Canada new home prices inch up 0.1 percent in November

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Prices of new homes in Canada rose 0.1 percent in November from October on strength in Toronto, the country's biggest city, continuing an advance in prices that began in mid-2009, Statistics Canada said on Thursday.
Analysts had expected a 0.2 percent gain in the new housing price index following a 0.2 percent increase in October.
New home prices in the combined Toronto-Oshawa region contributed the most to the November gain, climbing 0.3 percent.
The biggest declines were in the west coast cities of Vancouver and Victoria, where new home prices fell 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent respectively.
Overall, new housing prices rose in 13 of the metropolitan areas surveyed in November, were unchanged in four areas, and fell in four.
Prices increased by 2.2 percent from November 2011, just below a 2.4 percent year-on-year increase in the previous month.
The Canadian government, which tightened mortgage rules in July, and the Bank of Canada have long expressed concerns the housing market may overheat. Ottawa says it is too soon to judge the full effect of the new rules.
The new housing price index excludes condominiums, which the government says are a particular cause for concern.

Read More..

Wind shift may have freed whales trapped off Quebec

(Reuters) - A group of killer whales trapped under the ice of Hudson Bay and taking turns breathing from a small hole may have been freed by a shift in the winds, Canadian media reported on Thursday.
The 11 whales, who sometimes appeared to be panicking as they fought for air, created a worldwide sensation as news and a video about their plight spread.
The mammals, which likely included two adults and several younger ones, were first spotted by a local Inuit hunter on Tuesday.
Residents from the nearby Inuit community of Inukjuak in northern Quebec had planned to widen the hole. But the whales were gone when they arrived at the site on Thursday morning, according to The Globe and Mail newspaper.
One resident, Johnny Williams, told the paper that the ice likely broke up from the shifting winds, allowing the creatures to swim to freedom.
The community's mayor had asked for an ice breaker and other assistance from the Canadian government. Experts from Canada's fisheries and oceans department were dispatched to the area.

Read More..

Macklem would be quieter Bank of Canada chief, no pushover

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The man tipped to be the next governor of Canada's central bank has the reputation of being a mild-mannered sideman to charismatic bank chief Mark Carney, but former colleagues say Tiff Macklem is a mover and shaker in his own quiet way.
As Carney prepares to leave the Bank of Canada to start his new job as head of the Bank of England on July 1, Macklem, his No. 2, has emerged as the frontrunner to succeed him.
The bank's choice of governor must be approved by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, which will likely look to external candidates as well, but insiders say Macklem, 51, has the knowledge and experience to do the job.
Macklem, who is making a speech in Kingston, Ontario, later on Thursday, is widely respected in academic circles, has had a stellar 25-year career at the bank and finance ministry and speaks fluent English and French, Canada's two official languages.
The most glaring difference he presents to Carney - and perhaps Macklem's biggest weakness - is his soft-spoken, cautious style, which raises doubts whether he has the street smarts to stand up to big bank CEOs and lawmakers and defend central bank actions.
Carney, known for his self-confidence and hot temper, had a now famous run-in with JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon last year over tougher new banking regulations.
"He's a milder guy, very different," said Purdy Crawford, a well-known Canadian businessman and lawyer who worked with Macklem in 2008 to restructure the Canada's collapsed $30 billion market for asset-backed commercial paper.
"Tiff is maybe not as overtly ambitious as Mark is but he's nobody's push-around... He's tough but easy, he doesn't come through like a sledgehammer," he said in a telephone interview.
The advertisement for the governor's position said the winning candidate must have "the courage to take a stand", a demand not mentioned when Carney applied for the job.
It's not a trait usually associated with central bankers, but it's something that Carney holds in spades. Carney was first G7 central banker to raise rates after the global financial crisis and his insistence that higher rates will one day be needed is met with some skepticism by market players focusing on stubbornly low inflation rates and the sluggish economy.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Macklem, for his part, is a classic public servant who toils quietly behind the scenes. He usually appears as backup to Carney, who has become a bit of a central banker rock star, in news conferences and parliamentary hearings.
"He looks like a bookish academic sort of guy and he hasn't had the private sector experience that Mark Carney had," said Bill Scarth, an economics professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
In his second stint at the finance ministry from 2007 to 2010, Macklem helped craft policies to keep the Canadian and world banking systems well-greased and to bail out the auto sector, said Paul Boothe, who preceded Macklem at finance and later led the auto bailout from the industry ministry.
Macklem was Canada's point man at the G7 and G20 during the depth of the financial crisis and headed several international working groups. He also chaired a committee at the G20's Financial Stability Board that monitors implementation of banking reforms.
"I think what you would find is, maybe not to the general public, but to the people in the industry - both private sector and in other governments - he's very well known and very well regarded for being decisive," Boothe said.
Slim and bespectacled, Macklem hails from Montreal, the biggest city in the French-speaking province of Quebec. He is married with three children and is an avid skier.
AN INSIDER
Many who worked with Macklem in his early days at the Bank of Canada in the 1990s saw him as "governor" material as he quickly rose through the ranks to become head of the research department in 2000 at the young age of 39.
McMaster University's Scarth said Macklem impressed economists at the bank's annual conferences, particularly for his research on debt and deficit reduction. "I think he was doing the best work I knew of in Canada in that area for several years."
An internal candidate like Macklem would provide "continuity" at a time of global uncertainty, analysts said.
Carney and his predecessor, David Dodge, were both outsiders, moving to the Bank of Canada from other government departments, while Carney also had experience at Goldman Sachs.
Several external names have emerged as potential rivals to Macklem, but none have confirmed interest and the compressed timetable for choosing a successor may give Macklem an edge.
And it wouldn't be the first time Canada has had a mild-mannered central banker. Gordon Thiessen, who held the job from 1994 to 2001 wasn't exactly outspoken or combative, Scarth said.
"We've got previous cases where the quiet guy who actually knows what he's talking about commands respect.

