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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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Premier Mario Monti has called a Cabinet meeting in Rome on Sunday to approve emergency austerity and growth measures aimed at saving the euro currency from collapse, his office said in a statement.

The premier, an economist who once was an EU commissioner, is under extreme pressure to come up with speedy and credible measures that will persuade markets to stop betting against the common currency.

The meeting was originally scheduled for Monday, when Monti is also expected to outline the measures to both houses of Parliament on Monday.

The premier has been briefing political parties, unions, business groups and consumer lobbies on his plans over the weekend.

Monti hasn’t disclosed details of his rescue plan, but has said it includes both austerity cuts and measures to boost growth in Italy’s anemic economy. He has promised it would be socially equitable, and that it would go after those who hadn’t paid their share of taxes before

Italian borrowing costs have spiked, which could spell disaster if Italy is unable to keep up on payments to service its enormous debt of euro1.9 trillion ($2.57 trillion), or 120 percent of its GDP.

Unlike Greece, Portugal and Ireland, which got bailouts after their borrowing rates skyrocketed, the eurozone’s third-largest economy is considered to be too big to bail out. An Italian default would be disastrous for the 17-member eurozone and reverberate throughout the global economy.

The head of Italy’s industrial lobby said Sunday that the survival of the common euro currency depends on Italy’s coming up with very strong austerity and growth measures _ followed by a concerted effort at the European level so that Italian sacrifices are not in vain.

The various parties briefed have said the package likely includes reinstating an unpopular home property tax abolished by Berlusconi, raising the sales tax and the income tax at the highest brackets by a few percentage points, and requiring Italians to work more than the 40 years now needed to receive a pension.

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Jewelry seller Tiffany & Co. said Tuesday its fiscal third quarter profit rose 63 percent on strong sales globally, particularly in Asia.

The luxury retailer known for its iconic turquoise box is also raising its full-year forecast on the strong quarter.

Tiffany’s results show the luxury shopper is continuing to spend freely. That segment has rebounded more quickly from the recession than others. High-end jewelry sold better than other categories.

The New York company’s net income rose to $89.7 million or 70 cents per share in the three months ended Oct. 31. That compares with $55.1 million, or 43 cents per share, a year ago. Analysts expected earnings of 60 cents per share, according to FactSet.

Revenue rose 21 percent to $821.8 million. Analysts expected $801.8 million.

“Increased sales in all regions contributed to the continuation of strong worldwide sales growth in the third quarter,” said CEO Michael J. Kowalski.

In the Americas, sales grew 17 percent to $387.7 million. Revenue in stores open at least one year rose 16 percent.

The measure is considered a key gauge of a retailer’s financial health because it excludes stores that open or close during the year.

Tourists helped push the measure up 30 percent Tiffany’s the New York flagship store.

In Asia-Pacific, revenue rose 44 percent to $183.2 million, helped by strength in the greater China region.

Revenue rose 12 percent in Japan and 19 percent in Europe.

Tiffany now expects net income of $3.70 to $3.89 per share, for prior guidance of $3.65 to $3.75 per share. Analysts expect $3.72 per share.

Tiffany expects revenue to rise in the high-teens percentage for the year.

In the fourth quarter, the company expects net income of $1.48 to $1.58 per share. Analysts expect $1.63 per share.

Tiffany operates 243 stores globally..

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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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Throw a dart at a map of Europe now and it takes expert aim to hit a country run by a left-of-center government, especially after Spain’s Socialists were emphatically drubbed out of power over the weekend.

Although the shift to the right began years ago in such heavyweights as France and Germany, it is now all but complete three years into the continent’s grinding debt and economic crisis. Why? When times get tough _ when “the cows get thin” as the Spanish say _ political experts say edgy voters seek comfort with conservatives.

“The center-right is the natural preference in times of crisis,” said Piotr Kaczynski of the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels. “If you look at societies and how they make their preferences, they all tend to vote more conservative in times of crisis and more center-left in times of economic progress.”

Granted, on the European Union map there are scattered spots of leftist liberalism. A new Social Democratic government runs Denmark, there is a center left government in Norway and there is a broad Social Democratic-led coalition in Austria. And the Socialists might beat conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy in France’s presidential election next year.

But Kaczynski said there is no doubt the European left faces an uphill battle in re-establishing itself with an appealing message and the means to enact it, despite widespread disillusionment with go-go capitalism as seen in the Occupy Wall Street protests and Europe’s widespread anti-austerity marches.

In Spain, voters enduring a 21.5 jobless rate ejected the Socialists and install the center-right Popular Party by a crushing margin in Sunday’s election.

Voters dumped the Socialists in Portugal earlier this year and the Labour Party in Britain last year, in both cases shifting to conservative parties. A technocrat government has taken over in the last month from Greece’s Socialist prime minister.

Kaczynski said is not an ironclad rule that a government will be dumped from power during an economic crisis. He cited the cases of troubled governments being re-elected in Latvia, Estonia _ a member of the eurozone _ and Poland, and said as long as the public concludes the government is capable and taking the right approach to a financial crisis, it might get a second chance.

That was not the case for Spain’s Socialists, due to the poor record of outgoing Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in fighting unemployment and in resurrecting an economy that overcome nearly two years of recession in 2010 only to stall again last quarter.

