One dilemma facing investors in the stock market is whether to increase, decrease or suspend their investment when inflation is continuously rising.

For the umpteenth time, Statistics Canada announced on Wednesday that inflation rose in April to 6.8 per cent year over year, a slight increase from the 6.7 per cent figure of March.

Even though Canada is doing far better than most developed countries, including the United States and United Kingdom on inflation, the April figure was the highest Canada has seen since 1991 when inflation hit 6.9 per cent in January of that year and danced around 6 per cent for much of the rest of the year. Beyond that, Canada has not seen such high inflation figures since the early 1980s.

Statistics Canada noted that consumer prices went up mainly because of increases in the cost of food and shelter. Food prices have risen by 9.7 per cent in the past year, while shelter costs are up by 7.4 per cent.

But for the king of the stock market, Warren Buffet – also known as the Oracle of Omaha – rising inflation should not be a deterrent to investing in the stock. “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful,” he advised.

Some investment analysts believe that in the long run, investing in equities is generally a good way to outrun inflation.

“Historically, being invested in equities is really the only good way to stay ahead of inflation,” noted Eric Henderson, president of the annuity business segment at Nationwide Financial. “Equities can be volatile but for the long run that has been a winning formula in the past.”

However, they usually advise that diversification and rebalancing are critical. This includes spreading one’s investments across sectors of assets including stocks, bonds and more. Even within equities, investors can rotate into areas that generally perform better in higher inflation, such as energy, industrials and some real estate stocks. Commodities and gold also have a history of doing well during inflationary times.

From weeks of losses, Canada’s main stock index rose on Friday as energy stocks showed a good outing and global sentiment improved after China unveiled measures to support the country’s economic growth.

As at 9:42 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 140.32 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 20,322.24.

China reduced its five-year loan prime rate – which usually impacts the pricing of mortgages – by 15 basis points on Friday, which was far lower than expectations. The cut was the second this year and is intended to bolster the Chinese economy which has been negatively affected by new COVID-19 lockdowns.

The energy sector rose 1.3 per cent. The financials sector rose 0.9 per cent, while the industrials sector added 0.5 per cent.

The benchmark index has gained 1 per cent so far this week and was set to break a seven-week losing streak

The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, rose 0.2 per cent as gold prices rose to a one-week high as dollar weakened.

Friday’s performance of the TSX followed a positive outing on Thursday. On Thursday, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite gained some of the flesh it lost on Wednesday. Again, shares of energy and gold mining companies had a good outing.

The index ended positively at 80.54 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 20,181.92. On Wednesday, the index had fallen 1.9 per cent.

Thursday’s increase was championed by a gain of 3.1 per cent for the materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies.

This week, the movement of the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index has formed two pyramids and is heading toward the next peak as at 3pm ET.

It opened on Monday at 20,116.04, ending the day at 20,204.53. By 3.30 pm ET on Tuesday, it had its weekly peak at 20,498.40. By Thursday, May 19, it came down, hitting the bottom for the week at 19,927.12 at 9.30 am ET. Then it began to rise again and ended Thursday positively. Friday started with a rise but soon changed to a decline, dropping to a low of 19,938.65 at 1.30pm before another streak of rise.

By 3.00 pm ET, it had risen to 20,027.59 with hopes that the index would close on a positive note for the second consecutive day.

With the 0.1 per cent rise in inflation figures between March and April, there are hopes that inflation may be slowing. In January it had been 5.1 per cent. In February it went up to 5.7 per cent, a change of 0.6. However, in March it shot up to 6.7 per cent, the widest one-month change this year. However, as always, caution should be the word.

With these words guiding our investing decisions, let us now look at the top 5 stories that attracted the interest of our readers most this week. Our readers showed more interest in technology, mining and consumer sectors.

Givex Information Technology Group (TSX:GIVX) announces Q1 2022 financial results

Givex Information Technology Group Limited (GIVX) has announced its financial results for the three-month period ending Mar. 31, 2022.

Revenue increased to $16.3 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $1.3 million in 2022.

POS gross transactional value increased from $123 million in Q1 2021 to $237 million in Q1 2022.

Customer locations increased to 115,000 in Q1 2022.

CEO Don Gray sat down with Coreena Robertson to discuss the results.

Givex Information Technology Group Ltd was up 1.54 per cent in the week, trading at $0.66 at 3:18 p.m. ET.

Nextech AR Solutions (CSE:NTAR) (OTCQB:NEXCF) reports Q1 results

Ended Q1 2022 with 12-month ARR contracts or annual repeat customers totalling $1,346,000. This has grown to $1,575,000 in Q2 to date.

For the first 6 weeks of Q2 the company’s 3D AR model business has already surpassed Q1 in signed contract revenue

The company is seeing increased interest in 3D modelling for ecommerce with larger contracts which are expected to continue in Q2 2022.

CEO Evan Gappelberg joined Coreena Robertson to highlight the company’s results and discuss the outlook for Q2.

Nextech Ar Solutions Corp  was down 26.98 per cent within the week, trading at $0.46 at 3:41 p.m. ET.

Else Nutrition (TSX:BABY) releases Q1 financial results

Else Nutrition (BABY) reported first-quarter 2022 financial results for the period ending March 31, 2022.

Revenues of $1.6M, a 26 per cent increase over Q4, 2021.

Sales on Amazon.com increased 40 per cent versus Q4, 2021.

Else products are now sold in over 1,300 stores.

Hamutal Yitzhak, CEO of Else Nutrition sat down with Coreena Robertson to highlight the company’s results, discuss plans for the upcoming quarter and outline how Else is helping address the shortage of infant formula in the U.S.

Else Nutrition Holdings Inc was up 7.14 per cent within the week, trading at $1.35 at 3:29 p.m. ET.

Banyan Gold (TSXV:BYN) announces updated MRE for the AurMac Property

Banyan Gold (BYN) has announced an updated mineral resource estimate for the company’s AurMac Property ‎located in Yukon.

The updated Resource Estimate comprises a total inferred mineral resource of 3,990,000 ‎ounces of gold on the property.

Tara Christie, President and CEO of Banyan Gold, sat down with Folake Ekwubiri to discuss the news.

Banyan Gold Corp was up 6.10 per cent in the week, trading at $0.44 at 3:38 p.m. ET.

Trillion Energy (CSE:TCF) secures rig for SASB drilling program

Trillion Energy (TCF) subsidiary, Park Place Energy Turkey Limited has signed an offshore drilling services contract.

The contract is with Romanian based GSP Offshore SRL.

GSP Offshore will provide a jack-up rig for Trillion’s 2022 – 2023 drilling program on its SASB natural gas field located offshore Turkey.

Art Halleran, Trillion’s CEO, sat down with Folake Ekwubiri to discuss the news.

Trillion Energy International Inc started the week at $0.34 and was trading at the same price at 3:59 p.m. ET.

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