Read More..

Spond cherishing chance at BCS title

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Notre Dame linebacker Danny Spond values every chance he gets to be on the football field.
That might sound trivial. After all, doesn't every player feel that way?
Probably so, but then again, few players have seen what Spond has seen.
The native of Littleton, Colo., was a star quarterback at Columbine High, where a school shooting took the lives of 13 people in 1999. Now a linebacker, he wears jersey No. 13 to honor those victims and has been deeply affected by the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., last month.
In August, he feared he might lose his football career when a migraine headache struck him so severely that he was unable to move parts of his body.
Now he's about to take the field with a national championship at stake.
"This is the biggest stage that we'll ever play on," Spond said.
No. 1 Notre Dame (12-0) meets No. 2 Alabama (12-1) on Monday night at Sun Life Stadium, a matchup of storied programs that will collide and decide the BCS national champion. Spond is expected to start for the Irish, who enter the game with the nation's top-ranked scoring defense, just a smidge ahead of the Crimson Tide.
Alabama is favored, which to the Irish isn't exactly a relevant point.
"In our eyes, this is a step down from the Super Bowl," Spond said. "Underdog or if you're favored in these games, that doesn't really matter."
And if anyone on the field Monday night can speak on what really matters, it might be Spond.
He knows what the Columbine shootings meant to his community, both then and now. He grieved for the victims of the school massacre in Newtown that took the lives of 26 students and teachers at an elementary school.
"I can't express how horrible of an event that is," Spond said Thursday, when he was among a small group of Notre Dame players who met with reporters in advance of the title game. "Going through that ... unspeakable. It's hard to explain. It's hard to put into words. I don't know what to say about it, other than time will heal. It did our community and I know it will there."
Spond relies on faith and makes no secret of it, using his beliefs to get him through tough moments, on the field and off.
When he was hospitalized in August, football wasn't his concern. Walking was.
Parts of Spond's left side were numb when he was struck by the migraine, which doctors originally feared was a stroke. He walked with a limp after spending about half a week in the hospital, then needed rehabilitation just so he could feel close to normal again. Football was pushed aside.
That is, until he surprised the Irish by coming back so quickly.
"We were just wondering if he would ever be able to function regularly on a daily basis," Irish star linebacker Manti Te'o said. "And then for him to come out — what was it, a week and a half later? — and say 'I'm going to practice,' we were like, 'Oh, Danny, you can just chill, you know. This is life we're talking about, not just football. Just chill.' But he goes, 'I'm going to get ready.'"
So he got ready. He finished the regular season with 38 tackles in 10 games, which doesn't sound all that impressive.
Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco begs to differ.
"Danny Spond is, to me, one of the players of the year," Diaco said.
"To watch him battle and fight and stay positive and become the player that he has become for his teammates in 2012, he is a stalwart out there to the field. It's very hard to get a play on him in the pass game or the run game. It's just really been inspirational for me to watch and be a part of. So I'm so thankful for Danny Spond specifically in my life."
Spond said the six-week wait for this has been easier than some might think, since it's allowed the Irish to prepare and heal.
In short, he knows his team will be ready for whatever Nick Saban and Alabama can throw Notre Dame's way on Monday night.
"They are a great team," Spond said. "They are obviously in this game for a reason and they have proved that in the past couple of years. Coach Saban has built a very strong program over there, so we're preparing for their best. They'll give us their best."

