As of late the haze from these wild fires has been quite the nuisance, at times it has smelt like my neighbors are having a bonfire on their front lawn.

And yet despite all of this haze and smoke, the sun has continued to shine. With a little patience we have begun to have a great start to the summer season.

Similar to the haze the issues the market faces will not necessarily resolve themselves in the short term, however they will dissipate over time and well run businesses will continue to prosper just as the haze continues to lift and the sun continues to shine.

Moving through the end of Q2 we have some good news to report (Finally!). Although it doesn’t feel like it, inflation has actually come down significantly from the peak in June 2022 where it was sitting at 9.1% in the US and 8.1% in Canada.

CIBC Capital markets now reports inflation at 3% in the US and 3.4% in Canada respectively. So far so good.

The consensus view on interest rates continues to be that rates are likely to remain elevated into at least the beginning of 2024 with a slight chance of another rate increase of 0.25%. Throughout 2024 rates will level off and may start to decline.

The US government reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default (just as they did in August 2011). This should be the biggest headline of the year as it side steps a small catastrophe, however with how things have been over the past 3 years this will likely be forgotten in a matter of weeks.

While many news outlets continue to put a negative spin on current events, the reality is that markets have been positive across the globe this year. And while Large Capitalization companies are driving this return we harken back to our previous comments “well run businesses will continue to prosper”

We leave you with our final thoughts: remember the market is not a casino!

The more time we remain in a Casino the higher the odds we will lose money.

As a contrast, the longer we remain invested in a well-diversified portfolio of quality businesses the higher our odds of success; the higher our odds of growing our savings.

The ability to think and act for the long-term is your edge as an individual investor. Patience is the ultimate equalizer.

As always we thank you for putting your trust in our team, we are always available to discuss your portfolio and answer any questions or concerns you may have.