June has seen a lot of movement both ways in North American markets, but overall, not much change for the month. We have heard about a temporary solution in Iran, and this has greatly reduced the price of oil which will help on the inflation front. We still have no trade deal with the U.S., and we continue to see crowding into memory chip names.

     In Canada, it has been the financials holding us up as gold and mining have been weakening. I do like our energy companies once oil prices stabilize as I think they will be more valuable due to the risks of oil coming from the middle east going forward. It would be nice to get a trade deal with the U.S. however signs of this remain out in the future. Our economy remains challenged and here as well I do not see this changing.

     The U.S. continues to be the market where money continues to flow into. The buildout of data centres and the themes around them remain strong. Memory chips have gone parabolic due to large demand and no inventory. These costs will need to be passed along, and we did see this from Apple, which is increasing prices on some of their products. High prices kill high demand, and I feel this will need to be monitored closely as it is not healthy to last too long. The themes of robotics, data centres, cybersecurity, and outer space continue to be the long-term growth areas.

     Europe and China will benefit from lower oil prices, but we remain underweight in both these areas as I see more problems than solutions currently. The summer is usually a quiet time, but with the above issues and any other headline that may come across, it could get volatile. We remain prepared to take advantage of any volatility that happens.