Loyalty pays.

Or, make that “loyalty will pay,” as a minority group of sponsors that stood by the world’s most derided golfer look set to cash in on a wave of publicity that’ll surely reward their steadfast allegiance.

Yes, Tiger Woods is back, and the choice to end his hiatus at next month’s Masters – golf’s most storied and popular tournament – is an appropriate decision when you consider his well-publicized, high-profile fall from grace these past four months.

We Canadians pride ourselves on being a hard-working bunch.

But, by global standards, it seems we're actually a bit lazy.

And things may even get worse, according to research from the Daily Beast, which ranks Canadians among the laziest people on the planet, eclipsed only by our indolent friends across the border.

What’s that they say about karma? It’s a (blank) … something with a ‘B’, right?

Indeed, the hits keep on coming for everyone's favourite pariah, Bernie Madoff, who can’t stop making headlines despite his current 150-year vacation in a North Carolina state prison.

On a day when the debut of March Madness featured a buzzer beater upset and no short supply of thrilling finishes, it was a report in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal about the disgraced financier that had many people talking.

North American consumers pay much more for mobile phone applications than people in any part of the world, according to a new study by wireless consultant Chetan Sharma.

Last year, smart phone users paid roughly $1.90 per app, compared with less than 20 cents in many other regions where developers are still struggling to effectively monetize app momentum, the study says.

The good news: Between now and 2012, mobile app prices are forecast to decrease by roughly a third, Sharma predicts, largely because of the anticipated increase in volume.

The number of apps downloaded onto handsets is expected to increase to nearly 50 billion in 2012, compared to just over 7 billion downloads in 2009. 

The faucet is on. The providers are starting to trickle in.

More than a year after the CRTC announced new players would soon freshen up the wireless market – and only three months after WIND Mobile made a bid to become our saviour from the Bell/Telus/Rogers stranglehold – a new discount network can be seen on the horizon trying to save Canadians cash.

Public Mobile announced today it will launch in Toronto and Montreal this May, basing its service on a budget, unlimited talk-and-text plan for $40 a month.

When you buy something, you're trading hours of your life to acquire those goods and services.

So, is it worth hiring a housekeeper or a gardener to try and hang to a bit more of that time? What about a dog walker or a painter? 

Well, it all depends on what you figure your time is worth and how important you view the task.

Economists have labelled this the “comparative advantage” dilemma and it’s worth thinking about – particularly if you and your partner find yourself with different priorities.  

Right now, thousands of Canadians are on a beach and you’re not.

Want to make matters worse? Canuck vacationers, despite the big cash they’re dumping on jet ski rentals, Jeep island tours and snorkel shots, are actually being fiscally responsible.

Um, whuh?

Alright, they’re not being that  responsible, but Canadians fraternizing in the U.S. – or any destination that accepts the greenback, which is everywhere – have gotten a nice boost by the surging loonie, which is helping them Spring Break without Spring Breaking the bank quite as much.

Leave a fresh carcass in the wild and what’s gonna happen? Vultures, right? There will always be vultures.

Indeed, you could see the writing on the wall last December when the Wall Street Journal  reported Americans, dejected and out of work, were fleeing the Sun Belt hotspot locales where once they flocked.

But with thousands of depressed homes listed at incredibly discounted prices, it wasn’t a question of when houses in the Floridas, Arizonas and Nevadas of the U.S. were going to get snatched up. It was a matter of who’d get them.

Enter: the Canadian investor.

The next time your cell phone beeps, don't be surprised if it's a digital coupon rather than your mother.

Retailers are excited by the target-marketing possibilities of electronically delivering personalized offers to your phone.

Annoying? Perhaps, but if you’re so inclined using that voucher just got a whole lot easier.  

It pays to worship James Cameron.

By now, we all know the box office power of Avatar, but who knew the 3D epic could actually turn a struggling business to gold?

According to a Reuters report today, the force behind the highest-grossing film of all time helped IMAX Corp., the big-screen Canadian theatre chain, post two dominant quarters after an unimpressive run.