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These are stories Report on Business is following Thursday, Dec. 15. Get the top business stories through the day on BlackBerry or iPhone by bookmarking our mobile-friendly webpage.

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MacKay's euro trip Canada's government says it has absolutely no plans to help bail out Europe's weak economies, but the Defence Minister appears to be doing his part.

According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, hotel bills show that Peter MacKay spent $1,452 a night for two nights at a top-end Munich hotel, and $770 a night for three nights in Istanbul, The Canadian Press reports. His staff reportedly had rooms at the same Munich hotel for $276 a night during February of 2010 after a NATO meeting in Turkey.

Mr. MacKay's lavish trip came just about a month before Finance Minister Jim Flaherty unveiled what he called a "tough budget," the "smallest ... in terms of new spending in about 10 years."

Indeed, that budget, which forecast a hefty deficit in the wake of the recession-era stimulus spending, prompted Mr. Flaherty to pledge a return to balanced books.

"I don't like running deficits," the Finance Minister said at the time.

Possible he'd just seen Mr. MacKay's hotel bills? More likely he was anticipating the bills to spruce up Tony Clement's riding in advance of the June summit.

RIM shares sink Shares of Research In Motion Ltd. sank in after-hours trading today, continuing a decline of more than 70 per cent this year.

The BlackBerry maker posted third-quarter results, and guided markets to a soft fourth quarter, sending investors scurrying again, The Globe and Mail's Iain Marlow and Omar El Akkad report.

RIM earned $265-million (U.S.) or 51 cents a share in the quarter, which includes hits to its bottom line that the Waterloo, Ont.-based company had disclosed earlier this month. What markets were waiting to see was the number for earnings per share excluding the rather exceptional items, and that came in above forecasts at $1.27. Revenue climbed 24 per cent to $5.2-billion. The number of subscribers rose to almost 75 million.

The fourth quarter is looking weaker, however. RIM projected revenue in the final three months of its year at between $4.6-billion and $4.9-billion, BlackBerry shipments of 11 million to 12 million, and earnings per share of 80 cents to 95 cents.

Many analysts have slashed their price targets for RIM's shares, and have warned that the company must act amid a declining market share and intense competition from the likes of the iPhone from Apple Inc. and the Android system from Google Inc. .

While they noted the "challenges" of the quarter, the two chiefs of the company, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, were upbeat, particularly given the the pressure they're under.

"RIM continues to have strong technology, unique service capabilities and a large installed base of customers, and we are more determined than ever to capitalize on our strengths to overcome the recent execution challenges surrounding product launches and the resulting financial performance," they said in a statement.

TransCanada gets commitments TransCanada Corp. plans to boost the capacity of its Keystone XL pipeline after winning further commitments from producers for the project.

The pipeline has been controversial, though plans are back on track after the Canadian company agreed to reroute the pipe to skirt an environmentally sensitive area in Nebraska.

TransCanada said today it has received additional binding commitments, and will, subject to regulatory approval, push ahead with an 80-kilometre extension from Keystone XL to help facilitate movement to Houston.

"The Keystone Pipeline System has now secured long-term contracts in excess of 1.1 milion barrels per day," it said in a statement.

Canaccord strikes deal Canada's Canaccord Financial has struck a $400-million deal to acquire Collins Stewart Hawkpoint, a move that will boost its presence in both Britain and the United States, Streetwise columnist Boyd Erman reports.

Canaccord is Canada's biggest independent brokerage, and Collins Stewart one of the largest in Britain.

Canaccord has been expanding globally, with recent additions in China and Australia. The firm has been looking for an acquisition in the United Kingdom for months.

Canaccord is offering 96 pence a share in cash and stock.

Jobless claims fall A fresh reading today on claims for jobless benefits in the United States is a welcome sign - indeed, the best showing in years - though no one should imagine that the nation isn't still struggling under what Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke calls the "national crisis" of unemployment.

Still, the numbers show what has been a brighter trend, and suggest that the U.S. jobs market is picking up.

Initial claims for jobless benefits fell last week to 366,000, according to the U.S. Labor Department, continuing a streak below the key 400,000 mark. More importantly, the four-week average also fell, to 387,750. The weekly reading is the lowest since the spring of 2008, and the four-weak average the best since the summer of that year.

Continuing claims were just about flat.

The U.S. jobs markets is struggling to rebound from the depths of the recession, and just this week the Fed projected that the unemployment will remain high. Having said that, today's reading is, as Andrew Grantham of CIBC World Markets put it, "below anything recorded since the downfall of Lehman Bros." in mid-September of 2008.

