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Watch the video clip here: http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/#clip875315 The Daily Show: Canada's Maple Syrup 'Cartel' A Hazard On U.S.'s Northern Border The Daily Show turned its attention to last year’s great Canadian maple syrup heist Thursday night, expressing what was probably genuine surprise at learning that, yes, Canada has a maple syrup cartel. Correspondent Jason Jones began the segment with an interview with Canadian Business reporter Tim Shufelt, who was seated silhouetted in a darkened room as if he were an anonymous source. “Globally, the industry is worth about $400 million and the cartel accounts for about three-quarters of that production,” Shufelt told a seemingly alarmed Jones. At this point, Jones learned Shufelt was talking about maple syrup. “Can we put the f**king lights on?” Jones asked an off-screen producer. Watch the clip at the Comedy Network website. A barrel of maple syrup, Shufelt told Jones, has a market value that is almost 20 times the value of a barrel of crude oil. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/03/01/daily-show-strategic-maple-syrup-reserve_n_2792194.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-business

Gillette to phase Tiger Woods out of ads New York — Associated Press Published on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 11:57AM EST Last updated on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 4:05PM EST New York — Associated Press Published on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 11:57AM EST Last updated on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 4:05PM EST One of Tiger Woods’ major sponsors will phase the world’s most valuable athlete out of its advertisements while he takes time off to repair his personal life. Gillette’s announcement Saturday marks the first major sponsor of the superstar athlete and corporate pitchman to distance itself from Woods. “As Tiger takes a break from the public eye, we will support his desire for privacy by limiting his role in our marketing programs,” said Gillette, a division of Procter & Gamble. Other sponsors are mulling their options and trying to gauge the fallout from the man who has become the face of golf, as he drops off the circuit for an unspecified period. AT&T said it is evaluating its relationship with the golfer. Representatives from Accenture won’t say what its plans are regarding Woods, whom the consulting firm has used to personify its claimed attributes of integrity and high performance. “I think you will see the handful or so of companies that he has relationships with doing some real soul searching and making some probably, for them, difficult decisions in the next few days,” said Larry L. Smith, president of the Institute for Crisis Management, in Louisville, Ky. Late Friday, Woods announced an indefinite leave from golf and public life to try to rescue his marriage after a two weeks of intense coverage of his infidelity sullied his carefully cultivated good guy image. The decision and contrite tone of his statement was seen by marketing experts as a smart step to repairing his public image. His previous brief and vague statements on the matter were criticized as insufficient to quell the intense scrutiny and to lessen the damage from more than a handful of women who claim to have had affairs with him. “It’s just like your most beautiful fashion brand is being trashed,” said John Sweeney, director of sports communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “I don’t expect Tiger to be the gold standard anymore, but he’s not going out of business ... He’s too big and too talented to be fired, but he will have significant declines from what he was.” Woods, 33, spent 13 years burnishing a pristine personal brand. His good looks and multiracial heritage gave him broad appeal. His domination of the game and fist-pumping flair for the dramatic established his tournament appearances as must-see TV. His work ethic is admirable. Marketers were drawn to his image as a clean-cut family man who mourned the death of the father who taught him the game, doted on his mother and married a former Swedish model with whom he has two young children. Woods is the pitchman for brands ranging from AT&T to Accenture to Nike. His array of endorsements helped him become the first sports star to earn $1 billion. Michael Jordan, Woods’ closest contemporary, is a distant second. Jordan has accumulated about $800 million during an NBA career that spanned nearly 20 years, according to Forbes. Nike, which built its $650-million golf business around Woods, said late Friday it supports his decision. Gatorade, a unit of PepsiCo Inc., said previously it supports Woods and said Saturday it has no updated comment. Gillette’s decision includes phasing out Woods from its television and print advertising, and from public appearances and other efforts linking the two entities together, Gillette spokesman Damon Jones said. “This is supporting his desire to step out of the public eye and we’re going to support him by helping him to take a lower profile,” he said. Gillette, which operates from Boston while parent P&G is based in Cincinnati, has had a contract with Woods since 2007. Jones declined to provide further details, including length and value, of the contract. Woods hasn’t been seen in a prime-time television commercial since a Gillette spot on Nov. 29, according to research firm Nielsen Co. Jones said that was because golf is currently off-season, so the company is promoting new products like Gillette Fusion MVP with football and baseball stars instead, because those seasons are more current. As any ads featuring Woods expire, they will not be renewed. Jones said that did not mean the company was severing its ties with Woods. There had been no upcoming scheduled public appearances for Woods, he said. He declined to comment on when the company would resume including Woods in its marketing, and would not say whether that would be linked with the timing of Woods comeback, when and if he decides to resume playing golf.

