housing – the uncertainty surrounding the November election and the looming fiscal cliff have economists and investors on edge.” Read the full article here. | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS

  “A re-energized President Barack Obama made an open plea for women’s votes in his second debate against Republican nominee Mitt Romney, underscoring his urgent need to rebuild a big lead among female electors to hold on to the White House,” Konrad Yakabuski wrote today for The Globe and Mail following the candidates second debate in New York last night. Yakabuski’s article continued, “The two candidates also clashed bitterly over energy policy, trade, taxes and last month’s attack on a U.S. consulate during Tuesday’s town-hall session, a high-decibel encounter that reflected an increasingly tight race leading up to the Nov. 6 vote. The debate was a critical test for Mr. Obama, whose lead in the polls evaporated after his limp performance in the first presidential debate on Oct. 3. Mr. Romney’s support among women spiked after that debate, shrinking the gender gap that had favoured the President. Mr. Obama was not about to repeat his mistake and used the town-hall forum to paint Mr. Romney as a ‘more extreme’ candidate than George W. Bush on social issues, one who would restrict women’s access to contraception. He also accused his opponent, who has touted his five-point plan to get the economy moving, as having only a ‘one-point plan’ aimed at favouring the wealthy. ‘The choice in this election is going to be whose promises are going to be more likely to help you in your life, make sure your kids can go to college, make sure that you are getting a good-paying job, making sure that Medicare and Social Security will be there for you,’ Mr. Obama said. Noting that his health-care law requires employers to cover birth control in employee health-insurance plans, Mr. Obama said Mr. Romney opposed the policy. ‘That’s not the kind of advocacy that women need.'” Read the full article here. | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS

The speech Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard made where she slammed leader of the opposition Tony Abbott, accusing him of sexism and misogyny happened a week ago and in the modern news world that easily could mean an old story – unimportant, blasé. But, as Mr. Gillard noted herself while speaking during a young Indian leaders’ forum held at the Australian High Commission after expressing her surprise that the speech went viral, it appears that the story hasn’t gone away at all.  “I hadn’t quite expected at the time that I gave that speech that it would be looked at on social media in India and beyond. But I understand that it has been and so I suspect that I will be talking about these issues for a long, long time to come. But that’s a good thing because it means we’re all focused on thinking about it,” Mr. Gillard said, as reported by Phillip Hudson for the Herald Sun. “When Julia Gillard appointed Peter Slipper as speaker of Australia’s federal parliament, it seemed a clever tactical ploy to bolster the standing of her minority Labor government,” an article posted by The Economist over the weekend wrote.  It continued, “‘Slippery Pete’ had fallen out with his conservative opposition colleagues. His elevation deprived them of a parliamentary vote. Less than a year later, the ploy crumbled. Mr Slipper quit tearfully on October 9th over sleazy text messages he had sent to a former staff member. The drama erupted amid a broader debate over sexist political attacks against Ms Gillard, the first woman prime minister.” Click here to read the full The Economist article that gives more background information about what went down in the the Australian house of Parliament.   | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS

 “When announcing his resignation as Premier of Ontario on Monday night, Dalton McGuinty said that it was time for the Liberal party to be renewed, with fresh leadership. It was a typically McGuinty-esque positive spin on an unpalatable truth — the Ontario Liberal Party does indeed need new leadership, but only because of how badly the current leadership has made a hash of things,” Matt Gurney wrote in a National Post article yesterday following Dalton McGuinty’s resignation speech. Gurney continued, “No matter what Mr. McGuinty said, and what Liberal spin doctors will say in the days to come, the truth of the matter is that Mr. McGuinty stepped down because his party’s power plant shenanigans simply weren’t something that could be explained away. Not even by someone as good at explaining things away as Mr. McGuinty. Ahead of last fall’s election, with the Liberals down by double-digits in the polls, the decision to scrap construction of two gas-fired power plants in Oakville and Mississauga must have made sense to desperate Liberals. Their plan was simple: Cancel the plants, win a majority, and trust in Mr. McGuinty to ride out any backlash. The gambit almost worked — the Liberals only missed capturing a third majority by one.” Click here to read Gurney’s full article. | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS

