Good afternoon,

 

High Plains Drifters: The picture is my brother and me, circa 1975 (I’m on the right) at likely the most picturesque stop along the Chilcotin river. The updraft from canyon there is face-burning, a dusty opened over door of sweet hot sage. That day was pure adventure for us, with no objective except to see where the river went. Its milky-blue flow, its crunchy landscape, a few trees, some trout (Dollys) and lots golden grass amidst mountains of dry clay riverbanks. And nobody… nobody else. Almost. But there was actual, really-and-truly Indians (as we all called our first nations brothers then), living on it’s pristine banks, fishing. Untethered from whatever it was we were running from.

 

Flood Warning: Today, not too far from there, these 49 years later, a massive landslide dams this stunning river in its tracks, creating a sort of Chilko Lake 1.2.  As and when the dam breaks, we could get anything from a new river channel to a catastrophic wall of mud and water rolling all the way toward Hope.  The picture below reveals the unfolding situation.  Be careful out there.  

 

 

Book of the Week: Yesterday we learned that a prisoner exchange had been negotiated, most famously resulting in the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. For an insightful and highly-readable chronical of the nasty world of post-Soviet Russian mendacity, see Red Notice, by Bill Browder. For money and politics nerds like me, it also has a healthy dose of communism-come-capitalism, spiced with love, humour and even some Cold War intrigue.

 

Markets/Insights:  Soft-landing?  Hard-Landing?  No Landing?  Still downstream from the post-Covid overshoot

 

RBC Wealth Management's latest investment newsletter.

 

The Fed waits, but is it too late?

As expected, the Fed held off on a rate cut this week at a time when more global central banks have already begun the easing process. But as Fed policymakers await more economic data before a likely September rate cut, the data may already be signaling the Fed is too late.

 

Regional developments: Canadian GDP growth stabilizing; U.S. earnings results beating expectations; Bank of England delivers first cut in four years; Bank of Japan raises benchmark interest rate

 

Full read here: Global Insight Weekly.

 

Enjoy your weekend!

 

Mark