Ian is joined by Jeremy Saunders this week, and the co-hosts begin the show discussing the manic week that was. There was not a lot of visibility to the moves in bond and equity markets over the prior few sessions, and Jeremy discusses his view on what was real and what was myth. Ian spends some time talking about the lack of evidence to support a few of the theories that markets are thinking about. The duo spend time talking about the level of interest rates going forward, disagreeing on the mo...
Apr 11, 2025•24 min•Ep. 83
In the first episode of 2025, Ian is joined by Aaron Carter from the financing desk to discuss recent adjustments in the short-end. The show begins with the duo discussing the importance of the Bank of Canada’s move to change the way monetary policy is implemented, namely moving back into a corridor system. Aaron gives his ‘big picture’ view on why this is a real game-changer for CORRA, and his expectations around the evolution of the spread to the target rate. Ian takes time discussing the vari...
Feb 07, 2025•34 min•Ep. 82
In a very special edition of Curve Your Enthusiasm, Stephen Poloz joins Ian as co-host for this week’s episode. The show begins by talking about the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, and what potential trade uncertainty means for the Canadian economy and monetary policy. Stephen spends time talking about the structural underperformance of the Canadian economy relative to other OECD countries, and provides some suggestions on how it could be fixed. The duo discuss R*, and why the actual ...
Nov 19, 2024•41 min•Ep. 81
Ian is joined by Jeremy Saunders this week, and the duo begin the show discussing the spate of U.S. jobs data last week. Ian discusses the internals of the JOLTS and NFP reports, noting the trend for U.S. labour demand is a negative one. Jeremy opines on his view on the election, and how the best opportunities are to fade recent flattening in the U.S. curve. They take some time to discuss the BoC, noting that recent data provides no confidence the Bank will slow down the cycle anytime soon. Ian ...
Nov 04, 2024•27 min•Ep. 80
Ian is joined by two guests this week, Paul Beaudry (Professor of Economics at UBC and Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada) and Ali Jaffery from CIBC Economics. The episode begins with Paul giving his view on the 50.0bps cut from FOMC, and what the most recent strong NFP means for the November meeting (hint: 25.0bps not 50.0bps). In contrast, when thinking about the Bank of Canada, Paul outlines his views that the preconditions for getting administered rates to a much lower are setting ...
Oct 07, 2024•32 min•Ep. 79
Ian is joined this week by Ali Jaffery in CIBC Economics. The duo begin the episode by taking stock of the intense market volatility seen over the past week, and whether what triggered the moved has a real fundamental basis. Ali discusses the other pockets of strength in the U.S. economy, concluding that the U.S is slowing but not enough to warrant non-standard sized cuts, like 50.0bps. Ian discusses the triggering of the Sahm rule within the context of Okuns Law, and Ali spends time talking abo...
Aug 13, 2024•27 min•Ep. 78
Ian is joined this week by CIBC Capital Markets’ Brenden Donaher, Executive Director from the Short Term Interest Rate Trading (STIRT) desk. The show begins with Ian highlighting the three key takeaways from the Bank of Canada rate decision last week. The Bank sounds more dovish and that raises the risk of an easing cycle which takes policy rates below neutral. Brenden provides his view on current expectations from the BoC rate path, comparing and contrasting the distribution to the United State...
Jul 30, 2024•28 min•Ep. 77
Ian is joined this week by CIBC’s Senior Economist, Ali Jaffery, and the focal point of the episode is to preview the upcoming Bank of Canada interest rate decision. Ali begins the episode outlining his view on forecast changes, and the likelihood that the Bank shifts from outcome-based guidance to forward-guidance. Ian talks about current market pricing for the BoC relative to the Fed, highlighting why he thinks there is too little priced in mid-2025. The pair do a deep dive on the impact of a ...
Jul 19, 2024•29 min•Ep. 76
Ian Pollick is joined by Nicholas Neary this week, Managing Director at DV Trading Group. The duo begin the episode by discussing the Bank of Canada interest rate cut, and what the near-term market implications are. Nicholas highlights his view on the threshold for policy divergence, which is considerably larger than most analyst estimates. The pair go on to discuss whether duration markets are safe, and what that means for the likely shape of the term structure. Ian talks about what is needed f...
Jun 10, 2024•24 min•Ep. 75
Divergence is the most oct-cited narrative when it comes to Canadian macro right now and, for good reason. In this episode, Ian is joined by Andrew Grantham, and the duo begin the episode by dissecting the latest Canadian jobs report. Despite the eye-popping headline number, the reality is that ‘under the hood’ there is ample evidence of a labour market that is slowing. Andrew spends time digging into this, and comparing/contrasting to the U.S. labour market. Ian gives his opinion on ‘where’ thi...
