Tasha Gerrard | Trump named Time Person of the Year

Time magazine has named Donald Trump its Person of the Year -- calling him "President of the Divided States of America."

"I don't think that we have ever seen one person, operating in such an unconventional way, have an impact on the events of the year," said Time editor Nancy Gibbs.

She called this year's choice "one of the more straightforward years." Trump beat runner-up Hillary Clinton for the distinction, which Gibbs said is given to the newsmaker who has the biggest influence on world events, for better or worse.

Placing third was "the hackers," to cover people who breached the records of major government organizations, politicians, celebrities and everyday citizens.

The short list also included President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, scientists.

The announcement was revealed on NBC's "Today" show. Speaking on the show via phone, Trump called the title a "very, very great honor."
The magazine has been selecting the year's most influential person, group or idea since 1927. Its choices have included nearly every U.S. president, Adolf Hitler, Ayatollah Khomeini, Mahatma Gandhi and Pope Francis, along with groups like the "Ebola fighters." The title was changed in 1982 to "Machine of the Year" for the computer.
In its 90-year history, Time has named only four individual women: American socialite Wallis Simpson, whose marriage to King Edward VIII caused a constitutional crisis, Queen Elizabeth II, President Corazon Aquino of the Philippines, and last year's choice, German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Other women have been named as part of a group or class of people..Read More...

 

Tasha Gerrard | Bond Markets' $1-Trillion 'Trumpflation' Wipeout A Bad Sign For Canadian Housing

Canada’s housing market could soon be suffering from a new condition, one that a TD Bank economist is calling “Trumpflation.”

But "Trumpflation" wouldn't mean rising house prices — it would mean higher mortgage rates, leading to worse times for the housing market.

U.S. stock markets soared in the days after Donald Trump’s electoral victory, betting that his administration will be good for business.

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But the bond markets made a different bet — that Trump’s plans for massive infrastructure spending and tax cuts will cause inflation to rise. Inflation is bad for bond markets, so the bond market tanked last week, wiping out $1 trillion of investors’ money.

The wipe-out was such a jolt to the markets that some analysts on Monday were predicting the end of a 30-year-long bond market bull run.

“Bond markets have interpreted a Trump win as one that will make inflation if not great again then at least rise again,” TD Bank senior economist Leslie Preston wrote in a recent client note.

But she noted Trump’s economic plans are not a done deal.

“Markets may be getting a bit ahead of themselves, as it very much remains to be seen whether this ‘Trumpflation’ will pan out.”

Still, the same “Trumpflation” phenomenon that’s brutalizing the bond markets could also hit Canada’s housing markets, because some mortgages in Canada are linked to U.S. bond yields, and because changes in Canadian bond yields tend to follow trends in the U.S. Read More....