Monthly Archives: June 2025

Why a Ceasefire Between Israel and Iran Matters for the Markets

This week brought a rare dose of geopolitical relief as reports of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran signalled a potential cooling of tensions in the Middle East. For us investors, that kind of news matters more than you might think. While peace is always welcome from a humanitarian standpoint, it also tends to be good for the markets.

When tensions rise in the Middle East, especially between major regional powers like Israel and Iran, it adds a wave of uncertainty to global markets. Oil prices typically spike, safe-haven assets like gold and US Treasuries become more attractive, and stock markets often react with caution. That’s because the region plays a key role in the global energy supply, and any threat to that supply chain can ripple through industries and economies. Investors start to worry about rising fuel costs, supply disruptions, and the possibility of a wider military conflict.

In short, markets don’t like uncertainty (I know, I’ve said that before 😊). And few things create more uncertainty than the threat of war.

Why You Should Care About US –China Trade Talks

Since April, tensions between the world’s two largest economies – China and the US – have escalated into a bruising trade war once again. But this isn’t new. The trade war between the two originally kicked off back in July 2018, after years of growing friction over trade imbalances, intellectual property, and market access. The first Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on US$34 billion worth of Chinese goods, and China retaliated with tariffs on US exports like soybeans and autos. That tit-for-tat quickly spiraled into a full-scale economic standoff, with hundreds of billions in tariffs and tech restrictions shaking global supply chains. While there were brief truces and ongoing negotiations over the years, the rivalry never really cooled.

Thinking of Buying Foreign Stocks? Here’s How Canadians Can Do It

Last week [link to May 30] I talked about Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE: BRK.B) investment in five big Japanese trading companies. Doing deep due diligence on them turned out to be too complicated for me – but that doesn’t mean you can’t explore investing in them yourself.

If you’re thinking about picking up shares of one of the Japanese companies Buffett invested in – nice! 😊 But you’ll quickly notice something odd: they’re listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), and also on something called the OTC Markets (OTCM) in the US. (For this section, TSE refers to the Tokyo Stock Exchange – not Toronto.)

So, what’s the difference? And what makes the most sense for investors like us in Canada (or the US)?