Money is a tool. It's something that supports your life!

April has come and along with it, the beginnings of spring! This month we bring you information about big changes in the portfolios. We are now fully invested and ready to ride the market waves efficiently and defensively!

Stephen gives his commentary on last month's market performance, as well as the holdings we've added to the portfolios and why. We also share some useful Insurance and Pension Income Splitting information in our Planning section.

Ashley gives her two cents about financial literacy through social media in her Millennial Minute, and she shares the next photo contest details! 

And, as always, we share our performance numbers in our 3 portfolios. 

Take a few moments to read over the blog, and of course, reach out to our team if you have any questions or concerns.

We're always happy to help!

Spring Photo Contest!

Last quarter's winners have a nice little gift card headed their way! Now it's time for another round of photos!

As we head into warmer temperatures, we would love to see what you love most about spring! Is it the planting season? The patio season? The de-cluttering of your home? Maybe you have a favorite travel destination (or a new one!) you just love to see as the weather warms up. 

Whatever makes you happy about this wonderful time of year, we want to see it! 

Ashley will get us all started by sharing her very early spring trip to the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico! Spring had arrived in the mountains before it arrived in Edmonton - but you can still see that frost line!

Send your photo submission to Ashley.Nichols@nbpcd.com with the subject line: Spring Photo Contest by May 15th to enter for a $100 gift card to a local restaurant of your choice (or leave the choice up to us! We'll send you somewhere nice)

 

Our Portfolio

**We hope you were able to listen to our newest Financial 15 episode: House Before Spouse? Stay tuned for a new Market Commentary with Stephen & Ken coming this month!**

The last week in March was very busy in the portfolios.

We invested almost all of our cash this month adding new EFT positions and rebalanced all current individual stocks back to 50% of their intended full weights.

We added the following ETF’s;

 

ZLU – Low vol US Equities             ZLB – Low Vol CDN Equities             ZUB – US Banks

ZJG – Junior Gold                           XLC – Communication Services       XLF – US Financials

XLU – Utilities                                XLP – Staples                                   XLV - Healthcare

SPY – S&P 500 – US$                     SXP – S&P500 – CDN$     

              

We added to these positions for the following reasons:

1. The failure of SVB bank made the Federal Reserve add liquidity to the system.
2. April is traditionally a strong month in the markets.
3. The bond market has gone from expecting the Fed funds rate to peak at 5.6% and stay above 5% well into the end of the year to one more hike and then cuts this year. This resulted in a dramatic drop in bond yields.
4. Technical double bottom bull flag closing neat its high.
5. Contrarian signals from depressed sentiment.

 

Returns on our 60/40, 70/30 & 80/20 Portfolios

Portfolio Analytics

The following chart shows various analytics on our portfolio:

Interesting Charts

1. Interesting returns on industries that have had major layoffs of employees over the last few months...

2. A good rule of thumb is to never judge the full year by first quarter performance. There is still lots of room to grow!

3. A good example of "room to grow": Even with a yucky start to 2022, the market was able to bounce back fairly strong

4. Homelessness is a global issue, and where the cost of living skyrockets, homelessness tends to skyrocket as well. Check out this chart, then check out Investopedia's article of "The 10 Most Expensive Cities in the U.S." - it provides more details. (And as someone who spent $58 Canadian on a BLT in San Francisco, I'm inclined to believe the stats!)

 

Listen Up! 

Sometimes it can be hard to give someone our undivided attention. Everyone has busy lives with a laundry list of tasks that need to get done that day, week, or month. However, to connect with those we have dialogue with, good listening is imperative!

We try and pride ourselves with great listening skills so we can understand your story, your concerns and your future dreams!

Take a look at the below info graph about the levels of listening - and be sure to keep our team in check whenever we reach out. We always want you to be listened to and heard!

 

Technical Comments

https://www.brookstradingcourse.com/price-action-trading-blog/

 

• The March monthly S&P 500 candlestick was a bull reversal bar closing near its high.
• Last month, we said that the prior 4 candlesticks were overlapping with alternating bull and bear bodies. Poor follow-through and reversals are more likely within a trading range.
• March broke far below February low but reversed to close at the range’s high and above the 20-month exponential moving average.
• The problem with the bear’s case is that they have not been able to create follow-through selling since September 2022.
• Since March’s candlestick is a bull bar closing near its high, odds favor April to trade at least a little higher.
• Monday is the first trading day of the month. The market may gap up at the open, creating a gap on the Monthly, Weekly and Daily charts. Small gaps usually close early.
• The candlesticks in the last 10 months are overlapping sideways which means the S&P 500 likely has transitioned into a trading range phase between 4300 and 3500.
• The last 5 candlesticks are overlapping with alternating bull and bear bodies. The S&P 500 is in a smaller tight trading range between 4200 and 3750.
• Poor follow-through and reversals are more likely within a trading range.
• Traders will BLSH (Buy Low, Sell High) until there is a breakout from either direction with follow-through buying/selling.
• Until the bulls can break far above August 2022 high, the broad bear channel may still be in play.
• For now, odds slightly favor sideways to up in early April.
• Traders will see if the bulls can create a follow-through bull bar in April or will the S&P 500 trade slightly higher but close with a bear body or a long tail above.

Millennial Minute

Twitter, Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit... 

Social Media has taken the world by storm and has opened up an entirely new industry: The Influencer Industry. And while there are many channels of experts who can give solid advice on any topic of interest, we always need to be wary of the information put out.

So, how do you figure out who has the right advice and who is simply blowing smoke? Well...

Click here to read this months' article!

And if you know of anyone who may find this article helpful, please feel free to share it!

 

Planning

Pension Income Splitting rules provide an effective, yet simple strategy to lower family taxes. You can reduce your overall family tax bill by taking advantage of a spouse's or common-law partner's lower marginal tax rate where retirement incomes are disproportionate.

Click here to read more about this tax planning opportunity!

 

Transferring Your Wealth Efficiently can be a long and taxing process. However, if your plan is to lend a helping hand to your children or grandchildren, it's useful to look at all avenues of wealth transfer - and insurance could be the most effective way to proceed!

Click here to read more about this Insurance Strategy!