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Thursday 31 January 2019

Catalyst for Gold Locked and Loaded?

Gold Outshines the S&P 500 in 2018

We believe that gold bullion and gold mining equities may be poised for a multi-year uptrend. Gold bullion beat U.S. equities for the month of December, the fourth quarter, and the full calendar year of 2018. Spot gold1 declined 1.58% versus the 4.39% drop in the S&P 500 Total Return Index2 in 2018 (Figure 1). Gold also outperformed most currencies last year, with the exception of the Swiss franc and the Japanese yen.

The bulk of gold’s 2018 outperformance came in the fourth quarter, on the back of the steep fall of the S&P 500 after it hit a high in late September, as shown in Figure 2. Gold rallied 7.54% in the fourth quarter, while the S&P 500 lost 13.52%. The rise in gold mining equities was also impressive in Q4, with Sprott Gold Miners ETF (SGDM)3gaining 12.63%.

Chart of the greatest and most remarkable achievement in human history, thanks to free market capitalism


Pope Francis has been excoriating capitalism lately, blaming it for causing global injustice and climate change, and even comparing the excesses of unfettered capitalism to the “dung of the devil.” The pontiff’s strong anti-capitalism message reminded me of the chart above. In a CD post in 2013, I suggested that a slightly different version of the chart could perhaps qualify as the “chart of the century” because it illustrates one of the most remarkable achievements in human history: the 80% reduction in world poverty in only 36 years, from 26.8% of the world’s population living on $1 or less (in 1987 dollars) in 1970 to only 5.4% in 2006 (light blue line), led by the 97% reduction in the poverty rate in East Asia (excluding Japan and Hong Kong) from 58.8% to 1.7% over that time period. The data in the chart come from a 2009 NBER working paper “Parametric Estimations of the World Distribution of Income,” by economists Maxim Pinkovskiy (MIT) and Xavier Sala-i-Martin (Columbia).


What accounts for the greatest achievement in human history that you never hear about, and which provides some counterbalance to the anti-market message of Pope Francis? AEI president Arthur Brooks explains in the video above, summarized below:

It turns out that between 1970 and 2010 the worst poverty in the world – people who live on one dollar a day or less – that has decreased by 80 percent (see chart above). You never hear about that.

It’s the greatest achievement in human history, and you never hear about it.

80 percent of the world’s worst poverty has been eradicated in less than 40 years. That has never, ever happened before.

So what did that? What accounts for that? United Nations? US foreign aid? The International Monetary Fund? Central planning? No.

It was globalization, free trade, the boom in international entrepreneurship. In short, it was the free enterprise system, American style, which is our gift to the world.

I will state, assert and defend the statement that if you love the poor, if you are a good Samaritan, you must stand for the free enterprise system, and you must defend it, not just for ourselves but for people around the world. It is the best anti-poverty measure ever invented.

MP: I would argue that free market capitalism, American style, has done more to reduce world poverty than any anti-poverty efforts of the Catholic Church and the Vatican. In fact, I would even argue that just one free-market capitalist corporation – Walmart – might even do as much, or more, to alleviate poverty by providing everyday low prices and jobs for hundreds of thousands of low-income people than the anti-poverty efforts of the Catholic Church in the countries where Walmart operates (US, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, India, China, and nine African countries). In addition to reducing poverty with low-cost groceries, clothing and household goods, Walmart improves the lives of underserved individuals and communities with $1.4 billion in charitable giving every year, which is almost $4 million every day!

Source: Mark J. Perry | AEI 

In equal societies, women and men are becoming more unequal

In the Philippines, Russia and Thailand, women are six to seven times more likely to study physics than women in Japan, Canada or Germany. Here scientists work on a crab cavity at CERN, the big European centre for particle physics. CERN / PNG

It is somewhat unsettling and a real surprise that currently equality is accentuating the differences between men and women. And it is that more and more are the studies and investigations that are carried out with respect to almost any subject. And in a matter of genres, this is not an exception. Being that researchers are discovering that, in equal societies, women and men are becoming more unequal. Both in their lifestyles and in their career options.

There are those who support more daycare centers subsidized by the government for young children of millennial parents with problems in Canada. Despite this, should Prime Minister Justin Trudeau increase parental benefits for dads and moms, Canadians should prepare for a big surprise. The cultural consequence of increased financial aid for parents is probably not what people expect in relation to gender norms, especially in the United States and Canada. It should be noted that the main social benefit behind the idea of subsidizing daycare is to give more couples the opportunity to be more equal, at home and in the workplace.

