Greg Bonnell: US markets have continued to climb to record highs this year, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite both gaining another 5% in November alone. Well, my next guest says this is no longer a mega tech rally. So what is happening in the equity markets right now? Damian Fernandes, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager with TD Asset Management, joins us. Great to have you back on the program, Damian.
Damian Fernandes: Thanks, Greg. Always a pleasure to be on.
Greg Bonnell: All right. So here we are. We’re in the last trading month of the year. Stocks have been on a record run. We just got through an earnings season. It’s time to pick your brain as to what’s going on.
Damian Fernandes: You know what? It’s so much more enjoyable coming here on a bull market. It’s the Christmas season. It’s the gift of giving. And who doesn’t love a big rip-roaring bull market to end the year?
Greg Bonnell: So let’s talk about what got us here, what is going on, and, well, maybe we can dig into earnings, too. I mean, we’re past the bulk of it in the States.
Damian Fernandes: Sure, yeah.
Greg Bonnell: Did it show you something to justify what we’re seeing in the markets?
Damian Fernandes: Yeah, so if I split that into two things– what got us here. What got us here is actually a pretty favorable backdrop. I know that might seem — might seem difficult just because it seems so volatile politically, geopolitically, macro. But when you look at the fundamentals that drive stocks, earnings for 2024 are going to be up about 10%. We just had– we had a pretty good earnings quarter.
Last year, inflation was still running hot. Central banks had started easing. But as we’ve
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