Hard or soft? Get used to the question we posed here yesterday. It’s not going away. For months. Anyone who professes to tell you they know the answer is bluffing, selling or trolling. Truth is, confusion reigns.
You might have noticed the Dow went up a thousand points on Wednesday and dropped a thou on Thursday. Bond yields fell Wednesday and surged Thursday. The Vix declined, then bolted. Traders, investors, analysts, economists and the Nobel laureates in steerage section are all trying to determine why. And what’s next.
Here’s the thing.
The biggest financial event of the year was Wednesday at 2 pm when the US Fed raised rates a half point for the first time in twenty years. The CB indicated a larger increase was not in the cards for next time (June) and markets leapt higher on faith a soft landing could be achieved. (That means inflation is beaten down by rate increases without causing a recession.)
But a few hours later it dawned on everyone the Fed’s dovish tone was either wrong, political or disingenuous. Prices are raging higher. The Ukraine war gets messier. Energy costs are romping. New car dealer lots are strangely empty. Biden’s in trouble. China’s just nuts. Putin’s a psycho. So the only way to quell inflation, probably at 9% now in the States, is for central bankers to be far more aggressive. That means rates will have to pop more. And suddenly things don’t look so soft anymore.
Of course, sentiment could shift by Monday. It’s that kind of world. The financial advice is no different in this storm than it was in the credit crisis, the debt ceiling crisis, the oil collapse crisis or the Covid crisis. When you have money, invest it. Be balanced and diversified. Ignore the noise. Focus on your life goals. If volatility scares you, stop looking.
Now, the asset that’s affecting more Canadians, and in a more significant way, is housing. So reflect on the following.
“Hi Garth,” writes Mike. “I sent you an e-mail a few weeks back about my friend’s son that received zero offers on his town in Collingwood. Here’s the update, still zero offers. I believe the agent said there are six other listings in the area and they also have had zero offers. It’s like the train left the tracks almost overnight. Scary times for many.”
And here’s some fun numbers from the eastern side of the GTA. The average sale price in Pickering is dropping by $100,000 per month. A detached that fetched $1.65 million in February was worth $1.51 million in March and then $1.4 million last month. And that was after just the first two of six anticipated interest rate increase by the Bank of Canada. Poor kiddos who caught FOMO and entered a bidding war in the winter.
While the reasons financial markets are gyrating are complex (profits, war, macroeconomics, daytrading, recession fears) real estate is way more understandable. It rides on rates and sentiment. Canada has not had a housing crisis because there are too many buyers and not enough supply, but rather because credit was dirt cheap and people thought prices could never decline. Both of those have now changed. Irrevocably.
Recall the stats here recently about the last significant real estate plop in Canada?
No, not 2017. That was a piffle.
A better lesson comes in 1989 when an inflated property market collapsed amid rising mortgage costs. In Toronto it took 13 years for prices to restore – but that doesn’t take inflation into account. Doing so means real prices did not recover until 2011, a period of 22 years. During that time, we had a serious recession (1992-3) which hit both houses and stocks. But while real estate gained nothing over two decades, stocks appreciated 350%, plus dividends.
Of course, if you have a nice house and can afford the ownership costs, who cares what the market does? You don’t appraise the property daily. You’re not selling right now. It’s irrelevant what the MLS value may be at this moment.
Same goes for your TFSA, RRSP or non-registered investment accounts. Current volatility’s amusing but inconsequential. If the weightings are right and the assets well-chosen, just let ‘er lie. History tells us those who buy or sell when emotional almost always screw it up. Time will reward you. And, no, you’re not smarter than the market.
What do we really all need?
Yes. More canines. There are no hard dogs.
About the picture: “I thought you might like this photo of a dog walker,” writes David from Nanaimo, “which I snapped on Avenida del Libertador in the upscale Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Use it any way you wish!”
115 comments ↓
i told you a few days ago, the market will crater. it’s going to get sucked down 15-20% next few weeks. circuit breakers will come to play next few days.
why? central bankers are flat out pathetic LIARS.
INFLATION IS RAMPANT. and THEY are the PROBLEM
US 10 year Yields 3.1% with NO BUYING. why would ANYONE BUY government debt? the bond market is getting eviscerated again today.
tech stocks will crater more. but be under no illusions, this market is going to crater.
and it won’t be any asteroid hitting planet earth.
Nobody knows fur sure but the direction of housing and stocks doesn’t look higher for a couple years(maybe 10)
Always remember and never forget the Dow went from 7000 to 37,000(in 13 years!)If it dropped back to 20,000 that would still be tripling of your money(not including dividends) since 2009.Pretty heady stuff.
Turkey who cut rates are now facing 70% inflation. Prices rising daily.
Central bankers are smarter than bloggers.
They know that rate hikes are effective at curbing inflation only to a point.
The turbo charger is asset inflation and the accompanying wealth effect.
The trick however is how do they deflate nonproductive assets without taking down productive assets as well.
Bring on the volatility. Gotta put these divvies somewhere. Looking at Warren and Charlie, my investing timeline should be another 45 years or so…
Ponz, today is a gift. Costco even better than yesterday. I’ll buy it all day long at this level, as well as US total market. Dolce, you’re back to profit on twitster.
first again. mkt too volatile. just buy
what u like when it’s down.
Avenida del Libertador (Liberator Avenue) How fitting, the dogs have a liberator on Liberator Avenue.
Will the indebted be envious soon and seek a liberator?
Well, from Giddy yesterday to Gobsmacked today with Mr. Market. My oil & TWTR breakeven even today. Rest, what was up yesterday, came down today.
And tomorrow the US CPI out.
I’m still up 12% past 30 days incl. dividends, so not so bad.
This too shall pass.
