Category Archives: Politics

What in the World?!
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We’d like to share some comments on the upcoming U.S. Presidential Election—and the continuing effects of the current pandemic. It is so easy to get stirred up by the media that focuses only on the current and short-term view (which let’s face it has been rather dismal lately), and totally miss the long view. Calmer heads are looking past these short-term uncertainties however, and they are seeing opportunities for positive change in a variety of ways. We don’t profess to be experts in U.S. politics, so we won’t be calling the election here. The fact is anything could happen on…

Thoughts for Difficult Times
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I think that we are all feeling various levels of unease at present; from slightly off kilter to all-out anxiety. Watching the numbers of new infections of COVID-19 every day certainly doesn’t help, nor do the wild swings in markets help calm us. We are living in a world where we are bombarded with daily news and it can be exhausting trying to keep up with it all. As we talk to many of our clients, we find that everyone’s approach to coping is different. Some people are glued to their TVs and radios, others are choosing to use this…

Market Update 2020
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The Bull market rolls on. At least that is what we have been hearing from our economists, strategists, and portfolio managers (PMs) on how they are feeling for the coming year. There has been much discussion in our client meetings recently about how their portfolios and the overall markets might be impacted by things like the US Election this fall (will Trump be re-elected?), or the newsworthy impact of the Coronavirus on world markets. The short story from the industry professionals we hear speak regularly is that 2020 should end the year with positive returns, with some increased volatility throughout…

Are Your Investments Helping or Hurting the Planet?
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Given the focus on the environment during our recent election, and the ongoing global attention to climate change, I thought this would be a good time to address how the investment community is responding. You may be surprised. Pension and investment managers have always screened for risks before purchasing any company’s stock or bond issues. These risks were typically financial in nature; like how much debt the company has, where they stack up against their competitors, the quality of the company management, and whether there is future growth for their product or service, and ultimately more profit. Increasingly we are…

Trade Wars and the Tweet Effect
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We are moving into a period of uncertainty with mounting tensions over trade wars, and continued surprises via Tweets from the U.S. President. I thought this a good time to share what the effects may be on your investments. 2017 was the year of calm, with little volatility in the markets; surprising – given the almost constant flow of tweets and government chaos south of the border. In fact, business enjoyed lower taxes and improved earnings in the U.S. throughout the year. This was reflected in their stock market. Lesson: the noise and silliness from Trump has largely been ignored…

The Trump/Clinton Effect
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I should probably have called this article The Trump/Clinton Non-Effect. There is plenty of discussion about what the repercussions would be on business and the markets if either of these candidates become President. I have been talking to various money managers and market analysts to get their take on what to expect. I thought you might be interested in some of their insights. First of all, I have to disclose that I prefer to place my own and my client’s money with portfolio managers who tend to have concentrated portfolios of companies that they know extremely well. Whether we own…