“I've never worked a day in my life.” Tony Bennett

Good morning, I hope the weekend was a wonderful one!

As you may have heard, the legendary jazz musician Tony Bennett died in New York last Friday at the age of 96.

As a lover of many genres of music, I have a particular appreciation for the origins of blues and jazz, which had, of course, eventually led me to Tony Bennett. The true renaissance man had a unique style that transcends traditional boundaries. Bennett’s genre encompasses the realms of classic pop, jazz, swing, bolero, and R&B soul, building his career by recording staples of the American Songbook. Bennett said he reached a career “pinnacle” in his 30s when Frank Sinatra described him as “the best singer in the business.”

“That quote changed my whole life,” Bennett said in his memoir Tony Bennett: The Good Life. His idol’s praise, he said, was “probably the most generous act that one artist has ever done for another.”

Like Sinatra, Bennett released any chance to collaborate with performing artists from Count Basie and Duke Ellington to Nat King Cole, he embodied a love for jazz all his life and said improvisation and singing “in the moment is most important,” declaring he never sang a song the same way twice.

While he received many accolades as a singer, what you may not know is that Bennett was also an accomplished painter. Bennett described himself as "a perpetual student of learning" in a 2009 interview with Smithsonian magazine. Even as his music career took off with hits such as "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," Bennett said he would alternate between singing and painting, picking one back up when he needed a break from the other. "It would be a big lift," he told Smithsonian magazine. "It created a state of perpetual creativity. There is no need for vacation or to retire."

The life of Tony Bennett was an ever-evolving journey, from his time on the frontline in Germany in World War II, he struggles with stress and addiction, to his revived career with the likes of Elvis Costello, K.D. Lang and Lady Gaga that introduced a new generation of young listeners to the songs and jazz numbers he sang all his life.

“To me, life is a gift, and it's a blessing to just be alive. And each person should learn what a gift it is to be alive no matter how tough things get.” Tony Bennett

We can look back at the beautiful life of Anthony Dominick Benedetto and find our own lessons of Wisdom, Wealth, Wellness and Well-Being from Tony Bennett that we can apply to our own journey, and the way we approach our time.

A few lessons that I’ve gleaned from the Legendary Mr. Bennett

• Energy flows where attention goes, focus your time what you love
• Constantly focus on unleashing your creativity
• Perseverance is power
• Live in your moments
• Surround yourself with those that elevate us

Tony Bennett had a Zen like approach to life, a stoic wisdom that kept him with a constant thirst for knowledge, even into his final act. “No matter what age you are, there's a lot of room for learning.”

In 2021, Bennett’s family announced that he had Alzheimer’s disease. As Fyodor Dostoevsky once said, “It is not the brains that matter most, but that which guides them – the character, the heart, generous qualities, progressive ideas”

Some homework this week…..take a moment, find one of your favorite songs to listen to, and enjoy the emotions and memories it carries. We can all use some time to reflect on the idea that all benefits in life come from compound interest, whether in money, relationships, love, health, activities, or habits.

"How you live depends on which seeds you water.” Jack Kornfield

And now, to the Markets

Speaking of compounding interest, it has been a busy start to the summer. The Bank of Canada raised interest rates as expected. Inflation figures in the U.S. suggest pricing pressures continue to ease. Meanwhile, the second quarter earnings season has officially begun. We also recently received updates on the employment front in both Canada and the U.S. Overall, the labour situation in North America, despite marginal changes, remains healthy. We discuss this more below.

The Canadian economy added 60,000 jobs in the month of June, predominantly in the retail, manufacturing, health care and social services sectors. The unemployment rate increased from 5.2% to 5.4%, an uptick largely driven by a growing labour force as Canada’s population surpassed 40 million for the first time. Wage growth registered at a healthy 4.2%, but that represented the slowest pace in over a year. According to the latest outlook survey by the Bank of Canada, labour availability has become less concerning for businesses. This is a notable change from recent years when access to labour was a dominant issue for most businesses.

Meanwhile, the U.S. added 209,000 jobs in the month of June, led by the government, health care, social services, and construction sectors. While that figure was slightly lower than expected, it was offset by a near-historic-low unemployment rate of 3.6% and wage growth of 4.4% that exceeded expectations. The headline data suggest the job market remains tight, even with a slowing pace of job gains. The 6-month moving average of monthly new jobs, which was close to 445,000 a year ago, is now down to roughly 278,000. Layoffs across the technology sector and some larger companies have garnered a lot of media attention but appear to be contained as the trend of weekly initial jobless claims, which refer to claims for unemployment benefits filed by newly unemployed individuals, has only gradually been moving higher this year. All this suggests that like in Canada, the U.S. labour market remains healthy and stable, with pressures that are slowly moderating.

Much of the North American economy’s resilience to date stems from a strong employment backdrop. Consumer demand, particularly for services, continues to be strong despite elevated interest rates and prices, thanks to plentiful jobs and rising pay. Emerging signs suggest companies who were recruiting intensely just a few years ago have shifted their plans. Some have taken things further by announcing layoffs. We expect this trend may persist and potentially lead to broader deterioration in the employment picture as more interest rate increases work their way through the economy. This could strain consumer demand and force more companies to recalibrate their workforce. In other words, the pendulum of job creation may be beginning to swing the other way, albeit slowly. For these reasons, we maintain a cautious approach in managing our client portfolios and are patiently waiting to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.

Enjoy the beautiful summer week this week and remember the words of the late Mr Tony Bennett “If something is good, it's always good. You don't have to change it.”

Be well & enjoy the moments

Derek