———————
Off Topic…
Been having a blast making fun of the Russian MSM on Twitter. So much so that their top tv news channel
@1tvru_news
BLOCKED me today. Badge of Honor.
Grazie Russia.
[Russia delenda est]
You cant eat your portfolio. Trust me, stock up on food.
IMO and A and R, markets leapt due to overly aggressive put buying pre-fed. VIX 33 was rocket fuel. Today folks may be realizing that smaller rate increases may indicate that the fed is looking at a dire econ situation and fears ripping equity markets a new one and stoking a negative wealth effect while RE sinks.
I’ve said it for almost two years now. Great time to hold low price:sales companies in essential industries with low debt (very important as rising rates demand lower share price esp in junk rated corps like Netflix) that bleed out cash. Banks, energy, defense, consumer staples. The era of fundamentals not mattering will close in a high rate environment. Look to the 60s and 70s for analogs. Maybe 1999/2000. Profitless junk (i.e. ARKK) will continue to get smoked on net (there will be furious bounces). Barring divine intervention, you’ll know it’s over when GME, AMC and maybe TSLA are priced sensibly.
Focus on insight from thinkers who can see the big picture. i.e. not Reddit. Analysts who have experience under their belt and can read a balance sheet and know industries. Listen to the patient. Garth perhaps?
Good Luck.
PS: I know you are triggered Sailo and the other stans, but mentioning TSLA isnt an invitation for you to reiterate your inane talking points. We all know the narrative. Some seemingly smart people only have a small handful of smart sounding things to say. After a bit of time the repetition gets old. And no, the pot -kettle retort doesnt work here. It’s just a quasi adult version of saying “I know you are but what am I”.
Housing in BC is still ridiculously overvalued. People are listing for 40 percent more than the assessed value frmo two years ago.
I can borrow 35K on a TD line of credit at 1% for six months.
I gotta say I’m tempted to grab it and invest in the S&P right now. It’s risky but I think manageable (I could absorb at 30% loss on it). Isn’t that what investing is supposed to be about? Risk management?
You might have noticed…
But a few hours later it dawned on everyone…
– Garth
I love euphemism.
C’mon,,, the biggest financial event is Putin and the EU refusing his oil. In no way will raising interest rates effect the costs of oil per barrel even though they use interest rates to fihgt inflation…
That dogwalker deals in a lot of crap, like the blog author.
garth you should follow/reach out to this realtor,
Nasma Ali (one of the few honest ones it seems..refreshing) and her twitter feed…today is interesting as the market becomes more volatile.
https://twitter.com/nasmadotali
I remember when this Pickering homes were $700k and prices to average earnings were already way out of whack.
Correction of a few hundred grand now will just put them back to those levels. A correction back to a high level of you will. This thing worth $350, I’m asking $2000. Ok ok…I’ll give it to you for $1200. There. You happy? You got it on sale. Women buy stuff like this “on sale”.
Seems home owners are all about living for free. Whatever they put in, maintenance, taxes, utilities, grass cutting costs…they want to pass onto the next guy. Funny.
Debt is so encouraged, it nullifies cash in hand. Until credit tightens up, along with interest, this craziness will continue. But that time will come.
Why is CMHC losing share? …I’ve read a bunch of stuff about this last 2 years.
Clearly others are cheaper and less strict out there.
All the dogs are content, getting along, and the dog walker is paying careful attention to where they’re all going? That guy should get elected.
And, it’s Adele’s Birthday. Halcyon days indeed.
For today’s untitled blog, I suggest –
Oh, the Horror!
Do people not realize money moves and doesn’t just dissapear. Oil companies make more and spend more inflationary pay increases to find people. Government deficit pays bond holders more inflationary. The people yelling the sky is falling do t realize money isn’t magic.
Excellent post, things could get a lot worse if people start losing their jobs and interest rates stay high, says Captain Obvious.
Problem is most people don’t have TFSA, RRSP and the likes, nothing significant anyway, what they have is houses, in Canada a house is everything: pension fund, ATM, security etc…
Single asset, often leveraged to the hilt, no other place is like this except crazy China, what could possibly go wrong?
Who care, lets talk about abortion…
Everyone had the last 4 months to realize the bubble in bond prices and stocks is the biggest ever in history.
Interest rates rise and they both go down.
The fed told y’all this fur months.
The fed gave you your sell order.
Then they raise rates and what happens?
Duh.
After 20 years haven’t y’all learned anything?
Don’t fight the fed!
What did they say they would continue to do?
Raise rates. And QT.
What should you do?
Duh
Lets see what The Ides of May bring with Vlad’s “Patriot Day” propaganda blitz.
Staying invested but…..
No debt and loading up on a cash “vultch fund” is a nice option.
.
Saw Lunenburg mentioned in a Highliner commercial the other day. And now…this
Nova Scotia scraps non-resident property tax to protect reputation
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-nova-scotia-scraps-non-resident-property-tax-to-protect-reputation/
#2 Big Bucks on 05.05.22 at 1:53 pm
Nobody knows fur sure but the direction of housing and stocks doesn’t look higher for a couple years(maybe 10)
#3 Big Bucks on 05.05.22 at 1:56 pm
Always remember and never forget the Dow went from 7000 to 37,000(in 13 years!)If it dropped back to 20,000 that would still be tripling of your money(not including dividends) since 2009.Pretty heady stuff.
—————————————————————–
Just remember to BUY AND HOLD, it always comes back.
NEVER EVER SELL until you retire….let it fall like it has since Jan and enjoy seeing your net worth disappear.
10-13 years of course but it always comes back and makes anyone who does the financial planning for you richer….just like the banks and the .01%!!!
I mean, how to you go from
+1000 pts
yesterday, to
-1000 pts
today?
Fin News people haven’t a clue either. Best so far that made some sense is that in advance of the Fed announcement yesterday a lot of shorts.
