Author: Carolann

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Walpurgisnacht, Europe.

April 30^th, 1916: Daylight Saving Time is introduced by Germany and its World War I allies, aiming to save energy to support the war effort.
On April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces. Go to article.
April 30^th, 1883: Impressionist painter Edouard Manet dies in Paris.

For once, take a close look at the sun
The world’s largest solar telescope has taken a close-up image of our nearest star, and the detail is breathtaking. For those with scientific minds, the image reveals a cluster of continent-sized dark sunspots near the center of the sun’s inner atmosphere. For folks who like to see faces in clouds, the sun’s surface appears to show a giant owl or a flying phoenix.

Experienced climbers only, please
In an effort to reduce overcrowding and improve safety, Nepal wants to require that all climbers have experience before trying to scale Mount Everest. According to a draft of a new law, climbers would only be able to obtain a permit if they’ve already climbed at least one of the Himalayan nation’s 22,965 ft. peaks.

The race to save the African penguin
Although the African penguin is essential for sustaining coastal ecosystems, the species is now on the brink of extinction. But scientists are working hard to save this unique water bird.

Titanic note sells for nearly $400,000
A letter card penned by one of the ill-fated ship’s most well-known survivors recently sold at auction to a private collector in the US. The letter is believed to be the sole example in existence of first-class passenger Archibald Gracie from onboard the Titanic.

John Stamos slays in musical challenge
In a video for the Drumeo YouTube channel, the actor and musician was challenged to create a new drum section for a song he’d never heard before. The vloggers chose “Last Resort” by Papa Roach and the results were spectacular.
Robots: Facts about machines that can walk, talk or do tasks that humans can’t (or won’t)

China’s ‘2D’ chip could soon be used to make silicon-free chips.

Researchers react to T. rex ‘leather’ announcement.

The rare genetic disorder that forces people to avoid sunlight.

PHOTOS OF THE  DAY

Pontefract, UK
People enjoy the sunny day at Farmer Copleys Tulip Festival as the warm weather continues across the country. Around 517,000 individual bulbs, consisting of 65 different varieties of tulip, were planted on the 5 acres site
Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

Paris, France
People enjoy the sun along the Seine, where temperatures rose to 27C
Photograph: Michel Euler/AP

Surrey, UK
People sit on the riverbank as a person paddleboard past on the River Thames in Runnymede
Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA
Market Closes for April 30^th , 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	40669.36	+141.74
		+0.35%
S&P 500	5569.06	+8.23
		+0.15%
NASDAQ	17446.34	-14.98
		-0.09%
TSX	24841.68	-32.80
		-0.13%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	36045.38	+205.39
		+0.57%
HANG SENG	22119.41	+111.30
		+0.51%
SENSEX	80242.24	-46.14
		-0.06%
FTSE 100*	8494.85	+31.39
		+0.37%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.091	3.133
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.441	3.467
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.1619	4.1716
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.6774	4.6490

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7246	0.7231
US $	1.3800	1.3828

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5620	0.6402
US $	1.1319	0.8834

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	3305.05	3296.30
Oil
WTI Crude Future	58.21	60.42

