The circus elephant takes a final bow + MORE Apr 26th

An elephant act at a circus performance on December 19,1958. (Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo)
The dowager ambles toward an early supper, leaving footprints as round as moons. She is a saggy-skinned and cloudy-eyed old girl, born before India was independent, a subject of the British Raj. They say she is the oldest of her kind there ever has been.
Her man-name is Mysore, for the city in the south of the subcontinent from which she was shipped, 70 years ago. What her own mother called her, how she caressed her and adored her, how she ached and trumpeted when her child was corralled and shipped across two oceans, we can never know.
What we do know is that the life for which Mysore was destined was the life of a circus elephant: the trains and trailers, the spotlights and music, the head stands and hind legs, the awe and laughter, the sharp-pointed bullhooks used in training and the brave little children daring to draw near to the closest creature that we have to a breathing mastodon…

Rapid pace of trade growth before the financial crisis was ’the exception, and not the rule,’ Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz tells New York audience

OTTAWA – Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz says he’s optimistic that the striking weaknesses in international trade are not signs of a looming global recession.
In prepared remarks of a New York speech Tuesday, Poloz said trade growth has once again slowed dramatically after rebounding from its collapse caused by the 2008 financial crisis.
But he added that the slowdown in global exports does not signal impending trouble and is likely a result of the fact that big opportunities to boost global trade have already been largely exploited. As an example, he noted that China can only join the World Trade Organization once.
Poloz expressed confidence that most of the trade slump will be reversed as the global economy recovers — even if it’s a slow process.
“The weakness in trade we’ve seen is not a warning of an impending recession,” Poloz told a meeting of the Investment Industry Association of Canada and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association…

Learn, save, invest and prosper with My Own Advisor.
This is an updated post on managing your tax refund.
Congratulations – because you took advantage of tax credits and deductions, and you contributed more money to your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) this past year – you got a tax refund back.  Now the vexing question – what should you do with your tax refund?  Instead of rushing out to blow your new found windfall (and you could of course!) consider these alternatives to spend your tax refund wisely this year.
Pay off credit card debt
Yes, boring, but the sooner you rid yourself of consumer debt the sooner you can enjoy the money you make.   I always believe the money you don’t have to pay others is the money you get to keep or spend for yourself.
Save for retirement
Article after article highlights most of us aren’t saving nearly enough for retirement.  After your credit card debt is zero, consider using your tax refund to pay for your future self.  Saving for tomorrow is not only smart but if you sock some or most of your tax refund into your RRSP, you’ll be well on your way to getting an even bigger tax refund next year…

Oil prices rise but possible battle for market share caps gains