Tausi Insider

Trading platforms that reward do-it-yourself investors through “gamification” strategies are increasing the risk of losses in online portfolios, a new study says. In a research report scheduled to be released on Thursday, the Ontario Securities Commission in collaboration with British-based Behavioural Insights Team found that investors who received rewards from trading platforms – such as digital points or online badges for buying or selling stocks – made almost 40 per cent more trades than those who were not exposed to the same gamification rewards. Gamification is the practice of incentivizing users to trade more frequently or in larger amounts by adding game-like features to trading platforms. Competitive features such as leaderboards, which display the names of users who do the most trades per day, or images of badges or bursts of confetti that reward a first trade in a margin account or a family referral, are encouraging investors to trade more often. Investing apps 101: What a...

Amgen Inc’s AMGN-Q experimental obesity drug demonstrated promising durability trends in an early trial, paving the way for a larger mid-stage study early next year, company officials said ahead of a data presentation on Saturday. The small Phase I trial found that patients maintained their weight loss for 70 days after receiving the highest tested dose of the injected drug, currently known as AMG133. Amgen shares have gained about 5% since the company said on Nov. 7 that 12 weeks of trial treatment at the highest monthly dose of AMG133 resulted in mean weight loss of 14.5%. At 150 days after the last dose, maintained weight loss had dropped to 11.2% below original weight at the start of the trial, according to findings detailed at a meeting of World Congress of Insulin Resistance, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease in Los Angeles. Patients treated with AMG133 did have side effects including nausea and vomiting, but most cases were mild and resolved within a couple of days after the...

More than half of Chinese say they will put off travel abroad, for periods from several months to more than a year, even if borders reopened tomorrow, a study showed on Tuesday, a sign that consumer recovery from COVID-19 measures will take time. Mainland China retains some of the world’s most stringent measures on PCR testing and quarantine for international travellers, despite some domestic easing of curbs after last month’s unprecedented COVID-19 protests. Fear of infection with the disease was the top concern of those saying they would postpone travel in a survey of 4,000 consumers in China by consultancy Oliver Wyman, with worries about changes to domestic re-entry guidelines in second place. “People have become cautious,” said Imke Wouters, a retail and consumer goods partner at the firm. “So even when they can travel, we don’t think they will come back right away.” As many as 51 per cent of those surveyed plan to delay international travel. And when they do, short-haul destina...

Maurice Moreau, Glencore Canada Environmental Management Systems Lead for Ontario and Quebec, holds nickel samples at the Glencore facility at Quebec Port in Limoilou on Aug. 17. Stephanie Foden/Tausi Insider Ottawa is vowing to cut red tape in the mining sector in an attempt to move large resource projects along faster, after facing intense criticism that Canada risks being left behind in the global scramble to secure critical minerals. In the federal government’s long-awaited critical minerals strategy, unveiled on Friday, Ottawa acknowledged that getting a Canadian mine for the minerals into production can take up to 25 years. That is far slower than other international mining jurisdictions that Canada competes against, such as Australia, in which projects are developed in a fraction of that time. “We recognize that, although responsible regulations are vital, complex regulatory and permitting processes can hinder the economic competitiveness of the sector and increase investment ...

Ottawa is vowing to cut red tape in the mining industry, to move large resource projects along faster, after facing heavy criticism that Canada risks being left behind in the global scramble to secure critical minerals. In the federal government’s long-awaited critical minerals strategy unveiled on Friday, Ottawa acknowledged that getting a Canadian critical mineral mine into production can take up to 25 years. That is far slower than other international mining jurisdictions that Canada is competing against, such as Australia, which can move projects along in a fraction of that time. “We recognize that, although responsible regulations are vital, complex regulatory and permitting processes can hinder the economic competitiveness of the sector and increase investment risk for proponents,” the federal government said in its release. Top federal government official casts doubt on Ontario’s Ring of Fire mining development Ottawa says it will attempt to harmonize, co-ordinate, and streaml...

Moderna’s MRNA-Q stock soared Tuesday after the COVID-19 vaccine maker detailed progress in developing a preventive shot for a deadly form of skin cancer. The company said a possible melanoma vaccine it is studying with pharmaceutical giant Merck fared well in a small study of patients who had the cancer surgically removed. The drugmakers said a combination of the vaccine and Merck’s immunotherapy Keytruda led to a statistically significant improvement in survival before the cancer returned in patients with advanced melanoma. “We are very excited, we are moving very quickly with Merck onto phase 3 for this study,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told CNBC Tuesday morning. Phase 3 is generally the largest and most expensive stage of clinical research before regulators review a potential drug for approval. Moderna developed one of the most popular vaccines used to protect patients against COVID-19, and the drugmaker brought in more than $3-billion from its Spikevax in this year’s third qua...