And is that according to various studies, egalitarian policies in rich countries are leading women and men to adopt more traditional gender roles.


Expert in the subject

Monday 28 January 2019

Ian Mulgrew: Dix loses another round to private clinics, accused of ignoring court order

Critics charge that provincial Health Minister Adrian Dix is engaged in an ‘ideological crusade against these private clinics. NICK PROCAYLO / PNG FILES

The government of British Columbia has been denied permission to appeal a court order preventing it from enforcing new and stringent provisions of the Medicare Protection Act that restrict access to private medical services.

Likewise, those who are involved in the battle for health care say that Victoria was already ignoring the resource. This, in trying to force doctors and clinics to sign “compliance statements”. Where likewise it was agreed not to provide any private payment surgery.

“If they refuse to sign, their access to operating room time in the public system will be restricted,” their new application to the B.C. Supreme Court states.

“The only possible rationale for the requirement is to effectively prohibit physicians and private surgical clinics from continuing to provide Private-Pay Surgeries by restricting access to public facilities to provide public surgeries … This is directly contrary to both the spirit and express terms of the Injunction Order.”


Action by the judge of the Supreme Court

Why Personalized Learning Should Be Centerstage At The World Economic Forum

It is necessary that when the world leaders meet this week World Economic Forum, focus on preparing in the best way the workforce of the future. And a great way to do it is to make the center of that Forum from globalization to climate change and, of course, education. Issues such as who does the work and how and where it is done affect each of these issues, since artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics continue to enter the workplace. It is no secret that for some there is a certain fear that, in this scenario, humans may be displaced. It also establishes as a problem the possibility that changes in the labor force create even greater gaps within economies and between economies. The serious potential of this expanding disparity must be disregarded.

However, there will be an improved role for humans in the workplace with technology enabled. In fact, Burning Glass Technologies predicts that humans with a dual skill set of technical skills and creativity, a combination of “left brain” and “right brain”, will find themselves in fast-growing, well-paid occupations. However, there is a much more significant problem, and that is how to prepare more such workers. This must certainly be achieved in all economies, and it must be done in the most efficient and profitable way. It is no surprise that this becomes a real challenge for education, which will be responsible for enriching each of these individuals with the necessary knowledge.


A great alternative

Identity Politics Is Devouring Itself



Washington, D.C. hosted tens of thousands of activists who disrupted traffic flows. They were given the task of touring the city without shouting slogans to anyone in particular. Possibly under the mistaken impression that his actions somehow make the narrative of history become in their favor.

Likewise, the politics of identity is devouring itself. Those who traveled to Washington undoubtedly made their signals. They also walked, shouted and gave speeches to each other. However, apparently, all their efforts, which of course are recognized, were not enough. They did not make any change. Those who actually benefited at the end of the day were hotels and restaurants. And is that under the system of free enterprise that activists seem determined to limp and overthrow, customers are always welcome.

There is no doubt that the organizers now hate each other more than ever. In fact, there were two separate marches in most cities. Being an original with a new name because the founder was expelled. While the other was the march of rupture that is protesting not only the patriarchy and any other evil imagined in the world. But also the dominant class of the march itself, which dissidents consider to be dominated by a wrong demographic.


A growing crack

Tension increases in Venezuela

Anti-government protesters cheered Wednesday as Juan Guaido, head of Venezuela's opposition-run congress, declared himself interim president until a new election can be called. (Boris Vergara/Associated Press)

The tension has increased in Venezuela after the U.S. president backed Juan Guaido, a young leader of the opposition, who has declared himself the interim president of Venezuela.

Likewise, the president of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, was sworn in on Wednesday as interim president of the Republic of Venezuela and immediately received the recognition of US President Donald Trump.

“Today, January 23, 2019, in my capacity as president of the National Assembly, invoking the articles of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, (…) before almighty God, Venezuela (…) swears to formally assume the powers of the executive national as the president in charge of Venezuela to achieve the cessation of the usurpation [of Nicolás Maduro], a transitional government and have free elections”, said Guaidó before hundreds of thousands of demonstrators.

The pronouncement constitutes a blow to the ruler Nicolás Maduro, whose presidency is unknown to most Venezuelans and governments of the region even though he continues to exercise control over the institutions of the Venezuelan state.


