HEATHER SCOFFIELD
OTTAWA
July 30, 2008 at 10:46 AM EDT

Heavily subsidized energy in the Middle East will help drive the inflation rate in the United States to 6 per cent within six months, and prompt the U.S. Federal Reserve Board to go on a rate-hiking frenzy, CIBC chief economist Jeff Rubin predicts.
Despite the recent fall in oil [...]

LYNNE OLVER
Reuters
July 30, 2008 at 12:46 PM EDT

TORONTO — — Insurance and wealth-management company Great-West Lifeco Inc. [GWO-T] said Wednesday its second-quarter profit more than doubled due to a large gain connected to the sale of its U.S. health care business.
Even without the gain, Great-West’s results were ahead of expectations, and it raised its dividend [...]

Many Canadians turn to Guaranteed Investment Certificates, or GICs, as a safe, ‘guaranteed’ means of retirement income. But what they don’t realize is that inflation erodes a lot of their gains.

Jeb and his money, you see, will be bucking inflation. Although we’re enjoying a relative lull in inflationary pressures compared to what we saw in [...]

The TSX has slumped over 10% since June 18, which has understandably stirred up a lot of anxiety. Our John Caspar feels this pain, but has a lifetime spent working in the financial industry to help him see the bigger picture.

By John Caspar
July 25, 2008

Okay, let’s see. The world’s largest economy is on life support, [...]

Talbot Boggs
July 29, 2008

(Special) ? A recent report has added still more depressing data to the growing plethora of evidence indicating Canadians aren’t financially prepared for retirement.

The Association of Canadian Pension Management (ACPM) says in a report the typical pension plans being offered to Canadian workers won’t make a “meaningful” contribution to the creation of [...]

July 28, 2008

In retirement and riding a rough market

When the market gets rocky, it can be especially hard on retirees who can’t afford to wait out the bumps.  Give your portfolio a check up and make sure your investing strategy still works for you.

Question: My husband and I have been retired for five years. In just [...]

After nearly a decade, these growth stocks are finally showing some signs of life.
By Michael Sivy, Money Magazine editor-at-large
July 28, 2008: 6:25 PM EDT

(Money Magazine) — Blue-chip growth stocks are a great foundation for your portfolio because steady, superior earnings growth usually produces above-average returns.
But you’ll find the number of large, seasoned growth companies with [...]

The Conference Board’s key measure increases slightly in July after a six-month slide.
By Catherine Clifford, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: July 29, 2008: 11:24 AM EDT

Despite the small improvement in consumer sentiment from June, consumer outlook remains “very pessimistic,” according to the report by the New York-based Conference Board, a business research organization.
The board said its [...]

MONTREAL - SNC Lavalin (TSX:SNC), one of the world’s biggest engineering companies, says its subsidiary, Groupe Qualitas, has acquired Laboratoire Sol et Beton L.S.B., a Quebec City material and geotechnical engineering firm.

Financial terms of the deal, announced Tuesday, were not revealed.

Laboratoire Sol et Beton has 50 employees and has just joined SNC-Lavalin’s materials and geotechnical [...]

Long considered the bedrock of global finance, the U.S. currency is now foundering — a shift that for Americans means pricey European hotel rooms, $50 gas fill-ups and a bad case of the greenback blues.

By Ernest Beck
July 29, 2008

The plummeting value of the U.S. dollar has made stark headlines over the past year as politicians [...]