Alimentation Couche Tard feels ongoing pain from weak economy in Western Canada + MORE Mar 14th

Challenging economic conditions in Western Canada continued to weigh down on Alimentation Couche-Tard in the third quarter, despite the addition of 278 former Esso locations in Ontario and Quebec, the company said Tuesday.
Merchandise revenues from stores open for at least a year decreased by 0.9 per cent as a result of the region’s struggling economy, while same-store fuel sales were off 0.8 per cent, the convenience store operator said.
Still, Couche-Tard (TSX:ATD.B) reported higher overall net income as revenue rose 22 per cent, largely due to its operations in the United States and Europe.
The Laval, Que.-based company said it earned US$287 million or 50 cents per share in the quarter ended Jan. 29, up from US$274 million or 48 cents per share in the comparable period last year.
Adjusted earnings were 53 cents per share, about the same as last year, but well below analyst forecasts of 66 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters.
Revenue at the company, which reports in U…

PARIS — French presidential candidate Francois Fillon was given preliminary charges Tuesday in an investigation of taxpayer-funded jobs his wife and children received but allegedly never performed.
A top contender in a French presidential election never has reached such a critical step in a criminal investigation, yet Fillon has vowed to keep campaigning less than six weeks before the contest’s first round.
The charges further damage the image of the former prime minister, who used to tout his reputation for probity. And it further reduces his chances of winning the two-round April 23-May 7 presidential election in which he once was viewed as the leading contender.
Investigating judges filed the charges Tuesday, Celine Clement-Petremann of the national financial prosecutor’s office said. It was a surprise move — Fillon had said the judges summoned him for Wednesday, but they apparently moved up the decision.
Fillon is accused of misusing public funds, receiving money from the misuse of public funds, complicity in misusing public funds and improper declaration of assets, among other charges, the prosecutor’s office said…

Around 82% of Canadians took part in the second-hand economy last year spending $29 billion in second-hand transactions; this according to the Kijiji Second-Hand Economy (SHE) Index – 2017 Report.
That’s an increase of $1 billion from the previous year!
Are you surprised to see such big numbers? Don’t be. On average, people participating in the SHE saved $843—that’s up from $480 in the previous year. And if you were on the selling side of things, the average earnings were $1,037 (up from $883 in 2015).

How does VarageSale compare to Kijiji? »

As it turns out, the second-hand economy is a great source for savings. Canadians who participated were motivated by the opportunity to save money and getting a good deal, according to Kijiji’s report.
The money saved (or earned by sellers) was put towards making everyday purchases, savings, and paying off debt.
What are people trading?
According to the SHE index, the following were the top exchanged goods.

Clothing, shoes & accessories
Entertainment products
Baby clothing and accessories
Games, toys, and video games
Leisure, art, and craft items

This really isn’t that surprising when you realize that the second-hand economy isn’t just about buying and selling used goods; it also refers to donating, renting, gifting, sharing and, swapping…

Save, invest, prosper with My Own Advisor.
Unless you’ve been living under a financial news rock recently, longtime TD Bank employees have gone public – citing “incredible pressure” to squeeze bank profits from customers.  Yet this is nothing new in the financial sector.  The banking sector mandate is to loan loads of money and sell financial products to customers, almost to the extent possible.  However the pressure to do so at TD Bank has invariably gone way too far.
So this begs a question for me – what’s next for TD Bank?
It also begs another more important question – what’s next for you the customer?
First off, embarking on cultural change is not easy.  Behaviours become entrenched and are not easily changed.  Thousands of TD Bank employees won’t change their ways easily unless a number of enablers are place.  Even then, change starts at the top.
Secondly, there always has and will always be a “sales” element to any organization.  Organizations are in business to make money after all…

Students applying to college and university for the September 2017 semester will be the first to benefit from the new OSAP. Last year, Ontario announced that it would be revamping financial assistance to make college and university more affordable for students, with some even being eligible for ‘free’ tuition.
Many might not realize that also benefiting from the changes are qualifying ‘mature’ students. This means that eligible Ontarians can go to college or university as mature students with enough OSAP grant funds to possibly cover their entire year’s tuition. The hope is that they can brush up on their skills to get better jobs in workforce. (For the purposes of OSAP, a student would be considered a ‘mature’ student if they are a single “independent” student, married/common-law, or a sole support parent. In general, students are classified as “dependent” whether or not they are living on their own if they have been out of high school less than four years…