Immediate actions

Sunday 27 January 2019

The bad thing about rushing to judge

An initial video clip of the faceoff involving Covington Catholic High School junior Nick Sandmann, left, and Indigenous protester Nathan Phillips, right, did not tell the whole story. Journalists were too quick to accept a familiar narrative, writes Robyn Urback. (KC Noland/YouTube)

No doubt many people rush to judge. And is that you can not expect that adolescents have correct reactions, while adults do not. When you could say that they clearly understand everything wrong. An example of this is with respect to the confrontation of the school of Covington, being that this should be a wake-up call for the media.

And there is a video that circulated through the media and in fact went viral. This is the video of the confrontation between the students of Covington Catholic High School and the Native Americans. The same should certainly shake all journalists. Many of the people who are supposed to be data searchers, skeptical investigators, accepted the narrative that a group of teenage boys in the MAGA hats catalyzed a confrontation with the Americans of American origin outside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Friday, based on a report two minutes


A big mistake

Friday 25 January 2019

What happens when you do not sleep well

Duncan McCue has his brain waves documented as part of a study on sleep and memory. He slept overnight at the Royal Ottawa Institute for Mental Health Research. (Diane Grant/CBC)

The word dream designates both the act of sleeping and the desire to sleep (being sleepy). Metaphorically, it is affirmed that a part of the body has been asleep to a person when the sensibility is lost or reduces in the same way.

Likewise, sleep is a naturally recurrent mental and physical state, characterized by alterations of consciousness, sensory activity relatively inhibited, inhibition of almost all voluntary muscles and reduced interactions with the environment. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a reduced ability to react to stimuli, but it is more reactive than coma or consciousness disorders, and sleep shows very different and active brain patterns.

During sleep, most of the body’s systems are in an anabolic state, which helps restore the immune, nervous, skeletal and muscular systems. These are vital processes that maintain mood, memory and cognitive function, and play an important role in the function of the endocrine and immune systems.

For its part, the reporter Duncan McCue writes that researchers are discovering some fascinating things. Just as how important sleep is to the way our brains store memories and learn things.

It should be noted that there is research by Stuart Fogel, who is the director of Sleep Neuroscience at the Royal Ottawa Institute for Mental Health Research.


Knowledge obtained

Thursday 24 January 2019

Really alarming situation

The existing violence among residents in long-term care homes in Ontario is really alarming. This has become what an expert calls a”critical situation”.

And it seems that a homicide rate seven times higher than that of the largest cities in Ontario would cause immediate alarm and action. This especially because the deaths are occurring in a place that is supposed to be safe for some of the most vulnerable.

Among the data obtained by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, it was found that at least 29 people have been killed by another resident in long-term care homes in the last six years.

Violence between residents and residents in Ontario’s long-term care homes has increased by 105 percent between 2011 and 2016. In fact, the province’s coroner has repeatedly warned that it is an urgent problem and that it is persistent.


Violence between residents increases, however predictable

Russia brandishes new superweapons as U.S. threatens to scrap nuclear treaty

This image from video footage made available by the Russian Defense Ministry shows an Avangard strategic missile system equipped with a gliding hypersonic maneuvering warhead being prepared for launch. (EPA-EFE)

Likewise, during the past week, it was reported through Russian media that the Kremlin is ready to deploy a new superweapon, the torpedo-drone Poseidon. Being that the system of supply of warheads with nuclear propulsion is located as the largest torpedo ever designed, with 2 meters in diameter and almost 20 meters in length.

During 2015 this was considered only a “rumor”. Then the same was confirmed by Vladimir Putin himself in a striking presentation last winter, the Poseidon has been tirelessly promoted by the Russian media, with an exit that reported last week that his detonation can create a “400-A” tsunami “500 meters high, capable of destroying all living beings” up to 1,500 kilometers inland.

However, it has been said that there are those who believe that it does not seem to be as powerful or as fast as it claims. However, its two-megaton nuclear warhead would be more than enough to destroy an aircraft carrier or destroy most of a coastal city.

Similarly, the Russians have already built a specially modified nuclear submarine to transport and launch the giant. In addition to two others under construction. As they move towards a short-term goal of having 32 super-torpedoes deployed across the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Putin has overseen a test of another superweapon system. Which is a hypersonic missile that supposedly can travel at 20 times the speed of sound, avoiding all countermeasures. This has been dubbed as the Avangard and it has been said that it has successfully achieved an objective some 6,000 km from its launch site in the Far East. Putin says it will be deployed early next year.

