Monday morning briefing: 30,000 reasons to love the Dow
Canada’s economy expanded 40.5%, annualized, over the third quarter of 2020. This was a record expansion that followed a record 38.1% drop in the second quarter. While gross domestic product is within about 5% of its pre-pandemic level, making up that 5% difference might be difficult and could take some time. With COVID-19 cases rising […]
December 7, 2020
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Monday morning briefing: Industrial profits surge in China
Elon Musk recently overtook Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, for second spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Mr. Musk now trails only Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, for richest person in the world. Elon Musk is now worth approximately US$127.9 billion. Most of his net worth has been derived from Tesla Inc., which will soon be joining […]
November 30, 2020
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Monday morning briefing: Bitcoin bouncing back
Cash is apparently king in Canada. According to a report from CIBC, Canadian households and businesses have compiled a record amount of excess cash, totalling $170 billion ($90 billion for households and $80 billion for businesses). Government support, particularly CERB and CEBA, has bolstered these high levels of household and business cash. Additionally, poor economic […]
November 23, 2020
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Monday morning briefing: What’s the no-deal?
The world received some excellent news last week about a potential vaccine for COVID-19. Pfizer Inc. said its vaccine, developed alongside BioNTech SE, showed positive results from a large trial. The vaccine appeared to be more than 90% effective at preventing COVID-19. Importantly, no serious safety issues were found. Global equity markets surged higher on […]
November 16, 2020
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Monday morning briefing: Manufacturing soars
Canadian cannabis companies got some positive news last week, which helped lift share prices. The news may open up more of the U.S. market for these Canadian companies. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo expressed his desire to legalize recreational cannabis in 2021. Furthermore, optimism rose that five more states may remove restrictions to marijuana […]
November 9, 2020
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Monday morning briefing: Sharp rebound
Technology stocks that had previously been outperformers came under pressure last week. These companies included a number of tech giants that announced relatively strong quarterly reports, but pointed to some uncertainty as a result of the pandemic. Amazon.com Inc. reported solid sales results, but said profitability could be challenged by the spread of COVID-19. Twitter […]
November 2, 2020
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Monday morning briefing: Services sector slipping
The European services sector weakened in October, according to a preliminary estimate from IHS Markit. This marked the second straight month the sector contracted.
October 26, 2020
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Monday morning briefing: Vehicle sales making a comeback
In Canada, new motor vehicle sales were 172,000 in the month of August. This marked the fourth straight month of gains following the substantial fall that occurred earlier in the COVID-19 outbreak.
October 19, 2020
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Tuesday morning briefing: Deferrals pushing down insolvencies
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, personal insolvencies have dropped markedly, largely in response to mortgage and other credit product deferrals, which have helped ease the burden on highly leveraged households.
October 13, 2020
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Monday morning briefing: Job cuts rising in the U.S.
Announced job cuts in the U.S. rose 2.6% to 119,000 jobs in September.
October 5, 2020
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Monday morning briefing: U.S. real estate demand building
Existing home sales rose to 6.0 million units in August, the highest level since 2006.
September 28, 2020
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Monday morning briefing: Cineplex’s not-so-excellent adventure
Cineplex’s revenue dropped 95% year-over-year during the second quarter of 2020. Since the beginning of the year, its stock price has dropped 76%. Can the theatre business regain its footing?
September 21, 2020
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Monday morning briefing: A bicycle built for gains
There was big news on Wall Street last week. Citigroup Inc. announced Jane Fraser will become CEO in 2021 after current CEO, Mike Corbat, retires. Jane Fraser will become the first woman to be CEO of a major Wall Street bank. Across her career at Citigroup, she has headed the company’s Latin American operations, consumer […]
September 14, 2020
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Wednesday morning briefing: Tech taking over the Dow
The Dow Jones Industrial Average made its biggest component changes since 2013, signalling strength in the information technology sector and weakness in energy.
September 9, 2020
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Monday morning briefing: Q2 GDP was down, way down
Canada’s gross domestic product plummeted 38.7%, annualized, during the second quarter of 2020. How long will it take the Canadian economy to recover?
August 31, 2020
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Monday morning briefing: The $2-trillion company arrives
It was a monumental week for Apple Inc. The company surpassed a market capitalization of US$2 trillion on August 19, becoming the first publicly listed U.S. company to do so.
August 24, 2020
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Monday morning briefing: The recovery begins in China
The Chinese economy is recovering but will a slowdown in retail sales activity hinder the accelerated growth China has been used to?
August 17, 2020
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Monday Morning Briefing: How low can yields go?
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated some individual and business trends, including increased work from home and online shopping activity. The movie industry has also been significantly impacted by the pandemic. Production of many movies has been halted, while cinemas remain closed, resulting in the delay of feature presentations. Home video streaming services such as Netflix […]
August 10, 2020
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Tuesday morning briefing: McDonald’s not lovin’ it
U.S. economic growth plummeted in the second quarter of 2020 in response to lockdown measures. Gross domestic product shrank 32.9%, annualized, but was slightly better than the 34.5% decline economists had expected. Now the recovery is expected to begin, but how quick will it be? Rising COVID-19 infections in some states are forcing reopening efforts […]
August 4, 2020
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Monday morning briefing: Concerned consumers
Let’s play ball! Major League Baseball had its opening day last week, with other major sports leagues returning to play – or kicking off their seasons – in the next few days and weeks. Sports is a significant contributor to local economies, as fans buy tickets and purchase concessions, while hotels and local restaurants benefit […]
July 27, 2020
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