Guiding you along your financial journey
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 […]
Commentary The second quarter of 2023 saw confidence return to the US banking system with volatility receding, putting the spotlight back on inflation and central bank rate increases. The Bank of Canada (BoC) increased the benchmark interest rate in June by 0.25% after holding steady in March and April. Many had expected the rate rises to end at 4.75% but […]
Commentary In Q1, US-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank experienced bank runs as clients withdrew billions of dollars in deposits. Those were the 2nd and 3rd largest banks to fail in US history (neither were in the top 10 largest banks though). Then one of the largest Swiss banks, Credit Suisse, was forced to merge with UBS […]
Unfortunately December didn’t give us the Santa Claus rally that we were all hoping for, the markets were more of a Nightmare Before Christmas.
November was another good month for equity markets, and a good one for fixed income markets as well.
October was a good month for equity markets, but a mixed one for fixed income as central banks continue to raise interest rates.
September was a follow on of the declines seen in August, as almost everything declined across both equity and fixed income markets.