In this time of global pandemic, the coronavirus is shaking up everything, with high market volatility and changing work arrangements. Everyone is worried — not only for their immediate futures, but also for the long term. “It’s pretty hard to watch the market go through the volatility that we’ve seen over the last couple weeks,” […]
The Federal Reserve took massive emergency action Sunday to try to help the economy withstand the coronavirus by slashing its benchmark interest rate to near zero and saying it would buy $700 billion in Treasury and mortgage bonds. The Fed’s surprise announcement signalled its rising concern that the viral outbreak will depress economic growth in […]
The Bank of Canada is cutting its overnight rate target by half a percentage point to 0.75 per cent in response to COVID-19. The central bank said Friday the unscheduled rate decision was due to the pandemic and its impact on the economy, adding that lower oil prices, even since its last scheduled rate decision […]
In the end, the mighty bull was slayed by a tiny virus. The longest bull market in U.S. history can now be said to have lasted almost 11 years and rewarded investors with a return of 529 per cent based on the performance of the S&P 500, including dividends. The bull officially ran from March […]
In a surprise move, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a sizeable half-percentage point Tuesday in an effort to support the economy in the face of the spreading coronavirus. Chairman Jerome Powell said at a news conference that the virus “will surely weigh on economic activity both here and abroad for some […]
The fast-moving coronavirus isn’t just confounding health officials. It’s also bedevilling policymakers and central bankers who are struggling to assess the economic damage from an outbreak that’s reached 37 countries and territories, infected 80,000 people and killed 2,700 worldwide. They don’t know where or how fast the virus will spread. They can’t draw on clear […]