Urged caution with Christmas shopping on credit

From 24 to 28 November stands the annual awareness week to credit and debt in Quebec. At a Christmas months, the Coalition of Consumer Associations of Quebec (CACQ) the opportunity to invite people to be cautious when buying on credit for not finding "In the margin to the hilt." The average debt of Canadians (including mortgages, auto loans and consumer loans) reached 131% of annual net income in 2007, stresses Melanie L'Heureux Cooperative Association of Home Economics of the Outaouais (ACEF ). In people it helps him, it notes an average debt of 140%.

O'Byrne should move on to other things

Ryan O'Byrne has been possibly the most embarrassing moment of his young career by sending the puck into his goal in the third period against the Islanders. The rest is history: The Canadian has not been able to resume its advance and has saved New York with a victory in shooting barrage. It must be really pleased, especially since it is not a good start to the season and he plays very nervous. He even boo at the end of the game, this is nothing to improve his confidence. But O'Byrne is a young player and there will be many other moments that will mark one way or another. He should forget this incident and not drag this bad memory for the rest of his career. This is not the kind of thing that happens often in the career of a player and it is normal to be disappointed. It must be said that this is not the only factor in the defeat of Canadians: special units have not worked and O'Byrne is not the only one to blame. Forever I would have liked to see the veterans go O'Byrne to talk to him immediately after his gaffe. When he returned to the bench, he was alone, without any support. The minute he spent in solitary certainly seemed like an eternity. On the one hand, I understand the reaction of players to have frozen because it is not the kind of event we can predict. At least we saw after the game that his teammates came to his defense. O'Byrne is very nervous because he wants to do well in the eyes of his coaches. This is not an easy situation to live for the moment, but it does not ruin a career so far. The importance of Gorges Josh Gorges is a defender who impressed greatly since his arrival in Montreal. There was talk of him as a possible seventh defender and some saw the same in Hamilton. Things are different today. It is somewhat the same style as Francis Bouillon, ie it does not have a big fixture but it will stop at nothing It has its place slowly, and now with the absence of Mike Komisarek, he gained confidence in its submissions. Its games are simple and effective, which enabled him to win the confidence of the coach and Guy Carbonneau gives it a lot more responsibility. It responds very well to management's expectations. Carbo plays musical chairs The Canadian does not know his best moments of the season. When things go wrong, it is normal to see a coach continually change its trios. It tries to shake the attack and find solutions to unlock some players. The players already know each other and with what teammates know they have the greatest affinity. It only remains to find the right combination. Sometimes it can also take a lucky goal to boost an attack which has difficulty mark as is the case with the tricolor. Fuel power game The first month announced a beautiful season for the Canadiens but say it is a little different since the beginning of November. The biggest gap in the Canadian this season was the favorite weapon of Carbonneau last year: the digital advantage. As of Tuesday, the Canadian has been entitled to 100 digital benefits since the beginning of the season but has scored only 15 goals for a meager 15 percent success, ranking 23rd in the league. I hope that it will replace the Canadian. The execution is still good. Rather, the finishing is the problem. The team is full of talent and there is a little more work from major players. Everything is a question of will. As I said before, a lucky goal or a lucky victory could restore confidence in the attack. Evaluate the team before moving Bob Gainey is a very good general manager and is on the lookout for everything that happens in the league. We just think the record Mats Sundin in which he was very involved. Before making a movement, it will assess the needs of the team. I repeat: If the CH has a transaction to be done, I hope it will be to acquire an experienced defender is able to carry the attack. There are already Andrei Markov fact that while Komisarek is the specialist in strength and Roman Hamrlik responsible defensive game. In Montreal, the centennial and we talk a lot of the Stanley Cup. It lacks a fourth defender to the team to aspire to top honors. I said in a previous column that Philippe Boucher was a perfect candidate. Now he is returned to Pittsburgh, it remains to be seen whether other defenders may be of interest Gainey. If the name of Jay Bouwmeester often in rumors, we must first know what to give back. At that time, we can compare what is in the best interest of CH.

The transition Bush-Obama complicates

Rarely transition has been difficult in the history of the White House. At least sixty days of taking office, Jan. 20, Barack Obama has broken the silence this weekend, laying the foundations for its plan to fight against the crisis. He repeated yesterday by announcing new appointments and outlining budget cuts to finance his plan. One way to occupy the ground responding to criticism about the risk of a "power vacuum". But, facing increasing economic climate, the Bush administration also seeks to increase efforts at the risk of blurring the impact and legibility of measures to revive. "Every time we take an important decision, Barack Obama and his team will be informed," said George W. Monday Bush, implicitly indicating that it does not abandon its executive before January 20. In fact, less than a week after stating he would leave his successor with the task of having the second tranche of an aid of 700 billion to the financial sector adopted in October, Henry Paulson yesterday announced a new plan Aid of 200 billion dollars for financing small businesses and consumer credit, in addition to a redemption of real estate assets of 600 billion dollars given to the Fed (see above). Formally, these new measures do not the second tranche of $ 350 billion of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) availability of the new administration. But after successive revisions of the "Paulson plan", the proliferation of ads signals and raises doubts about the consistency of the measures entrusted to the federal authorities, which could complicate the task of the future administration. Left wing of the Democratic Party At first, the appointment of Treasury boss of the New York Fed, Timothy Geithner, who worked closely with Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke so far, should facilitate the transition. But the left wing of the Democratic Party also believes that his association with the outgoing administration could begin its authority. For the Nobel Prize in economics Paul Krugman, the same phenomenon in 1932 may occur when the Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt had succeeded Republican Herbert Hoover in full Depression. "The outgoing administration had no credibility and the new administration had no authority. And the ideological chasm between the two camps was too important for concerted action, "says Princeton economist and columnist of the New York Times. Although Barack Obama has suggested on Monday that the worsening of the crisis now requires a plan to boost higher than the 175 billion dollars he had raised during the campaign, the absence of more specific help to fuel uncertainty reinforced by the vagueness maintained on the expiration date of the tax cuts of the Bush administration for higher income, scheduled for 2010. For some, maintaining these tax cuts until 2010 could be a tactic to obtain the support of Republicans for rapid adoption of the "stimulus package to Congress. According to the majority leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, the relaunch plan proposed by the new administration should be 500 billion dollars over two years.

