Business Brief: Everything you need to know about credit cards

Good morning. Chris Hannay filling in again today for Chris Wilson-Smith, who will be back tomorrow. We hope you had a good Thanksgiving weekend. We’re going to dive deep into The Globe and Mail’s first-ever Big Guide to Credit Cards. But first, some news:

In the news

• China has turned Hungary into its European electric-vehicle bridgehead with a new €7.3-billion battery plant that is one of the biggest of its kind in the world, Eric Reguly writes.
• A coal mining proposal has divided two neighbouring municipalities in Southern Alberta – and one of them recently received a blow from the Alberta Energy Regulator, which denied its application for an adjournment of licence hearings for a new coal development, Emma Graney reports.
• The Nobel prize in economics has been awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson for research that explains why societies with poor rule of law and exploitative institutions do not generate sustainable growth.

Happening today

• Statistic Canada’s Consumer Price Index for September. 8:30 a.m. ET
• Canada Existing Home Sales, MLS Home Price Index for September. 9:00 a.m. ET

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In focus

Credit where credit’s due

Chances are very high you have at least one credit card in your wallet. About nine out of 10 Canadians have at least one card, and there are some 100 million credit cards in circulation in Canada, according to the Canadian Bankers Association.

But those cards are not all the same. How much those cards cost you and the perks you get back can vary widely. And be honest: how much thought did you really put into picking yours?

That’s why The Globe and Mail put together its first (drumroll, please) Big Guide to Canadian Credit Cards.

Our experts compiled the data and judged these are the top cards to get now:

• The best cash generator is SimplyCash Preferred Card from American Express.
• The best overall travel card is Scotiabank Gold American Express Card.
• The best overall balance transfer card is a tie between the CIBC Select Visa Card and the Scotiabank Value Visa Card.

And – why not – here are a few more honorable mentions:

• If you use Rogers services, then the Rogers Red Mastercard is the best entry-level card.
• If you are a big spender on gas and groceries, try the the CIBC Dividend Visa Infinite Card.

And if you are not a big spender on gas and grocers, please teach me your ways.

Worth noting: There are lots of other good options on those lists, so don’t consider those top picks the be-all-end-all. The lists linked above are interactive, so you can tailor a search to find what works best for you.

Also worth nothing: This list was not sponsored by any company, and we don’t receive any financial compensation from what you pick (if any). We provide the information, and you decide what you want to do with it.

• Salmaan Farooqui talks to some experts about how to apply all this data to your own decision-making. One tip: if you don’t use your card a lot, or don’t trust yourself to not overuse, stick with the no-fee options.
• For the more detail-oriented readers, Chen Wang and Yang Sun (two journalists on our data team) explain the methodology and how they put the lists together. It involved identifying the average credit-card spending of Canadians and running it through models of the various cards.

Frankly, this is some helpful information to have before we head into the holiday shopping season.

If you still have something to ask, on Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET, Globe journalists will answer your credit card questions. Globe and Mail subscribers can ask a question or leave a comment, but registered non-subscribers can still view the questions and responses. Submit a question here.

Charted

The gamification of investing platforms

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Fees and commissions have been declining for years, and these are changes worth celebrating. But an ever-growing roster of exotic exchange-traded funds and the gamification of investing platforms are coaxing regular investors to trade excessively and take on too much risk. Elements of this gamification have found their way into Canadian trading apps.

The Ontario Securities Commission published a study warning that trading app features such as the ability to copy the trades of profiled users encourage overexposure and underdiversification. The investment industry is full of products that encourage investors to gamble with their savings. Don’t take the bait.

Morning markets

Global markets were mixed after Wall Street scaled record highs yesterday, while oil prices dropped on a report that Israel will refrain from striking Iranian energy targets. Wall Street futures were little changed as investors took a breather, and TSX futures pointed lower in tandem with falling crude prices.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.15 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.52 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.18 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gave back 0.89 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.77 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 3.67 per cent.

The Canadian dollar traded at 72.41 U.S. cents.