Opposition by the United States

Monday 21 January 2019

VC investments in cybersecurity have reached another level

VC’s investments in cybersecurity have reached record highs in 2018. However, the financing rate seems unsustainable, according to Strategic Cyber Ventures.

It should be noted that during the past year, investors continued to invest money in the US cybersecurity market. UU., As well as in several other countries, especially the United Kingdom, China, and Israel.

Now, there are new data from Strategic Cyber Ventures where it is revealed that venture capital investments and the average size of agreements involving cybersecurity companies reached record levels during 2018.


Venture capital in 2018

Rex Murphy: Spare us the yoga-mat mantras about the environment and the economy

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks about the Liberal government's new federally imposed carbon tax, while Environment Minister Catherine McKenna and Finance Minister Bill Morneau listen from behind him, at Humber College in Toronto on Oct. 23, 2018. Nathan Denette/CP
There are many things that could be saved for Canada, as well as yoga-mat mantras about the environment and the economy. And is that increasingly the simplistic slogans of the liberals are fueling a radical campaign. To top it all it has cost Canada billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs


The same words of Catherine McKenna

Friday 18 January 2019

The Trade War is already taking its toll

ILLUSTRATION: PETER CROWTHER ASSOCIATES LTD.
It is no secret to anyone that for some time now, there has been a commercial war between the United States and China. And it has already begun to take its toll, where everyone involved with these nations has been affected.

But now directly China is already in a crisis. In fact, it has been said that if the second largest economy resolves the current slowdown, it will remain mired in a debt-driven depression.

This is causing severe concern in the world’s investors. Being that they are now directing their worried gaze towards China. And with all reason, being that the economic growth in the third quarter sank to 6.5 percent. This is established as the slowest pace from the depths of the global financial crisis in 2009.


Facts that affirm the crisis in China

Thursday 17 January 2019

New Year's resolutions considering the environment

(Rich Carey/Shutterstock)

In the New Year, for many people, there is an opportunity to modify the routine, or even to review it completely. Some do it in a very personal way while others take into account everyone, in fact, take into account the environment.

This should be done by more people. And that is how many people consider improving in various aspects as well as work, love, among others. The environment should also be taken into account, which of course we all inhabit and is of great importance. There are those who want to preserve it and maintain it in the best way. Therefore, here are some suggestions.


Suggestions that we should all take

Wednesday 16 January 2019

The Big Picture: Coal consumption around the world


Taking into account the overall picture of coal today, it could be said that some nations have fallen significantly. While in others it still persists.

In the case of the United States, its president, Donald Trump, has promised the return of “clean and beautiful coal.” However, we must not forget that it is EE. UU The consumption of coal, a dirty fossil fuel, is at a minimum of 40 years. This could be due to the use of cheaper energy sources. And is that Western countries, in general, have seen a significant fall in the use of coal. However, this has not been the case of large developing nations such as China and India.


Responsible for environmental damage

Tuesday 15 January 2019

Floating solar panels: Pretty to look at and so much more

(Mothership)
A solar panel or solar module is a device that captures the energy of solar radiation for its use. The term includes solar collectors, usually used to produce domestic hot water by solar thermal energy, and photovoltaic panels used to generate electricity using photovoltaic solar energy.

It should be noted that when creating a large-scale solar farm, several problems can arise. One of them is finding a place to place all the panels. Being that said place must have access to the sun, for which the most convenient for it would be those spaces that are open. However, the land is not economic at all, except for a few small exceptions.


A much cheaper solution

Monday 14 January 2019

China's electric car push is shaking up the oil industry

(Gregor Macdonald)
For some 2018 was a crucial year in the global transition to cleaner energy, as well as for Gregor Macdonald, who is an American journalist. Macdonald has a new e-book, Oil Fall, in which he talks about how changes in China are having an impact on the oil industry.

And it is considered that China’s electric car is shaking the oil industry. In fact, in the Chinese vehicle market, sales of electric vehicles increased, despite a drop in overall vehicle sales. This was in mid-2018 when he anticipated that this might not happen until the middle of 2020. The growth prospects for internal combustion engines have ended in China.

It needs to be said that over time, China has had a history of being able to maximize and increase the size and accelerate changes in its economy and infrastructure. This based on policies. While for its part, the United States does not have that kind of ability to do that.


