Economic Outlook for the World’s Largest Economies — (Canada most sensitive to U.S. and Chinese growth) U.S.—looking good after a very soft first quarter. Consumer sector, which accounts for 70% of growth, is benefitting from growing employment, rising wages, lower debt levels and improved housing prices. The potential for a Trump victory is the major cloud on the horizon. China—growth is steady around 6.5%. Monetary and fiscal stimulus is supporting growth. Concerns abou

The main event within the second quarter was the surprise vote from the UK to “Leave” the EU. Days prior to the June 23rd referendum, equity markets rallied in anticipation of a “Remain” outcome. Instead, the UK’s vote to leave the EU triggered increased economic and market uncertainty and was felt within all facets of capital markets; stock markets dropped, the US dollar advanced, bond yields flirted with record lows to name a few. Table 1 reflects the impact of Brexit withi

In our second quarter Economic Comment, we were concerned with the market volatility around the UK referendum to leave the EU and the US Presidential election in November. The surprise outcome by the British people to leave the EU was not expected. Capital markets and the British pound were rallying up until June 23rd. The negative reaction on the value of common shares and the currency is understandable. The value of Government bonds in the US, Japan, Germany and Canada rose

Investor Education Series Part 3 The world’s first exchange traded fund (ETF) was created within Canada in 1990, transforming the investment landscape and offering benefits of pooled investing and trading flexibility. Since inception, the Canadian ETF market has grown to approximately $90 billion as of 2015. In Canada, there are hundreds of ETF options available with a value of $87 billion. Globally, there are thousands of ETF’s with a value of three trillion U.S. dollars.