Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Monday.

April13, 1960: the world’s first satellite navigation system is launched, primarily used by the US Navy to update submarine navigation. It lays the groundwork for GPS as we know it today.
April 13, 1962: Silent Spring published by Rachel Carson.
April 13, 1970: Apollo 13, four-fifths of the way to the moon, was crippled when a tank containing liquid oxygen burst. (The astronauts managed to return safely.) Go to article.

Thomsas Jefferson, 3rd US President, b. 1743.

Butch Cassidy, outlaw, b. 1866.

Al Green, vocalist, b. 1946

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Chios, Greece

Handmade rockets light up the night sky as two rival church congregations engage in a traditional ‘rocket war’ to celebrate Easter
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Bangkok, Thailand

Revellers are sprayed with water as they celebrate the Songkran holiday, marking the Thai new year
Photograph: Patipat Janthong/Reuters

Sariakandi, Bangladesh

Rows of workers under umbrellas sort a vast crimson carpet of chilies
Photograph: Mostafijur Rahman Nasim/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Market Closes for April 13th, 2026

International Markets

Bonds

Commodities

Market Commentary:

On this day in 1945, following news of President Franklin Roosevelt’s death a day earlier, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by about 1%. FDR had led an unprecedented crackdown on Wall Street, establishing the Securities and Exchange Commission.

🍒Canada🍓
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.5%, or 183.48 to 33,879.24 in Toronto.
The index advanced to the highest closing level since March 4.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.3%.
Lithium Americas Corp. had the largest increase, rising 7.3%.
Today, 149 of 220 shares rose, while 71 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 44% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 29% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.9% below its 52-week high on March 2, 2026 and 43.1% above its low on April 14, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.1% in the past 5 days and rose 4.1% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.1 on a trailing basis and 16.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.2% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$5.32t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 18.53% compared with 18.54% in the previous session and the average of 18.47% over the past month
Index Points
Financials | 132.1795| 1.2| 24/0
Information Technology | 92.8535| 4.0| 9/0
Industrials | 6.4977| 0.2| 20/9
Consumer Discretionary | 6.2100| 0.6| 7/2
Communication Services | 5.2332| 0.9| 5/0
Real Estate | 4.4194| 0.9| 15/4
Health Care | -0.3088| -0.3| 2/2
Energy | -11.0614| -0.2| 29/8
Materials | -12.8898| -0.2| 34/26
Utilities | -15.6539| -1.3| 3/11
Consumer Staples | -23.9983| -2.2| 1/9
Shopify | 43.7200| 3.3| 8.7| -28.2
Brookfield Corp | 29.4900| 3.3| 22.0| -4.4
Constellation Software | 20.4100| 6.4| 54.6| -26.0
Barrick Mining | -10.4500| -1.5| -44.0| -0.7
TC Energy | -16.6200| -2.6| -23.8| 13.9
Enbridge | -21.7000| -1.9| 16.4| 12.3

MT Newswires:
The Toronto Stock Exchange closed higher on Monday, rising for the eighth time in nine sessions, helped by interest rate sensitive sectors like Information Technology and Financials as Desjardins said its "new path" for oil prices would tend to suggest a slightly earlier tightening in monetary policy in 2027 than previously assumed.
The resources-heavy S&P/TSX Composite closed up 183.48 points to 33,879.24, also buoyed by Base Metals and Energy, even with gold and oil prices off recent highs.
Among sectors, Info Tech was up 4.5% and Financials up near 1%, while Base Metals was 1.25% higher.
According to FactSet, as of Friday, the TSX month-to-date was up 2.83% and year-to-date up 1,983.00 points, or 6.25%.
This left the index off 2.45% under its record close of 34,541.27 set on March 2.
Desjardins was among those to publish a note looking at Middle East developments and their implications for its oil assumptions.
Desjardins economists Jimmy Jean and Marc-Antoine Dumont said their base case forecast for oil prices now assumes a disruption that lasts longer than anticipated in the March Economic and Financial Outlook.
"Shortfalls seem likely to extend through mid-2026 and we believe that they will be only partially offset by emergency reserve releases and incremental gains in production elsewhere," the pair wrote.
"On net, we estimate a cumulative supply loss of roughly 550-million barrels over the coming year.
Production is expected to recover gradually but with a lag, implying a period of tighter inventories and elevated prices even if tensions cool."
Reflecting this altered supply path, Desjardins now leans towards a revised oil price outlook, seeing benchmark WTI crude at an average US$100 per barrel through April and May vs. US$80 to US$85 in March, before declining gradually.
"These projections remain highly sensitive to the volatile and unpredictable nature of the conflict and the actions of the parties involved, which could materially affect our forecasts," Desjardins said.
If this path materializes, Desjardins added, headline inflation in Canada would be pushed higher, but underlying inflation pressures would remain more contained, given the current starting point of excess capacity and soft labor market.
"The terms-of-trade and energy capex boost still needs to be weighed against the hit to household finances and confidence, as well as the margin compression in energy-intensive sectors," they noted.
Desjardins said its new path for oil prices would tend to suggest a slightly earlier tightening in monetary policy in 2027 than previously assumed, but not a material shift in the policy path at this time.
Desjardins added it will publish its detailed estimates in an Economic and Financial Outlook next week, taking into account latest developments.
Of commodities today, West Texas Intermediate crude oil tested the US$100 per barrel mark before falling back after the United States said it will blockade Iran’s ports after weekend peace talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement to end hostilities.
WTI crude oil for May delivery closed up $2.51 to settle at US$99.08 per barrel, after earlier touching US$105.63, while June Brent oil was up US$3.92 to US$99.12.
Gold prices weakened for a second session Monday as the dollar rose after weekend talks between the United States and Iran failed to reach a peace deal, leaving the Strait of Hormuz blocked and continuing the largest-ever oil supply shock.
Gold for May delivery was last seen down $19.90 to US$4,767.50 per ounce.
US

