ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR INVESTMENT PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING ANY INVESTMENT DECISION
March 24, 2026 | The Food Supply Chain Is Breaking. Again
Spring has sprung, which means seeds that were planted in late winter are starting to germinate. They’re hungry and will only grow to their full nutritional potential if they’re well fed. But that, apparently, isn’t happening, as fertilizer supplies are interrupted by yet another pointless Middle East war. The result? Global food shortages that might […]
March 24, 2026 | Beyond The Middle East: Why The US Blockade of Cuba is a Gift to Beijing
While the world remains transfixed by the daily back-and-forth in the Middle East, a much larger global crisis is quietly developing. For investors, the real story isn’t just the headlines from Iran; it is a coordinated ‘stress test’ by Russia and China designed to exploit a uniquely vulnerable moment for the US administration. To understand […]
March 24, 2026 | Powell Remarks on Paul Volcker Integrity Award
I don’t know Jerome Powell and have no idea whether he is, or will be judged by history as doing the right things in line with his public duty. But at a time when integrity and selflessness in public office seem to be in short supply, this speech is worth a listen. At the American […]
March 24, 2026 | Who do You Believe
President Donald Trump on Monday said the United States has engaged in “very strong talks” with Iran and reached “major points of agreement” that could end the war, which Iranian officials have firmly denied.He then claimed that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner spoke with a leader in the Iranian regime on Sunday and would […]
March 23, 2026 | DEI Returns – Financial Aid Race-Based Distribution
California lawmakers are now advancing a measure that would allow race-based preferences in financial aid, which is remarkable when you consider that the state constitution has explicitly prohibited such practices since 1996. Proposition 209 banned the state from granting “preferential treatment” based on race in public education, employment, and contracting, yet once again, we […]
March 23, 2026 | Inflation Fighters?
Happy Monday Morning! As expected, the Bank of Canada held rates this past week. However, what caught our attention was the Banks dovish commentary, and the ensuing market reaction. Per the BoC press conference: “The risk that higher energy prices quickly spread to the prices of other goods and services looks contained.” “Governing council will […]
March 23, 2026 | Mining is Hard: Rising Oil Squeezes Margins
These are turbulent times, especially for the gold miners whose profit margins are bouncing all over the place. Here’s a brief X exchange that puts the last few weeks in context: The Lesson Two things can be true at the same time: Gold miners have indeed been squeezed by recent price action in oil […]
March 23, 2026 | Calming Inflationary Fears is Job Number One
Crypto bounced alongside fossil fuel prices since the Iran war broke out on February 28 — though it’s still down 43% since October. Other global markets generally plunged along with metal prices (shown below, courtesy of The Daily Shot). US and Canadian government bonds held up second best, with Canada’s 5-year Treasury price dropping 2.4% […]
March 22, 2026 | The Glass Is Half…?
he old cliché: do you see the glass as half-full or half-empty? Depending on what you’re asking about, this can be a highly personal question. The old cliché: do you see the glass as half-full or half-empty? Depending on what you’re asking about, this can be a highly personal question. One person’s half-empty is another […]
March 22, 2026 | Missile Threat Eclipses All ‘Investable Ideas’
Although Trump has achieved many spectacular successes in his second term, he has made two big promises he can’t possibly keep. The first was to bring back affordability to the broad middle class. Anyone who believes this must be living on some planet with an all-powerful ruler who generously provides everyone with low-cost homes, apartments, […]
March 22, 2026 | The Global Energy Crisis & the Market Impact into 2028
The advantage of having offices around the world is that this also provides us with boots on the ground for first-hand accounts. We are getting from our Thailand office that there is “no gasoline here. Up North lineups for diesel. I tried to fill up a bike, no gasoline available. I tried several […]
March 21, 2026 | Trading Desk Notes for March 21, 2026
Certainty of energy supply is more important than price Energy prices have soared since the initial attacks on Iran, with knock-on effects hitting all markets, but if the war continues, countries that rely on energy imports will have every reason to worry about physical supply, regardless of price. Natural gas prices in Europe have spiked following the start […]
March 21, 2026 | Tech Talk for Saturday March 21st 2026
The Bottom Line We live in strange times! On one hand, technical selling in North American equity markets accelerated last week. The S&P 500, NASDAQ Composite Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average broke below their 200 day moving averages on Thursday triggering numerous sell recommendations by technical analysts. On the other hand, consensus for earnings […]
March 20, 2026 | Why Canada’s Housing Market Isn’t Done Correcting
Canada has entered a new demographic and economic phase—one defined not by the rapid population expansion of the post‑pandemic years, but by a sharp and deliberate cooling. Statistics Canada’s latest estimates show the country’s population fell by more than 100,000 people in 2025, the first annual decline since records began in the 1940s. The drop […]
March 20, 2026 | Bonds Prepare to Stop the War
This is feeling more and more like the 1970s. A Middle-East war descends into chaos, causing oil prices to approach triple digits… …and bond yields to spike: The war’s cost and complexity are causing political turmoil: Cracks emerge in GOP over Iran war cost as administration floats more than $200B request to Congress (CNN) – […]
March 20, 2026 | Crude Oil $200 Slingshot?
