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.

Agnico Eagle, Wheaton Precious Metals and Barrick surged as much as 10.5 percent while Canada's five largest banks fell in tandem, and the psychology behind that instinct to chase it deserves more scrutiny than the headline number.

Investors have learned that Strait of Hormuz headlines are buying opportunities. The mechanism that produced that lesson just changed.

A well telegraphed inflation print produced exactly the pattern behavioural finance predicts, and the biggest single mover of the day was a decline.

The TSX has closed at a record high in four of its last five sessions. The research on what that streak does to investor judgment should worry advisors more than the milestone excites clients.

The revenue growth rate barely moved between the two quarters. What moved was which AI story investors were telling themselves that week.

A stock that had risen more than 230 per cent since April drew retail buyers chasing the momentum, even as the CEO and chief legal officer filed to sell shares in the two weeks before Thursday's reversal. The research on what a run of gains does to investor judgment explains both sides of the trade.

The safe-haven trade clients expect broke down exactly when the news looked most alarming, and the availability heuristic explains why they will not see it coming next time.

The metal's June capitulation and its July rebound were driven by the same behavioural pattern, just pointed in opposite directions.

The disposition effect predicts how clients will misread both moves, and it is not the same mistake twice.

The composite touched a fresh intraday record near midday, minutes before the Fed delivered a tone investors were not positioned for. The research on what happens between the high and the headline is specific and well documented.

Canada's Q1 GDP print triggered a news cycle built around one word. Understanding what that word does to investor decision-making is where the advisory opportunity lives.

When geopolitical shocks dominate the news cycle, the availability heuristic inflates perceived risk and drives selling at exactly the wrong moment. Six weeks into the equity recovery, the divergence between investor sentiment and market reality has never been clearer.