On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% and Toronto was about unchanged.
I did not note any dramatic moves in our stock picks.
The European central bank will charge banks 0.1% to keep money on deposit at the central back. I don’t pretend to have a great understanding of this but the idea is that the banks should lend out the money instead of keeping it at the central bank. But banks would rather pay the 0.1% than lend to bad credits. Also Amanda Lang pointed out today that most of the countries in Europe can now borrow at better rates than the U.S. That seems strange. It could be because the banks in Europe are buying up the government bonds of all the European countries rather than keeping money at the central bank or lending it out. This pushes down interest rates. Bank regulators always seem to encourage banks to hold government debt as they consider it risk free. The central bank in Europe is also buying up government bonds (and this “support” is why they are considered relatively risk free). Hopefully all of this will lead to a continued and further recovery of the economy in Europe. Stronger companies in Europe are certainly benefiting as they can borrow at ultra low rates.
Possibly, it would be a good idea to invest in some European ETFs. Some are listed in our Global ETF article. The ETF that trades as IEV on New York offers broad exposure to Europe. I don’t have a buy /s sell recommendation. I don’t think it would be a bad idea to purchase some for diversification. I don’t own any.