The markets have closed and the December edition of PrefLetter is now being prepared. PrefLetter is the monthly newsletter recommending individual issues of preferred shares to subscribers. There is at least one recommendation from every …
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January 12, 2013
Here’s another fascinating unintended consequence: China’s one-child policy has produced adults that tend to have personality traits unsuited for starting businesses or managing companies, according to a study that adds to economic concerns surrounding the …
January 10, 2013
Work sharing is becoming more common in the US: Instead of dismissal notices, employees get a shortened work week, with unemployment benefits partially compensating for lost wages. Popularly known as work sharing, the program holds …
January 9, 2013
A Bank of Canada Working Paper by Katya Kartashova, Ben Tomlin examines House Prices, Consumption and the Role of Non-Mortgage Debt: This paper examines the relationship between house prices and consumption, through the use of …
January 8, 2013
Interesting take on chaotic theories of markets: Dr Tobias Galla from The University of Manchester and Professor Doyne Farmer from Oxford University and the Santa Fe Institute, ran thousands of simulations of two-player games to …
January 7, 2013
We have more welfare payments to dinosaurs: The federal government announced a five-year extension of its $250-million Automotive Innovation Fund Friday that was immediately deemed by some industry observers as the ongoing cost of Canada’s …
MAPF Portfolio Composition: December, 2012
Turnover increased in December, to 10%. There is extreme segmentation in the marketplace, with OSFI’s NVCC rule changes in February 2011 having had the effect of splitting the formerly relatively homogeneous Straight Perpetual class of …
January 4, 2013
There was a decent, but by no means stellar, US jobs number: Employers added workers in December at about the same pace as the prior month, and the unemployment rate matched a four-year low, showing …
January 3, 2013
Suncor has a corporate policy of ineffective supervision: Last June, Suncor told its workers it would introduce a sweeping random drug-and-alcohol testing policy for all employees in “safety-sensitive” roles, meaning they could be tested at …
January 2, 2013
Good news on pensions – but not for the sponsors: The solvency of Canadian defined benefit pension plans improved in 2012, a new Mercer study says. The consultant said Wednesday that its Pension Health Index …