Today we check in with Equity Research Analysts Brendan Cochrane and Andrew Hall, as they discuss the spring consumer story, their thoughts on inflation, and what investors can expect heading into the summer. Brendan and Andrew share highlights from the recent Consumer Price Index announcement. They say food prices have been affected by the above annualized rate of inflation, something consumers can expect to notice on their grocery bills. Though prices have increased steadily across all categories for the past 18 months or so, commodify categories such as dairy and meat have been hit hard by labour shortages and rising production costs. Brendan and Andrew also provide an overview of the ongoing growth of telecom, citing the close of the Rogers-Shaw merger after a two year governmental review as a sign that the industry is embarking on a new era of competition. Turning to the auto sector, Brendan and Andrew explain that as new car production continues to increase, the prices of used cars will drop, positively affecting inflation. The big story of 2023, they say, is the normalization of the supply chain, allowing production to return back to pre-COVID levels.

Recorded on May 16, 2023.

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