Here is what we can say about the economic picture in North America at the end of a busy week; it is murkier than when we started the week. The Federal Reserve is more optimistic about the economy than it was last month but is still not ready to move up the timing for reining in monetary stimulus. US GDP has recovered to pre-pandemic levels but growth in the second quarter was well below expectations. Canadian GDP in the same quarter was ahead of Bank of Canada estimates but slightly below market forecasts. June inflation in both the US and Canada was high but softer than many expected. The economic reopening is advancing speedily in most regions but the delta variant continues to be of concern. Most commodity and energy prices continue to be firm but have pulled off of recent highs. Cryptocurrencies are gaining but still well below prices earlier in the year. The only thing we can say for certain is that stocks continue to trade at record levels with many companies reporting blow out earnings this week. For its part, the US dollar has settled at a penny and a half lower than earlier in the week against the Canadian dollar. USD to CAD is currently at 1.243 (CAD to USD at 0.803).
