How is the Biden presidency and vaccine distribution impacting markets? BMO’s latest live panel discusses

In a recent live panel, BMO experts and leading medial professionals discussed how President Biden’s new administration and vaccine distribution is impacting markets in the United States and Canada.

Led by our Chief Investment Strategist, Brian Belski, the call featured medical commentary from Dr. John Whyte, Chief Medical Officer of WebMD, and Dr. Howard Ovens, Emergency Physician and Chief Medical Strategy Officer of Sinai Health. Two BMO experts, Deputy Chief Economist Michael Gregory and Margaret Kerins, Head of FICC Macro Strategy, also provided market insights for Canada and the U.S.

The panel discussed a range of topics, including:

• The importance of stepping up vaccination plans to reach herd immunity.
• Reasons for optimism, including the U.S rejoining the World Health Organization and recent developments in testing, genomic sequencing, vaccination and therapeutics.
• How increased restrictions and lockdowns – and business’ ability to adapt to COVID-19 protocols – have impacted the economic recovery.
• A possible rebound in the spring and summer driven by strong support for the manufacturing sector and demand for goods, as well as a strong housing sector in the U.S. and Canada.
• The evolution of Treasury supply and demand in the marketplace.
• And what investors need to know about the year ahead.

“We think the effect on the stock market is all about the U.S. and Canada having the best equity assets in the world, period. That’s what the stimulus is purchasing. That’s why people are investing in North America.”

– Brian Belski, Chief Investment Strategist, Capital Markets

Listen to the full episode or read the recap on the Capital Markets site.