Category: Market Summary

Written by Samuel Buddy-Wiseman Barker & Steven Klos    Summary US and Canadian markets ended the week lower following updates on the coronavirus outbreak that spread fear about global economic disruptions. The S&P500, DJIA and NASDAQ indices closed down 0.85%, 1.11%, and 0.82%, respectively, while the TSX gained 0.09%. Before the outbreak, markets were consolidating recent gains as investors wait on a big earnings week ahead. The markets are also trying to digest the unusually high valuations we are seeing in large-cap stocks and the lower-yield environment we are seeing in fixed-income markets. The Bank of Canada held its first policy meeting last week, lowering their fourth-quarter forecasts due to weak consumer spending data. Analysts predict increased market volatility ahead as trade war disputes and spreading concerns of the coronavirus shock markets.   Spotlight: Everything you need to know about the Coronavirus Symptoms: According to Health Canada, the typical coronavirus … Continue reading Market Watch Week of January 20th

Written by Samuel Buddy-Wiseman Barker & Steven Klos  Summary   Major North American Indices closed the week off with record highs after President Donald Trump officially signed “phase one” of the trade deal. Terms of the deal included a commitment from China to increase spending on manufactured goods, energy, agricultural products, and services totalling $200 billion over the next two years. The signing of the deal removes some uncertainty in the market however future trade issues will likely drive market volatility. The DJIA, S&P500, Nasdaq, and TSX are up 20.26%, 26.46%, 33.74%, and 14.6%, respectively, over the past twelve months. US housing starts accompanied by solid retail numbers sparked confidence in the economy, with housing starts up 17% in December to hit a thirteen-year high. Record-low unemployment and strong job growth are equipping consumers to drive the economy and ease worries of a possible recession. Technology, Telecom, and healthcare sectors led the gains, strongly supported by Alphabet Inc. who joined the trillion-dollar club on Friday. Energy, … Continue reading MarketWatch

Written by Samuel Buddy-Wiseman Barker & Steven Klos  Summary   Major North American Indices closed the week off with record highs after President Donald Trump officially signed “phase one” of the trade deal. Terms of the deal included a commitment from China to increase spending on manufactured goods, energy, agricultural products, and services totalling $200 billion over the next two years. The signing of the deal removes some uncertainty in the market however future trade issues will likely drive market volatility. The DJIA, S&P500, Nasdaq, and TSX are up 20.26%, 26.46%, 33.74%, and 14.6%, respectively, over the past twelve months. US housing starts accompanied by solid retail numbers sparked confidence in the economy, with housing starts up 17% in December to hit a thirteen-year high. Record-low unemployment and strong job growth are equipping consumers to drive the economy and ease worries of a possible recession. Technology, Telecom, and healthcare sectors led the gains, strongly supported by Alphabet Inc. who joined the trillion-dollar club on Friday. Energy, … Continue reading Test

  Written By: Samuel Buddy-Wiseman Barker & Steven A. Klos North American indices ended the week positively with the TSX gaining 0.08%, the S&P 500 rising 0.85%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.32%. Both the S&P 500 and the TSX finished Q1 with their strongest quarterly performance in nearly a decade, gaining 13.07% and 12.6% respectively. Despite continued struggles with the new NAFTA deal, market growth over the quarter was driven by higher than expected earnings results, the Bank of Canada and U.S. Federal Reserve’s hold on interest rate hikes, and strong hope for a US-China trade deal in the coming weeks. Commodities performed quite well, WTI Crude oil closing at $60.14, surging 30% over the week amid OPEC’s production cuts.   The Canadian federal deficit is expected to total nearly $19 billion at the end of the fiscal year, higher than what we saw previously. There was … Continue reading Weekly Market Update (March 25-March 29)

Written By: Samuel Buddy-Wiseman Barker & Steven A. Klos Major indices across North America experienced a volatile week, eventually closing lower on Friday. The TSX is down 0.3%, S&P 500 down 0.8%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.34% as well. Investors seem to be worried about future economic growth. Not all sectors were down, with technology shares pushing up all week. The Federal Reserve System has expressed that they will be holding back short-term rate hikes with concerns regarding global growth.   The yield curve between US 3-month and 10-year treasury bills inverted for the first time since 2007. This means that long-term interest rates have a lower yield than short-term interest rates on debt instruments of the same credit quality. This sprung fear on millions of investors, as it is believed to be a major indicator in predicting recessions. You can read more about this topic in … Continue reading Weekly Market Update March 18-March 22

Co-Written by: Samuel Buddy Wiseman-Barker & Steven A. Klos Major indices across North America struggled to gain ground this week with the Dow Jones down -1.17%, S&P 500 down -1.12%, and the TSX down -0.45%. The week started off with optimism as the US-China trade talks were thought to be “in final stages” however, there was no official news to back this claim. As a result, the TSX among other indices recorded their first substantial loss of 2019. The depth of the economic slowdown has been formally acknowledged by the Bank of Canada, suggesting that interest rates will remain on hold until further consideration. Positive corporate profits amid favourable interest rates advocate that stocks will continue to rise, however, future growth may not be as steep as we experienced over the first two months of 2019. Both US and Canadian job reports for the month of February stunned the market, … Continue reading Weekly Market Update (March 4 – March 8)

Written By: Steven A. Klos Canadian and U.S stocks continued their bullish trend over the week but with less growth as markets consolidated recent gains. As February came to an end it marked the best start to the year for both the TSX and S&P 500 since 1987 with the indexes gaining 12.98% and 11.84% over the past two months respectively. The U.S government announced that it would delay the March 1st deadline for additional tariffs on Chinese goods, signaling progress in China-US trade talks. Despite the news, stocks reacted minimally as the delay was most-likely already priced-in, suggesting that investors are now focused on the materialization of the trade agreement. Canada’s economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter delivering an annualized gain of 1.8% for 2018, weak in comparison to the 3% gain we saw last year. The economy expanded at a pace of 0.4% over the final three … Continue reading Weekly Market Update (February 25-March 1)

Written By: Samuel Buddy Wiseman-Barker The market saw modest gains throughout the week with the help of resumption of US-China trade talks next week. Trump’s signing of a bill to delay the government shutdown also played a large factor in the easing of investors worries. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a 3.13% gain, S&P 500 was up 2.53%, and the TSX made a gain of 1.31%. Unusually weak US retail sales were generally perceived as short-term, overshadowed by positive trade outlooks. The energy sector led the TSX in conjunction with an increase in WTI crude prices. The Canadian technology sector was also buoyed by the strong earnings reported by Constellation Software. Looking ahead, this week’s earnings reports will include 42 companies traded on the TSX, including Magna International, Royal Bank of Canada, Loblaws, and Hydro One. Oil helped boost the Canadian dollar early on in the week, however poor … Continue reading Weekly Market Update (February 11th – February 15th, 2019)

American equity markets moved back into the green, after retreating the previous week. The NASDAQ performed the best out of US indices, setting new intraday highs on Friday. The S&P 500 closed up at 2,786 on Friday – a 3.54% gain for the week. Gains in the US market were led primarily by the tech, financials, industrials, and materials sectors. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released positive economic news this week, announcing that the US added more job in February than originally expected – in addition to a slowdown in the growth of hourly earnings. Slowing of the wage growth helped reduce the previous inflation worries in the markets. Investors still expect the Fed to gradually increase interest rates, regardless of the slightly decrease in earnings growth. President Trump finalized imposing tariffs on both aluminum and steel imports this past week, clarifying that Canada and Mexico would be exempt, contingent … Continue reading Weekly Market Update (March 5 – March 9, 2018)