Market Update:

The Canadian Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 52.2 in December from 52.0 in November, marking the fastest pace of manufacturing activity in two years driven by inventory accumulation by U.S. clients in anticipation of tariffs. On the other hand, the US manufacturing PMI also rose to a nine-month high of 49.3 in December, up 1.1 from November due to a rebounding in production and new orders, but the outlook remains uncertain amid the threat of higher tariffs. The Canadian dollar was 69.16 cents USD. The U.S. S&P500 ended the week down 1.3%, while the TSX was up 0.9%.

A lot more greens this week than reds. Energy and materials gained 4.3% and 2.8%, respectively. Real estate added 0.7%, while industrials edged up by 0.7% and 0.1%, respectively. Technology gave up 1.6%, while consumer staples slipped 0.2%. Both consumer discretionary and financials ended the week flat. The most heavily traded shares by volume were Bank of Nova Scotia, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Bitfarms.
Unlock Premium - Try 5i Free

Believes it will be important to stay diversified and defensive in 2025. Will be important to keep gains from 2024 and 2023. After a period of strong gains - history of markets is towards average gains (~10%). Expecting China to remain important player in the global markets. Chinese markets could be a risk to recession if tariffs are placed on Asian markets. Even if investors don't own Chinese stocks - mush be observant. A.I. stocks show potential, but as a whole, is difficult to  measure cash flow/valuations etc. Will take time to determine winners in the A.I. race. 

Bullish sectors in 2025: aerospace, HVAC and anyone selling into data centres, financials (because of expected deregulation), pipelines, legacy tech (like Dell) as long it keeps generating growth, cybersecurity (hacks will continue), robotaxis. Bearish sectors in 2025: agriculture, defense (too expensive), anything sector needing a lot of finance because long rates remain high, packaged food (headwind of GLP-1 drugs), energy (Trump will encourage too much production and drive down prices), retail REITs, materials and commodities (need to see lower interest rates and Chinese demand must increase), quantum computing (a bubble in unprofitable companies).