- Apr 11, 2016
EQUITIES COMMENT – “Oh! What a Quarter”
After a rocky start to the year, the TSX Composite ended up having its best quarterly return since 2014 and was one of the top performing stock indices in the world. The TSX earned 4.5% including dividends for the quarter but over the past year, it was still down with a loss of 6.6%. So far in 2016, the strongest sectors are Materials (mining) and Telecommunications. Materials stocks benefited from a strengthening in prices for gold and other minerals. Telecommunications s
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- Apr 11, 2016
FIXED INCOME COMMENT- “Lower for longer…again”
The global economy entered 2016 with a similar outlook to 2015. In particular, world economic growth is projected to be approximately 3.2% in 2016, roughly matching 2015. The low global growth can be attributed to developed economies maintaining moderate growth and emerging market economies shifting to a slower growth trajectory. Global risks from 2015 have carried over to 2016 and continue to impact financial markets. These risks include: slower Chinese demand, falling commo
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- Apr 11, 2016
ECONOMIC COMMENT - “Fasten Your Seatbelt”
Our optimism at the beginning of the first quarter was confirmed as the securities markets produced solid gains. The TSX Composite with dividends increased 4.5%, a nice recovery from calendar year end 2015 of -8.3%. The S&P 500 was up 1.4% but in Canadian dollar terms, it was down -4.9%. The Canadian dollar increased from $0.72 US to $0.77 US during the quarter. Furthermore, the Canadian bond market did well increasing 1.4% for the quarter while 91 day T-bills rose 0.13%. Th
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