2016 Quarterly Reviews

Fourth Quarter Review

This time last year we were reflecting on a rather gloomy year for stocks around the world.  Canada was the worst of the mature  markets suffering a decline of 10.95%.   Energy related stocks had a particularly difficult year in 2015 with the price of oil plunging  more than  29%.  Twelve months later we are looking back at a much different  picture.  Stock markets displayed strength  across much of the globe with Canada among  the top performers  posting an increase of 17.51%.   Energy related stocks led the way back as the price of oil surged 46%. 

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Third Quarter Review 

The third quarter of 2016 was marked by some additional volitality in the global financial markets.  Overseas there was some additonal concern after the new British Prime Minister, Theresa May, asserted her desire to have a "hard brexit" followed by trade negoiations with the European Union.

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Second Quarter Review

The second quarter of 2016 was rather subdued with little volatility, until June 24th when Britain unexpectedly voted to leave the European Union, resulting in a market sell-off.  A week later at the end of the quarter, some stability had returned to financial markets and most of the losses were recovered.

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First Quarter Review

The first quarter of 2016 was a stark contrast to the same time period of 2015, as a market volatility and negative sentiment came back in a resounding way. The three dominant themes of oil, US interest rates and China were still the same as a year ago, however this time the stock market worldwide sold off quite aggressively with double digit losses suffered the first six weeks of the year. Fortunately, calm was restored and the buyers came back in a big way, helping indexes post better returns.

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