Black Swans are rare as are some of the global events of 2016-Brexit, Trump win and the Italian Constitutional Referendum to name a few. Albeit slow to start, global growth did pick up in the second half of the year to meet estimates of 3.1%. The rebound was primarily driven by accommodative monetary policy, increased fiscal spending, recovering commodity exports and expanding industrial production in advanced economies. Moving into 2017, these factors should continue to sup

Onward and Upward The strength in equities during 2016 was a big surprise for many market watchers. We have not seen more than a modest pullback in stocks since the Brexit vote in June. Contrary to normal seasonal patterns (strength in the spring and weakness in late summer/fall), the TSX has been in a steady uptrend for six months. Stocks are benefitting from increased buying due to an improved economic outlook that has a lot to do with Trump’s proposed spending plans. A