His punishment: the conservative Popular Party won 186 seats in the 350-seat lower chamber of Parliament, up from 154, while the Socialists plummeted from 169 seats to 110, their worst performance ever.

“Clearly, Spain is the biggest loss for the European Socialists. That is absolutely the case,” Kaczynski said.

In his first public comments, Zapatero _ who did not seek a third term _ said Monday that the austerity measures he took _ and which caused supporters to flee in a stampede _ “put the national interests ahead of party interests.”

Spanish stock and bond markets shrugged off the Popular Party win because it was so widely expected and because leader Mariano Rajoy has yet to spell out how he will attack Spain’s unemployment debacle, deficit and growth woes.

However, some experts say Europe is not going right ideologically but rather seeking something _ anything _ new to get out of its quagmire.

“I wouldn’t say Europe is turning to the right. It’s basically the crisis is crushing the incumbents,” said Eurasia Group’s analyst for Europe, Antonio Barroso. “People are disappointed in the bad economic data, high unemployment and basically they are voting for the other alternative.”

He noted that in Italy, conservative premier Silvio Berlusconi was forced to resign this month as the eurozone crisis centered on his debt-laden country _ but that was to a technocratic administration, not to leftist politicians.

Barroso also mentioned the 2012 French presidential race and Sarkozy’s record low approval rating. The feisty French conservative is trailing the Socialist Francois Hollande badly in the polls, although he has recovered a bit in recent weeks.

Socialists are strong in local and regional politics in France: They head 24 of France’s 26 regional governments and run major cities including Paris, Lyon, and Lille. Most recently, in September, the Socialists wrested control of the Senate, Parliament’s upper house, for the first time in more than a half-century _ seen by many as a rebuff to Sarkozy.

In Germany, conservative Angela Merkel beat the center-left’s Gerhard Schroeder in 2005 after he pushed through labor market reforms and welfare state cuts. The moves angered his leftist supporters but they are credited with bolstering Germany’s strength in the current financial crisis.

However, Stephen Lewis of Monument Securities in London agreed it is perhaps natural for people to turn to the right in times of extreme financial hardship. He noted it happened in the 1930s during the Depression.

“It is not surprising that we are seeing all these right-wing governments appear as a result of elections or imposed from Brussels,” Lewis said.

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A top U.S. tech analyst is predicting Amazon is likely to launch its own under-$200 smartphone by next year.

And Amazon could sell the device for $170 U.S. or less, said Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney.

It would be the second head-on Amazon assault on Apple, right after the launch of the iPad tablet competitor Kindle Fire in the United States.

Mahaney based his prediction

By the third time around, it really shouldn’t be a surprise. The latest “Call of Duty” video game set a first-day sales record this week, generating $400 million in sales in its first 24 hours in stores. That breaks the record its predecessor set this time last year.

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3″ is the third game in the military shooter series to set such a record. Last year, “Call of Duty: Black Ops” raked in $360 million in its first 24 hours on sale. “Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 2,” sold 4.7 million copies in its first 24 hours to reap $310 million

The latest installment of the game from Activision Blizzard Inc. went on sale at midnight Tuesday in North America and the U.K.

Activision said Friday the game sold 6 faxless payday advance.4 million units in its first 24 hours.

A rival shooter game from Electronic Arts Inc., “Battlefield 3,” meanwhile, sold 5 million units in its first week in stores last month, making it the fastest-selling game in EA’s history.

The figures show there’s a big appetite for big shooter games this holiday season, boding well for their publishers and retailers such as GameStop Corp.

Shares of Activision Blizzard slipped 16 cents to $12.82 in morning trading Friday.

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Greece’s tortuous power-sharing talks entered a fourth day Thursday, with the country’s president hosting a meeting of party heads a day after negotiations descended into chaos and political leaders failed to name a new interim premier.

Outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou, the head of the opposition conservatives, Antonis Samaras, and the leader of a small right-wing party were meeting with the president Thursday morning to settle on a new prime minister and cabinet.

The new temporary government’s aim will be to secure a new European debt deal and ensure Greece receives the vital next euro8 billion ($10.9 billion) installment of its existing euro110 billion facility, without which the country faces a catastrophic default within weeks. Elections are then expected to be held in February.

Thursday’s talks come after a similar meeting Monday night collapsed, with Giorgos Karatzaferis, the head of the right-wing LAOS party, storming out in a rage only minutes after entering the presidential mansion. The precise reason for his anger was unclear.

The hope is that the fourth day of talks will finally yield a new prime minister to head an interim government that will secure the country’s continued bailout funding payday loans. European leaders have been pressing for an end to the political turmoil in Athens that has endangered the country’s bailout funding and even its continued presence in the eurozone.

“This is the third time I’m coming here for (this) issue, and I hope it’s the last,” Samaras said as he arrived for the meeting.

Despite three days of wrangling and intense European pressure, Greece’s main parties have been unable to agree on who will lead the new government, which is expected to only be in power for a few months before leading the country to early elections in February.

Greece’s deliberations over the past few days have taken a backseat to developments in Italy where Premier Silvio Berlusconi has announced his intention to resign soon after a new package of economic reforms are passed. But his announcement has done to little to assuage market concerns that Italy is facing a Greek-style economic crisis and the country’s borrowing costs have shot through the roof.

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ROME

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.