The month of September saw surprisingly warm temperatures for this time of year, and we have seen surprisingly good markets as well. September historically has been challenging for North American markets however this
year delivered a good number of positive catalysts.

One of the biggest was the Federal Reserve lowering rates by 50 basis points from the expected 25 basis points. Inflation has dropped off to acceptable levels and jobs remain strong in the U.S. which allowed the Feds to take this action. They have also suggested that more rate cuts will be coming into the next year if all continues as expected.

The next catalyst was the pivot by the Chinese government to implement a huge stimulus program in order to get their lackluster economy going.  This came as a surprise, and it provides another positive to equity markets.  China still plays a big part in our oil and energy markets as well as metals and minerals and this will help Canadian equities. Other than this recent Chinese stimulus giving a short-term bounce in these areas, Canada continues to struggle. We are in a different situation than the U.S. as our economy is weak and weakening and more rate cuts are coming. We need some political stability and job growth to get things going.

The conflicts with Ukraine and Russia continue and the escalating issue in the Middle East is very concerning. Then we have a presidential election in the U.S. this November and with markets that are not cheap, it warrants us to be a little cautious. I do feel any pullbacks will be purchased as the long-term trend continues to favour equity markets.
We do still have a strong economy in the U.S. with the build out of future data centers and the increased demand on power supplies. The stimulus in China should provide more tailwinds to certain sectors in the markets and we are looking for pullbacks to take advantage of these long-term themes.