Blogs

My week started with the following family conversation:

Me: Hi Dad (I call my in-laws Mom and Dad out of respect), Happy Birthday!

Dad: Thanks. You know I lost $300,000 last week.

Me: Yes Dad, we talked about this last week. I know it is a lot of money, but it will be alright. Your portfolio is mostly in high quality corporate bonds; they will be fine. There is just a lot of uncertainty in the market. You don’t need to sell them...

Twitter feeds, blogs, Reddit, email pop ups, CNBC, Jim Cramer. In a world awash with information, it can be difficult to discern the relevant from the irrelevant. This is problematic when it comes to organizing one's time and making decisions, as studies have shown that too much information can actually impair a person's ability to... Click here to read full article.

Resources are the investment focus of the Gravitas Short-Duration Flow-Through 2017, so we expect questions about commodity markets from advisors and their clients. Many feel cautious. We believe this perspective requires a counter-point. David Fickling discusses the missing volatility in commodity markets of late, plus we provide a graph that can be shared... Click here to read full article.

Typically, commodity prices go through longer bear market cycles compared to bull market cycles while the opposite is usually true for stock prices. While Canadian equity markets are slightly off the record highs set in February 2017, commodities, relatively speaking, are dirt cheap.

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The grocery and retail sectors were shook up last week with the news that Amazon has agreed to a $13.7 Bill (US) all-cash deal to buy Whole Foods Market, the high-end US organic grocery chain*. While we wrote up a quick reaction immediately following the news release, we had an opportunity to think through the online retail and grocery space in the time since then.

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The Liberal government announced changes in their Budget on March 22, 2017 that affect your personal finances.

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As many have come to appreciate, Great Britain’s vote to leave the European Union was far more than a question about
Europe. The results indicate it was just as much an anti-establishment backlash in response to voter frustrations over wage stagnation and inequality. The Brexit vote exemplifies the wave of populism that is sweeping developed Western nations, with long-term implications for the European project...

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In the world of low probability events occurring and having wide-ranging outcomes, Britain’s decision to exit the EU is a big one. As big as Lehman/AIG/Greek default? We don’t think so, but policy response from central banks is likely necessary to determine shorter-term market direction.

We’ve seen significant global market volatility in the last few days, mainly as a result of the Chinese government’s decision to devalue their currency. This action was a signal to global markets that China’s GDP growth is weakening by more than forecasted.

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It appears that the jury is now out in the case of Greece vs. Club Euro. The jurists are the Greek public. On July 5th, a country famous for not paying taxes, will ask it citizens if they should accept higher taxes, significant budget cuts, retirement age reforms and pension reductions, all imposed by foreign governments. The current Greek government is telling them to vote no.

Hmm, I wonder which way it will go?

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