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THE HERALD OUTLOOK Saturday June wo the HERALD OUTLOOK is published each Saturday by the HILLS HERALD Home Newspaper of Halton Hills A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company Limited at Guelph Street Georgetown Ontario Stockmarket is due for another big shakedown TORONTO I was flipping through some old newspaper clipp ings the other day when I came across a story I wrote in 1984 I was covering international finance for The Globe and Mail The brokerage industry was in turmoil Foreigners were pounding at the door and Canadas fat lazy long protected investment industry was afraid A shakedown is coming they said I wrote that when it was finished the trail to success in the global marketplace would be lit tered with the bleached bones of firms that failed to adapt Back then the shakedown was just beginning or so it seemed Later the Americans came and so did the Japanese Canadian dealers were gobbled up by banks Meanwhile dealmaking was in its prime Stock markets were soar ing Then came the crash of The shakedown took on new tions Dealers laid off sales people analysts and back office staff in a desperate attempt to stay afloat Surprisingly the stock market bounded back But the little guy the retail investor stayed away Stockbrokers who did not already have a stable client base found it hard to make a sale IT GETS WORSE Then came the events of recent months the economic slowdown high interest rates As the deals kept getting bigger and bigger the market grew nervous The billton S RJR Nabisco deal marked the turning point Yet the most spectacular event was the rise and fall of Robert Campeau It left the junk bond market in disar ray Not Jong ago Merrill Lynch Canada put its retail division up for sale Now Prudential Bache Canada another big firm is doing the same The investment in dustry which never really recovered from October looks like it is going down for the third time At a recent conference in Toron to Paul Taylor an executive of the Royal Bank of Canada said the securities industry needs a major shakedown to be profitable Back in the heady days of the bank bought control of Dominion Securities the biggest investment dealer in the country Mr Taylor may be right But how many shakedowns can one in dustry take A big drop in the number of players is needed to get rid of over capacity Mr Taylor told the assembled dealers The situation is the same in Toronto New York and London Some of the firms you see today won be around six months from now Mr Taylor warned LAYOFFS I remember Monday Oct the day the stock market crashed The previous Friday the market had fallen a hundred points and was still falling at the close Expecting the worst I rushed Continued an Page 19 l Poets Corner DANGEROUS TERRITORY Their eyes met the minute II could have been She walked In the door Hers lowered immediately Straight to the floor HI Pretty Lady PS He said with a smile As he little girl picked As she walked to the washroom the buttercup Alone for a while It was fascinating streak of luck She wanted to dance Oh what a thrill that day to see Hold her man in her arms This little girl picked them Show this kid with the eyes happy and free Shed no need for his charms To that little girl 11 was a great delight She needed to dance Time stood still soon came Show this kid with the smirk the night That people in love She was charmed flowers Can make marriage work yellow and bright Picked for Mother to her a She just had to dance beautiful sight But her husband said No Time rolls on into the past So she danced at the table Those thrills of childhood Gave the kids a good show go so fast And the beautiful things Their eyes kissed all night along our way But their paths never crossed Like memories live forever Last orders were called in yesterday Opportunity lost Children get thrills a happy way A she walked out the bar Nature makes the best of play With her man at her side Things of pleasure that Their eyes met again we know And her smile would not hide Help their little minds to grow Birds butterflies or a pup He looked at her sadly But she preferred the Saying Goodnight buttercup my queen Albert Brooks Her answer was simple RR 8772201 PUBLISHER K Robert EDITOR Brian MacLeod AD MANAGER Dan Taylor Second Class Mall Registered Number STAFF WRITERS Ben Lisa SPORTS EDITOR Colin Gibson ACCOUNTING Jennie Shit CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Joan ADVERTISING SALES Jeannlne Valois Craig Teeter Slacle Roberts Kim Haryott PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT Dave Hastings Supt Gilson Robertson Wilbon CIRCULATION DEPT Marie SNAFU by Bruce Beattic Youre only going as far as the back yard Put back the signal flares Canada US Free Trade deal has a fan in Mexico Kevin r Bell Mi Washington Bureau Thornton closer commercial ties with Canada as well as with the United States especially a world which big regional markets are being created We dont want to be left out WASHINGTON The Canada S freetrade pact has gained one important fan in Mexico its dent While