Friday, January 15, 2010 4:32 PM How to cut your car insurance costs Chaya Cooperberg I recently wrote about trying to tighten my family’s budget in 2010 and finding an opportunity to reduce our car insurance fees. We were able to save several hundreds of dollars a year simply by showing our provider competing quotes and asking for a reduction after some driving infractions came off of our record. Car insurance is one of those household costs that many people consider to be fixed and may overlook when fine-tuning a budget

F orecasts for warmer weather, a stronger dollar and further signs the U.S. consumer is still hurting sent oil prices lower for the fifth straight day.

Q uebec seems to be the province winning the race to make the most out of the global resource revival. In particular, last year the provincial government gave the green light to Osisko Mining’s Malartic gold project. The latest Quebec miner to catch our eye is Strateco Resources Inc.

S hawCor Ltd. SCL.A-T declined from about $37 to $14 in 2008 (A-B), settled into a large trading range between $14 and $19, then settled into another range between $19 and $23 (see dashed lines).

As a Key Component in New Technologies, Palladium Demand May Expand Jan 15, 2010 George Daleiden The lustrous white metal palladium is playing a pivotal role in the advance of promising new technologies. Compared to its primary “competitor” and chemical cousin platinum , palladium is cheaper and more abundant. Palladium is prized for jewelry and is in high demand for use in auto catalytic converters

C opper prices HG-FT trickled to a weaker finish on Friday, under pressure from a firmer U.S. dollar and incessant inventory builds in exchange-monitored warehouses that fanned concerns about near-term demand prospects. Benchmark copper for March delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division shed 2.15 cents (U.S.) to close at $3.3660 a pound, near the bottom of its $3.3480 to $3.4260 session range

James McHale, former associated general counsel for E*Trade Brokerage Services Inc., has joined the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association as managing director and associate general counsel. Mr. McHale will focus on regulatory advocacy and will be the staff adviser to SIFMA’s Self-Regulatory and Supervisory Practices Committee.