https://twitter.com/DavidRayAmos/with_replies



David Raymond Amos‏ @DavidRayAmos

Replying to @DavidRayAmos @Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

Methinks Trump and Trudeau know I have a plan that refers back to an old file of mine having to do with banksters and the Taxman north and south of the 49th N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2018/11/liberals-deepen-federal-deficit-in.html

 #nbpoli #cdnpoli


https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bill-morneau-fall-economic-statement-fiscal-update-1.4913219

Liberals deepen federal deficit in response to Trump tax cuts

3119 Comments 
Commenting is now closed for this story.

  



George Pearson

"Today's fiscal update is not expected to offer a target date for eliminating the deficit."

SHOCKING!

Trudeau has NO PLAN.

Richard Sharp

@George Pearson

Canada is among the leaders in the G7 in terms of economic growth, and is enjoying record low unemployment too. Our trade balance, dollar and inflation rate are steady. We have labour peace, except for the posties.

And the federal debt to GDP ratio is declining. That's the plan.

Bill Hill

@Richard Sharp

This is all wonderful, except nobody wants to do business with Canada. But it is sunny ways and budgets do balance themselves...or do they?

John Sterling 68

@Richard Sharp
Add in provincial debt, unfunded pension liabilities and some of the highest tax rates on the planet and you will get a very different picture. Your narrative is built on misrepresenting information and is intending to deceive the public. Have the guts to be honest

Jack O Hill

@James Rielly

"So how would you balance the budget.Cancel corporate tax cuts,raise general taxes or cut services? Come on mr smarty pants cough it up.

Eliminate at least 1 entire level of management, possibly 2; in every department.

Increase GST back to 7%.

Do a thorough analysis of the "work" being done in each department, and eliminate the "make-work" projects, plus the staff that were doing them.

Mike Trahan

@Richard Sharp All those things would be good, if they had not been presented by a liberal government. Pretty sure that was the main point in Pierre Poilievre's address to the HOC

Troy Mann

@George Pearson

The fiscal update is a plan
Is Sheer saying we shouldn't help business is the world where Trump dropped taxes below market value? You have all been complaining about corporate taxes being to high and we spent competitive to Trumo well folks Trump has a trillion dollar deficit so compare and be happy Harper isn't in charge or we would be in a depression.

Tim Klassen

@Troy Mann

" dropping taxes below market value".

What a joke that comment is. As if tax rates were a tradable commodity.

Stefania Ruffalo 

@Jack O Hill

In the spirit of stories written today about journalists, unions and the NDP:

Edward Finn, Jr. Canadian trade unionist, journalist, editor, author and former leader of the Newfoundland Democratic Party in his review of the book 'Bypassing Dystopia’ could free Canada from the clutches of neoliberalism':

"In 1974...the Bank for International Settlements, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and a variety of corporate think-tanks persuaded most countries, including Canada, to stop their central banks from making interest-free loans... Since then, the neoliberal economic agenda has created environmental destruction and massive wealth inequality across the planet. Canada’s federal debt has skyrocketed and we have paid about $1.5 trillion in interest to the private banks."

Stefania Ruffalo @Jack O Hill

Further:

"For the past seven years, the Toronto-based Committee on Monetary and Economic Reform (COMER) has been pursuing a lawsuit against the federal government’s refusal to reactivate the Bank of Canada’s original mandate of funding public projects. In May of 2017, however, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear COMER’s lawsuit. The Court never gives a reason for refusing a case, but the government’s lawyers contended that the Bank of Canada issue is “not for the courts, but for the electorate” to decide.

...Last year, while Trudeau was speaking to a town hall meeting in Peterborough, Ont., on the country’s economic problems, COMER’s Herb Wiseman shouted out: “Use your central bank!” To which Trudeau promptly responded: “That doesn’t work.” It was a stunning remark, blithely ignoring and denying 35 years of Canadian history."

Remarkable book, the rest of his review at Ed Finn .ca, March 26, 2018

David Amos

@George Pearson " SHOCKING! Trudeau has NO PLAN."