Forecasts for demand growth

Sunday 13 January 2019

The product of socialism

The rise of Socialism: Standing on the shoulders of morons

Colombia is a really great country. In fact, it is naturally beautiful, incredibly cheap and full of interesting opportunities. It should be noted that it has recently emerged from decades of civil war. And reconstruction efforts will have a profound impact on the economy, especially with the national infrastructure.

Despite his efforts, it is notorious that Colombia’s roads are terrible. Because of this, travel to move from one city to another becomes longer than it should be. There is no doubt that you need railroads, ports and even digital infrastructure. What is not needed in Colombia, are Venezuelan refugees.


Remarkable presence of Venezuelan refugees

Wednesday 9 January 2019

Journalism is no longer objective

Murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is seen on one of the covers for Time magazine's 2018 "Person of the Year" issue. Time Magazine/AP
Just as the world has changed and reinvented itself for good or bad, journalism has kept pace with it. However, today’s journalists are not “guardians of the truth”. And is that journalism today has abandoned any attempt to be objective.

Apparently, Time magazine is wrong. And is that it continues in an infinite decline, so some consider it cheats itself by saying that it has the authority or competence to name the “person of the year”. Likewise, named journalists named “The Guardians”, giving Jamal Khashoggi a place of honor on the cover that was once iconic. However, time magazine neglected to verify Khashoggi and now finds that he named a puppet from Qatar. Which his columns were midwives of Qatari government officials, and whose “journalistic” career was nothing more than an incline that distracted from his many more serious activities, later as a Saudi Lobby, nephew of the world’s largest arms dealer, and a series of other shadow alliances.


Journalism in decline everywhere

The declining real estate market

Tighter mortgage rules, combined with rising interest rates, means it’s getting harder for people to obtain the large mortgages necessary to get into the market. (Photo Illustration by Ed Freeman/Getty Images)
Canadians are testing what a world with rising interest rates will look like. And there is no doubt that Canadians are not ready for what happens next.

For his part, Kirk Marsh, who is a real estate investor, buys houses and condominiums to fix them and then place them for sale. He realized for the first time that the mood was changing in the Vancouver real estate market a year ago. Marsh says, “It’s not like the TV shows you see you make $ 100,000 or more at each time, it just is not like that”. Despite the adversities, Marsh has done well, is always able to find buyers and move forward.

However, he says, “Today, everything has stalled”.

As of last year, it began to increasingly denote how crowds and wars were decreasing more and more. In such a way that “There is simply no one in the open houses now”, he says. “Especially at the center, you will usually see a group of very aggressive people coming out”. But he is also very aware of the slowdown because he is trying to unload a renovated two-bedroom condo in New Westminster, east of Vancouver. The unit, with a sale price of $ 569,000, had been in the market for two months in mid-December, almost without interest.

Two salient factors make Marsh feel that fundamentals remain solid for Vancouver real estate. The strong local labor market and the entry of new residents to the region

Even so, he also knows that Ottawa’s strict mortgage rules, combined with the relentless increase in interest rates, means that it is increasingly difficult for people to obtain the large mortgages needed to enter the market. In such a way that he himself admits that he does not know where the buyers will come from and that in the same way that is really worrying him.


A big change with the passage of time

Millions of foreign funds destined in federal elections of 2015

Calgary Centre M.P. Joan Crockatt is introduced in the House of Commons by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on December 12, 2012
According to one report, millions of foreign funds were destined to spend in the 2015 federal elections to defeat the Harper government.

This report, which has 36 pages, is entitled: Elections Canada Complaint Regarding Foreign Influence in the 2015 Canadian Election. It denotes that the third parties worked together, which may have overlooked the limits of electoral spending, all of which seems to be in contravention of the Canadian Elections Act.

And it is speculated that the foreign money channeled to the Canadian political defense groups affected the outcome of the 2015 federal elections. This document was presented last week with Elections Canada and obtained in part by the Calgary Herald.

Likewise, the Canada Elections Act states that “a third party shall not circumvent, or attempt to circumvent, a limit set out . . . in any manner, including by splitting itself into two or more third parties for the purpose of circumventing the limit or acting in collusion with another third party so that their combined election advertising expenses exceed the limit”.

Then, for what has been evidenced according to the report, “Electoral outcomes were influenced”.

In the same way, the Canada Elections Act also states: “No person who does not reside in Canada shall, during an election period, in any way induce electors to vote or refrain from voting for a particular candidate” unless the person is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident.


