Federal Government will Back Bank to Bank Loans?

Jim Flaherty is predicted to announce this to help ease the credit crunch, but is this going to help? We shall see, but it isn’t bad news, except for tax payers like us, who are now on the hook for these loans as well. This whole “bail out” thing seems to be another possible area where governments will overspend and this will lead to higher taxes. 

Stock Decline Continues

Not that you hadn’t noticed, but, stock prices continue to drop on sentiment (and not much else), as we seem to be in a “shame spiral” in terms of investing, where folks are getting out now just for the sake of getting out. Yes, some companies are announcing pretty shaky numbers, but not enough to justify this kind of sell off.

Is it time to buy yet? Not sure, call me in six months, I’ll tell you whether now was a good time to buy.

Ontario Deficit Provincially?

Evidently the forecast now is for a $500M deficit for the Province of Ontario this year, which means the province is going to have to make cuts or increase taxes to get their books balanced again, or make sure they make more money next year some how . Word is that the cuts will not happen and they will be protecting Education and Health Spending, and should be able to reverse this problem soon. I am skeptical about this statement, and hope this is not a trend we will start seeing at more levels of government.

Competition in Wireless World?

Quebecor announced they will be launching a wireless phone and data service to compete with the incumbents in the area (Bell and Telus).  This is very good news, as I feel that Bell and Telus are both gouging the hell out of the customers (I am a Bell customer currently). More competition is a good thing, and the fact that this offer is a GSM and HSPA play says again that CDMA (the incumbent North American technology) is not doing well either. Rogers, and Fido run a GSM network, whereas Telus and Bell did run only CDMA, but have since announced an “overlay network” with HSPA and GSM technology as well.

For those Nortel watchers out there, CDMA is one of the remaining “cash cows” in Nortel’s war chest, and this technology continues to erode (less and less spending worldwide).

More competition in this market is a very good thing. Time to walk into Bell and ask, “Why is my bill so darn high?” and see what “deals” they have for me.