Surprise Surprise Surprise

David Amos

@George Pearson Methinks Trump and Trudeau know I have a plan that refers back to an old file of mine having to do with banksters and the Taxman north and south of the 49th N'esy Pas?

https://www.scribd.com/doc/2718120/integrity-yea-right

Sandy Gillis

@Stephen Metcalfe
My goodness man, the myth of trickle down economics has been proven to be nothing but a con job for decades, yet here you are still parroting away. Corporations and their wealthy majority shareholders do NOT spread the wealth. They take tax cuts and go stash more and more into offshore bank accounts. They hire people when they can make money by doing it, not because of some great benevolence.

David Raymond Amos‏ @DavidRayAmos

Replying to @DavidRayAmos @Kathryn98967631 and 49 others

Methinks I will call my comments in CBC ROUND 2 and let it go at that for now because no doubt there will more bad news to follow N'esy Pas?

https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2018/11/liberals-deepen-federal-deficit-in.html

 #nbpoli #cdnpoli


https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/morneau-fall-economic-update-1.4915628

The economy is running hot. So why is Morneau still stepping on the gas?

2868 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.

Tim Stevens

If you cannot balance the budget during good economic times then how are we supposed to believe you can do it when things aren't so good. Using our money to buy vote so you can stay in power. It makes me ill.

Richard Sharp

@Tim Stevens

In Economics 101 in first year university, one learns about something called a debt to GDP ratio. The GDP is a measure of a country's entire output, which government get to tax and spend for the good of its citizens and other causes (one hopes). If the government is taking less out of an economy as a percentage, other sectors (consumers, businesses, charities) get more, both absolutely and as a percentage too. That is the situation right now in Canada.

Jamie Gillis

@Richard Sharp

But the government has only so much control over the factors that go into determining the debt-to-GDP ratio. It ultimately decides how much money it piles onto the country's debt by running a deficit (or pays down by running a surplus), but it doesn't directly control how much the economy grows or what interest rates are. Taken in isolation, it doesn't tell the whole story. The Liberals have a hot US economy to thank, for the moment. That's the gamble.

Anthony Kennedy

@Richard Sharp

Too bad you didn't get past economics for beginners. We are at the 12th hour of the business cycle with a recession and higher interest rates looming. That means GDP declines and interest on debt goes up which kills the debt to GDP ratio.

Jim Clark

@Richard Sharp and in elementary school,they teach you if you borrow something you have to give it back.Thats the situation in Canada right now.

Jay Schuster

@Richard Sharp
the situation right now is we are going bankrupt as a country, as an accountant I know how numbers can be manipulated as they are now as are economy is not good.

Michael Murphy

@Richard Sharp Sorry Richard, as I'm sure you already know, debt/GDP only works when Conservatives are in power

When Liberals are in power, it's total debt

Richard Sharp

@Jim Clark This from a GOC website. Such a stark difference!

Highly skilled, inclusive, diverse, mobile labour force
Most educated talent pool in the Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development (OECD)—over 55 per cent of the population aged 25-64 has a post-secondary degree
Best availability of skilled labour in the G20 (International Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Center)
Highest workforce-ready immigration inflows in the G7
Budget 2018: plan to increase labour force participation of women, new Canadians and Indigenous Peoples
World-class science, research and innovation ecosystem
Leading the G20 in research and development (R&D) spending in higher education as a share of GDP (OECD)
One of the best R&D tax incentives in the G7
Budget 2018: largest investment in fundamental research ($3 billion) in Canadian history
Rich and diverse natural environment and resources
Exceptional endowment of energy and mineral resources
Responsible and predictable climate change policies
New, more predictable environmental assessment process
Budget 2018: $1.3 billion in investment to protect Canada’s nature legacy
Sound regulatory, financial and trade frameworks
Easiest place to start a business in the G20 (World Bank)
Network of free trade agreements covering over half of global economic activity
Promotion of investment and attraction of leading global firms through the new Invest in Canada Hub
One of the world’s soundest banking systems—ranked first in the G7 (World Economic Forum)
Strong, stable and predictable public institutions
Growth-enhancing, responsible fiscal policy
Lowest net public debt as a share of GDP in the G7
Successful inflation-targeting regime

Richard Sharp

@Michael Murphy

Yeah, I do know. And that goes for the corporate media too, which is oh so corporate in reporting. As in anti-government, a go to policy of the CBC too, although it gave Harper a relative free ride.