Yesterday American physicist David Wineland and French physicist Serge Haroche were notified that they have been honored with the Nobel prize in physics thanks to their decades-long work in the field of quantum optics, specifically with the property of super position, as described by Wineland in an AP interview (link below). The prestigious award recognizes Wineland’s work, that he has been studying for 37 years, in which as he describes is the trapping of atoms and then making them exist in two places at once in the quantum realm.  Very exciting and inspiring science. Video of Wineland being interviewed after finding out he won can be seen here in a Globe and Mail video article. To read about Wineland and Haroche’s work in more detail check out this Buzz Blog article here. | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS

“The federal government has announced it has formally joined talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a vast trade deal that Ottawa hopes will open new markets to Canadian exports. Negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership — or TPP — involve 11 countries with a combined population of 658 million people and combined GDP of $20.5 trillion,” a CBC News online article wrote earlier this week. The article continued, “Canada had lobbied to join the talks for several months and was invited along with Mexico to take part in June. A 90-day notification period imposed by the U.S. Congress expired on Monday, and other member governments had to approve Canada and Mexico’s invitations to the talks, which have been under way for more than 2½ years. International Trade Minister Ed Fast, who is leading a trade mission to the Middle East this week, confirmed Tuesday that Canada has now joined the negotiations. In a written statement, Fast called the TPP ‘a 21st-century agreement that advances Canadian interests.'” Read the full article here. | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS  

“More than half of Canadians (55%) have written a will, but very few have included trusts as part of their estate plans, says a new CIBC poll,” an article posted to Advisor.ca last week stated. The article continued, “It suggests clients should research the vehicles, as they can potentially save taxes by using them, as well as speed up the transfer of their assets upon death. In essence, a trust lets investors transfer assets to a beneficiary under certain terms and conditions; they can outline how and when the funds can be spent, says Jamie Golombek, managing director of tax and estate planning at CIBC Private Wealth Management. ‘You can indicate in the trust document that the money should be used to pay for school tuition, for example, rather than to buy a sports car.’ Additionally, he says a trust is considered to be a separate individual for tax purposes. ‘For a testamentary trust, any income earned on assets is taxed at the same graduated tax rates as an individual. This can yield savings that compound every year.'” Read the full article here. | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS

“Schools with fitter children achieve better literacy and numeracy results, according to Australian research,” a CBC news online health article wrote last week. The article continued, “The study by physiologist Prof. Dick Telford, of the Australian National University, and colleagues, was published in a recent issue of the journal Pediatric Exercise Science. ‘A school that has, on average, high fitness levels will have, on average, higher literacy and numeracy levels,’ Telford told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Previous research in animals and humans has suggested greater fitness and physical activity leads to changes in the brain activity and better performance in cognitive tests and concentration. ‘It took scientists by surprise to a certain degree that there was a consistent relationship,’ Telford said.” Read the full article here. | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS

“My patient, Shane, picks up his latte by 6 a.m. to help guzzle down his vitamins and anti-depressants. He works out with his personal trainer and steps onto his first treadmill of the day. This self-made 53-year-old entrepreneur works at least 60 hours a week putting out fires and has grown somewhat estranged,” Stephanie Bot wrote in an Advisor.ca article last week.

The article continued, “But, he tells me, his greatest concern is his bored, demanding and unmotivated 17-year-old daughter, Marny. These days, his relationship with his “little girl” is mainly comprised of the exchange of funds, goods and services. Affluenza is a social virus — the term was popularized in a late 1990s book by John de Graaf, David Wann and Thomas Naylor. Prevalent among baby boomers and about a decade of post boomers, it manifests as excessive overwork and a driven desire to achieve a certain lifestyle. A new mutation of Affluenze is rampant in the under-30 crowd for whom the symptom of excessive overwork transformed into a sense of entitlement and the notion that the lavish life should be delivered free.” Read the full article here. | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS

“Establishing trusted relationships is a critical imperative for leadership success today, and a key way to develop trust with those you lead is by being vulnerable. I’m not talking about getting on the proverbial therapist’s couch and telling your direct reports all of your deep, inner secrets. I’m talking about disclosing appropriate and relevant amounts of information about yourself over the course of time as relationships grow and develop,” an article posted to Director of Client Services and Trust Practice Leader Randy Conley’s Leading with Trust blog last week stated. The article continued, “In his book, Getting Naked, author Patrick Lencioni discusses three fears that keep us from being vulnerable…from ‘getting naked.’ Lencioni discusses these fears in the context of sabotaging client relationships, but the lessons are equally relevant for leaders in regards to developing trust with their followers.” To read the full article and get a list of common fears click here. | Raymond Matt, CFP, CLU, TEP, CHS