Category Archives: Blog

Canada’s Inflation Cools, Pointing to June Interest Rate Cut

Canada’s Inflation Cools

After dealing with decades-high inflation, Canadian consumers are beginning to see the effects of the Bank of Canada’s aggressive interest rate hike policy. Statistics Canada announced that the annual inflation rate cooled to 2.7% in April, down from 2.9% in March. The lower inflation rate comes on the heels of slower growth in food prices, […]

Canadian GDP Loses Steam, Slows to Just 0.2%

Canadian GDP Loses Steam

Persistently high interest rates are taking a big bite out of the Canadian economy. In February, Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew just 0.2% on a month-over-month basis. That’s lower than the 0.3% economists were expecting and well below Statistics Canada’s own advanced estimate of 0.4%. On an annual basis, Canadian GDP grew 0.8%, well […]

Canadian Stocks Could Outperform U.S. Stocks in 2024

Canadian Stock

While most investors probably look to the major U.S. exchanges for the biggest annual gains, the TSX could still outpace U.S. stocks in 2024. However, that wasn’t what most analysts were expecting. After all, the S&P 500 rallied an impressive 22% in 2023 compared to the 5.8% growth on the TSX. That was then. It’s […]

Canadian Inflation Inches up to 2.9% in March, Raises Bets of June Interest Rate Cut

Canadian Inflation Inches up to 2.9

According to Statistics Canada, the country’s inflation rate inched up to 2.9% in March, juiced by higher gasoline prices. That’s up from 2.8% in February but still close to its 2% target. The March results were also in line with what Bay Street analysts were expecting. While the consumer price index (CPI) rose slightly, measures […]

Canadian Dollar Tumbles to Five-Month Low Against U.S. Dollar

Canadian Dollar Tumbles

Over the last two years, the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve have taken drastic steps to cool inflation. While unprecedented interest rate hikes have taken a toll on the Canadian economy, the U.S. economy is booming. We can see this playing out with the divergence between the Canadian dollar and the U.S. […]

Is the Canadian Economy Going to Rebound in the Back Half of 2024?

Canadian Economy Skirts Recession

It looks like the Bank of Canada will get what it wanted, a soft economic landing, in which growth has slowed considerably but avoided a recession. In less than two years, the Bank of Canada raised interest rates 10 times, from near zero to 5%. In June 2022, Canadian inflation hit its highest level in […]

Canadian Inflation Surprises to the Downside Again in February

Canadian Inflation

Canada’s inflation rate continues to surprise to the downside. After unexpectedly cooling to 2.9% in January, economists expected the headline inflation rate to rise to 3.1% in February. That didn’t happen. Instead, Canada’s inflation rate cooled to 2.8%. Mortgage and rent interest costs were the biggest driver of the inflation rate. After a 4% decline […]

Canadian Economy Avoids a Recession But Will Remain Anemic

Canadian Economy Avoids a Recession

Statistics Canada reported that the Canadian economy increased by 1% in the fourth quarter. This followed a decline of 0.5% in the third quarter. The fourth quarter increase in gross domestic product (GDP) means that the Canadian economy avoided a recession, which is defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction. How Is the Canadian Economy […]

TSX Trailing S&P 500 But an Integral Part for Canadian Investors

TSX Underperforming S&P 500

With a market capitalization of $3.5 trillion and 3,502 listed companies, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) is the largest exchange in Canada. It’s also the third largest in North America and the nineth largest in the world. Unfortunately, the TSX has been underperforming its American counterparts by a wide margin over the last decade. The […]