May 13, 2024•27 min•Ep. 74
This past week demonstrated the largest amount of macro divergence over the past several years, with one major central bank hiking rates while another cut, at the same time the Fed straddles a dovish and hawkish message. This week, Ian is joined by Ali Jaffery in CIBC Economics, and the duo begin the episode by discussing these events. Ali makes the case that the macro story across developed markets is still linear, and monetary policy is moving to an easing cycle. But how deep that easing cycle...
Mar 22, 2024•29 min•Ep. 73
Ian is joined by Andrew Grantham this week, and the show begins by discussing why the Canadian economy appears to be growing much faster in Q4 compared to BoC expectations. The impact of previous supply-side restrictions, like the tragic wildfires in 2023 and the port strikes, are starting to filter through the data. This means Canada is seeing low-hanging fruit on the supply side of the economy, which should not have a big impact on inflation. The duo also discuss recent labour market trends in...
Feb 16, 2024•31 min•Ep. 72
Ian is joined by Jeremy Saunders and the duo begin the show discussing recent central bank decisions. With four major central banks abandoning their tightening bias, the data has undermined the market reaction by showing a stronger underlying economy. Jeremy talks about the problem with short-end pricing in Canada versus the United States, while Ian shows why US and Canadian inflation is more comparable than meets the eye. Jeremy provides his view on the latest Treasury refunding announcement an...
Feb 06, 2024•27 min•Ep. 71
Ian is joined this week by Josh Kay, and the show begins with a lookback at the Bank of Canada rate decision this week. Ian walks through the material differences between the statement and the updated forecasts, painting a more dovish outright picture. After talking through the most likely paths for the BoC, the duo discuss which asset class is likely to provide better total returns in 2024, rates versus credit. Josh discusses why credit is turning into a defensive asset class and why it is attr...
Oct 27, 2023•22 min•Ep. 70
Ian is joined by Craig Bell this week, and the duo begin the episode discussing the recent cheapening of the cash market relative to swaps. Craig discusses the specific factors in the cash market impacting relative valuations, while Ian provides an update on the fair-value estimates from his swap spread modeling work. The elephant in the room is the Canadian long-end, and the richness of 10s30s and cross market. Ian and Craig spend time discussing how we got here and, what needs to happen for th...
Oct 20, 2023•27 min•Ep. 69
Ian is joined this week by Mike Larson, and the duo kick off the episode by discussing the elephant in the room – the level of interest rates. Ian discusses the mechanics behind the ungluing of global long-end interest rates, while Mike gives his view on swap spreads. The pair talk about why the level of swap spreads should continue to decline, especially given how much 10yr Canadian rates have underperformed the United States recently. Ian gives his view on the absurdity of trading the ‘higher ...
Sep 29, 2023•21 min•Ep. 68
Ian is joined this week by Avery Shenfeld, Chief Economist at CIBC. The duo begin the episode discussing the most recent North American jobs reports, with Avery highlighting why the Fed hasn’t yet done enough to cool the hot jobs market. Ian outlines the reasons not to get too wrapped-up in Canada’s recent wage gains, while Avery provides his view on the recent increase in the Unemployment Rate. The pair spend some time discussing the outlook for monetary policy, concluding that September is sti...
Aug 09, 2023•24 min•Ep. 67
Ian is joined by Jeremy Saunders this week, and the duo begin the episode discussing the recent bond market selloff. They reach an interesting conclusion early in the episode, highlighting that the ‘way’ in which the market is repricing has not been seen in all of 2023. Ian believes the market is pricing-in more inflation and lower growth in longer-dated yields, which Jeremy suggests is a function of where we are in the cycle. Jeremy discusses his view on the upcoming Bank of Canada meeting, whi...
Jul 10, 2023•22 min•Ep. 66
Ian is joined by Andrew Grantham, and the duo begin the episode discussing the FOMC rate decision. Andrew lays out the logic behind his forecast for a July and September hike, while Ian walks through the implications for the Bank of Canada. Ian introduces his new bond forecasts and talks about why current market pricing for the Bank and the Fed looks so strange compared to prior cycles. Andrew talks about his economic outlook for 2024 and highlights the upcoming weighting changes for CPI next we...
Jun 15, 2023•25 min•Ep. 65
The big news in Canada is the unexpected heat in the latest batch of CPI numbers. The reacceleration of Canadian prices may see the Bank of Canada respond with an interest rate hike later this summer. In this episode of Curve Your Enthusiasm, Ian is joined by Jonathan Guilford, and the duo begin the episode by taking stock of what happened over the past week. John opines on the ‘why’ and the ‘how’, while Ian discusses the risks surrounding ongoing repricing to continue. Ian discusses how a singl...