Canadians debate whether Canada has gained or lost jobs under he freetrade agreement Carlos Salinas Gortan appears sure that Canada has negotiated an economic windfall And he has some figures to prove it It has created more than 250 000 jobs the Mexican presi dent said recently Foreign in vestment increased Exports in creased The less developed coun try also obtains an important benefit from an agreement like that one Salinas may be more impressed with the deal than many Canadians are and some observers say the Canadian deal helped persuade him to pursue a similar agreement with the United States It was a sudden reversal for the Mexican president Salinas ed his 1988 campaign that he would not negotiate a free trade agreement with the United States Many Mexicans are suspicious of the United States economic clout and fear that Mexicos economic and political independence would be at risk in a freetrade agree ment But a faltering economy and the pending economic unification of Europe has apparently changed Salinasmind We worry that the Europe of can have a fortresslike men tality he said we want Most Americans have remained oblivious to the Meech Lake debate that is raging Canada but a spurt of coverage in many U S newspapers has generated some interest Some Americans have even become highly opinionated on the matter For instance one economics pro fessor at George Washington University was contacted recently for his opinion on free trade but all he wanted to talk about was Lake Nobody here wants this thing to fail the professor said disagree with a prominent Washington based columnist who seemed eager to see Canada break up so the United States could grab some choice real estate If it busts up and any part of it is attached to the United States which parts would we get It would be the worst parts he said Nobody in the United States would be interested in inheriting the economic pro he said It would be like getting another West Virginia only farther north On the possibility that the New foundland legislature could vote to scuttle the accord If that hap pens they should get rid of New They didnt join Canada until fairly recently didnt they Let them go back to Britain Republican legislators have been all smiles recently The S Surpeme Court has just handed them an issue they can take to the people in this falls con gressional elections The court voted to strike down a law that made burning the Stars and Stripes illegal It ruled that burn ing the American flag is a constitu tionally protected form of free ontfnucdon Pageis Breakaway MPs shouldnt cash Stewart MacLeod Ottawa OTTAWA Perhaps its a case of the midlife but less than a week after criticizing one group of parliamentarians for their unmitigated gall I find myself wishing had saved some of those words for another group That hasnt happened before not two fully blown gall attacks in one week Just as Newfoundland Clyde Wells was forthright enough to say its possible he could be wrong on Meech Lake its only fair that I say the same thing about these other matters Not as impor tant niind you but fair So perhaps I was totally out of line a week ago in even hinting that honorable senators displayed the ultimate quantity of gall in giving themselves a daily attendance bonus Its even possible it was unkind to refer to them as residnts of the chamber of sober second in come Certainly glad I didnt go for the chamber of sober sleepy income A little restraint is better than none even when dealing with the Senate And so I want to exercise similar restraint in complaining about those breakaway Tory MPs from Quebec Its not personal parsimony that propels me to complain I am used to seeing my tax dollars wasted but theres something that irritates me about bankrolling MPs who want to break up the country Follow me NOT RIGHT Whats also profoundly striking if I may borrow one of Stephen Lewiss many profounds is the gall required for these people to cash their Government of Canada cheques Wouldnt you have a few pangs of guilt if you were accepting your employers money to break up his or her holdings Were talking specifically about Francois Genn Gilbert Chartrand and former environment minister Bouchard All are former Tory MPs who openly support sovereignty association which is as we all know one of the more gentle ways of describing Quebec independence And more specifically were talking about the recent utterances of Mr Germ who goes around pro moting the idea of forming a bloc of Quebec MPs who will promote independence from within What we want is to recuperate all the powers of a sovereign coun try the country of Quebec he told a Montreal audience I am ab solutely convinced that well get a sufficient number of deputies MPs to form a parliamentary wing in Ottawa in the coming weeks Well isnt that just dandy Or is it me Am I being petty in thinking there is slightly ajar No God forbid its not that I have anything against freedom of speech I stand foursquare for that Its just that I have this hangup about paying for the stuff SHOULD RESIGN Its not that I particularly enjoy Continued on Page