Not a Recession but North America is Slow in Economy: Finance Minister Jim Flaherty

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said, “North American economy may be slow, but it won’t experience another recession". He also said at a news conference after vaunting Canada's strong economic performance at an international economic conference that” he don’t think that the risk is great”.

Flaherty said he's worried about the U.S. deficit and debt, continuing slowness in American real estate markets that reduce consumer confidence and sovereign debt in some European countries.

But, the government has accounted for these factors by moderately discounting the assumptions of private sector economists and building in a $1.5-billion per year risk factor in its budget unveiled on Monday. Canada’s Conservative government plans to balance its budget within four years by cutting $4 billion in spending.

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American Tower Investment in Real Estate Subpoenaed By Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

American Tower said Friday it has been subpoenaed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for access to tax documents dating from 2007 to till date.

American Tower is in the middle of converting itself to a real estate investment trust (REIT) in an effort to diminish its future tax burden. The company's stock dropped almost 6 percent on the New York Stock Exchange after news of the subpoena broke Friday, but has since rebounded slightly, rising just over 1 percent in early trading today.

Real estate investment trust is a designation reserved for companies that invest in real estate. As a cell tower operator with more than 37,000 cell sites around the world, American Tower has invested a considerable amount of capital in real estate.

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