Today they’re Paying the Piper.
Still, that’s a LOT of short selling gone bad from yesterday – unbelievable. Though, I hope it’s that. Means the storm will be over soon.
Time as usual will tell, I agree Garth.
—————–
And ya, Cdn RE is DOOMED for years to come. Where most of the money is. Speculators will be in for a rough financial ride.
If a measly +0.5% rate hike is doing this kind of carnage, imagine with 2 more this year what will happen?
No pity from me. Good for the kids, more affordable housing for them to come.
I guess my handle stays for a while. There’s only one truck in the area that can both get into my driveway and handle the weight of the machine – and it’s broken down with parts availability issues.
Going to be a busy summer. 4 people back in the house, and all will be working FT. 168 hrs/week in total, all around the clock, and in multiple cities. I think I will run the new diesel truck alongside the 2500HD till September. That’ll give us 2 trucks, 1 car, and one motorcycle to deal with the logistics. I’m going to ignore the fuel bill just like the B+D in the meantime.
Going to be a rough ride from here on in. Trudeau set the stakes here a mile high. The burn down will cause hysteria in places like the GTA, where every other regular working dude you meet has 2-3 mortgaged and HELOC’d properties. Us B+D folks will get a front kick too – but like Garth said, we aren’t levered 20:1 on a max approval buy facing historic rate hikes.
Hopefully a soft landing will come, but honestly I doubt it. The rate of inflation is unnerving, thus far indefatigable, and lots of reasons to expect more. Consumer debt is historic and highly concentrated in Urban Canada. Then there’s all the B lenders, Brampton Mortgages, Multi-Person Mortgages, and those kept afloat only through under the table rental operations.
I suspect if the SHTF, immigration will be affected. Not incoming numbers, but rather keeping those who are already here from bailing. Many suffer to get by and have no confusion about not ever owning a home. Then we have those who may have to break every LTB regulation and city bylaw in the book just to stay afloat. These folks were happy enough at 1.5% – now that may be changing. If a recession is forthcoming, job losses could really get the blood flowing in Urban Canada.
I guess Trudeau should have made some effective Fiscal Policy to tame housing prices while he could have done some good. He’d look like a genius right now. Of course, he did nothing. What a nose honker.
I thought the spooky word was stagflation.
Only Goldens are gentle enough to be walked like that, in a large crowd of other Goldens, by one guy.
The higher interest rates were (apparently not) “Priced in”
Some of the most dangerous words in stock and equity investing is that such and such negative risk is already “priced in”. Often that is spectacularly wrong.
The stock market is said to be forward looking but sometimes ignores the obvious.
In January and February 2020 the COVID pandemic was clearly coming and the market ignored it for a number of weeks. The finally woke up. The market may have over-reacted to the downside in March 2020. But then it was not a given that the government would throw several trillion at the economy in short order.
The stock market in January and February and March of this year was clearly ignoring what higher interest rates would do. Whoops.
Among the stupidest sayings in the market is: “The market does not like uncertainty”. Well then it better find another planet because there is always uncertainty on this one.
How many more days like this do we get before oil implodes on itself? A market slowdown which is where we’re headed is going to mess with the oily guys. Boom and bust, no in between. I still think 30k Dow is on its way to pre-covid levels.
Not to worry… Everything will start getting better when the Republicans pound the democrats in the midterms this November which gives Trump about a year to fund raise and fire up his campaign that puts him back in the WH in 2024. Not even a 20th wave of COVID will stop that… and Democrats have no one to blame but themselves.
Canada 5y back to summer 2008 level, en route to 1995!
https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/CA5Y?qsearchterm=
Who in their right minds would buy Canadian bonds knowing that 40% of the federal debt is held by the BoC?
Suggested titles for today’s blog:
Dog Days of May
Sinko de Mayo
#22 Felix on 05.05.22 at 2:55 pm
For today’s untitled blog, I suggest –
Oh, the Horror!
^^^^^^
That is how well dogs behave.
Imagine trying to walk that many cats at the same time!
Most probable future predictions in all this uncertainty:
House prices: Revert to mean. 3.5 x household pre tax income e.g. If your house hold income is 200k, SFH in your neighbourhood will become available for 700k. Seems ridiculous in GTA right now but we will get there.
Stocks: S&P 500 PE should settle around 20. Second and Third quarter results will be very good as people start spending. Fed put is lower this time, but it’s there. Stocks will have positive nominal returns.
Salaries will rise. If you continue in your current job not so much. Changing jobs would work better.
About war: No idea. Above my pay grade.
Apparently, Phil Son of Mickey has amazed 45 mill in gambling debt.
Wow, did not see that coming from the Good Boy of Goph.
Now wonder he has to join the Saudi Golf Tour.
The signing bonus alone should cover this.
Should have read this blog.
#6 Sail Away on 05.05.22 at 2:04 pm
Bring on the volatility. Gotta put these divvies somewhere. Looking at Warren and Charlie, my investing timeline should be another 45 years or so…
——————-
I would not be so sure.
Constantly swimming naked takes a toll on your health.
its been abundantly clear for a while now that corporate performance is a necessary condition but not a sufficient condition to determine stock market prices..
there’s a heck load of cheap money floating around and cowboy investors abound thats created the record highs we’ve seen of late(there’s a reason why an entire industry is dedicated to technical analysis)
as more cheap money gets taken away expect more bloodbath in the markets regardless of corporate performance.
granted there’ll be a rebound and will accelerate at a faster pace than real estate, but we should definitely expect further dips at least till inflation is tamed to half of what it is right now..
big mistake to judge the market direction by corporate performance alone.. there’ll be a direct correlation only on the downside..
Food for thought ..
There have been 2 days in the last 25 years when S&P was down 3% and 10 Y T down 1%..
