Business News
May 15, 2008TORONTO - The Canadian Auto Workers has reached a tentative contract with General Motors of Canada that freezes wages for three years but will keep workers on the job at car and truck plants in Oshawa, Ont.
The agreement reached Thursday morning secures production commitments for the car plant and postpones the shutdown of a second shift at the facility from September until 2009. The union also said Thursday it was close to reaching a deal with the last of the Big Three automakers, Chrysler. Existing contracts between the CAW and the automakers do not expire until September.
OTTAWA - Trade Minister David Emerson is telling Europeans they are missing out on a great opportunity in the future development of the North by not moving aggressively to strengthen economic ties with Canada.
Emerson told a conference on transatlantic trade Thursday that Europe and Canada have not paid close enough attention to trade and investment links, and interest is especially lacking in Europe.
TORONTO - The Toronto stock market racked up a solid early gain Thursday as oil prices headed higher while data showed that a weakening U.S. economy is hurting manufacturers.
Meanwhile, all-night negotiations in Toronto have yielded a tentative contract between the Canadian Auto Workers union and General Motors of Canada. CAW president Buzz Hargrove also said a deal with Chrysler Canada could be imminent.
VIENNA, Austria - Oil climbed above US$125 a barrel Thursday, a day after the U.S. government issued a mixed report on the country's petroleum reserves and the U.S. dollar weakened against other key currencies.
"The overall sentiment in the market remains quite bullish... and in the near term, the bullish sentiment could cause the market to challenge a new high, driven by news events," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.
TORONTO - There is now convincing evidence that Canada's housing market has come off the boil, Bank of Nova Scotia economists say.
Home resales have fallen for four consecutive months, and the inflation-adjusted average resale home price registered its first quarterly decline in seven years during the first three months of this year, Scotia Economics noted in a report Thursday.
OTTAWA - A new study says Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador have stepped into a new era of prosperity.
Statistics Canada says the commodity boom offered a unique opportunity for the two provinces to tap into their natural resources as never before.
OTTAWA - Manufacturers gave back some of their recent gains in March as factory sales retreated 1.6 per cent to $49 billion, their first decline of 2008.
The scope of March's slowdown was extensive as 18 of the 21 manufacturing industries, representing 76 per cent of total sales, posted declines.
TOKYO - Toyota's Prius started out a decade ago as a risky experiment in green technology.
Today, it's the world's first mass-produced gas-electric hybrid vehicle to hit the one million mark in sales. The Prius, which went on sale in Japan in 1997, has been a big hit with drivers around the world and is now sold in 40 countries and regions. Its popularity is going strong amid surging gas prices and growing concerns about the environment.
OTTAWA - Allen-Vanguard Corp, has cut expectations for its current financial year, citing delays in U.S. military programs. The maker of protective gear and devices to disable roadside bombs also said Thursday its outlook "strengthens considerably" through 2011.
Allen-Vanguard booked a net loss of $34.2 million, 32 cents per share, in its second quarter ended March 31, including expenses related to acquisitions which helped boost revenue to $91.3 million from $23.5 million. The year-ago net loss was $200,000 or two cents per share, before the takeovers of Med-Eng Systems and Hazard Management Solutions.
TORONTO - Coalcorp Mining Inc. (TSX:CCJ) has called off an effort to sell itself and is "embarking on a multifaceted, focused strategy with a view to the company producing approximately six million tonnes of coal per year by 2010."
The plan disclosed Thursday includes a $120-million offering of new equity.
LONDON - Barclays PLC reported a US$1.94-billion writedown in the first quarter Thursday, but bucked a trend in the banking sector and did not announce a capital increase to shore up its balance sheet.
The third-largest bank in Britain said it turned a diminished profit, but did not release figures.
TORONTO - Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY) will be hit by $855 million in writedowns "relating to market conditions" as part of its second-quarter results.
The writedowns will be worth $420 million after tax, Canada's largest bank said Wednesday. RBC shares climbed 2.6 per cent after the disclosure, rising $1.30 to $49.92 at midafternoon on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
OTTAWA - The loonie once again worth about the same as the U.S. greenback, employment, exports and consumer spending continuing strong - what is happening to Canada's year of economic discontent?
Just as the Canadian and U.S. economies were expected to be at their gloomiest - falling into negative numbers or close to it in the second quarter - some economists are entertaining the notion that the worst may already be in the past.
DETROIT - Workers at a General Motors Corp. stamping plant in Ohio have withdrawn their threat to go on strike, a GM spokesman said Wednesday.
United Auto Workers Local 549 was set to go on strike Thursday morning but has withdrawn that deadline and is continuing negotiations to reach a local contract, spokesman Dan Flores said.
TORONTO - Timminco Ltd. (TSX:TIM), under attack from skeptics who cast doubt whether the company really has a break-through technology for producing silicon for solar cells, presented what they hope is a credible outside expert to back their case Wednesday.
What the specialty metals company delivered was an hour-long discourse on the company's plans and processes by a consultant who advises both Timminco and its customers and who, overall, said he was impressed with what the company has showed him
CALGARY - A federal judge has handed Imperial Oil Ltd. (TSX:IMO) a defeat in its efforts to move ahead with the $8-billion Kearl oilsands mine - a project environmentalists say would destroy huge tracts of boreal forest in Northern Alberta.
Imperial was in court last week fighting a federal government decision to revoke a key water permit.
TOKYO - Toyota's Prius started out a decade ago as a risky experiment in green technology. Today, it's the world's first mass-produced gas-electric hybrid vehicle to hit the one million mark in sales.
The Prius, which went on sale in Japan in 1997, has been a big hit with drivers around the world and is now sold in 40 countries and regions. And its popularity is going strong amid surging gas prices and growing concerns about the environment.
CHICAGO - United Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc. are talking about forming an alliance to gain some benefits of working together without going through a merger, which Continental rejected last month, a person close to the talks said Wednesday.
United is still pushing ahead with negotiations aimed at a combination with US Airways Group Inc. but would not pursue both deals, said the person, who was not authorized to speak about the matter and requested anonymity.
