Money Sense

[Anonymous]

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 443.86 points to 25,883.25 as J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs outperformed. The S&P 500 gained 1.1 percent to close at 2,775.60, led by the energy and industrials sectors. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.6 percent to end the day at 7,472.41.



Energy shares were boosted by higher oil prices. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 2.2 percent to $55.59 per barrel.



Bank stocks also rose broadly. The SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE) climbed 2.25 percent. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America each advanced 2.54 percent or more.



The 30-stock Dow's eight-week winning streak is its longest since the one ending Nov. 3, 2017. The Nasdaq also posted its eighth consecutive weekly gain. The S&P 500, meanwhile, closed its seventh weekly gain in eight. The indexes rose at least 2.4 percent each this week.



'We're in for some rough sledding'—Watch three Wall Street experts explain where stocks are headed   'We're in for some rough sledding'—Watch five Wall Street experts explain where stocks are headed  

12:18 PM ET Thu, 14 Feb 2019 | 04:26

Stocks surged on Friday amid increasing hopes for a U.S.-China trade deal as equities posted another solid weekly gain.



The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 443.86 points to 25,883.25 as J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs outperformed. The S&P 500 gained 1.1 percent to close at 2,775.60, led by the energy and industrials sectors. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.6 percent to end the day at 7,472.41.



Energy shares were boosted by higher oil prices. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 2.2 percent to $55.59 per barrel.



Bank stocks also rose broadly. The SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE) climbed 2.25 percent. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America each advanced 2.54 percent or more.



The 30-stock Dow's eight-week winning streak is its longest since the one ending Nov. 3, 2017. The Nasdaq also posted its eighth consecutive weekly gain. The S&P 500, meanwhile, closed its seventh weekly gain in eight. The indexes rose at least 2.4 percent each this week.



"The market is just getting rational again and simply rebounding from an irrational sell-off last fall," said Craig Callahan, president at Icon Funds. He said the market was brought down late last year by fears of a Chinese economic hard landing, worries that a slowdown in China could spread around the world and concern over tighter Federal Reserve monetary policy.



TSX increased 152 points or 0.97% to 15848 on Friday February 15 from 15627 in the previous trading session.

[Anonymous]

SNC-Lavalin chopped its dividend by 65% Friday as it reported a fourth quarter loss of $1.6 billion. Could Trudeau's interference have changed that.

[Anonymous]

The tragic Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday is raising doubts on Wall Street about Boeing.



Boeing's (BA) stock closed down 5.36% to $399.89 on Monday in the aftermath of the second deadly crash of its bestselling 737 MAX 8 jet in five months. All 157 people on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight were killed when the plane fell out of the sky shortly after takeoff. It was the second crash of the latest version of Boeing's single-aisle workhorse in recent months.

[Anonymous]

The Dow, the TSX, Nasdaq and West Texas Intermediate all ended the week in positive territory. The Dow is closing in on it's all time high. The Canadian dollar was down on this week too based on stronger than expected job numbers in the US and the Canadian economy lost 7200 jobs in March.

[Anonymous]

I think there is going to be a recession in this country later this year.



https://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/fidelity-sees-loonie-testing-62-cent-low-amid-slowing-economy">https://business.financialpost.com/news ... ng-economy">https://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/fidelity-sees-loonie-testing-62-cent-low-amid-slowing-economy

Now, the nation may already be in recession after growing at an annualized pace of just 0.4 per cent in the fourth quarter and a pretty "soggy" start to the year, said Wolf, part of the asset allocation team at Fidelity Investments Canada, which manages about $136 billion. He stressed his views were his own, not the firm's.



The big problem for Canada is that a household deleveraging appears to be starting just as the global economy is slowing, said Wolf, who was an adviser at the Bank of Canada before joining Fidelity in 2014. Home values fell nationwide last year for the first time since at least 1990, while household debt burdens touched a record high. Meanwhile, Canada's competitiveness problems remain, he said.



"You've never had debt levels as high, relative to incomes in Canada," said Tulk. Even if the Bank of Canada has stopped raising rates, "there's still kind of a big bulge in the python, so to speak, in terms of prior increases in interest rates and prior actions."

[Anonymous]

I decided to post this here. It shows the shocking level of financial ignorance among young workers. Four in ten people under thirty five don't know how CPP works. This doesn't bode well for Canada's future.