Oct 9, 2008
March 18, 2020
Fascinating times and the strange spin on inflation and supply chains being the devil for consumers and their untruthful spins. It amazes me how oil companies being reported in the USA, UK, and even Canada with our gov’t controlled media are reporting massive profits. I often wonder how we have a supply chain issue on everything yet those corporate entities are making massive profits and you would think if there is nothing to sell because of shortages in goods, how can they make massive profits? Then we have Gov’t making massive amounts of money on taxes from inflation. The higher the price of goods, the higher the taxes. Lastly, pre pandemic we were only $200 away from many citizens going in the red monthly and not being able to afford their financial responsibilites. Since then everything in price has escalated in goods and services including houses, fuel, and now interest rates. I had a laugh the other night when Canadian media pushing an agenda of some sort still saying many people are again $200 from serious financial. Damn liars. I know I am not the brightest lighbulb in this group, but I do feel it in my left toe that something evil…really evil is just around the corner for the working class folks as something has to pop big time. This era we are in is NOT sustainable and a lot of hurt is coming.
Consider if millennials who’ve been making $ on meme/crypto and elderly decimated by inflation finally have to enter the work force and therefore be counted ..where do you think headline unemployment is headed ?
What is happening to the price of gas will be happen for food in 60-90 days. The only thing that will stop this happening is forcing the Russian navy from blocking Ukraine’s ports.
Like I said a while ago, CB’s will soon be confronted with a Sofie’s Choice ..burn the currency or let the broad markets seek fair value(scary). What threshold do you think the incumbents will/can tolerate?
I always read pay grade as ‘gay parade’. Now that you’ve seen it, it’s forever. Like Raffi.
What about our big shot Canadian General by way of Mariupol captured as a prisoner of war. Wasn’t he supposed to take command of our army or something. lil potato & the Freehand purged him for trying to cop a feel from some young, cute, NCO. Strange times in our Canadian Officer Corps.
Softish soft Landing
FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT.
The crowd is restless, the crowd is getting spooked and appears to be hunkering down . Curtailing their luxury purchases, such as new cars, boats, toys, travel, etc. All because they are essentially broke, there is a new game being played. Save the planet, recycle.
The temporary shunning of materialism is soon to be upon the land, proclaimed loud and clear by the tapped out consumer. FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT, as evidenced by the rise of second hand stores, Salvation Army Thrifts, etc. people are running out of cash, or the ability to borrow more.
The modern age has so corrupted the idea of money that average people no longer recognize valuable tangible assets when they see them. Instead, money has evolved into a virtual , largely imaginary thing that has no basis in the physical world. In the modern age, why should anything have value? Garage sales are primary examples of people selling the accumulated wealth of their ancestors for pennies on the dollar. Quote, Nietzsche, “There is no greater misery than to remember happier times.” For a great number of the overindebted, these pearls of wisdom will ring true. Hold on. someone at the door.
Inflation is what they (Trudeau and Biden) don’t want you to talk about. Therefore, I am talking about it!
Spend a trillion dollars here and there and surprise prices rise! It is that simple but the woke class don’t understand because they love to spend and devalue your money!
#49 Sail Away on 05.05.22 at 5:27 pm
I always read pay grade as ‘gay parade’. Now that you’ve seen it, it’s forever. Like Raffi.
——-
Hrad to say, the mnid wrkos in mtresyouis wyas.
‘Biden’s in trouble. China’s just nuts. Putin’s a psycho….’
odd…one name is missing from your gang that is messing up our lives…or is it?
Gay straight or other I don’t give a damn. But a dollar should be worth a dollar and that is what I worry about.
The best part of all this is watching the left try to make sense of it.
Saw a CBC bit asking people at a gas station how the high prices impact their lives, although no mention of global warming, and no commenters brimming with delight at how this will cause people to use less fuel and save the planet.
You can add pretty much all your food costs to the energy prices as well, but never a mention from the smart people about how much hydrocarbon energy is used in fertilizer and transportation to produce food.
Maybe at some point the virtue signaling will seem so yesterday and people will focus on what it takes to survive and have peace?
FYI, just closing a big transformer and switchgear order at about twice the price and twice the delivery time of a couple years ago. My end is a %, so can’t complain.
Also a prediction for the future of electric power; solar, nuclear and energy storage are on the march, even with the price increases of the input materials. The increases in natural gas prices, which wholesale electric prices mirror in most markets, far exceed them. Has nothing to do with global warming and everything to do with economics and security of supply.
It does appear that inflation is about to run hotter then anyone forecast. The price of diesel is an input cost into everything we buy– watch for that to show up in 60-90 days.
all bet guarantees that the best case scenario for rate hikes from the BoC is now two .50 basis points at the next two meetings at a minimum.
dont think that the GTA RE market will swallow that and still hold up- big changes coming in pricing in the next 90 days for sure.
The money markets will be a rough ride but will adjust in the next 6 months and do just fine as inflation is in their favour– higher earnings and for companies that have debt- easier to pay back in dollars worth less…
truthfully, i laughed when Garth was talking about 5 plus % plus rates for 5 year fixed but that might have been on the low side now and anything past 6-7% is anyone’s guess what happens
@#50 fishman
“What about our big shot Canadian General by way of Mariupol captured as a prisoner of war. ”
+++
Internet conspiracy drivel.
The guy resigned from the Canuck army in April /2022
Mariupol has been surrounded since March.
What would an unemployed Canuck Lt Gen offer in a besieged steel plant?
Another mouth to feed?
No “Proof” photos of the “prisoner”?
Or are the Russians torturing him for the latest Canadian Army Gender Equality manuals…..
Its nothing more than Internet drivel.
#16 Steve on 05.05.22 at 2:33 pm
That dogwalker deals in a lot of crap, like the blog author.
