Random Thoughts: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

The employment numbers in Canada were weak this week, and the situation down south is getting progressively worse. Fortunately, the U.S. President has introduced a new bill to improve job opportunities, while here in Canada, the Prime Minister of Ontario is boasting that he has created the most jobs in the past four years. But let’s not forget that he has also lost the most jobs, so his claims are questionable. The conversation has shifted from deficits to jobs, and it’s about time politicians tackle this issue head-on. The statement “It’s about jobs, stupid!” is a powerful reminder of the importance of this topic, and I wish more politicians would use it in their election campaigns.

As the temperatures are beginning to drop, it might be a good idea to consider checking your furnace. This thought comes to mind since we are expecting frost here in Ottawa. It feels like only last week when I turned off the air conditioning, but in reality, it was only a week ago. It will be interesting to see how my Hydro bill will be affected by the implementation of smart meters, whether it will decrease or increase.

This was an odd week for posts; I was kind of all over the place, but that is literally how my mind works:

• Since 9/11 was the only topic of conversation last week I added in my point of view with Ten Years Later and Sunday’s Best.
• Stats Canada pointed out the Canadian economy is not as rock solid as some think with Employment Stalling in Canada
• For some reason I felt like confessing my own shortcomings again (today’s sin: procrastination) with Always put off today which points out that procrastination isn’t as good as you’d hope
• I went back to Stats Canada with some data about Canadian home debt grows some more (Q2 2011) which is not a good thing, even if interest rates are low.
• I literally have no idea what I was thinking when I wrote I literally hate this and I literally wonder where my head is sometimes.
• Random Thoughts: Labour Week Over was a recap of the previous week’s best articles.

Other financial folk are looking at the mess the global economy seems to be in, and have some more commentary on this mess:

• Frugal Trader at Million Dollar Journey suggests you give yourself a financial checkup which is a good idea to do more than once every 10 years.
• Canadian Couch Potato whom we met last week at our regular Financial Bloggers Hang Out tells us that Commission-Free ETFs Arrive in Canada but remember you are still paying trading fees on those.
• Mike at Money.Smarts gives us a practical way to estimate and budget for home maintenance costs which is important for the winter (what happens if your furnace packs it in, in January?).
• Michael James laments the change in priorities and how the Motley Fool Comes Full Circle, and are now almost a parody of their former selves.
• Jon Chevreau also mentions Claymore & iTrade providing “commission-free” ETF trades, hmm… what does that really mean?
• Canadian Capitalist reviews Vanguard’s best practices for Portfolio Rebalancing paper that was published a while ago, an interesting analysis.
• Larry MacDonald goes back to revisit a topic he wrote a book about a while ago with riding the Bombardier Roller Coaster (no they are not making roller coasters now).
• Preet explains that Micro-economists are wrong about specific things, Macro-economists are wrong about things in general I think he has having a little fun with economists in general.
• Echo of Boomer and Echopoints out the importance of understanding your new home warranty and what is and more importantly what is not covered.
• Our amigo My Own Advisor gives us his favourite international equity ETFs but again remember how much it costs to trade these critters too.

Remember

“As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it. ”

Author: Albert Einstein