The S&P 500 may be hitting record highs, but that doesn’t mean most stocks are sharing in the rally. A handful of mega-cap technology companies, including Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple and Meta, have had an outsized influence on the index, highlighting why its performance may not reflect what investors are experiencing in their own portfolios.
Tag: ccl
Weekly Update for the week ending October 2, 2026
US Treasury yields have climbed to levels not seen in more than two decades, creating a new challenge for stock investors. With the 10-year yield reaching 5.34% and the 30-year approaching 5.6%, government bonds are becoming a more compelling alternative to equities, while higher borrowing costs and persistent inflation add pressure to the stock market. The higher yields go, the harder it becomes for investors to ignore the alternative sitting in the bond market.
Weekly Update for the week ending December 19, 2025
Merry Christmas!
This marks the final Weekly Update of 2025 – and somehow, another year has flown by while markets did what they do best: surprise, frustrate, and occasionally reward us patient investors. 😊 I’ll be taking a short break over the holidays, but the Weekly Update will be back in early January to kick off 2026.
Monthly Portfolio Update October 2025
For the sixth month in a row, all four major North American indexes finished in the green: the Toronto Stock Exchange Composite Index (TSX), the S&P 500 Index (S&P), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), and the Nasdaq Composite Index (Nasdaq). The Nasdaq continued to lead the pack, rising more than 4% for the second straight month and marking its seventh monthly gain in a row – its longest stretch since early 2018. The TSX, S&P, and DJIA each posted their sixth straight monthly gain, with the DJIA’s streak being its longest since January 2018, the TSX’s longest since mid-2021, and the S&P’s longest since late 2021.
Weekly Update for the week ending October 3, 2025
A Government Shutdown Doesn’t Mean a Market Meltdown
This past week, funding for the US government expired at midnight on September 30. With Republicans and Democrats dug in, no deal was reached to pass a temporary spending bill and avert a shutdown. As a result, the government was suspended for the 15th time since 1981, halting scientific research, financial oversight, environmental cleanup, and a wide range of other services. About 750,000 federal workers were ordered to stay home, while others – including the armed forces and Border Patrol agents – continued working without pay (they’ll be paid retroactively once operations resume). A shutdown usually doesn’t send markets into free fall, but it does tend to stir up volatility on both sides of the border. So, let’s take a look at what a US government shutdown actually is and what it means for us investors.
Weekly Update for the week ending July 4, 2025
When Good News Is Bad News (and Vice Versa)
This week brought a steady stream of US labour market data, and you might’ve noticed something that feels a little backwards: sometimes good news about jobs or the economy makes stocks fall, while disappointing news sends markets higher. At first, this can be hard to wrap your head around. After all, if more people are working and businesses are hiring, that should be a positive sign, right? But markets don’t just react to the data itself – they react to what that data means for interest rates and the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) next move.