———————————————
Notice you failed your Diplomacy course.
It followed Dignity…short a few points on that too.
Equities benefitted greatly from cheap rates and government largesse. Of course they are going to get whacked. We are in for a pretty big reset. Which is fantastic, looking forward to a big sale. And I anticipating it will be a big one, we never really paid the price of the pandemic.
Now we’ve made it on Zerohedge!
Toronto Housing Bubble Deflating? Home Prices Drop Most In Two Years On Rising Rates
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/toronto-housing-bubble-deflating-home-prices-drop-most-two-years-rate-rises
Current volatility’s amusing but inconsequential. Garth
In case you haven’t noticed gazillions of boomers are freshly retired or very close retirement, for them this global asset crash, along with crazy inflation is anything but inconsequential. This country was supposed to have 2 active workers for each retired, who believe this utopia was ever going to happen?
This is bigger than you think!
#42 Ponzius Pilatus on 05.05.22 at 4:59 pm
#6 Sail Away on 05.05.22 at 2:04 pm
Bring on the volatility. Gotta put these divvies somewhere. Looking at Warren and Charlie, my investing timeline should be another 45 years or so…
———
I would not be so sure.
Constantly swimming naked takes a toll on your health.
———
Swimming is fine. What wears me out is constantly being accosted by the Swedish women’s volleyball team.
Sheesh- give a guy a break!
#56 PeterfromCalgary on 05.05.22 at 6:22 pm
“Gay straight or other I don’t give a damn. But a dollar should be worth a dollar and that is what I worry about”
Peter, the CAD is not doing as well as it should given our naturral resources, but it is not a reflection of our economy, it is because the US Dollar is strengthening, and not for a good reason.
The big money is moving out of emerging markets and into the US because of fears that the weaker economies may end up defaulting because of higher interest rates.
“The lies fed the inflation, and the inflation led to more lies.”
motivated the SEC to propose new transparency rules on stock derivatives
Archegos allegedly used a type of derivative called a total return swap
We allege that these defendants and their co-conspirators lied to banks to obtain billions of dollars that they then used to inflate the stock price of a number of publicly-traded companies,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “The lies fed the inflation, and the inflation led to more lies.”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bill-hwangs-30-billion-bezzle-here-are-the-5-juiciest-details-from-the-dojs-archegos-indictment-11651086393
=
By Reuters
|
May 5, 2022, at 9:31 a.m. nopec
A U.S. Senate committee passed a bill on Thursday that could expose the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and partners to lawsuits for collusion on boosting crude oil prices.
OPEC+ opens oil taps gradually as Russian war roils markets
May 5 (Reuters) – The European Union aims to cut off Sberbank (SBER.MM), Russia’s largest lender, from the SWIFT international payment system as Western allies seek to further isolate Moscow from financial markets over its war in Ukraine.
Thursday, May 5, 2022
============
Canada’s audit regulator cracks down on accounting firms
David Milstead
Institutional Investment Reporter
Published March 30, 2022
Rented a 1 way U haul rental truck at the beginning of April $1050 total. Booked the same rental for June $3400. Part of this is seasonal but still insane.
The market gyrations do appear to be panic driven. Saw headlines earlier today shrieking about stagflation. Not quite sure where that came from. However, also saw an article questioning whether a ‘soft’ landing is possible. The writer thought the Fed was being overly optimistic about their chances of pulling that off. What puzzles me is why the panic. We already knew about Putin, China, Covid, inflation & rate increases. Did aliens land & I just missed the headlines?
The stock market voted for a hard landing today. The drop got the blood flowing in the loins, and I bought a few stocks. I am sure they will be cheaper tomorrow and I will regret it.
Meanwhile, another “populist” view on why housing prices will not be brought down by interest rates alone:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/topstories/bank-of-canada-s-carolyn-rogers-says-supply-is-the-key-to-solving-housing-problem/ar-AAWX3lc?li=AAgh0dA
The BoC’s #2’s views seem balanced, and may disappoint some of the regulars here, our esteemed host included. Supply IS a major part of the problem, along with Canada’s inexplicable house-horny culture. Our nation has the lowest supply of housing in the G7, so without addressing this, adjusting interest rates will not solve what is now a structural problem.
Oh, but Mr. Polievre’s message along the lines of Ms. Rogers’ is just populist hogwash, right?
:)
“Truth is, confusion reigns.”
====================================
Wall street has been used to having The Fed pivot over the past 13 years. No longer happening. Hedge Funds will have to work for their returns going forward.
What the BoC and FED are doing should be a reason to bring back capital punishment.
They are letting inflation go to 10%, yet their rates are barely 1%. This is treason against the American & Canadian working class.
The lack of Common Sense, is the problem. We allow our Politicians, to permit a Central Bank to be the Supreme ruler of all Financial. The obfuscation is blinding. I am a neophyte investor, but it sure seems, counter intuitive to me, to try to save and accumulate more money, while our central authorities, simply print or more correctly alter the supply demand balance artificially to create more money. Negative Bond rates, Billions of $’s , constant pump and dump… Wall street SPAC’s and other nonsensical ideas…Accounting and Banking are quite boring and routine basic math forums. Do you recall when Bankers and Accountants, performed routine disciplined functions, with little or no ability to alter the results… QT, etc… is all nonsense, and frankly most of the media, and commentary is BS, and speculation. The world is a mess, and to paint the picture differently is frankly comical.
