April 30 Newsletter to Clients

The Data on “Sell in May and Go Away”

There’s a seasonal trade to “sell in May and go away” that some people follow. It requires an investor to sell their stocks in early May and then repurchase them back at the end of October. It’s not a strategy we employ for our clients. The data suggests that the market historically appreciates between early […]

How will the Market React if the U.S. Hits its Debt Ceiling?

The U.S. has a debt ceiling, which means it cannot borrow once the ceiling is reached. Today, it’s a staggering $31.4 trillion. In 2011, it was “only” $16.4 trillion. Because the U.S. Treasury borrows to fund everyday expenses, hitting the ceiling means that existing programs cannot be funded. To avoid this from happening, Congress must […]

The Next Bubble to Burst

The vacancy rate in the Canadian downtown office market is a staggering 18.4%, almost double its pre-Covid rate. In Toronto, it sits at 15.3%, the highest rate since 1995. Vancouver is at 10.4%, a level unseen since 2004. Many companies are walking away from their leases. According to CBRE, 10 of the last 12 quarters […]

March 31 Newsletter to Clients

“First Home Savings Account” to be Rolled Out this Fall 2023

Note: We mistakenly said that the Home Buyers Plan and First Home Savings Account cannot be used in conjunction. Thankfully, the two accounts can be used together to purchase your first home. A new tax sheltering account – the First Home Savings Account (“FHSA”) – was announced last year. Though it became available April 1, […]

Alphabet Is Worth Far More than its Stock Price

Last month, Alphabet (formerly Google) hosted an event in Paris to show off its new artificial intelligence chatbot, Bard. The event came one day after Microsoft made a similar presentation of its own AI technology. The market was not impressed and shares dropped over 7%, closing at $100/share. Some had higher hopes that Alphabet’s AI […]

Is the Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank a Repeat of 1907 or 2008?

Last week, the U.S.’s sixteenth largest bank, Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”), collapsed. Following Washington Mutual in 2008, SVB is now the second largest bank failure in U.S. history. As its name implies, SVB was highly concentrated to the technology sector. In fact, some estimate that half of all venture capital dollars flowed through SVB over […]

Nordstrom, We Hardly Knew Ye

Back in 2015, we all read the announcement that Target made the fatal decision to close its Canadian operations. At the time, that meant shutting down 133 stores and laying off 17,000 people. Three years later in 2018, Sears Canada closed its doors, eliminating 12,000 jobs. In 2022, Lowe’s sold its Canadian operations, including Rona, […]

2023 Has Been a Rocky Road So Far

While we are only two months into the year, the market has exhibited heightened volatility. In fact, the S&P 500 has moved more than plus or minus one percent in 46% of the trading days so far this year. This compares to 24% of the days since 1930 that posted a daily return which exceeded […]