Market Commentary:
The thing you do obsessively between age 13 and 18, that’s the thing you have the most chance of being world-class at. –Bill Gates, Microsoft founder, b. 1955
Canada
(MT Newswires)
The Toronto Stock Exchange closed lower on Wednesday as data showed the Canadian economy performed ‘below potential” in the first quarter and is expected to weaken further in the second and third quarters, which is seen pushing the Bank of Canada to resume its rate-cutting cycle in June.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 32.8 points at 24,841.68, only the third losing session in the last 13.
Among sectors, the biggest decliners were Base Metals and Energy, down 3.15% and 2.30%, respectively, followed by Technology, down 1.78%.
Telecoms and Utilities were higher, up 1.40% and 0.99%, respectively.
Veteran economist David Rosenberg noted Mark Carney was today greeted with his first major economic release since taking his Liberal Party to its fourth-straight election win earlier this week.
Statistics Canada released February real GDP and instead of coming in flat, it showed the Canadian economy contracted 0.2% month over month.
Rosenberg also noted Statistics Canada estimates that there was very little recovery in March, seeing a “flattish” 0.1% uptick.
He said: “It looks as though real GDP growth in Q1 expanded at around a +1.6% annual rate, which may not be a technical recession but is still a pace that is below potential, which means a widening output gap.
This poses downside risks to inflation, which will come as a surprise to a more recently cautious Bank of Canada.”
Rosenberg noted the weakness in the economy in February was broadly based with both the goods sector and service providers in contraction mode.
“From our lens,” he added, “the fact that the areas of GDP most sensitive to monetary policy deteriorated as much as they did — construction (-0.5%), real estate (-0.4%), and retail activity (-0.2%) — is a signal that the BoC’s work is not entirely done.”
National Bank economist Kyle Dahms noted the Canadian economy was weaker than expected in February, declining by 0.25%, its worst performance in 26 months as a majority of sectors worsened during the month.
Looking ahead, Dahms noted the preliminary estimate for March suggests growth could have edged up by one tick.
Taking that into account, on a quarterly basis, industry growth could have registered at 1.5% annualized in the first quarter of the year following a 1.8% increase in the last quarter of 2024.
But, Dahms said, “This decent start to the year is unlikely to be propagated for the remainder as uncertainty continues to reign.
Unless tensions with our southern neighbor are significantly reduced, we continue to believe that consumer and business confidence will remain very low.
As such, this scenario should translate into lower outlays and reduced investment.
Moreover, the potential damage to the labor market is palpable and may have already started according to the March LFS report.
All told, our view remains that we expect a weakening of the economy in the second and third quarters.”
Desjardins noted the Bank of Canada released its ‘Summary of Deliberations’, detailing deliberations by the Governing Council for the policy decision made two weeks earlier.
Desjardins continues to believe the BoC will resume its rate cutting cycle in June, with the debate potentially being about whether to cut 25 or 50 basis points.
According to Royce Mendes, Desjardins Head of Macro Strategy, today’s “soft” GDP numbers suggest the economy was already losing momentum ahead of the worst of the tariff shock to date.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil fell to the lowest in more than four years on Wednesday as the U.S. economy weakened in the first quarter, slowing demand, while a report said Saudi Arabia is prepared to weather lower prices and raise production. WTI crude oil for June delivery closed down US$2.21 to settle at US$58.21 per barrel, the lowest since February, 2021, while June Brent crude was last seen down US$1.12 to US$63.13.
Gold traded lower for a second day late afternoon on Wednesday as the dollar rose after the United States reported its economy slowed in the first quarter.
Gold for June delivery was last seen down $30.30 to US$3,303.30 per ounce.
By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.1%, with four of 11 sectors lower, led by information technology stocks.
As of market close, 121 of 218 stocks rose, while 94 fell.
New Gold Inc. led the advances, rising 19%, while Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. decreased 5.9%.
Markets at a Glance:
* S&P/TSX Index fell 0.1% to 24,842
* Four of 11 sectors fell
** Information technology declined, down 2.4%
** Consumer staples gained, up 1.2%
* Crude oil fell 3.6% to $58/bbl
* Natgas fell 1.2% to $3.35/mmbtu
* Gold fell 0.8% to $3,305/oz
* Silver fell 2.3% to $33/oz
Advancers:
* New Gold Inc. (NGD CN) +19%: New Gold Jumps as Production Beats, Bullion Price Buoys Revenue
* Gildan Activewear Inc. (GIL CN) +7.1%: CORRECT: Gildan Gains on Q1 Beat, Maintained Guide: Street Wrap
* Badger Infrastructure Solutions Ltd. (BDGI CN) +6.4%: Badger Infrastructure Shares Gain as Adjusted Ebitda Beats (1)
* Orla Mining Ltd. (OLA CN) +4.8%
* Pet Valu Holdings Ltd. (PET CN) +4.6%
Decliners:
* Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (IVN CN) -5.9%: Ivanhoe Mines 1Q Adjusted Ebitda Meets Estimates
* Vermilion Energy Inc. (VET CN) -5.5%
* International Petroleum Corp. (IPCO CN) -5.2%
* NGEx Minerals Ltd. (NGEX CN) -4.4%
* Shopify Inc. (SHOP CN) -4.2%
US
By Rita Nazareth and Lu Wang
(Bloomberg) — The great Wall Street rebound resumed in earnest as stocks staged a late-day comeback even as fears grow that the US economy will buckle under the weight of Donald Trump’s trade war.
A month of historic volatility ended on that same note, with the S&P 500 wiping out a 2% slide for the first time since 2022.
Hopes that trade talks will prove constructive firmed up sentiment, after a report that the US has been proactively reaching out to China through various channels.
At the same time, a cohort of investors is betting the Federal Reserve will administer its policy medicine to forestall a recession.
“Weak data could hasten Fed cuts,” said Fawad Razaqzada at City Index and Forex.com.
“The Fed is now more likely to step in sooner with its rate cuts to support an ailing economy, while the weakness in data could also encourage Trump to ease off on tariffs and make deals quicker.”
Wild swings lashed US assets throughout the month as Trump’s fast-evolving tariff war put the S&P 500 on the brink of a bear market, with a plunge of almost 20% from its February record through April 8.
The gauge erased about half of that slide but still saw its third straight month of declines – the longest losing streak since 2023.
Following a few chaotic days that underscored fears foreign investors were beating a retreat from American assets in early April, Treasuries rebounded and notched their fourth straight month of gains.
The dollar saw its worst month since November 2022.
To Louis Navellier, what happens next very much depends on the tariff developments.
“If we get a series of announcements soon of trade agreements reached, optimism will rise, and the Fed will likely cut soon,” said the chief investment officer at Navellier & Associates.
“If things drag out for weeks and months, the damage to supply chains and inevitable near-term inflation could cause shouts of stagflation and be very bearish for stocks.”
The macro picture remained at the forefront ahead of results from giants Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc.
A corporate proxy of global activity – Caterpillar Inc. – expects slightly lower sales this year if Trump tariffs remain in place and the economy dips into a recession.
Ford Motor Co.’s chief said the tariff relief to automakers is “reasonable” while indicating more is needed to address the impact of his levies.
The US economy contracted at the start of the year for the first time since 2022 on monumental pre-tariffs import surge and more moderate consumer spending, a first snapshot of the ripple effects from Trump’s trade policy.
Meantime, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures price index — stagnated from a month earlier for the first time in nearly a year.
Excluding food and energy, the so-called core PCE was also unchanged, the tamest in almost five years.
At the very least, says Bret Kenwell at eToro, this could tone down the worry that the Fed can’t lower rates should the labor market begin to weaken, even though officials will likely need to see further proof that inflation is cooling.
To Krishna Guha at Evercore, Wednesday’s data give investors and the Fed a better read on the state of the economy heading into the tariff shock.
But the relative magnitude of these effects may not become clear until sometime in the third quarter, he said.
“This presents the Fed with a dilemma as to whether it should wait to July/September or consider cutting in June anyway because the risk of delay is too high, even though it may not have as much clarity on the outlook as it would like,” Guha noted.
Despite the contraction, the underlying details of the GDP report suggest some key drivers of the economy remained on a good footing at the start of the year.
However, looking further out forecasters contend that the higher tariffs will cause a supply shock, challenging businesses and leading to a pullback in demand.
Retaliatory levies would also discourage exports, setting up a tough backdrop for the rest of the year and making the odds of a recession essentially a coin flip.
“This was all first quarter,” said Neil Dutta at Renaissance Macro Research.
“Now, uncertainty is an enemy of growth, and it is also the enemy of Fed cuts.”
Trump renewed criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell as he championed his economic policies and tariff regime during a Tuesday event to mark his 100th day in office.