(Courtesy of the National Post) I thought there was a topic on this already I searched and I didn't see anything pop up.

(Courtesy of Inhabitat) Now thats a hell of a thing, build million dollar buildings just to destroy them

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/international/correspondants/201009/08/01-4313486-profanation-du-coran-le-pasteur-jones-persiste-et-signe.php Burning books..... Remember the Nazis anyone?

http://lapresseaffaires.cyberpresse.ca/economie/immobilier/201008/26/01-4309871-immobilier-industriel-flottement-post-recession-a-montreal.php

Terre-Neuve songe à des sanctions Mise à jour le vendredi 11 juin 2010 à 11 h 14 L'Assemblée législative de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador. L'Assemblée législative de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador débat de la possibilité de refuser d'accorder des contrats à toute entreprise québécoise. Par exemple, le gouvernement terre-neuvien inaugure vendredi un centre de soin de longue durée à Corner Brook. Ce projet de 50 millions de dollars a été réalisé par Pomerleau, une entreprise québécoise. Au moins cinq grands projets sont dirigés par des compagnies québécoises à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador à l'heure actuelle. La chef de l'opposition officielle, la libérale Yvonne Jones, propose d'arrêter l'octroi de contrats à ces entreprises. Le premier ministre progressiste-conservateur, Danny Williams, ne cache pas sa colère contre le Québec, qu'il accuse de freiner les projets hydroélectriques de sa province sur le bas du fleuve Churchill, au Labrador. Danny Williams n'est toutefois pas prêt à aller aussi loin que le veut l'opposition. Il explique que le fait de refuser systématiquement d'octroyer des contrats à des entreprises québécoises contreviendrait à la loi sur les appels d'offres. La chef libérale répond que le gouvernement a déjà contourné cette loi dans le passé en accordant des exemptions. Yvonne Jones ajoute que le gouvernement terre-neuvien ne peut pas donner d'une main des baffes au Québec sur la place publique tout en signant de l'autre main des chèques à des entreprises québécoises.