1 million dollars. to live in Jane and Finch
https://www.realtor.ca/real-estate/24357347/16-elana-dr-toronto-glenfield-jane-heights
https://www.toronto.com/news/does-torontos-jane-and-finch-community-deserve-its-bad-reputation/article_7cf74fed-35c5-5053-8d18-b127cf5fdb3c.html
Statistically, violent crime is high in Jane and Finch. According to Toronto police data, 31 Division – which has an area of responsibility in western North York – in the past 10 years it has seen far more shootings than any other of the city’s 17 police divisions. There were 703 shooting incidents between Jan. 1, 2009 and Dec. 31, 2018. The next highest, north Etobicoke’s 23 Division, had 524. Furthermore, according to the city’s neighbourhood equity score, which looks at issues such as economic opportunity, social development, health, and more, Black Creek, which consists of the area north of Finch, and Glenfield-Jane Heights, which is the area south of Finch, are the worst and second worst neighbourhoods, respectively, in the city
#72 Gen Z on 05.05.22 at 8:41 pm
——————————————————————
The BOOMERS just kept kicking the “debt can” down their paved roads thinking the next generations would automatically pick up the tab like some naive smucks.
Now the “can” isn’t moving so smoothly through the gravel roads filled with potholes, stale water, and stones anymore is it?
Canada’s debt has doubled under a PM who is GenX. – Garth
All this worry about how higher interest rates the stock market. Prices haven’t gone down much, unless you invested all of your money in Netflix. I’m going to bed soon, wake me up if any really good deals come along. Otherwise I’ll invest in bond funds if and when interest rates go up more and they get even cheaper.
Bien hecho David, que buena foto! Having lived in Argentina for half a year, I immediately thought of it when I saw the picture, and my suspicions were confirmed by the blurb at the end of the blog post.
Garth, could you please check on the whereabouts of this Tuesday’s Weekly Call recording? The website still has the April 26 recording.
Thanks for everything you do!
It’s coming. – Garth
#72 Gen Z on 05.05.22 at 8:41 pm
——————————————————————
Canada’s debt has doubled under a PM who is GenX. – Garth
—————————————————————–
He was raised, groomed, educated, and advised by the BOOMERS.
What did you expect?
You’ve lost it. – Garth
In Winnipeg, homes are going for $25-75k over asking. Garth can laugh about how is “Winterpeg”, but I don’t see things here slowing down, since relative to Toronto, it’s still like 1/4 to 1/2 the price….
I watch how many properties are for sale on realtor.ca, the beginning of April was 167,000 across Canada. Today it was over 190,000. Wait until June and July when rates increase, it will be interesting to see how many more properties are for sale.
#70 Two-thirds on 05.05.22 at 8:12 pm
Meanwhile, another “populist” view on why housing prices will not be brought down by interest rates alone:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/topstories/bank-of-canada-s-carolyn-rogers-says-supply-is-the-key-to-solving-housing-problem/ar-AAWX3lc?li=AAgh0dA
The BoC’s #2’s views seem balanced, and may disappoint some of the regulars here, our esteemed host included. Supply IS a major part of the problem, along with Canada’s inexplicable house-horny culture. Our nation has the lowest supply of housing in the G7, so without addressing this, adjusting interest rates will not solve what is now a structural problem.
Oh, but Mr. Polievre’s message along the lines of Ms. Rogers’ is just populist hogwash, right?
:)
**************
The Bank also said inflation was transitory. As rates rise supply won’t be a problem…actually at the moment it doesn’t seem like a problem. The movie has just started sit down in front.
Just imagine what life would be like if the brightest minds from the best schools fought for governemnt jobs.
Not looking good for the stock markets. Expect a few deadcat bounces over the next few months before the reality of the 5+ year bear market with 60% correction kicks in. People who are tinkering with these simplistic couch potato strategies which only work in a bull market, will get hit hard. Will be tough to be a financial advisor in a prolonged bear market….maybe scooping ice cream at a general isn’t such a bad job?
A market of stocks vs paasive and petulant? What a concept. I know it’s “hard”, but there have been some whizbang companies report amazing numbers. That’s fresh meat to me as a fundamentalist. Do your homework. There’s money to be made. I found another four issues this morning, feet up, slap in the face profit centers.
#72 Gen Z on 05.05.22 at 8:41 pm
What the BoC and FED are doing should be a reason to bring back capital punishment.
They are letting inflation go to 10%, yet their rates are barely 1%. This is treason against the American & Canadian working class.
———————————
All high level bankers are capital criminals. They are so obsessed with the day to day value of the stock market, that they lost their way long ago. Real inflation at nearly 20 percent and interest rates still near zero with insane balance sheets bursting at the seams.
A special place in hell indeed.
It’s true that if you bought recently (ie last 3 years ie. Millennials) and don’t plan to sell anytime soon you shouldn’t be too worried. But then you give a 13-22 year recovery as an example. A lot of people will be forced to move, get divorced, etc. in a time frame like that. If real estate goes in a late 80s slide we will have a big problem, regardless of those who are currently not extended.
@#79 The Canada
“He was raised, groomed, educated, and advised by the BOOMERS.”
+++
Like you?
Or will you blame another generation of parents every time you screw up until your 80?
Sooner or later your generation will have to put their “big boy” pants on and own up to the fact that you’re just as stupid, greedy and self absorbed as all other previous generations that rose and fell before you.
For example.
Putin may be a Boomer but the sheeple cheering him on in a stadium packed with over 100,000 screaming fans hoping for War……were the internet addicted, easily swayed, intellectually bereft….children of today.
DELETED (Anti-vaccine)
Life in Kanada. This all seems quite permanent.
(Contracts have been signed you know).
The days of unfettered travel are over, March 2020 when the global system, took over. Unless you still think T2 is working for us. Get ready for T3, T4ever? Cuba — our model.
.Three Health units ask Ontario’s top doctor to reinstate temporary provincewide mask mandate (globalnews.ca)
.Toronto Pearson delays could become ‘unsustainable’ in weeks ahead, operator warns (toronto.ctvnews.ca)
—
— Perspective for the Doomers.
https://www.eugyppius.com/p/reminder-respiratory-viruses-infect?s=r
“Reminder: Respiratory viruses infect huge numbers of people all the time, and nobody cared about this until 2020
Perspective from a 2018 New York study that tested a bunch of healthy adults for common respiratory viruses. Over 6% tested positive.