Read More..

Can BCS title game challenge TV ratings record?

NEW YORK (AP) — Two undefeated teams, three Heisman Trophy finalists, five lead changes and 19 seconds left when the winning touchdown was scored.
No other BCS title game has come close to matching that perfect formula for broad appeal. The 2006 tilt between Texas and Southern California was on in nearly 22 percent of American homes with televisions; the second-best number is under 18 percent.
Now, seven years later, a matchup may finally challenge that Rose Bowl's TV ratings record.
No. 1 Notre Dame, so popular it can stay independent and negotiate its own television contract, is competing for its first championship since the 1988 season. Notre Dame's opponent, No. 2 Alabama, is a big name in its own right, made bigger by two titles in the last three years and the Southeastern Conference's run of six straight crowns.
"It sets up really remarkable possibilities," said Burke Magnus, ESPN's senior vice president for college sports programming.
Just as fans and media break down position-by-position battles for the Fighting Irish and Crimson Tide, a look at how this year's matchup stacks up against the record-holders from 2006:
— NAME RECOGNITION. Texas and USC are hardly slouches in the tradition and popularity departments, but Notre Dame is in its own category. Plus there's the added intrigue of the Irish's title drought.
"It definitely raises the bar of the hype and the buzz of this national championship compared to any of the other games I've had the good fortune to call," ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said.
Even if much of the interest sprouts from fans rooting against one of the teams.
"Notre Dame is the Yankees, is the Celtics, the Lakers and so on, the Dallas Cowboys. They're polarizing, which helps," Magnus said. "Actually, both of them are right now because of the SEC factor, and Alabama has been the standard bearer for that."
Herbstreit chuckled at the thought of some fans vowing not to watch because they detest both teams.
"Anybody who takes the time to make a comment like that clearly will be watching the game," he said. "They'll in fact watch the four hours of pregame we have before the game and be blogging and tweeting about how wrong everybody is on those shows."
— STAR POWER. Texas-USC sparkled far brighter here. The three Heisman finalists that season were from those two teams: Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart (who won the previous year) and running back Reggie Bush (who won this time, before later returning the trophy because of NCAA violations) and Longhorns quarterback Vince Young. All were skill position players believed at the time to have promising NFL futures.
Notre Dame's Heisman finalist is a defensive guy, linebacker Manti Te'o. Alabama's four first-team All-Americans are offensive linemen or defenders.
— ANTICIPATION. Texas and USC were the undisputed top teams in college football — the only undefeated squads in the country who led the rankings all season. Alabama has one loss, and while there has been almost no controversy as to whether the Tide deserves to play in the title game, the late-season rankings scramble that led to this game doesn't carry quite the same buzz.
— MARKET SIZE. In the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball, postseason viewership often varies significantly based on whether the teams involved hail from cities big or small. In college football, that's less of a factor, though it didn't hurt the 2006 title game that a school from Los Angeles, the country's second-largest market, was involved.
The program from South Bend, Ind., of course is a classic example of national appeal.
"(Alabama is) the franchise right now and another mega brand," Magnus said. "It doesn't matter that it's Tuscaloosa — the TV markets don't matter when it comes to teams like that."
— ON-FIELD THEATER. One of the biggest factors in the final rating won't be known until the game kicks off. If the score stays close, more viewers will stick around to the end — and more will join in. Magnus believes the rise of social media will increase the audience of tight games even more than in the past, as casual fans learn through Twitter or Facebook that they can catch a tense finish if they tune in.
The Longhorns' 41-38 win featured 10 touchdowns, and the teams combined to score five times in the fourth quarter. Neither school ever led by more than 12 points.
Notre Dame has had a penchant for close games all season and Alabama also has lately. But the other half of the entertainment equation — high scoring — may be less likely with these two programs. Each allows fewer than 11 points a game.
— RAW NUMBERS. The Texas-USC title game set the record with a 21.7 rating — 22 percent higher than the next best BCS championship. No. 2 all-time was the 2001 Oklahoma-Florida State final with a 17.8. The best ratings since 2006 were a 17.4 for both the 2007 Florida-Ohio State and 2008 LSU-Ohio State matchups.
The 2006 championship was on ABC, but the BCS games have since moved to cable. ESPN is in about 14 percent fewer homes than the traditional broadcast networks, though executives note that college football fans are more likely than the general population to have cable. Ratings since the switch have seemingly been more affected by the matchups and competitiveness of games than by their availability.
Regular-season viewership, while still strong, was down for college football this year. On ESPN's networks, the average audience decreased more than 10 percent on ABC, almost 4 percent on ESPN, and nearly 13 percent on ESPN2 from 2011. SEC games on CBS also dropped 10 percent.
For the four BCS games so far, preliminary ratings are up 1 percent on ESPN from last season.
But Notre Dame and Alabama have already shown their ability to lure big audiences. The rating for the Tide's SEC title game against Georgia — essentially a national semifinal — was up 34 percent from the previous year's LSU-Georgia matchup. With an average of 16.2 million viewers, it was the season's most-watched college football game before the bowls.
No. 2 was Notre Dame's win over USC to clinch a berth in the BCS title game with 16.1 million viewers. That was the highest-rated Saturday night regular-season game on ABC since at least 1991.
Herbstreit is one of those sports fans who watch golf only when Tiger Woods is in contention on a Sunday. He considers Notre Dame-Alabama to be the college football equivalent of that.
"Without a doubt," he said, "if you're a college football fan, or even if you're a fringe college football fan, you're going to watch."