Will California become America's first failed state? Los Angeles, 2009: California may be the eighth largest economy in the world, but its state staff are being paid in IOUs, unemployment is at its highest in 70 years, and teachers are on hunger strike. So what has gone so catastrophically wrong? Patients without medical insurance wait for treatment in the Forum, a music arena inInglewood, Los Angeles. The 1,500 free places were filled by 4am. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images California has a special place in the American psyche. It is the Golden State: a playground of the rich and famous with perfect weather. It symbolises a lifestyle of sunshine, swimming pools and the Hollywood dream factory. But the state that was once held up as the epitome of the boundless opportunities of America has collapsed. From its politics to its economy to its environment and way of life, California is like a patient on life support. At the start of summer the state government was so deeply in debt that it began to issue IOUs instead of wages. Its unemployment rate has soared to more than 12%, the highest figure in 70 years. Desperate to pay off a crippling budget deficit, California is slashing spending in education and healthcare, laying off vast numbers of workers and forcing others to take unpaid leave. In a state made up of sprawling suburbs the collapse of the housing bubble has impoverished millions and kicked tens of thousands of families out of their homes. Its political system is locked in paralysis and the two-term rule of former movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger is seen as a disaster – his approval ratings having sunk to levels that would make George W Bush blush. The crisis is so deep that Professor Kevin Starr, who has written an acclaimed history of the state, recently declared: "California is on the verge of becoming the first failed state in America." Outside the Forum in Inglewood, near downtown Los Angeles, California has already failed. The scene is reminiscent of the fallout from Hurricane Katrina, as crowds of impoverished citizens stand or lie aimlessly on the hot tarmac of the centre's car park. It is 10am, and most have already been here for hours. They have come for free healthcare: a travelling medical and dental clinic has set up shop in the Forum (which usually hosts rock concerts) and thousands of the poor, the uninsured and the down-on-their-luck have driven for miles to be here. The queue began forming at 1am. By 4am, the 1,500 spaces were already full and people were being turned away. On the floor of the Forum, root-canal surgeries are taking place. People are ferried in on cushions, hauled out of decrepit cars. Sitting propped up against a lamp post, waiting for her number to be called, is Debbie Tuua, 33. It is her birthday, but she has taken a day off work to bring her elderly parents to the Forum, and they have driven through the night to get here. They wait in a car as the heat of the day begins to rise. "It is awful for them, but what choice do we have?" Tuua says. "I have no other way to get care to them." Yet California is currently cutting healthcare, slashing the "Healthy Families" programme that helped an estimated one million of its poorest children. Los Angeles now has a poverty rate of 20%. Other cities across the state, such as Fresno and Modesto, have jobless rates that rival Detroit's. In order to pass its state budget, California's government has had to agree to a deal that cuts billions of dollars from education and sacks 60,000 state employees. Some teachers have launched a hunger strike in protest. California's education system has become so poor so quickly that it is now effectively failing its future workforce. The percentage of 19-year-olds at college in the state dropped from 43% to 30% between 1996 and 2004, one of the highest falls ever recorded for any developed world economy. California's schools are ranked 47th out of 50 in the nation. Its government-issued bonds have been ranked just above "junk". Some of the state's leading intellectuals believe this collapse is a disaster that will harm Californians for years to come. "It will take a while for this self-destructive behaviour to do its worst damage," says Robert Hass, a professor at Berkeley and a former US poet laureate, whose work has often been suffused with the imagery of the Californian way of life. Now, incredibly, California, which has been a natural target for immigration throughout its history, is losing people. Between 2004 and 2008, half a million residents upped sticks and headed elsewhere. By 2010, California could lose a congressman because its population will have fallen so much – an astonishing prospect for a state that is currently the biggest single political entity in America. Neighbouring Nevada has launched a mocking campaign to entice businesses away, portraying Californian politicians as monkeys, and with a tag-line jingle that runs: "Kiss your assets goodbye!" You know you have a problem when Nevada – famed for nothing more than Las Vegas, casinos and desert – is laughing at you. This matters, too. Much has been made globally of the problems of Ireland and Iceland. Yet California dwarfs both. It is the eighth largest economy in the world, with a population of 37 million. If it was an independent country it would be in the G8. And if it were a company, it would likely be declared bankrupt. That prospect might surprise many, but it does not come as news to Tuua, as she glances nervously into the warming sky, hoping her parents will not have to wait in the car through the heat of the day just to see a doctor. "It is so depressing. They both worked hard all their lives in this state and this is where they have ended up. It should not have to be this way," she says. It is impossible not to be impressed by the physical presence of Arnold Schwarzenegger when he walks into a room. He may appear slightly smaller than you imagine, but he's just as powerful. This is, after all, the man who, before he was California's governor, was the Terminator and Conan the Barbarian. But even Schwarzenegger is humbled by the scale of the crisis. At a press conference in Sacramento to announce the final passing of a state budget, which would include billions of dollars of cuts, the governor speaks in uncharacteristically pensive terms. "It is clear that we do not know yet what the future holds. We