EU to soften fuel quality rules, opening door to Canadian crude: Financial Times + MORE Jun 6th

Welcome to my latest Weekend Reading list.   Earlier this week I wrote about why dividend investing (along with indexing) is a strategy that works for me and some ideas on a better way to budget.
I hope to post an article next week about my perspectives on human capital and if I have time, a dividend income update for last month.
Enjoy your weekend and thanks for reading and supporting My Own Advisor.
In his own words “…we finally did it, we hit the million dollar net worth milestone.”  Congratulations to FrugalTrader on reaching your goal…very impressive to say the least.
Canadian Mortgage Trends had a one-on-one with IG’s VP of banking and mortgage operations after Investors Group started and ended its 1.99% variable-rate mortgage promotion recently.
Here’s a financial anti-bucket list thanks to Big Cajun Man.
This article reminds us that indexing works, so listen to Warren Buffett.
Rob Carrick had some portfolio advice for first time homebuyers.
Robb Engen discussed retirement numbers and although he didn’t give a number he did say “by developing good saving habits early on you’ll be in a better position to make those course corrections along the way…

This GIC rate is offered by Oaken Financial and was updated on 2013-11-28. Click on the link above to get more details or apply online.

WASHINGTON – Central banks can’t fix everything.
The European Central Bank took bold steps Thursday to protect Europe’s fragile economic recovery, cutting interest rates and offering to pump more money into the financial system.
Economists generally praised the moves, which are designed to raise dangerously low inflation in the 18 countries that use the euro and encourage lending. The ECB’s steps could also make exporters more competitive by reducing the euro’s value and thereby making Europe’s goods less expensive abroad.
But they say Europe’s economy won’t return to health until it receives long-term fixes that the ECB can’t provide on its own.
The ECB’s “actions will help, but only on the margin,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “This will be a very long road.”
Zandi says banks across the continent must strengthen their own finances, possibly with taxpayer help, before they’re healthy and confident enough to ramp up lending…

This GIC rate is offered by Oaken Financial and was updated on 2013-11-28. Click on the link above to get more details or apply online.

The federal government is saying little on a report that the European Union is poised to soften fuel quality rules so products made from Canada’s oilsands would not face hefty penalties.
The Financial Times is reporting that EU officials have decided to change a draft of a fuel quality directive, something Canadian officials have lobbied their European counterparts to do.
Proposed EU environmental legislation would have set heavy penalties on petroleum products made from Alberta’s oilsands, citing higher carbon emissions associated with its production.
A story on the Financial Times website quotes EU parliamentarian Chris Davies as saying EU climate action commissioner Connie Hedegaard was outvoted by industrial and trade officials on the commission.
The Times said Hedegaard wouldn’t comment.
A spokesman for Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford says he is aware of the media reports, but adds the EU parliament must sign off on the rules so Canada will have to await the outcome…