Escalating Trade Tensions Puts U.S. on Brink of Recession The economy goes in cycles—expansion (growth), peak, and contraction (recession). It always has and always will. That doesn’t mean global economies don’t try and do everything possible to prevent a recession. Unfortunately, trade tensions between the U.S. and China, the two biggest economies, seems to be […]
Category Archives: Blog
03
Sep
Sep
Ongoing economic risks are sending precious metals considerably higher. At the time of this writing, gold was trading at $1,551.80 an ounce; up 20.7% year-to-date and at its highest levels since April 2013. Silver prices have also been on a tear, up 16.7% this year at $18.50 an ounce. What’s juicing precious metal prices? Gold […]
31
Jul
Jul
U.S. and Global Economy Cooling From the sidelines, everything looks great on Wall Street. Stocks are up with the S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Toronto Stock Exchange all at, or near record levels. The stock market is a forward-looking indicator, so that bodes well for growth prospects. Or does it? Precious metals […]
23
Jul
Jul
The U.S. economy is churning out, for the most part, solid economic data and the broader markets are at record levels. In fact, many Wall Street analysts are predicting the S&P 500, which recently broke the 3,000 level for the first time, could surge past 3,200. Yet, amongst all of the bullish sentiment, two well-known […]
16
Jul
Jul
Bank of Canada Maintains Lending Rate of 1.75% The Bank of Canada announced it was leaving its key interest rate unchanged at 1.75%. The central bank modified its economic outlook for the Canadian economy, saying it expects slightly stronger growth in 2019 and weaker growth in 2020. The dour outlook is being fuelled by the […]
As we enter the second half of the year, our Chief Options Specialist, Jason Ayres, provides a market overview for July 2019. Here’s what is happening in the market: The old saying that “the market climbs a wall of worry” seems to be quite fitting as uncertainties surrounding trade relations between the U.S. and China […]
09
Jul
Jul
U.S. stocks closed out the best June in decades with momentum carrying into the second half of the year. The S&P 500 is at record levels and stocks closed at a record high on July 3, for the third day in a row. The TSX meanwhile is less than 1% off a new record close. […]
Welcome to our monthly review of the markets! Here, our Chief Options Specialist, Jason Ayres, who is also CEO of Croft Financial Group, provides a market overview for June 2019. Watch the video below to see how the market conditions are impacting investors.
02
Jul
Jul
S&P 500 at Risk of Third Quarter Correction on Weak Economic Data The S&P 500 is less than one percent away from a new record, but there are growing concerns that the broad-based index could lose 10% of its value in the third quarter, and officially, send it into correction mode. The reason? Persistently weak […]
27
Jun
Jun
Record Stock Market Levels Mask Earnings Reality The S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and TSX are all trading at, or near, record stock market levels. On the surface, how can this be anything but good news? But if you dig into the data even a little bit, you’ll see that North American companies […]
