By Mike Keerma

North American stock markets advanced marginally on the week, closing an uninspiring and volatile September, but posting solid third-quarter gains overall. Last week saw markets react to signs that Opec may implement a production cap in coming months. Crude oil prices surged by $3 per barrel on the week, climbing 7.4% to US$47.98 per barrel, lending support to the flagging S&P/TSX Composite Index, which nevertheless managed to eke out a 0.2% gain on the week. Rumors swirling about the financial stability of German banking giant Deutsche Bank AG also abated by the end of the week, as the S&P 500 Composite Index rallied to end the week with a hairline advance of 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.1% on the week.

By Mike Keerma

* CI to merge funds.
* Scotia shuts down Anchor funds.
* First Asset launches core U.S. and Canada ETFs.
* Investors Group to cut fees, discontinue deferred sales charges.
* Front Street takes over Aston Hill Financial.
* Purpose buys Redwood.

* CI to merge funds. CI Investments Inc. plans to merge six low-asset funds into other funds with similar mandates, as follows:

* CI Short-Term Advantage Corporate Class merges into CI Short-Term Corporate Class
* CI U.S. Equity Plus Fund merges into Cambridge American Equity Fund
* Red Sky Canadian Equity Corporate Class merges into Cambridge Canadian Growth Companies Fund
* Signature Diversified Yield Fund merges into Signature Diversified Yield II Fund
* Signature Select Global Corporate Class merges into CI Global Corporate Class (to be renamed Signature Global Equity Corporate Class)
* Signature Select Global Fund merges into CI Global Fund (to be renamed Signature Global Equity Fund).

TAX PLANNING FROM THE KNOWLEDGE BUREAU



By Evelyn Jacks

Tuition funding is expensive, but there are ways and means to save for your children’s education, as I’ve illustrated in my previous post on registered plans. But there is also some tax relief available in the form of various lucrative credits and writeoffs from the government. Here’s how the tax system shares in the cost with parents and students when it comes to funding a post-secondary education.