Investment Partners Fund Inc.
359 Kent Street, Suite 503 K2P 0R6 Ottawa, ON, Canada

The Daily Shot had an interesting chart showing Google search frequency for the phrase "moving to Canada" on the night of the US election.

Chart showing oil company merger activity since 2011. Companies are consolidating to survive the new reality of lower oil prices.

Canada's housing market compared to the US and Japan (from The Daily Shot).

The European and Japanese central banks continue printing money and buying their own bonds. When bond prices go up, bond yields go down, so this is part of the reason that interest rates are so low in Europe and Japan.

"The Daily Shot" illustrating Canada's rising Consumer Debt

RBR reporting worldwide non-cash payments, particularly payment cards, increasing and cheque use dropping between 2010-2014.

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This graph published by the FT shows that British bonds are the asset class to beat in 2016, with long-maturity bonds earning returns of more than 30% year-to-date.

The Oil Barons have been replaced by the Whiz Kids of Silicon Valley

The Italian government can now borrow money for five years at almost no cost.

Central Banks talk tough:

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This chart shows that savings rates have increased or stayed the same in countries where interest rates are negative. Central banks assumed that people would spend more, rather than save more, as interest rates fell. This calls into question the effectiveness of negative rate policy by central banks to induce spending.

Is it any surprise that high-yielding stocks are in such demand? Source: The Daily Shot

Labour costs in the US are creeping upward. Could inflation be on the horizon, prompting US monetary authorities to raise interest rates? Source: The Daily Shot

One of the things we look for in our portfolio companies is reasonable compensation of chief executives. The chart below shows why. Companies with higher-paid CEOs have delivered lower returns to shareholders than companies with lower-paid CEOs. When there is big spending at the top, it tends to trickle down through the organization.

One consequence of Brexit has been a further reduction in global interest rates. The chart below shows the negative cost to governments of borrowing money for up to 15 years in Switzerland, Germany and Japan. Germany recently issued a zero-coupon ten-year bond, meaning that investors are buying German government bonds without any expectation of income from the bond over the next 10 years.

Power Failure! Looking at an economic indicator by itself doesnt always tell the whole story. Take the Ontario Consumer Price Index for example. The chart below shows that the cost of electricity has risen over 3 times more than the cost of most other goods.

Biogen, one of our portfolio holdings, reported strong second quarter results. Stock is up over 7% today.