Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 3, 2009, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page b4 business editor Steve Pona 697 7264 business free press. My. Ca i Market details b8 i Winnipeg repress. Com saturday january 3, 2009 b 4 o Ottawa As retailers begin to tally up results from their yearned sales and forecasters generally agree the first part of 2009 will be painful the government is looking for ways to Stoke consumer Confidence. Finance minister Jim Flaherty said Friday hers reviewing options for putting More Money in Peoples pockets through tax cuts As part of a multimillion Dollar stimulus package that will include infrastructure spending and help for Laid off workers. The comments come As the finance minister prepares for a second meeting with his freshly minted Council of economic advisers next week and amid fresh evidence Canadian Consumers Are growing More pessimistic. Corporate tax cuts and the new tax free savings accounts that came into effect on Jan. 1 will help stimulate the Economy Flaherty said Friday but added hers considering other measures for the Jan. 27 budget. There Are a couple of ways to stimulate the Economy. One is spending on the infrastructure Side and other ways. And tax reductions leaving More Money in Peoples pockets is also stimulus to the Economy Flaherty told reporters at a news conference. Weave been reviewing other tax options he added. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff recently warned the budget will be prime minister Stephen harpers last shot to show economic leadership or face losing a non Confidence vote. The liberals and nip with the support of the bloc Qutb Cois were prepared to topple the minority conservative government in Early december Over perceived inaction on the stumbling Economy but Harper received a reprieve by shutting Down parliament until Jan. 26. Flaherty was not specific about what he will propose in the budget that Harper has said would result in a deficit of up to $ 30 billion but said he will seek to support people who Are enduring the Brunt of the recession. With Job losses and Job retraining. Statistics Canada will provide an update on the unemployment situation on Friday when it releases its labour Force Survey data for december. About 71,000 jobs were lost in this country during november the biggest one month drop since 1982, although the figures were skewed by unusually High employment in october due to temporary jobs related to the Federal election. Economist Dale Orr of is global insight said the most effective form of tax cuts to stimulate the Economy Short term May be through eliminating the five per cent Federal goods and services tax for one year on big consumer items such As autos furniture and appliances. With Consumers worried about their jobs Orr said canadians Are More Likely to pocket than spend any income tax reduction. And an across the Board one Point drop in the get would Likely be More costly and less effective than a larger targeted Cut he added. Its in the big items where you can actually change consumer spending Orr said. If you save a few pennies on a cup of Coffee nobody is going to buy More Coffee because its lower. But if people Are thinking they should get a new car this year or next if they can save five per cent by buying it this year it could be effective. Liberal finance critic Scott Brison said the right tax cuts can help stimulate the Economy but was not specific. The liberals had opposed two previous cuts to the get arguing reducing income tax would have been better for the Economy. Flaherty said he was concerned about the impacts on Canada of the sharply deteriorating global situation and that finance officials have been working throughout the Holiday season on preparing a response in the budget. The minister also said it was not a Good sign that two new surveys released Friday found consumer Confidence in Canada sinking to Depths found in the United states where the Economy is faring far worse. A Harris Decima sponsored by Winnipeg based Mutual fund firm investors group found 64 per cent of 2,000 respondents said they were feeling pessimistic about the economic Outlook for 2009. Thatus twice As High As the number of individuals who Felt less confident about the Economy in a Survey last August and similar to the poor consumer Confidence Levels reported in the United states. But the proportion of Survey respondents expecting a deterioration of their own financial situation was unchanged at 18 per cent. A separate poll from the Boston consulting group found 62 per cent of the 1,000 canadians surveyed said they intended to Cut spending this year More than the 58 per cent of americans who answered the question the same Way. People Are basically tightening their belts As a Way of being careful but its not a situation where they Are not sleeping at night said Jeff Walker senior vice president with Harris Decima. Many canadians have yet to translate general pessimism about the Economy into their own personal situation Likely because Canada has yet to experience a sustained period of Job losses Walker said. Net employment is up in 2008, despite the one month 71,000 Job loss in november. Anecdotal evidence suggests the economic uncertainty has also not completely deterred canadians from shopping during the Holiday season. The Canadian press people corp., a Winnipeg based provider of corporate personnel services is merging with group works financial corp. Of Toronto the two companies announced on Friday. People corp., Parent company to health source plus inc. And people first or services ltd., employs about 100 people half of them in Winnipeg. The Deal Worth $ 6.25 million entails an Issue of 15.8 million group works shares and no interest five year Vendor take Back notes totalling $ 2.3 million. The share Exchange agreement is expected to increase group works annual Revenue to $ 20 million and strengthen group works position As the leading consolidator of the Independent Benefit and pension advisory firms in Canada the publicly traded company said in a news release on Friday. This is an exciting next step in the growth of our firm people corp. Ceo Laurie Goldberg said in a Brief interview Friday. The Deal is subject to regulatory approval and a week Long due Diligence period. Goldberg declined to comment further about the transaction until Jan. 9. Group works a publicly traded company issued a statement Friday announcing the Deal. According to the release Goldberg will join the group works Board and become ceo of the company. John Gallivan group works current president and ceo will continue As president of the company