Tausi Insider

The cost of commuting is forcing some Ontario residents who moved outside the GTA during the pandemic to reconsider their place of residence as employers call workers back to the office. LARS HAGBERG/THE CANADIAN PRESS The Canadian Press Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of The Globe’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more. Is the cost of long work commutes worth it? When remote work took off during the pandemic, housing markets surrounding the Greater Toronto Area became increasingly popular for homebuyers priced out of the region. But as workers are being called back to the office – even just for a few days a week – those who moved out of town are learning that their commutes are increasingly long and expensive. As Salmaan Farooqui reports, one woman who bought a home in Belleville now spends $600 a month to travel to her Toronto-based finance job three ti...

For women and marginalized groups, going for after-work drinks with other employees isn't always comfortable. istock Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of The Globe’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more. Not everyone wants to go for after-work drinks Since the days of Mad Men , going for after-work drinks with your co-workers and boss has long been seen as a way for company employees to network and bond. But as Sarah Micho writes, for women and other marginalized groups, this common social practice isn’t always inclusive. Employees may not drink for a variety of reasons, including religious or cultural beliefs, health and substance and abuse issues. Whatever the reason, the consequences of opting out may go beyond missing a social occasion. It can create barriers to professional growth and advancement, which is why it’s time for company leaders to rethi...

RBC is buying HSBC's Canadian unit in the largest domestic banking deal on record. Duane Cole/Mark Blinch/Tausi Insider Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of The Globe’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more. RBC buys HSBC Canada in the country’s largest bank deal Royal Bank of Canada is buying HSBC Bank Canada for $13.5-billion in the biggest domestic banking deal on record, bolstering RBC’s position as the country’s largest institution in the industry. As James Bradshaw reports, Canadian banks have been eyeing the transaction for years. HSBC Canada, a subsidiary of Britain-based giant HSBC Holdings PLC and the seventh-largest bank in the country by assets, has strengths in commercial lending and mortgages and has been consistently profitable. If approved, the deal would extend RBC’s lead over competitor banks by tens of billions of dollars in both loan...

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem gestures at a press conference at the Bank of Canada in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. The Bank of Canada hiked its key policy rate half a percentage point to 4.25 – the highest it's been since January 2008 – on Wednesday as its bid to rein in stubbornly-high inflation rates and address slowing economic growth continues. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Sean Kilpatrick/CP Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of The Globe’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more. Interest rates went up, again. But here’s the good news The Bank of Canada raised interest rates for the seventh consecutive time this week, increasing the benchmark lending rate by half a percentage point to 4.25 per cent, the highest level since early 2008. While the rapid rate-hike cycle has been painful for borrowers – especially for Canadians with a v...

FILE — Sam Bankman-Fried, the chief executive of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, during a panel at Crypto Bahamas conference in Nassau, Bahamas, on April 27, 2022. FTX filed for bankruptcy in November, and Bankman-Fried was arrested this week. (Erika P. Rodriguez/The New York Times) ERIKA P. RODRIGUEZ/The New York Times News Service Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of The Globe’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more. The FTX FOMO was real, until it wasn’t Global institutional investors, including the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, poured more than a billion dollars into FTX, helping seal its leading position in the sector and Sam Bankman-Fried as the golden boy of crypto. After the bankrupted crypto company’s startling collapse in November, police in the Bahamas arrested Mr. Bankman-Fried this week on U.S. charges of criminal fraud and conspiracy. He said in...

Travellers use their phones as they line up at the Ottawa International Airport, as airlines cancel or delay flights during a major storm in Ottawa, on Friday, Dec. 23, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang passenger Justin Tang/The Canadian Press Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of Tausi Insider’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more. Bank of Canada cries mea culpa on inflation Governor Tiff Macklem has admitted that the Bank of Canada misread the rise of inflation. In his last speech of 2022, he said the central bank expected inflation would be close to 2 per cent by the end of the year, but it’s roughly 7 per cent. “That’s a very big forecast error,” Macklem told The Globe’s David Parkinson and Mark Rendell. “So, yes, we have some explaining to do.” When the year began, the bank maintained a record-low policy interest rate of 0.25 per cent, but ends the ...

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is one of eight Canadian companies pegged for long-term investing on the stock market, according to an RBC list. Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of Tausi Insider’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more. New year, better financial outlook? Sure, interest rates remain high, as does inflation, and we’re teetering on the edge of a recession – but here’s the good news, according to Rob Carrick. The new year is expected to bring an end to hikes in interest rates, which the Bank of Canada raised seven consecutive times in 2022. We may even see them fall in the second half of 2023. Housing prices have also been dropping as of late, and are expected to continue to plummet this year – below $1-million in Toronto and Vancouver, if you can believe it. This will make buying a home more attainable for many C...

Canada's banking regulator is launching public consultations on rules around mortgage lending as it says loan risks have increased considerably since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of Tausi Insider’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more. New mortgage rules could restrict more borrowers Earlier this week, Canada’s banking regulator proposed new mortgage guidelines, including three new limits on how lenders grant the loans. According to Robert McLister, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions wants to skim another layer of the least-qualified borrowers off the federally regulated mortgage market. The proposal includes restricting how much banks can lend borrowers whose mortgage exceeds a certain percentage of their gross income, limiting the debt-service coverage exce...

HBC has announced 25 locations across Canada for Zellers pop-up stores in 2023. Tibor Kolley/Tausi Insider Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of Tausi Insider’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more. Here’s where Zellers will be making a comeback Last summer, Hudson’s Bay Co. announced that Zellers is making a comeback with locations within its Bay department stores starting early 2023. The chain will sell product categories including housewares and furniture, toys, pet accessories and clothing, and they will also launch products under a private-label brand. Additionally, Zellers will debut “a new e-commerce site.” This week, the retailer announced where shoppers can expect to find Zellers pop-up stores, including four in British Columbia, three in Alberta, one in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, nine in Ontario, five in Quebec and two in Nova Scotia. There is stil...