Defensive stocks serve an important purpose in portfolios, providing ballast in more volatile periods. We are referring to companies that are less exposed to economic fluctuations (particularly of the downward kind) and, therefore, have more visible...
April brought shaking to the equity markets and rattling to the bond market, with tandem declines for both asset classes. However, we saw continued rolling recoveries in housing, manufacturing and non-U.S. global economic growth, all of which support...
After decades of discussion, it finally happened: the Federal government raised capital gains taxes. However, the increase, which bumps the capital gains inclusion rate to 66.7% from 50%, only applies to individuals who realize more than $250,000 in...
As expected, Budget 2024 highlighted the government’s objective to increase the housing supply (3.87 million new homes by 2031) and to support renters and lower the costs of home ownership, through key measures such as an enhanced Canadian Mortgage C...
Lest you think you missed some major local news, the rate cuts to which we refer are not from the Bank of Canada (“BoC”) or the U.S. Federal Reserve (“Fed”). At least not quite yet....
Equity markets saw substantial gains in the first quarter of 2024 – many were up more than 5% on the year. The list of markets posting fresh all-time highs is long. Fixed income endured a mildly negative Q1, giving back some of Q4 2023’s outsized gai...
Global stock markets continued to defy various bearish accounts in 2023, and so far in 2024. With the notable exception of China, which is mired in a painful growth slowdown, major stock markets around the world, notably Europe (EURO STOXX 50), North...
February brought more positive macroeconomic data, which ranged from largely good to Goldilocks (not too hot, not too cold). The global economy continues to improve. Fewer investment gurus are predicting recession and the holdouts are finding it toug...
Heading into last year’s Federal Budget, Ottawa was fretting over the economy and how high inflation could damage household finances. Today, those pressures are less pronounced – inflation has cooled and the economy is proving to be resilient....
Everyone knows that markets can rise and fall, but that doesn’t make the ups and downs any easier to stomach. Your first instinct when markets drop might be to reach for an antacid and look for ways to cut your losses, but while that could provide so...