This Time Is Likely Different for the S&P 500 With Rising Margin Debt

A recent article in Business Insider by Jesse Felder from TheFelderReport.com raised a loud alarm bell over rising margin debt levels in the U.S. stock market (see “A closely followed indicator says a 20% drop in stocks could be coming soon“). The article used the following chart as part of an analysis concluding that a … Read more

The Bank of Canada Is Done With Rate Cuts

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 9, 2016. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Bank of Canada decided once again to hold its target overnight interest rate at 0.5%. The overall message from the statement on monetary policy is that economic developments are unfolding … Read more

The Bank of Canada Avoids the “R” Word

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on September 14, 2015. Click here to read the entire piece.) As expected, the Bank of Canada left rates unchanged in its latest decision on monetary policy (September 9, 2015). Also as expected, the Bank did not interpret recent GDP data as … Read more

The Canadian Dollar’s Rapid Devaluation: A Precarious Predicament for the Bank of Canada

A year ago, the Bank of Canada (BOC) delivered the first of two rate cut surprises for the year. So with oil still cratering ever lower, I can understand why the market seemed braced for yet another rate cut last week. Instead, the BOC not only stood still on rates, but also it expressed an … Read more