Guiding you along your financial journey
Market Update All index returns are total return (includes reinvestment of dividends) and are in Canadian Dollars unless noted. Sources: *Sources: MSCI, FTSE, TMX, S&P The final quarter of 2024 was a mixed bag with many market indexes ending the year on a sour note as the uncertainty of a second Trump presidency took hold. Canadian stocks were mixed in […]
Market Update All index returns are total return (includes reinvestment of dividends) and are in Canadian Dollars unless noted. Sources: *Sources: MSCI, FTSE, TMX, S&P The third quarter of 2024 was an uncharacteristically strong one, with most equity and fixed income markets producing strong returns. The third quarter is historically the weakest quarter of the year, with September being the […]
Market Update All index returns are total return (includes reinvestment of dividends) and are in Canadian Dollars unless noted. Sources: *Sources: MSCI, FTSE, TMX, S&P The second quarter of 2024 was a mixed one, most equity market indexes were positive, with some exceptions. Canadian stocks were mostly down for the quarter, with the S&P/TSX Composite Index losing -0.5% for the […]
There is a lot of confusion when it comes to trying to decide when it would be the optimal time to take your Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS) payments. However, if you are able to answer a few simple questions, the decision may be easier than you think: 1) Are you still working? 2) Do you […]
Commentary As expected, the Bank of Canada left the benchmark rate at 5% at their last meeting and maintained the stance that it needs to see further progress that inflation is on the right path. Results from the Bank of Canada’s Q4 Business Outlook Survey released in January showed that high interest rates continue to soften consumer demand, but firms […]
Commentary Results from the Bank of Canada’s Q3 Business Outlook Survey released in October showed business sentiment was weak with high interest rates expected to weigh on consumer demand. Q3 GDP released at the end of November showed the economy contracted at a -1.1% annualized pace in the third quarter, wiping out most of the Q2 revised +1.4% increase. Many […]
Commentary Q2 GDP released in August showed the Canadian economy unexpectedly contracted at an annualized pace of 0.2%, much weaker than projections of more than 1% growth. Preliminary GDP data for Q3 also shows little growth. This suggests that rate hikes are starting to work. After a hike of 0.25% in July, the Bank of Canada left rates unchanged […]
Commentary Encouraging inflation data created a note of optimism that this interest rate tightening cycle is peaking. The narrative is how central banks can engineer a so-called Goldilocks scenario of cooling the economy without mis-stepping and becoming overly restrictive. Not too hot, not too cold. The concern is that inflation becomes ingrained and lasts longer than expected. Soft landing, hard […]