This week was marked by a return of volatility driven by renewed concern over the global pandemic. It comes after weeks of improving sentiment and growing hope that the worst of the health crisis may had passed and confirmation that the economic recovery had begun.

First, the good news. The provinces of Quebec and Ontario continue to see average new daily cases that are trending in the right direction. As a result, the situation in Canada is improving and has led to an expansion of reopening plans. The same can be said for much of Europe where mobility trends have been rising as lockdown restrictions have eased and there have been limited signs of any acceleration in cases. The exception to this appears to be Sweden and the Balkan region, where there have been spikes in new cases in Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia.

Elsewhere, the news has not been as encouraging. Central and South America remain the epicenter of the crisis. But, there are concerning trends in other regions too. More specifically in Southeast Asia and the Middle East where countries such as India, Iran, and Pakistan have seen meaningful increases once again this week. Meanwhile, in Russia, case trends have not accelerated but remain elevated.

The reemergence of volatility has reminded us that the path of the economic recovery will be uneven, difficult to forecast, and may remain below its full potential for some time to come.

Investors face the difficult task of staying disciplined in their decision making, focusing on their long-term objectives, and not getting influenced by the short-term swings in sentiment and prices. This challenge has been particularly relevant in recent months and holds true today. While we watch the week to week developments closely, and are constantly monitoring our portfolios for opportunities and emerging risks, we remain committed to our long-term approach that is focused on proper planning, asset allocation, rebalancing, and regular reviews of all positions.

Just yesterday, George Davis, Chief Technical Strategist in Foreign Exchange Trading at RBC Capital Markets, had an excellent 10-Minute Take on “How Renewed COVID fears rattled the stock market”. George speaks about how global stock markets plunged after the U.S. Federal Reserve issued grim economic projections for the rest of 2020 and beyond. Budding investor optimism was quickly replaced with the sobering reality of a weak economy and a jump in COVID cases in some U.S. states. Will we see the Fed intervene again? And what could the stock market rout mean for other asset classes? Click Here to hear George’s take!

In another piece published this week, Robert Hogue of the Macroeconomic and Regional Analysis Group, with RBC Economics goes into detail about the different speed, scale, and outcomes of re-opening the provincial economies.

Earlier this week, Mary DePaoli, RBC EVP and Chief Marketing Officer gave her opinion on how the business of sports is adapting to the crisis in the 10-Minute Take “Can pro sports stage an epic comeback?”

This week’s tip comes from Chan (Pictured below in her work from home office). Spending time with her husband and two kids is always top of mind for her, especially when it’s on vacation on a nice sunny beach in Cuba! Unfortunately, with the lockdown in place she has not been able to get away with her family, so instead she found an excellent piece on taking a virtual vacation through travel stories or old vacation videos!

Enjoy the warm weather and have a great weekend!