Podcast
Climbing a Wall of Worry
Will Simpson
February 14, 2025
The negative news and potential risks seem to keep building, but the markets have continued to climb higher
Markets kept their cool this week despite a hotter-than-expected U.S. CPI. Inflation came in a touch above forecasts, continuing its stubborn upward trend. While this didn’t shock markets, it did push back expectations for the Fed’s next full cut, now likely later in the year. Bond yields wobbled but ended mostly flat, as investors balanced sticky inflation with the Fed’s patient stance.
From a performance perspective, Europe has been on fire this year, and that didn’t change this week. Germany and France surged on tariff relief, strong earnings, political optimism and a potential Ukraine ceasefire. In the US, tech kept the Nasdaq in the green, while the S&P 500 nudged slightly higher as well. The TSX stayed firm despite weakness in 7/11 sectors.
With the U.S. dollar cooling and the loonie gaining, currency markets are reacting more to trade headlines than rate moves this week as spreads between the US and Canada remain wide. So far this year, markets are riding the momentum, but keep an eye on that pesky inflation.
Please reach out if you have any questions and would like to discuss your investment portfolio and strategy, or your financial, wealth and retirement plan.
We want you to be wealthy in terms of your portfolio, money and net worth. We also want you to feel wealthy — in the sense that you have peace of mind, freedom from worry, good health, the ability to spend time with family and friends and enjoy your retirement and overall, live the good life.
We want you to Realize Your Wealth™.
Happy Valentine’s Day, enjoy the long weekend and Family Day!