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New polymer banknotes demand that all money-handling machines in the country be upgraded at a cost of $75-100 million, the Bank of Canada estimates.

That compares to $20-30 million for the last conversion in 2004-2006, bank spokesperson Julie Girard said Tuesday.

“This transition is going to be a little more involved,” she said in a phone interview.

The new $100 bill came into circulation last month, made of a smooth, film-like polymer material and incorporating such high-tech security features as the world’s first transparent windows with embedded metallic pictures.

The $50 bill goes into circulation in March, the $20 bill late next year, the $10 and $5 in 2013.

Although the currency size remains unchanged, the texture, security enhancements and relative lightness of the new bills necessitate machinery upgrades.

“In Canada, we have 500,000 machines that accept, dispense or sort bank notes,” Girard said. “They include ATMs, parking machines, and sorting machines that banks and financial institutions use — the full gamut.”

Automated Teller Machines, or ATMs, number 75,000 alone, she said.

They don’t usually dispense $100 bills. Nor do automated parking wickets, TTC token dispensers or change-making machines.

So far, the mechanisms affected mainly include institutional ones that count and sort $100 notes. But in the coming months, other money-machine owners will have to adjust, modify, convert or replace their equipment.

“We’ve been working (on this) for more than two years,” Girard said. “People from our regional offices go out every single day to retailers, financial institutions, law-enforcement officers.

“They do presentations at public libraries,” she said. “They talk to the blind and the visually impaired. You can insert these bills in a banknote reader and it will read out what the denomination is.”

While upgrade costs might appear steep, the polymer bills generate savings in other areas, Girard said.

Staying with the familiar cotton-paper blend to execute the high-security features would have cost $200 million more than by using polymer, the bank estimates.

Being more durable, the new bills are expected to last two-and-a-half times longer than existing ones — at least seven years.

That means savings on production costs as well as on costs to transport replacement bills across the country, especially as the new bills are 10 per cent lighter than the old ones, Girard said.

Thwarting counterfeiters also implies savings for police and courts, the bank says.

The showcase security feature — a world first — is the large see-through window running vertically toward the right on the face side, next to the portrait of former prime minister Sir Robert Borden on the $100 bill.

A smaller, metallic portrait of Sir Robert and a metallic picture of the Parliament buildings embedded in the window can be seen equally from the face and reverse sides of the bill.

The metallic Sir Robert reflects rainbow colours when tipped in the light. The metallic Parliament, created using different technology, does not reflect light in the same way.

About 30 other countries issue polymer currency, Girard said. Some also have a window, but not as large a window as the Canadian one and the metallic pictures count as a world first.

Sooner or later, counterfeiters are expected to catch up to the bank’s technologists. The new series is given a lifespan of eight years, when machine upgrades must begin again.

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The double-double is pulling out of Afghanistan.

Tim Hortons announced today that along with the bulk of Canadian troops, it will be withdrawing from the international military base in Kandahar, Afghanistan next week.

“It’s been an amazing five years,” said Doug Anthony, vice president of new business development at Tim Hortons.

The Tim Hortons outlet in Kandahar, which opened on Canada Day in 2006, served 4 million cups of coffee, three million donuts and half a million iced cappuccinos. For many Canadian troops, it was a welcome taste of home.

“People would come in smiling and say ‘This takes us away from the stress of what we see every day,’’ said Anthony, who twice visited the base in Kandahar.

For some on Twitter, news that the Canadian cultural icon Tim Hortons was leaving was the most credible evidence yet that our troops are actually coming home.

“In case you doubted that Canada would actually leave Afghanistan, we’re definitely finished, Horton’s is pulling out,” tweeted Big Kris, a DJ at Y108 in Hamilton.

“Oh, Canada’s pretty much officially out now,” tweeted Maxim Morin pay day loans.

The Tim Hortons was popular among troops from other countries, including the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. Non-Canadians made up 60 per cent of the location’s business, Anthony said.

While the company had “detailed discussions” with two other unnamed parties about keeping the outlet going after the Canadian troops left, it didn’t end up being feasible.

The location had been staffed by the Canadian Forces Personnel and Family Support Services (CFPFSS). Without the CFPFSS around, it would have been hard for anyone else to staff the outlet, Anthony explained.

“The sheer volume that we were doing made it difficult for them to find staff,” said Anthony.

Despite the bustling business done at the Kandahar location, it wasn’t a profit centre for Tim Horton’s, Anthony insisted.

