Interest rates staying higher for longer OK with lifecosThe Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Feb. 29, edition that you can forget about a rate cut in March -- that is almost certainly not happening. The Globe's Tim Shufelt writes that the odds are not looking good for April or June, either, when the Bank of Canada has further rate announcements scheduled. The U.S. Federal Reserve, meanwhile, is seen to be on hold until at least July, and will be pressed to squeeze in just three or four rate cuts this year, judging by overnight index swaps, which serve as a proxy for rate expectations. A few months ago, markets were expecting as much as eight Fed cuts this year, bringing its key rate down by two full percentage points. Financial markets seem to finally be coming to the realization that central banks have zero urgency in easing back on interest rates. With the market's probabilities for rate cuts falling so quickly, it raises the question, what if there are no rate cuts this year at all? It is a question with big implications for stocks, which have rallied furiously on the belief that the hour of the rate cut was approaching. Most of the rise in stock prices was driven by expanding market multiples rather than growing corporate profits.