Read More..

Johnny "Football" Manziel favorite for Heisman

MIAMI (Reuters) - Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel is in line to become the first 'freshman' winner of the Heisman Trophy when the annual award for the top player in college football is made on Saturday.
Manziel, nicknamed "Johnny Football", is one of three players to be invited to Saturday's ceremony, along with Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein.
Wednesday's final installment of the Scripps Heisman Poll, which has accurately indicated the winner for 21 off the past 25 years, placed Manziel in the top spot.
The trophy was won last year by Robert Griffin III, who went on to be taken as the number two pick in the 2012 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins.
The previous year's winner Cam Newton, another quarterback, was taken as the number one overall pick by the Carolina Panthers and enjoyed a hugely successful rookie year in the NFL.
Up until Florida quarterback Tim Tebow won the Heisman in 2007, no sophomore had won the award but Manziel could go one better if he wins after his first season.
The Texan finished the regular season with 3,419 passing yards and 1,181 rushing yards to set a new total offense record for the Southeastern Conference (SEC) of 4,600 yards in 12 games.
Manziel also broke the record for total offense in a game, originally set by Archie Mannning, father of Peyton and Eli, back in 1969, when he accumulated 557 yards against Arkansas and he then bettered it with 567 yards against Louisiana Tech.
"It's so surreal for me to be even be able to be mentioned for the Heisman Trophy," Manziel said recently when asked about the award.
Manziel sat out football (redshirted) for his first year at college as the 'Aggies' already had Ryan Tannehill, now the starting quarterback with the Miami Dolphins.
While there is some debate over whether a redshirt freshman should be given the award, Tannehill believes Manziel has proven his worth.
"Look at the numbers. The numbers he has put up are outstanding. He's surpassed Cam Newton and Tim Tebow who both won the Heisman in the years that they set the SEC record for yards in a season," he said.
"Plus the fact of the game changing players he can make. He went to Alabama when they were ranked number one and had an upset victory there," added Tannehill.
The biggest threat to Manziel comes from Te'o who has been outstanding for Notre Dame as they enjoyed a 12-0 record and moved to number one in the nation, earning a shot at the title against the Alabama Crimson Tide in Miami on January 7.
Hawaiian Te'o made 52 solo tackles and assisted on a further 51 in his senior year and he has a total of 427 total tackles from his four year collegiate career.
Unlike Manziel, who has at least one more year left before he can enter the draft and will likely wait more, Te'o is expected to be a first round pick in the 2013 class.

