The shifting crystal ball predictions for retail sales this holiday season turned more buoyant with the release of two reports predicting consumers will spend more on this year's Christmas gifts than they did last year.

The majority of Canadians set a budget for their holiday spending, but only one in five stick to it, a recent survey by TD Canada Trust reveals.

Sales at U.S. retailers rose more than forecast in November, a sign consumer spending is gathering speed heading into 2010.

Canada's October GDP is due Wednesday, and CIBC forecasts it will be just as strong as September's.

A stronger currency has made it cheaper for the six Canadian teams to pay their players in United States dollars and to reduce debts. It has also inflated the revenue of the six Canadian franchises and, in turn, the league’s revenue.

Canadian investor Arthur Wong is buying condos in Las Vegas and Phoenix like a shopper at Costco: In bulk, with slashed prices. Wong, president of Optimus U.S. Real Estate Fund, has bought 60 condos at heavy discounts from developers in financial trouble.

U.S. franchise corporations have always eyed Canada for expansion – its geographic proximity and similar language and culture make it a natural fit – but going north of the border wasn't always a top priority.

According to the North American Automobile Trade Association, Canadians imported more than 100,000 vehicles from the U.S. annually for the fourth straight year.

The province of Ontario is investing almost $3.8 million to help Toronto-based Vive Nano, an award-winning company that has developed an environmentally-friendly process for creating products and materials using nanotechnology. The investment will help the company build a pilot plant, refine its processes and come to full production levels.

Housing markets in the United States and Canada are similar in many respects, but each has fared quite differently since the onset of the financial crisis. A comparison of the two markets suggests that relaxed lending standards likely played a critical role in the U.S. housing bust.

United States trade with Canada averages $1.5 billion per day, more than U.S. trade with the entire European Union. A new report by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments highlights the importance of this trading relationship and, specifically, the use of the Detroit-Windsor border crossings as key assets in the movement of goods, access to labor, and as a gateway to the rest of the United States.

America's situation today resembles Canada's in 1992-93: a horrific recession, terrifying indebtedness, and gathering doubts about the country's future. Fifteen years ago, Canadian authorities made a crucial decision: They allowed the currency to depreciate.

In 2008, the state of Indiana and Canada continued their mutually beneficial trading relationship. Canada remains Indiana's largest export market, with exports of $10.1 billion. Bilateral trade exceeded $16.2 billion.