The National Bank of Canada

The relative resilience of the Canadian dollar has been somewhat surprising in the face of Europe-related market jitters ¯ the small 0.6% depreciation of USDCAD so far this year compares to the...

With the focus on the upcoming Greek election and the growing realization that all is not well in Spain, the markets have paid far too little attention to the euro zone’s most important player:...

FACTS: The Institut de la statistique du Québec reports that Quebec’s trade deficit narrowed $444 million in December to $1.16 billion (top chart). The value of exports rose $445 million...

FACTS: On a y/y basis, the Teranet–National Bank National Composite House Price IndexTM rose 5.9% in April (top chart), a deceleration from March’s print of 6.0%. By metropolitan areas,...

Last week’s de facto nationalization of a large Spanish bank is probably not the last in Europe. The massive writedowns relating to a real estate bust and exposure to shaky sovereigns is...

US consumer confidence fell for the third month in a row in May according to the Conference Board. May's 64.9 reading is the lowest since January and contrasts sharply with the Michigan sentiment...

Canada – Retail sales rose 0.4% in March helped by auto dealership revenues. Excluding autos, however, retail sales were much weaker than expected, rising just 0.1%. Gains in sales of building...

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis president James Bullard recently described the FOMC as currently “on pause.” But with Operation Twist expected to wind up over the coming weeks and the...

Major News This WeekThe continued sale of risky assets last week favored the greenback and our exporters. Indeed, the DXY index, which measures the strength of the U.S. dollar against a basket of six...

Fear of financial crisis is spreading once again as the newest wave of risk washes over Europe. Driving the concern is the rising probability of a Greek exit from the euro and a weakening of the...

Political events in Europe have once again plunged investors into uncertainty. Instead of advancing toward a lasting solution, the situation has deteriorated. The Greek election results show the...

FACTS: The Institut de la statistique du Québec reports that Quebec real GDP at basic prices was flat in February (Canada −0.2%) after a revised retreat of 0.3% in January (Canada +0.1%)....

Profits of Canadian corporations were virtually unchanged in Q1. Non-financials profits declined $3.4 billion, or 5.9%, with most of the decrease concentrated in manufacturing (-$2.6 billion) and...

Blaming Western provinces for the strong Canadian dollar has become political sport lately, with talk of the Dutch Disease infecting Canada’s manufacturing sector. While it’s true that...

Repeated liquidity injections by the global central banks since the 2007 global financial crisis have been instrumental in limiting the impact of a negative wealth effect from housing and helping...

FACTS: Canadian retail sales rose 0.4% in March, close to consensus expectations. Auto dealership revenues rose 1.2% despite the earlier reported drop in unit auto sales. Excluding autos, however,...