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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The Federal Reserve believes the soft landing myth

Published by Hilliard MacBeth on Mar 22, 2024

The Federal Reserve announced that interest rates will remain unchanged. The chairman, Jerome Powell, seemed confident in his remarks that inflation will come down further, while economic growth gets stronger, and unemployment stays at the current low... Read more
Banks are fighting proposals for tougher regulatory rules

Published by Hilliard MacBeth on Mar 15, 2024

A battle is underway in the U.S. over new rules requiring higher equity capital for the banks. Enhanced equity capital protects the bank from insolvency in the event of a financial crisis. Bank lobbyists are fighting hard to keep capital requirements... Read more
Apple struggles with slumping sales in China

Published by Hilliard MacBeth on Mar 08, 2024

China and the iPhone are closely linked, as sales in that country are a key to Apple’s success. China is going through an economic slump which shows up in sales of Apple’s most successful product, the iPhone. Recently competitors in China have been growing... Read more
Warren Buffett is at a crossroads

Published by Hilliard MacBeth on Mar 01, 2024

Berkshire Hathaway, the investment vehicle of Warren Buffett, reported results for 2023 and Buffett left investors with some pearls of wisdom in the accompanying letter to shareholders. As Warren Buffett explains, investing is not easy, but it is very... Read more
China could be the world leader in nuclear power by 2030

Published by Hilliard MacBeth on Feb 23, 2024

China is growing its nuclear power generation capacity. Already the world leader in solar and wind, China threatens to take the lead in one of the most talked-about clean energy formats, nuclear power. Will China pass the U.S. and France in generating... Read more
Commercial real estate slump in U.S. could trigger a crisis

Published by Hilliard MacBeth on Feb 16, 2024

Commercial real estate is a major asset class for businesses, institutional investors, and banks. For decades, most lenders were eager to accept commercial real estate as collateral for loans. Also pension plans and insurance companies regarded properties... Read more
China struggles with weak stock markets

Published by Hilliard MacBeth on Feb 09, 2024

China starts 2024 with drastic measures to head off further losses in the stock market. These actions echo government rescue efforts in 2021-2023 for the property market which have been unsuccessful. Could China stock markets rebound this time? The meltdown... Read more
Canada might abandon its inflation target in a recession

Published by Hilliard MacBeth on Feb 02, 2024

The Bank of Canada (BOC) held interest rates steady at 5 percent in January, highlighting growing weakness in the Canadian economy. But unfortunately, inflation is not declining as fast as the central bank would like. Will the central bank abandon its... Read more
Tesla debuts a new inexpensive sedan

Published by Hilliard MacBeth on Jan 26, 2024

Tesla announces a new low-cost sedan which will sell for about $25,000 in U.S. dollars. This vehicle will be available in mid-2025 and will be manufactured initially in Austin, Texas. Will this new model be enough to justify Tesla’s valuation? For the... Read more
Armed conflicts have yet to hit markets

Published by Hilliard MacBeth on Jan 19, 2024

Investors are coping with a high degree of uncertainty in the world, with at least three armed conflicts active now. The Israel/Hamas war was the top concern. But now the Houthi situation in the Red Sea, related to the Gaza conflict, has become top-of-mind... Read more