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 You First Blog
Nine months into 2022 and the market decline continues. The major economic factors behind this correction remain the same: high inflation, rising rates (to combat inflation), and commodity shortages resulting from the Russia-Ukraine War. Of course, the pandemic continues to impact the global economy. Even though the preceding 12 years were mainly positive for markets,… 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
How have markets performed in 2022? While markets prospered under the accommodative monetary policies brought on at the start of the pandemic, it now faces a change in policy. With U.S. inflation at a 40-year high, the market has begun pricing interest rate hikes from near zero to 3% by the end of 2022. This… Read More
It has been a bumpy ride so far this year, but the global economy and markets are capable of coping. The Russia-Ukraine conflict is concerning and continues to affect investor sentiment in the short-term. More rate hikes are coming to combat inflation, which will likely stay high in Q2, but should cool later in the… Read More