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money

Cars costly in CalgarySTEFANIAMORETTI

QMI Agency

Next time you feel like com-plaining about how much doughyoure sinking into your clunker,just be thankful you dont live inCalgary.

If you live in Cowtown, weresorry to break the news to you:It costs more to own a car inCalgary than any other urbancentrein thecountry.

QMI Agency collected data on

a dozen major Canadian citiesand found it costs on average$8,987.54a year tokeepa passen-gervehicle onCalgaryroads.

A separate report out ear-l ier t his mo nt h by C o l l iersInternational found parking ismost expensive Calgary at morethan doublethe national average.

But the cash grab doesnt endthere.

A tally of reoccurring costsincluding gas, insurance, driverlicence renewal fees and plate

regist ra t io n cha rges mea nsCalgarians pay over $1,000more for the same privileges asToronto residents. Whether thenewscomes asa surprise tothemor not, many Calgarians seemto agree that having a car is thebest way to get around the city,regardlessof cost.

You have to have a car inCalgary for a lot of peopletransit is not an option, so youjust have to pay what you have topay, said Corey Kenny, an engi-

neer who pays for both a NissanX-Trailand a motorcycle.

For Chase Reid, a chef, havinga Chevrolet Cavalier anda motor-cycle means he avoids severalhours of daily commuting ontransit.

He said Calgarys weather andurban sprawl also mean driversmayspend moreon maintenanceandgasto getwheretheyregoingthroughout the year.

stefania.moretti@canoe.ca

QMI AGENCY REPORT: Cowtown most expensive city in Canada in which to operate an automobile

RIMBUYSVIDEO EDITOR

TORONTO BlackBerrymakerResearchIn Motionsaid on Fridayithas bought SwedishvideoeditingcompanyJayCut andhintedtheoperationwill work on features forits PlayBooktablet computer.

Byworking withJayCut toaddvideo editingcapabilities to theBlackBerry platformwe canfurtherenrichour customers multimediaexperience with BlackBerry,RIMschieftechnology officer, DavidYach,wrote onRIMsblog.

Financial terms were notdis-closed.

The seven-employee Stockholm-based companylicensesits onlinevideo editorto customers.

JayCutjoins Stockholm-baseddesigncompany TheAstonishingTribe, which wasboughtby theCanadian smartphoneand tabletmakerin Decemberto improveuser interface.

Inthe blogpostannouncingthepurchase,Yachpointedout thatthePlayBook,whichhas struggledtowrestattention fromApples iPad,has dual high-definition cameras,high-quality playbackand cansendimagesto aTV screen viaacommoncable.

PROFITSSUPER-SIZED

LOSANGELES McDonaldsCorp.reported a higher-than-expected quarterlyprofit Friday aslowprices broughtin strong salesinEuropeand theUnitedStates.

Thecompanys share price rose3.1%.Junesales at restaurantsopen

atleast13 months were farstron-ger than analysts expected.Duringthe month,same-restaurant saleswere up6.9% in theUnitedStates,9.1%in Europeand4.8%in theAsia/Pacific,Middle East andAfricaunit.

Europeis McDonalds largestmarketfor sales,contributingabout 40%of revenue.

Reuters

ECONOMY: Market stunned with decline

LOUISE EGANReuters

O T T AWA I nf l a t io n inCanada slowed sharply in Junefrom an eight-year high in May,giving credence to the centralbanks forecast that price pres-sures would ease and allow it toraise interest rates at a leisurelypace.

Figures released Friday alsoshowed Canadians spent morethan expected in May, boostingretail sales by 0.1%. High gaso-line prices contributed to therise but so did warm weather,which encouraged sales of gar-dening and home hardware

supplies, and other generalmerchandise.

Overall consumer inflationslid to 3.1% in June from 3.7%in May, Statistics Canada said.Even more surprising was thecore inflation reading of 1.3% inJune, down from 1.8% in May.Core inflation strips out volatilegasoline and some food prices.

The Canadian dollar slid afterthe news and swap marketsbegan pricing in lower expecta-tions of interest rate increasesthis year.

Its a cold shower, a little bit,for those who are thinking theBank of Canada may be raisingrates as early as September, saidJimmy Jean, economic strategistat Desjardins Capital Markets.

Both measures of the con-

sumer price index dropped tothe lowest year-on-year ratesince February and were lowerthan forecast by any of the 19analysts surveyed in a Reuterspoll.

Overall CPI inflation was stilla notch above the central bankstarget range but it is expected todrop further in coming monthsas the July 2010 introduction ofhigher sales taxes in some prov-inces will no longer be includedin the calculations, chopping 0.6points off the rate.

