The Bank of Canada Carolyn Wilkins: ‘Uncertainty lingers’ + MORE Oct 6th

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A well-heeled political donor has been charged with using his health-technology company to run a $30 million investment fraud scheme.
Sreedhar Potarazu of Potomac, Maryland, has given to Democrats and Republicans, but it is his large contributions to the Democratic National Committee that put him in the spotlight. A series of hacked emails released by WikiLeaks show DNC officials debating whether he deserved a seat next to President Obama at an event. DNC staffers also express frustration in the emails about Potarazu’s persistence in seeking an audience with Obama.
The fraud scheme outlined Thursday in court papers contains no direct link to his political donations. Federal prosecutors in Alexandria say Potarazu induced people to invest millions in his company by hiding his tax liabilities and lying about the company’s finances.
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A scenic view at twilight of Sunset Beach on the West End’s waterfront, English Bay, Vancouver, B.C. (Bayne Stanley/CP)
OTTAWA – A report by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says home sales in Vancouver were already slowing before the plunge in recent months in the wake of a new tax on foreign buyers.
In its housing market insight report into the preliminary impact of the foreign buyers tax, CMHC says it’s too early to determine the long-term impact of the decision.
The housing agency says the drop in sales in August and September continued an already established trend, particularly at the higher end of the price range.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported earlier this week that September home sales fell 32.6 per cent compared with the same month last year. That followed a 26 per cent year-over-year decline in August and a dip of about 19 per cent the previous month.
The B.C. government implemented a 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers in August.
Provincial government data shows an increase in foreign homebuyers in the days before the tax came into effect on Aug…

We’re hard at work on this year’s Dividend All-Stars, which grades the largest 100 dividend stocks in Canada. As a preview, I thought you might be interested in a few highlights and some behind the scenes data to whet your appetite for the next issue of the magazine.
The Dividend All-Stars strategy has been running since 2007 under a variety of names. Last year it was called the Retirement 100, but the core approach to finding good dividend stocks hasn’t changed. That’s a good thing, because it has been quite profitable over the years.
Our A-graded stocks gained a total of 148%, on average, since we stared back in 2007 despite the market crash of 2008. While the market recovered from its lows, it climbed just 39% over the same period.
Last year was also a good one for the A-graded stocks, which gained 14% on average. By way of comparison, the market climbed 11% over the same time frame.
This year there are just under 300 dividend paying common stocks on the TSX. While we focus primarily on the 100 largest companies (those with market capitalization in excess of $2,850 million), the following statistics reflect the larger universe of dividend payers…

Carolyn Wilkins. (Photograph by Erin Schaff)
OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada’s senior deputy governor says there’s still uncertainty around the long-hoped-for rebound of the country’s crucial non-resource export sectors.
In prepared remarks of a Quebec speech she was to deliver Thursday, Carolyn Wilkins said the future of these exports is not entirely predictable despite some encouraging numbers in July and August.
“Uncertainty lingers,” Wilkins said in an address she was to deliver at the Universite du Quebec a Trois-Rivieres.
“This uncertainty comes in part from the future growth of U.S. investment. It is also possible that the effect of lower oil prices on the U.S. economy is less positive than anticipated.”
The Bank of Canada has been waiting for the country’s non-commodity exports to rebound ever since the collapse of oil prices and the dollar’s slide a couple of years ago. Many are banking on the sector’s eventual pickup to help lift the stubbornly sluggish economy…

CTV NewsUN Security Council formally approves GuterresCTV NewsPortugal's former prime minister Antonio Guterres, who has been formally approved to be the next U.N. secretary-general, says he wants to be "an honest broker, a bridge-builder and someone who tries to create conditions for consensus." Security Council …and more »