are still in troubled waters," he says quietly. He looks subdued, despite his sharp grey suit and bright pink tie. Later, during a grilling by reporters, Schwarzenegger is asked an unusual question. As a gaggle of journalists begins to shout, one man's voice quickly silences the others. "Do you ever feel like you're watching the end of the California dream?" asks the reporter. It is clearly a personal matter for Schwarzenegger. After all, his life story has embodied it. He arrived virtually penniless from Austria, barely speaking English. He ended up a movie star, rich beyond his dreams, and finally governor, hanging Conan's prop sword in his office. Schwarzenegger answers thoughtfully and at length. He hails his own experience and ends with a passionate rallying call in his still thickly accented voice. "There is people that sometimes suggest that the American dream, or the Californian dream, is evaporating. I think it's absolutely wrong. I think the Californian dream is as strong as ever," he says, mangling the grammar but not the sentiment. Looking back, it is easy to see where Schwarzenegger's optimism sprung from. California has always been a special place, with its own idea of what could be achieved in life. There is no such thing as a British dream. Even within America, there is no Kansas dream or New Jersey dream. But for California the concept is natural. It has always been a place apart. It is of the American West, the destination point in a nation whose history has been marked by restless pioneers. It is the home of Hollywood, the nation's very own fantasy land. Getting on a bus or a train or a plane and heading out for California has been a regular trope in hundreds of books, movies, plays, and in the popular imagination. It has been writ large in the national psyche as free from the racial divisions of the American South and the traditions and reserve of New England. It was America's own America. Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and now an adopted Californian, remembers arriving here from his native New England. "In New England you would have to know people for 10 years before they let you in their home," he says. "Here, when I took my son to his first play date, the mother invited me to a hot tub." Michael Levine is a Hollywood mover and shaker, shaping PR for a stable of A-list clients that once included Michael Jackson. Levine arrived in California 32 years ago. "The concept of the Californian dream was a certain quality of life," he says. "It was experimentalism and creativity. California was a utopia." Levine arrived at the end of the state's golden age, at a time when the dream seemed to have been transformed into reality. The 1950s and 60s had been boom-time in the American economy; jobs had been plentiful and development rapid. Unburdened by environmental concerns, Californian developers built vast suburbs beneath perpetually blue skies. Entire cities sprang from the desert, and orchards were paved over into playgrounds and shopping malls. "They came here, they educated their kids, they had a pool and a house. That was the opportunity for a pretty broad section of society," says Joel Kotkin, an urbanist at Chapman University, in Orange County. This was what attracted immigrants in their millions, flocking to industries – especially defence and aviation – that seemed to promise jobs for life. But the newcomers were mistaken. Levine, among millions of others, does not think California is a utopia now. "California is going to take decades to fix," he says. So where did it all wrong? Few places embody the collapse of California as graphically as the city of Riverside. Dubbed "The Inland Empire", it is an area in the southern part of the state where the desert has been conquered by mile upon mile of housing developments, strip malls and four-lane freeways. The tidal wave of foreclosures and repossessions that burst the state's vastly inflated property bubble first washed ashore here. "We've been hit hard by foreclosures. You can see it everywhere," says political scientist Shaun Bowler, who has lived in California for 20 years after moving here from his native England. The impact of the crisis ranges from boarded-up homes to abandoned swimming pools that have become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Bowler's sister, visiting from England, was recently taken to hospital suffering from an infected insect bite from such a pool. "You could say she was a victim of the foreclosure crisis, too," he jokes. But it is no laughing matter. One in four American mortgages that are "under water", meaning they are worth more than the home itself, are in California. In the Central Valley town of Merced, house prices have crashed by 70%. Two Democrat politicians have asked for their districts to be declared disaster zones, because of the poor economic conditions caused by foreclosures. In one city near Riverside, a squatter's camp of newly homeless labourers sleeping in their vehicles has grown up in a supermarket car park – the local government has provided toilets and a mobile shower. In the Los Angeles suburb of Pacoima, one in nine homeowners are now in default on their mortgage, and the local priest, the Rev John Lasseigne, has garnered national headlines – swapping saving souls to saving houses, by negotiating directly with banks on behalf of his parishioners. For some campaigners and advocates against suburban sprawl and car culture, it has been a bitter triumph. "Let the gloating begin!" says James Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency, a warning about the high cost of the suburban lifestyle. Others see the end of the housing boom as a man-made disaster akin to a mass hysteria, but with no redemption in sight. "If California was an experiment then it was an experiment of mass irresponsibility – and that has failed," says Michael Levine. Nowhere is the economic cost of California's crisis writ larger than in the Central Valley town of Mendota, smack in the heart of a dusty landscape of flat, endless fields of fruit and vegetables. The town, which boldly terms itself "the cantaloup capital of the world", now has an unemployment rate of 38%. That is expected to rise above 50% as the harvest ends and labourers are laid off. City officials hold food giveaways every two weeks. More than 40% of the town's people live below the poverty level. Shops have shut, restaurants have closed, drugs