Bank of Montreal reaches key debt agreement

Beleaguered Bank of Montreal says it has skirted potential writedowns of up to $1.5-billion by successfully restructuring two asset-backed commercial paper trusts, quelling fears raised just weeks ago when its original warning sent its stock tumbling.

BMO announced late yesterday it has reached a deal that will transform the ABCP trusts in a like fashion to the restructuring that’s being attempted in the rest of the $32-billion third-party ABCP sector.

DBRS structured finance analyst James Feehely said this is “another positive step in the restructuring of the third-party ABCP market.”

BMO’s shares have been moving against the general direction for bank stocks, closing at $42.10 yesterday on the Toronto Stock Exchange, up from Monday’s close of $39.15.

Sci-fi guru Arthur C. Clarke to be buried Saturday

COLOMBO (AFP) — British sci-fi guru Arthur C. Clarke will be buried at a private funeral in Sri Lanka’s capital on Saturday, a close aide to the late writer said.

Clarke, who captured the world’s imagination with his best-known book “2001: A Space Odyssey” and visions of extra-terrestrial civilisations, died at Colombo’s private Apollo hospital on Wednesday at the age of 90.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse described Clarke’s death as a loss to the island, the author’s adopted home since 1956.

Tool for creating online comics a hit at SXSW

A comic-making tool that allows users to easily make a comic panel of their own life to share over an internet social network made a big splash at this year’s South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

Bitstrips was designed by Toronto cartoonist Jacob Blackstock and friends over the last six months.

Blackstock described the online software as a set of tools for creating comics using elements such as a basic character, a set of poses and expressions and a handful of props.

“Comics are an incredible form of communication and expression that you can’t do with text alone, so [we're] taking this and making it accessible to everyone, where it used to be only people who could draw comics could do this,” Blackstock told CBC cultural affairs show Q.

“Now everyone can express themselves with comics and we think that’s going to be big online.”