At midday: TSX down with oil, banks fall on bond yield dip + MORE Jun 9th

Commodities end winning streaks as growth optimism ebbs

Canadians are clearly believers when it comes to racking up loyalty rewards points.
Nearly three-quarters of us – 72 per cent to be exact – carry at least one credit card that offers a rewards program, according to recent TD Canada Trust research. For more than eight out of 10 cardholders, loyalty perks are a big priority when selecting a card.
However, figuring out exactly how to use those miles or points so you’re not simply wasting them can be a bit confusing. For instance, you can convert points into cash, buy gift cards, book a holiday, transfer them into other loyalty programs or simply buy the bike you’ve had your eye on for a long time.
But what’s a point really worth? With cash back credit cards, the reward you earn is clear: it’s always a percentage of every dollar spent. With other types of rewards though, it’s all about the dollar value of the rewards earned.
Make Sure You’re Getting a Decent Deal
For most programs, a reward mile is going to be worth between one and two cents but that value can vary widely depending on how you choose to redeem it…

A “SOLD OVER ASKING” Royal LePage Urban Realty sign sits in front of a detached house in North Riverdale, Toronto, Ont. (Rachel Verbin/CP)
After years of pumping money into the country’s frothiest housing markets, Canada’s big banks are suddenly—and alarmingly—nervous about the debt-fuelled monster they’ve helped to create. In the span of a few days this week and last, several big-bank CEOs and chief economists let loose a flurry of warnings about surging home prices in Vancouver and Toronto, where it now costs an average of $1.5 million and $1.3 million, respectively, to buy a detached house. “We’re a little concerned about housing prices in the Greater Vancouver area and Toronto,” Brian Porter, CEO of Scotiabank, told Bloomberg TV shortly after the bank’s latest financial results were released. As a result, he added, Scotiabank “took our foot off the gas” when it came to selling new mortgages over the past six months. A few days later, Sherry Cooper, the chief economist at Dominion Lending Centres and the former chief economist at the Bank of Montreal, told Business News Network she was “very worried” about skyrocketing home prices in Vancouver and Toronto because “these things generally don’t end well…