Market View

The U.S. Federal Reserve leaves interest rates unchanged at 5.25% to 5.5%, in line with expectations, indicating a rate cut in March is unlikely. In addition, the Bank of England is keeping its interest rates unchanged at 5.25%, a 16-year high, indicating a rate peak and also edging towards a rate cut soon this year. The Canadian dollar was 74.28 cents USD. The U.S. S&P500 ended the week up 1.2%, while the TSX was slightly down 0.4%.

It was a mixed week of greens and reds. Industrials rose 2.5%, while technology gained 1.5%. Consumer discretionary added 1.3% while consumer staples edged up by 0.3%. Energy slid by 2.5%, while materials gave up 1.2%. Financials and real estate both ended the week down 0.9%. The most heavily traded shares by volume were Capstone Copper, FLINT and B2Gold.

5 from 5i

Here are five reads we found interesting last week:

•  Should You Invest in Stocks at All-Time Highs?, published by Nick Maggiulli of Of Dollars And Data

• How to Build a Portfolio You Don’t Have to Babysit, by Christine Benz of Morningstar

• What’s the right level of inflation, authored by Joachim Klement of Klement on Investing

• Young People Are Doing Better (Financially) Than You Think, written and published by Ben Carlson of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC

• The Labor Market Continues to Soften, authored by Cullen Roche of Discipline Funds

Happy Reading & Stay Safe!

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