while group works chief financial officer Rocco Liscio will remain in that position in the newly merged company. Group works said it would maintain the health source plus and people first or services brands. People corp. Does business with More than 500 Canadian corporations and has More than $ 100 million in funds under administration. In addition to its head office in Winnipeg the company maintains offices in Toronto st. Catharines ont., and Montreal. Winnipeg based people first or services ltd., established in 2000, says it is the largest and fastest growing full service or consulting firm in the province. Health source plus inc., an employee benefits company was formed in 1992. Group works shares to xxv Gyc have traded from 15 cents to 50 cents in the last year. On dec. 29, the last Day they were traded they closed at 25 cents. Larry. Kusch free press. My. Ca with files from Canadian press Montreal Apps Are where its at and their popularity is expected to make 2009 the year of the App driven smartphone. Called software applications they can do literally thousands of diverse things like deliver your airline boarding pass to your smartphone allow Stock trading and video gaming playing identify a song or provide language translation. The popular iphone already is a Leader with its App store which Apple inc. Nash a Appl says now has More than 10,000 applications both free and paid. Competitor research in motion tax Rimes known for its secure e mail delivery on its Blackberry will open its own online App store next March to get in on the trend. Blackberry users can now go to play. Com to get Apps for their devices. Smartphones unlike other Mobile phones have advanced operating systems that can run Apps. And its the Apps that Are expected to increase the use of smartphones by both Consumers and businesses. Apps used to be a Niche Market for the tech savvy crowd. Not anymore. Consumers Are taking to Apps and Apple has led the Way said pc magazines Sascha Segan. What the App store did was make application discovery and installation easy enough for anybody said Segan Lead analyst for Mobile devices at the technology publication. The fact that Microsoft and rim a vent caught up to that baffles me because its obvious its a no brainer. This is what these companies need to do and they need to do it yesterday. Apps Are at the heart of smartphones Segan said. Thatus what makes smartphones tiny pcs. The potential of Apps a snot been lost on rim co ceo Jim Balsillie who has said they Are changing the wireless Industry. It has become a defining Point in the Industry Balsillie told a recent investors conference. People Are defining their platforms in wireless about look at All of the Apps i can do a you see that a year ago and now thatus the principal aspect of defining it. Where does it go thatus the big question. On thursday research in motion announced a Friendly Deal to acquire business application Developer Chalk Media corp. To xxv com of Vancouver for $ 23.1 million in Cash. Chalk medias software applications already support a number of Black Berrys including the consumer oriented bold Pearl and curve models. As software applications become More popular on smartphones there will Likely be other players in the Field. There have been reports software giant Microsoft corp. Nash a a set plans to launch an applications store called sky Market for its windows Mobile platform. Internet search engine Google Nash a Good is moving into the cellphone business and is using its software to Power a touchscreen smartphone thatus expected to attract developers worldwide who will want their applications on this phone. Its the smartphones advanced operating system that allows users to download and install software applications just like a computer that sets it apart from Basic talk and text cellphones and increasingly popular feature phones such As Samsung is touchscreen instinct. Feature phones do such things As surf the web give users Access to email and let them watch live to but their operating systems either dont run Apps or cant run a wide variety of them. Id Canada analyst Marc Perrella called smartphones the next computing platform. You re next computer is our smartphone As they become More and More powerful and Able to do More said Perrella vice president of id cos technology research unit in Toronto. It will be a control console for your life basically he said. Smartphones also have applications that can track the calories you have consumed and allow cashless payments for Small purchases. Some analysts believe Consumers eventually will have smartphones that let them do such things As turn on the lights set room temperatures and pre heat ovens As they head Home. The Market for smartphones has started to take off. In the third Quarter ending sept. 30, before the global Economy worsened there were 829,000 smartphones shipped in Canada Perrella said. Compared with the same Quarter in 2007, the smartphone Market grew 130 per cent he added. Its staggering growth. It is taking off As a category. Globally smartphone sales reached 36.5 million in the third Quarter an 11.5 per cent increase from the same period in 2007, said u. S. Based technology research firm Gartner inc. Nokia rim and Apple were the top three in Sellers in the Quarter. But the slumping Economy could Dampen sales As Consumers worry about losing their jobs and paying off debt and Cope with increased uncertainty about How Long the recession will last. Going Forward we should expect the smartphone device Market to continue to grow but at a slower Pace Gartner said. Analyst Carmi Levy said it will be tougher for rim to catch up with Apple with Apps because the iphone has the hearts and minds of the consumer Market right now. The Canadian press people corp. To merge with group works financial corp. By Larry Kusch tories to Sprinkle bit of Hope. Tax cuts part of new stimulus package. Consumers More pessimistic by Julian Beltrame youve got Apps a youve got heart of cellular users smartphone manufacturers vying for buyers with software applications by Luann Lasalle people Are basically tightening their belts As a Way of being careful but its not a situation where they Are not sleeping at night Jeff Walker of Harris Decima you re next computer is our smartphone As they become More and More powerful and Able to do More id Canada analyst Marc Perrella rajnish Kakade / the associated press Jim Balsillie launching the Blackberry bold in Mumbai India in september says Apps Are changing the wireless Industry. John Woods / Winnipeg free press archives Laurie Goldberg will be new ceo. A 04_ Jan 03 09. Ind b4 1/ 2/ 09 8 58 36 pm ;