Notes from the Desk – Bank of Canada Meeting – Much Ado About Nothing The Bank of Canada (BoC) held rates steady at 5% this morning.  Although Governor Macklem reiterated that he believes rates are high enough, and that the real question is how long the BoC sits on its hands before cutting. The Press […]

Notes From the Desk: CAD CPI – A Pleasant Surprise   After months of speculation and anticipation regarding the impact of higher rates on inflation, the Bank of Canada (BoC) received positive news with today’s CPI report. By the Numbers.   Headline CPI YoY. 2.9% (3.4% expected) Core inflation Y0Y. 2.4% (2.6% expected) CPI Median […]

Notes From The Desk: US Inflation Heads Into Overtime   US inflation slowed less ‘swiftly’ than expected in January, challenging the market’s expectations for rate cuts to be ‘ushered’ in this spring. The headline numbers.   Headline CPI was 3.1% vs. expected 2.9% Core CPI came in at 3.9% vs. expectations of 3.7%.   Beyond […]

Notes From the Desk – US Payrolls – Wow!   Today’s US Non-farm Payroll report was unambiguously strong, reducing concerns that the US economy is on the precipice of a major slowdown.  With the data smashing expectations, Treasury yields are 8-18 bps higher. The numbers.   353k jobs gained (185k expected) and the last two […]

Notes from the Desk – FOMC Meeting – Dialing It Back   As expected the Federal Reserve (Fed) held rates steady and opted to continue quantitative tightening as scheduled. The good news.   The Fed dropped references to further rate hikes, and Chairman Powell explicitly stated that the Fed Funds rate was at its peak. […]