Business Highlights + MORE May 12th

You may have come across online payday loan advertisements offering something along these lines: fast, easy cash with no hassle and instant approval.
A new decision by Google means you may be seeing fewer of those ads during searches. The tech leader has announced that it is banning ads for loans due within 60 days and U.S. loans with an APR of 36% or higher.
“This change is designed to protect our users from deceptive or harmful financial products,” said David Graff, Director of Global Product Policy in a post on Google’s public policy blog.
Payday loans, known for their notoriously high interest rates and short repayment periods, are often offered to people who have poor credit scores and may have difficulty getting a loan from a bank.
Starting July 13, users that type “loans” into Google, for example, will not see ads from payday lenders in their search results, according to the Associated Press.
In Canada, most provinces have their own limits on payday loans in order to protect consumers…

OTTAWA – With the widespread use of exchange-traded funds, investment experts say you need to understand what you are buying and how an ETF works within your portfolio.
ETFs have grown in popularity with the promise of low-fees compared with mutual funds. But not all ETFs are the same. Even if they are trying to track the same index, they can differ in how they do that.
An ETF can hold the stocks or bonds that make up the index that it is supposed to track, or it can be what is referred to as a synthetic ETF that uses a contract with a counterparty, usually a bank, which promises to pay the return of the index.
Best ETFs for 2016 »
“You just have to be careful with them and use them as a tool, rather than an investment on its own,” says CIBC Wood Gundy portfolio manager Daniel Girard.
“You use them as a piece of a total portfolio and just use them in a way that gives you the best risk-return profile with the lowest cost,” says Girard, who is based in Waterloo, Ont.
Girard says he looks for simplicity, low-cost and ability to trade when it comes to ETFs…

Learn, save, invest and prosper with My Own Advisor.
Welcome to another Weekend Reading edition friends, I hope you had a good week.
It’s been very busy week at work but I did manage to sneak in a few articles on my blog:

Smarten up with The Smart Debt Coach – your chance to see what author Talbot Stevens thinks about debt and your chance to win a copy of his book.
I shared this case study about investing in a U.S. Master Limited Partnership.
Not sure how to vacation and save money this summer? You’re not alone – consider a Canada-cation or staycation close to home.

Congratulations to Peter who won the Market Masters book giveaway – your copy is in the mail to you.
Have a great weekend and see you here next week.
Our Big Fat Wallet shared his latest dividend income update.  I will do that soon here on my site.
Retire by 40 wondered if you could retire on 5 million dollars.  Here was my response to him:

Big Cajun Man shared some home insurance gotchas.
My friends at Greedy Rates just evaluated a host of cash back credit cards…

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Middle class shrinks in 9 of 10 US cities as incomes fall
WASHINGTON (AP) — In cities across America, the middle class is hollowing out.
A widening wealth gap is moving more households into either higher- or lower-income groups in major metro areas, with fewer remaining in the middle, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center.
In nearly one-quarter of metro areas, middle-class adults no longer make up a majority, the Pew analysis found. That’s up from fewer than 10 per cent of metro areas in 2000.
That sharp shift reflects a broader erosion that occurred from 2000 through 2014. Over that time, the middle class shrank in nine of every 10 metro areas, Pew found.
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Nissan pays bargain price for Mitsubishi stake, analysts say
Nissan is spending 237 billion yen ($2.2 billion) for a controlling stake in Mitsubishi Motors, as that company tries to recover from a scandal over fuel-economy ratings.
Analysts say Nissan is making the move because the price is right and Mitsubishi has sales and technology in areas where Nissan has little…

MONTREAL – Quebec’s Caisse de depot will have a response to its funding request for the Montreal electric light-rail project within a reasonable time frame, federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Thursday.
He also said the second phase of the federal infrastructure program will be launched within the next six months.
“We are confident the project’s timeline will satisfy Montreal and the Caisse and will give us enough time to look at the benefits of the program,” Morneau told a news conference after a speech to the Montreal Board of Trade.
Morneau reiterated the Liberal government’s interest in the project, adding Ottawa is aiming to support second-phase projects by negotiating partnerships with other levels of government and with the private sector.
The Caisse de depot’s project represents an investment of $5.5 billion, with the pension fund manager willing to provide $3 billion and the remaining $2.5 billion having to come from Ottawa and Quebec…