Hot... Steven Hudson, 36, CEO, Newcourt Credit Group Inc.: Recent acquisitions are fuelling Newcourt’s rapid rise up the ranks of North American non-bank financial players (currently No. 5 with a bullet), while Hudson polishes his image on the social circuit with high-profile cultural sponsorships, including the Renoir exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada.

... Not John Cleghorn, 56, CEO, Royal Bank of Canada: An ardent desire to be a big-time player in insurance is stymied as Cleghorn lets London Life slip from his grasp (Great-West Life took the prize), and a burgeoning CIBC is threatening the Royal’s cherished, decades-long status as Canada’s biggest bank.

Landmark Switch Erstwhile goldbug Peter Munk, 69, burned by his blind faith in the Bre-X virtual gold play and by stubbornly stagnant gold prices, is redoubling his interest in real estate. Munk’s TrizecHahn Corp., which has recently emerged as the largest commercial landlord in Houston and No. 2 in Washington, D.C., is busily adding landmarks such as the CN Tower and Washington’s fabled Watergate office complex to its 55-million-square-foot portfolio of 71 commercial properties in North America and Europe. – David Olive

What you call your company can determine whether it flops or flourishes

When it comes to picking a really memorable name for your company or product, Naseem Javed, president of ABC Namebank International, a New York- and Toronto-based company that specializes in corporate nomenclature, has three pitch-perfect rules: Don’t shelter under someone else’s umbrella – you can still get hosed (the Banana, Pineapple and Cherry high-tech companies that sprouted soon after Apple became the plum of the orchard have since wilted on the vine); don’t get too clever with the natural structures of the alphabet; and choose a name that will work globally, even if you start out with no more than local ambitions (when Vicks cough drops entered the German market and it was revealed that “vicks” is slang for sex, the company had to go with a soundalike, changing the “v” to a “w”).

So important is a company’s moniker, Javed believes, that a poorly chosen name will almost certainly result in a poorly performing company. In 1905, Rolls-Royce introduced a car that could not exceed 20 miles per hour. The “Legal Limit” enjoyed a limited life. And in 1987, United Airlines chose to devise a new name through focus groups. The result, Allegis  a name Donald Trump said sounded like “the next world-class disease” – lasted only a year.

Corporate and product names are the single most important aspect of corporate communication and advertising today,” Javed stresses. “If you have a bad name, you’re helping the competition.” – Laura Pratt

Ten years after it all started, Canadian businesses reporting that they’ve profited from free trade outnumber by nearly four to one those that say business is worse. B.C. respondents report the most benefits, while Ontario has the highest number that say they’ve done worse in the free trade era, according to a poll of 568 business owners done exclusively for Report on Business Magazine by Dun & Bradstreet Canada. Nearly seven out of 10 concerns report there’s been no change: Free trade has neither helped nor harmed their business.

Companies with more than 250 employees have the largest percentage of respondents – 45.5% – who believe their businesses are faring better since free trade.

How antique furs are being made into warm and fuzzy memories

It’s always a bear market for Wendy Donchi of Millarville, Alta., but that’s fine with her. Her home business – recycling old fur coats into teddy bears – has been growing since she made her first ones in 1993 for her sister and friends. Now, she has customers from across Canada and the U.S. wanting their mothers’ and grandmothers’ old furs turned into one-of-a-kind bears.

“My clients tell me stories about the women who owned the coats,” says Donchi, who tries to capture something of the owner’s personality in her designs. That, and a distinctive scent of perfume that often still clings to the fur, provides a special connection with the owner.

A typical bear is 46 centimetres tall and costs about $300; a full-length coat can yield up to three bears. Donchi uses any type of fur, but mink works best because the hide ages better.

Business, which comes mainly from word of mouth, gets more bullish as Christmas gets closer. – Leslie Goodson

BONS MOTS