Why the markets are smashing through the usual roadblocks

Five market insights, one podcast

This week, a different format. Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, runs through five market insights in one episode: why earnings expectations are the highest they've been in years; what June's soft inflation statistic does and doesn't tell us; why roughly four in ten S&P 500 stocks were down 20% or more from their highs, even as the index hit records; why the calendar gets tougher from here; and why record profit margins raise the bar for everything that follows. One thread ties it all together: expectations are high everywhere you look, and the next two months will tell us whether reality can clear them.

The perfect predictability of unpredictability

Nobody's bracket survives the World Cup. And nobody's market thesis survived the first half of 2026 either, says Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management. All seven Magnificent Seven stocks are trailing the S&P 500 at the halfway mark, while emerging markets and Canada have been the tournament's surprise winners. He explains what changed with the tariff shock of April 2025, why favourites are still good teams but not a plan on their own and why owning the whole field is the only strategy that keeps you in every round.

2026 update: a tale of two markets

The headlines in the first half of 2026 were loud: a war in Iran, oil above $100 a barrel, inflation concerns and a weakening consumer. None of it was enough to derail markets, says Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management. He breaks down the earnings and economic backdrop that drove returns across U.S., Canadian and international equities, explains why Canada and the U.S. are now heading in opposite directions on interest rates, and makes the case that any volatility in the second half of 2026 may turn out to be an opportunity.

What's weighing on the Canadian dollar?

While investors were focused elsewhere, the Canadian dollar quietly fell almost 5% against the U.S. dollar over the past two months. Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management, explains the two forces driving that weakness: falling oil prices and a widening gap between Canadian and U.S. interest rates. With the Bank of Canada likely to shift its focus from inflation to a slowing economy, and the U.S. Federal Reserve expected to raise rates further, his view is that the pressure on the loonie may not be over.

Has the market run out of things to worry about?

Markets don't climb because everything is fine. They climb because everyone is convinced it isn't, says Philip Petursson, Chief Investment Strategist at IG Wealth Management. He explains why the wall of worry that carried markets through the first half of 2026 has largely come down, and why that shift raises a simple question: what will carry the markets from here? He breaks down what history says about mid-term elections, why earnings remain the real floor under this market, and why the set-up for the second half of the year is more constructive than many investors might expect.