Omar’s Quick Take – Canadian Bank Stocks Under Pressure, Opportunity Once the Storm Passes
For anyone who may not have been paying attention, it may come as a shock to hear that Canadian bank stocks are collectively down more than -30%, as of writing, since their highs in February 2022 (using the BMO Equal Weight Banks ETF (ZEB) as a measure). Given the size and importance of our banking […]
Alternative Minimum Tax – When Does It Apply, How, And For Whom?
Download this article as a PDF. BACKGROUND The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)1 is a second, alternate tax liability calculation that Canadian individuals and trusts must consider annually in parallel with their normal tax liability. First introduced in 1986, AMT was implemented to promote and maintain fairness within Canada’s income tax regime. Simply, if a taxpayer’s AMT […]
FEBRUARY 2023 COMMENTARY
Capping off what felt like the worst equity market performance year we have seen since the Great Financial Crisis (GFC), 2022 was a year that we will likely not soon forget. A seemingly atypical year, with market participants having endured a rather unique situation of both equities and bonds falling in unison, an occurrence that has only happened less than a handful of times in the past century.
Real Estate and U.S. Taxes: The Cost of Ownership
Download this article as a PDF. For many Canadians who are not otherwise U.S. persons (“Canadian”), owning property in the U.S. may represent an investment opportunity, a home away from home and an escape from the colder winter months. The complex nature of U.S. income tax rules related to property ownership and the financial consequences […]
Canada’s New Luxury Tax details – effective September 1, 2022
Aircraft, Vessels and Vehicles: The New Luxury Tax First announced in the 2021 Federal Budget, the new luxury tax will apply to sales, leases, and imports in Canada of certain luxury recreational aircraft, vessels, and vehicles delivered on or after September 1, 2022. What is subject to the tax? The sale, lease or import of […]
Introducing the First Home Savings Account (FHSA)
Tax-Free First Home Savings Account On August 9, 2022, the Department of Finance released for public comment the draft legislative proposals outlining the First Home Savings Account (“FHSA”). The FHSA was introduced in the 2022 Federal Budget to address the increasing difficulty Canadians are experiencing in buying a first home due to rising real estate […]
May 2022 Commentary
A Rougher Start than Most What a year 2022 has proven to be so far, with war, a lingering pandemic and asset markets in turmoil, to name just few risks weighing on investors. Since our last commentary earlier this year, equity and bond markets have continued to exhibit, apart from a brief relief rally in […]
January 2022 Commentary
January has kicked off 2022 with a ferocious selloff across global markets, with many of them now falling into correction territory from their November highs (normally defined as a greater than -10% drawdown in price). The selling has varied across assets, sectors, and geographies, but has been felt especially hard in growth-oriented stocks where valuations […]
The Maradona and Cantillon Effects
Please click on the link below for the current Market Insights newsletter from Wellington-Altus’ Chief Market Strategist, Dr. James Thorne, PH.D. https://bit.ly/33kZ9Eh
Omar’s Quick Charts: Nasdaq 100 Last to Get the Memo?
With much of our equity exposure tilted towards longer duration, “growth” style, equities, the Nasdaq 100 (or represented by the Invesco QQQ ETF) is probably one of the closest indices we could call a benchmark. As seen with the chart below, the past two weeks have been somewhat painful, with the QQQ (purple line) catching […]