Category: Blog

It’s been a good year so far for index investors as US, global and Canada indices hit all-time highs. At the time of this writing the S&P 500 is up over 13% from the start of the year. The FTSE 100 is up 11% and Canada’s TSX is up 19%. Despite tariff threats and geopolitical tensions, the stock market has continued marching upward, buoyed by weaker than expected US inflation numbers, a confident consumer and the hopes that AI will deliver cost savings and record profits for every type of business imaginable. The US Federal Reserve’s September interest rate cut of 25 basis points has further encouraged investor sentiment during what is historically a poor performing month. Septem’bear’ is now effectively known as ‘Septem-‘bull’.

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While the first three months of 2025 saw mild stock market declines, things really started falling off the rails on April 2^nd, otherwise known as ‘Liberation Day’. During a formal rose garden ceremony, President Trump held up a large board announcing reciprocal tariffs on approximately 60 countries and a universal tariff of 10 percent. These countries had been “ripping off” the US for years, Trump insisted, although economists would argue that his calculations were a tad embellished and tariffs over-reaching, as even an island inhabited only by penguins would be tariffed. Indeed, no one is safe in a trade war.

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