Market View

North American investors await key jobs and employment data for both Canada and the US. Chinese shares recorded their biggest weekly gain in six weeks despite the continuing surge of COVID-19 cases and tightening government regulations. Oil prices and the US dollar strengthened while gold prices stayed below $1,800. The Canadian dollar was 80.00. U.S. S&P500 ended the week up 0.8%, while the TSX ended the week up 0.5%.

It was a week of mixed returns this week. Consumer staples gained 2.5% this week, followed by technology which added 2.2%. Consumer discretionary was up 1.3% while financials and utilities inched up 1.2%, each. Healthcare slid the most by 8.1%, followed by the energy sector which slipped 3.7%. Materials gave up 1.5%. With a busy earnings week, several large companies such as Canadian Natural Resources, Bombardier, Lightspeed, and BCE either raised guidance or surpassed their estimates. The most heavily traded shares by volume were Bombardier, Manulife Financial, and Royal Bank of Canada.

5 from 5i

Here are five reads we found interesting last week:

• Thinking about macro, by Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital Management
• There’s a way you can beat the best investors. You’ve just got to know when to sell, authored by Greg Rosalsky of NPR
• The slow collapse of Amazon’s drone delivery dream, written by Andrew Kersley of Wired
• Big investors are divesting from fossil fuels – should you? By Lewis Jackson of Morningstar
• Everything is a DCF model, authored by Michael Mauboussin and Dan Callahan of Morgan Stanley

Happy Reading & Stay Safe!

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