Bob Evans

@Richard Sharp In Economics 101 first year university you also learn something about governmental requirements for revenue from various sources, natural resources being one. Like from an oil pipeline that gets oil to market. If it's been built that is

Tim Stevens

@Richard Sharp Richard if it's so good then maybe you can explain why I have less money in my pocket?

David Amos

@Richard Sharp "In Economics 101 in first year university, one learns about something called a debt"

Methinks long before I went to university and studied Economics 101 for a bit and shook my head at the nonsense and argued the teachers I was paying I knew about something called debt from my first private contract with a business at 12 years old. I was a paperboy.

Today the newspapers are fast going the way of the Dodo Bird but I still read the news and obviously make comments about the nonsense of it all just like did with the mindless teachers nearly 50 years ago who tried to teach kids about money because they did not know how to make it on their own just like law professors N'esy Pas?

To further your economic education did ya notice something else in the news while Morneau was feeding us a load of BS yesterday?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/markets-drop-1.4912854

David Amos

@Richard Sharp "Yeah, I do know. And that goes for the corporate media too, which is oh so corporate in reporting. As in anti-government, a go to policy of the CBC too, although it gave Harper a relative free ride."

Yeah I bet you know it all too well Need I remind you of an old file of mine I emailed you after we spoke on the phone having to do with banksters and the Taxman north and south of the 49th?

David Amos

@Richard Sharp Methinks this should ring some bells for you N'esy Pas?

https://www.scribd.com/doc/2718120/integrity-yea-right

Tony Hill

@Richard Sharp

Re: " If the government is taking less out of an economy as a percentage,"

The government is NOT taking less out of an economy though. Straight from the Fall Economic Statement in Table A1.4 they note that budgetary revenues are expected to be 14.8% of GDP this year, little changed from the 14.7% last year and with essentially no change expected through to the 2022/23 fiscal year.

While this is down from where it was throughout the 1980's and 1990's it is up from where it was during the previous government.

Program expenditures are expected to drop slightly as a proportion of GDP, from 14.5% last year down to 13.8% in 2022/23, but that is still above the 13.0% from a few years ago and well above the low-water mark of 11.8% back in 1999/2000.

Public debt charges, which have fallen as a proportion of GDP for nearly 3 decades straight are expected to start rising again.

Ohh, and all of this is based on an assumption that the current global economic 'boom' period, already the longest ever in modern history, will continue for another 5 years.

John Grosso

@Richard Sharp Why do you even post? nobody ever shares your opinion.

Aaron Morris

@John Grosso

People should be welcomed to share their opinion, no matter how wrong and misguided they are. The last thing we want is for Richard to withdraw into a world of like-minded extremists where their insane thoughts will only continue to incubate further.

Oliver Watler

@Richard Sharp
This is the time to run surpluses not debt. Just because other people are deficit financing does not justify us doing the same. By the way, our provinces are overrun with debt. The overall debt/GDP of Canada, including the federal and provincial debts, is close to that of the USA. So things are not pretty here.

Troy Mann

@Tony Hill

Until Harper arrived we were running 16 billion dollar surpluses which Harper blew before the recession.

Liberals now are forcing companies to expand or invest to receive a tax credit, which will help in the next recession as those who invested prior to will stay the course keeping many employed.

The conservative approach of cutting corporate taxes is a give away of money with no return in the future.

Matt Thuaii

@John Grosso

I guess that depends on what you mean by “nobody”. If you count the tens of thousands of AstroTurf accounts, bots, trolls, and foreign actors masquerading as Canadians, then yes, the percentage who agree with him is likely pretty low.

If however you only count the 11 or 12 actual Canadians who still come here regularly to discuss issues and fight the daily tsunami of misinformation, he probably gets a nod from 5-6 of us on any given story, which I’d call respectable.

David Amos

@Richard Sharp "Yeah, I do know. And that goes for the corporate media too, which is oh so corporate in reporting. "

Methinks the corporate media you lament about must have your tongue because not once have you ever replied to me after we spoke over the phone N'esy Pas?

