Markets Distracted By the Trump Phenomenon
Jul 2018 Issue
It is difficult to think of a US President who has dominated the market’s psyche the way Donald Trump has. The sugar high of the Trump tax cut has been absorbed by the market and is now almost forgotten. Investors can certainly be excused for feeling anxious as their optimism…
Read moreTrade Friction & Sliding Markets
Apr 2018 Issue
Financial markets experienced some of the lowest volatility on record in 2017. The lack of gyrations in the market led some to call 2017 “boring” and others to complain that lack of volatility had reduced opportunities to buy good quality equities at attractive prices. However, 2018 is another story as…
Read moreWeighing the Impact of the Trump Tax Cuts
Jan 2018 Issue
As 2017 wound down, the Trump Administration was seeking out a large legislative win to point to. They certainly got one with the last-minute passage of its tax cut bill for both corporations and individuals. As the measure was signed into law by President Trump shortly before Christmas, the debate…
Read moreWeighing Stronger Global Growth and Higher Interest Rates
Oct 2017 Issue
As the current economic expansion edges closer to the decade mark, there seems to be a peculiar state of affairs developing in the financial markets. Specifically, investors seem to have gone from panicking at the mere thought of higher interest rates to a “What? Me Worry?” attitude. Some look at…
Read moreGridlock Not Sidetracking Economy—So Far
Jul 2017 Issue
With the first half of 2017 out of the way, investors are wrestling with mixed signals from the financial markets. Some fatigue seems to be setting in due to the state of politics in the US, Europe, and the leading economies of Latin America. In Asia, while there has been…
Read moreThe Crude Reality of OPEC’S Cartel
Apr 2017 Issue
A little over a decade ago, some investors began to question the relevance of the US Federal Reserve. Given the reputation that the US central bank had carved out for itself since the 1980s, this was a stunning turn of events for many. Eventually, the Federal Reserve took notice of…
Read moreTesting Trumponomics Against the Realities of the Federal Reserve
Jan 2017 Issue
As we have commented in prior first quarter commentaries, we are somewhat puzzled at the amount of energy Wall Street and the financial media expend into making annual predictions each January. This time is no different. Seldom do the predictions pan out and most major political, economic and geopolitical events…
Read moreDEBT: The Economic Challenge for the Next President
Oct 2016 Issue
Shortly after winning the 1992 presidential election, some commentators said that the problems facing the country were so large that Bill Clinton might end up wishing he had lost. At the time, the US was facing a budget deficit of $450 billion which was about 4.5% of GDP and an…
Read morePush for More Stimulus Ignores Risks of Japan’s Experience
Oct 2016 Issue
This September has been an eventful month for China. Apart from defending its assertion to vast areas of the South China Sea, it also hosted world leaders at the G20 Summit to discuss ways to raise global economic growth rates. All of the political leaders agreed that they needed to…
Read moreHas Vancouver’s housing market peaked?
Sep 2016 Issue
Naveen Gopal from Pacifica Partners speaks to Business News Network’s House Money host Greg Bonnell about why China’s looming credit bubble will have a significant effect on the Vancouver housing market. Please click below to watch interview.
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