H igher gasoline prices pushed Canada’s annual inflation rate to 1.3 per cent in December, the fastest pace since February of 2009 but below what economists expected and well within the Bank of Canada’s comfort zone. On a month-to-month basis, consumer prices fell 0.3 per cent from November, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. The core annual inflation rate, which excludes volatile goods such as gasoline, and which the Bank of Canada uses as a guide in monetary policy, was 1.5 per cent in December

B ank of New York Mellon BK-N says its fourth-quarter profit surged as asset and wealth management revenue offset lower interest income. Profit rose to $593-million (U.S.), or 49 cents per share, from $28-million, or 2 cents per share.

B ank of America Corp. BAC-N said Wednesday it lost $5.2-billion during the final three months of 2009 as consumers struggled to make their mortgage and credit card payments.

T he investment industry is slowly coming around to the notion that fees matter. Investors should always keep an eye on costs – just not to the point where it drives investment decisions. Whether you pay mutual fund management expense ratios (MERs), a wrap account fee or some other annual fee, here are three tips to help you keep the importance of fees in perspective

C hina punished some banks, including Bank of China, for lending too much, after a surge in new loans this year increased inflationary pressures, sources said on Wednesday citing central bank figures. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) had also told other lenders, including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, CITIC Bank and China Everbright Bank to increase their reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage point.

T he head of sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp (CIC) said capital flows into emerging markets were adding pressure on governments but said it was still keen to invest more in Asia and Latin America. “At present, global liquidity is a little bit excessive,” CIC chairman Lou Jiwei said at the Asia Financial Forum in Hong Kong on Wednesday. “Short-term and frequent capital flows into emerging markets (have) brought big pressure on governments to manage capital.” But Mr

B ehind closed doors, Google Inc. GOOG-Q and Beijing are starting to talk.