Welcome to our blog!


Welcome to our blog!

Please check back here regularly for informative updates. We'll have a variety of topics ranging from what’s going on in the markets to wealth enhancing strategies that we can help our clients implement.

Friday, January 31, 2014

Fed decides to taper once again, but market has a different reaction this time around

By Justin Turner CIM, DMS®, CFP®

One day he may be remembered as the most important Fed Chairman ever and on his final day on the job Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve continued the tapering of its asset buying program by another 10 billion.  Given that they have cut $10 billion of purchases at back to back meetings, it is becoming increasingly apparent that they will end all asset purchases by the end of 2014.  

That realization combined with the mediocre data and earnings we have seen over the last month has sent markets lower, with the S&P down over 4% to start the year.  The good news is that the pullback at this point is still a healthy one, and the S&P rally that started 5 years ago is still intact.  If the S&P were to break below 1700 it might be cause for worry, but until that happens we are still clearly in the middle of a bull market. 

January was a bad month for most investors; perhaps February will bring a little relief as investors continue to digest earnings data and the potential positives of a future with less Fed intervention.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Is it time to get worried?

By Justin Turner CIM, DMS®, CFP®

Markets are having their worst week since the middle of 2012.  The DOW has fallen below 16,000 and the S&P is hovering around the 1,800 mark. Emerging market stocks and currencies are getting hammered. 

After an amazing 2013 it is not a surprise to see the market cool off, but to see it happen this early in the year comes as somewhat of a surprise, and may be a signal that even more pain is in store.  The good news for those of us invested domestically is that the Canadian markets have held on pretty well up until now.

A correction after the rally we have had is healthy and long overdue.  Let's just hope this isn't the start of a deeper sell-off and the end to the multi-year rally.


Friday, January 17, 2014

Could 2014 be Canada's time to shine?

By Justin Turner CIM, DMS®, CFP®

The last few years have been less than kind to Canadian’s investing domestically. 2013 wasn't a bad year at all, but watching the US markets take off like a runaway freight train has been a frustrating experience for many of us.  Could 2014 be different?

Although it is still early, Canadian markets have outperformed to start the year.  The TSX is up 2% year to date.  Compare that with the S&P 500 which is down 0.25% year to date and there is a little reason for optimism.  More importantly, the strength has been coming from resources with Potash and pretty much every gold stock leading the way.  The small cap index is up over almost 4% to start the year and there has even been some M&A activity, which could be very encouraging signs of things to come.

It might be a bit premature, but this could be the early makings of a 2014 which delivers outstanding returns for Canadian investors and new all-time highs for the TSX along with it.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Did the Fed act too soon?

By Justin Turner CIM, DMS®, CFP®

December job creation in the United States came in well below expectations prompting many to start second guessing the Federal Reserve’s decision in December to start tapering.   There is speculation that the Fed could halt their tapering, or even consider a return to stimulative measures which has caused gold to rally and the US dollar to take a hit against most of the major currencies.   The exception to that is, of course, the Canadian dollar, which is being sent even further down after a terrible jobs report.  Canada lost 45,900 jobs in December, which is almost equivalent to the United States losing half a million jobs in a month.  This is a horrible number, and the outlook for the Canadian dollar is looking dimmer by the minute.

The US stock market has had a lackluster start to 2014 but surprisingly enough the Canadian stock market has been an out-performer and is up almost 1% to start the year with resource stocks starting to show signs of life.


Friday, January 03, 2014

Happy New Year!

By Justin Turner CIM, DMS®, CFP®

With a very memorable 2013 behind us, we now look forward to 2014 and what it has in store. Will QE finally be wound up? Will the US market continue to outperform or will it be the rest of the world’s turn to shine? Or is the party finally over and we will have sideways or even negative markets in 2014?

The year has started off relatively flat and experts are pretty divided, with many predicting a repeat of 2013 carrying the S&P to over 2000 while others are predicting a deep and long overdue correction in 2014. In fact we may see both of these things happen in what may turn out to be an eventful 2014.