“We didn’t make a dime from this. All the proceeds went to support our troops and their families, and any of the supplies, we sold them at cost,” said Anthony.

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Chrysler is counting on a new Jeep sport utility vehicle and its strong brand name to help withstand uncertainty in the European auto market and expand into new markets in China and Russia, the automaker’s chief executive said Wednesday.

The company announced plans to spend $500 million at its Ohio assembly complex that will make the new model and add 1,100 jobs by late 2013. The expansion is part of a $1.7 billion investment to build the new Jeep.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said Jeep is becoming the star of its European market and that sales have been doubling.

“It’s the best brand Chrysler owns by a long margin,” he said. “It’s got a glorious history.”

Italian automaker Fiat SpA, which now controls Chrysler, has been hit hard this year by slumping overall sales in Europe. It has been turning more toward business in the United States and Brazil, said Marchionne, who is CEO of both companies.

He said next year will be even worse in Europe. “The majority of the growth and expectations around Fiat are unfortunately outside the European context,” he said

Marchionne said that he’s confident the leaders forming the Italy’s new government can help it avoid financial disaster, but he added that instability there could influence where it locates its new headquarters when Fiat combines with Chrysler.

He is working toward bringing the two automakers together and faces the thorny political issue of where to base the company. The instability in Italy can’t be overlooked, he said Wednesday.

“I would be lying to you if I told you it didn’t,” he said. “It’s one of the things we’ll look at. That’s not to say the current situation would force us to move away from Italy. We’re committed to the industrial back bone of the country.”

Premier Mario Monti formed a new Italian government on Wednesday puts bankers, diplomats and business executives in charge instead of politicians. The former European Union competition commissioner said economic growth is a top priority and will put out an emergency plan Thursday

“Monti has all of the qualities to get this done,” Marchionne said. “It’s in the interest of every Italian to get behind him.”

Whether the country can recover soon depends on its political forces, he said. “If they do, it can be done relatively quickly,” he said. “The execution may take longer, but the plan can be put in place.” `

Sales of the stylish Fiat 500 mini car have been far below expectations in the United States since its debut in March, Marchionne said. It’s Fiat’s first vehicle in the U.S. since it pulled out of the market in 1983.

He blamed the low sales on a lack of dealerships selling the Fiat and said more are coming on line.

While Fiat is struggling, Chrysler is moving toward its first annual profit since 2005 behind strong third quarter sales of its new or revamped Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram cars and trucks.

Marchionne thinks the Jeep brand can continue to grow worldwide behind its unique history. Originally made for the military, workers in Toledo have been producing Jeeps since 1941.

“The horrible thing about Jeep is it hasn’t been exploited internationally,” he said. “It’s off-road capabilities are unique in the marketplace and we need to preserve that going forward.”

No decision has been made on what the new model will be called. Marchionne said it will be more technologically advanced than the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

The assembly plant in Ohio that now has 1,800 workers makes the Jeep Wrangler and Liberty along with the Dodge Nitro and will be central to the company’s future and its SUV exports, Marchionne said.

It’s likely the plant will build more vehicles in the coming years, he said. He also didn’t rule out expanding Wrangler production at the plant if sales take off outside the U.S.

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Greece’s embattled prime minister and main opposition leader agreed Sunday to form an interim government to ensure the country’s new European debt deal and oversee early elections, capping a week of political turmoil that saw Greece facing a catastrophic default and threatening its euro membership.

Greek leaders had been anxious to end a severe political crisis with some positive result before Monday, when the country heads to a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels. The initial agreement, which will see Prime Minister George Papandreou step down, came after a week of drama sparked by his announcement he was taking the debt deal to a referendum. He withdrew that plan Thursday after intense opposition from European leaders and his own Socialist lawmakers, many of whom called for him to resign.

Papandreou “has already stated he will not lead the new government,” the statement from the president’s office said.

He is to meet again Monday with opposition leader Antonis Samaras to seek agreement on who will head the new government and who will be included in its Cabinet, the president’s office said.

A planned meeting with the leaders of all political parties represented in parliament, which was to take place Monday evening, was canceled after parliament’s two leftist parties refused to attend, the office said.

The statement came after a late-night meeting between Papandreou and Samaras called by President Karolos Papoulias to end a two-day deadlock. Direct talks had failed to get off the ground as Papandreou had agreed to step aside but only after power-sharing talks settled on a new government makeup, and Samaras insisted he wanted snap elections and would not start negotiations unless Papandreou resigned first.

