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The Fed Just Hiked Rates. Here's What It Means for Your Canadian Mortgage.

  The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate 25 basis points yesterday — the first hike in three years. The Bank of Canada hasn't moved. That gap is now the biggest story in Canadian personal finance. MoneySavings.ca  |  September 17, 2026  |  Canadian Money Brief Yesterday afternoon, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 12-0 to raise the U.S. federal funds rate by a quarter point, pushing it to a target range of 3.75%–4.00%. It's the Fed's first rate hike since July 2023, and Chair Kevin Warsh made clear it almost certainly won't be the last. The Bank of Canada, by contrast, has held its overnight rate at 2.25% through seven straight meetings. It doesn't decide again until October 28. For Canadians with a mortgage, a renewal coming up, or a home equity line of credit, this matters more than it might look at first glance. 3.75–4.00% New U.S. Fed Rate 2.25% Bank of Canada Rate 1.625% Rate Gap (vs. 1.375% yesterday) ~71.5¢ Loonie (post-hike low) What th...

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Global IT Meltdown: Faulty CrowdStrike Update Causes Widespread Chaos

 

In an unprecedented turn of events, a faulty update from cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike has triggered a global IT meltdown, causing millions of Windows computers to crash with the infamous “Blue Screen of Death” (BSOD). The update, intended to enhance the security of CrowdStrike’s flagship product, Falcon Sensor, instead resulted in a critical failure that left businesses, airports, banks, and healthcare systems in disarray.

The issue began late Thursday and quickly spread as regions around the world started their day. The BSOD, a bright blue error screen indicating a critical system failure, appeared on millions of devices, rendering them unusable. CrowdStrike confirmed that the problem was due to a “logic error” in the update, which caused the operating system to crash.

The impact was immediate and widespread. Airports experienced significant delays, supermarket checkouts malfunctioned, and businesses struggled to maintain operations. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz issued an apology and assured that a fix had been deployed, but recovery is expected to take time due to the complexity of the issue.

Microsoft, whose Azure cloud services were also affected, is working closely with CrowdStrike to provide technical guidance and support to affected customers. As systems slowly come back online, the incident serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities inherent in our increasingly digital world.


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