All signs are pointing to a Greek bailout and strong U.S. economic data released yesterday has bolstered global markets Friday morning.

Though the deal has yet to be closed, investor sentiment improved dramatically after Eurozone finance ministers hinted Greece had done enough to secure the €130 billion (US$170 billion) aid it so desperately needs to avoid bankruptcy. Moreover, the European Central Bank indicates it'll swap Greek bonds for new ones in an effort to help to cut €100 billion off Greece's debt.

Stateside, a string of better-than-expected data in housing, manufacturing, and jobless numbers released Thursday shows the world's largest economy remains on the road to recovery.

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index was recently 0.4 per cent higher at 265.49. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.3 per cent to 5902.78, Paris's CAC-40 rose 1 per cent to 3426.49 and Frankfurt's DAX was 0.7 per cent higher at 6798.54. The euro currency is fetching US$1.3124.

In Asia, shares rose on the positive

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Good news Canada: Out of 183 economies our nation ranks 11^th overall with respect to private, midsized businesses ease of paying taxes.

Canada's tax system is reportedly well ahead of G8 and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) economies, suggests annual joint-research from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, which provides a comparison of the ease of paying taxes by tax regimes globally.

The study measures the overall ease of paying taxes for a hypothetical small to midsized domestic business by assessing three indicators: The number of tax payments per year; the time taken to compile returns and submit tax payments; and by calculating companies' total tax liability as a percentage of pre-tax profits.

Our 11^th place ranking makes Canada the easiest country to pay taxes in the G8 based on the number of tax payments, the time it takes to comply and its total tax rate (TTR).

"Canada must compete with other nations for global business

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The continuing impasse over Greece's €130 billion (US$170 billion) rescue package is hurting investor sentiment Thursday, causing global markets to slide and booting the euro currency below the US$1.30 level.

Adding to the discomfort, Moody's Investors Service placed the ratings of Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and three other global financial institutions on notice possible downgrades are forthcoming. On Wednesday, Moody's said it's also reviewing J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and the Royal Bank of Canada as part of a separate ratings action that includes more than 100 financial institutions worldwide.

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index was 0.9 per cent lower at 261.84. London's FTSE 100 and Paris's CAC-40 also fell 0.9 per cent, to 5841 and 3360.88, respectively, while Frankfurt's DAX was 1.3 per cent lower at 6671.30. The euro currency is presently fetching US$1.299.

In Asia, stock markets retreated from yesterday's rally due to

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Could the bloom be off of the mobile app rose?

While just-released survey data from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project suggests the app revolution may not be as revolutionary as Apple and Google would like us to believe, apps aren't going to disappear from our smartphones and tablets anytime soon.

The rapid transition from basic voice- and text-only feature phones to smartphones means more users are now capable of downloading and using apps.

About 42 per cent of adults in the U.S. now have phones with apps on them, almost double the 22 per cent recorded in September 2009. Despite the rising numbers, the majority of smartphone users — 68 per cent — tend to open five or fewer apps at least once a week. About 17 per cent don't use any apps at all.

HTML 5 a death knell for apps?

Part of the challenge facing app makers lies in the improving quality of mobile web sites. As designers adapt their sites to the growing numbers of users logging in from pocketable devices,

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On the surface, Microsoft's plans to establish a physical retail store in Canada appears a day late and a dollar short in light of rival Apple Inc.'s decade-old retail strategy. But then, what's wrong with being fashionably late to a party?

In the past 10 years, Apple has solidified the value of a bricks-and-mortar presence in our increasingly digital world. Which goes to show that traditional brand marketing in shopping malls and other consumer high-density areas (airport terminals for instance) is still an effective means to woo consumers to buy your stuff.

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Will Microsoft splash out on bricks & mortar?

That Microsoft didn't think of building retail outlets before Apple is irrelevant. But if it's going to try to compete with the mighty Macintosh dispensaries (totalling 360 stores globally

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Though Greece remains a prime concern for investors, global markets are mostly up Wednesday morning, bolstered by positive economic data and China's plans to expand its investments in Europe.

Greek bankruptcy still hangs in the balance after Eurozone finance ministers cancelled talks earmarked to discuss the €130 billion (US$170 billion) bailout that country desperately needs. The European finance ministers are now due to meet next Monday. Nevertheless, traders responded positively to comments from China's central bank governor Zhou Xiachuan who stated the Eurozone's challenges can be solved and that China would help.

Also noteworthy, Germany and France bested economists' forecasts in the fourth quarter of 2011 with better-than-expected gross domestic product figures.

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index was 0.5 per cent higher at 264 this morning. London's FTSE 100 gained 0.1 per cent to 5908.65, Paris's CAC-40 was up 0.7 per cent at 3399.73, and Frankfurt's DAX was 1 per cent higher

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Mona Dodd admits that when she thinks about her retirement, she gets anxious.  A member of the sandwich generation, her responsibilities are divided between two school-age daughters and parents who are in their late-70s. She also lives in Vancouver, Canada's most expensive housing market.  The financial pressure from multiple generations is enough to keep her up at night.

"When I start thinking about it, I get heart palpitations," the part-time jewellery-store clerk says of saving for her retirement while trying to put money aside for her kids' education and her parents' potential needs.  "It just all seems totally overwhelming."

Dodd's hardly alone. Balancing financial priorities on the road to retirement seems to fray nerves in younger and older Canadians alike.

In fact, the vast majority of Canadians aged 18 to 34 and 55 to 69 say if they were to outlive their savings in their so-called golden years, the notion of their families stepping in to take care of them "would not be very

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Nearly 850 million people use Facebook each month and roughly 480 million people use it every day. With a user rate like that and an upcoming $75 to $100 billion initial public offering, one might think Facebook is not only a highly visible company, but also one of Corporate America's most reputable.

But that's not really the case, according to the findings discovered by Harris Interactive. The company recently conducted its 13^th annual Reputation Quotient Study, which measures companies' reputation with consumers.

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In performing the survey, Harris first asked 17,000 people to chose the companies that are most visible to them on a daily basis. The respondents were then asked to rate the top 60 most visible companies on wide rage of attributes, including emotional appeal, products and services, social Read More »