An opposition conservative party official said Samaras’ party is “absolutely satisfied” with the outcome of the talks and that party officials were to hold meetings late Sunday night with Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and his advisers to discuss how long it would take to finalize the new debt deal and when elections could be held.

“Our two targets, for Mr. Papandreou to resign and for elections to be held, have been met,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the process.

The crisis was sparked after Papandreou’s shock announcement on Oct. 31 that he wanted to put a new European debt deal aimed at rescuing his country’s economy to a referendum. That plan caused an uproar in Europe, with the leaders of France and Germany saying any popular vote in Greece would decide whether the country would remain in the euro direct payday lenders. European officials also said the country would not receive the vital euro8 billion euro installment of its existing euro110 billion bailout until the uncertainty in Athens was over.

Papandreou’s announcement also spooked international markets, leading stock markets to tumble and led to calls in Greece for Papandreou’s resignation _ even from among his own Socialist lawmakers and ministers _ with many saying he had endangered Greece’s bailout.

The prime minister withdrew the referendum plan on Thursday, after Samaras indicated his party would back the new debt deal, which was agreed upon after marathon negotiations in Europe on Oct. 27.

Greece has been surviving since May 2010 on its initial bailout. But its financial crisis was so severe that a second rescue was needed as the country remained locked out of international bond markets by sky-high interest rates and facing an unsustainable national debt increase.

The new European deal, agreed on by the 27-nation bloc on Oct. 27 after marathon negotiations, would give Greece an additional euro130 billion ($179 billion) in rescue loans and bank support. It would also see banks write off 50 percent of Greek debt, worth some euro100 billion ($138 billion). The goal is to reduce Greece’s debts to the point where the country is able to handle its finances without relying on constant bailouts.

Greece’s lawmakers must now approve the new rescue deal, putting intense pressure on the country’s leaders to swiftly end the political crisis so parliament can convene and put the debt agreement to a vote.

“We know that there can be no elections now,” Papandreou had said during an earlier emergency Cabinet meeting, noting that snap polls would delay the approval of the new debt deal. “This cooperation, however, is necessary and will be beneficial for the climate in our country and internationally.”

In return for bailout money, Greece was forced to embark on a punishing program of tax increases and cuts in pensions and salaries that sent Papandreou’s popularity plummeting and his majority in parliament whittled down from a comfortable 10 seats to just three.

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Associated Press writer Nicholas Paphitis in Athens contributed to this report.

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How should people prepare their houses for sale during the winter?

A bit of simple maintenance now will go a long way to keep a house in good shape for prospective buyers this winter.

Start by clearing leaves from gutters and patios. Keep walking areas swept and collect lawn debris regularly. Remember to check working fireplaces for loose mortar and debris. Get heating systems inspected. Stock up on filters for timely changes throughout the winter. Replacing window screens with storm windows will cut heating costs and extend the life of the screen material.

Don’t overlook the driveway. Snow, ice and salt that come with the winter season can wreak havoc on driveways and blacktop surfaces. Protect them by filling cracks and holes before the freeze sets in. Snow can alter the overall look of the property. Shovel and de-ice paths and doorways. The driveway and sidewalks should be plowed. Make sure that outside lights and doorbells work. Consider installing more lights to highlight effectively the best areas of the house.

Focusing on the interior is also important for selling in the winter. Furnished homes and those that are well organized have more appeal. Make sure beds are made, furniture is well placed and that countertops and closets are clutter-free. Bear in mind that not all home shoppers celebrate the same holidays. Keep holiday decorations as a seasonal accent so buyers see the home, not just the adornments.

Selling a home in the winter has its perks. Chances are, buyers looking for a home during the winter holidays are serious about buying and not simply shopping around. At that time of year, there are fewer homes on the market, reducing the competition.

For three years now, Efrem Rone has been keeping a close eye on an Adelaide St. E. parking lot, watching for a condo sales centre to rise from the asphalt.

“I know how things work,” says Rone, 45. “If you don’t get on the list (to get into the sales centre early), the best units are gone, prices start going up and you’re stuck with the leftovers.”

His agent was getting nowhere, despite registering early to view floor plans for the 22-storey Ivory on Adelaide project. So Rone was surprised last weekend to walk past an Ivory on Adelaide sales centre bustling with activity.

“On the door was taped an ad from a Chinese newspaper with a picture of what the project would look like. Deals were being done,” says Rone. “It looked like the sales centre was open for business, but only to people of a certain ethnicity.”

