July of 2024 was one very hot month here in Calgary. It was also hot up in Gull Lake, Alberta where my mom lives, and it was hot in Montana when my sister and I did a road trip down to Missoula and Butte at the end of last month. It was a busy month between the Calgary Stampede, lots of client meetings and the brother-sister road trip we got in! This year’s Stampede was the highest attended of all-time, so a great success for the city1. The heat may have made it a bit uncomfortable, but obviously not enough to keep people away! I was able to get down there for the Rodeo with some friends and colleagues and had a really good time.
We’ve finally seen a couple of Interest Rate Cuts and it’s expected that we’ll see some more in Canada before the year is out2. With the US economy also showing some signs of slowdown, we may also see some rate cuts there. You may recall that the US did have a couple of quarters of negative growth back in 2022. At that time the National Bureau of Economic Research saw too many job gains to declare an official recession in 2022. The US got through 2023 without a recession and may get through 2024 too. I’ve been saying for years that a recession will eventually come. It’s an inevitable reality. As of the writing of this newsletter, we have been dealing with some significant selling on the Stock Market3. It was a really ugly start to August actually. A lot of that has to do with the fear that the US Economy is starting to slow down. It’s been a strong couple of years, but nothing lasts forever! The good news is that the Bond Market has been stronger more recently4. Falling Interest Rates will be good for your Bond Funds. They will also help your Balanced Funds which include both Stocks and Bonds. Even with things slowing down on the economic front, there will be some good news!
Patrycja was away in Poland seeing her family at the beginning of the summer. We’ll take some time off between Aug. 17th and Aug. 26th this year. Patrycja will be covering for us the days that we’ll be away. Just let us know if you need anything from us either before or after that.
Have a great finish to the summer and get lots of time in with your loved ones!
Bryce A. Borden
1City News Calgary: Calgary Stampede breaks attendance record
2BNN Bloomberg: Bank of Canada could cut rates 3 more times this year: former deputy governor
