B ank of Nova Scotia BNS-T has bought an additional 13.2-per-cent stake in Xi’an City Commercial Bank, and is in the midst of trying to boost its ownership level in the Chinese lender to the maximum possible level. As a foreign bank, Scotiabank must keep its interest in Xi’an City Commercial Bank to 20 per cent or less, according to Chinese regulations. With its latest purchase, its stake is now 14.8 per cent, and it has also signed agreements that – once approved by regulators – will ratchet that up to 18.1 per cent

Stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street Wednesday as a stronger dollar tugged on commodities prices. A stronger dollar makes commodities more expensive for foreign buyers and can hurt the profits of companies that do business overseas. Bond prices were little changed ahead of the government’s final debt auction of the year.

I t was not the talk Dr. Michael Ossi planned to give when he was summoned to Washington in the fall of 2003 to brief health officials on Capitol Hill.

F or the battered retail sector, Christmas arrived after all. Holiday sales have outperformed expectations, according to early reports, defying concerns that high unemployment and stagnant wages would cause consumers to keep their wallets shut tight this season.

E ric Bushell recently won the coveted Morningstar Equity Fund Manager of the Year award, but admits his foray into money management was “like most things – an accident.” After graduating with a history degree from Queen’s University and facing a “brutal job market,” he earned a Charter Financial Analyst designation, which helped open the door to a job in the fund industry. He did everything from “stuffing envelopes” to later running a dividend fund at BPI Financial before that small fund company was bought by CI Financial Corp. in 1999

G eneral Motors has dropped a Dec. 31 deadline for bids for its Swedish car brand Saab, which will restart some production lines in January after a shutdown, Saab said on Wednesday. GM had given itself to the end of this month to consider bids for loss-making Saab while continuing a process to wind down the company, which has drawn interest from Dutch luxury car maker Spyker Cars and others.

I t was not the talk Dr. Michael Ossi planned to give when he was summoned to Washington in the fall of 2003 to brief health officials on Capitol Hill.