The National Bank of Canada

Last month we noted that economic indicators had become more encouraging, a development that did much to dissipate market apprehensions of a second U.S. dip into recession. Indicators since then have...

Italy’s two-year government bond yields shot up to near 8% today as euro-zone politicians failed to allay investors’ concerns. Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy continue to oppose using the ECB...

The euro zone remains the centre of attention. Fears for two of the heavyweights, Spain and Italy, are up a notch. To add to the worry, reports of September retail sales and industrial production...

FACTS: The Institut de la statistique du Québec reports that Quebec’s trade deficit narrowed slightly in September, falling $60 million to $1.74 billion (top chart). Exports were down $8...

Corporate Canada remains in good health. According to just-released data by Statistics Canada, non-financial corporations saw their operating earnings rise 3.1% in Q3 on the back of higher sales and a...

Bank of Canada Governor Carney made a speech today in Montreal titled Renewing Canada’s Monetary Policy Framework. Most of the speech dealt with information presented earlier this month in a...

FACTS: Retail sales increased 1.0% in September, following a 0.6% increase in August. Sales increased in 9 of 11 retail industries. Motor vehicles and parts sales were up 2.8%, after a 1.2% rise in...

In our May 2010 report entitled “Investing In The Natural Gas Revolution” we concluded that there would long-lasting strong global demand for natural gas for three main reasons.1. New...

We have a busy week ahead in terms of economic data from the U.S. and abroad. Much like the last few weeks, this is sure to be another week in which the markets closely track news originating in the...

Canada – In October, headline CPI decelerated to 2.9% year over year from 3.2% in September. Core CPI slipped to 2.1% from 2.2%. On a monthly basis, headlineCPI rose 0.2% after increasing by as...

Summary• In its Monetary Policy Report released in October, the Bank of Canada estimated there was material excess capacity in the labour market based on the high unemployment rate and the...

FACTS: Headline CPI decelerated to 2.9% in October from 3.2% in September. Core CPI also moved down to 2.1% year-over-year from 2.2% one month earlier. On a monthly basis, headline CPI rose 0.2%,...

While Europe is sinking into recession, things seem much better on this side of the Atlantic. Canada and the US seem destined for third quarter growth well north of 2% annualized, and early readings...

U.S. WatchRetail sales in the US surprised to the upside in October, by expanding 0.5%. Auto sales were strong as expected but excluding that category, sales were even better at +0.6%, also topping...

Major News this WeekAgain this week, fears from Europe will monopolize investors’ attention, overshadowing the release of economic figures. After the sharp rise in Greek yields over the last two...

Canada – In September, Canada’s merchandise trade balance was back in the black for the first time since January, pegging in at C$1.25 billion. Consensus expectations were for more red...