By Scott Ronalds

Below are some observations and musings on the week that was – a new feature that we’ve aptly coined The Back Hand.

The world’s eyes are on Toronto this week as the G20 Summit nears. While the thought of a weekend of politics and bureaucracy was enough to make the city’s belly rumble, T.O. wasn’t the only thing shaking this week.

The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) was shaking its finger at Morningstar after the mutual fund research firm released a study on stewardship that didn’t sit well with them. Can’t we all just get along?

Bay Street was shaking with excitement with the IPO of Smart Technologies, a Calgary-based world leader in producing interactive (electronic) whiteboards. It’s nice to see a public offering of a Canadian success story as opposed to IPOs of mutual funds disguised as closed-end funds.

The French were collectively shaking their heads at their national soccer team after one of their players staged a mutiny against the coach, resulting in an early exit from the World Cup. There may be no “I” in team, but there’s a pronounced one in equipe.

Taxpayers in B.C. and Ontario were shaking their fists at their provincial governments for introducing the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), which comes into play next week.

American lawmakers were shaking from too much caffeine following a 20-hour conference session (which culminated this morning) that laid out the terms for several new financial reforms on a wide range of issues, ranging from derivatives to mortgages to credit cards.

And finally, Henrik Sedin was shaking at the knees when he heard his name called as the winner of the Hart Trophy (MVP) at the NHL Awards. Don’t be so humble, Hank, you deserve it.