# Interest rates going down?



## Sherlock (Apr 18, 2010)

I just noticed CIBC's savings accounts rates went down. The bonus savings account went from 0.7% to 0.6%. And the e-advantage savings account went from 1.5% to 1.35.

I don't really care since I don't use savings accounts any more, but aren't interest rates supposed to be going up?


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

Ah, I would think so, 5 year bond yeilds are at a 8 month high..


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## larry81 (Nov 22, 2010)

Sherlock said:


> I just noticed CIBC's savings accounts rates went down. The bonus savings account went from 0.7% to 0.6%. And the e-advantage savings account went from 1.5% to 1.35.
> 
> I don't really care since I don't use savings accounts any more, but aren't interest rates supposed to be going up?


It's just CIBC proving once again why they are one of the worst bank in Canada.


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## I'm Howard (Oct 13, 2010)

Rates are going up, the only thing holding Carney back is the fact that the $ CDN is so strong against the $U.S and a strong $CDN is not good for manafacturing.

The jawboning about Personal Debt levels is setting the stage for Follharty to raise rates, somehow He thinks He knows how to manage our personal finances better than us

10% Mortgage Rates will be back, as people lost equity in Income Trusts, now they will lose it in R.E.

I am putting all new money into one year GIC's, I'll take a low rate to see how the Universe unfolds.

Mortgages, within the next six months will be a good time to lock in.


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## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

I'm Howard said:


> Rates are going up, the only thing holding Carney back is the fact that the $ CDN is so strong against the $U.S and a strong $CDN is not good for manafacturing.
> 
> The jawboning about Personal Debt levels is setting the stage for Follharty to raise rates, somehow He thinks He knows how to manage our personal finances better than us
> 
> ...


Well said and we know Carney is also afraid of something going "pop" once rates get jacked up. Easy now with those rates. The bubble is getting thin..


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

Exactly. In a minority gov't, no one wants to take the fall from a fallout in interest rate increase. This is NOT a good time to increase these rates, the economy is in the toilet and will remain so for a long time. It will add to the misery if they increase rates.

Besides, banks have been increasing rates on CCs and LOCs anyway, same thing with car loans, there are no bargains there when carloans are being quoted at between 6-9%! The banks are making a killing on these "low" interest rates, not us.

Any rate increase will put a lot of people out of their homes when they renew. These people will blame the gov't, regardless of the fact that the people on CMF told them to save their money and not have kids and $600K mortgages until they have more $ saved!


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## Jon_Snow (May 20, 2009)

As someone who is determined never to have a mortgage again after I pay my current one off, I hope and pray that the day of 10% mortgages will return. If rates rises significantly, home values should drop enough that I should be able to pay cash for our next home. Just the thought of GIC's paying big interest again makes me happy. I'd love to stuff some well paying GIC's in my TFSA. For some reason I'm hesitant to put stocks in there.


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

the-royal-mail said:


> Exactly. In a minority gov't, no one wants to take the fall from a fallout in interest rate increase. This is NOT a good time to increase these rates, the economy is in the toilet and will remain so for a long time. It will add to the misery if they increase rates.
> 
> Besides, banks have been increasing rates on CCs and LOCs anyway, same thing with car loans, there are no bargains there when carloans are being quoted at between 6-9%! The banks are making a killing on these "low" interest rates, not us.
> 
> Any rate increase will put a lot of people out of their homes when they renew. These people will blame the gov't, regardless of the fact that the people on CMF told them to save their money and not have kids and $600K mortgages until they have more $ saved!


I wouldn't say the economy is in the toilet. If you have a job things aren't bad at all. The vast majority of people have jobs. Actully, I'd say things are looking up.


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## I'm Howard (Oct 13, 2010)

If your neighbour loses his job, it is a Recession, if you lose yours', it's a Depression.


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

I'm Howard said:


> If your neighbour loses his job, it is a Recession, if you lose yours', it's a Depression.