Corporate Highlights:
* Super Micro Computer Inc. gave preliminary results that fell well short of analysts’ estimates, a sign its comeback plan has been slow to gain traction.
* Starbucks Corp.’s chief executive officer said the coffee chain is making progress in reviving growth but flagging sales in the latest quarter and a decaying macroeconomic backdrop amped up pressure on the company’s new management to deliver.
* Yum! Brands Inc.’s sales surpassed expectations, driven by the continued growth of its Taco Bell fast-food chain.
* Humana Inc. spent less money on medical care than Wall Street expected in the quarter, easing investor concerns about how rising medical costs are making business more difficult for US health insurers.
* Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. broke with its cruise peers by warning that cruise demand, which has long defied worrying travel trends, is beginning to weaken.
* Visa Inc.’s fiscal second-quarter earnings beat analysts’ estimates as spending on its payment network remained resilient despite macroeconomic uncertainties.
* Snap Inc. narrowly beat analysts’ estimates for first-quarter revenue but declined to issue a sales forecast for the current period, saying it’s navigating macroeconomic “headwinds” for its advertising business.
* Booking Holdings Inc., the parent to travel brands including Kayak and Priceline, adjusted its revenue outlook due to what the company called increased economic uncertainty.
* First Solar Inc. cut earnings guidance following tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.2%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 1.1%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%
* The euro fell 0.5% to $1.1329
* The British pound fell 0.6% to $1.3329
* The Japanese yen fell 0.5% to 143.02 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 0.6% to $94,279.21
* Ether fell 0.8% to $1,795.63
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.15%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 2.44%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 4.44%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.6% to $58.22 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.8% to $3,292.31 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time. –Steve Jobs, 1955-2011.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Arbor Day today.