Notoriously if there was some influence

Is it Risk or Uncertainty?


It is not a novelty that the stock market of the United States has been consumed. Both by volatility and by a downward current during the last months.

It could be very unpleasant that this inconvenience is for investors, it is good not to be in the business of financial means when events of this type occur. In case if he were involved in it, he would assume responsibility. Which would be to find someone to interview who could comment on the risks that have caused such large sales. As well as trying to reduce the sources that could tell if the decline in stock prices is a forecast of a recession. Or in any case, if the decrease in them will cause a recession.

At that time, investors had been feeling a slight discomfort due to the effects of the manipulation of the exchange rate by central banks in the era after the “Plaza of Agreement”. It should be noted that this was the first time that central banks agreed to manipulate exchange rates after decades of fixed exchange rates. Such an economic climate was relatively unfamiliar. Without exception, as it turned out for investors, economists and reporters.


Look back

Electric Vehicles through time

An electric vehicle is a vehicle powered by one or more electric motors. The traction can be provided by wheels or propellers driven by rotary motors, or in other cases use other types of non-rotating motors, such as linear motors, inertial motors, or applications of magnetism as a source of propulsion.

It is already well known that electric cars previously accounted for approximately one-third of all vehicles on the roads of the United States. In addition to this, they almost disappeared from the landscape when gasoline engine models took over. Decades later, technological advances and concerns about the environment stimulated their reactivation. Being that it is estimated that by 2040, more than half of all new cars in the world will only be powered by batteries.


Retrospect

Tuesday 8 January 2019

This Bottle of Pills Costs $20 in One State and $130 in Another | Bloomberg

Bloomberg

The same medication can have different prices in different states. An example of this is the generic versions of the medicine for heartburn Nexium. These should be cheap throughout the United States. Many manufacturers sell it. Wholesalers can buy pills for one month for less than $ 20. While in several states, Medicaid plans that serve the poor are paying more, and much more.

Bloomberg News conducted an analysis early last year in Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Nevada, and Ohio. Where a $ 20 bottle of generic Nexium cost Medicaid managed care plans more than $ 130. It should be noted that this is a really big price difference.


Variation of prices in various medications

Comparison between a liberal carbon tax and a $ 2,000 cat door


There was a story in which a couple of worthy environmental missionaries in Vancouver and their cat are the protagonists. Already tired of their weight in the global ecosystem, they took action and installed in their new and modest house of $ 3 million “a cat door of super isolated designer, with radio frequency control”.

The headline is “This Vancouver couple says their $ 2,000 cat door is helping fight climate change”. The cost of the said door, $ 2,000.

Possibly there is no madness too abject, or absurd, too luxurious, or a too hollow pretension, not to serve as a flag for a higher environmental “concern”.


Comparison

What Canada should do

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau takes part in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press on Dec. 14, 2018.Sean Kilpatrick/CP
Canada must start competing. And is that all countries strive to improve their lot. The Canadians do it too. However, it is quite worrying that despite this, a particularly bright job is not being done.

For some columnists, it is really bad to have to open the New Year in these pages with a less vibrant comment from the Fraser Institute on the Canadian economy. But likewise, as one of the country’s leading publishers said, “The biggest problem in this country is conceit.”

Likewise, it has been said that the biggest problem in this country is sufficiency.

It is well seen that all 198 countries of the world are competing with each other to a certain extent. 
Certainly, Canadians should not be solemnly absent from this competition because they have three million square miles that are rich in basic and precious metals, forest products, energy, and all agriculture, except tropical fruits. In addition, Canada has an educated and law-abiding population of 36 million. All countries, large and small, and naturally rich and poor, strive to improve their lot. Canada is not the exception. However, the disturbing fact is that we are not doing a particularly brilliant job, and that will not be disguised by common and smiling places.


Correct criticism

Justin Trudeau could face an electoral fight and could lose it

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a Liberal fundraising event at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ont., on Dec. 19, 2018.
Justin Trudeau is a Canadian politician serving as the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada since 2015 and Leader of the Liberal Party since 2013. Trudeau is the second-youngest Canadian Prime Minister, after Joe Clark; he is also the first to be related to a previous holder of the post, as the eldest is of Pierre Trudeau.

So the current prime minister could face an electoral fight and possibly he would not be victorious over it. In fact, I could lose it. This fight would be really difficult for him.

