by Tom Bradley When my wife and I are surprised or confused about something, Lori has the habit of saying, "What’s going on?" Rather than wondering or speculating, she gets to the bottom of it. When it comes to the stock market, a lot of people are asking just that question these days. It’s been on a tear over the last six months, regularly hitting new highs. Not surprisingly, the answer is a combination of things, many of which overlap and fuel each other. History. First of all, it’s what markets do. A long-term chart of the overall market trends up and to the right, with a steady diet of new ..read more

If you're a Canadian living in the U.S. or an American working in Canada, you're bound to run into some financial and tax planning complexities. While the topic can seem daunting, it's important to understand what your responsibilities are and who you can turn to for help. In the video below, we chat with Andrea Thompson, a cross-border planning expert and founder of Modern Cents, an advice-only financial planning firm. Andrea shares valuable insights into navigating these challenges and ensuring financial peace of mind ..read more

This article was first published in the Globe and Mail on March 23, 2024. It is being republished with permission. by Tom Bradley The business media is obsessed these days with the possibility (or hope) of interest-rate cuts, the depth and timing of the next recession, the U.S. election and artificial intelligence. Of these, only AI, which has the potential to change how business is done, will have an important impact on long-term portfolio returns. For investors, the other topics are short-term noise. Unfortunately, the noise obscures important trends and innovations that will have a greater ..read more

by Scott Ronalds Some people love shopping at Costco, others hate it. I fall more into the latter camp. Crowds, lineups, and parking battles aren’t my thing. But two things keep bringing me back: the unbeatable prices, and the hot dog. That fresh, soft bun and seasoned-just-right sausage is an absolute steal at just a buck fifty (not to mention it comes with a drink). Sure, it’s far from a healthy nosh, but after you’ve logged a few thousand steps in a colossal warehouse you deserve a salty snack. Costco has been dishing up the meat in a bun combo for nearly 40 years. Remarkably, the price ha ..read more

by Salman Ahmed OpenAI's ChatGPT has made artificial intelligence, or AI, mainstream. AI has long been used by companies such as Amazon and Netflix to make personalized suggestions. Now it's being employed across a variety of industries. Microsoft has embedded its Copilot feature in Excel and Word. GitHub allows subscribers to build code using AI. And further advances will likely make personalized medicine and autonomous vehicles a reality. In this video with Aylon Ben-Shlomo, managing director at Aristotle Capital (the manager of our Global Equity Fund), we explore the history and future of A ..read more

by Scott Ronalds To assist with your tax filing this year, below is a list of the documents Steadyhand clients have received from us based on the type of account(s) held. We’ve also included a brief explanation of their purpose. Please note: All documents are now provided electronically via our client portal, rather than by mail. This allows us to get them to you faster as well as more efficiently and securely. Non-registered investment accounts T3 Slip If you hold a non-registered account, which simply means an investment account other than an RRSP, RRIF, TFSA or FHSA, we send you a T3 slip ..read more

This article was first published in the Globe and Mail on March 9, 2024. It is being republished with permission. by Tom Bradley It’s a good time to be an investor. Stock markets are on a roll. The MSCI World Index is up 9 per cent year-to-date and more than 40 per cent since September, 2022. Nobody knows what’s going to happen going forward. There are plenty of cross-currents. Depending on whom you ask, there’s going to be a soft or hard landing, interest rates are going back down or are now in a normal range, and valuations are just fine or historically high. This combination of good market ..read more

by Salman Ahmed The Bank of Canada does more than just monitor inflation to make interest rate decisions. It helps oversee the financial system, manages the Government of Canada’s foreign exchange reserves, supervises payment providers and decides what our currency looks like. It’s even researching digital currencies. In this interview with Carolyn Kwan of Connor, Clark & Lunn (the manager of our Income Fund and Savings Fund), we discuss Canada’s interest rate outlook in 2024 and many of the other things the Bank of Canada does to support the Canadian economy. Carolyn also provides insight ..read more

This article was first published in the Globe and Mail on February 24, 2024. It is being republished with permission. by Tom Bradley Risk is a loaded word. It has negative connotations for most people, and is something to be avoided. Unfortunately, it’s an essential part of investing. It’s embedded in the math – risk plus time equals return. If you want returns in excess of the risk-free rate, which for most investors is a government bond or GIC, you need to take risk. I want to explore three important aspects of risk, but I’ll start by defining the four types of investment risk. When you see ..read more

In our latest Coffee Break, we're joined by Julia Chung, an advice-only planner and President of Financial Planning Association of Canada (FPAC), to discuss the evolving landscape of financial planning and why you might consider working with an AOP. <span id="XinhaEditingPostion"></span&gt ..read more