Matt Thuaii

@David Amos

Alright look...I’m all for whitty, sharp-tounged back and forths during a meeting of the minds...and I honestly feel you’re trying to fight the good fight (whatever that means), but conversations don’t count if one of the participants was talking into a potato.

Bon sour.

David Amos

@Matt Thuaii Methinks I should thank you for being honest about your blatantly obvious ignorance N'esy Pas?

 
Eric Biallas

The Liberal supporters are in full force today. Defending train wreck spending!

Travis Ladwin

@Eric Biallas

Oh yeah full force with 20 something odd posts on the article *sarcastic eye roll*.

James Fitzgibbon

@Eric Biallas

Says the Trump supporter, whose policies are directly responsible for this move.

Troy Mann

@Eric Biallas

Yawn
Nothing but bumper sticker slogans and no substance.

David Amos

@Eric Biallas YUP

David Amos

@Troy Mann "Nothing but bumper sticker slogans and no substance."

Methinks you should review my replies to your buddy Mr Sharp N'esy Pas?

Liberals deepen federal deficit in response to Trump tax cuts

New business tax write-offs are intended to help Canadian businesses compete with U.S. rivals

Kathleen Harris · CBC News · Posted: Nov 21, 2018 11:55 AM ET

Finance Minister Bill Morneau, centre, presented his fiscal update Wednesday, outlining new budgetary measures in his fall economic statement. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)


The Liberal government is spending billions to help corporate Canada compete with the U.S. and to prop up struggling news organizations — showing a willingness to go deeper into deficit with no timeline for returning to a balanced budget.

In his fall fiscal update, delivered this afternoon, Finance Minister Bill Morneau touted Canada's strong economic performance but warned that global uncertainty, unpredictable oil prices, lingering trade disputes and deep tax cuts brought in by U.S. President Donald Trump are all posing serious challenges.

The Fall Economic Statement delivers $17.6 billion in new spending over six years — about $16.5 billion of it in foregone revenue to boost Canadian business productivity.

We're deficit-financing the corporate sector.- Former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page

Those measures include a new tax write-off scheme allowing manufacturers to immediately recoup the full cost of machinery and equipment, as well an immediate write-off for clean energy equipment.

There's also a new accelerated capital cost allowance to encourage businesses of all sizes in all sectors to invest in assets that can drive long-term growth by allowing them to deduct the costs of those investments sooner.



"We could have ignored the concerns of business leaders, decided not to make the investments and the changes that are part of the Fall Economic Statement, and we would have had a lower deficit as a result," Morneau said.

"To do so would be neither a national response nor a responsible one."

No balanced budget in sight

The Liberals, who promised during the 2015 election campaign to cap deficits at $10 billion and balance the books by 2019, are now forecasting a $19 billion shortfall this fiscal year.

That deficit is projected to decrease to about $12 billion by 2022-23. Without the new spending, that deficit figure could have dropped to less than $5 billion.

• Fall economic statement sets target of 50 per cent export growth by 2025

• Highlights of Bill Morneau's 2018 fiscal update

• Scheer urges Liberals to set date for balanced budget

The Opposition Conservatives have been pressing the government to provide a timeline for eliminating the deficit, but this update provides no such target.

Kevin Page, president of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa and a former federal parliamentary budget officer, said many might question whether it's fiscally responsible for the government to respond to the Trump administration's stimulus efforts with deficit financing. Washington has slashed corporate tax rates from 35 per cent to 21 per cent.
"We're deficit-financing the corporate sector," Page said.

The fiscal update also invests $595 million over five years to help non-profit and for-profit news organizations through new charitable tax incentives and refundable and non-refundable tax credits.

Morneau said the investments are meant to protect the "vital role" that independent news media play in Canadian democracy.

Conservative finance critic Pierre Polievre took aim at the government's decision to carry long-term deficits.

"Not only did they break their promise, not only will they fail to balance the budget, as they said, but they now admit that under their plan the budget will never be balanced," he said.

"There is no time period into the future where they are even committing to a situation where the debt stops growing."

