June 2019 Pricing Commentary

The U.S. stock market rallied sharply in the month of June, capping off the best first half of the year performance for common stocks since 1997. All five ABC Funds produced meaningfully positive investment returns, outperforming their respective index benchmarks over the month and year-to-date periods.

These results were largely due to our portfolios’ significant overweighting in American equities and relative outperformance from certain individual holdings, including: Apple, Broadcom, Boston Scientific, Facebook, Home Depot, NVIDIA, and Thermo Fisher Scientific. Of particular importance was our 100% U.S. dollar currency hedge, which protected our five portfolios from the Canadian dollar’s appreciation during the month.

Looking ahead to the second half of 2019, we remain optimistic with regard to the outlook for North American equities primarily due to global central bank monetary easing, low inflation, record low unemployment, moderate economic growth, positive corporate earnings and dividend increases, and the relative attraction of common stocks in comparison to low yielding fixed income securities.

Irwin A. Michael, President
I.A. Michael Investment Counsel Ltd.