and alcohol abuse have become a problem. Standing behind the counter of his DVD and grocery store, former Mendota mayor Joseph Riofrio tells me it breaks his heart to watch the town sink into the mire. His father had built the store in the 1950s and constructed a solid middle-class life around it, to raise his family. Now Riofrio has stopped selling booze in a one-man bid to curb the social problems breaking out all around him. "It is so bad, but it has now got to the point where we are getting used to it being like this," he says. Riofrio knows his father's achievements could not be replicated today. The state that once promised opportunities for working men and their families now promises only desperation. "He could not do what he did again. That chance does not exist now," Riofrio says. Outside, in a shop that Riofrio's grandfather built, groups of unemployed men play pool for 25 cents a game. Near every one of the town's liquor stores others lie slumped on the pavements, drinking their sorrows away. Mendota is fighting for survival against heavy odds. The town of 7,000 souls has seen 2,000 people leave in the past two years. But amid the crisis there are a few sparks of hope for the future. California has long been an incubator of fresh ideas, many of which spread across the country. If America emerges from its crisis a greener, more economically and politically responsible nation, it is likely that renewal will have begun here. The clues to California's salvation – and perhaps even the country as a whole – are starting to emerge. Take Anthony "Van" Jones, a man now in the vanguard of the movement to build a future green economy, creating millions of jobs, solving environmental problems and reducing climate change at a stroke. It is a beguiling vision and one that Jones conceived in the northern Californian city of Oakland. He began political life as an anti-poverty campaigner, but gradually combined that with environmentalism, believing that greening the economy could also revitalise it and lift up the poor. He founded Green for All as an advocacy group and published a best-selling book, The Green Collar Economy. Then Obama came to power and Jones got the call from the White House. In just a few years, his ideas had spread from the streets of Oakland to White House policy papers. Jones was later ousted from his role, but his ideas remain. Green jobs are at the forefront of Obama's ideas on both the economy and the environment. Jones believes California will once more change itself, and then change the nation. "California remains a beacon of hope… This is a new time for a new direction to grow a new society and a new economy," Jones has said. It is already happening. California may have sprawling development and awful smog, but it leads the way in environmental issues. Arnold Schwarzenegger was seen as a leading light, taking the state far ahead of the federal government on eco-issues. The number of solar panels in the state has risen from 500 a decade ago to more than 50,000 now. California generates twice as much energy from solar power as all the other US states combined. Its own government is starting to turn on the reckless sprawl that has marked the state's development. California's attorney-general, Jerry Brown, recently sued one county government for not paying enough attention to global warming when it came to urban planning. Even those, like Kotkin, who are sceptical about the end of suburbia, think California will develop a new model for modern living: comfortable, yes, but more modest and eco-friendly. Kotkin, who is writing an eagerly anticipated book about what America will look like in 2050, thinks much of it will still resemble the bedrock of the Californian dream: sturdy, wholesome suburbs for all – just done more responsibly. "We will still live in suburbs. You work with the society you have got. The question is how we make them more sustainable," he says. Even the way America eats is being changed in California. Every freeway may be lined with fast-food outlets, but California is also the state of Alice Waters, the guru of the slow-food movement, who inspired Michelle Obama to plant a vegetable garden in the White House. She thinks the state is changing its values. "The crisis is bringing us back to our senses. We had adopted a fast and easy way of living, but we are moving away from that now," she says. There is hope in politics, too. There is a growing movement to call for a constitutional convention that could redraw the way the state is governed. It could change how the state passes budgets and make the political system more open, recreating the lost middle ground. Recently, the powerful mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, signed on to the idea. Gerrymandering, too, is set to take a hit. Next year Schwarzenegger will take steps to redraw some districts to make them more competitive, breaking the stranglehold of party politics. He wants district boundaries to be drawn up by impartial judges, not politicians. In previous times that would have been the equivalent of a turkey voting for Christmas. But now the bold move is seen for what it is: a necessary step to change things. And there is no denying that innovation is something that California does well. Even in the most deprived corners of the state there is a sense that things can still turn around. California has always been able to reinvent itself, and some of its most hardcore critics still like the idea of it having a "dream". "I believe in California. It pains me at the moment to see it where it is, but I still believe in it," said Michael Levine. Perhaps more surprisingly, a fellow believer is to be found in Mendota in the shape of Joseph Riofrio. His shop operates as a sort of informal meeting place for the town. People drop in to chat, to get advice, or to buy a cold soft drink to relieve the unrelenting heat outside. The people are poor, many of them out of work, often hiring a bunch of DVDs as a cheap way of passing the time. But Riofrio sees them as a community, one that he grew up in. He is proud of his town and determined to stick it out. "This is a good place to live," he says. "I want to be here when it turns around." He is talking of the stricken town outside. But he could be describing the whole state.★ • This article was amended on 5 October 2009 because we inadvertently referred to the historian, Kevin Starr, as Kenneth.

