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Hello Everyone,

 We want to begin by thanking all of you for your Hamilton Spectator Readers' Choice votes. Thanks to you we have maintained our exclusive award winning status!! There is no better compliment and we appreciate your efforts.

 Now for more good news...

 As we suspected, the Bank of Canada held its overnight rate at 0.25% last Tuesday.  This is great news for variable rate mortgages!  More importantly, the Bank of Canada also reiterated its commitment to hold the overnight rate at this lower level until the end of the second quarter of 2010. This poured cold water on any speculation that our rates might follow the footsteps of Australia that hiked its rates just last month.

 Although there have been some positive developments in the economy, they have not been enough to offset the negative developments, mainly in the form of the higher dollar which looks to be set to reach parity with the US dollar by year-end.  The direct impact of a higher Canadian dollar is felt through lower import prices which dampens inflation. It also means that our export recovery will be muted. Without inflation and with a slowed recovery interest rates won't move up.

 The bottom line....we think that the Bank of Canada will take a bit longer and wait until the end of 2010 before increasing the overnight rate. This means that we maintain our recommendation that those of you that are at Prime and below stay the course. We think we'll be able to ride this train into the second half of 2010 at least.

NOTE:  Those of you who are Prime + .80% or Prime +1% please give us a call. We need to talk to you about some adjustments that we can make to your mortgage to lower your rates and save you money. Prime plus .60% is still a savings but not as great. 

Happy

Halloween! Suzanne- Julie and Michelle

Suzanne Boyce

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Dear Clients, 

Thanks so much for your votes on the Spec Reader's Choice this year.  We will find out early next week and let you know how we made out. 

 I am excited to welcome Julie Shea as a new member of our team.  Julie is working towards her broker's license and will be a brilliant asset to The Personal Mortgage Group.  She comes to us from GIC Financial Services where she was a partner for over 15 years. In that time Julie has accumulated a wealth of knowledge in financial planning and investing which is invaluable when designing a mortgage solution. Julie also holds her life insurance licence so we will now be able to offer you insurance policies that not only fit your mortgage, but your overall insurance needs.

 As you know The Personal Mortgage Group's policy is to work to reduce the debt you need and balance that out with proper strategies in wealth, income tax and insurance management.  Julie is bringing in house this knowledge base which is a perfect complement to the services that we have been providing for over 18 years. We are very excited about this new direction and look forward to having even more levels of service to provide great financial solutions.

Julie Shea, BA, M.H.A

Julie was born and raised in Hamilton's Southwest.

After obtaining a BA Honours Political Science at the University of Waterloo

 she completed a Masters of Health Administration at the University of Ottawa.

Immediately following her time in Ottawa Julie decided to start a family and began working in the family business at GIC Financial Services

She later purchased the business with her partners where she served over 400 clients over a period of 15 years.

Julie is married to Mike Samson and they live in the neighbourhood with their two daughters Maggie and Rachel.

Julie is a passionate supporter of Hamilton, the TiCats and the Arts, and when she is not involving herself in her children's sports & music,

she is an active board member of The Print Studio and The Hamilton Music Collective.