Market Recaps

Aug 21st, 2024

Freyah Shelly 

In August 2024, Enstar Group Limited announced a definitive merger agreement with Sixth Street, transitioning from a publicly traded to a privately held entity, with shareholders set to receive $338.00 per share, totaling an equity value of $5.1 billion. Meanwhile, Warren Buffett anticipates that Berkshire Hathaway’s cash reserves will surpass $200 billion, focusing on short-term Treasury bonds for safety and liquidity. The stock market faced pressure from weak economic data, with recession fears leading the 10-year Treasury yield to drop below 4% to 3.94%. The Russell 2000 experienced the largest losses, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell below key levels, with futures down 1.1% and 1.7%, respectively. Bitcoin also saw a decline, slipping 2.85% to $63,379.19.

Aug 5th, 2024

Freyah Shelly 

In August 2024, weak economic data heightened recession fears, causing the 10-year Treasury yield to fall below 4% to 3.94%. The Russell 2000 suffered significant losses, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq declined below key support levels, with Dow Jones futures down 0.9%. Bitcoin also dropped 15% in five days, now priced at $54,745 USD. Warren Buffett expects Berkshire Hathaway’s cash reserves to exceed $200 billion, driven by a strategy focused on short-term Treasury bonds amidst a selling trend of equities. In M&A news, Enstar Group Limited announced a merger with Sixth Street, transitioning to a private entity with shareholders receiving $338.00 per share, valuing the deal at $5.1 billion.

July 8th, 2024

Danish Ahmed Bombal 

In 2022, Canada's food and beverage processing industry led the manufacturing sector with $156.5 billion in sales, making up 18.2% of total manufacturing and contributing 1.7% to GDP. Key segments include meat products, grain and oilseed milling, and dairy. The Canadian government is investing up to $89 million to modernize dairy, poultry, and egg processing operations. Major industry players include Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Maple Leaf Foods. In trading, stocks from various sectors were acquired for diversification, notably Gap after positive earnings, and Salesforce (CRM) as a long-term investment despite recent stock declines.

Feb 16th, 2024

Jack Lyon, & Jack Mallette

The U.S. market is down 0.51% this week, while the Canadian market is up 1.1%, driven by growth in energy companies. Lyft surged 48% over five days, reaching a 52-week high following a strong earnings report, despite a misreported profit margin increase. Shopify fell 6.5% after its earnings report, which, while showing a 33% gross profit increase and surpassing $1 billion in gross profit for the first time, didn't meet elevated market expectations; however, it remains up 54% year-over-year. Tripadvisor also gained 27% this week, despite low return on equity (1.1%) and a 21% decline in net income over five years, as the company continues to reinvest its profits.

Feb 12th, 2024

Jibon Rahman, Jack Lyon, & Jack Mallette

In a month of earnings reports, the U.S. market is up 1% this week, while the Canadian market is down 0.67%. PepsiCo ($PEP) increased its dividend by 7% but saw a nearly 3% stock drop due to lower revenue. Bell ($BCE) faced a 5% decline after announcing significant job cuts despite a small dividend increase. In contrast, Meta Platforms ($META) soared 31.7% after a strong earnings report that beat expectations, resulting in a $200 billion market value gain. Meanwhile, U.S. employment grew in January 2024, with wages up 4.5%, potentially putting pressure on inflation and prompting the Federal Reserve to maintain high interest rates.

Jan 26th, 2024

Tanmay Vardaan, Jack Lyon, Jack Mallette  

The S&P 500 was flat this week, rising just 0.68%, while the TSX saw a 0.93% increase due to a recovery in energy stocks. Tesla shares plummeted 10% in the last 24 hours and nearly 12% over the past five days, driven by increasing competition from Porsche's new models, disappointing earnings forecasts, and communication issues from Elon Musk's team. In contrast, American Express rose 7% after announcing optimistic 2024 earnings projections, expecting a 10% revenue increase and a notable rise in EPS. Intel's stock fell 10% due to a weak first-quarter forecast, signaling challenges in the semiconductor industry. In M&A news, a judge blocked the merger between JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, leading to a 17% drop in Spirit's stock as the $3.8 billion deal faces uncertainty.

Jan 19th, 2024

Harshil Aggarwal, Tanmay Vardaan, Jibon Rahman, Jack Lyon, & Jack Mallette 

The S&P 500 rose 0.76% this week, while the TSX fell 1.6% due to declining energy prices. Inflation decreased to 3.1%, down from 3.2% in October. Sinclair Inc. surged 12% following a lower-than-expected $250 million settlement, indicating better financial prospects. In contrast, Boeing Co. dropped 19.5% amid safety concerns over its 737-9 MAX aircraft. In M&A news, Hewlett Packard Enterprise plans to acquire Juniper Networks for $14 billion, and Synopsys will buy Ansys to strengthen its semiconductor capabilities. Additionally, RBC laid off 522 employees to adapt to challenging economic conditions.

