I am that person. The one who holds up the line during “coffee rush hour” between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. at various Starbucks in the financial district, who fumbles in my wallet, finds nothing and ends up paying my $2.57 with my debit card. The process probably takes less than a minute but I can feel the glares behind my back, and I don’t blame them. Until we’re all living in a world of NFC mobile payments, however, that’s the way it’s going to be.

This week at the Canada 3.0 conference I had an opportunity to lead a session that looked at what near-field communications (NFC) technology will mean for all kinds of transactions between banks, retail stores, independent merchants at fairgrounds and, of course, consumers. The timing seemed right: CIBC launched an NFC payment system with Rogers late last year. RBC and Bell announced they would enter the fray later this summer. And yet Apple’s Tim Cook has dismissed NFC as being in its very early days. The resignation of a key exec responsible

I don't know about you, but when I get stressed out at work my complexion gets bumpy and I tend to yell a lot. But, who knew work-related stress makes food taste stronger.

A new study titled "Does injustice affect your sense of taste and smell? The mediating role of moral disgust" from the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia suggests unfair treatment at work can sharpen taste buds.

“Our perception of the world is altered by stress – and we show how significant the mistreatment of our fellow humans impacts us, physiologically,” says Daniel Skarlicki, lead author and professor at the business school.

“This is just a glimpse into the kinds of physical effects workplace stress has on us. Managers really need to foster fair environments for employees.”

The study, which focuses heavily on understanding the link between the emotion of "disgust" and sensory perception, involved a number of experiments. The first included asking participants to recall fair and unfair

The shale boom in the United States is creating a "supply shock" that will ripple through global oil markets over the next five years and redraft how oil is transported, stored and refined, the International Energy Agency said in closely-watched report released on Tuesday.

Following several years of stronger-than-expected North American supply growth, the "shockwaves of rising" U.S. shale gas and light tight oil and Canadian oil sands production are reaching virtually all recesses of the global oil market, the Paris-based group said, noting the effects will be as transformative to the market over the next five years as was the rise of Chinese demand over the last 15.

“North America has set off a supply shock that is sending ripples throughout the world,” IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said in a statement. “The good news is that this is helping to ease a market that was relatively tight for several years."

The group said it expects global demand to reach 96.7 million barrels

For all those who believe LinkedIn to be soulless and empty, a social site without much social, and even less of a site, know that it’s not without a bit of whimsy. That, or the career co. has suddenly found a sense of snark.

The snark arrived on Monday when tech entrepreneur and Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake tweeted out that LinkedIn’s algorithm took measure of her achievements and suggested she might apply for a senior product manager role on Flickr. It seems there is an opening available on the photo-sharing site’s mobile team.

At this point I should mention that Flickr is owned by Yahoo! The company bought it in 2005 for a reported US$35-million. At the time, Flickr was a year-old spin-off of sorts from Ludicorp, a Vancouver-based start-up. Within months of its meteoric launch, it had become one of the world’s most

Ever feel like work is getting you down? If so, you're not alone. It appears a good chunk of Canadians say their workplace fuels feelings of depression, anxiety and other mental illness, according to an Ipsos Reid poll.

Two in 10 working Canadians, excluding self-employed workers, say their place of work is a frequent (11 per cent) or ongoing (5 per cent) source of strife. Nearly 15 per cent say work causes these feelings several times a year, while another 33 per cent experience them more infrequently. On the flip side, four in 10 people workers say work never gets them down.

Overall, nearly half of Canadians surveyed say work and the workplace is the most stressful part of their day.

The data also reveals that there continues to be a lingering stigma against mental illness in the workplace, with nearly two-thirds of respondents saying they would not likely talk to their bosses openly about their mental illness.

That stigma can translate into poor worker productivity, said Heather Stuart,

The country's bank regulator is looking into whether uninsured mortgages of more than 25 years pose a risk to lenders and the broader house market given recent concerns about soaring consumer debt levels.

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is now in the process of talking to lenders and assessing potential risks in deciding whether it should take action, the Globe and Mail reported on Monday.

Annik Faucher, spokeswoman at OSFI, said the regulator routinely reviews mortgage portfolios with institutions to assess its guidance and effectiveness with industry.

"We are looking at the issue and doing some preliminary consultation with financial institutions. We are working to determine the desirability of some changes given current conditions in housing markets and recent trends in household indebtedness," said Faucher in an e-mail statement.

"A decision in that regard would be taken once we hear back from the industry. Any proposed changes to our mortgage guideline that

With a daughter who graduated from university last year and landed a job in mass media arts, Robert Stammers is one proud father. He’s also quick to acknowledge that she’ll be paying for her education for years to come.

“She has a job, and it’s wonderful,” says Stammers, director of investor education at the nonprofit CFA Institute. “But we have been talking about student loans for a while; her debt is a fairly hefty amount. You need to have a plan to pay them down, because they can become an anchor. You don’t want to be paying it off for the next 30 years if you don’t have to.”

With a new batch of university grads about to enter the working world — whether it’s in their chosen field or as a barista — student debt has never been a more pressing problem.

Federal student debt has now surpassed $15 billion, rising at a rate of nearly $1 million per day, according to the Canadian Federation of Students. That figure does not include the credit card debt, lines of credit and provincial student

Holding the same amount of cash as stocks means you could be missing out on chances to build up investments, says a new Edward Jones poll that shows Canadians are holding 13 per cent in low-risk GICs.

Among Canadians with investments including Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP) and Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSA), the majority -- some 41 per cent -- own mutual funds, followed by stocks at 14 per cent and Guaranteed Investment Certificates.

The online survey, conducted by Leger Marketing in early April, showed half of Canadians plan to make some kind of investment this year and of those, one in four plan to buy GICs. Craig Fehr, Canadian market strategist for Edward Jones, questions further adding to cash and short-term holdings.

"Cash is providing little to no return in today's environment," said Fehr. Given the market's performance, with stocks doing well but the potential for rising interest rates going forward, Fehr said it's a good time for investors to review portfolio mixes