Weak Markets, Strong Companies And Unexpected Possibilities
Here are three things You Should Know as we head into the August long weekend:
1. Cutbacks at Canaccord - no fun in the investment banking arm of this dealer - or any one on the Street these days. Canaccord announced on Tuesday that 75 people in its 27-person investment banking group were laid off. Not surprising, after last March financials showed the firm’s capital market group revenues were down 90% from a little over $300 million to $30 million over the same period the year before. Ugly.
This same squeeze is happening all over the street. Institutional sales desks and research analysts have felt the pain across the board. Retail Investment Advisors have greater job security, as we know, since they manage “sticky” assets that generate ongoing fees. That said, when times get tough, retail IAs often have to deal with cuts to their payout, admin support, marketing support and increase compliance headaches from zealous internal regulators wary of client complaints.
This too shall pass. A North American soft-landing scenario is now baked into the forecasts of most economists. Inflation appears to have peaked. The long bond market is showing us hints that yields may fall (see #3 below) and there is a ton of cash on the sidelines, sitting in GICs. All of this could turn into a very bullish scenario in the back half of the year. Or not.
In the meantime, best wishes to everyone reading this who’s been affected, especially with a job loss.
2. Watch closely - it’s always amazing to me to see the exceptionally strong quality of companies that are going out and meeting our network of IAs and family offices during brutal markets like these. Without exception, the clients that we’ve introduced to our network in the month of July are all doing very, very well - and their stock prices don’t even come close to reflecting it. This will change.
Here’s what I’m seeing - and you can find links to all our active companies here:
Volatus Aerospace is rapidly and sustainably rolling up a huge and growing pipeline of new drone/aerial intelligence business in new sectors round the world.
Eguana Technologies is keeping their heads down while they continue an impressive roll-out of their residential and commercial energy storage systems.
Taskeo Mines is in the right spot at the right time with strong assets and near-term catalysts in a bullish copper scenario.
Quebec Pegmatite is leveraging the huge interest in the prolific James Bay area of Quebec to advance a number of focussed and strategically located lithium exploration projects
3. I want to forward you a must-read post for this weekend, courtesy of my good friend and former IA colleague at Midland Walwyn, Tim Morton.
Here is Tim’s provocative teaser to this Unexpected Possibilities post: “Could global interest rates fall to substantially lower levels? Could Canadian real estate finally see a meaningful price correction?”
Here’s a chart from Tim’s post that could give you a clue to part of his answer:
To all our friends in Canada - have a great August long weekend. To all our friends in Europe, the month of August is a 31-day long-weekend for you, so hope you’re enjoying it! 😊
Thanks again for your interest and support.
Rick Peterson (He/him)
Chair