Toronto’s condo market is on fire. And much of the frenzy is being fuelled by investors, many of them Asians, who are being given preferential treatment — early access to the best and cheapest units.

“It may look like discrimination, but these people have actually earned the right to be first in line. Any business will go to their best customers first,” says realtor turned condo developer Brad Lamb.

Almost 68,000 new units are now in the planning stages or under construction across the GTA as investors, a lot of them immigrants with ties to Hong Kong and mainland China, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, Russia and Brazil, look to cash in on the biggest condo boom in the world.

A record 20,729 units have been sold in the GTA as of the end of September — smashing the pre-recession record for the same period in 2007 of 17,285. An estimated 45 to 60 per cent have been snapped up by investors, with estimates closer to 90 per cent in some newer downtown condo projects.

They are looking for solid investments in a shaky world — the keys to hard assets like real estate.

“We are a tranquil island in a sea of despair,” says one of Toronto’s leading condo development consultants Barry Lyon. “If it wasn’t for the multicultural community, we would have no condo market to speak of right now in Toronto.”

Even realtors who find themselves, and their clients, with no hope of being among the first buyers in all these new glass and steel towers springing up on Toronto’s skyline understand why this is happening.

Targeting agents with strong ties to big buyers in the multicultural community — one developer calls them his “rainmaker list” — means developers can sell 70 per cent of the units in a project faster, which keeps costs down. That’s what most banks demand before they will free up loans to start construction.

The practice has paid off: In 2005, it took an average of 13 months for condo builders to sell 70 per cent of their units, says George Carras, president of RealNet Canada, which monitors building activity across the GTA.

This year, they’re hitting the threshold in just four months, largely because of their “growing sophistication” in wooing brokers who can deliver multiple investors.

Carras likens the process to Initial Public Offerings of stocks. Those willing to spend the most and not afraid of risk potentially get the biggest payback.

But some agents complain that a handful of condo builders, such as Plaza Corp., are being so aggressive at racking up early sales, it’s becoming impossible for the average buyer, looking for a home or little investment property, to get in before prices are less affordable.

It also gets tougher to find the most desirable units, such as the cheapest one-bedroom corner units high enough to have a view.

Several realtors spoke to The Star about the focus on investment buyers, but none would be named for fear of being blacklisted from getting access to any units at all, which are now essential to their livelihood.

One Asian agent who has sold numerous Plaza Corp. units, said he had to pull strings to get clients a peek at their York Harbour Club project on the Railway Lands: “I’m not part of their stable of VIP agents.”

“York Harbour Club was a little bit unfair to the public,” concedes Plaza Corp. vice-president Scott McClellan. “The (pre-sales) took off on us a little bit and we probably didn’t have as much as we wanted to have for the general public.”

By the time the public could buy, just 30 per cent of units were available.

“This isn’t new. Everybody does it,” says McLellan of what he calls his “rainmaker list” — realtors who can deliver 15 or more buyers willing to buy from floor plans, rather than wait for built units.

McLellan says all of the early buyers of Ivory on Adelaide are Canadian citizens, buying units as long-term investments or as homes for their kids or relatives who might be migrating from overseas.

No one knows how much is offshore investment.

Lyon points out that investors have become essential landlords in a city where almost no one is building apartments. He also sees the units as “warehousing” for first-time buyers who can rent while saving up a down payment. Often investors are willing to sell without requiring the 20 per cent down payment a bank demands.

“These investors bear no relationship to the speculators of the 1980s,” Lyon says. “They’re very sophisticated” and recognize Toronto as a bargain compared with other major cities in the world.

A lot of developers point out they hold back units so less high-achieving realtors, and the public, don’t miss out altogether. Often they are at higher prices — parking spots alone can be almost $10,000 more expensive — but McLellan says there are no plans to raise unit prices on Ivory on Adelaide when the public gets their first crack this weekend.

Rone is fairly savvy — he has been involved in the condo market since 2006 — but is still shaking his head: “This just seems unfair.”

He finally got his email invitation to the “grand opening” of the Ivory on Adelaide sales centre Friday. Like everyone else who may walk through the doors, he has no clue that almost half — 43.5 per cent — of the 358 units have already been sold.

McLellan insists that no buyer is being left out. Even those who’ve dropped by the last few days have been asked to leave their names.

But Rone’s agent now knows she gained nothing by registering early and that the smallest and most affordable places will likely be gone.

“I’m not going to lie and tell you that I haven’t heard this (complaints about the early sales process) before,” McLellan says. “I have people who have called me upset. We figure it out for them.