The dissipating price pres-suresadda newtwist totheever-changing outlook for Bank ofCanada rate hikes. Market play-

ers have been forced to reviseforecasts repeatedly in face ofoften contradictory data and sig-nals from the central bank itself.

The bank held its overnighttarget rate unchanged at 1.0% onTuesday but used more hawkishlanguage to signal it would raiseborrowing costs soon. However,governor Mark Carney made itclear on Wednesday that ratesmay take longer than usual tonormalize from current ultra-low levels due to global eco-nomic uncertainty.

The inflation report supportsthat notion.

Any tendency to pull forwardrate forecasts to the fall was pre-mature, said Derek Holt, econo-mist at Scotia Capital.

The biggest risk here is that

the Bank of Canada does not hitits forecast of 2% core inflationgoing forward, he said.

Five of 10 primary securitiesdealers surveyed by Reuters onThursday predicted a Septemberratehike.Two expectedthe bankwould make is first move sincelast year in October.

The bank projected core infla-tion would reach its 2 % target inthe final quarter of this year, twoquarters earlier than previouslypredicted, and remain roughlyat that level through to the endof 2013.

In its quarterly MonetaryPolicy Report, the bank pro- jected overall CPI inflation

would peak in the second quar-ter at an average 3.4% rate. Itsaid inflation would average2.8% in the third quarter andcontinue easing to around 2% bymid-2012.

St a t sca n sa id l o w er a ut oprices were the main reasonfor the softer reading in June,along with cheaper hotel ratesand a smaller year-on-year hikein gasoline prices. Food pricescontinued to climb.

Prices fell 0.7% month-on-month in June for overall CPI,and slid 0.6 % for core CPI.

The Canadian dollar weak-ened to as low as $0.9504 to theU.S. dollar, or $1.0522, downfrom around $0.9465 to the U.S.dollar, or $1.0565, just before theCPI data.

Canadian inflation

slows sharply in June

BANKRUPTCY: Telecom retirees get confirmation of benefit reductions

Nortel

pensions tobe slashedSHARON SINGLETON

QMI Agency

Nortel retirees got confirma-tion Friday their pension ben-efits will be slashed, at least untillegal wrangling over billions ofdollars from the sale of assetscan be settled.

The telecoms giant filed forbankruptcy in 2009, leaving thepensions, health and other ben-efits for some 20,000 pensionersacross Canada in doubt.

The companys pension planhas a shortfall of about $1.5 bil-lion between the assets in thefund and what it owes retirees,according to Morneau Shepell,

the administrator appointed lastOctober to wind up the fund.

The worst affected will beformer workers in provinces out-side Ontario, who will see a 43%drop in benefits from August.F o r m er m a n a ge r s o u t s i deOntario will see their benefitscut by 41%.

Retirees in Ontario, whereplans are not indexed, will seea 25% drop in benefits. Workersin Ontario will also get a furthertop-up through the provincesPensio n Benef it Gua rant eeFund.

Ifpensionswereto be contin-ued to be paid, the plans wouldrun out of money, said HamishDunlop, a principal at MorneauShepell, explaining the reasonfor the cuts. We have to reduce

SOCIAL NETWORK:Twins were trying to boost initial settlement

Facebook wins dismissal of 2nd Winklevoss caseNEW YORK Facebook Inc.

won a dismissal of a second law-suit by the Olympic rowing twinsCameron and Tyler Winklevossseeking to boost their $65 mil-lion settlement with the com-pany and its founder, Mark

Zuckerberg. U.S. District JudgeDouglas Woodlock in Bostondismissed litigation over thea cco rd , t hree mo nt hs a f t era federal appeals court in SanFrancisco turned aside a relatedlawsuit.

T he 2008 set t l ement w a sintended to resolve claims thatZuckerberg stole the twins ideafor what became the worldsmost popular social networkingwebsite.

Reuters

MOVIE RENTAL:Dish Networksets up for possible showdown with Netflix

New owner to keep Blockbuster stores openNEW YORK Dish Network

Corp. plans to keep open morethan 90% of the Blockbusterstores it acquired in its $320million deal for the video rentalchain.

Dish, the second-largest U.S.

satellite TV company, said itreached agreements with prop-erty owners allowing it to con-tinue running more than 1,500stories.

In addition, it will retain morethan 15,000 employees.

DishNetworkwon Blockbusterin an April bankruptcy auction,further broadening its businessbeyond satellite TV and settingup a possible showdown withNetflix.