May 25, 2023•23 min•Ep. 64
The most recent Debt Management Strategy (DMS) raised the possibility that the Canada Mortgage Bond (CMB) program may be terminated, and folded into the GoC market. This is an extremely important development to the Canadian fixed income market, and to speak on the potential implications, Ian is joined this week by Gianluca Gargano, Managing Director and Head of Government Credit at CIBC Capital Markets. The show begins with Gianluca framing the conversation outlined in the DMS, and discussing wh...
Mar 31, 2023•22 min•Ep. 63
The extreme volatility this week warrants some serious discussion, and Ian is joined by Craig Bell for this episode. The duo begin discussing the rapid series of events that culminated in one of the most volatile days for interest rates since the 1980s. Craig provides his view on what this all means for monetary policy, while Ian introduces two potential shoes left to drop that suggest the coast is not entirely clear yet. The co-hosts spend some time discussing how Canadian interest rate derivat...
Mar 15, 2023•26 min•Ep. 62
Ian and Jeremy begin the episode by discussing the FOMC meeting from last week. Jeremy spends some time dissecting the disinflationary narrative used by Chairman Powell, while Ian discusses the extremely strong data which came out after the meeting. The duo do a victory lap as many of the trading themes discussed in the prior episode ended up working quite well, and the co-hosts discuss the driving forces of markets in an otherwise quiet week ahead. Ian discusses why the front-end of Canada rema...
Feb 06, 2023•19 min•Ep. 61
The first CYE episode of 2023 sees Ian joined by Jeremy Saunders, and the conversation starts with a discussion on global macro shifts. Stronger global growth outside the United States is an unexpected development, and the duo discuss what it means for global bond yields. Jeremy asks why the BoC spent so much optionality so early into the year, while Ian talks about the market implications of a conditional pause. The duo agree that spreads look toppy, though they disagree on whether or not marke...
Jan 27, 2023•25 min•Ep. 60
Ian is joined this week by Brenden Donaher, and the duo begin the episode by discussing Bank of Canada pricing for the upcoming meeting. Ian walks through various scenarios around the meeting, and Brenden provides his view on what that means for 2023 pricing. Brenden introduces the idea that the USD still remains the most important factor driving Canadian short-end pricing, despite some idiosyncratic developments which will occur next year. Ian spends some time walking through his outlook for ra...
Nov 28, 2022•27 min•Ep. 59
Ian and Andrew discuss their expectations for the Bank of Canada interest rate decision next week. The duo walk through the reasons why the Bank will need to hike by another 75.0bps next week, and look at the most likely path of short-rates over the rest of the year. Ian talks about his favorite trades going into the release, noting that the forward expectations for BoC policy are too flat. Andrew spends some time detailing his expectation of forecast changes in the MPR, while the pair spend tim...
Oct 21, 2022•26 min•Ep. 58
Ian is joined by Jeremy Saunders this week, and the duo begin the episode discussing the Bank of Canada rate decision this past week. Jeremy discusses his view on terminal rates becoming more ‘bounded’, while Ian introduces the concept of a higher lower bound. Both have profound implications for the shape of the yield curve compared to prior cycles. The hosts take some time to walk through what trades worked well for them recently, and discuss the outlook for 5yr swap spreads. The pair finish th...
Sep 09, 2022•24 min•Ep. 57
Ian and Andrew discuss the latest Canadian GDP numbers, noting how the deceleration in growth is coming from all the ‘wrong’ places when it comes to slowing inflation. Ian talks about how slowing growth impacts the yield curve, noting the differences between slowing from an above potential to a below potential rate. Andrew shares his view on the Bank of Canada rate decision next week, and provides the reasons why he thinks this is the final hike of the current cycle. The duo discuss what ‘higher...
Sep 02, 2022•28 min•Ep. 56
Ian is joined this week by Josh Kay, and the duo kick-off the episode discussing the Bank of Canada. With a 75 bps hike all but set in stone, the question is what should their next move be and should this matter given what is currently priced? Ian discusses his view on the ‘noncession/recession’ which will be challenging to trade, while Josh provides his view on what the move in rates means for credit markets. Josh discusses why credit outflows create opportunity for structural credit investors,...
Jul 11, 2022•22 min•Ep. 55
Ian is joined this week by Jeremy Saunders, and the duo start the episode by looking at the shape of the Canada and U.S. yield curves relative to what is priced for monetary policy in each region. Ian discusses why he views the recent bond market rally to be technical, while Jeremy provides his take on why it has been more fundamentally based. Over the balance of the episode the team discuss the outlook for swap spreads, the inflection point for a Fed pivot, and why CDOR cessation should a much ...
Jun 24, 2022•28 min•Ep. 54
