Being a financial reporter seems like a recession-proof industry. There’s always something to talk about whether this is true or not. That said, this year, of course, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, rising energy prices, growing inflation, and supply chain disruption as well as tariffs have dominated headlines. This time last year, it was interest rates and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Five years ago, it was about recovering from COVID and inflation. Today, especially here in the Great White North (aka Canada), the prevailing news cycle is tariffs, tariffs, tariffs.

This is a somewhat sombre and reflective weekly update. Many readers may recognize the name Irina Dorogan. We recently learned that she passed away unexpectedly in July. Of course, the news came as a complete shock to those who knew her.

Irina joined Cougar Global Investments in 2010 as an analyst, supporting the investment strategies developed by Dr James Breech. By the time I joined Cougar as Head of Wealth Management in 2019, the scope of her work and her responsibilities had expanded tremendously.

Wayne’s Economics 101 lecturer at the University of Cape Town said something that has stuck with him ever since, namely, “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch” (or TANSTAAFL). Even when something looks completely free, it always has a hidden cost, a catch, or a trade-off. And that price has to be paid.

When I was Head of Wealth Management at an investment management firm, we employed a team-based approach to investment management. Every week, the entire team met to discuss market developments, review portfolio positioning, and determine whether changes were necessary. It was a disciplined process that worked well, and it was important to me that we continue that philosophy when we joined Raymond James Investment Counsel in 2020.

You may recall that in the 1985 film, Back to the Future, Marty McFly (played by the then effervescent Michael J. Fox) gets transported back to the 1950s in a modified DMC DeLorean. Sometimes it feels like we’ve gone back in time as well. Just look at where we are with trade tariffs.

The tariff train has left the station once again, as the United States (U.S.) is taking economic action against more than approximately 60 trading partners, including Canada. According to U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer, the White House is imposing these new tariffs under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.