“Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value” – Joe Biden

Liberal Government Announces 2018 Federal Budget

On Tuesday, the Liberals and Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced their 2018 Federal Budget, the third budget of their term.

This budget is a bit of a mixed bag, with some changes but nothing drastic. Indeed, some have dubbed it a “placeholder” budget; the 2019 budget will probably be larger in scope in anticipation of a soon-to-follow federal election.

The Government expects to run a fiscal deficit through 2022-23, and Canada’s Debt-to-GDP is forecasted to decline to 28.4 per cent.

For those interested, you can read our full recap here.

Tax Checklists Have Been Emailed Out

Now that the 2017 RRSP Deadline has officially passed, we turn our attention next to the Tax Deadline.

All clients have been sent a tax reminder, including some notable changes for the 2017 Tax Year, and a link to the You First website’s Tax Centre.

As a reminder to our clients with non-registered accounts & income, you do not need to drop off your taxes until the week starting March 26th, to ensure that we capture all relevant income slips.

Self-employed clients do not need to file their returns until June 15th; however, you are still subject to any late-payment interest on your tax balance starting on May 1st.

Weekly Market Wrap-Up

North America

• The TSX closed at 15,385, down -254 points or -1.62 per cent over the past week. YTD the TSX is down -5.08 per cent.
• The DOW closed at 24,538, down -772 points or -3.05 per cent over the past week. YTD the DOW is down -0.73 per cent.
• The S&P closed at 2,691, down -56 points or -2.04 per cent over the past week. YTD the S&P is up 0.64 per cent.
• The NASDAQ closed at 7,258, down -79 points or -1.08 per cent over the past week. YTD the NASDAQ is up 5.14 per cent.
• Gold closed at 1,324, down -17.00 points or -0.53 per cent over the past week. YTD gold is up 1.07 per cent.
• Oil closed at 61.45, down -2.09 points or -3.29 per cent over the past week. YTD oil is up 1.70 per cent.
• The USD/CAD closed at 0.7765, down -0.0149 points or -1.88 per cent over the past week. YTD the USD/CAD is down -2.36 per cent.

Europe/Asia

• The MSCI closed at 2,090, down -27 points or -1.28 per cent over the past week. YTD the MSCI is down -0.62 per cent.
• The Euro Stoxx 50 closed at 3,325, down -117 points or -3.40 per cent over the past week. YTD the Euro Stoxx 50 is down -5.11 per cent.
• The FTSE closed at 7,070, down -174 points or -2.40 per cent over the past week. YTD the FTSE is down -8.04 per cent.
• The CAC closed at 5,137, down -180 points or -3.39 per cent over the past week. YTD the CAC is down -3.31 per cent.
• DAX closed at 11,914, down -570.00 points or -4.57 per cent over the past week. YTD DAX is down -7.77 per cent.
• Nikkei closed at 21,182, down -711.00 points or -3.25 per cent over the past week. YTD Nikkei is down -6.95 per cent.
• The Shanghai closed at 3,255, down -34.0000 points or -1.03 per cent over the past week. YTD the Shanghai is down -1.57 per cent.

Fixed Income

• The 10-Yr Bond Yield closed at 2.86, down -0.0100 points or -0.35 per cent over the past week. YTD the 10-Yr Bond is up 19.17 per cent.

Sources: Globe Advisor, Dynamic Funds, Franklin Templeton