Market View

The US 10-year treasury yield has increased rapidly since the beginning of February and is hitting a new one-year high at 1.62%. This has set off inflation fears and equity sell-off. Comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell did little help concerning investors’ fears. OPEC+ agreed to not increase supply helping oil prices touch their highest in a year. Gold prices fell while the US dollar strengthened. The Canadian dollar was 78.81. U.S. S&P500 ended the week down 1.5%, while the TSX ended the week down 0.6%.

It was a mix of reds and greens this week as investors rotated away from relatively expensive sectors such as technology and healthcare. Energy rose 7.2%, consumer staples gained 3.6%, while financials added 2.1%. Healthcare slid the highest by 10.1%, technology gave away 8.5%, and materials declined by 1.7%. The most heavily traded shares by volume were Bombardier Inc, Suncor Energy, and Supreme Cannabis.

5 from 5i

Here are five reads we found interesting last week:

• Rising rates may signal significant market shifts ahead, by Lisa Shalett of Morgan Stanley
• Beware the value trap, published by ProShares
• Three r/WallStreetBets GameStop investors explain why they did it, what went wrong, and how much they made, by Jael Goldfine of the business of business
• NFTs and a thousand true fans, by Chris Dixon of Andreessen Horowitz
• Two by two, authored by Scott Galloway

Happy Reading & Stay Safe!

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Disclosure: Please note that the author does not hold a financial or other interest in stocks or funds mentioned.