Fièvre olympique à la Bourse Publié le 07 mars 2009 à 11h45 | Mis à jour le 07 mars 2009 à 11h58 Vincent Brousseau-Pouliot La Presse Dans un an, le monde entier aura les yeux tournés vers Vancouver, qui accueillera les Jeux olympiques d'hiver. La communauté financière, elle, est déjà en mode olympique. En décembre dernier, le Dow Jones a mis à jour son indice boursier olympique en prévision des Jeux de Vancouver. Créé en décembre 2006 en prévision des Jeux de Pékin, l'indice boursier olympique Dow Jones est le véhicule d'investissement fait sur mesure pour ceux qui veulent bénéficier de la manne olympique. Il regroupe les sociétés inscrites en Bourse associées à l'organisation des Jeux. «Notre raisonnement, c'est que les entreprises qui ont des liens avec les Jeux olympiques tendent à faire de meilleures affaires durant leur cycle olympique, dit John Prestbo, directeur exécutif des indices boursiers Dow Jones. Les profits de ces entreprises ont tendance à être plus élevés. Leur rendement boursier aussi.» L'indice est composé essentiellement de trois sortes de titres?: les multinationales qui commanditent le mouvement olympique d'année en année (ex?: Coca-Cola, McDonald's, VISA, Samsung), les commanditaires canadiens des Jeux de Vancouver (ex?: RONA, la Banque Royale, GM, Bombardier, le Canadien Pacifique) et les fournisseurs officiels de Vancouver 2010 (ex?: 3 M, George Weston, Saputo, TransCanada Corp). L'indice regroupe actuellement 32 titres provenant de sept pays. Pays hôte des Jeux de 2010, le Canada compte le plus de titres au sein de l'indice (15), devant les États-Unis (12), le Japon (2), la Corée du Sud (1), la Suisse (1), la France (1) et le Royaume-Uni (1). Chaque titre ne peut toutefois constituer plus de 10% de la valeur de l'indice. C'est ainsi que les grandes sociétés américaines Coca-Cola et McDonald's, qui occupent les deux premiers rangs de l'indice, voient leur participation maximisée à 10%. «C'est notamment pour augmenter le rendement de l'indice, dit John Prestbo. L'impact des Jeux olympiques sur l'ensemble de leurs activités est moins important en raison de leur statut de multinationale. Les entreprises de construction canadiennes, par exemple, seront davantage touchées par les Jeux de Vancouver qu'une entreprise comme McDonald's.» Rendement supérieur à la moyenne Depuis sa création en décembre 2006, l'indice olympique Dow Jones a perdu 30% de sa valeur. Malgré tout, il a battu presque tous les indices de référence nord-américains et mondiaux. Durant la même période, l'indice américain S?&?P 500 a perdu 53?%, la Bourse de Toronto 41?% et l'indice mondial Morgan Stanley 53%. Seul l'indice de la Bourse de Shanghai a fait mieux que l'indice olympique Dow Jones, perdant 17% de sa valeur depuis décembre 2006. «L'indice olympique n'est pas immunisé contre les tendances générales du marché, dit John Prestbo. Quand ça va mal en Bourse, le facteur olympique n'est pas nécessairement une protection (contre des pertes).» Les investisseurs qui ont misé sur l'indice olympique Dow Jones à un an des Jeux de Pékin ont toutefois gagné leur pari. Entre août 2007 et août 2008, l'indice olympique a gagné 5,4% alors que la Bourse de Shanghai encaissait des pertes de 38?