Everyone is an expert in Mortgages these days:
CD Howe: Reduce CMHC role in mortgage insurance
"Ottawa should adopt new legislation ... legally requiring the CMHC to comply with guidelines laid down by the federal regulator."
· TSX +114.41 to 13,551.99 The energy sector led the way to a strong advance on the TSX as massive political unrest in Egypt raised worries about a disruption in oil supplies and pushed crude prices higher.
· DOW +68.23 to 11,823.70 also higher amid a strong earnings report from energy giant ExxonMobil
· Dollar -.04c to 99.85c USD as investors sought safety in the U.S. dollar and the loonie closed below parity for a second day in a row, despite data from Statistics Canada showing that gross domestic product grew 0.4 per cent in November, better than the 0.3 per cent reading that economists had expected.
· Oil +$2.85 to $92.19 USD per barrel Crude has surged almost eight per cent over the last two sessions on worries that the Suez Canal, a key route for oil tankers and cargo ships, may be closed and that the unrest could spread as protests continued against the rule of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
· Gold -$7.20 to $1334.50 per ounce
· Canadian 5 yr bond yields markets -.03bps to 2.49. The spread (based on the NEW MERIX 5 yr rate published rate of 3.99%) has moved to the high end of the comfort zone at 1.50.
The Canadian Press Investors were also pleased with data showing that U.S. consumer spending rose 0.7 per cent in December, the sixth straight monthly increase. The Commerce Department also reported that households saw their incomes rise 0.4 per cent, the same as November. For all of 2010, consumers boosted spending 3.5 per cent. That was the best performance since a 5.2 percent rise in 2007, before the recession began.
