Good afternoon, getting right to it, here’s this past week’s financial news:
Eyes wide shut?
It looks like it’s back to basics for the U.S. House of Representatives and the clock is ticking. The stopgap funding deal keeping the government open expires in mid-November, leaving the chamber little time to select a speaker and pass a budget. We unpack the difficulties to averting a shutdown and highlight the ripple effects to financial markets.
Regional developments: Stronger-than-expected economic data pushes Canadian long-term yields higher; Risks associated with the sharp worsening of the situation in the Middle East; European luxury goods’ growth normalization path; China considering new stimulus with higher deficit to jump start growth
Full read here: Global Insight Weekly.
And now for something completely different…
There always seems to be a pretty good appetite for information regarding wills and estates, etc, so an upcoming online seminar we’re providing might interest some of you.
Details Follow:
Where there’s a Will, there’s a way:
Canadian Perspectives on Estate Planning
Actionable advice to overcome obstacles to complete your estate plan
Presented by RBC Wealth Management Canada
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 | 1:00 p.m. ET
Having an up-to-date Will and powers of attorney are the cornerstone of an effective estate plan. Yet, a recent report published by the NIA in collaboration with RBC Royal Trust notes that the majority of Canadians do not have these key documents in place, despite the potential consequences to yourself and your loved ones.
Join us to understand how you and your family can overcome the barriers we face when planning our estates. Our panel dispels the widely held myths associated with estate planning and discusses how to approach difficult end-of-life/estate planning conversations in a compassionate way and the actions you can take at any stage of life to complete your powers of attorney, Wills and estate plan.
Speakers:
Moderator:
Naomi Powell, Managing Editor, Economics and Thought Leadership RBC
Panelists:
| Leanne Kaufman, President and CEO, RBC Royal Trust | Michael Sherman, Head of Behavioural Economics, RBC | Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Health Policy Research and Co-Chair of the National Institute on Ageing, Director of Geriatrics at Sinai Health System and the University Health Network in Toronto |
To participate in this virtual event:
- Click on the “Register” button above.
This event is taking place on the BrightTALK platform. If this is your first BrightTALK event, you will need to provide your name, email and password of choice. Please ensure to set your time zone and your email preferences.
The S&P 493? The relatively okay performance of the S&P500 has been largely carried by a few tech stocks this year, and indeed for several years now, as shown in the chart below.
Canada’s unionization rate (see chart below from TD Economics): “One measure of the flexibility of a labour market is how quickly it responds to economic shocks both on the way down and on the way back up. By this metric, the U.S. is the clear winner. While the U.S. tends to shed jobs faster than Canada, it also recovers them more quickly. Structural differences in labour laws between Canada and the U.S. likely explain its relatively greater flexibility. Canadian employment laws have more conservative covenant terms governing things like termination, severance policies and employment litigation. At the same time, higher rates of unionization in Canada make layoffs more difficult but may also make rehiring more challenging.”
And lastly…
A few decades ago, I was assigned to a project that resulted in me attending Jewish services every Friday in the LA area for several weeks in a row, attempting to learn more about their culture. Though I was an outsider, their nearly universal reaction was to receive me with great warmth, and never made me feel unwelcome. In fact, one of my only fears was that the doting grandmas would pinch my cheeks and scold me for being so skinny. “Eat! Eat! What’s the matter – you got worms or something?” Also, this was common: “You’re from Canada!? I have a cousin in Montreal, Muriel Goldberg - do you know her? She’s lovely.”
It’s been a sad week watching the horrific scenes unfold in the Middle East. I have a good friend who may be eligible for military service there, and I can only imagine what this is doing to him and his family. Although markets have not yet been impacted significantly, the tragedy weighs heavily on me, as I’m sure it has many of you.
Let’s hope and pray for better days ahead.
Mark