%. Retirer ses billets à la veille des Jeux permet-il de maximiser son investissement dans l'indice olympique?? Après une seule olympiade, il est trop tôt pour tirer des conclusions définitives, mais l'inventeur de l'indice est optimiste. «Comme l'indice a obtenu d'excellents résultats avant les Jeux, c'est toutefois une hypothèse valide», dit John Prestbo. Points d'interrogation Même si l'indice olympique Dow Jones a battu la plupart des indices de référence, l'analyste boursier Jean-René Ouellet met les investisseurs en garde contre certaines de ses particularités. «La dynamique de l'indice olympique Dow Jones est intéressante, mais l'indice est très mal diversifié», dit l'analyste du groupe conseil en portefeuilles de Valeurs mobilières Desjardins. Jean-René Ouellet s'inquiète de la surpondération de l'indice olympique Dow Jones dans plusieurs secteurs, notamment la consommation discrétionnaire (21% contre 5% au TSX et 8% au S?&?P 500), la consommation durable (19% contre 4% au TSX et 14% au S?&?P 500) et le secteur industriel (23% contre 6% au TSX et 10?% au S?&?P 500). L'indice olympique ne contient aussi aucun titre dans le secteur de la santé et des télécommunications. «?En temps de récession, les gens réduisent considérablement leur consommation discrétionnaire, un secteur où l'indice olympique est très surpondéré, dit-il. Les gens changent leur comportement durant une récession. Ils ne commenceront pas à rénover leur maison parce que Rona remet des médailles olympiques.?» L'analyste boursier note aussi quelques titres en difficulté au sein de l'indice olympique?: GM, Samsung, CanWest Global Communications et Teck Cominco, pour ne nommer que ceux-là. Bref, s'il trouve l'exercice olympique de Dow Jones intéressant, Jean-René Ouellet demeure sceptique. «Intuitivement, ça semble bon, mais il y a quelques points d'interrogation quand on gratte un peu, dit-il. Et il ne faut pas oublier que créer des indices, c'est une industrie pour Dow Jones.» Le créateur de l'indice olympique Dow Jones, John Prestbo, incite aussi à la prudence les investisseurs canadiens atteints de fièvre olympique. Aussi amusant soit-il, son indice n'a pas été conçu afin d'y faire fructifier tout son portefeuille boursier. «Ça demeure un véhicule d'investissement secondaire, dit-il. C'est une bonne façon d'avoir un peu plaisir en investissant tout en bénéficiant d'un phénomène économique réel, dit-il. On peut investir dans l'indice olympique pour essayer de majorer ses rendements, mais on ne doit pas y investir tout son argent.» * * * Pas disponible au Canada Les Canadiens s'apprêtent à accueillir les prochains Jeux olympiques, mais l'indice olympique Dow Jones n'est pas disponible au pays, faute d'intérêt de la part des institutions financières. Pour l'instant, l'indice olympique n'est offert que dans certaines institutions financières de Londres, la ville hôtesse des Jeux d'été en 2012. «Nous discutons actuellement avec des institutions financières canadiennes pour rendre l'indice olympique disponible au Canada», dit John Prestbo, directeur exécutif des indices boursiers Dow Jones. Le Mouvement Desjardins, qui ne connaissait pas l'existence de l'indice olympique Dow Jones avant le coup de fil de La Presse Affaires, n'a pas l'intention de l'offrir à ses clients d'ici le début des Jeux olympiques de Vancouver le 12 février 2010. «Ce n'est pas sur notre radar», dit le porte-parole André Chapleau. Même son de cloche du côté de la Banque Royale, pourtant commanditaire de Vancouver 2010. «Ça ne fait pas partie de nos projets en 2009», précise le porte-parole Raymond Chouinard. John Prestbo suggère tout de même aux investisseurs canadiens de jeter un coup d'oeil à son indice olympique. «L'indice donne une idée des entreprises qui pourraient mieux faire cette année en raison des Jeux olympiques de Vancouver en 2010, dit-il. Les investisseurs peuvent sélectionner quelques titres sans nécessairement acheter l'indice au complet, ce qui est impossible de toute façon à l'heure actuelle au Canada.»

