This & That: Bank Earnings, Home Insurance and more…

1. Canadian Banks have just wrapped up their earnings season and it turned out to be a blowout quarter. TD Bank and Scotia Bank raised their dividends. The always dependable Canadian Banks & Insurance posted a review of the Bank’s Q1 2011 Earnings. Check out the blog for a detailed analysis of the individual names.
2. Rob Carrick found his home insurance premiums hiked by 30 per cent and got totally ticked. He shopped around and found a cheaper provider and encourages others to do so as well.
3. The Bank of Canada currently targets an inflation rate of 2 per cent. The Bank is currently in discussions with Department of Finance on whether it should be lowering its target inflation rate. Canadian Financial DIY weighs in with his thoughts on this issue.
4. You often hear that women earn less than men for the same work. Michael James doesn’t buy the usual explanation that sexism is responsible for the wage gap.
5. Larry MacDonald wonders why so much subsidies go to cultivating corn to fill up our cars instead of filling up our bellies.
6. Constructing a portfolio that precisely tracks an index isn’t as simple as it sounds. Preet Banerjee explains why some index funds could choose to hold ADRs or GDRs in lieu of the underlying stock.
7. In a Canadian Money Saver article, Canadian Couch Potato explores whether rebalancing boosts portfolio returns.
8. The Blunt Bean Counter offered his top tax tips in a guest post on The Retire Happy Blog.
9. Money Smarts Blog wrote about the different types of Canadian financial advisors and the pros and cons of each.
10. Million Dollar Journey on whether to DIY or hire someone to paint a room.
11. In the spirit of Lent, Canadian Financial Stuff is challenging readers to remove a bad financial habit and add something to improve financially.
12. With spring around the corner (I hope so; I’m tired of shoveling already even though we didn’t have the kind of winter in Ottawa that many in the US are having) Boomer and Echo shared some of their best home selling tips.
13. My Own Advisor posted his favourite takeaways from The Single Best Investment.

That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend everyone!