At times, you may need to go in debt for something that's really important to you but does not provide a financial return. There is no financial 'safety net' here to protect you, so proceed with caution.
We've filtered through our favorite news sites and here are the articles we're talking about around the office.
- Mortgage lending tightens for self-employed, immigrants
- Imperial approves $2-billion oilsands project
- Oil sands investment to hit new high in 2013: report
- Looser loans raise ire
- Second-Best Year on Record for Sales
- No Hit Toy to Brighten Retailers’ Christmas
- Wall St. rallies on central banks' help for Europe
- Behind the strong growth, economy shows signs of underlying weakness
- 'Super visa' immigration program launches
- IMF predicts moderate growth for Canadian economy
It’s going to be tougher for the self employed, new immigrants and higher-risk borrowers to get a mortgage as concerns continue to mount over the state of Canada’s housing market.
CIBC’s wholesale mortgage arm, FirstLine, quietly announced Tuesday that it will no longer accept new applications from “stated income” homebuyers who can’t prove they have the annual net income to qualify for home loans. [more]
Imperial Oil Ltd. is going ahead with a $2-billion expansion to its Cold Lake oilsands operation in northeastern Alberta, part of a plan to double overall production by the end of the decade. [more]
Despite concerns over costs, inflation and crude price volatility, oil sands investment will rise to an all-time high of $18.5-billion by 2013, beating the previous peak of $18.1 billion in 2008, according to AltaCorp Capital research. [more]
Financial institutions appear to be cracking down on rules for borrowers with self-declared income, a move that comes as Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says he's concerned about a lack of standards in the sector. [more]
The December result capped off the second-best year on record under the current Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) boundaries. Total sales for 2011 amounted to 89,347 – up four per cent in comparison to 2010. [more]
With Christmas less than two weeks away, the toy industry has no runaway hit — leaving many toy shoppers bored and complicating how stores sell holiday inventory. [more]
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks surged on Wednesday after major central banks agreed to make cheaper dollar loans for struggling European banks to prevent the euro-zone debt woes from turning into a full-blown credit crisis. [more]
OTTAWA - On the surface, Canada is riding high with a growth rate that is the envy of the western world — but analysts say this may be a case of statistics obscuring the truth. [more]
A program that allows Canadians to apply for so-called super visas launches Thursday [more]
After Canada's strong recovery from the global financial crisis, its economic growth is moderating, the IMF said Monday. [more]