The Living Market Podcast

The Bank of Canada (BoC) just raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 2.5%; the question is no longer when the next cut is coming, but how many hikes might still lie ahead. Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, breaks down why a stronger economy and sticky inflation above 3% have shifted the BoC's outlook, what it means for bond investors, and how rising rate differentials and elevated oil prices could give the Canadian dollar a lift.

After a month of sitting on the sidelines during the earnings blackout, corporate America is about to return as the market’s biggest buyer. Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, breaks down why buybacks beat dividends, how the baton has passed from Big Tech to banks and industrials, and why a record chequebook could mean a firmer, broader finish to the year.

Bitcoin miners spent years securing land, substations and access to massive quantities of power, and now AI companies want it. Ashish Utarid, Assistant Vice-President, Investment Strategy at IG Wealth Management, breaks down how publicly traded mining companies are redirecting their infrastructure toward AI computing workloads, why the value of power is changing, and what it means for investors watching the next phase of the AI investment cycle.

When you hear “emerging markets”, what comes to mind? For many investors, it’s still the old picture of cheap labour, commodity exports and the occasional currency crisis. Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, updates that picture, explaining why emerging markets today offer growth at half the valuation of U.S. stocks, with AI hardware, Chinese consumption and commodity inputs all bundled into one allocation. He also discusses why the risks that come with them may provide exactly the kind of diversification your portfolio needs.

Long-term bond yields have surged to levels not seen in years, and they're reshaping the investment landscape. Pierre-Benoît Gauthier, Vice-President, Investment Strategy at IG Wealth Management, explains why rising yields are becoming the market's most important variable, how a correction beneath the surface of major indices is creating opportunities, and why strong earnings continue to do the heavy lifting for stocks.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest rate hike is reshaping the investment landscape, from the Magnificent Seven to AI infrastructure and utility stocks. Ashish Utarid, Assistant Vice-President of Investment Strategy at IG Wealth Management, breaks down why a crowded stock market is most vulnerable when rates rise, what the hidden cost of AI's boom means for your portfolio, and how to position yourself when the landlord starts raising the rent.

The U.S. Federal Reserve just raised interest rates for the first time in three years and it’s unlikely to stop at one. Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, breaks down why stubborn inflation leaves the central bank with little choice but to keep hiking, and what it means for the Canadian dollar and Canadian investors holding American assets.

When U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said "I am the house," Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, took issue with the comparison. A casino is the house because the math structurally favours it. The U.S. Treasury is something else entirely: issuer, debtor, refinancing agent, regulator and occasional buyer, all at once. And at the end of every one of those roles sits the same requirement: roughly $30 trillion of government debt has to live on somebody else's balance sheet. Philip explains why the Treasury needs the market far more than the market needs the Treasury...

This week, Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management shares the key trends currently dominating the team’s market strategy conversations and what they mean for investors. These include consistent double-digit earnings growth, growing interest rate risk, Canada’s economic momentum, the opportunities within energy and the long-term case for AI. He also shares what the team is watching out for, including corporate profits, inflation, central bank policies and geopolitics, and their potential impacts on the markets.   

The U.S. Treasury quietly doubled the size of its bond buyback operations in August. The market called it QE-lite, a nod to the Federal Reserve's crisis-era quantitative easing program of creating new money to buy bonds. Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, explains why that label is wrong, what the Treasury is actually doing and why the relief lasted about a day before disappearing. He breaks down what it means for investors, why the two-to-seven-year range offers the best balance of income and risk right now, and why Canadian bond yields follow U.S. long-term...

What if the Bank of Canada's next move is not a cut? Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, makes the case that the conversation around Canadian interest rates has shifted fundamentally. With the economy improving, the mortgage renewal shock easing and inflation showing signs of moving in the wrong direction, he explains why the balance of risk is now tilting toward higher rates and what that means for bonds, the Canadian dollar and investor portfolios.

For two years, everyone asked when the next rate cut was coming. Now the question has flipped: what if the next move is a hike? Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, went back to 1958 to study what actually happens to stocks after a first rate hike. The answer is not what most investors expect. Philip explains what history tells us about the move everyone is now bracing for and why the first hike and the last hike in a cycle are two very different stories.

The U.S. goods cycle is turning, and it has implications well beyond American factories. Ashish Utarid, Assistant Vice-President, Investment Strategy at IG Wealth Management, explains what a remarkably strong monthly survey of U.S. factory purchasing managers tells us about where earnings growth is headed, what it means for Canadian equities and why history says the current cycle still has room to run.

When markets move sharply, the instinct is to look at the numbers. Ashish Utarid, Assistant Vice-President, Investment Strategy at IG Wealth Management, argues the real question is whether the story behind those numbers has changed. He explains why valuation isn't a timing tool but a measure of how far things can move, and why the same market moment can look completely different, depending on where you're standing.

Astronomers predicted the April 2024 solar eclipse to the second. Not one of them can tell you what the S&P 500 will do next Tuesday. That gap, says Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, is the point. Right now, the CAPE ratio, a widely followed measure that compares the total value of the U.S. stock market against the size of the U.S. economy, is at an all-time high, and the headlines are getting louder. Philip explains why that number is less alarming than it sounds, why measures like this are reliable guides for long-term returns...

