Good morning,
Recently, I lost a good friend at the age of 48 years old. He passed away in his sleep, supposedly of a heart attack. It is something one can never imagine to happen to someone relatively young even though he looked to be in great shape and had a zest for life like no other.
When I was a child I used to imagine when I get to the age of 50, I would be married have two kids and own a home. This was the pinnacle dream to achieve as I imagined that the good life could not get better than this.
Most were encouraged to get an education, especially those that grew up in a family where the parents left their home country with nothing, worked hard without ever arguing and sacrificed all to make a better life for their families.
The hope was for our generation to break into the ranks of the white-collar club so that we would not have to endure the hardships many of our parents experienced, especially those working in construction with no rules regarding working conditions. My father would always preach to me, “It is better to earn your living with the pen”. In hindsight, learning a trade was probably the better option but I am not complaining, I have been blessed in many ways.
The point of my rant is that we are all programmed to work and save for retirement. The magic number of 65. We squirrel away funds and have high hopes to do things in retirement that are dreams. But one thing is lost in the hope of achieving the dream, it’s the ability to remain healthy and mobile. What good is money in the bank if you can’t enjoy the fruits of your labour? Live for today because tomorrow may never come.
Do you sometimes wake up and feel like you are actually living in the matrix? Things we thought were bad are now good while everything good has been pushed to the roadside because today it’s all about being politically correct. Meanwhile, the world is in shambles, with wars breaking out, the threat of nuclear war has become even more pronounced as fear grips the markets.
Even though the Debt-ceiling crisis went to the last minute it was a no-brainer. Ultimately, they came to an agreement, otherwise, the alternative would have been to pull the plug on the global economy. Consequently, the Drama continues even though they came to an agreement, debate occurs today on the legislative floor. As a result, the USD Index continues to represent risk aversion, soaring toward the 104.50 level.
On the Canadian front, Real annualized GDP was up to 3.1% in Q1 vs expected (2.5%). While the German Annual HICP, a measurement of inflation is down to 6.3% vs expected (6.8%) in May. Again, a reflection to convince people that the Central Bankers rate increase strategy is effective.
Nonetheless, look for volatility to continue as Oil dropped below $68/B and I stupidly filled up my car at higher levels. Presently, the Canadian Dollar slips toward the 0.7350 cents level, a reflection of USD strength and weaker Oil. Volatility will remain consistent as the markets look toward the Jobs numbers on Friday and the June 14th Federal Reserve meeting that could see rate increases temporarily halt, depending on the upcoming data. Lastly, I would expect once the drama ends that we will see a relief rally in USD strength opening the door to higher Precious Metal and currency prices. Gold is soaring on the anticipation as it surpasses the $1970/oz level and Silver now testing $23.60/oz.
I think I love you!