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July 31, 2024 | Inflated Prices Increasingly Weigh

Policymakers and economies face a similar challenge globally. After the 2008 meltdown,  short-term rates were intentionally suppressed to incentivize credit growth and consumption at the expense of savers and productivity-improving investments. Now, we are paying the longer-term costs of those short-term focused choices. As debt and unaffordability weigh on spending and employment, excess capacity and […]

July 30, 2024 | Central Banks Easing into a Recession

David Rosenberg, founder and president at Rosenberg Research, and Ed Devlin, founder of Devlin Capital, senior fellow at C.D. Howe Institute. and former head of Canadian portfolio management at PIMCO, join BNN Bloomberg to share their outlook on the economy and the markets. Here is a direct video link. 

July 29, 2024 | Danielle on The Jay Martin Show

In this episode of The Jay Martin Show, host Jay Martin sits down with Danielle Park of Venable Park Investment Counsel to explore the current state of the Canadian real estate and bond markets. Danielle provides in-depth insights into how negative yields have driven the Canadian home price bubble, the lagging effects of recent rate […]

July 24, 2024 | Hoisington Q2 Review and Outlook

Hoisington’s Q2 Review and Outlook is now available; see Monetary and Fiscal Extremes. One of several standout charts shows the US Net National Savings Rate since 1929, negative in 2024 for only the second time ever, as the federal budget deficit (dissaving) exceeds the total of household, corporate and foreign savings. Hoisington notes that, as in […]

July 23, 2024 | Canada’s Economy Feels Like a Recession

Canada’s June unemployment rate of 6.4% was up 160 basis points from the cycle low of 4.8% in June 2022. Since the 1970s (as shown below courtesy of RBC), Canada has never had this trough-to-peak rise in the unemployment rate without the economy going through a recession (blue bars). The increase following the 2000-03 dotcom […]

July 22, 2024 | US Recession in Motion?

The US Conference Board of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI Index) declined for a 30th month in June (purple line below since 1959, courtesy of Advisor Perspectives) and is now -14.2% from the cycle peak in December 2021. As shown, since 1959, an LEI contraction of this magnitude has never happened outside of an officially declared recession […]

July 19, 2024 | Electricity Produced by Renewable Power Dramatically Lowers Energy Waste

Electricity generated by renewable power reduces energy waste significantly and, therefore, global power needs. This critical fact is key to understanding the energy evolution unfolding. Fossil fuels still supply 80% of our energy. And people point to this number to say it’s impossible to switch to renewables, especially if we want to do it quick […]

July 18, 2024 | Loan Defaults Confirm Faltering Consumers

In the second quarter of 2024, loan loss provisions at the six largest US banks increased the most since 2020 and car repossessions in June (drivers over 60 days late on payments) rose 23% year over year and were +14% compared to the pre-pandemic first half of 2019. See Car Repossessions Surge 23% as Americans Fall […]

July 16, 2024 | Beware the “Relative Value” Trap

Over the past 32 months, economically sensitive small and medium-cap stock indices have underperformed the largest-cap tech-heavy indices (price x shares outstanding) to a degree not seen since the last tech bubble in 1998 through March of 2000. Indeed, global fund flows (shown below since July 2023, courtesy of The Daily Shot) have concentrated in […]

July 15, 2024 | Struggling Consumers are a Tough Slog

Consumer spending drives just under 60% of Canadian GDP growth and consumer spending fell across all categories in June–discretionary and essential (shown below courtesy of RBC). Warm weather and declining interest rates did not entice spending as hoped. Overall, second-quarter retail sales were negative. Fewer Canadians have renovated their homes amid a sluggish housing sector, while […]

July 10, 2024 | Time Lags Have Magnified Risk Exposure and Complacency

In the second quarter of 2024, big tech companies drove the S&P 500 up 4.3%, while the Russell 2000 index of economically representative small and midsize stocks fell 3.6%. The five most expensive S&P 500 companies now make up a record 29% of the US market capitalization–the narrowest concentration since 1965 and more extreme than […]