This week, a different format. Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, runs through five market insights in one episode: why earnings expectations are the highest they've been in years; what June's soft inflation statistic does and doesn't tell us; why roughly four in ten S&P 500 stocks were down 20% or more from their highs, even as the index hit records; why the calendar gets tougher from here; and why record profit margins raise the bar for everything that follows. One thread ties it all together: expectations are high everywhere you look, and the next two months...

Nobody's bracket survives the World Cup. And nobody's market thesis survived the first half of 2026 either, says Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management. All seven Magnificent Seven stocks are trailing the S&P 500 at the halfway mark, while emerging markets and Canada have been the tournament's surprise winners. He explains what changed with the tariff shock of April 2025, why favourites are still good teams but not a plan on their own and why owning the whole field is the only strategy that keeps you in every round.

The headlines in the first half of 2026 were loud: a war in Iran, oil above $100 a barrel, inflation concerns and a weakening consumer. None of it was enough to derail markets, says Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management. He breaks down the earnings and economic backdrop that drove returns across U.S., Canadian and international equities, explains why Canada and the U.S. are now heading in opposite directions on interest rates, and makes the case that any volatility in the second half of 2026 may turn out to be an opportunity.

While investors were focused elsewhere, the Canadian dollar quietly fell almost 5% against the U.S. dollar over the past two months. Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, explains the two forces driving that weakness: falling oil prices and a widening gap between Canadian and U.S. interest rates. With the Bank of Canada likely to shift its focus from inflation to a slowing economy, and the U.S. Federal Reserve expected to raise rates further, his view is that the pressure on the loonie may not be over.

Markets don't climb because everything is fine. They climb because everyone is convinced it isn't, says Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management. He explains why the wall of worry that carried markets through the first half of 2026 has largely come down, and why that shift raises a simple question: what will carry the markets from here? He breaks down what history says about mid-term elections, why earnings remain the real floor under this market, and why the set-up for the second half of the year is more constructive than many investors might expect.

Two years ago, incoming U.S. Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh warned that central banks were getting too comfortable with higher inflation and called it very dangerous. Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, explains why that warning looks prescient today. With most central banks worldwide running above their inflation targets, and bond yields climbing, the boom in labour markets and asset prices is coming with a cost. The question is how central banks respond, and whether markets are ready for that answer.

Is inflation bad for stocks? Ashish Utarid, Assistant Vice-President, Investment Strategy at IG Wealth Management, went back through 76 years of market data to test that assumption, and the answer is more nuanced than most investors might expect. Stocks have been at least partial inflation hedges across most of the range we've actually lived through. The real risk isn't the inflation level itself; it's the policy response and whether that response tips the economy into a downturn.

The stock market is doing something unusual: rising steadily while consumers feel worse than they have at any point in recorded history, and most of the usual warning signs are flashing. Ashish Utarid, Assistant Vice-President, Investment Strategy at IG Wealth Management, breaks down the artificial intelligence concentration story driving U.S. markets and why 10 companies now account for roughly 40% of the entire index. He explains why this rally deserves respect but not blind faith, and why a truly diversified portfolio today means owning more than one version of the same trade.

The bond market has been sending a message, and equity investors are starting to have to listen. Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, breaks down what rising long-term government bond yields mean for a stock market that has climbed sharply in value this year. With inflation still elevated, the U.S. Federal Reserve is in a difficult position. Additionally, AI-driven growth remains powerful, but higher rates are forcing investors to reassess risk, future cash flows and the true cost of capital.

Most investors haven't been paying attention to Korea. Ashish Utarid, Assistant Vice-President, Investment Strategy at IG Wealth Management, makes the case that they should be. He explains how sweeping corporate governance reforms have unlocked remarkable stock market gains and why Korean export data has become one of the most reliable early signals for where U.S. manufacturing is headed. For investors focused on artificial intelligence, global manufacturing and shareholder reform, Korea sits at the intersection of all three.

You have a will. But when did you last review it, and does the person you've named as executor truly understand what they're taking on? In this special edition of The Living Market, host Aurèle Courcelles, IG’s Vice-President, Tax and Estate Planning, is joined by Dan Britton, IG’s AVP, Tax and Estate Planning and Devon Miller, VP, Partnerships and Distribution at ClearEstate. Together, they explore why a will that made sense years ago may no longer reflect your current reality, what the executor role truly demands, and how estate disputes — even in close families — often begin not with...

When almost everything else feels uncomfortable, earnings have been the one thing working. Ashish Utarid, Assistant Vice-President, Investment Strategy at IG Wealth Management, unpacks one of the strongest earnings seasons in years: broad-based growth, strong cash flow and all 11 sectors participating for the first time in four years. But Ashish also shares a word of caution: this is a powerful market but not necessarily a safe one. When a market is priced for perfection, good results aren't always enough. The question now isn't whether earnings are good, it's whether they can stay good enough to justify what investors are...

