North American equities performed exceptionally well in 2024, even doing better than what analysts expected. After rising 24.3% in 2023, the S&P 500 rallied an impressive 23% in 2024, marking its best two-year run in 25 years. Those are big gains, especially in light of the fact that the S&P 500 has gained around 10.5% […]
Tag Archives: stock market
24
Sep
Sep
The U.S. Federal Reserve made a big splash, announcing an oversized interest rate cut; a move that is expected to have a big impact on U.S. and Canadian financial markets. Over the last 14 months, the Fed held its key lending rate at a two-decade high of between 5.25% and 5.50%. But with inflation winding […]
17
Sep
Sep
September is living up to its reputation as being one of the worst months for the stock market. After a volatile start to August, which saw the S&P 500 and TSX both tumble more than 5%, North American stocks experienced another big drop in early September after U.S. core inflationary data came in higher than […]
24
Jul
Jul
Last year was supposed to be a difficult one for stocks. It wasn’t. In 2023, the S&P 500 rallied an impressive 24%, the Nasdaq surged 43%, while the TSX registered a return of 8.12%. Heading into 2024, analysts continue to be cautious predicting 5% to 10% gains for the S&P 500. How Will Stocks Perform […]
25
Jun
Jun
After a year in which the Canadian economy experienced virtually no growth, the economy performed better than expected in the first quarter of 2024, with real gross domestic product (GDP) advancing 1.7% on an annual basis. That’s slower than the median forecast of 2.2% and below the Bank of Canada’s forecast of 2.8%, but it’s […]
04
Jun
Jun
The performance of Canada’s main index, the TSX, and its U.S. counterparts, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, has taken Bay Street and Wall Street by surprise. After a robust 2023, in which the TSX rallied 8.1%, the S&P 500 grew 24.2%, and the Nasdaq advanced an impressive 43.4%, the outlook for 2024 was positive, but […]
14
May
May
When the economy is booming, it’s not uncommon, or always newsworthy, if the stock market hits a new record high. In fact, there are times when the S&P 500 seems to hit a new record high every few weeks. But in this economic climate, one plagued by stubbornly high inflation, interest rates at decade highs, […]
19
Feb
Feb
The TSX, Canada’s main stock market index, is made up of some of the largest companies in the country, so it’s natural to expect the performance of the TSX to track Canada’s economic growth. That’s why investors pay close attention to economic gages like gross domestic product (GDP), inflation, employment levels, consumer spending, and the […]
08
Nov
Nov
Halloween may be over but that doesn’t mean it isn’t still scary on Bay Street and Wall Street. On July 27 the S&P 500 hit a 52-week high of 4,240, putting it up 19.5% year-to-date. The big moves defied logic, with inflation stubbornly high and interest rates still on the rise. But then stocks started […]
17
Oct
Oct
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said that the central bank’s aggressive interest rate policy is working at bringing down inflation. After raising its key lending rate 10 times since the start of 2022, from 0.25% to 5.0%, Canada’s inflation rate has retraced from a 39-year high of 8.1% in June 2022 to 4.0% today. […]