April 29, 1769: Scottish engineer James Watt patents a steam engine, revolutionizing industrial power and laying the foundation for the Industrial Revolution.
April 29, 1992: Rioting erupted in Los Angeles after a jury acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of almost all charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King. Fifty-four people were killed. Go to article

Duke Ellington, musician, b.1899
Emperor Hirohito, b. 1901.
Uma Thurman, actress, b.1970

Scientists spot a ‘dark nebula’ being torn apart by rowdy infant stars — offering clues about our own solar system’s past
The National Science Foundation’s Dark Energy Camera reveals a stunning glimpse into the ‘dark nebula’ known as the Circinus West molecular cloud, a region of space that’s so dense with gas that light can’t escape it.  Read More.

The Mariana Trench is home to some weird deep sea fish, and they all have the same, unique mutations
Deep-sea fish adapt to some of the most extreme conditions on Earth. New research analyzing their evolution finds the same mutation across fish species that have evolved on separate timelines — alongside human-made pollutants contaminating the deep sea. Read More.

Artificial superintelligence (ASI): Sci-fi nonsense or genuine threat to humanity?
Our current AI systems may one day evolve into a superintelligent entity, but scientists aren’t yet certain what this might look like and what the implications are. Read More.

Trial for 2016 Kardashian robbery begins
Almost nine years after reality TV star Kim Kardashian was bound, gagged and robbed at gunpoint in a Paris hotel, nine men and one woman are on trial for allegedly carrying out the dramatic heist. Nearly $10 million in cash and jewelry, including a $4 million engagement ring, was never recovered.

Future Rock & Roll Hall of Famers announced
Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Outkast, Soundgarden and the White Stripes will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year. Salt-N-Pepa and the late Warren Zevon will receive the Musical Influence Award.

Kobe’s debut jersey sells for $7 million
The sale set a record for any memorabilia tied to the Los Angeles Lakers legend, who died in a helicopter crash in 2020 along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.

Look but don’t touch, kid
A child has damaged a huge painting by Mark Rothko that was on display at a Dutch museum. Conservators are now trying to repair “Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8,” which is said to be worth tens of millions of dollars, to fix the scratches the child left in the paint.