Media supports 'very dangerous'

As for the government's plan to bolster news media outlets, Polievre said public tax dollars should not be used in an election year to set up a panel who will determine "which media survive and which don't."

"We think the media should be independent from the government," he said. "We should not have a situation where the government picks a panel who then gets to decide who reports the news. That's very dangerous."

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also stressed the importance of preserving media independence, but said government support is "absolutely important" to the goal of maintaining robust journalism.

"The approach of providing supports is something necessary," he said, adding the government could help by spending advertising dollars in local newspapers instead of on giants like Google and Facebook.

• Morneau's update bolsters struggling media with $600M in tax measures

• Read the full 2018 Fall Economic Statement (PDF)

 

Avalanche safety, protecting fish stocks

On the announcement of business tax breaks, Singh said the government should have delivered targeted, specific measures aimed at creating and protecting jobs rather than a "blanket approach" that will only benefit corporations.

Other new spending initiatives in the fiscal update include:

• $25 million for a one-time endowment to Avalanche Canada to develop a national program to research and promote avalanche safety. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was an advocate for avalanche safety before he became Liberal leader. His brother Michel died in an avalanche in British Columbia in 1998.
• $107 million over five years to promote sustainable salmon and other fish stocks.
• $63 million to improve the Nutrition North program.

The federal debt, projected to hit $688 billion this fiscal year, is expected to climb to $765 billion by 2023-2024. By that time, the annual cost of servicing the debt will be more than $34 billion a year.

But the size of the debt compared to GDP — the ratio the Liberals tend to cite as a measure of the federal government's fiscal health — will continue to decline.

About the Author

Kathleen Harris

Senior Writer

Kathleen Harris is a senior writer in the CBC's Parliament Hill bureau. She covers politics, immigration, justice and corrections. Follow her on Twitter @ottawareporter

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

The economy is running hot. So why is Morneau still stepping on the gas?

The Liberals are gambling that the good times will continue long enough to table one more good-news budget

Chris Hall · CBC News · Posted: Nov 22, 2018 4:00 AM ET 

Finance Minister Bill Morneau receives applause after delivering the fall economic update in the House of Commons, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)


Bill Morneau's latest economic update is a total write-off. Which is exactly what he intended.

The finance minister responded to Donald Trump's corporate tax changes, introduced last December, by announcing Canadian businesses will be able to deduct, immediately, the full cost of any investments in new equipment for manufacturing and clean technology.

It's at least part of what companies in this country have been demanding ever since the U.S. president rolled out massive corporate tax cuts dropping the rate from 35 per cent to 21 per cent — in the process, effectively eliminating Canada's tax advantage.



Morneau isn't reducing corporate rates here, saying that would cost the government too much.
Instead, he's giving Canadian business access to billions of dollars in new federal revenues as an incentive to expand and invest in this country, arguing it's the right policy despite the $17.6 billion price tag and the swelling budget deficit.

"The economy is doing better than most Canadians would have thought," Morneau told CBC News.

"So seventeen and a half billion dollars to grow the economy is pretty significant. The commitment is to create jobs, to invest for the future."

• Updated
  Liberals deepen federal deficit in response to Trump tax cuts

• Morneau's update bolsters struggling media with $600M in tax measures

• Highlights of Bill Morneau's 2018 fiscal update

So far, the Trump tax cuts appear to have been used mostly to reward shareholders with higher dividends instead of creating jobs. These investment write-offs require that the money be spent to improve productivity, generating employment as a result.

The real question is why Morneau is prepared to take the federal government even deeper into debt to accomplish this feat.

'Neither a rational response nor a responsible one'

At three per cent, Canada's economic growth in 2017 led all the G7 countries. The forecast for the next five years isn't quite as rosy, but it's still robust. Job creation is up. Wages are also going up at their fastest pace in nearly a decade, contributing to strong growth in income tax revenues.

And when it's compared to the $1.5 trillion deficit being run by the Trump administration, Canada's deficit looks like peanuts — even though it breaks the Liberals' campaign promise in 2015 to limit deficits to $10 billion in each of the first three years, and to return to balance in 2019.

