Try this at home

October 09, 2021 | Mark Ryan


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The leaves -- those bright, glorious hangers-on -- are making their way toward composting dirt, our potatoes are harvested, and our tomatoes are salsa for another day. The fall pause in stock values has… well, paused, for the week at least.

 

Meanwhile, maybe the cringiest episode on a Canadian beach since the close-up of Stockwell Day’s neoprened rear-end probably won’t stick to our boychild PM. But this is a financial email, and despite it all, this is a truly great place and time to be alive, news flows notwithstanding. We’re free to enjoy it or complain about its shortfalls, and most of us are richer than our parents, and largely unfamiliar with the “stomach growl.”

 

Globally: No Joe, it’s not free – Although coming to resolution, political wrangling over the U.S. debt ceiling took headlines. We also look at developments in energy prices and monetary policy.

 

Fall and market prices – A bit of a bounce back this week after a sluggish early fall. We look at what’s keeping institutional investors up at night.

 

Regional highlights: Government of Canada rates rise to highest levels since May; In UK and Europe, the energy crisis continues -- because we still drive cars to climate meetings; Another Chinese property developer misses a bond payment – in part because they were commanded to by their loving overlord protectors.

 

Read more hereGlobal Insight Weekly

 

Canada finds missing 3 million jobs in the crack of the couch. While looking for an old hairbrush, economists found 157,000 net new jobs for the month of September, more than double the expected lift. The Canadian economy has recovered the jobs lost during the pandemic, but the employment gains haven’t matched the pace of population growth over the past 19 months.

 

Canadian employment:

The improved employment gives the Bank of Canada the courage to keep their foot off the neck of already low interest rates.

 

 

 

Canadian Dollar vs U

Lots of factors impact our dollar against the US greenback, such as oil, interest rates, relative fiscal policies, and the price of cheese in Wisconsin. We’re in the high-ish zone now

 

 

Gone are the $1.30 per pound apples:

The problem with inflation (or one of them) is that it impacts the poor more than the rich, especially those on a fixed income. It’s the hidden regressive tax. If people are living pay-cheque to pay-cheque, and foods costs more, something has to give. This is doubly hide-i-pants’d by the fact that a carton of Oreos is now about 2/3rds the size it used to be but the price is still the same. That’s sneaky.

 

 

And here’s Friday fat-stat formula you can try at home:

 

The stretched bit of the last hole on your belt loop =

  1. the square root of the depth of the bum-print your couch, divided by:
  2. the length of the Covid crisis measured in two weekseses x 2, plus:
  3. the number of Netflix series you can recite off-heart, minus:
  4. the number of times our PM has been “truly sorry” since Mr. Dressup retired.

 

I couldn’t find a chart for it… but it makes sense eh?

 

Enjoy your cool, damp, gravy-soaked weekend with loved ones!

 

I might let the cat in tonight.

 

Mark.