Respiratory viruses are extremely pervasive; they’re everywhere and this is totally normal. What isn’t pervasive, is virus testing. We’ve only ever tested widely for a single virus. So much of Corona mythology depends upon presenting data in isolation from what we know about the behaviour of all the other pathogens we’ve lived with for centuries. Our governments have spent two years hyperventilating about incidences of infection that turn out to be minuscule, or at worst normal, when compared to the other pathogens that infect us…. If we tested this widely for rhinovirus, imagine all the totally unrelated symptoms we’d find in our vast pool of positive results.”
#13 “TD line of credit at 1% for six months”.
Calling BS on that one.
#1 rampant inflation on 05.05.22 at 1:52 pm
It’s not the central banks that are the problem. It is the politicians who think they can spend, borrow, tax, spend, borrow, tax repeatedly.
Looks like we got a severe equities rout lads.
Nowhere to hide for the Schlock Pickers. Not even in the Treasury Blondes.
—
If you doubt that tyranny took over that cold winter week, March 2020.
In Soviet Kanada phone calls you. This isn’t sounding like a ‘pandemic’, more the beginning of electronic control and a Social Credit System.
.”OTTAWA – Canadians’ movements, including trips to the liquor store and pharmacy, were closely tracked via their mobile phones without their knowledge during the COVID-19 pandemic, a report sent to a parliamentary committee shows.” (thepeterboroughexaminer.com)
.NDP members voted in favour of the Liberal’s Motion 11, which effectively gives Liberals the power to avoid criticism from the opposition and shut down Parliament until September. As a result of NDP members’ vote on Motion 11, Liberals can now present “without notice, a motion to adjourn the House until Monday, September 19, 2022… and that the said motion shall be decided immediately without debate or amendment.” (thecountersignal.com)
Niagara real estate market cooling.
Year over Year
Sales – 1083 to 707 down 34.7%
Listings – 1325 to 1382 up 4.3%
Price index – 643,200 to 814,600 up 26.6%
Days on market – 15 to 14 meh
This is interesting
March 2022 to April 2022
Price index- 825,300 to 814,600 down 1.3%
https://www.niagararealtor.ca/public/Stats/2022/April%2022%20-%20Media%20Release%20and%20Stats.pdf
Alberta Rising…
No surprise, the unemployment rate in Alberta just came in at 5.9% down from 6.5% in the previous month.
With the higher energy and resource prices, the job market in Alberta will keep improving.
Houses are far cheaper than Toronto and Vancouver. Income taxes are lower. No provincial sales tax. No deed transfer tax. No discriminatory taxes against fellow Canadians.
For a better opportunity, slide on over to Alberta and/or send your young people this way.
DELETED (Ani-vaccine)
Hard or soft landing, lol, we have to ask?
Europe is headed for recession, thanks to Putin. China is flat footed from Covid and a monster housing bubble deflating. The U.S. is running red hot inflation and coming off an everything bubble. I mean, what could go wrong.
The words Jerome Powell spoke on Wednesday didn’t square with reality, meaning he either doesn’t know what he’s doing or he’s lying. If he’s lying, he might know what he’s doing but either way has lost all credibility in terms of handling inflation. I mean, we still have to pay attention to what he says even though the Federal reserve pressers should be viewed as one giant psych op, since it is. But can we trust it? No. And if you can’t trust it…
The big problem the U.S. faces with inflation running at 8.5% and looking to approach the 9’s (which would be 11ish compared to 70’s cooked CPI standards) is that in order to tame inflation, we need rate hikes potentially higher than what inflation is running at. This is not possible considering how much money the U.S. owes coupled with the fact that the U.S. is a debtor nation.
The U.S. will run into problems maintaining interest rates at 3.5%. We need what, higher than 11% to tame inflation or it continues to romp potentially for years?
It’s like getting a call from your doctor who tells you scans came back and found a couple masses. You tell your doc “you must be mistaken, I feel fine”. The doc says
the cancer is aggressive and you won’t feel fine for long, suggesting surgery and chemo right away. Applying the same analogy to Powell, and we see the aggressive cancer on the economy called inflation and Dr. Powell suggests it’s transitory and then suggests there are larger concerns and then suggests the economy is strong and that aggressive therapies (rate hikes) aren’t needed. Why? Because they can’t do much about it.
Or, they could. The U.S. government could slow spending and increase taxes. The Fed could in turn, restructure bonds particularly on it’s balance sheet. Y’know, if there was political will which there isn’t. Republicans will try to hang this all on Biden which will likely work but will be political will following 2024 to tackle this? No. So, we are in the spring of 2022 now. We are likely to see the everything bubble continue to deflate because of world events and because of stagflation, the consequence of a paralyzed U.S. Fed that can’t act on it’s own self caused inflation.
This is a dangerous stock market right now. The easy shorts are disappearing. Corporate margins are falling. Valuations are historically high regardless of what those who ignore history tell us. There’s still lots of money out there, but we can see it draining in the markets, out of housing (i.e. higher rates), with higher debt service, with inflation, with a slower domestic and global economy (I think a global recession is coming btw) and at some point, it will go negative. When it does, the true definition of stagflation (marked by high unemployment) will arrive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagflation?msclkid=76bfe518cd4711ecac3105cddcfcb581
The link above definition is as good as any. Note the 2 causes: 1st, supply shocks. 2nd, growing the money supply too quickly. Sound familiar? Like the 70’s familiar? Or roaring 20’s and all that?