"We could have ignored the concerns of business leaders, decided not to make the investments and the changes that are part of the fall economic statement, and we would have had a lower deficit as a result," Morneau said in his speech to the Commons.

"To do so would be neither a rational response nor a responsible one. We know that if we give Canadian businesses more opportunities to succeed and grow, they will do just that."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shakes hands with the Minister of Finance Bill Morneau following the fiscal economic update in the House of Commons, in Ottawa Wednesday. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Still, Morneau's update signals a dramatic shift in this government's focus a year out from an election.

Instead of continuing with tax cuts and programs such as the Canada Child Benefit targeted directly at middle class taxpayers, Morneau is reaching out to a business community that has been wary of the Liberals' deficit financing, unhappy with its changes to small business tax rates and worried that the Trump's reforms would make them less competitive.

"We're deficit-financing the corporate sector," said Kevin Page, the former parliamentary budget officer who now heads the Centre for Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa.

"This is a financial statement that responds to the business community."

Helping business in Canada

Just look at the numbers. Of the $17.6 billion dollars in new measures over six years announced in the update, $14.4 billion goes to the tax changes for business. Throw in a few other measures for innovation and helping industries expand into overseas markets and the sum earmarked for businesses rises to $16.5 billion.

The rest of the new spending — $1.1 billion — goes to tax credits for local journalism, a social finance fund and implementing pay equity in federally-regulated workplaces.

Morneau's plan is not without risks. The price for Canadian oil is well below world prices. Interest rates are expected to rise at some point.

Page notes that the fastest growing federal expenditure this year and next will be the cost of servicing the existing debt. And yet there's no date to return to budget balance. There's no indication that, despite the buoyant Canadian economy, the Liberals feel any need to start winding down stimulus.

• Fall economic statement sets target of 50 per cent export growth by 2025

• Ottawa's 'on a different economic planet' with no fix for oil glut: Alberta finance minister

Conservatives spent much of the lead-up to Wednesday's economic update demanding to know when the budget would be balanced.

Pierre Poilievre, the party's finance critic, said Morneau's plan added "almost a million to our national debt"  in the half hour it took to deliver his speech.

"And we know Canadians will get the bill."

New Democrats, meanwhile, would have spent the money being directed to corporations on providing (for example) a national pharmacare plan.

The Liberals can still do that. There's another budget between now and when Canadians go to the polls. More money that can be spent if — and this is a big if — the economy continues its strong performance.

But for now, the Liberals are content with helping Canadian businesses. The hope is that it will lead to more economic growth, and more jobs.

If it doesn't, it will be an expensive write-off for the Liberals … just as they're about to ask taxpayers for another four years in office.

About the Author

 

Chris Hall

National Affairs Editor

Chris Hall is the CBC's National Affairs Editor and host of The House on CBC Radio, based in the Parliamentary Bureau in Ottawa. He began his reporting career with the Ottawa Citizen, before moving to CBC Radio in 1992, where he worked as a national radio reporter in Toronto, Halifax and St. John's. He returned to Ottawa and the Hill in 1998.

• More by this author

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/markets-drop-1.4912854

Global markets sink again as tech and retail stocks drop

Price of oil drops 6.6% on concern that global economic growth will slow

The Associated Press · Posted: Nov 20, 2018 11:09 AM ET

Big technology and internet companies came under heavy selling pressure again on Tuesday in New York trading. (Mark Lennihan/Associated Press)


Stocks dropped again Tuesday as losses mounted for the world's largest technology companies. Retailers also fell, and energy companies plunged with oil prices as the market sank back into the red for the year.

Oil prices tumbled another 6.6 per cent as Wall Street reacted to rising oil supplies and concerns that global economic growth will slow down, a worry that's intensified because of the trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

Technology companies were hit after the Trump administration proposed new national security regulations that could limit exports of high-tech products in fields such as quantum computing, machine learning and artificial intelligence.



Retailers also skidded. Target's profit disappointed investors as it spends more money to revamp its stores and its website, while Ross Stores, TJX and Kohl's also fell on disappointing forecasts.