Ryan Mallough is Director of Provincial Affairs, Ontario, for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.



All provinces should be talking about financial literacy



Budgets are always big documents that cover a lot of topics and throw out a lot of dollar figures. That's why the Ontario government's Budget 2019 financial and workplace literacy commitments are not getting the notice they deserve, at home nor across the country. Yet they could very well be the budget's hidden gems.



During the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) expansion debate early in the Trudeau mandate, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) polled Canadians, not only on their opinions of the expansion, but on their general knowledge of what the CPP is and does. A resounding 39 per cent of respondents aged 18 to 34 believed that the government pays into the CPP (it doesn't).



I come back to this number frequently — it still seems bonkers to me that nearly four in 10 young Canadians don't know how a significant plank of their retirement — and a major payroll deduction on every paycheque — works.



But when you really think about how we could get to a number like that, it's impossible to avoid the question: where was the opportunity for young people to have ever really learned about it?



Coming out of high school, I couldn't have told you what "CPP" stands for, nor "EI", "RRSP", "RESP", "GIC" or "TFSA" – let alone anything about the benefits, drawbacks, or accessibility of any of them.



No high school or university course ever walked me through payroll deductions or how to file my taxes. I didn't know how to establish a credit rating, how to impact my score or what having a good or bad score really means. Compound interest was a section in math class, presented without implication or context.



Budgeting was reduced to an Excel table that never seemed to include a credit card – odd for a country that has $599 billion in consumer debt.



I learned all these things eventually, mostly through trial by fire at the workplace. You pick things up along the way.



But there has to be a better way.



Canada's small business owners think so; 53 per cent of them are dissatisfied with the job high schools are doing in preparing young people for the workforce. In Ontario, nearly nine in 10 support the introduction of a mandatory full-credit financial literacy course at the high school level.



If it's done right and focuses on the practical, a greater emphasis on financial literacy will see students come out of high school far better prepared to make financial decisions and understand the fiscal debates that will impact them as they begin their careers.



On the other side of the financial literacy coin is workplace literacy.



We hear consistently from small business owners that their young hires are woefully under-prepared for the workplace. Too often employers are finding themselves in a position where they are teaching their young hires not only how to do the job they were hired for, but how to generally be an employee – skills like how to be punctual, communicate professionally and manage their time effectively.



I admit, as a Millennial it takes a lot to bite my tongue when this comes up. I know my generation to be as hard-working and ambitious as any other, but when I think back to my education, there really wasn't an avenue to learn the soft skills employers expect workers to have when entering the workplace.



Furthermore, college, and especially the skilled trades, were never really presented to me as options when I was in high school. I'd be willing to bet nothing has changed if you walk into any high school classroom across the country today and ask students about their plans for the future. Very few – if any – would bring up college or vocational institutions. They're seen as lesser – a fall-back option if university doesn't pan out – and that's not only a shame, but a colossal disservice to both our toprate institutions and the hard-working men and women in the trades.



What's more, not highlighting these paths has contributed to a skilled tradespeople shortage across Canada. In fact, it has become the number one barrier to small business growth in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia.



There needs to be a multi-faceted approach to addressing the problem, and young people should play a significant role — but they need to know their options. The Ontario government's budget commitment last week to promote the skilled trades all the way from kindergarten to Grade 12 is a strong step towards a longterm solution.



The government of Ontario's focus shows that governments are willing to listen. Their commitments on workplace and financial literacy might be small lines in the budget, but their impact could end up being very big for the future of Canada's workforce.

[Anonymous]

The markets had a terrible week as trade talks with China stumbled. China appears to be overplaying their hand.

[Anonymous]

The Dow closed slightly higher today at 25,169. the Dow has lost nearly 1800 points since trade talks between China and the US moved into tit for tat tariffs. I expect this is short term and necessary. China has been doing a lot of things they shouldn't since entering the WTO. All American presidents before Trump have enabled China. Even if Trump loses next year's election, the next US president will no longer be able to help China cheat the way Bush, and Obama did.



investors were largely taking a breather in trading as the optimism of earlier in the year has waned and they're evaluating if the sell-off will continue.



Canada's main stock index lost more ground Thursday on a big dip in the energy sector prompted by oil falling to its lowest level in three months.



