The You First Blog

On Wednesday the Bank of Canada (BoC) announced its latest rate increase, lifting the overnight policy interest rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 3.75%. Most analysts had predicted a 75bps increase. The lower-than-expected increase represents a continued slowing in the pace of increases since the start of the rate hiking cycle. The 50bps move… Read More

As we all know, the tail-end of 2021 and 2022 so far have been challenging to say the least. Inflation – from supply issues, from COVID-related fiscal stimulus, from emergency rate cuts, and from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – has persistently been well above the Bank of Canada & U.S. Federal Reserve target mandates of… Read More

The new First Home Savings Account (FHSA) is expected to be rolled out in 2023 and once it has launched, every prospective first-time homebuyer will want to open one. A truly revolutionary new account structure, the FHSA is a best-of-all-worlds mix between the RRSP, the TFSA, and the Home Buyers Plan (HBP) programs: never has… Read More

Market Update – By The Numbers Here are the weekly and year-to-date figures for several major North American, European and Asian stock markets. North America Friday Close Weekly Change Weekly % Change YTD % Change Canada – S&P TSX Composite 20,111 -69 -0.34% -5.24% USA – S&P 500 4,228 -52 -1.21% -11.29% USA – Dow… Read More

It’s been a difficult first half to the year, with equities, bonds, precious metals and cryptocurrencies all suffering losses. Markets are grappling with issues like the COVID reopening, inflation, central bank rate increases, the Russia-Ukraine War, and recession risk. The charts below provide reason for optimism. As you’ll see, this is indeed an extraordinary decline… Read More