How Central Banks Set Interest Rates
Interest rates are one of those topics everyone hears about, but few people really understand how they actually work. With both the Bank of Canada (BoC) and the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) recently announcing that they were holding their policy rates steady, it felt like a good time to step back and look at what these rates actually are – and how they’re set.
Monthly Archives: January 2026
Weekly Update for the week ending January 23, 2026
Sell America
Markets don’t always move because the economy changes – sometimes they move because confidence does. This week, that loss of confidence showed up in a phrase many investors hadn’t heard in a while: “Sell America.” And it returned with a vengeance.
But what is “Sell America”?
Weekly Update for the week ending January 16, 2026
Under Pressure: Fed Independence Under Fire
With apologies to Queen and David Bowie, the US government has turned up the pressure on the US Federal Reserve, and on Chair Jerome Powell in particular, to fall in line with President Trump’s push for lower interest rates. For investors, the question isn’t politics – it’s how this could rattle markets and shake confidence in US interest rates.
Weekly Update for the week ending January 9, 2026
2026 Says “Hello”
Welcome to 2026 – and to the first Weekly Update of the year. A new year always brings a fresh sense of optimism for us investors, and after the bull market of the past couple of years, the hope is that the bull still has plenty of life in it. As always, there will be noise along the way, but the backdrop heading into 2026 gives investors a few reasons to stay cautiously optimistic.
Monthly Portfolio Update December 2025
Monthly Portfolio Update December 2025
The markets weren’t quite as strong as I’d hoped as December. The more traditional, value oriented Toronto Stock Exchange Composite Index (TSX) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) both extended their monthly winning streaks. For the TSX it was the longest monthly winning streak since 2014, and it was the longest streak since 2017 for the DJIA, impressive runs when you step back.
December’s market action largely came down to two forces: where interest rates are headed and where investors chose to take profits after a very strong year for big technology companies once again.