The S&P 500 index lost 48.84 points, or 1.8 per cent, to 2,641.89. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 551.80 points, or 2.2 per cent, to 24,465.64.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 119.65 points, or 1.7 per cent, to 6,908.82. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks shed 27.53 points, or 1.8 per cent, to 1,469.01.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 3.7 per cent in the past two days, and the S&P 500 is off 3.4 per cent. The Nasdaq, heavily populated with technology stocks, is off 4.7 per cent. The S&P 500 index has fallen 9.9 per cent from the record high it set exactly two months ago.

Canada's main stock index also suffered a triple-digit decline as the drop in oil prices pushed the TSX down more than eight per cent in 2018.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 194.01 points, or 1.3 per cent, at 14,877.00.

Investors seek safe harbour

Investors are measuring a number of headwinds and increasingly playing it safe. The global economy is showing signs of weakening, with the United States, China and Europe all facing the rising threat of a slowdown, which can hurt demand for commodities such as oil and pose a threat to company profits.

Trade tensions between the U.S. and China appear to be getting worse instead of improving, contributing to the sell-off in tech stocks and multinational industrial companies.

For much of this year, investors were hopeful the U.S. and China would easily resolve their differences on trade. That hope has faded in the last two months.

While U.S. President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping are expected to meet this month at a gathering of the Group of 20 major economies, the proposed limits on tech exports were one more reason to worry.

A woman walks by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Tuesday. Asian stocks slid Tuesday after tech losses dragged down Wall Street and Nissan's chairman was arrested on charges of financial misconduct. (Koji Sasahara/Associated Press)

"A resolution doesn't seem to be coming in the short term," said Katie Nixon, the chief investment officer for Northern Trust Wealth Management. "A lot of the companies that are front and centre [like] Alphabet, Apple, IBM ... could be significantly limited in the way they export their technology."

Apple fell 4.8 per cent to $176.98 US and is down 23.7 per cent from the peak it reached October 3, though it's still up almost 5 per cent this year. Microsoft lost 2.8 per cent to $101.71 US and IBM fell 2.6 per cent to $117.20 US.

As the tech giants swoon, investors have lately turned to safer bets such as utilities, real estate companies and makers of household goods. They've also sought the safety of U.S. Treasuries.

Oil down 30% since Oct. 3

The price of oil has been falling sharply in recent weeks and is now down 30 per cent since Oct. 3.
Saudi Arabia and other countries started producing more oil after the Trump administration announced renewed sanctions on Iran, Nixon noted. The administration granted waivers to several countries allowing them to continue importing oil from Iran, creating a supply glut that pushed prices dramatically lower.

Nixon said OPEC countries will probably cut back on oil production, but some investors are worried that the buildup in crude stockpiles is a sign the global economy isn't doing as well as expected.

• Tech stock sell-off pushes markets lower

Earnings from retailers didn't help investors' mood. Target plunged skidded 10.5 per cent to $69.03 US after reporting earnings that missed Wall Street's estimates due to higher expenses. Ross Stores, TJX and Kohl's also fell on disappointing forecasts.

Tech stocks were among the biggest losers in Europe, too. Nokia and Ericsson, two top suppliers of telecom networks, each fell about 3 per cent. European indexes fell, with Germany's DAX index dropping 1.6 per cent and the French CAC 30 falling 1.2 per cent. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.8 per cent.

Stocks also declined in Asia. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 1.1 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 2 per cent.

Benchmark U.S. crude lost 6.6 per cent to $53.43 US a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 6.4 per cent to $62.53 US per barrel in London. Oil prices have nosedived since early October.

Wholesale gasoline fell 5.5 per cent to $1.50 US a gallon and heating oil skidded 4.6 per cent to $1.99 US a gallon. Natural gas dipped 3.8 per cent to $4.52 US per 1,000 cubic feet.

Bond prices were steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note remained at 3.06 per cent.
Gold slipped 0.3 per cent to $1,221.20 US an ounce. Silver fell 0.9 per cent to $14.27 US an ounce. Copper slid 1.2 per cent to $2.77 US a pound.

The dollar fell to 112.40 yen from 112.54 yen. The euro fell to $1.1399 US from $1.1453 US.

With files from CBC News.

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