Young and Frederick - ScotiaMcLeod Whitby

Sell in May and Go Away?

This widely known saying may be true again this year.  In Canada, many equity markets studies clearly indicate the presence of seasonality.  That is the movement of the markets based on clearly defined seasonal factors.  The opening title this month is the most widely known quote related to that occurrence.  The issue for investors right now is will this seasonal cycle occur again this year?  

click here to read more 

Article courtesy of Credit Suisse

A majority decision

• Conservative control: Somewhat surprisingly, the Conservatives won a majority Government by taking 167 seats in the 308-seat House of Commons. From a capital markets perspective, we view a Conservative victory as positive overall, but mixed for certain industries. On an early view, the Liberals suffered a major decline with only 34 seats versus 77 at the time of the election call. That decline was substantially offset by the rise in NDP seats as they took 102 versus 36 at the time of the election call. Rounding out the remaining seats were 4 for the Bloc Québécois and 1 for the Green Party. Given the Conservative Party's approach to leading the previous minority Government, we expect to very clear and decisive policy agenda consistent with the election platform during the current mandate.

• Gaining popularity: We view the Conservative Party's majority government positive for capital markets, however, the rise of the NDP may highlight a potentially more divisive House of Commons. We highlight the popular vote won by each party with last election's percentages appearing in parentheses: Conservatives 39.6% (37.8%); Liberals 18.9% (26.4%); NDP 30.6% (18.2%); Bloc Québécois 6.1% (9.9%); and, Green Party 3.9% (6.8%).