Be Happy During the first quarter of 2017, Canadian stocks turned in their fifth straight gain and made a new all-time high. The majority of other global equity markets also posted positive returns for the period. Encouraging signs of a synchronized global economic recovery have buoyed the earnings outlook for stocks. The accompanying graph shows the Global PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) which measures the economic health of the manufacturing sector. The underpinnings for st

Over the 6 months ending January 2017, Canada’s GDP has grown at an average rate of 4%. Examining the most recent data (January 2017) Canada’s GDP grew 0.6% month over month; almost double what economists originally forecasted. We anticipated a sharp pickup in economic growth in the third quarter of 2016 after the very slow growth and the Fort McMurray fires in the first half of 2016 however, the continued strength has been a surprise. For the year as a whole, GDP grew 1.4%.