Happy Friday from BMWM!

 

We want to wish everyone a fun and safe Victoria Day long weekend.

The markets have been holding fairly well to date in 2023, coming off a tough 2022 which was one of the worst years for bonds historically.  Inflation and interest rates have caused most of this turmoil after a large influx of cash into the economy as a result of the pandemic.  Now, as the U.S. Debt ceiling has once again hit its threshold, we all watch to see if there will once again be a last-minute agreement in congress.  RBC believes this is the scenario that is likely to play out but cautions on the long-term impact of the larger deficit.  For more information on this, see today’s PAG Bi-Weekly Update.

The Current Account (click here to read) discusses the potential of a U.S debt-ceiling deal, the world preparing to breach a major global warming threshold, Ecuador’s president dissolving congress to trigger a snap election, and the demand for convention centres rebounding after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taylor’s word of the week is beta, meaning “a measure of how an individual asset moves when the overall stock market increases or decreases”. For example, the S&P 500 has a beta of 1. An investment which is more volatile than the S&P 500 would have a beta greater than 1, while an investment which is less volatile than the S&P 500 would have a beta less than 1.

Have a nice long weekend,

 

Brenda, Betina, Taylor, and Matty