At this time last year, we were talking about the dreadful beating that the market had taken in October and the ugly December that we were going through. What a change from last year! November of 2019 turned out to be record setting. This comes after numerous records had already been set in North America this year. We’ve seen dramatic improvements from 2018 with Canada being a stand-out market. The Toronto Stock Exchange started the year at a level of 14,504. By the end of November, the CDN Exchange had risen past 17,100. That’s an increase of almost 18%. While some suggested moving money out of Canada at the start of the year, I’m glad that we didn’t.
I have done some profit taking this year as it has been such a dramatic rebound. We also have to keep in mind that the US Market has been positive every year since 2009 (other than 2018). For those of you in Retirement and those of you getting close, I think taking some of the gains and putting them into lower risk assets is a good idea. Let’s talk before the Holidays or early in the New Year if we haven’t looked at some re-balancing for your portfolio yet.
As we’ve done for many years now, Natalie and I will break for Christmas when the girls are off school. We’ll be out of the office as of December 20th and will come back on January 6th. We will be busy spending time with our three daughters and our response time will be slow over Christmas and New Years. Please contact us either before or after the timeframe listed to discuss business-related items.
A very Merry Christmas to everyone and a Wonderful Start to 2020!!
Bryce A. Borden
