The Financial Post reports in its Thursday, May 19, edition that Canadian raw materials stocks are having their best start to the year in at least three decades. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that some analysts say the rally is missing a fundamental underpinning -- economic growth. A gauge of Canada's largest raw materials companies including gold, copper, lumber and fertilizer producers soared 41 per cent through May 16, the best year-to-date performance since at least 1988. The rebound comes after materials stocks slumped 23 per cent in 2015, capping a record five-year decline in which the gauge lost 63 per cent of its value. Gluskin, Sheff + Associates chief economist David Rosenberg says in a note: "I've got three words for you: Dead. Cat. Bounce. ... There is no fundamental long-lasting recovery in the commodity space without global demand growth shifting course and accelerating, and that's just not in the cards in the foreseeable future. It's completely overbought at current levels." The rally in the S&P/TSX Materials Index, which includes companies such as Teck Resources and Barrick Gold, has helped drive the broader S&P/TSX Composite Index up 6.8 per cent this year.