U.S. consumer confidence rattled by government shutdown

The Associated Press Posted: Oct 25, 2013 1:30 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 25, 2013 1:30 PM ET

U.S. consumer confidence fell in October as concern grew that the partial government shutdown and political fight over the nation's borrowing limit would slow growth.

The University of Michigan says its index of consumer sentiment fell to 73.2 from 77.5 in September. The index has fallen for three straight months after reaching a six-year high of 85.1 in July.

A measure of Americans' expectations for future growth fell to its lowest level since late 2011, pulling down the overall index.

"Consumers have increasingly moved toward the view that the government has become the primary obstacle to more robust economic growth," the survey said.

Americans made more negative references to the federal government this month than at any time in the roughly 50-year history of the survey.

Oct 27, 2013 12:00 AM ET Oct 27, 2013 12:00 AM ET Oct 27, 2013 12:00 AM ET Oct 27, 2013 12:00 AM ET Oct 27, 2013 12:00 AM ET

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More small businesses using social media, study says

More Canadian small businesses are taking to social media to interact with their consumers, according to a BMO study. (CBC)

Bank of Montreal says Canadian small business owners are increasingly savvy about using social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

BMO says 57 per cent of about 300 business owners contacted for the study said they use social media.

That's up 17 points from 40 per cent in last year's study.

BMO's report is based on a Pollara telephone survey of 301 business owners, conducted between Aug. 22 and Sept. 10.

Nearly 40 per cent of the respondents said they use social media to seek ideas or suggestions

About one-third said they track what's being said about their business and one-quarter check out feedback about their competitors.

About 25 per cent said they were using social media to search for new talent, up 11 percentage points from last year.

BMO's study found Facebook was used by 43 per cent of respondents, while LinkedIn was used by 23 per cent and Twitter by 11 per cent.

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Wildly popular BBM chat service to remain free

CBC News Posted: Oct 25, 2013 9:04 AM ET Last Updated: Oct 25, 2013 4:01 PM ET

Millions of Apple and Android users who are enjoying what some have called BlackBerry's "forbidden fruit" can rest easy with the knowledge that BBM, the company's mobile instant messaging chat service, will remain free for the foreseeable future. 

"It's definitely a free service," Andrew Bocking, executive vice-president of BBM for BlackBerry told The Morning Edition host Craig Norris Friday. "We have other ideas on how to monetize that service."

Bocking said BBM will turn a profit through a combination of marketing and advertising through some yet-to-be-launched features, such as BBM Channels.

BBM Channels is a social networking feature currently in beta testing. Once up and running, it would allow users to amass followers and share content as well as allow BlackBerry to tailor and target ads towards individual users.

"We continue to plan to evolve the service and keep making it more engaging and have more reasons why people will come back to use the service," said Bocking. 

Video and voice chatting services for BBM, which are currently available to BlackBerry users only, is also coming soon to the Apple and Android platforms "within months," Bocking said. 

The launch of BBM on competing platforms has been largely seen by analysts as an attempt to secure new revenue streams for BlackBerry as it tries to regain its footing in a global smartphone market that many credit the Waterloo-based technology company for inventing.  

"This is one we're definitely investing in, this is definitely one of our key strategies, but it's one of many," he said. 

Until this week, BBM was only available to BlackBerry users and the buzz surrounding BBM's launch has been considerable, with six million users pre-registering for the app. 

On Tuesday, BlackBerry boasted that its BBM app had been downloaded 10 million times on Apple and Android devices in the first 24 hours after its launch.

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