Weekly Market Commentary - May 28th, 2021

The Markets

What do markets hate?

They hate uncertainty, and recently there has been plenty of it. A couple of the questions plaguing economists and pundits include:

Why aren’t people returning to work? People have not been rejoining the workforce at the pace many had anticipated. One of the most frequently cited theories was explained by The Economist:

“Businesspeople, almost to a pinstripe, are convinced that the […] boost to unemployment insurance explains the shortages. However, pundits do not agree on whether stimulus handouts really lead people to shirk. The evidence is hazy elsewhere, too…Australia ditched its job-protection scheme in March, and shortages have worsened.”

The unemployment data has inspired many theories about why jobs aren’t filling more quickly. These include fear of falling ill, low hourly pay, and lack of dependent care, to name a few. Some U.S. states have recently modified their unemployment programs, so there may soon be additional data available to help clarify the situation.

Will inflation prove to be transitory or will it persist? Investors also are worried that central banks will keep rates low for too long. James Politi of Financial Times reported:

“The Fed (U.S. central bank) has argued that strong monetary support for the economy is still needed because of the risk of a slowdown in the recovery and the shortfall in employment compared to pre-pandemic levels. Nor does it expect the current spike in consumer prices to last, arguing that it is being fueled by supply chain bottlenecks and the economic reopening.”

Others aren’t so sure the Fed is right. Last Tuesday, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said the Fed’s latest forecasts suggest it is misreading the economy and encouraging complacency, reported Greg Robb of MarketWatch.

Last week, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial indices moved slightly lower, while the S&P/TSX Composite index ended slightly higher. If you have any questions or concerns about current market conditions or your investment portfolio, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.

Source: Refinitiv

Charitable Endeavours

• Volunteering at women's shelter

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• Fundraising for Drug Free Kids Canada

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Ahhh, the joys of parenting

With Mother’s Day behind us and Father’s Day ahead, it seemed an appropriate time to share some tweets about the parenting experience. Here are a few entertaining examples shared online by parents and rounded up by Buzzfeed:

“Does anyone have directions to that village everyone says will raise my children? It sounds wonderful.”

--Not Your Trending Mom

“Hi, I'm a parent. You may remember me from such greats as ‘Repeating Myself’ and ‘Arguing over Shoes’ and ‘Stepping on Cereal.’”

--Rodney LaCroix

“Thoughts and prayers for my son who thought it would be funny to tell me ‘I’ll get to it when I get to it, woman.’”

--Mom On The Rocks

“Why aren’t there any horror movies called ‘My 4 year old fell asleep in the car at 5pm.’”

--threetimedaddy

“7 [year old] son: May I have some water?

Me: What are the magic words?

7 [year old] son: I can get it myself.

Me: There you go.”

--Laura Marie

“Blew my nose in front of my daughter and her friends today. Please respect her privacy during this difficult time.”

--Simon Holland

Parenting is never an easy job, and the pandemic made it a lot trickier. Parents have to make important financial planning decisions involving children, too. Often these are related to legacy planning, and sometimes they involve special needs. If you would like to talk about the needs of your family and identify potential solutions, give us a call.

Weekly Focus - Think About It

“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near one.”

--J.R.R. Tolkien

Best regards,