Reuters

businessbriefs

Average yearlyownership fees

B.C.

Alb.

Sask.

Man.

Ont.

Que.

N.S.

Drivers license renewal feePlate registration fee

Average yearlyInsurance Premiums

B.C.

Alb.

Sask.

Man.

Ont.

Que.

N.S.

Average parking costs,monthly

Calgary

Toronto

Montreal

Vancouver

Edmonton

Ottawa

Victoria

Saskatoon

Regina

Halifax

Winnipeg

Kitchener-Waterloo

If theaveragepersonbuys3 tanksofgas(avg. 55Ltank) a

month, thats1,980LOF GASA YEAR

InCalgary,gasiscurrently$1.14L, thats

$2,257A YEARspenton gas

$472

332

296

287

275

195

184

170

168

166

152

128

$1

,304

959

287

1,0

63

1,0

29

1,2

29

719

749

128

$15

101

93

6 5 8

9

440

98

Costs of carownershipin Canada($peryear)

Edmonton,

Alb.

Victoria,

B.C.

Vancouver,B.C.

7,4

08

Calgary,

Alb.

8,9

87

6,4

98

6,9

72

Saskatoon,

Sask.

5,6

11

Regina,

Sask.

5,6

07

Winnipeg,

Man.

5

,138

Kitchener-Waterloo,

Ont.

5,4

11

Toronto,

Ont.

7,8

80

Montreal.Que.

7,6

25

Halifax,

N.S.

5,4

42

Ottawa,

Ont.

6,2

12

*Totalsforcarownershipincludegasoline,parkingcosts,licenserenewalfee,plateregistrationfeeand insurancepremiums.

EURO

UP 0.0044$1.3636CDN

S&P/TSX

UP 60.3313,494.60

NASDAQ

UP 24.402,858.83

DOW

DOWN 43.2512,681.20

NIKKEI

UP 121.7210,132.10

GOLD

UP $14.50$1,601.30US

OIL

UP $0.74$99.87 US

AECO

UP $0.08$3.55

PRIME

UNCHANGED3%

DOLLAR

DOWN 0.00381.0540US

BRITISH

UP 0.0061$1.5470 CDN

CURRENCIESDayover daystatistic

Thursday Friday

USDOLLAR $0.9454 $0.9491YEN $0.01205 $0.01210

STUDSBiggest % gainsinstocksover $5

1SINO-FORESTCORP.

$5. 19 +10. 90

3PRECISIONDRILLING

$ 16.6 9 + 8.45

2CELESTICAINC.

$ 8.8 9 +10. 57

DUDSBiggest % lossesinstocksover $5

1WESTFRASERTIMBERCO.

$45 .79 - 10 .1 1

3INTERNATIONAL FOREST

$5.05 -4.54

2LUNDINMINING

$6.86 - 4.85

$7BThe amount earned at the

box oce so far by the eightHarryPottermovies,WarnerBros said. That makes themthe biggest grossing series

so far.

GO FIGURETodaysbig financial numbers

3.3%The rise in sales of

building materials andgarden equipment in Mayas warmer weather temptedCanadians outdoors,according to StatisticsCanada. Overall retail salesrose 0.1% in the month.

Your money matters 24/7Stocks, rates, tools, news, columnists and more just a click away

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payments to a level the fundscan afford until further claimshave been settled.

Nortel recently got a $4.5-bil-lion windfall from the sale of itspatents to tech giants, includingApple and Research in Motion.That money was added to pro-ceeds from the sale of otherassets, creating a $7.5-billioncash mountain thats currentlyunder lock and key until legalclaims over theestate aresettled.

The money needs to be splitbetween claimants in Canada,the U.K. and the U.S., but, sofar, the various parties havebeen unable to reach an agree-ment over who gets what. TheCanadian pension plans havefiled a $1.5-billion legal claim onthe cash.

Talks with a new mediatorwill begin in September in anattemptto avoidlitigation, whichMorneau Shepell warned couldbe long and costly.

At present, it isnt possible tosay how much the pension planwill be able to claw back from theestate, said Dunlop, though theultimate pension payments will,in some cases, be significantlyhigherthan thecurrent levels.

T he recent l y a nno uncedreductions should be a worst-case scenario, he said.

T ho ugh he w a rned t hereis considerable uncertainty asto when retirees can enjoy atleast partial restoration of theirbenefits.

sharon.singleton@canoe.ca

QMI Agency files

Nortelretireesin Ontariohavepensionguaranteesbut thosein the restof Canadado not.They foundout Fridaythat theirbenefitswould becut by 41%.