Toronto stock index crawls higher as shares in Bombardier soar after Airbus deal + MORE Oct 17th

TORONTO – Licensed marijuana producer stocks are down as much as 15 per cent in a sector-wide selloff a day after the Toronto Stock Exchange said firms with cannabis-related business activities that violate U.S. federal law could face delisting.
Shares in Aphria Inc., which expanded into Florida in April, (TSX:APH) fell as much as 13 per cent on Tuesday as the company announced a bought-deal financing agreement to raise $80 million, by issuing more than 11 million shares at a price of $7.25 per share. Shares in the company were down 94 cents at $6.98 in trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Meanwhile, Emblem Cannabis’ shares (TSXV:EMC) fell as much as 15 per cent and Maple Leaf Green World Inc. saw its shares slip by as much as 10 per cent (TSXV:MGW). Shares of Canopy Growth (TSX:WEED), Canada’s biggest licensed marijuana producer, fell as much as eight per cent, on the TSX.
On Monday, the TSX issued a staff notice that said U.S. federal law takes precedence over state laws, and issuers that violate the federal marijuana law are not complying with listing requirements…

Today, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) introduced new rules on mortgage lending to take effect next year.
OSFI is setting a new minimum qualifying rate, or “stress test,” for uninsured mortgages (mortgage consumers with down payments 20% or greater than their home price).
The rules now require the minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages to be the greater of the five-year benchmark rate published by the Bank of Canada (presently 4.89%) or 200 basis points above the mortgage holder’s contractual mortgage rate. “The main effect will be felt by first-time buyers,” says James Laird, co-founder of Ratehub.ca. “No matter how much money they put down as a down payment, they will have to pass the stress test.” The effect of the changes will be huge, resulting in a 20% decrease in affordability, meaning a first-time homebuyer will be able to buy 20% less house, explains Laird.
MoneySense asked Ratehub.ca to run the numbers on two likely scenarios and find out what it would mean for a family’s bottom line…

On occasion of the Holy Shroud Exposition, in the Senate Hall, Palazzo Madama, from April 24 to June 2, 2015 has exposed the self-portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci. The drawing shows a thoughtful and senior face of Leonardo. (Elena Aquila/Pacific Press/LightRocket/Getty Images)
Currently a professor of history at Tulane University, and a past CEO of the Aspen Institute, chairman of CNN and editor of Time magazine, Walter Isaacson has spent much of the past two decades writing big biographies of big men. His books to date include Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life and Kissinger: A Biography. His 2011 biography of Steve Jobs, published days after the Apple co-founder and CEO’s death, became an international bestseller. His latest, titled simply Leonardo da Vinci, is his biggest yet both in terms of its subject and sheer mass: weighing over three-and-a-half pounds, it features colour plates printed on sumptuous glossy stock throughout. Using as its starting point the 7,200 pages of surviving notebooks written in Leonardo’s famous mirror script—Isaacson calls them “the greatest record of curiosity ever created”—the biography moves chronologically from Leonardo’s illegitimate birth in the small Tuscan town of Vinci to his artistic triumphs in Milan and Florence, where for a time he worked under the patronage of the ruthless tyrant Cesare Borgia and also found himself in frequent competition with the moody and ill-tempered Michelangelo…

National PostMorneau chose not to set up a blind trust for his holdings, ethics commissioner suggestsNational PostOTTAWA — Speaking for the first time on the escalating controversy over Finance Minister Bill Morneau's personal finances, Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson clarified on Tuesday she had simply told Morneau it wasn't a requirement to set up a blind trust …Ethics watchdog says blind trust for Morneau's assets 'not required'Financial PostOpposition pressures Morneau over ethicsmississauga.comShould we know what the federal finance minister owns?Toronto Starall 22 news articles »

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index eked out a minor gain today, as shares of Bombardier Inc. soared following its CSeries deal with Airbus.
Shares in Bombardier (TSX:BBD.B) were the most heavily traded stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange as they gained nearly 16 per cent or 37 cents at $2.73 at the end of the trading session. The company announced a deal late Monday that will see Airbus obtain a majority stake in the CSeries aircraft.
The S&P/TSX composite index advanced 14.20 points to 15,816.90. The Canadian dollar was trading at an average price of 79.69 cents US, down 0.12 of a cent.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 40.48 points to 22,997.44. The S&P 500 index was up 1.72 points to 2,559.36 and the Nasdaq composite index was down 0.35 of a point to 6,623.66.
The December crude contract was down three cents to US$52.11 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was up two cents at US$2.96 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down $16…