Our love of bad news, the outlook for Canadian business and the never-ending appeal of chocolate.

• FP Posted: Why we love bad news and how it supports the recession. “Many of us frequently complain about the negativity of the news, particularly now in the economic downturn. The conga line of bruising news blankets consumers in a headline bombardment that is probably making the problem worse.”
• The Globe and Mail: CIBC sees S&P/TSX at 10,500. “Anyone worried that they missed the market bottom can take a deep breath, according to CIBC World Markets, because the markets are heading back down before a more sustainable rally takes hold near the end of the year and drives the S&P/TSX [TSX-I] to 10,500 by 2011.”
• Bank of Canada: Business outlook survey. “The balances of opinion for both past and future sales remain markedly negative, although no longer at record-low levels. As in the winter survey, many firms expect a decline in their sales volumes over the next 12 months. This weak outlook is widespread, since the global recession is expected to continue to affect foreign and domestic demand across the country. Again in this survey, uncertain economic conditions led many firms to cite downside risks to their outlook.”
• Daily Finance: Economists expect recession to end in September. “Yesterday White House economic advisor Lawrence Summers expressed cautious optimism that the sense that the American economy is in free-fall would abate within the next few months. Now a survey of 53 economists by The Wall Street Journal shows that this group shares his opinion. Those surveyed generally expect the recession to end in September and begin the long slog back to recovery.”
• The New Yorker: Economy vs. environment. “The week before last, twenty-five hundred delegates, from more than seventy countries, met in Copenhagen to prepare for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will take place there in December and will produce a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which was adopted in 1992 and will expire in 2012. The speakers in Copenhagen were united by a sense of urgency—and for good reason, given the poor record of most participating countries in meeting their Kyoto targets for reducing the emission of greenhouse gases.”
• Harvard Business Publishing: Fending off the recession with adaptive persistence. “As the world looks to the titans of capitalism to hit the ‘reset’ button on the global economy, what can we learn from entrepreneurs about the principles and practices needed to survive — or even thrive — in a downturn? How can we keep our heads above water when so many institutions are cratering and so many people are panicking?”
• NewsTimes.com: Kids need honesty and assurance in today’s economy. “When the economic downturn hit, Tim Gagne and his ex-wife, Suzanne Zuckerman, were open with their daughters about the need to be more frugal.”
• CNN: Chocolate beats the recession. “Despite the global recession, chocolatiers are reporting record sales.”