Neither a recession nor a collapse in revenue has yet been enough to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin it’s time for you to join with OPEC and cut oil output to enhance prices. His reasons may be pragmatic rather than political. Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak and his Saudi Arabian, Venezuelan and Qatari counterparts agreed to freeze output at January ...

TORONTO – Element Financial Corp. is splitting itself in 2, moving executives say can help it boost the value of its core fleet-management business while meeting investor demands to have an expanded family of funds. When the separation is finished, Element shareholders will own stakes in 2 separate publicly owned companies – Element Fleet Management, with $19.5 billion in fleet ...

Wherever there’s risk, there’s usually someone prepared to insure it for the right price. Early this past year, we introduced you to definitely a novel product appearing in M&A circles called “representation and warranty insurance” or RWI. Lawyers the product is starting to become a typical feature of non-public deals, specially those where a private equity fund is the purchaser. ...

MONTREAL – Home reno retailer Rona Inc. wrapped up what could be its this past year as a Canadian-controlled company by beating expectations on higher sales in the fourth quarter, though one analyst says this matters little to shareholders because the clients are poised to simply accept an ample takeover offer from U.S. Lowe’s Cos Inc. “We are on the ...

OTTAWA – Canadian manufacturing sales ramped up after last year, Statistics Canada said Tuesday, but the hollowed out industry still remains below its pre-financial crisis peak. Sales of products produced in factories increased 1.2 per cent to $51.6 billion in December, while sales figures for November were revised higher to at least one.2 percent from one percent. The bump in ...

CALGARY – A brand new poll suggests nearly half of Canadians surveyed recently are within $200 monthly to be not able to purchase their bills making their debt payments. The good, unhealthy and also the ugly of Canadian household debt: Should we worry? You may not know it by all the alarming headlines lately, although not all debts are bad. ...

WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve policymakers expressed growing concerns in their meeting last month about potential threats towards the U.S. economy, including turbulence in markets, plunging oil prices and slowing development in China and other emerging markets. Minutes of their discussions released Wednesday showed Fed officials acknowledging that the developments managed to get difficult to forecast growth and inflation prospects. As ...

Apart from the stock shots of effluent pipes and belching smokestacks, Naomi Klein’s idea of objectivity concerning the Alberta oilsands is to find a worker ready to blow his nose on the banknote in a Fort McMurray bar. Scenes like this make Klein’s documentary This Changes Everything, that will air on CBC on Thursday night, not just intellectually vacuous but downright objectionable. ...