The bigger they are, the harder Canadian banks could fall, expert warns

It’s official: After an epic spending spree, Canadian consumers are finally putting away their wallets, depriving the banks of a profit wellspring of historic proportion. Fortunately for bank shareholders the wallet-closing has been a relatively gradual process that has yet to put a dint in the bottom line.

And so the consequences for Europe of accommodating the US, and the rest of the world, in having the EUR soar following ECB intervention while everyone else's currency is diluted to death, comes to the fore, following today's announcement of German 2012 GDP which came below expectations of 0.8%, printing at 0.7%, with government adding a substantial 1.0% to this number, while plant and machinery investment tumbled by a whopping -4.4%.

One of the best things that Bitcoin has going for it is that there are places online where it's used exclusively. The infamous site SilkRoad is a marketplace for drugs and other illegal wares, where Bitcoin is the currency of choice.

The banks have had a long run of strong profits but the good times are about to become a little less so, according to Ed Clark, chief executive of Toronto-Dominion Bank. Europe remains in a shambles, the U.S. still hasn’t recovered, while in Canada strong tailwinds such as the housing market have turned into headwinds. But the real challenge, “the underlying issue” is what’s going to happen to interest rates, Mr. Clark told RBC Capital Markets’ annual bank CEO conference in Toronto on Tuesday.

Officials in Cyprus face another deadline as the country scrambles to fine-tune its new capital control measures in order to clear the way for re-opening the country’s banks scheduled for Thursday. ‘Super-human efforts’ are being made to re-open the banks, the head of the Cypriot central bank reportedly said.

Julie Dickson, Canada’s banking regulator, said the current period of low interest rates threatens to increase risks for the country’s lenders, and it has become an issue she’s closely monitoring.

When Sally Herigstad and her husband wanted to buy a house recently in their Seattle suburb, they ran into some unfriendly numbers. They owe the bank about $360,000 on their existing home, but a sale would bring in only the low to mid-$300’s:  they’d have to close the deal with a big check.

Berlin Zoo's superstar polar bear Knut died from drowning after swelling in the brain caused him to collapse and fall into the pool in his enclosure, preliminary autopsy results showed Friday."Knut drowned following massive brain inflammation most likely caused by an infection," said Heribert Hofer, director of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research that conducted the examination.