The Canadian economy is slowing, but that's not the whole story. Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, explains why a cautious view on the domestic economy doesn't have to mean a cautious view on Canadian equities. He explores how the Toronto Stock Exchange is more connected to global commodity prices and international business activity than to what's happening at home, and why that distinction matters more than ever right now.

This year, IG Wealth Management celebrates 100 years of helping Canadians invest through everything markets can deliver. Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, takes us through a century of market history; from the 1929 crash to the dot-com boom, the 2008 crisis and pandemic shock. He reveals a surprising pattern: while the triggers change, the rhythm stays remarkably consistent. Excess leads to stress, followed by policy response and recovery. Philip explains why the core building blocks of investing haven't fundamentally changed and shares the real lesson from a century of markets: success isn't about predicting the future perfectly, it's...

Markets aren't irrational just because they don't do what you expect, says Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management. He explores how positioning drives market movements more than headlines. He reveals why systematic traders added billions in buying pressure and how geopolitical shocks typically follow a predictable pattern. In the end, waiting for the story to feel good means missing the move, because price isn't a result of the story — price is the story.

Headlines make corrections feel like collapses, but what does the data actually show? Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, separates market mood from underlying reality. He explores how falling stock prices in the face of rising profit expectations create a better setup, shares surprising strength from major airlines reporting their best booking weeks ever and explains why the economy looks sturdier than investor sentiment suggests heading into earnings season.

Are we close to a market bottom, or is more pain ahead? Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, assesses recession risk through multiple indicators, including yield curves, manufacturing data, financial conditions and labour markets. He discusses why markets are making a familiar mistake by extrapolating geopolitical shocks into macro collapse, and the critical difference between momentum loss and level collapse. He also explains why it would be a policy error to increase interest rates in weakening economies because of oil supply shocks. Philip shares his view on the catalysts that could build the foundation for a...

When should investors react to headlines and when should they hold steady? Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist, IG Wealth Management, addresses the challenge of separating emotional reactions from sound evaluation during volatile periods. He discusses the Trump administration's consistent pattern of escalation followed by de-escalation, why oil price increases don't automatically signal recession, and what historical data reveals about the difference between ordinary corrections and genuine market crashes. Philip shares why current economic indicators — strong jobless claims, improving manufacturing and resilient trade data — suggest fundamentals remain solid despite unsettling headlines from Washington, Jerusalem and Tehran.

Tax season is here. Are you ready? Host Aurèle Courcelles, Vice-President, Tax and Estate Planning at IG Wealth Management, sits down with Jonathan Braun, Senior Manager of Tax and Estate Planning at IG Wealth Management, to break down everything Canadians need to know for their 2025 tax filing. They discuss the new federal tax rate reduction and its surprising impact on non-refundable credits, updated alternative minimum tax rules, strategic timing for RRSP deductions, how to maximize medical expenses and charitable donations, and essential prep work to make tax season less stressful. Whether you're self-employed, working from home or managing i...

The Bank of Canada held rates steady this week, but the tone of its statement revealed something important about the inflation challenge ahead. Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, examines why raising rates during a period of oil-driven supply shock could do more harm than good. He explains how higher oil prices act as a tax on consumers, why the Canadian economy is already showing signs of fatigue and what this means for the probability of rate cuts before year-end. Plus, he shares insights on how a potential policy divergence between Canada and the U.S...

After oil spiked above $119 and markets panicked, the waters have calmed a little. Ashish Utarid, Assistant Vice-President, Investment Strategy, discusses whether the current energy crisis will be a temporary operational shock or a lasting supply break. He explains that the system is clogging rather than cutting off completely, how supply-driven shock differs from demand overheating, and what signals investors should monitor to distinguish whether this is just short-term volatility or if the impact could be longer lasting.

How will the latest geopolitical tensions among Iran, the United States and Israel affect global markets? Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, provides a thorough analysis. He explains why the Strait of Hormuz is essential for oil supply, how Canadian equities could benefit from elevated oil prices and why maintaining disciplined investing is important during periods of volatility.

What does the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on tariffs mean to investors? Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist, IG Wealth Management, says despite the attention-grabbing headlines, the core components of trade policy remain unchanged. Philip says the bigger story is about growing uncertainty and shifting market leadership. He explores how global markets, inflation and portfolio positioning may be affected, and shares some things to keep an eye on as trade policy enters a new phase.

AI is having two seemingly contradictory effects on the markets, says Ashish Utarid, Assistant Vice-President, Investment Strategy, IG Wealth Management. AI’s spending and projects are real, and the investment amounts are stratospheric. At the same time, AI is disrupting today’s reality, and the market is already pricing in that disruption before it’s even had a chance to affect companies’ balance sheets. Ashish explains what this means for the markets and investors.

Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist, IG Wealth Management examines the shifting roles of gold and bitcoin in the modern financial environment. He offers a thorough look at why gold continues to serve as a premier safe-haven asset during global turmoil, while bitcoin struggles with its identity. He also examines the gold-to-silver ratio and the evolving nature of risk appetite.