Read More..

Bahrain extends activist custody on Twitter charge

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — A defense lawyer in Bahrain says a court has refused a request to free a prominent human rights campaigner charged with posting false reports on Twitter.
The arrest last month of Yousef al-Muhafedha marked the latest crackdown on Bahrain activists and is part of wider pressures on social media across the Gulf Arab states.
Bahrain has been gripped by nearly two years of unrest between the Sunni rulers and majority Shiites seeking a greater political voice in the strategic kingdom, which is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.
Lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi says the court decided Wednesday to keep al-Muhafedha in custody. It set the next hearing for Jan. 17.
Al-Muhafedha had been heading the Bahrain Center for Human Rights after its leader, Nabeel Rajab, was jailed.

Read More..

Social media masters, ninjas, and gurus: How Twitter pros describe themselves

What we talk about when we talk about social media
Is it weird for you to see your name without an @ symbol in front of it? Do you ever wake up in a cold sweat after dreaming about your Klout score? Does the mere thought of losing your iPhone make your hands tremble? If you answered yes to any of these questions, read on.
FollowerWonk, an analytics tool that allows you to keep tabs on your Twitter account, released a list of the most popular terms users deploy to bolster their "social media" bona fides in their Twitter bios — "Social Media Pro," for example.
The list, which started off with just 16,000 Twitter users in 2009, has ballooned to 181,000 self-described social media mavens by January 2013.
Here is a short list of the most and least popular social media descriptors, some of which are quite telling:
Social Media Ninja: 21,876 users
Social Media Evangelist: 20,829
Social Media Consultant: 9,031
Social Media Guru: 18,363
Social Media Whore: 174 (why???)
Social Media Master: 88
Social Media Warrior: 104
Social Media Veteran: 10 (one vet has been on Twitter for a whole 17 months)
Read the full list at AdAge.
I'm no expert, but boldly declaring your ninja-ness for the whole world to see? Not very ninja-like. And if I had to pick a description for myself, I'd probably go with "Social Media Veteran," but only because I once had a Xanga.
What kind of Social Media [blank] are you? Let us know in the comments.

Read More..

Rumors suggesting Facebook (FB) is working on a smartphone have resurfaced a number of times over the past year. Each time, Facebook denied the various claims. Facebook may indeed still be working on its own phone but as a new report from market research firm NPD Group shows, it probably doesn’t need to.
[More from BGR: Is Samsung the new Apple?]
Facebook makes money by gathering information about its users and serving targeted ads based on that data. Allowing users to update Facebook with fresh data as often as possible is obviously beneficial to the company, and smartphones present a terrific opportunity to give users access to their Facebook accounts from anywhere. The more people using Facebook’s mobile apps, the better, and Facebook’s smartphone penetration is absolutely staggering right now.
[More from BGR: iPhone 5 now available with unlimited service, no contract on Walmart’s $45 Straight Talk plan]
According to data published by NPD Group on Tuesday, Facebook’s iOS application was used by 86% of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch owners as of November 2012. On the Android platform, 70% of smartphone and tablet owners used Facebook’s mobile app in November.
No other third-party app even comes close to approaching Facebook’s mobile penetration. Google’s (GOOG) YouTube app is the next most popular third-party app on iOS with 40% penetration and Amazon’s (AMZN) mobile application is the second most popular third-party Android app with just 28% penetration.
So why would Facebook bother making its own phone?
One answer — perhaps the obvious one — is that an own-brand smartphone with custom software would give Facebook access to far more personal data than it can reach using third-party applications. Considering Facebook’s track record with matters relating to privacy, however, users may be reluctant to buy a Facebook phone.
In any case, a Facebook phone certainly doesn’t seem like a necessity for the time being. Instead, focusing on ways to effectively monetize the hundreds of millions of users who interact with Facebook from a smartphone or tablet each month might be a wiser use of resources.

Read More..

French government says will propose a rejigged 75 percent tax plan

PARIS (Reuters) - The French government will redraft a proposal for a 75 percent upper income tax band and resubmit it, the prime minister's office said on Saturday, after the Constitutional Council rejected the measure included in the 2013 budget.
"It will be presented as part of the next budget law," Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault's office said in a statement, without giving a time frame. The statement said the Council's rejection of the 75 percent tax would not affect efforts to trim the public deficit.

Read More..