Maple power

Bay Street was awash in party hats and whoopee whistles again on Wednesday as the TSX soared.

By lunch it has hit the second record high in as many days. For the year to date, Toronto stocks are ahead 13.7% (as this is written, not by AI) and the gain over the past 12 months is an outsized 31.5%

Compare that to the mighty S&P 500 – ahead merely 23% in the past dozen months.

The latest star was Shopify, gaining 15% for the best show in ages, reflecting its embrace of artificial intelligence and the general rebound in tech after a recent, brief, swoon. Shopify is Canada’s digital sweetheart and – like Nortel in the past – has the ability to pull an entire index forward.

So, is the market risky, irrational and ascending into nosebleed territory? Like the 40% plop in Korea (whoops – that one just recovered)?

Here is the case for the bulls.

Gold ascended in value today – up 4% as the US$ declines. The Toronto market has a big PM component. Energy, too, and we all know what the last months have been like for oil. Around the world – including here – the petro guys are rolling in it. And the banks, whoa, record profits are coming in the next few earnings announcements with shares that already pay better divvies than any GIC interest, plus a built-in tax break.

Unknown to the whiners, moaners, whimperers and hairshirters in the steerage section, Canada is doing swell. US mortgage rates hit 6.8% today – or precisely double what you can get a home loan here for. The Canadian economy is set to grow at a little over 3%, or half as much again as the mighty US. We also don’t have an idiot in charge who spends more time worrying about a pool liner than the Middle East war he started.

The Canadian market is benefitting not only from AI and the latest tech revolution – also powering Wall Street – but the solid traditional industries that have also found investor love. The world needs what we have – minerals. fertilizer, bitumen, world-class banks, water and a politically stable environment with an educated, skilled workforce and investment-friendly policies. If you are, for example, India (the most populous country on earth) would you rather trade more with the boring maple-slurpers or the White House where policies change hourly and they apparently dislike brown people?

Others now look at us with envy.

A stable banking system. Almost zero chance of financial crisis. Low sovereign risk, with the country’s triple-A credit rating (higher than that of America). Both inflation and benchmark interest rates are lower here than in the States. We have abundant natural resources. Lower corporate taxes than most G7 nations. A current federal government aggressively diversifying trade relations and building out national infrastructure. And did I mention we don’t have a convicted sex offender and tax evader as leader who appointed a cabinet of billionaires, is adding $3 trillion to the debt, is an election denier and has slashed social benefits? He’s also building a $1 billion ballroom, and lots of new detention centres – for brown people.

It’s worth waking up everyday and remembering how good life in this country is, was and will be.

Go ahead. Insult, tariff and tax us, Trump.

Make our day.

About the picture: “Halfway through reading today’s blog, I thought I would send you a dog pig that I took just a few minutes ago,” writes Kurt. “I’m hoping that this might be WUL’s third centrefold that you display. What is the all time record for a Blog Dog entering your photo contests?  I still dream of becoming a professional glamour photographer. This glamour girl on my balcony is Lilo (Little Love). A rescue my son adopted. Without knowing for sure, we think this 44 pound package of fighting fury is a Malinois. She bites the vacuum cleaner when I fire it up. 10 seconds after the pic was taken, a wasp flew into the living room. She pounced on it and gobble it down. She does that routinely. Once again I extend my thanks to you. I am grateful for the education you have provided to me and for the management of my retirement moolah.”

To be in touch or send a picture of your beast, email to ‘[email protected]’.

Source: https://www.greaterfool.ca/2026/08/05/maple-power/