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Yearly Archives: 2016

William Watson: How negative interest rates could spur more fear than growth

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I have a proposition for you personally. Let me borrow $100. How much are you prepared to pay me for the privilege? I know, I understand. The custom has long been that when I borrow money from you, I pay out interest. However in the upside-down, inside-out new world of “negative rates of interest,” which to date went farthest in ...

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Chip Wilson, unfiltered: Lululemon founder says he loves the company he started, even if it may not love him back

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Chip Wilson, the billionaire from Vancouver, British Columbia, who famously fell out with Lululemon Athletica, the company he founded, made a stop in New York recently. He wanted to locate a SoHo retail location for his family’s new high-end street-wear company, Kit and Ace, and to consult literary lawyer about a possible memoir. Lululemon Athletica Inc’s naked pants, part II: ...

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Danier Leather enters insolvency as it seeks a buyer

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TORONTO – Danier Leather Inc. said hello has entered insolvency proceedings to be able to protect itself from creditor lawsuits because it seeks a buyer. The well-known retailer of leatherwear and accessories said the move was necessary due to ongoing financial problems, including a lot more than $27 million in financial losses during the last two years despite its best ...

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Pivot Technology Solutions’ special committee says it did its job

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As far as the special committee of Pivot Technology Solutions is concerned they’ve done their job: After months of negotiations, they’ve decided to place a proposal, brought forward by a few insiders, to the company’s shareholders for his or her consideration. And they’ve done that after a search of potential customers demonstrated that neither a private equity firm nor a ...

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A path to economic diversification that Ottawa should consider

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Talk about contrast. First, Jim Balsillie, one of the founders of BlackBerry was being interviewed on the radio and criticizing, again, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He was explaining how Canada got outsmarted, how government and industry (unlike the U.S.) didn’t work together and just how the offer means a continuation of Canada finding yourself in the “low-margin” resource business, unless drastic ...

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U.S. looks to Canadian model as it debates air-traffic-control privatization

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A major debate is underway about how to fix the United States’ bureaucratic air traffic control network, and stakeholders are looking north to Canada’s privatized system for a model of the way it should be done. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has struggled for a long time to secure enough funding to update its aging infrastructure, while Ottawa-based Nav Canada ...

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Alberta unveils $500 million subsidy for companies building petrochemical processing plants

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CALGARY C Petrochemical companies have begun arranging to apply for the Alberta government’s new $500-million subsidy program meant to bring more “value-added” jobs to the province. Alberta Economic Development and Trade Minister Deron Bilous and Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd announced the new program Monday, which would give companies building new petrochemical plants as many as $500 million in royalty credits. ...

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No living large for oil majors as even they take a savage beating from fall in crude prices

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Integrated oil companies for example Imperial Oil Ltd., its parent Exxon Mobil Corp., and BP PLC are built to be resilient to market downturns, thanks largely to downstream operations that offset upstream woes. But Tuesday’s fourth-quarter results show even they are going for a savage beating in the fall in prices C in Canada, Imperial collected less than $23 a ...

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