The TSX fell for a second session Thursday, giving back part of Tuesday's record close as a rebound in oil revived inflation concerns even as most big banks beat estimates.

Anchoring bias explains why this week's strongest bank earnings produced some of the weakest stock reactions.

The TSX pulled back from Tuesday's record close as gold miners sold off, but three more bank beats this morning are keeping the index propped up against a backdrop of tariff retaliation and a hot U.S. inflation print.

Three of Canada's Big Six banks posted double-digit profit growth this week. Only one of them was punished for it, and the pattern says more about investor psychology than about credit quality.

A hot US inflation print undid four sessions of declining Government of Canada yields within hours, while equity volatility barely moved and two unrelated good-news stories pulled the TSX in different directions at once.

Scotiabank's record quarter and BMO's 22% earnings growth carried the TSX composite to 36,957.63. Energy fell the same session as oil dropped for a third straight day, a split that matters more than the headline for concentrated portfolios.

The TSX closed at a record Tuesday as the VIX held its August range, even through a confirmed tariff escalation and a fresh Iran sanctions round. Anchoring bias, not calm judgment, explains why.

The exact marker Geopolitical named this morning as the line between diplomatic pressure and real supply risk fired Tuesday. WTI's muted reaction says the market is not buying the supply story, and the VIX did not move either.

The TSX Composite closed positive Monday even though decliners outnumbered advancers. Three gold miners masked the gap while Linamar, Magna and BRP absorbed the week's clearest trade war losses.

Friday's TSX gain was narrower than the headline number suggested. This morning's currency move is the cleaner signal for how seriously markets are taking the trade dispute.

Gold miners, not trade negotiators, drove Friday's gains, and the currency signal underneath it tells advisors which crisis is actually live heading into the weekend.

The TSX Composite closed nearly unchanged Thursday even as banks fell and gold miners rallied sharply, with today's session set to turn on whether the US and Canada finalize a trade deal before tonight's tariff deadline.

Canadian bank shares and gold miners moved in opposite directions this week, and the reasoning has more to do with which headline landed most recently than with either sector's fundamentals.

The TSX Composite closed nearly flat after gold miners and Canadian banks moved double digits in opposite directions, while US indices fell broadly on a semiconductor selloff ahead of the FOMC minutes.

A Treasury buyback and a tariff truce produced a clean risk-on session across equities, oil and the loonie. Gold rose more than all of them, and that gap is the story.

Banks and miners fell, energy rose, and a semiconductor selloff that started in the US spread to South Korea overnight.