CA-BUSINESS Summary

TSX drops on weak resource shares, BlackBerry doubts

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell for the first time in four sessions on Thursday as energy and mining stocks were hurt by declining prices and weak investor sentiment, while BlackBerry plunged on doubts about the company's recovery plan. BlackBerry ended the session down 7.4 percent at C$13.82, making it easily the weakest performer on the S&P/TSX composite index <.gpstse> as analysts called into question whether the company's new BlackBerry 10 smartphones can return it to long-term profitability.

Canada retaliation on U.S. labels may go beyond beef, pork

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Canadian retaliation against the United States for its country- of-origin meat-labeling rules may target more products than U.S. beef and pork, Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said on Thursday. The U.S. meat-labeling rules have led to a sharp reduction in U.S. imports of Canadian and Mexican livestock, and the World Trade Organization (WTO) has ordered the United States to make changes to the rules by May 23.

RBC CEO apologizes for controversy over outsourcing

TORONTO (Reuters) - The head of Royal Bank of Canada apologized to employees on Thursday in a move to quell a media firestorm over the bank's plan to outsource jobs, and to assure Canadians that the nation's largest bank complies with labor regulations. "I want to apologize to the employees affected by this outsourcing arrangement as we should have been more sensitive and helpful to them," RBC Chief Executive Gord Nixon said in an "Open Letter to Canadians" on Thursday.

Wall Street analysts discuss paradigm shift: breaking up banks

(Reuters) - At least three Wall Street analysts this week have written reports about the possibility of the biggest banks breaking themselves up to boost profitability, signaling that investors may be more willing to embrace an idea that is still toxic to some lawmakers in Washington. New regulations in areas like capital requirements are imposing higher costs on the biggest investment banks, raising doubts about their future profitability. These questions make the biggest global investment banks "un-investable," wrote analyst Kian Abouhossein, who himself works at JPMorgan, one of the biggest global investment banks.

Harper says trend still positive for domestic economy

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's economic performance remains generally positive, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Thursday, despite some bad economic data and downgrades to economic forecasts for 2013. "We can expect we're going to have good months and bad months in terms of numbers. The trend lines remain generally positive," Harper told reporters in Calgary.

Analysis: Insider trading probe impact on KPMG expected to be short-lived

(Reuters) - KPMG will suffer some financial and reputational damage from insider trading charges filed against a former senior audit partner, but significant legal liability for the firm was unlikely, said audit industry experts on Thursday. The global accounting giant fired Scott London, a long-time Los Angeles audit partner, after learning he shared privileged information on audit clients with a golf partner, Bryan Shaw.

Qatar Airways hopes its Dreamliners fly again in April

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said he hopes that all five of the airline's Boeing 787s will be back in service by the end of April, as confidence grows in the industry that regulators may be close to declaring the jet safe. Speaking at the launch of Qatar's service to Chicago, Al Baker also said he thinks Boeing's fix for the battery system that overheated on two planes in January will work. He said if it were not the right solution, the Federal Aviation Administration would not have approved the testing plan for it. Boeing completed testing on April 5.

Canada's Astral, Corus profits, shares take divergent paths

TORONTO (Reuters) - Two of Canada's biggest independent media companies handed in very different earnings report cards on Thursday, with profits at Corus Entertainment Inc plunging 81 percent while rival Astral Media Inc reported a 9 percent jump in earnings. Shares of Corus plunged 5 percent, while shares of Astral were little changed.

CIBC to buy wealth firm from Invesco for $210 million

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce said it will buy Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management from money manager Invesco Ltd for $210 million to bulk up its U.S. money management business. The all-cash deal announced on Thursday will add about $20 billion in assets and would be accretive to earnings in fiscal 2014, Canada's No. 5 bank said.

Martha Stewart loses bid to dismiss Macy's contract claim

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Martha Stewart's company lost a bid on Thursday to dismiss Macy's Inc's claim that it violated their contract when it designed certain products for J.C. Penney Co Inc , even if the products do not carry the Martha Stewart brand. New York State Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Oing's ruling may affect whether J.C. Penney can sell Martha Stewart-designed home goods in bedding, bath and cookware under a "JCP Everyday" label.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-business-summary-003146398--finance.html

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