GWM Blog for Friday, June 7, 2024

 

Righting a wrong, settling in as a new team, and I just want my dog back.

 

I’m writing this blog on my flight from Phoenix to Toronto. Denise, Addison and I were in Scottsdale and Sedona last weekend to celebrate Denise’s birthday.

 

I purchased tickets to see Luke Combs (country superstar) in Phoenix this past weekend. We were righting a wrong. We had tickets to his concert in Toronto in Nov 2020, which was cancelled due to COVID and rescheduled to our honeymoon in Nov 2022. Geez. We weren’t going to make that new date either. The Phoenix concert was worth the wait as it was one of the best concerts we have seen…and we have seen a lot! It was also interesting to see the Arizona Cardinals football stadium, which is insanely large. Next up is Bruce Springsteen, Lainey Wilson, and Sebastian Maniscalco in the fall.

 

We headed up to Sedona for a couple of days as well to hike and to lounge by the pool. We did a six hour hike up Bear Mountain. Tough day of scrambling across rocks, hiking uphill for 2,000 feet, and managing the sun and 95 degree heat. It was worth it as the views were spectacular along the path and at the top. We are definitely going back one day for some more hiking and perhaps take a hot air balloon ride for a different perspective of the area.

 

The sad news is we lost Brunswick while we were away. We have been battling a virus in both Brunswick and Matilda for a couple of months now, sort of like a kennel cough only much worse. Matilda’s cough turned to pneumonia but not his. He seemed in much better shape than her, albeit he did appear a little off before we left. Nothing to raise any red flags though. Apparently, something happened overnight last Sunday and the sitters raced him to the emergency vet clinic where he eventually suffered a heart attack. Very weird for a healthy, three-year old dog. We are awaiting further information as to what actually happened.

 

We are heartbroken as a family. He was a really great dog. It is going to be hard coming home to just Matilda and we are not sure how she is going to take it. She’s had her own journey to health as she too was at the vet emergency clinic while we were away dealing with her pneumonia. Oh boy. We are also waiting test results for her next week to determine next steps towards getting her back to full health. Can’t lose two dogs at once.

On a more positive note, Nancy has officially retired. I had her back for the month of May to help with the transition. Fourteen years with our team. It has been a great journey and a lot of fun. We wish her and Paul the best for some fun travel and times ahead. They left earlier this week to drive down east for a month.

 

Leanne is settled in nicely. Don’t be surprised if you get a call introducing herself. Leanne’s financial planning background and knowledge of investments, taxes, and estate planning has already proven to be an asset. She has a great personality like Nancy as well. Feel free to reach out to her directly.

 

And of course, Jennifer and Paula are doing great and available for anything you might need. Jennifer has taken on additional trading responsibilities and Paula is back stopping us on all things admin. I am very thankful for all the members on my team as they truly are all aces.

 

I am going to need my team this summer as I have a couple of eye surgeries coming up. I discovered that I have a macular hole in my left (bad) eye. Yeah. The impact is that I can’t see well directly in the centre of my eye. The hole surgery causes a cataract, so they send me to deal with that first. It is what it is and I remind myself that I am not dying. At least the eye can be repaired.

 

I pretty much have everything under control at the house and chalet as to maintenance and gardening. I am also caught up on most things at work as we head into the traditionally quiet summer months. The biggest thing for me will be no activity or heavy lifting after each surgery. I am not so good at sitting around. I had a goal to work out everyday for a full year, which is now stretching into more than half a year. I guess that will be slightly derailed, although I think I will try to do a lot of walking and perhaps hiking in the coming months as I recover.

 

As for the markets…the Bank of Canada cut rates this week by a quarter point. That was a nice break for Canadians. I am uncertain as to how deep they will cut rates overall, yet I expect there to be one or two more quarter point cuts by year end. The issue that is coming up again in the press is the pressure that Canadians are facing with higher payments on renewal of mortgage debt.

 

Recent OPEC oil cuts are putting downward pressure on spot prices which in turn is putting pressure on oil company stocks on the TSX.

 

I can’t believe a convicted criminal can run for President.  No more to say about that.

 

Overall, we are heading into summer, which is generally a slow period for the markets. I don’t see any real catalysts that would move them up or down for now. The strength of the global economy and potential for interest rate cuts continue to dominate the discussion as we wait for any signs that cuts are coming. In the meantime, we will sit tight and wait for any new developments. Overall portfolio returns year to date have been pretty decent as a side note.

 

I am sure there is a whole lot more to blog about as it has been a while, and I can’t recall any of it. I’m a little out of sorts having to go home to a house that is missing a family member. I know it is just a dog and Brunswick, Matilda and I do/did everything together. They are both always by my side so losing my boy is particularly hard. I keep thinking to myself, “I just want my dog back.”

 

Be well and enjoy the start to summer in the coming weeks.

 

Miles…