The big banks are considered proxies for other Canadian industries, which means keeping an eye on their quarterly profits this week can offer a glimpse of how other parts of the economy are doing. (David Donnelly/CBC) It’s the final quarterly earnings season for the big banks in 2018, when Canada’s biggest lenders tip their hands to investors about how much money they’re making and where. The Bank of Nova Scotia kicked things off with its quarterly results on Tuesday, revealing it had earned $2.27 billion in the three-month period that closed at the end of October. The Royal Bank of Canada followed suit on Wednesday, posting a quarterly profit of $3.25 billion for the same period. Toronto-Dominion Bank and CIBC’s numbers land this morning, followed by the Bank of Montreal to close out the quintet next Tuesday. The big banks are considered to be canaries in Canada’s economic coal mine at the best of times, and this go-around is being watched even more closely than usual. Anyone trying to get a handle on which way the winds are blowing for Canada’s economy is well advised to pay attention to what the banks numbers show about three key things. How […]
