October bucked the seasonal trend of being a poor month, as equities rebounded strongly since the market bottomed on October 13th when US CPI (inflation) surprised to the upside. Too many market participants had hedged equity holdings going into that CPI report, betting against stocks. When they took off the hedges after the report, stock indices exploded higher on the day, with the S&P 500 rallying 5.5%.
September was another volatile month, with central banks continuing to create volatility as a direct result of the mistakes they have made over the past 15 years, which we will explain below. The S&P 500 fell 9.3% in USD but only fell 4.8% in CAD (due to a 4.5% gain in the USD vs CAD), while the TSX Composite fell 4.2%.
Stock markets recovered in March with fears of an escalation of the Ukraine war fading, the TSX Composite gained 3.7%, while the S&P 500 (in CAD) increased 2.6%. The Canadian Universe Bond Index had one of the worst quarters ever, falling another 3.0% on the month and 7.0% for the quarter resulting in poor performance for the traditional 60/40 portfolio consisting of sixty percent equities and forty percent bonds.
- Month in Review - February 2022
- Month in Review - January 2022
- Month in Review - December 2021
- Month in Review - October 2021
- Month in Review - September 2021
- Month in Review - August 2021
- Month in Review - July 2021
- Month in Review - June 2021
- Month in Review - May 2021
- Federal Budget 2021: “Finishing the Fight” and Beyond
- Introducing Laurier Private Equity – Invest Like a Pension
- Christmas 2020 Update
- Market Update: November 6, 2020
- Market Update: September 2020
- Market Update May 26, 2020
- Market Update May 8, 2020
- Market Update: April 9, 2020
- Market Update: March 27, 2020
- The Market: Paul's Perspective Q1, 2020
- Understanding Alternative Investments