Canada

Authored by Steve Saretsky via VanCityCondoGuide.com,

The HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) has been a blessing and a curse for Canadian households. While it has helped spur house prices and simultaneously provided consumers the ability to tap into their new found equity, it has also crippled many Canadian households into a debt trap that seems insurmountable.

Between 2000 and 2010, HELOC balances soared from $35 billion to $186 billion, according to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, an average annual growth rate of 20%.

Authored by Nick Cunningham via OilPrice.com,

Oil from Canada’s oil sands is now selling at a $27-per-barrel discount relative to WTI, the sharpest difference in more than four years.

Western Canada Select (WCS), a benchmark for oil from Alberta’s oil sands, has plunged in December, falling to just $30 per barrel at the end of this past week. WCS typically trades at a discount to WTI, reflecting the differences in quality from lighter forms of oil, as well as the extra transportation costs to move oil hundreds of miles out of Alberta.

Bank of Canada Governor Is Right To Be Worried About The Economy

Written by Peter Diekmeyer, Sprott Money News

Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz cited numerous worries plaguing the economy during his speech to Toronto’s financial elites yesterday at the prestigious Canadian Club.

However, the title of Poloz’s presentation, “Three things keeping me awake at night” seemed odd, given positive recent Canadian employment, GDP and other data.

The growing trade feud between the US and Canada escalated overnight when Ottawa announced it was scrapping a plan to buy 18 F-18 Boeing Super Hornet fighter jets amid a deepening dispute with the U.S. aerospace company, Reuters reported. In a snub to the US, Canada's Liberal government will instead announce that intends to acquire a used fleet of older Australia F-18 jets, the same kind of plane Canada currently operates.