Les indices Dow Jones et SP 500 chutent à leur niveau le plus bas depuis 12 ans, et Toronto suit la tendance causée par un manque de confiance chronique des investisseurs. Pour en lire plus...

En fin de journée, le Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lâchait 229,31 points, à 8 785,79 points, et le Nasdaq, à dominante technologique, 48,20 points, à 1 604,18 points. Pour en lire plus...

La Bourse de New York a fini en baisse lundi, après une forte progression la semaine dernière, le marché restant nerveux face à la situation économique: le Dow Jones a perdu 0,91%. Le TSX a pris 0,51 %. Pour en lire plus...

Le Dow Jones a gagné 2,05% et le Nasdaq 2,94%. De son côté, la Bourse de Toronto est descendue légèrement de 0,37% ou 30,85 points. Pour en lire plus...

Après le plongeon de la veille, les marchés américains sont demeurés au vert toute la journée. Selon des chiffres provisoires, le Dow Jones a gagné 3,43% et le Nasdaq 3,74%. Pour en lire plus...

C'est difficile à croire, mais oui, il y a des titres boursiers qui enregistrent un rendement exceptionnel depuis le début de l'année. Alors que le principal indice de la Bourse de Toronto a encore perdu 5,04% en novembre contre 5,32% pour le Dow Jones de New York, Stéphane Paquet et Philippe Mercure nous présentent des titres américains et canadiens qui font plus que tirer leur épingle du jeu. Pour en lire plus...

Semaine de rebond sur les marchés. En incluant vendredi de la semaine passée, le Dow Jones a cumulé cinq séances de hausse d'affilée, ce qui ne lui était plus arrivé depuis juillet 2007. Pour en lire plus...

Cette fois-ci, les indices nord-américains ont dégringolé dans la dernière heure des échanges. Le Dow Jones a perdu 3,82%, le Nasdaq 5,00% et le TSX 3,17% Pour en lire plus...

Après le dévoilement de la perte de 240 000 emplois dans le seul mois d'octobre aux États-Unis et du taux de chômage le plus élevé depuis 1994, tant le S&P 500 que le Dow Jones ont clôturé en hausse de plus de 2% vendredi. Pour en lire plus...

L'idée que l'élection d'un nouveau président américain serait généralement le prélude à une montée du Dow Jones ne peut pas servir de stratégie, selon Jean-Marc Bourgineau, analyste chez Jitney Trade. Pour en lire plus...

Après une journée de lundi salvatrice pour les investisseurs, les indices nord-américains ont terminé la journée en forte baisse mardi. Le Dow Jones a tombé de 2,5%, le TSX de 4,44%. Pour en lire plus...

Le Dow Jones perdait 1,06% et le Nasdaq 0,51%. De son côté, le TSX suivait le mouvement baissier et reculait de 1,39% ou 163,07 points à 11 589,83 points. Pour en lire plus...

L'originalité de la journée d'hier réside dans le fait qu'il s'agit du plus fort recul de l'indice Dow Jones quant au nombre de points. On peut le considérer comme une correction violente. Pour en lire plus...

Le prix du baril de pétrole brut dégringole de plus de 5,50 $ US en début de matinée alors que le Dow Jones perd 1,21% et le Nasdaq 1,65%. Pour en lire plus...

Tous les indices mondiaux étaient dans le rouge en attente du plan de sauvetage qui n'est toujours pas adopté. Sur Wall Street, le Dow Jones perdait 1,08%. Pour en lire plus...

La Bourse de New York a nettement rebondi jeudi, portée par la perspective d'une adoption rapide du plan de sauvetage américain des banques, alors que républicains et démocrates sont parvenus à un accord de principe: le Dow Jones a gagné 1,82% et le Nasdaq 1,43%. Pour en lire plus...