Dec 8th, 2023

Mizan Ahmad, Jack Lyon, Jack Mallette

The U.S. and Canadian markets traded flat this week, with the S&P 500 up 0.4% and the TSX up 0.35%, as increased consumer spending and reduced trading activity balanced out growth. Google ($GOOGL) saw a 5% rise following the announcement of its AI model Gemini, which aims to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT 3.5, while Rivian ($RIVN) jumped 11.71% due to news of a more affordable battery pack launching in 2024, intensifying price competition in the electric vehicle market. Additionally, Canadian energy company Capital Power announced its acquisition of two U.S. natural gas facilities, positioning itself as a major player in North American energy markets, with the deal expected to close in Q1 2024 pending regulatory approvals.

Dec 1st, 2023

Raymond Li, Pranav Jain, Jack Lyon, Jack Mallette, Mizan Ahmad, & Tanmay Vardaan 

The S&P 500 fell this week after a four-week rise, primarily due to overtrading and profit-taking. Notable equity movements include Carnival Corp up 1.9% following positive industry outlook, Tesla down 1.8% over Cybertruck profitability concerns, and CIBC rising on stronger-than-expected Q4 earnings. In M&A, Dell secured a $150M AI deal with Imbue, boosting its stock, and AbbVie announced plans to acquire ImmunoGen for $10.1B to expand its cancer treatment portfolio.

Nov 24th, 2023

Jack Lyon, Jack Mallette, Harshil Aggarwal, Sparsh Sumani, Tanmay Vardaan, & Pranav Jain 

The S&P 500 and TSX traded flat this week as investors awaited further market signals. Microsoft rose 1% after the announcement that former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will join the company to lead an AI research team, boosting investor confidence in Microsoft’s AI capabilities. Nvidia posted another record-breaking quarter, with revenue up 206% year-over-year, driven by high demand for GPUs in AI. However, the outlook for next quarter is less optimistic due to export restrictions. Meanwhile, Bath & Body Works continued to struggle, down 30.66% over the past year.

Nov 17th, 2023

Jack Mallette, Jack Lyon, Raymond Li, & Shanayu Ghate

The S&P 500 had its strongest day since April, driven by optimism over a soft inflation report showing a decline from 3.7% in September to 3.2% in October. This has fueled hopes that the Federal Reserve may pause rate hikes soon. Nvidia rose 3.5% on anticipation of its new H200 chip launch, set for Q2 next year, while Berkshire Hathaway gained 2.76% after selling its entire stake in General Motors and reducing positions in Amazon, Aon, Chevron, and HP. Metro fell 5.16% after missing revenue and EPS expectations. Meanwhile, Alibaba (BABA) dropped 9% after halting its planned cloud intelligence spinoff due to ongoing U.S. export controls on semiconductor technology.

Nov 10th, 2023

Jack Mallette, Jack Lyon, & Raymond Li

The S&P 500 rose 1% this week, while the TSX declined -0.58%, continuing to underperform relative to U.S. markets. Notable equity outliers include Novo Nordisk ($NOVO), which jumped 47.66% YTD due to the success of its weight loss drug, now making the company’s market cap larger than Denmark’s GDP. Warner Bros. Discovery ($WBD) plummeted -15.51% after missing earnings expectations, and Rivian ($RIVN) dropped -9.82% after reporting a significant quarterly loss. Diageo ($DGE) also slid -14% due to a slowdown in Latin American business. In M&A news, Hilton Grand Vacations announced a $1.5 billion acquisition of Bluegreen Vacations, which sent Bluegreen’s stock soaring, while Hilton’s stock dropped 8%.

Nov 3rd, 2023

Jack Mallette, Jack Lyon, Sparsh Sumani, & Raymond Li

The S&P 500 surged 4% this week, with the TSX close behind at 3.75%, recovering losses from the previous week. Key drivers included strong performances from major stocks like Mercury General Corporation (MCY), which soared 23.82% after a positive Q3 report, and Starbucks (SBUX), which gained over 10% after record Q4 net revenues of $9.37 billion. Leidos Holdings (LDOS) rose 12.62% following an earnings beat and optimism around its defense contracts. In M&A news, Six Flags and Cedar Fair announced an $8 billion merger to combat declining leisure spending, creating a combined entity that will operate 51 locations across North America.

Oct 27th, 2023

Jack Mallette & Jack Lyon

The S&P 500 dropped -3.13% this week, and the TSX fell -2.37%, as investors reacted to earnings reports from major companies like Google and Microsoft, and rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Google’s cloud services revenue missed expectations slightly, causing a significant -11.34% decline, while Microsoft’s earnings beat led to a 3% rise. Amazon also gained 5.11% post-earnings. In M&A news, Chevron announced a $53 billion all-stock acquisition of Hess Corp to strengthen its position against Exxon. With only a few top-performing stocks holding up the S&P 500, market volatility is expected to increase in the coming months.

Oct 20th, 2023

Jack Mallette & Jack Lyon

The S&P 500 fell -1.71% and the TSX -1.05% this week amid ongoing global uncertainty. Notable movements include Lululemon’s 6% rise after being added to the S&P index and Netflix’s 13.29% surge driven by strong subscriber growth and upcoming price increases. In contrast, Tesla declined 8% following earnings misses, and Nvidia dropped 10.03% due to U.S. restrictions on A.I. chip exports to China. As the year-end approaches, consumer spending trends are expected to influence market stability, while further rate hikes seem unlikely given recessionary concerns.