"The Labor Department stated that there were no special factors behind the drop, and so the decline will be viewed as further indication of improvement in labor market conditions," he said.

There were several numbers from the United States today, all of which paint a brighter picture. Industrial production, however, slipped in November.

"Judging by this morning's U.S. economic data, yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," said senior economist Jennifer Lee of BMO Nesbitt Burns.

"Very encouraging numbers from jobless claims (big drop), manufacturing activity (nice bounce in the Empire State survey), moderate rise in prices (at the producer level), and a narrower current account gap."

Numbers weak Fresh readings of the manufacturing sectors in Europe and China signal troubled times, particularly in the euro zone.

In China, a purchasing managers index for December increased to 49 from 47.7, but held below the 50 mark that separates contraction from expansion.

"The rebound in the headline index may ease concerns of an imminent hard-landing," said Mark Williams and Qinwei Wang of Capital Economics in London.

"Nonetheless, this sub-50 reading is still the second-worst since March 2009. Manufacturing remains weak."

In the euro zone, the numbers were actually better than expected, with manufacturing at 46.9 and the services sector at 48.3. But they remain "well into contractionary territory," warned Adam Cole, the global chief of foreign exchange strategy at RBC in London.

Note that it's the fifth month in a row that the manufacturing sector has contracted in the monetary union, which is expected to suffer another recession, if it's not already in one. For services, it's the fourth month of contraction.

Czechs wait on euro Crippled by recession, the Czech Republic isn't rushing into the arms of the euro zone.

Its central bank and finance ministry said today it's recommending against setting a date to adopt the currency now shared by 17 countries. The Czech Republic doesn't meet the criteria, and won't in 2012, they said. And, at any rate, the debt crisis has pushed up the potential costs of joining in.

"The situation in recent years has been strongly affected by the global financial and economic crisis," the Czech National Bank and ministry of finance said.

"The Czech economy has thus temporarily stopped catching up with the euro area economic level," they said in a statement.

"On the other hand, though, it is showing signs of increased alignment with the euro area over the business cycle. As a consequence of the global crisis, the economies of the the euro area and other EU countries, including the Czech Republic, have gone into recession and recorded a considerable deterioration in public finance followed by a phase of gradual economic recovery and consolidation of public budgets."

Finning sees strong demand Canada's Finning International Inc. says it's looking forward to strong demand, but its announcement today still disappointed investors.

Finning, the world's biggest Caterpillar equipment dealer, today projected revenue growth of about 5 per cent next year, and 10 per cent in each of 2013 and 2014. It also forecast "strong" growth in earnings per share next year.

The company, which is holding an annual briefing for investors in Toronto today, said conditions in its Canadian and South American businesses is expected to be "robust," and that the outlook in Britain and Ireland is "positive" despite the troubles in Europe.

The company's outlook also indicates strength in the mining sector, which took a hit yesterday and is so key to Canada's overall outlook.

"We are entering 2012 with a sizeable backlog and a clear growth strategy," chief executive officer Mike Waites said in a statement.

"The continued strong demand for our products and services gives us confidence in our top-line growth projections through 2014. Particularly in mining, we continue to see solid business opportunities driven by strong commodity prices."

Still, Desjardins analyst Benoit Poirier that he expects analysts to cut their outlook for the company in 2012, though "the longer term outlook remains bullish."

In particular, he noted that Caterpillar Inc. has forecast revenue growth of 10 per cent to 20 per cent next year, so Finning's guidance for 2012 appears "soft."

Business ticker

In Economy Lab Consumers in Quebec are less likely to shop online that those in any other province, Frances Woolley writes.

In International Business The last into the slump, the world's shipping industry could be the last out, The Financial Times reports.

In Globe Careers When Marci O'Connor was laid off from her job in mid-November, the first place she turned was Facebook. Within two days of telling her friends, she found a job, Dan Shawbel writes.

In today's Report on Business

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
AAPL-Q
Apple Inc
-1.06%171.48
CAT-N
Caterpillar Inc
+0.49%366.43
CF-T
Canaccord Genuity Group Inc
+1.71%8.9
CM-N
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
+1.3%50.72
CM-T
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
+1.13%68.67
FDX-N
Fedex Corp
+0.65%289.74
FTT-T
Finning Intl
-0.67%39.81
GOOG-Q
Alphabet Cl C
+0.21%152.26
TRP-N
TC Energy Corp
+1.41%40.2
TRP-T
TC Energy Corp
+1.19%54.44

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