By Ira Iosebashvili, Vildana Hajric and Isabelle Lee
(Bloomberg) — Stocks closed at session highs and were back in the green for 2026 after President Donald Trump said Iran still wanted to make a deal following a deadlock in peace talks and a US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. shares dropped in an underwhelming start to the earnings season.
The S&P 500 rose 1% to its highest level since late February.
Brent crude was up 3% at around $98 a barrel, paring earlier gains.
Goldman retreated 1.9% as a revenue miss in fixed- income, currency and commodities outweighed a record haul from equities.
Equities extended their rally after Trump said Iran reached out to his administration over peace negotiations even as the US began a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the war’s seventh week.
“The oil retracement, in combination with bearish positioning, has fueled the equity rebound,” said JonesTrading Chief Market Strategist Michael O’Rourke.
“Overall, investors doubt the veracity of headlines, but they don’t want to be caught on the wrong side of them either.”
Even as Trump sought to jawbone negotiations back on track, there were few signs that was taking place after weekend talks failed in Islamabad.
Iran blamed the deadlock on the US and Tehran has not confirmed further discussions on Monday.
“Given the economic costs of higher oil prices and with the immediate turn of events highly uncertain, we think investors should avoid attempts to “trade” geopolitics,” wrote Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, CIO Americas and global head of equities at UBS Global Wealth Management.
At the same time, investors are eager to hear from executives about risks stemming from the war, the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence and worries over private credit as earnings season begins.
Analysts project S&P 500 earnings will show roughly 12% annual growth for the first quarter.
The question is whether “this upcoming earnings season can be enough of a catalyst to dismantle the close link between stocks and oil, as corporate earnings are what traditionally drive stock prices,” wrote Clark Bellin, president and chief investment officer at Bellwether Wealth.
For Morgan Stanley strategist Mike Wilson, a strong earnings backdrop is protecting the S&P 500 from deeper losses, and he recommends that investors stand ready to add risk even if the Iran conflict continues.
The yield on two-year Treasuries slipped to around 3.77%.
The dollar reversed an earlier gain and was down 0.2%.
Gold traded lower, near $4,765 an ounce.
The latest spike in crude, coupled with the marked rise in March US consumer prices, is shifting the bond market’s focus back to inflation.
Japan’s 10-year yield climbed to the highest level since 1997 earlier on Monday before paring the move.
In the US, money markets pointed to less than a one-in-five chance of a rate cut by December.
“Time is playing against markets as each day that goes by with oil prices these high weighs on global growth and pushes inflation,” said Gilles Guibout, head of European equities at BNP Paribas Asset Management.
“It’s difficult to see how markets could stage a sustainable rebound without a sustainable solution to this crisis.”
What Bloomberg Strategists Say:
“Crude isn’t back to its March highs yet, whether you look at the generic prompt ticker or the specific front-month delivery dates for Brent or WTI. That would argue against a catastrophic lurch lower in stock prices.”
— Cameron Crise, Macro Strategist, Markets Live.
Corporate Highlights:
* Bill Ackman has kicked off formal marketing for the US initial public offering of his closed-end fund and his hedge fund, even as the Iran war hits dealmaking optimism.
* Somnigroup International Inc. agreed to buy bedding company Leggett & Platt Inc. in an all-stock transaction worth about $2.5 billion.
* Sandisk Corp. shares gain as the memory chipmaker is set to join the Nasdaq 100 index.
* Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is “supplementing” its cyber and infrastructure resilience after regulators warned the largest US banks about the latest artificial intelligence model from Anthropic PBC, Chief Executive Officer David Solomon said.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1% as of 4:02 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.8%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro rose 0.3% to $1.1761
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.3506
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 159.39 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 2.8% to $73,375.13
* Ether rose 2.1% to $2,260.66
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 4.29%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 3.09%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 4.87%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.7% to $98.23 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.2% to $4,742.21 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Learn from the mistakes of others; you can’t live long enough to make them all yourself. –Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962.

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808

(C): 250.881.0801 (Text Only)

Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895

Fax: 778.430.5828

www.carolannsteinhoff.com