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Corporate pension plans underfunded

TORONTO - Desjardins Securities says Canada's corporate pension plan funding levels have hit an all-time low thanks to plunging stock markets.

The firm released a report on Tuesday saying company plans have assets worth just 72 per cent of their obligations.

Desjardins' review of companies in Canada's benchmark S&P/TSX composite index concludes that a typical pension fund has seen the value of its assets decline an estimated 15 to 20 per cent this year as markets hammered stocks and bonds in pension investment portfolios.

Most companies have not yet reported their pension data for year-end 2008, but the report estimates a typical pension fund could now have assets worth between 70 and 75 per cent of obligations, including obligations for pensions and post-retirement benefits.

RIM launches new BlackBerry model

WATERLOO, Ont. - Research in Motion is hoping to give Apple Inc.'s iPhone more of a run for its money.

The Waterloo, Ont.-based company launched its latest smart phone on Wednesday with the release of the BlackBerry Curve 8900.

RIM has added an enhanced multimedia player to its popular BlackBerry, making the unit capable of airing podcasts.

The phone also features a built-in global positioning system and an updated camera.

RIM has had to contend with stiff competition from Apple since the U.S. software giant launched the iPhone in Canada in July.

Apple sold 6.9 million iPhones in its fourth quarter compared to the 6.1 million BlackBerries RIM sold in its quarter ending Aug. 30.

Flaherty fears taxpayer backlash if automakers receive a bail out

TORONTO - Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says the issue of whether or not the government should bail out struggling auto manufacturers is controversial and people in his own Ontario riding - the Canadian home of General Motors - are telling him not to do it.

"There are many people saying we should do something with respect to the auto sector," Flaherty said Wednesday at a conference of economists in Toronto.

"But I can tell you even in my own riding, where I was yesterday, in Whitby-Oshawa. . .there are lots of people who say, 'Don't do anything. Don't use my tax money to bail out an enterprise that may not survive.'"

"These are not high falutin rich people that are saying this to me, these are people on the street."

Automakers have said they need more than $1 billion in loan guarantees to help tide the sector over until demand recovers for North American-produced vehicles in the U.S.

Source: The Canadian Press