A study by a computer science professor at the University of Guelph found 'absolutely jarring' privacy violations by some Ontario laptop repair shops that accessed customers’ personal information. Jenny Kane/The Associated Press Privacy violations at computer repair shops are “absolutely jarring,” says a professor involved in a new study, which found half of all stores tested in three Ontario cities unnecessarily accessed customers’ personal information. Women bore the brunt of the violations. In some cases, the study found, repair shops also copied personal information such as passwords and revealing pictures onto external devices. “We wanted to see, in what we believe is the first examination of this kind, whether this big and prevalent issue of privacy violations is happening in Canada. And what we found was absolutely jarring,” said Hassan Khan, a computer science professor at the University of Guelph and one of the co-authors of the study, along with master’s students ...

New Canadians, including Zahra Aminmoghaddam, centre, from Iran, take the oath of citizenship during a special Canada Day ceremony in West Vancouver on July 1, 2017. DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press David Green is a professor in the Vancouver School of Economics at the University of British Columbia and an international fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London. “When all you have is a hammer, all the world’s a nail.” This saying isn’t usually seen as a complimentary description of any policy approach but it appears to capture Canada’s immigration policy. Immigration, undoubtedly, touches on nearly every aspect of our economy – from employment to output growth to health care to housing. And to hear the government speak, you would think it’s the right tool for the job in every one of them. The problem is, it’s at best an ineffective hammer for every one of them, and using it more will cause more problems than it will solve. The size of the hammer is big and getting bigger. At...

A campaign by U.S. Republican state officials to bar financial institutions from winning business because of their stance on issues like climate change could have cost taxpayers as much as an estimated $708-million in higher interest payments, according to a study backed by environmental activists and released on Thursday. The study, commissioned by non-profit The Sunrise Project, attributed the higher costs primarily to reduced competition to underwrite government bonds in six states furthest along in restricting financial firms or considering doing so. The restrictions would mean fewer banks seeking to underwrite municipal bond issuance, a common way for cities to raise money. Republicans last year stepped up their backlash against firms that incorporate environmental, social or governance (ESG) goals into their business, arguing they should focus more on investment returns. West Virginia last year barred banks, including some of the largest underwriters like JPMorgan, Goldman Sach...

One out of 10 public companies in the United States is committing securities fraud, costing investors US$830-billion each year, but most go undetected, according to a new study co-authored by a University of Toronto professor . And he says he fears fraud may be more prevalent in Canada. The study by Alexander Dyck, a professor of finance at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, and two co-authors, used a real-life situation as the basis for the study: The 2001 collapse of accounting firm Arthur Andersen, and the need for its clients to find a new auditor. Andersen had roughly 20 per cent of U.S. public companies as clients before the Enron Inc. scandal, and in the wake of its association with Enron, the firm’s former customers endured heightened scrutiny by their new auditors, investors and the public. “What we saw post-the Andersen blow-up was that [companies] that had Andersen prior were more likely to have revealed fraud,” Mr. Dyck said in an interview with Taus...

A new report says that pledges made by companies to support diversity are at risk as the corporate sector prepares for a possible recession. The study by consulting company AgentsC and charitable organization Imagine Canada, supported by the RBC Foundation, says though Canadian corporations have committed billions of dollars to justice, access, inclusion, diversity and equity, these commitments haven’t resulted in enough action and accountability. The research involved a survey of Canada’s largest companies and included interviews with Black, Indigenous, South Asian, South Asian-Muslim, and LGBTQ professionals. AgentsC CEO Mide Akerewusi says the pace of change doesn’t match the intentions broadcast by corporations’ financial commitments. The study found that a lack of representation is holding back equity at corporations, noting that Black and Indigenous professionals are less likely than their white counterparts to have influence or decision-making responsibility. The study also fo...

Ryan Standil is a former lawyer and the owner of Write To Excite. He leads workshops for businesses and governments about effective writing in the workplace. Eric Janssen teaches sales and entrepreneurship at the Ivey Business School at Western University in London, Ont. Have you ever tried to e-mail a busy person who was unfamiliar with you? Maybe you were searching for a job, seeking advice or hoping to make a sale. A study of two million e-mail users revealed the long odds of obtaining a response: On average, people who receive fewer than 100 e-mails a day respond to 25 per cent of them, and people who receive at least 100 e-mails a day respond to just 5 per cent. Fortunately, you can boost your response rate by applying proven techniques. These techniques are traditionally associated with what are known as “cold e-mails,” but they are also helpful for reaching out on platforms such as LinkedIn and Instagram. The next time you write a cold e-mail, focus on three actions to elicit...

Moderna’s MRNA-Q stock soared Tuesday after the COVID-19 vaccine maker detailed progress in developing a preventive shot for a deadly form of skin cancer. The company said a possible melanoma vaccine it is studying with pharmaceutical giant Merck fared well in a small study of patients who had the cancer surgically removed. The drugmakers said a combination of the vaccine and Merck’s immunotherapy Keytruda led to a statistically significant improvement in survival before the cancer returned in patients with advanced melanoma. “We are very excited, we are moving very quickly with Merck onto phase 3 for this study,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel told CNBC Tuesday morning. Phase 3 is generally the largest and most expensive stage of clinical research before regulators review a potential drug for approval. Moderna developed one of the most popular vaccines used to protect patients against COVID-19, and the drugmaker brought in more than $3-billion from its Spikevax in this year’s third qua...