The You First Blog

Recapping the major finance stories of 2023

May 29, 2023
 Anthony & Frank's Update, Bank of Canada, Economy, Federal Reserve, FHSA, Inflation, Interest Rates, Investments, Mid-Year Outlook, The Markets
 Frank Manzo

The promising start to 2023 continued for investors in April as stocks posted more gains, bond yields were stable, and inflation cooled again. However, concerns remain around the direction of central bank interest rates, the debt ceiling, and consumer spending. Here’s a summary of the main events that steered the markets. Markets are up since… Read More

Market Update: Reasons for Optimism

July 8, 2022
 Economy, Frank's Update, Inflation, Interest Rates, Investments, Mid-Year Outlook, The Markets
 Frank Manzo

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

First Half 2020 Market Update – Charts of Interest

July 24, 2020
 Bank of Canada, Client services, Economy, Federal Reserve, Frank's Update, Inflation, Interest Rates, Investments, Mid-Year Outlook, The Markets
 Frank Manzo

Last week, we presented our Q2 2020 – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) blog post. Today, we would like to present the first half 2020 market update with some charts of interest. 1. 2020 Equity returns year-to-date The first half the year saw a continuation of market increases until late-February, when COVID-related fears took hold of… Read More

Q2 2020 – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

July 17, 2020
 Anthony & Frank's Update, Bank of Canada, Client services, Economy, Federal Reserve, Inflation, Interest Rates, Investments, Mid-Year Outlook, The Markets, You First Financial
 Frank Manzo

We hope everyone remains healthy and well. We would like to answer some frequently asked questions (FAQ) on the current state of markets and the global economy. We culled responses from various economic strategists and portfolio managers. As usual, we are dealing with a mix of positive and negative data and ultimately, “the virus has… Read More

2019 Mid-Year Outlook

July 12, 2019
 Anthony & Frank's Update, Brexit, Client services, Economy, Federal Reserve, Financial Planning, Free Trade Agreement, Interest Rates, Investments, Mid-Year Outlook, The Markets, You First Financial
 Frank Manzo

“We really can’t forecast all that well, and yet we pretend that we can, but we really can’t” – Alan Greenspan 2019 Mid-Year Outlook During this time of year, most investment firms release a mid-year or 3rd quarter market outlook. As usual, some indicators are supportive of a rising market, while others are not. We’ve culled… Read More