Personal Budget Basics for Beginners

Sep 7, 2014 | Personal Finances

DON’T say the B-word. What caused this stigma I have no idea, but one thing is for certain, people who don’t know how to handle their money in the most basic ways know one thing for sure, don’t tell me to ‘budget’. The fact of the matter is...

Treasury Bills (T-Bills) and Interest Rates Summary

Sep 4, 2014 | Banking

Here is some brief notes on the function and descriptions of these financial instruments. Treasury Bills (T-Bills) Government of Canada issues T-Bills in certain lengths: 98,182, 364 days – issued in denominations of $1000.00 – bought at a discount –...

Financial Statements – Terms and Explanations

Jun 15, 2014 | Finance

Definitions on Income Statements Here is a brief synopsis of key financial terms for introductory finance majors and business folks regarding income statements and balance sheets. Firstly, defining some terms: Income Statement : A statement measuring a firm’s...

Canadian Housing Market Trends – 1.99% Variable Interest Rates Return

May 21, 2014 | Banking

The prime interest rate that banks can borrow from the Central Bank still sits at 1%. Mortgage rates are generally pegged to bond rates, but the overall economic sentiment around borrowing impacts what consumer pay for their home borrowing. The Investor’s Group...

How is the Phillips Curve Related to Labour Market Behaviour?

May 10, 2014 | Macroeconomics

This Phillips curve formula: = π -ε (u-u*). Remember, in the labour market, nominal wage is assumed to move quickly and the labour market will always be in equilibrium. The equilibrium amount, N*, is considered to be full employment in the labour market. The...

Deriving the Aggregate Demand Curve

May 1, 2014 | Macroeconomics

Check out this graph: For a given nominal money stock, a price level decrease increases the real money stock. This shifts the LM curve outward, and the interest rate goes down and income increases. Therefore, along the AD curve, a price level decrease )holding the...

Consolidating Loans Intro – How Does it Reduce Debt Faster?

Apr 16, 2014 | Debt Management

Q. I’ve heard alot of about consolidating loans but don’t understand it fully, can you give me just a brief explanation? A. Great question, everyone on the Internet (scammers, some legit, banks, credit cards, everyone) wants you to consolidate your loans...

Why Does the Russian Ruble Decline Amidst The Problems in the Ukraine

Mar 3, 2014 | Macroeconomics, Politics

The Russian army is moving into the Crimea region which is Ukrainian sovereign territory. All of the political and military pandering aside, the Sberbank moved the exchange rate to 38.50 rubles to Dollar. That’s an unprecedented high. Why is the shift happening?...

Money Creation – Where Does the Money Come From?

Feb 17, 2014 | Banking

How Banks Create Money continued One of our popular posts located here talks about ‘how banks create money’. You should read that link before this one as it is the necessary part 1 of this series on money creation. A lot of people think it’s a huge...

Internal Rate of Return, Cash Flow, and NPV

Jan 21, 2014 | Finance

Calculating and Interpreting Internal Rate of Return (IRR) This post continues a discussion about cash flow, net present value, and interest rates and NPV, which you can read by clicking on the specific links. This post deals with the topic of internal rate of return....