Gina Burgio

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty pledged today to triple the amount of mortgages the government can buy from banks to as much as C$75 billion.

The Canadian Gov't, using its crown corporation, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC), purchased $25 billion in mortgages last month.

Allow me to explain in simply terms what the government is in fact doing...

The gov't via CMHC has insured many mortgages for the banks. In other words, CMHC has sold the banks default insurance on mortgages that the banks have provided to their clients, which guarantees that CMHC will cover any shortfall realized by the banks in the event of default by their clients. The banks issues these mortgages to their clients using their own money, and the bank waits for repayment based on the terms of the mortgage, as with any other typical mortgage.

As a result of the recent program announced by the Cdn Gov't to purchase mortgages, CMHC is in essence purchasing mortgages from the banks that they have previously insured.... in other words, purchasing mortgages from the banks that they were already on the hook for. These purchases allow the banks to cash in these mortgages now (so that they can free up cash to ideally put towards lending to clients interested in new mortgages), while CMHC and the Cdn gov't takes on no greater risk exposure for these mortgages since they were previously insured by them.

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Gina Burgio, Mortgage Agent
VERICO Designer Mortgages Inc.
Toll Free: 1-877-345-6265
Fax: 1-877-345-6256
Email: gina@ginaburgio.com
www.ginaburgio.com

Each VERICO Broker is an independent owner operator.

Bank of Canada has hinted that they may cut interest rates again.

Early today in Toronto, Bank of Canada Senior Deputy Governor Paul Jenkins stated, "Some further monetary stimulus will likely be required to achieve our 2 percent inflation target over the medium term."

The Cdn Central Bank cut its benchmark overnight lending rate to 2.25 percent on Oct. 21.

Some economists expect that the Bank of Canada will cut their overnight rate a half point to 1.75 percent on Dec. 9. This would be the lowest since 1960.

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Gina Burgio, Mortgage Agent
VERICO Designer Mortgages Inc.
Toll Free: 1-877-345-6265
Fax: 1-877-345-6256
Email: gina@ginaburgio.com
www.ginaburgio.com

Each VERICO Broker is an independent owner operator.

Many Canadian banks are scheduled to begin reporting their 3rd quarter results, starting on Nov. 25 with Bank of Montreal.

Some analysts are expecting Canada's six big banks to report an average profit decline of 15 percent for Q3, the biggest drop in 6 years.

The Bank of Canada, the country's central bank, stated on Oct.23 that the Canadian economy, the world's 8th-largest economy, will slow to 0.6 percent this year, the lowest since 1991.

With the country suffering from weak demand in the US and lower prices for commodities, we will soon have the Q3 results from the Big Six Banks... and it will be interesting to see if they provide any indication of how they project their results will be like in the months to come. One thing can be expected however... if banks continue to report poor results, they may consider holding onto a portion of any future rate cuts in the near term from the Bank of Canada by not adjusting their prime lending rates by the same amount.

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Gina Burgio, Mortgage Agent
VERICO Designer Mortgages Inc.
Toll Free: 1-877-345-6265
Fax: 1-877-345-6256
Email: gina@ginaburgio.com
www.ginaburgio.com

Each VERICO Broker is an independent owner operator.

Europe's top central banks are expected to cut borrowing costs on Thursday as market focus shifts back to the economic crisis from the excitement of Barack Obama's historic election victory.

Both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England are expected to cut interest rates. Many economists are forecasting the ECB to cut rates by at least half a percentage point, while others are anticipating a cut by as much as 75 basis points.

For the ECB, it is facing the first euro zone-wide recession since its inception in 1999, and a rate cut by 75 basis points would be its largest ever.

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Gina Burgio, Mortgage Agent
VERICO Designer Mortgages Inc.
Toll Free: 1-877-345-6265
Fax: 1-877-345-6256
Email: gina@ginaburgio.com
www.ginaburgio.com

Each VERICO Broker is an independent owner operator.

It has been said in the past, that for Canada, being next to the United States, is like being in bed with an elephant. This statement was in specific reference to the close proximity between Canada and the United States... and the fact that the Canadian economy will most likely always eventually feel the impact of the effects felt by the US economy. Well the present economic crisis has become no exception to this analogy.

Now, with the election of a new President for the United States, and the shift from republican to democratic party policy in the Oval Office, how will this all come to affect not only the United States, but also Canada?

Well for starters, anything that boosts US consumer confidence is good for the US economy and in turn, good for the Canadian economy. Furthermore, anything that would help to shorten and mitigate the US recession, would be good for Canada.... and based on the out pour of people into the streets expressing cheers and joys following the election of Barack Obama as President-elect, many US consumers appear to be optimistic of what the future will hold with the new administration that will soon come into power.

That being all said, there is no quick fix for the current economic problems. However, it is nice to see a bit of optimism for a change.

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Gina Burgio, Mortgage Agent
VERICO Designer Mortgages Inc.
Toll Free: 1-877-345-6265
Fax: 1-877-345-6256
Email: gina@ginaburgio.com
www.ginaburgio.com

Each VERICO Broker is an independent owner operator.