An inexplicable gesture

The former prefect of discipline of the QMJHL, Maurice Filion, commented the situation. Father Vincent Bourgeois, the player of the Montreal Junior Figure struck by the attacker Quebec Remparts Roy Frederick, reacted to the events this morning. In an interview with LCN, Andre Bourgeois said his son was still having trouble eating and speaking. "Until now he has no legacy, but we must meet with specialists next week." Fortunately for him, Vincent Bourgeois wearing a mouthguard at the time. The youth to train again, but it still does not understand why attacking Walls has taken to him. Frédéric Roy is the son of former Canadian goalkeeper and head coach of the Remparts, Patrick Roy. He was suspended 15 games for his gesture.

Big bag, a small cushion (2)

Monique Jérôme-Forget was furious yesterday. She did not like the Journal calls into question the soundness of forecasts of private investment in Quebec that the Ministry of Finance used to build its own forecasts for economic growth in Quebec. We understand the anger of the Minister of Finance by reading the first page of the Journal that the projected growth of its recent economic statement were probably far too optimistic compared to reality and they certainly can not be realized. A number of investment projects of private companies that have been taken into account in growth next year and subsequent years are still at the stage of projects. Some of these potential investments, including increased refining capacity of the plant in Saint-Romuald Ultramar, have been canceled outright to be postponed to a later date. Others, such as estimates of investment of $ 750 million over five years Provigo, have simply not been confirmed by the management of Loblaw, which owns the Quebec grocery chain. If it is hoped that the majority of the 16 billion dollars of private investment will be achieved one day, we know today that the global economy makes more uncertain in the short term. As I mentioned recently in this column, the schedule of investments planned by the multinational Rio Tinto Alcan in the Saguenay / Lac-Saint-Jean are the subject of a major overhaul. All the major players are such aluminum, because of the collapse of prices and the weakening global demand. Forecasts and elections It is already not easy to predict how the situation will evolve in times of normal economic growth, then imagine how it becomes risky when located in a period of slowdown and we decided to call an election. In this context, the normal reflex of the finance minister was present on November 4, a balance of public finances as positive as possible. Its economic statement was tinged with too much optimism overflowing. And it's not for nothing that my column the day after this statement was "Grosse bag, small pillow." Ms. Jérôme-Forget was beautiful ring generous reserves of 2.3 billion, they were clearly insufficient to face the "economic storm" apprehended by its leader Jean Charest. v The election campaigns are not the time for talking so enlightened, they are in times of economic trouble. Remember the recent federal campaign. Until the evening of the vote, Oct. 14, Stephen Harper has always refused to admit that Canada could face an economic slowdown. "Canada is immune," have ceased to proclaim the Conservatives. Stephen Harper has been, last week, the first head of government of Canada in a decade to raise the possibility that the country returns with a budget deficit. Sunday, his finance minister, Jim Flaherty, pushed even further the end of denial by admitting that Canada could eventually also be a victim of the recession in the next year. The optimism has limits usually found a few days after an electoral verdict.

Somalia: pirates of Saudi tankers calling for quick negotiations

The spokesman for Somali pirates aboard the supertanker Saudi Sirius Star, Mohamed Said, joined by telephone by AFP, called Wednesday the owners of the vessel to speed up negotiations on the ransom $ 25 million. Mohamed Said said that negotiations were profitable or hackers, nor the owners of the tanker, nor the 25 crew members. "We urge the Saudi owners of the tanker to conduct an honest dialogue in order to put an end to this crisis," said the spokesman for the pirates. "They should call the captain and items on the Sirius Star so we can expedite the negotiations," he added. "Too much waiting is harmful, as well as owners and crew of the boat. We do not currently make threats but we urge to be honest," he explained. The pirates are asking $ 25 million to release the supertanker and 300,000 tonnes of oil, they hold since Nov. 15. At their first public announcement of the amount of the ransom, they had set an ultimatum expires on 30 November. The capture of Sirius Star, along 330 meters, is the most spectacular operation conducted so far by Somali pirates who attacked a hundred boats since the beginning of the year. The supertanker, which was hijacked in the open Indian Ocean, is at anchor last week in the area of Harardhere, pirates lair located about 300 km north of Mogadishu.

A Montreal company has U.S. $ 873 million to FaceBook

Facebook has gained in court a further U.S. $ 873 million (C $ 1.1 billion) against a Montrealer who used social media to send four million spam messages promoting soft drugs and pills to extend the male. By a clever subterfuge, Adam and his company Guerbuez Atlantis Blue Capital obtained passwords of users to flood their Facebook "friends" of spam. The carousel began last spring. According to Facebook, it is the largest trial in a case involving the Can-Spam Act (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing). This law prohibits sending inappropriate e-mails and covers recent messages sent from the media industry. Facebook does not expect to see the color of that money. "It is unlikely that Geurbez Atlantis and Blue Capital to honor the ruling," wrote the director of security, Max Kelly, on a blog. "We are confident that this represents a powerful deterrent to anyone who would abuse Facebook and its users." Finally, the ruling of the Federal Court of California prohibits Mr. Guerbuez to browse Facebook or come into contact with its members.