By Fund Library News Wire | Friday, August 17, 2018
By Mike Keerma
North American stock markets ended the week nearly flat or down slightly,
reacting to news that China and the U.S. are ready to get back to the trade
table sometime next week, after a few weeks of bluster and wind from the
White House and a couple of rounds of tit for tat tariffs. In addition,
rumors bubbled in the business media about possible preparations for a
November summit between Trump and China’s Premier Xi Jinping. That helped
lift markets in Friday’s session, but concerns over potential regional
contagion from the Turkish currency crisis overcame continuing strength in
the tail-end of earnings season to keep weekly index performance muted. The
S&P 500 Composite Index
edged up 0.6% on the week, while the
Nasdaq Composite Index
lost 0.3%, dragged down by less-than-thrilling quarterly earnings results
from tech giants
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA),
Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), and
Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT). Toronto’s
S&P/TSX 500 Composite Index
ended the week flat, held back by a decline in West Texas Intermediate
crude oil
prices to US$65.85 per barrel, for a loss of 2.8% on the week.
Q
– On checking my portfolio, I’ve noticed that my bond fund holdings, both
mutual funds and ETFs, have been lagging in performance. Can you tell me
why? I’m thinking about selling or switching and wonder if this is a good
idea. – Len S., Markham, Ontario
Activity in currency markets has more than tripled in the last two decades.Between 2001 and 2016, global turnover in currency markets rose from $1.2
trillion to $5.1 trillion,1 and the geopolitical disruption of
the last two years has increased currency activity even further. Last week
brought several significant examples of this trend in the U.K., China,
Iran, and – most dramatically – Turkey. Is this a sign of more disruption
to come?
Vancouver-based Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. uses the slogan
“Quiet Money,” which is pretty apt, given they are not exactly a household
name. The employee-owned firm focuses on one thing: managing money for
investors. The company offers a suite of 18 equity, fixed-income, and
balanced funds. One fund I’ve been following is the
Leith Wheeler Corporate Advantage Fund, which debuted in May 2014. It’s an actively-managed Canadian-focused bond
fund that invests mainly in investment-grade corporate bonds.
Despite all the brouhaha about the potentially deleterious effects of
recent global trade confrontations, the U.S. equity market continues its
upwards trajectory. In fact, with the exception of the past few months,
U.S. equity mutual funds have been among the three top-performing fund
categories over the past 10 years. And the lower one- and three-month
performance rankings through the end of June simply reflect unusual (and
possible temporary) strength in a few smaller categories such as energy and
real estate). One of the top beneficiaries of this continuing U.S. equity
market strength has been the multi-year FundGrade A+® Award
winner,
TD U.S. Blue Chip Equity Fund.
