Insights

The biggest investing story of the first half of 2024 is how concentrated the US stock market has become. The five largest US stocks (Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Amazon and Meta Platforms) now comprise more than 27% of the S&P 500 Index – the highest concentration...

Some people naturally have a more pessimistic perspective than others. Such individuals often expect things to go wrong, even when all seems to be going well. While a healthy dose of skepticism can keep one vigilant to negative outcomes, always expecting...

At the beginning of every year, market pundits make predictions about where the S&P 500 and the TSX indices will end up based on how they see the economy and corporate earnings developing. And then a surprise (or ten) comes along. That is just the reality...

Following a challenging 2022, when stock and bond markets saw notable declines, much of the damage was repaired in the first seven months of 2023. By the end of July, the S&P 500 Index was up nearly 20%, thanks to significant gains among some of its technology...

It has been a rather extraordinary six months in the stock market thus far in 2023. It is not the absolute returns represented by the stock market indices that has been most unusual, it is how concentrated those gains were, particularly in the US. The...

The first quarter of 2023 had a few notable causes for concern. There was the collapse of two sizable banks (Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse), two more rate hikes by the US central bank, the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war, and elevated US-China tensions...

With the recent events regarding Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), some investors may have questions about what happened and what it means for financial markets. To help answer some of those questions, and to understand how SVB’s predicament was unique relative...

January 17, 2023 For investors that own a mix of equities and bonds, 2022 was a challenging year in the financial markets. While most people are accustomed to the occasional stock market downturn, the fixed income component of their portfolio usually...