Sure. But being retired ruins this saying. Still 92.2% are employed and I like to look at tne positive side.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

Square Root said:


> Sure. But being retired ruins this saying. Still 92.2% are employed and I like to look at tne positive side.


Actually you might want to be careful how you view these stats. The 92.2% number is a misconception because it includes many part time workers as well as a large number of people who exhausted their EI benefits and/or have given up looking for work. Part time retail workers (for example) are hardly rich (we often call them the working poor) so the prosperity/success of a nation shouldn't solely be based on the published unemployment rate.


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## Kim (Jan 10, 2011)

I have heard more positive talk in regards to jobs / business too (AB). 

Well if CIBC thinks that is the way to better business it's their and their customer's problem.
I am of the humble opinion that int. rates will go up, if even the slightest bit, soon.

I have my password working so I thought I would comment on this even though I am not qualified.


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

the-royal-mail said:


> Actually you might want to be careful how you view these stats. The 92.2% number is a misconception because it includes many part time workers as well as a large number of people who exhausted their EI benefits and/or have given up looking for work. Part time retail workers (for example) are hardly rich (we often call them the working poor) so the prosperity/success of a nation shouldn't solely be based on the published unemployment rate.


OK but however you look at it, things are indeed getting better for most people. At least apart from the pessimists. The economy is not is the toilet as someone said.


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## Bupp (Nov 13, 2009)

Just checked and CIBC is paying 2% on new deposits to eAdvantage through june 30th.

http://www.cibc.com/ca/rates/bank-acct-rates.html#CIBC+eAdvantage+Savings+Account


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## loggedout (Dec 30, 2009)

Square Root said:


> OK but however you look at it, *things are indeed getting better for most people*. At least apart from the pessimists. The economy is not is the toilet as someone said.


On what basis can you make that claim?


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

Personal incomes are up, GDP is growing, Stock markets are up, employment is up, my portfolio just hit a new high. ( Oh, sorry scratch that last one) Let's hear all the anecdotal bad stuff....


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

I think we'll have to agree to disagree, square. I already addressed the employment issue but I am not so patriotic as to believe that we operate in isolation to the rest of the world. We have our issues here. While I agree that it doesn't make sense that the stock markets are doing so well, the reality for the average person is as follows:

-record debt levels
-no emergency savings
-mergers and company closures resulting in job losses
-record high house prices
-inflation (again, the stats are very misleading, as things we ALL buy like gas, housing, insurance, rent, car parts, food, interest rates have gone up dramatically in recent years)
-salaries that are not keeping up with these expenses
-less and less good blue and white collar jobs available to us all the time (many of these are being shifted overseas and we are becoming more of a nation of consumers rather than producers)
-continued problems in the us which will invariably become our problems as many companies here survive on exports to that market
-ever-increasing gas prices

I would caution against an approach of looking at all the positives and ignoring the negatives. It's a lot more complicated than that.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

the-royal-mail said:


> -record debt levels
> -no emergency savings
> -mergers and company closures resulting in job losses
> -record high house prices
> ...


Add to that sneaky tax increases like HST, Debt Retirement Charge, Health Tax, Eco Fee, Environmental Disposal Fee, etc.
These pests hide in ways and places you'd never consider looking.

More than inflation, taxation is the single biggest destructor of individual wealth.

Therefore, any govt. that reduces taxes in a transparent and direct manner such that it impacts my bottom line, will get my vote.

There we go talking politics again....


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## loggedout (Dec 30, 2009)

Square Root said:


> Personal incomes are up, GDP is growing, Stock markets are up, employment is up, my portfolio just hit a new high. ( Oh, sorry scratch that last one) Let's hear all the anecdotal bad stuff....


Where are you getting the information that personal incomes are up? Is this adjusted for inflation and cost of living?