For some, after three years of exposure, the charm has worn away. In fact, there are those who consider that he is often simplistic. He hits many voters as fatuous and superficial. He’s smart enough, but he’s an old mean world and people wonder, understandably, if he’s up to the challenges facing Canada.

It has been said that he simply cannot make difficult decisions. However, it ensures that Canadians can have it all. As well as pipes along with carbon taxes, and substantial deficits that he swears are being spent on good investments. Not everyone is buying it.


The effect of disenchantment

Monday 7 January 2019

One of the big losers of 2018 remains "expensive"

A combination of falling oil prices, trade tensions, higher interest rates in the U.S. and a stronger U.S. dollar have weighed on the Canadian dollar. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)
According to experts, Loonie, is one of the big losers of 2018, is still “expensive”. And it is that the Canadian dollar had a fall of almost 8% against the dollar last year and lost almost 6% in the last quarter.
Likewise, after its fall of almost eight percent against its US counterpart last year, this worsened. Being that after its fall in the fourth quarter worsened, falling almost six percent since October.
It is necessary to highlight that the Canadian dollar was the second main currency with the worst performance in the world against the US dollar in the last quarter. Exactly behind another basic currency, the Norwegian crown, according to the CIBC.
Undoubtedly, the Canadian dollar has been affected by a combination of several factors. As well as the fall in oil prices, commercial tensions, in addition to the higher interest rates in the United States and a stronger US dollar.

Important data

It should be noted that for the stock markets, the year starts on the unstable ground after the large and significant losses in 2018
For its part, the loonie started 2019 up, rising more than 1% to around 74 US cents. Despite this, analysts say it is difficult to predict if things will change for the currency this year.
A fact to highlight is that according to the latest data from Statistics Canada it has been shown that foreign investment in Canadian securities fell to $ 4 billion in October, compared to $ 7.8 billion in September.
There are those who believe that the dollar should be further weakened in the long term so that non-energy exports, such as manufacturing, become more competitive. As well as the fact that Canada, like the United States, depends to a large extent on the external financing of foreign investors for its current account deficit.
Bipan Rai, who is head of North America’s currency exchange strategy at CIBC Capital Markets, said, “The non-energy trade balance is still in the red, and with an uncertain outlook for consumption and investment, the Canadian dollar must become cheaper to push forward competitiveness in the future” also add, “The withdrawal of liquidity in course leaves Canada vulnerable and implies that the Canadian dollar should be weakened”.
Source: Rajeshni Naidu-Ghelani | CBC News

New level achieved by corporate debt

Corporate debt is reaching such a point that it is also reaching record levels. In fact, there could be a threat to the global economy. And it is that if the rates increase or the profits fall of the highly leveraged companies, these would become a threat.

While for some individuals and families they initiate a long and painful process of deleveraging due to the financial crisis, for others it is the opposite. And it is that those companies that moved quickly go in the opposite direction. Since they are charged with cheap debts to the point where many observers now worry that highly leveraged companies pose a threat to the global economy.


The ascent of corporate debt

Possible successful year for Aurora Cannabis

Source: Seeking Alpha
Aurora Cannabis Inc. is a Canadian licensed cannabis producer, headquartered in Edmonton. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange as ACB. At the end of September 2018, Aurora Cannabis had eight authorized production facilities, five sales licenses, and operations in 18 countries. It had a funded capacity of more than 500,000 kilograms of cannabis production per year. The company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on October 23, 2018.

It has been said that Aurora Cannabis will dominate the cannabis sector in the growth of production and sales in 2019.

It had the broadest market correction and its timing in relation to Aurora’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange. What possibly snatched the strength of its strong momentum causing the price of its shares to decline quickly.


A successful 2019

The consequences of the commercial war

Tim Cook Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

For US President Donald Trump, the long-term benefit of a trade war with China justifies the pain in the short term. Both for consumers and investors. It should be noted that it would now be more difficult to defend that case. Due to the collateral damage, it is causing, which now includes one of the most recognized brands in the United States, Apple Inc.

And Apple Inc. on Wednesday lowered its outlook for first-quarter revenue. This after a slowdown in demand from China larger than expected and less updates to the models of the iPhone.

It should be noted that it was something unexpected for Apple. In fact, through a letter to investors, Executive Director Tim Cook assured that the company did not expect growth in emerging markets to slow down so much, especially in China.

While on the other hand, US officials will go to Beijing next week for business talks.


The damage is already done