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Headline inflation was a welcome surprise this morning, landing at 2.8% versus the 3% consensus. Just 12 months ago, it was hitting horrifying 4-decade highs of 8.1%

Today's average core reading was less impressive, however. It eased only 1/10th to 3.8%. Until core descends into the BoC's 1-3% control range, it'll be restless nights for team Macklem at the BoC.

The good news:

• Headline inflation typically leads core lower
• CPI in the 2% range should take inflation expectations down another notch

There's no shortage of vanilla lenders in this industry. We're talking primarily about non-banks that compete mainly in the insured/insurable space and offer similar products and service levels as their rivals.

Becoming un-vanilla isn't easy when you're a non-bank forced to rely on securitization and third-party banks for funding—like all your competitors. We get that. But the biggest broker-channel lender in North America (perhaps the largest lender on earth, as measured by originations) is also a securitizing lender. And it's found multiple ways to differentiate itself.

We're about to examine one such way. It's a strategy—in the age of YouTube and social media—that makes you wonder why more Canadian broker lenders don't do the same.

As reported Tuesday, Canada's bank regulator plans two changes to the capital requirements of banks and default insurers. They take effect November 1 and could limit the availability of fixed-payment variable-rate mortgages at banks.

According to industry executives we interviewed last week, here's the likely outcome.