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

I have asked about 20 people in my circle of family and friends if they are making more money now than they did in 2008/2009.Majority of them said yes they are making more money but then added they seem to be having less money at end of month.Gas prices are up ,insurance is up ,taxes on everything has gone up .Disposable Income is what needs to be measure not what the t-4 slip says.


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

I've always found the media (and it isn't always their fault) distorts things. Headlines like "Personal Income Down 2%" Look good, but doesn't really say anything. Few are really making 2% less than the year before.

In most cases, if you are at the same job you were 5 years ago, you haven't really seen any change. If you live in the only 4 cities that seem to matter in Canada (Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal) Then real estate has seen huge rises, and could see huge falls, I know where I live, we never had the good times, and I doubt we will have the bad times.

I guess my point is that the economic boom passed a lot of people by, the downturn didn't affect everybody, and neither will the recovery.


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

Well, I don't think here is anything I can say to change your point of view but real, disposable income in Canada has gone up every year from 2000 till 2009. see web site of The Centre for the Study of Living Standards(CSLS). 2010 data not yet available but certainly it will be up as well. Now granted it hasn't gone up much but it has gone up. There can be no denying that GDP has risen for the last 6 quarters. Does anyone dispute that stock markets are up over the past 2 years? I know it's still tough for a lot of people. But on average things have improved especially from those scarry months in he fall and winter 2008/2009.


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## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

Guess the idea that things are getting better depends on where you sit on the wealth scale. MoneySense said in 2009: 
"Problem is, our prosperity comes with warning stickers. One catch is that our increase in average wealth has been accompanied by an increase in inequality. While the rich are definitely growing richer, it’s not clear that middle- or working-class Canadians are any wealthier than they were a decade ago."
http://www.moneysense.ca/2009/11/01/the-all-canadian-wealth-test/

That's 2009 but I've seen no evidence to suggest that the trend has been reversed. It can be argued (by me, at least ) that the true measure of economic health is how well the middle class is doing. 

Not to get political  but I also question the notion that taxation is the single biggest destructor of individual wealth. Paying taxes is painful but I think I get good value for my tax dollars.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

olivaw said:


> Paying taxes is painful but I think I get good value for my tax dollars.


Really?

http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/loca..._salary_increase_070418?hub=WinnipegCommunity

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20061221/ontario_pay_raise_061221?hub=TorontoHome

http://www.chathamthisweek.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=1922499

Yep, your tax dollars are hard at work there.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

MPP pay is nowhere near the top of my list of government waste that needs to be addressed. Besides, to an extent, you get what you pay for.


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## GeniusBoy27 (Jun 11, 2010)

Hmmm ... I hear no mention of the largest federal cabinet in history (41 cabinet ministers) and the federal MP pay raises and cabinet raises. Who's that prime minister of ours?


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## Square Root (Jan 30, 2010)

What a collection of divergent non sequitars. I give up. Good luck.


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## loggedout (Dec 30, 2009)

Square Root said:


> Well, I don't think here is anything I can say to change your point of view but real, disposable income in Canada has gone up every year from 2000 till 2009. see web site of The Centre for the Study of Living Standards(CSLS). 2010 data not yet available but certainly it will be up as well. Now granted it hasn't gone up much but it has gone up. There can be no denying that GDP has risen for the last 6 quarters. Does anyone dispute that stock markets are up over the past 2 years? I know it's still tough for a lot of people. But on average things have improved especially from those scarry months in he fall and winter 2008/2009.


thanks. i read some reports on the CSLS website, and while it stated that the average income has increased, but what's masked under that presumably positive trend is that wealth inequality has increased. it's stated that increases in wealth have been unevenly shared between canadians, with the already wealthy garnering a disproportionately large share of the gains. that's why it may more valuable to look at median measures rather than the average and net worth in terms of quintiles of the population. these numbers reveal a not so rosy picture of what is going on, especially for the bottom three quintiles.

i am uneasy and very worried.


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