July 8, 2024 | Ford CEO on the Rapid Evolution of Electric Vehicles

For those of us who’ve benefited from driving an EV for years already, it is a relief to hear mainstream leaders finally drop the opposition and misinformation to embrace the obvious. Ford CEO Farley does an excellent job of articulating facts in this segment. Ford CEO Jim Farley joins CNBC’s Julia Boorstin for a discussion […]

July 5, 2024 | Treasuries See Recession-Style Employment Trends, Stocks Should Too

The US unemployment rate in June ticked up to 4.1% (from 4% in May, red line below since 2021, and 70 basis points above the 3.4% cycle low in 2022). Full-time job creation fell to a 39-month low and part-time job creation reached a 33-month high while April and May job estimates were revised lower. […]

July 4, 2024 | Real Estate Bust Has Compound Impacts

The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is home to approximately 8 million Canadians (about 20% of the country’s population) which account for some 20% of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). For context, the GTA is as important to Canada’s economy as the eight largest US cities are to the American economy. In terms of provincial per […]

July 1, 2024 | Hussman on Thoughtful Money

Happy Canada Day! Today’s guest is one of those who smartly navigated the past 2 great market corrections. He now thinks we stand at the precipice of a 3rd — and he’s ringing a bell for anyone who will listen. To hear why and what he advises we do about it, we have the great […]

June 26, 2024 | Easy Money Has Yielded a Vicious Payback Period

Interest rates and high debt levels are biting hard in Canada; the economy is weak, and layoffs are rising. Toronto’s new home sales were down 71% compared to May 2023, with new condo sales down 75% and new single-family home sales down 65%. The same period saw an increase of 20,427 new home listings in […]

June 25, 2024 | Lags Demand Respect

The US 10-2yr Treasury yield curve has been inverted (two-year yields higher than ten-year) for 23 months since July 2022. An inversion in this spread has preceded the onset of every recession in the last 50 years by an average of 10 months. Generally,  longer-than-average inversion periods (11 months Sept 12, 1980 to Oct 23, […]

June 24, 2024 | Mindless Capital Allocation Leads to Bad Investment Outcomes

Mindless capital allocation leads to wasted resources and bad investment outcomes. We’ve just come through a decade of some of the dumbest financial choices in history–that’s been very expensive. In the midst of a housing supply crisis, thousands of condos in Canada’s largest cities are sitting empty. Most, experts say, are less than 500 square […]

June 22, 2024 | Recession Impacts on Employment and Financial Markets

Ted Oakley interviews Danielle DiMartino Booth on recession, interest rates, and markets.Here is a direct video link. 

June 21, 2024 | Cost-Cutting in Focus

Some facts on the ground… Cutting Costs – Corporate Mentions of “Operational Efficiency” Spike — DiMartino Booth via Fox Business News. Here is a direct video link. 

June 20, 2024 | A.I. Hype Has Magnified Market Downside

A worthwhile discussion in this segment… So far this year, the top 10 stocks in the S&P 500 have accounted for more than 76% of the index’s gain. This is the 2nd most concentrated reading for the S&P in the past 20 years. The highest percentage was 79%, achieved in 2007, right before the Global […]

June 19, 2024 | Canadian Financial Weakness Stands Out

The unemployment rate and bankruptcies are surging. Here is a direct video link. Canadian corporate bankruptcies are +93% year over year (shown below since 2014). While the Canadian stock market has gone nowhere since November 2021…

June 17, 2024 | Understanding the Risks of Artificial Intelligence

Geoffrey Hinton, a computer scientist and cognitive psychologist, has long been a leading thinker about artificial intelligence. In this segment with Jon Erlichman, he articulates complex issues clearly enough for a general audience. Worth the listen. Here is a direct video link to part one.  And here is a direct video link to part two. 

June 15, 2024 | Danielle on CBC Weekend Business Panel

Here is a direct video link.

June 13, 2024 | Tougher For Longer

Yesterday morning, a milder-than-expected US CPI number boosted hopes that the US Fed may soon start lowering its policy rate. Financial markets pooped on the headline, further loosening financial conditions for some publicly traded companies. Then, a more hawkish Fed announcement in the afternoon lowered 2024 cut expectations from 75 basis points (bps) in the […]

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