QUESTION: Marty, many people know about your forecast of Russia, 1987, 2007 high in real estate, Nikkei, the collapse of communism and so many, but I think even you forgot your forecast that oil would collapse to $10 in 1998 and then swing up to $100. I remember even Bloomberg covered that forecast that nobody […]
March 19, 2026 | Wholesale Inflation Soars in the US
Wholesale prices rose 0.7% in February, more than double expectations and the largest monthly increase since mid-2025. On a year-over-year basis, PPI is now running at 3.4%, the highest level in roughly a year. This is not a sign that inflation has been defeated. It is a clear indication that price pressures are building […]
March 19, 2026 | Bank of Canada Admits It Can’t ‘Save’ Bubbles
The Bank of Canada press conference yesterday finally admitted facts about Canada’s housing market: “The housing market is looking weaker, and weaker than we had incorporated into our January outlook. So, that’s something we will be looking at when we prepare the April outlook.” Canadian home prices “need to come down” and “housing feeds into our forecast […]
March 18, 2026 | Crisis in Cuba – Sanctions, Starvation, and Blackouts
What we are witnessing in Cuba right now is the same failed policy recycled once again, dressed up under a different administration, with the same predictable outcome. The power grid collapsed, millions were left in the dark, food supply chains broke down, and the government blamed the United States while Washington pretended this was […]
March 17, 2026 | Civil War: Original MAGA vs the Neocons
For many voters, the best thing about Donald Trump, the presidential candidate, was his entourage. He was surrounded by smart, courageous people who had spent years opposing the Aristocracy on existential issues like regime change wars, vaccine mandates, censorship, and illegal immigration. With them running major departments and dominating cabinet meetings, at least some good […]
March 17, 2026 | Debt Burdens Outweigh Bank of Canada Cuts
With higher oil prices expected to impact inflation, financial markets shifted from anticipating rate cuts to considering the possibility of rate hikes in Canada. In response, longer-term bond yields rose for the first couple of weeks of March, pushing up borrowing costs. About 1.15 million Canadians are expected to renew their mortgages in 2026. Renewing […]
March 17, 2026 | The Canals Behind the War
Many people are looking at the conflicts in Gaza and Iran strictly through the lens of religion, terrorism, or regional politics. But history has shown that wars are rarely about what the headlines claim. Beneath the surface lies economics and control of trade routes. One project that has quietly resurfaced in strategic discussions is […]
March 16, 2026 | Health Prepping: ADHD Is a Business Scam, Not a Disease
Today’s schools are pleasant environments for some kids and torture chambers for others. In particular, boys with short attention spans and high energy are deemed mentally ill and drugged into sitting still for eight hours a day. Like so many current things, this is a scam designed to enrich a small group of providers (in […]
March 16, 2026 | The Wrong Signals
Happy Monday Morning! We’ve written at length about the housing bust emanating across the country. In particular, in the new construction space. New home sales have hit 45 year lows in the GTA, and aren’t fairing much better in Greater Vancouver, and so, as we noted last week, An article in the Globe & Mail highlighted the […]
March 16, 2026 | Compounding Shocks Raise Bear Market Odds
An oil shock amid rising credit stress and negative job revisions, unexpectedly pushing up unemployment. Every cycle is a little different, but similar developments have marked the onset of past recessions and bear markets. Oil price spikes reduce economic demand, partly because they tend to keep interest rates higher for longer. The segments below do […]