Market View

The spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant sparked fears about recovery speed and plans globally putting pressure on global indices. The US dollar gained while fold prices edged lower for the third straight week. The Canadian dollar was 78.30 cents USD. U.S. S&P500 ended the week down 2.4%, while the TSX ended the week down 3.5%.

All but one sector ended in red this week. Healthcare slid 11.9%, while technology and energy gave up 7.6% and 5.3%, respectively. Materials slipped 4.1%, while consumer discretionary ended down 3.4%. Consumer staples ended the week flat, while telecommunications added 0.5%. The most heavily traded shares by volume were Bombardier Inc, Suncor Energy, and Fission Uranium.

5 from 5i

Here are five reads we found interesting last week:

• The other side of a mania, by Charlie Bilello of Compound Advisors
• Alternative assets hit $9 trillion this year. Here’s what investors should be worried about, by Jessica Hamlin of Institutional Investor
• US shale patch’s lackluster recovery is a problem for the post-COVID oil market, authored by Rory Johnston of Commodity Context
• Twitter has a new CEO, What about a new business model? By Ben Thompson of Stratechery
• Among social scientists, a vigorous debate over loss aversion (a discussion on loss aversion), by Michael Schulson of Undark

Chart of the week

Happy Reading & Stay Safe!

Disclosure: The analyst(s) responsible for this report do not have a financial or other interest in securities mentioned.