Experts: more data needed on foreign investment in real estate + MORE Jun 19th

National PostNew era: Alberta NDP spends extra $624M, but introduces tax hike on wealthy to …National PostEDMONTON — The NDP government put its imprint on Alberta's wallet Thursday, spending $624 million on schools, hospitals, and social care and introducing a bill to increase taxes on large businesses and the wealthy. The bill, tabled by Finance Minister …Alberta NDP promising new spending ahead of budgetCTV NewsSmaller paycheques for Alberta's highest earners begin Oct. 1Calgary HeraldThrone Speech portends big blow to Alberta's investment climateTroy MediaKawartha Media Groupall 102 news articles »

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Shares of Mindbody Inc., which runs business software and an app that manage bookings at fitness and beauty businesses, fell on Friday during their first day of trading on the Nasdaq.
The San Luis Obispo, Calif-based company priced its initial public offering of 7.15 million shares at $14 per share for proceeds of $100.1 million. Underwriters have an option to buy 1.1 million more shares.
On Friday, shares fell 55 cents, or 3.9 per cent, to $13.45 in afternoon trading.
Mindbody’s app helps users find nearby fitness and wellness classes and services.
Shares are trading under the stock ticker “MB.”
The post Mindbody shares slip on first day of trading on the Nasdaq appeared first on Canadian Business – Your Source For Business News.

▲ Spin Master
Not playing around
Spin Master’s Dino Zoomer toy. (Spin Master)
Oh, how about that. Another Canadian company going public. So many firms are announcing IPOs these days that it’s almost ceased to be noteworthy. Not to take anything away from Spin Master, the latest to test the market’s appetite for a share offering. The Toronto-based toy company hasn’t revealed how much it’s planning to raise, but its prospectus shows it’s a company that’s growing at a healthy clip. Revenue in the first quarter totalled $117 million, up 35% over the year before. Spin Master controls about 2.8% of the U.S. market, making it the fifth-largest toy company. Back in the ’90s, Spin Master scored a hit with its Air Hogs brand—a line of air-pressured powered planes that had the amazing ability to always land in trees or the neighbour’s backyard. Its Bakugan line of battling figurines was another hit—until it wasn’t. Spin Master went through a painful restructuring when sales declined in 2010 and axed 35% of its staff, but has since recovered with products like Zoomer, a robotic dog, and Boomer, a robotic dinosaur…

Research shows Canada isn’t doing enough to prevent young people from making costly financial mistakes. They have more resources to help them learn about money than ever before, from websites to apps, but getting kids to care about how much they spend and save can be a tall order

(Oleksiy Maksymenko/Getty Images)
There is scant data available on how many foreign investors are snatching up Canadian homes, and experts say the knowledge gap needs to be filled if policy makers hope to maintain the stability of the country’s real estate market.
Foreign investment has become a hot-button issue in Vancouver lately, with many residents blaming demand from offshore buyers who are looking for a safe place to stash their money for the city’s soaring home prices.
Critics are also concerned that foreign investors are more likely to pull out of the market at the first sign that prices are heading south, which could exacerbate the extent of a housing correction.
Vancouver Mayor Greg Robertson recently penned a letter to B.C. Premier Christy Clark, suggesting the province introduce a speculation tax on people who flip homes and on luxury properties — a suggestion that Clark shot down.
The B.C. Real Estate Association maintains it’s Vancouver’s constrained geography and limited supply of detached homes — and not demand from foreigners — that’s sending prices through the roof…