The National Bank of Canada

There is no doubt that 2013 has certainly been a lucrative year for investors. Once again, U.S. stock markets hit record levels, with the Dow Jones breaking the 16,000 mark to close the day at...

Last Friday, the publication of manufacturing sales in September was up 0.6% and this was 0.1% better than expected. The Canadian real estate seems to regain its strength; in fact, the Teranet...

Canada – In September, the merchandise trade deficit narrowed to C$0.4 billion, its smallest since March, from C$1.1 billion in August (revised from C$1.3 billion). This was much better than the...

In her Senate confirmation hearing yesterday, the future Fed Chair clearly stated that she would not make any major changes to the measures implemented by the country’s central bank. She...

Yesterday, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty released the federal government’s new budget projections for the next few years, which indicate that Canada will balance the books again in 2015...

Canadian employment figures for September, released last Friday, were better than expected. The Unemployment Rate came in at 6.9%, 0.1% below the forecast, and the economy created 13,200 new jobs. The...

Canada – Employment rose 13.2K in October according to the Labour Force survey. That was near consensus expectations which were at +11K. Both the unemployment rate (6.9%) and the participation...

Yesterday’s U.S. GDP figures confounded analysts, with annualized 3rd quarter growth of 2.8%, well above the expected 2.0%. Financial markets took some time to digest this development, but the...

Yesterday, October ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI figures for the U.S. surprised with a reading of 55.4, compared to the 54 forecast by economists. The news helped continue to build speculation that the...

The only noteworthy economic figures released yesterday were U.S. Factory Orders for September. They were up 1.7%, slightly below (0.1%) analysts’ forecasts. The lack of economic news was...

Yesterday evening, Australian September Retail Sales figures provided a pleasant surprise, with growth of 0.8% compared to the forecast 0.4%. The Australian dollar gained close to 0.5% against the...

With economic data continuing to disappoint, central banks in the developed world are finding it difficult to exit or even pare back stimulative monetary policies. The tapering of the Fed’s...

The growth in the Canadian economy reported on Thursday surprised analysts, with GDP up 0.3% in August, or 0.2% more than expected. South of the border, the markets were disappointed by several...

As expected, the Fed announced yesterday that it will continue buying $85 billion in bonds per month. The drop in consumer confidence, the difficult employment market and the concerns over the U.S....

As expected, the Fed announced yesterday that it will continue buying $85 billion in bonds per month. The drop in consumer confidence, the difficult employment market and the concerns over the U.S....

Caution is key this morning, as we await Ben Bernanke's statement that will accompany the Fed's key rate decision at 2 p.m. No changes are expected to the QE3 bond purchasing program, and a dovish...