In the face of bonuses that would make traders at Goldman Sachs blush, Barrick shareholders finally pushed back, voting down the proposed pay packages for the gold miner’s top execs. It’s the first time a major Canadian company has ever lost a say-on-pay call.

And while largely symbolic, as Wednesday’s vote isn’t binding, it sends a much-needed message not only to Barrick’s board, but to Canadian investors: There is a line -- however faint, distant and trodden -- that even the most avarice of execs shouldn’t cross; not when they’ve presided over a 54-per-cent collapse in stock price over the past year.

If the seven institutional investors hadn’t stood up to Barrick’s compensation plan, then no say-on-pay action could ever be taken, as this case is about as egregious as it gets. It’s almost Stronach-esque in its audacity. And like the Croesus-sized cheques Stronach has long collected from Magna, the tradition of Barrick’s board paying themselves handsomely dates back years. But even by

Ask anyone who knows me well, I enjoy sending hand-written letters and cards. To get a personal letter in the mail is even better.

But I haven't written or received one in a long time, which is why a report this week about how falling mail volumes will result in Canada Post notching a $1-billion a year loss for 2020 was a wake-up call. It made me feel like a bad friend, a bad relative.

The Conference Board report, which was commissioned by Canada Post, noted almost half of all Canadian households sent a maximum of two pieces of mail per month. Indeed, in 2012 the amount of letter mail sank by one billion compared to 2006.

Further, the report titled The Future of Postal Service in Canada foresees the federal Crown corporation's postal system's total volume of mail will drop by slightly more than 25 per cent per cent by 2020.

“Canadians recognize that the way they use mail is changing, but haven't yet fully understood how severely that is affecting Canada Post's business model," said David

It's not a favorite time of year for Canadians when the Taxman cometh, and if you believe a new report by the Fraser Institute the average family is spending more on taxes than basic necessities such as food, shelter and clothing.

The think tank’s Canadian Consumer Tax Index, published this week, found the average Canadian household spends 42.7 per cent of its income on taxes. That compares to the 36.9 per cent spent on food, shelter and clothing combined.

Charles Lammam, associate director at the institute and co-author of the study, says the key takeaway is to alert Canadians to the massive tax burden, which has ballooned some 1,787 per cent in nominal terms between 1961 and 2012.

"The first take away is the tax burden," says Lammam. "Then we can start thinking about, as Canadians, are we getting value for our tax dollars."

For example, a big chunk of Canadians' tax money goes toward health care, but Lammam says the public is not getting enough bang for our buck on that front. He noted

Even though the roof on their home was about 10 years old when Marion Johnston and her husband bought their place in 2010, she was still caught by surprise when it started leaking in her living room last year. She was even more startled by the bill from the roofing company, which came to $11,000.

“It was such a financial hit,” says Johnston, a Vancouver stay-at-home mom with two kids. “I know it’s just the reality of home ownership, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon. Plus, it was right before Christmas, so we were already way over budget. It really stung.”

The roof on your house caving in is one example of an unexpected expense; there are countless others. Think having to hop on a plane to see an ailing relative, paying the bills after losing your job, footing the bill for an emergency root canal when self-employed and and without dental insurance, paying the vet who cared for your injured pet, forking out money for an insurance deductible after a car accident, replacing the

Volunteering not only makes you feel good, turns out it’s also good for the economy.

A new report from TD Bank has pegged the economic value of volunteering in Canada at $50 billion each year, or about three per cent of Canada’s GDP, which is the same size as the Manitoba economy.

“The economic value of volunteering demonstrates that it is possible to get more than what you pay for,” said the report’s authors, TD economists Craig Alexander and Sonya Gulati.

“Put simply, $50 billion represents a lot of value. It is too large to simply dismiss.”

The report marks National Volunteer Week in Canada, which runs from April 21 to 27, and celebrates the estimated 13.3 million volunteers across Canada.

While some might argue volunteering is just free labour, others see it as a way to advance skills or provide selfless acts that allow them to give back to the community.

TD argues volunteerism provides economic value that is “very real,” yet “seldom noticed and rarely discussed.”

For example, it cites

It’s hard to know what’s shrinking faster: Apple’s ability to come up with new ideas, or the value of its shares. Either way, it’s not a race that inspires a lot of investor cheerleading.

As expected, Apple on Tuesday reported record sales but lower profit for the first time in a decade. This comes after a quarter in which iPhone shipments were lower, though sales of its iPad tablet have never been better.

“We know we didn’t meet everyone’s expectations,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a conference call to discuss the firm’s quarterly results. “We acknowledge our growth has slowed and the market has decreased.”

What’s worse is the sense that, unlike last year’s launch of the iPhone 5 and the iPad Mini, there may not be many other blockbusters on the horizon for the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant in the months ahead. I have argued in this space before that Apple has matured enough as a business that it doesn’t necessarily need to come up with new tricks. That doesn’t mean there aren’t

TD Bank is forecasting the Canadian dollar will drop to 90 cents US by early 2014, a prediction that comes alongside reports of investors betting against the loonie in record numbers.

Economists say falling commodity prices, lingering low interest rates and modest Canadian economic growth will push the loonie to levels not seen since 2009.

“We have significantly revised our forecast, with the loonie hitting a low of 90 US cents in early 2014,” TD Bank said in a recent report.

The loonie hit a high just above $1.05 US in both April and July 2011, and stayed above parity until early 2013. The dollar was trading at about 97 cents US on Tuesday.

As the loonie moves lower, investors appear to be losing confidence in the currency, by increasing their short positions.

Recent data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission shows the net value of short positions against the Canadian dollar increased last week by US$400 million to a record US$7.4 billion.

More investors are returning to the U.S.

How much do smarts factor in when it comes to success? A fair bit, according to research that finds a strong link between smarts and wealth.

Jonathan Wai, research scientist at Duke University's Talent Identification Program, a non-profit organization serving academically gifted and talented youth, says his research generally found that billionaires are not "ordinary" when it comes to cognitive ability and education.

His research titled, "Investigating America’s Elite: Cognitive Ability, Education, And Sex Differences," showed overall, billionaires tended to be the brainiest people, or rather "attended a school requiring standardized test scores that likely places them in the top one percent of ability," the study states.

These so called "elite schools" include California Institute of Technology, Princeton, Yale or Harvard universities. Some 45 per cent of billionaires are part of the top 1 per cent of smart people. That compares to Fortune 500 CEOs; 41 per cent of senators, and nearly