The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 42.23 points to 16,089.24 following a third-straight day of losses.



The key energy sector fell about 1.5 per cent as Enbridge Inc. and Canadian Natural Resources lost 1.04 and 0.76 per cent respectively.



The July crude contract was down 3.8 per cent or US$2.22 at US$56.59 per barrel and the July natural gas contract was down 7.7 cents at US$2.55 per mmBTU.



Crude prices fell after a weekly U.S. report said stockpiles fell less than expected while geopolitical tensions eased.

[Anonymous]

Morgan Stanley is predicting a recession for North America towards the end of the year and most likely the world.

[Anonymous]

The markets capped off the worst week they have had since 2011. Part of that is the five per cent tariff Trump placed on Mexican imports rising to twenty five per cent in October unless Mexico halts "illegal migrants" heading to the U.S. Another downward pressure is a report that China is planning to restrict rare-earths exports leave markets set for a turbulent end to what's been a rough month for global stocks. This is despite the fact that China doesn't export raw rare earth metals to the US.



West Texas Intermediate crude decreased 5.9% to $53.26 a barrel, the lowest since February. Crude tumbled 16% in May, snapping a four-month winning streak.



The Dow average lost 1.4% and the Nasdaq 100 slid 1.5%. The Dow closed at 24,815.04, losing 354.84 points.

[Anonymous]

Stocks closed higher on Friday, boosted by bank shares, as investors looked ahead to a key meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Wall Street also wrapped up its best first half to a year in two decades.



The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 73.38 points to 26,599.96 as J.P. Morgan Chase shares outperformed. The 30-stock index rallied more than 7% this month, notching its biggest June gain since 1938.



The S&P 500 advanced 0.6% to 2,941.74, led by the financials sector. For the month, the S&P 500 jumped 6.9%, its best June performance since 1955. The broad index is also up more than 17% this year, marking its biggest first-half gain since 1997.



The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5% to end the day at 8,006.24. The tech-heavy index also rallied 7.4% this month.



Canada's main stock index capped strong gains in June by rising Friday ahead of the holiday weekend.



The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 74.47 points to 16,382.20. Although the index was down nearly one percentage point on the week, it gained 2.2 per cent for the month and 15.2 per cent in the first half of the year.



The Canadian dollar traded at an average of 76.41 cents US, up from an average of 76.27 cents US on Thursday — a four-month high.



Ten of the 11 major sectors on the TSX were up on the day, led by consumer discretionary as Canada Goose Holdings Inc. gained three per cent and Aritzia Inc. was up 2.4 per cent. The materials sector followed closely behind with Yamana Gold Inc. and Centerra Gold Inc. increasing 2.8 and 2.2 per cent respectively.



The August gold contract was up $1.70 at US$1,413.70 an ounce. That's a 7.8-per-cent gain for the month and up 10.3 per cent in the first six months of the year. The September copper contract was down 0.3 of a cent on the day at $2.71 a pound.



Crude prices were fairly flat until taking a tumble at the end of day after Europe said it will launch a channel to allow trade with Iran, bypassing U.S. sanctions.



The August crude contract was down 96 cents at US$58.47 per barrel and the August natural gas contract was down 1.6 cents at $2.31 per mmBTU.



However, the energy sector was up 0.27 per cent led by share gains from Frontera Energy Corp. and Encana Corp.



OPEC countries are meeting Tuesday with some members wanting the cartel to deepen production cuts in the second-half of the year.

[Anonymous]

I checked our latest statement 9n our investments..



They've had an exceptionally good month.

 ac_smile

[Anonymous]

The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit new records. It all came down to the Federal Reserve and interest rates once again. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell gave his bi-annual congressional testimony on Wednesday and Thursday, and his comments fueled hopes for a rate cut.



The markets are up almost forty per cent since Trump became president.

[Anonymous]

The markets have been going crazy(bad) since Trump announced another $300 billion in tariffs on China and Beijing stopped propping up their currency.

[@realAzhyaAryola]

The markets have been going crazy(bad) since Trump announced another $300 billion in tariffs on China and Beijing stopped propping up their currency.

It sure was nice to see the market respond well yesterday after Trump announced his delay on the tariffs but today it dipped again.