Guiding you along your financial journey
Voters in the UK put stock markets into a bit of a tumble after they narrowly voted to leave the EU. North American stock markets fared better and recovered their losses by the end of the month. The biggest loser was the British Pound which hit a 31 year low just after the vote and has continued to drop.
Stock markets took a breather in May, as did the Canadian Dollar, while real estate in Canada’s major cities did not. Oil continued to rise, briefly hitting US $50 per barrel.
Oil rose sharply in April, helping the Canadian Dollar rise to levels not seen in almost a year. Canadian stocks were also helped by oil prices, particularly the S&P/TSX Venture index which had its best month ever.
Stock markets around the world rose in March with Canada leading the way. The Canadian dollar had another strong month and the new federal government revealed their first budget with a headline grabbing deficit.
Stock markets seemed to stabilize in February, giving some comfort to investors after a rocky few months. The Canadian dollar retreated quickly from its lows of 1.45 to the USD that were reached in the middle of January, while oil recovered to the mid $30 range.
Stock markets had another bad month in January. The Bank of Canada left interest rates unchanged despite analyst predictions and the Bank of Japan joined the negative interest rate club.
Stock markets had an uncharacteristically bad December. The US Federal Reserve finally raised interest rates, while the Bank of Canada left interest rates alone.
Volatility continued its decline in November from the high levels seen in August and September. Performance was flat to negative on most stock markets and commodities had difficult month.