Movies

So, where’s the Recession?  Not in the seats at your local movie house, apparently.

According to the latest stats, the movie industry is looking forward to a record gross of more than ten point six billion dollars from ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada through 2009. That would be about three hundred million dollars more than the previous record set in 2007.  

Driving this revenue are films like Avatar, Sherlock Holmes and It’s Complicated coming out for the Christmas season.  The big hits for the year so far have included just released Transformers and Revenge of the Fallen which alone had a bit over four hundred million in domestic ticket sales. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Twilight Saga: New Moon and the surpise hits Paranormal Activity, The Hangover and The Blind Side.

Credit

Despite a slackening in consumer confidence in the past few months, the Bank of Canada signals it is depending on consumers to keep the economy going while international demand for Canada’s exports recovers. The central bank says it is holding its borrowing rate at a quarter of one per cent. Ordinary banks, of course, hike that rate up but it is still low for mortgages, car loans and other borrowing by consumers. The decision to hold down the rate will fuel the already hot real estate market as more people take on bigger mortgages at low interest rates. Of course, when the rate goes up, the price of homes being bought today will plummet and short term market rates will rise, catching some mortgagees by surprise and shock.

Cars

Toyota is implementing the biggest recall in its history in the U.S. and Canada. The recall is due to stuck gas pedals; Toyota is to replace or reconfigure gas pedals and make other changes to prevent sudden acceleration and possible injuries or fatalities in its 2007-10 Toyota Camry, the 2004-09 Toyota Prius, the 2005-10 Toyota Avalon, the 2005-10 Tacoma, the 2007-10 Toyota Tundra, the 2007-10 Lexus ES 350 and the 2006-10 Lexus IS 250 and IS 350.

Toyota Motor Corp. will fix accelerator pedals in 209,000 vehicles in Canada. Toyota is also considering changing the shape of the surface under the accelerator in the ES350, Camry and Avalon models to increase space between the pedal and floor and is installing a brake override system on the Avalon, Camry and Lexus ES 350, IS 350 and IS 250 models.

Toyota has been sending letters to all owners of affected models.

Oven

 Four reports of carbon monoxide being released from the oven have prompted the recall in the U.S. of about 900 Canadian-made Electrolux gas stoves.  A faulty part is blamed. Consumers should not use the range's oven and contact Electrolux for the Electrolux ICON or Sears for the Kenmore PRO to schedule a free repair. Cooktop burners, broiler and clock and/or timer functions can still be used.

 Cribs

 Stork Craft, the B.C. manufacturer that voluntarily recalled 2.1 million cribs across North America, faces a six province class action lawsuit headed by the law firm that won million from Maple Leaf Foods as a result of listeriosis illnesses suffered by consumers of meat. The Stork Craft suit extends to Fisher-Price, Sears Canada, Wal-Mart and Toys R Us in Quebec. Stork Craft has promised to provide replacement metal brackets for the plastic ones it says are causing a faulty drop-side in its cribs, which has led to deaths, falls and entrapment. Parents have already been named in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, and the suit may spread to the Atlantic Provinces.

Technology

 Microsoft and Yahoo! are joining technologies to take on Google in the search and search advertising market in Australia and Canada may be next.  Microsoft's Bing search engine will power Yahoo's search site, and Yahoo will sell premium search advertising services for both companies. The technology swap requires government approvals.

TV

Over the next two weeks (from November 15), The Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) will hear from reps of television broadcasters and cable companies as the two sides launch broadsides at each other to grab more money out of consumers’ pockets.

They are talking about fee-for-carriage, who gets money paid now to the cable companies for TV signals. The cable operators keep about 0 million in fees and the broadcasters like fat-faced CTV, deeply in hock Canwest Global Communications Corp. and the publicly-supported CBC, want that money to go to them. If the broadcasters win, of course the viewer will lose by being charged from two dollars to ten bucks extra a month on their cable bills. If the broadcasters lose, they may take it out on viewers anyway by cutting the quality of shows.

Both sides have run barrages of ads slamming each other. The Local TV Matters campaign is likely the most memorable with its threat that local news and other stuff may be badly hurt unless the broadcasters get their money.

Independent observers say the fight is more about greed and desperation than about what we see on the boob tube. They cast doubt on the complaints of both sides. Meanwhile the warring sides continue to make the case for more video on the Internet.