This & That: Canuck Euphoria, Japanese Earthquake, and more…

1. In the past ten years, Canada has had an easier time than pretty much everyone else. Our home prices did not crash as in other countries, our dollar strengthened significantly and our stock markets outperformed pretty much every developed market out there. This column in Macleans magazine wonders how long the good times are going to last.
2. What should investors do in the wake of the disastrous Japanese Earthquake? Jon Chevreau looks at history and finds the best course is to stay the course, Larry MacDonald says the bargain prices may be a good time to obtain exposure to Japanese equities and the folks at Steadyhand obtained a preliminary assessment from their money manager.
3. Today’s Economy Blog’s Kevin Press highlights some findings from a recent survey that found that Canadians believe they’ll be working well past the traditional retirement age.
4. If you have trouble establishing a savings habit, you’ll find Preet Banerjee’s tip to “nudge” yourself by banking half your next increase pretty useful.
5. Michael James on Money did an informal survey and found that half the respondents believe they don’t pay any fees to buy and own mutual funds.
6. If you don’t want any risk in your RESP, Money Smarts Blog suggests opening up a GIC RESP available at many banks. The only problem

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This & That: Food Inflation, Interest rates and more…

[Note: I apologize for the lack of a video and light posting this week. I've been sick like a dog and only just recovered ever so slightly. Speaking of which, do you notice how expensive over-the-counter drugs are at Shopper's Drug Mart compared to Costco or Wal-Mart?]

Food prices have been trending upwards already but we haven’t yet seen the kind of price increases that consumers in emerging markets have been experiencing. That may be about to change. The Globe & Mail reported that Weston is increasing prices on bread, cookies and cakes by an average of 5 per cent starting April 1 .

The Bank of Canada decided to keep interest rates level at 1 per cent. The Prime rate to which variable-rate mortgages and lines of credit are tied to remains at 3 per cent. In its accompanying statement the Bank said the economic recovery here at home is “proceeding slightly faster than expected” but inflation had been “consistent” with its expectations.

TD Bank became the first bank to boost its dividend since the big banks stopped regular dividend increases to conserve capital in the wake of the financial crisis. The Bank

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