So no… soft landings aren’t in the cards unfortunately. That train has long left the station. I do feel for the investment community, the money managers and such. It’s instinct after all, to go long. It’s human nature to want to see whatever we invest in, whatever we pour our energies into, to succeed. But, there are times when the world works against us and there isn’t much we can do about it. When volumes slip and growth wanes, we can find solace in knowing that there is worse. We can lose everything in fact, wash out completely but there is nothing worse right now than trying to survive in Mariupol or some famine in Africa. It can always be worse. Lets be appreciative in the moment as challenging times are on their way.
#83 HUNGRY BEAR on 05.06.22 at 1:14 am
Just imagine what life would be like if the brightest minds from the best schools fought for governemnt jobs.
*****
Chrystia fits all those requirements. Too bad we don’t have more like her. Wish we could clone her.
DELETED (Anti-vaccine)
During uncertain market conditions like these, Warren Buffett would spend more time on arbitrage, calling the individual plays ‘workouts’. Let’s take a look at a few in play right now:
Activision: Microsoft agreed to acquire for 95 by June 2023, which represents a +22% benefit from today. Buffett revealed during the AGM that he’s taken a 9% stake ($5.5B) in ATVI, acting, most likely, on a similar but slightly smaller stake by his confidant Sail Away.
BRP: A share repurchase plan between the prices of 103 and 123 has commenced. Possible 10-15% upside.
TWTR: currently 8.7% below Elon’s unanimously board-accepted offer of $54/share. This is expected to close fairly soon in 2022 but no hard date announced.
Food for thought.
I’m still getting impatient as hell, tapping my foot, and waiting for this correction to come that probably won’t. Another tempest in a teapot.
@#98 Bails forth
“Wish we could clone her.”
+++
The country can’t afford another Non finance Finance Minister.
She doubled the National Debt in 4 years.
Not possible to be a true Conservative without being both a Fiscal and Social Conservative.
If you are only Fiscally Conservative then you should try and find a party that accomodates your values. Maybe some day in the next hundred years the Liberals will stop spending so much money and then you or your descendants can vote for them.
Double minded people are unstable in all their ways.
Some unsolicited suggestions for Crowdie:
Stay invested in stocks, cash out, and buy real estate, or light a match to your money.
The result will be the same, but I suggest lighting a match to your money- quicker more efficient, and less painful.
#102 crowdedelevatorfartz on 05.06.22 at 12:49 pm
The country can’t afford another Non finance Finance Minister.
She doubled the National Debt in 4 years.
She saved the country’s economy from disintegration.
Hmmm.
People in BC are up in arms about “privacy” because the Van Police would like more security cameras installed throughout Vancouver to reduce crime.
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/health-agency-tracked-canadians-trips-to-liquor-stores-pharmacies-via-phones-during-pandemic
News flash folks.
You’re being tracked by your own cellphone 24/7
usd/cad breaking out above 1.29.
despite our oil and rocks, usd is where it’s at.
the loonie is about to get shot from the sky.
thx to libs firehose.
@Bonobo, post #103
The closest there has ever been to a government that’s fiscally conservative and not social conservatives were the Liberal governments of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin. We could really use their fiscal smarts now. The Conservative government of Mike Harris in Ontario fit that description also.
#98 Ballingsford on 05.06.22 at 11:14 am
#102 crowdedelevatorfartz on 05.06.22 at 12:49 pm
——-‐——————————————–
Who was her competition to get the job?
Was there a line-up of MBA and finance proffessionals knocking down the door to get in?
Nobody else cared to raise their hand up for it… or had the opportunity to.
If Canada wants qualified people to run the country then their going to have to pay for it. The voting population need to make that clear to governement.
#98 bails
Oh man thank you for that – I spit my coffee out I laughed so hard – good one – NEXT
#103 Bonobo on 05.06.22 at 12:51 pm
Not possible to be a true Conservative without being both a Fiscal and Social Conservative.
If you are only Fiscally Conservative then you should try and find a party that accomodates your values. Maybe some day in the next hundred years the Liberals will stop spending so much money and then you or your descendants can vote for them.
Double minded people are unstable in all their ways.
———
The problem with deliberately voting to restrict the freedoms of others, is you then risk your own freedoms.
Like I’ve been saying for 2 years here, the US economy will collapse before Fed’s interest rates hit 2-3% (one Nomura quant recently estimated that figure is just under 1%). And this is with real inflation close to 10pct!
Two more weeks of of this and people will be calling for another round of QA.
If that doesn’t happen, the Dems will get totally wiped out in November. Hey, anyone notice how all 22 candidates endorsed by the Orange Man won in primaries this week?
Hi #90 TurnerNation,
You might find these YT interesting.
The Vitamin D Paradox in COVID-19 and Why It Predicts But Doesn’t Always Protect
From MedCram 24min. April10,2022
(It reminded me why I should make a point of getting outside more into sunlight without glass in the way.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eEyWlbToI4
Why the Lack of Religion Breeds Mental Illness
(or lack of Logos or meaning) from Academy of Ideas 14min. May5,2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DffqK6j-y1U
#111 IHCTD9 on 05.06.22 at 2:33 pm
The problem with deliberately voting to restrict the freedoms of others, is you then risk your own freedoms.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Says the guy who wants abortions to be “really hard to get”.
#95 Shawn on 05.06.22 at 10:34 am
Alberta Rising…
No surprise, the unemployment rate in Alberta just came in at 5.9% down from 6.5% in the previous month.
With the higher energy and resource prices, the job market in Alberta will keep improving.
Houses are far cheaper than Toronto and Vancouver. Income taxes are lower. No provincial sales tax. No deed transfer tax. No discriminatory taxes against fellow Canadians.
For a better opportunity, slide on over to Alberta and/or send your young people this way.
____________________________________
Fix the weather there first.