RRSP Deadline
The deadline to contribute to your RRSP and to receive a tax contribution receipt for the 2020 taxation year is Monday, March 1st. Cheques can be mailed to our office made payable to RBC Dominion Securities or if you wish to transfer the money electronically, please contact Ann-Marie for details.
2021 Tax Free Savings Account
Did you know that we are able to transfer TFSA accounts held at other financial institutions to us? We offer many investment options, such as purchasing stocks and bonds that banks are unable to offer. Please contact us if you want to learn more.
COVID-19 Update
Globally, cases now exceed 100 million, while the death toll now exceeds 2 million.
The Good News
We seem to be through the worst of the winter surge with the global daily case count now on the decline from more than 800k cases/day a couple of weeks ago to around 600k/day currently. In addition, we had news this morning on the JNJ single dose vaccine. While the headline reads “66% efficacy”, which is well below that of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines, when you look beneath the hood, the data is more positive. The JNJ vaccine was 85% effective in preventing severe cases of COVID and 100% effective in preventing hospitalizations that led to death. Further, it is a single dose vaccine (as opposed to two dose for Pfizer/Moderna) and is much easier to handle than the Pfizer vaccine and thus easier to distribute. The one negative appears to be that the vaccine was less effective against the South African COVID strain (~57%).
The Bad News
The rollout of the vaccine, especially in Canada, remains behind where we should be/need to be. Let’s look at our updated chart and then comment:
By this time next week, Israel will have vaccinated more than 50% of its population, whereas Canada will likely be around 3%. And while geography plays a role, there needs to be a much greater effort on the part of the Canadian government to not only procure supply, but also to get needles into people’s arms.
Market Update
It was a volatile week with the U.S. and Canadian markets seesawing back and forth and ultimately closing lower. For the month, the TSX looks to close roughly flat after briefly eclipsing the 18,000 mark for the first time during the month. Meanwhile, the U.S. market looks poised to close the month down ~0.5%, which disguises some very broad swings during the month.
Fun for the Week
The 5 Most Enjoyable Things We Have Watched on TV During COVID
Ted Lasso – Apple TV
The Queen’s Gambit – Netflix
Bridgerton – Netflix
Cobra Kai – Netflix
Lupin - Netflix
Best,
Matt & Ann-Marie