TodayThe U.K. and EU have
agreed to a Brexit outline deal. Now it’s all about getting it approved by parliament and EU member states. Juncker noted that it’s a far and balanced agreement for both parties, that sets out a new plan for Northern Ireland, which was a wedge issue. There are already calls by the opposition for another referendum on the deal, so saying it’s done is a bit premature, but at least there is progress.
The British Pound spiked higher on the news earlier this morning but has reversed hard and is now lower on the day. Apparently, the market is skeptical that it will be passed. European markets are also now mixed giving up earlier gains. U.S. futures are still positive; however, it seems like whatever positive sentiment surrounding the agreement is fleeting fast.
The U.S. dollar continues to face pressure, the DXY Index is now below 98 and tested its 200 day moving average earlier this morning. For now, we’re seeing a bit of a bounce off of the lows, but this counter trend move could very well become the beginning a new lower trend. Loonies are beginning to take flight inching towards $0.76 USD.
The big Aramco IPO continues to move forward. They’ve
now hired about 25 banks globally to work on a deal, including JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Goldman, Citi, Credit Suisse, Lazard, and RBC. The partial sale of the world’s largest company is expected to raise about $40 billion USD for the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund.
In an effort to
tackle the underground economy the CRA has made (via court order) Home Depot hand over commercial credit card customer details including names, address, and purchases between 2013 and 2016. Black market contractors will be targeted for audits based on mismatches between spending habits, business activity and declared income.
A
recent poll (conducted by HOOPP – a pension plan) revealed that 8 in 10 Canadians would rather have a pension than a higher salary. Less than half of Canadians currently have access to a workplace pension plan, and nearly half of those without a pension claim to have saved nothing for retirement. Concerns surrounding retirement savings outpaced concerns surrounding other issues such as taxes and personal debt. Fortunately, working with an advisor is a great way to build your own pension.
Not market related, but interesting, nonetheless. Back in our day we used to walk 5 miles to school uphill both ways. Ever heard this before or thought the youth of today as lacking? Seems like this mentality has been around for millennia, and the
subject is explored further in this paper.
Two mechanisms contribute to humanity’s perennial tendency to denigrate kids: (1) a person-specific tendency to notice the limitations of others where one excels, (ii) a memory bias projecting one’s current qualities onto the youth of the past. When observing current children, we compare our biased memory to the present and a decline appears. Diversion: The Paris zoo just added the blockbuster of all animals – the ‘Blob’.
See it HERE. It has no brain, yet has a memory, and 720 sexes. Unfortunately you aren’t allowed to pet it at this point.