Hilliard’s Weekend Notebook


Thoughts, views and opinions as current events unfold: With topics taken from current market events and my latest book — When the Bubble Bursts: Surviving the Canadian Real Estate Crash (Dundurn: March 2015)  and my first book Investment Traps and How to Avoid Them (1999) — this short piece will give you unique and valuable insights filtered by my thirty-six years’ experience as an investment professional.
 

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Panic in London over interest rates and bond prices

Published by Hilliard MacBeth on Sep 30, 2022

The panic in UK government bond markets that gripped London Monday was a trigger for emergency action by the Bank of England, which reversed its monetary policy in an attempt to calm markets. The UK budget released late last week was not well received... Read more
The Fed talks tough as the inflation fighter

Published by Hilliard MacBeth on Sep 23, 2022

The Federal Reserve jumped its policy interest rate to 3 percent this week, from 2.25 percent. The Fed reiterated its commitment to getting inflation back to the target level of 2 percent, from its current pace of around 8 percent. The Fed is talking... Read more
CPI shocks the financial markets

Published by Hilliard MacBeth on Sep 16, 2022

The U.S. CPI for August shocked the markets this week, leading to an almost 4 percent decline in stock markets. The CPI showed a small decline, but the “core” CPI increased. Will inflation persist at these high levels? The market was expecting a moderation... Read more
The Bank of Canada says full speed ahead

Published by Hilliard MacBeth on Sep 09, 2022

The Bank of Canada increased its policy rate by 75 basis points on Wednesday. It also stated that the fight to contain inflation is likely to last for some time. You could imagine them saying, “damn the torpedoes, full speed, go ahead.” How much pain... Read more
Junk bond prices have collapsed

Published by Hilliard MacBeth on Sep 02, 2022

Junk bond prices have collapsed, losing more than 15 percent of their value this year. But the push to higher rates by central banks and the possibility of a deep recession point to a much deeper adjustment during 2023. This will create some great opportunities... Read more