Five-year fixed rates have dominated consumer mindset all year, but that dominance may start waning in 2020. If you believe unemployment has bottomed out in this country, and you believe an inverted yield curve is rate-bearish, and you’re a financially secure borrower, you’re probably going to steer clear of a 5-year fixed. Instead, you might focus on terms that cost...

Canada just witnessed its worst spike in unemployment since the Great Recession of 2009. An estimated 71,200 jobs were lost in November. And we all know what happens when unemployment bottoms and starts climbing. Rates usually drop. Is This Really the Bottom in Unemployment? No one knows what tomorrow will bring (until tomorrow). But here’s what we know: Economic cycles have...

The Bank of Canada ended 2019 where it ended 2018, with prime rate frozen at 3.95%. Here’s a summary of the Bank of Canada rate decision this morning: Rate Announcement: No change Overnight rate: Remains at 1.75% Prime Rate: Remains at 3.95% (see Prime Rate) Market Rate Forecast: One rate cut in 2020 BoC’s Headline Quote: “Future interest rate decisions will be guided by…the...

With just 12 days until Tariff Man’s next round of threatened tariffs kick in against China, and with new import taxes now threatened on Europe and South America, the market pendulum has swung back to pessimism. “If tariffs scheduled for Dec. 15 are implemented, it would be a huge shock to the market consensus,” Manulife Investment Management’s Sue Trinh told...

It’s become easy to move your money from one financial institution (FI) to another online. Major banks hate it. Small FIs love it. The internet lets upstarts swipe market share from the big boys with little more than a great rate and some media coverage. It’s a formula that will increasingly siphon deposits from well-capitalized household names (the Big 6 Banks)...

Most big banks now have online mortgage pre-approvals. No news there. But three decades following the invention of the world wide web, big banks still don’t let you get a mortgage: on virtually any smartphone, tablet or computer without ever speaking to a banker with an instant credit check with automated screening of your application data with an industry-leading, fully...

Savings account rates are not usually our playground. But when a bank launches a savings rate that’s 43 basis points above the typical 5-year fixed mortgage rate, it’s worth a comment. Laurentian Bank of Canada (LBC) is the party in question. It has a new eye-catching 3.30% high-interest savings account (HISA) rate with no regular fees or strings attached. Here are...

Canadian government bond yields, which lead fixed mortgage rates, are essentially adrift at sea. They, like so many other global yields, seem to just be biding time until positive (or negative) trade news breaks out of Washington. There’s so much uncertainty out there that it makes even less sense than usual to try and time the market. When President Trump...

The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive can’t be considered a dud, yet. But it’s surely not impressing anyone. One of its champions, CMHC CEO Evan Siddall, said only 2,000 applications have been approved for the program since it launched on September 2, 2019, reports CMT. That means it’s running at 50% capacity, he estimates. Meanwhile, one of the private insurers tells...

Central banks around the world have been cutting rates. But, so far, the Bank of Canada has avoided joining that club. One of its worries is that lower interest rates would reignite the mortgage and housing markets, adding to Canadians’ already toppy debt loads. Deputy BoC Governor Carolyn Wilkins reiterated these concerns in a speech yesterday. “You’ve heard us say...