Today, despite a massive effort by Alberta to actually cut taxes on drilling, by some estimates drilling activity is 70 percent off last year’s levels in Canada and more than 50 percent in the US. Read More

Canadian banks' resilience is a pleasant surprise given Canada’s dependence on the US economy. The ability to withstand--and prosper--during the downturn certainly highlights their fundamental strengths. Read More

The Middle Kingdom, its leaders focused on maintaining social order through managed economic growth, is deploying its vast excess currency reserves through SOEs such as PetroChina and sovereign wealth funds (SWF) such as China Investment Corp (CIC) to buy overseas commodity assets. Read More

Overall net foreign purchases of Canadian stocks minus Canadian purchases of foreign securities worked out to 3 percent of GDP, the highest it’s been since the days when the Toronto Blue Jays won World Series. Read More

Global trading volume makes milliseconds worth something, and connected firms spend millions developing sophisticated computer programs that buy and sell stock at incredible rates. Read More

Moves by central banks to create liquidity must eventually filter through the financial system into the real economy in the form of loans to households and non-financial corporations if this nascent recovery is to become self-sustaining. Read More

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty wants Canada to receive as much of the SWF’s largesse as possible. To this end, Flaherty is meeting today with CIC Chairman Lou Jiwei. Read More

China has a large and growing store of excess foreign exchange reserves. It hasn't had to tap those reserves during the recession. China Investment Corp (CIC), burned a bit by financials, still has plenty of resources to deploy. Read More

Four Canadian trusts cut distributions last month. Each owed its fate to lower demand from North American consumers, which has constricted cash flow at its business. Read More

The Canadian dollar's recent performance is an indication of two critical economic developments. Its rise coincides with increases in investor confidence and risk appetite. Also, however, and somewhat paradoxically, it's being used as a hedge against inflation in the US--in other words, a type of safe haven. Read More