“Have him give me a call.”

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Visa Inc. says its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 14 percent as cardholders used their credit and debit cards more often both in the U.S. and abroad.

The San Francisco-based payments processing network says it earned $880 million, or $1.27 per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30. Revenue rose 13 percent to $2.38 billion.

Wall Street was expecting profit of $1.25 per share, on revenue of $2.4 billion fast payday loan no faxing.

Visa says it processed 13 billion transactions during the quarter, up 9 percent from last year.

Worldwide, Visa card holders spent $1.55 trillion on their cards, with debit outpacing credit. That’s up 17 percent from last year’s quarter.

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ConocoPhillips says its third-quarter profit fell about 14 percent due to unexpected production losses in China and Libya. Conoco has also been selling assets as it reshapes the company.

The Houston oil company on Wednesday reported earnings of $2.62 billion, or $1.91 per share, for the July-September quarter. That compares with $3.06 billion, or $2.05 per share, in the same part of 2010. Excluding special charges, Conoco reported adjusted earnings of $3.45 billion, or $2.52 per share.

Revenue increased 33 percent to $62.78 billion.

Analysts, who usually exclude special charges, expected earnings of $2.16 per share on revenue of $55 billion, according to FactSet.

Shares rose $1.59, about 2 percent, to $72.27 in premarket trading.

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U.S. stock futures rose Monday after Caterpillar raised its profit forecast on expectations that the economic recovery will continue and companies announced a flurry of takeovers.

Investors are still worried about Europe’s debt problems, which have helped drag global stocks up and down the last two years. European leaders said they made progress at a weekend summit, but they likely won’t unveil concrete plans to help resolve the crisis until Wednesday.

But even with the global economic worries, Caterpillar and other U.S. companies are still reporting bigger profits. “Although there is a good deal of economic and political uncertainty in the world, we are not seeing it much in our business at this point,” Caterpillar Chief Executive Doug Oberhelman said.

The maker of construction equipment said its profit rose 44 percent in the latest quarter from a year earlier. It shares rose 5 percent in premarket trading.

Caterpillar joins McDonald’s Corp. and other U.S. companies that have reported stronger third-quarter earnings. Those reports helped the Dow Jones industrial average last week to rise for the third straight week. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index finished the week at its highest level since Aug. 3, before Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. credit rating on Aug. 5 and helped trigger big swings in global markets.

Analysts expect companies in the S&P 500 to report total earnings growth of 14 percent for the third quarter, according to FactSet.

Other big companies expected to report earnings results this week include UPS Inc instant credit reports., Ford Motor Co. and Procter & Gamble.

Analysts expect S&P 500 companies to say their revenue rose 10 percent last quarter. But their expenses likely climbed too. Higher costs for raw materials helped drag down profit for Kimberly-Clark Corp. by 8 percent. The maker of Huggies and Kleenex fell 1 percent in premarket trading.

A flurry of corporate deals helped lift stock futures.

RightNow Technologies Inc. rose 19 percent ahead of the bell after Oracle said it will buy the tech service company for about $1.5 billion.

HealthSpring rose 33 percent after Cigna said it will buy the health insurer for about $3.8 billion in cash.

Mattel rose 1.6 percent after it agreed to buy Hit Entertainment, the owner of the Thomas & Friends and Barney brands, for $680 million in cash.

Asian and European markets rose earlier Monday after Japan said its exports grew for a second straight month in September and a report showed China’s industrial production returned to growth in October. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 1.9 percent.

Thirty minutes ahead of the opening, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 43 points, or 0.4 percent, to 11,800. S&P 500 index futures rose 2.90, or 0.2 percent, to 1,238.10. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 8, or 0.3 percent, to 2,342.25.

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Germany’s finance minister says private holders of Greek government bonds must accept bigger losses to achieve “a durable and sustainable solution” for Europe’s debt crisis.

Wolfgang Schaeuble told German public broadcaster ARD on Sunday that an agreement struck in July when banks and other investors agreed to renounce on 20 percent of their Greek debt must be renegotiated.

He says the private sector’s contribution to a reduction of Greece’s debt burden “will probably have to be higher fast payday loan.”

The Institute of International Finance, a global bank lobbying group, says its managing director Charles Dallara is in talks with officials from the 17-nation eurozone about the July agreement. Spokesman Frank Vogl declined to elaborate, but the group’s leadership has so far rejected accepting bigger losses.

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