Historically, the last two weeks of February tend to be weak for the market – and the trend has continued this year. There is no shortage of news items, from tariff talk and other domestic and global events, which continue to put investors on edge and questioning what to do. These external factors are what we classify as noise – my job is to cut through it and find the facts. Only the facts will generate results.

     While a lot of noise has been made about the tariffs, there have been tariffs in place for years. Don’t get me wrong – as more tariffs are implemented they will affect our country and others. Already, the threat of tariffs has caused Canadian markets to weaken. As Canada deals with both tariffs and political uncertainty this year, we are searching for growth outside our borders for now.

     The U.S., on the other hand, is pro-business, and the new administration is putting policies in place to reduce regulation, encourage more manufacturing and lower taxes, all of which are positive for U.S. stocks. The main themes remain prevalent – the continued build of data centers, huge demand for power, and sustained growth in applications for use in Artificial Intelligence. Recent weather events in the U.S., including hurricane damage and the forest fires, have put even more pressure on housing and this sector looks very positive for future growth. We are currently seeing more opportunities in the U.S. for our portfolios and are placing more funds here.

     Europe has been showing signs of life despite all the noise. Add in the potential for the Ukraine-Russia conflict to come to a long awaited end and this could prove to be another good catalyst for Europe. We are seeing opportunities to
place funds here as well.

     China is also looking much better, and with the recent softening of noise against China from the U.S., its market has been doing quite well. We are not directly in China but if they do better, we own a lot of companies in Canada and the U.S. that will benefit.

     To sum this up, 2025 is going to be a cut-through-the-noise kind of year. We will avoid getting caught up in headlines and instead use the facts to drive our decisions and stick with the above themes for growth. After all, our job is to get responsible growth while preserving capital.