COVID-19   As Of March 11, 2020 the confirmed global infected surpassed 118,000 with the mortality rates disproportionately affecting the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions. There is still much that is unknown but given that it is in the family of other respiratory-communicated diseases like the flu, transmission seems…

North America   Q4 US Growth came in at +2.1% annualized for a full-year 2019 growth of +2.3%. This was below 2018’s rate but still decent.  All sectors apart from inventories contributed with a particularly strong showing by net exports which contributed 1.5% annualized – the most since 2009.  The…

Wuhan Virus   Still Early but so far, the virus seems under control apart from the area most deeply affected in China (city of Wuhan / province of Hubei). Information suppression (included redefining the definition of who is technically “infected”) and the uncertainty of those affected but forced to stay…

During the month of January, the top 3 performing sectors were: Interest Rates (2.27%), Metals (1.89%) and Indices (0.50%). Equity markets began the year hitting all time highs before selling off to almost unchanged. We saw increased volatility as growing threats with Iran and fears of coronavirus disrupted the market.…