Goldie’s great review: 10/10
“Harry Potter” star Rupert Grint left a humorous review of his new baby girl on Instagram. His partner, Georgia Groome, also received special recognition.
$60 million: That’s about how much a US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet costs. One was recently lost at sea after it fell off the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Frankfurt, Germany
A hare pauses at Frankfurt airport
Photograph: Michael Probst/AP

Chongqing, the world’s largest city – in pictures
One of the entrances to The Ring shopping centre
Photographs by Alessandro Gandolfi

The Buddhist Luohan temple
built between 1064 and 1067 during the Song dynasty and remodelled several times since
Photographs by Alessandro Gandolfi
Market Closes for April 29^th , 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	40527.62	+300.03
		+0.75%
S&P 500	5560.83	+32.08
		+0.58%
NASDAQ	17461.32	+95.19
		+0.55%
TSX	24874.48	+75.89
		+0.31%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	35839.99	+134.25
		+0.38%
HANG SENG	22008.11	+36.15
		+0.16%
SENSEX	80288.38	+70.01
		+0.09%
FTSE 100*	8463.46	+46.12
		+0.55%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.133	3.160
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.467	3.494
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.1716	4.2025
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.6490	4.6784

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7231	0.7230
US $	1.3829	1.3831

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5752	0.6348
US $	1.1393	0.8777

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	3296.30	3277.30
Oil
WTI Crude Future	60.42	63.95

Market Commentary:
Almost any insider purchase is worth investigating for a possible lead to a superior speculation.  But very few insider sales justify concern. -William Chidester, (Scientific Investing).
Canada
(MT Newswires)
The Toronto Stock Exchange recorded its tenth gain in the last 12 sessions on Tuesday, rising following Monday’s federal election that kept the Liberal Party led by Prime Minister Mark Carney in power but left the party just a few seats short of a majority in Parliament.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 75.89 points to 24,874.48.
Among sectors, the biggest gainers were Health Care, up 1.48%, and Telecoms, up 0.88%.
Energy, down 0.81%, was the biggest decliner.
Tuesday’s rise leaves the index down about 1% since U.S. President Donald Trump was inaugurated, on Jan. 20, and before he started to threaten the Canadian economy and sovereignty, issues that became central to the platforms for each of the parties that contested the election here.
According to Rosenberg Research, last night’s Canadian election delivered a Liberal minority government with major implications for Canadian fiscal policy.
Rosenberg said with the Liberals already promising major spending increases if they won a majority, it expects the need to make deals with smaller left-wing parties in the minority parliament further increases expected treasury issuance and is a modest support to growth and the loonie.
Fiscal stimulus in late 2025 should reduce easing pressure for the Bank of Canada, it added.
The election, Rosenberg noted, was dominated by a sense of Canadian nationalism and a ‘rally-round-the-flag’ effect that benefited the incumbent Liberals.
It said the replacement of the unpopular Justin Trudeau by Mark Carney as leader of the Liberals also played a major role.
Smaller parties, the NDP, Bloc Quebecois, and the Greens, were all squeezed, with many voters engaging in strategic voting to keep out the Conservatives, the research added.
“One of our major geopolitical themes for this year has been uncertainty, and this is no exception.
A minority parliament avoids the “stability bounce” in the loonie that would have come with a clear majority and slightly weakens Carney’s hand in negotiations with Donald Trump.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre lost his seat, as did NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, further increasing the uncertainty.
Another election could come as early as next year once the NDP resolves their leadership situation — or, the minority parliament could run for years,” Rosenberg noted.
It added: “Judging by the parties’ official platforms, we expect to see a significant increase in federal government spending under the Carney Liberals over the life of the parliament.”
Elsewhere, National Bank noted the vote centered on who was deemed best positioned to deal with an antagonistic U.S. Administration, while cost of living pressures were likewise top of mind for many voters.
Given the severity of the U.S. threat and structural roadblocks to growth, the Liberals ran on a ‘Canada Strong’ plan that involves net new investments and thus implies larger deficits and more federal debt, the bank said.
Carney’s Liberals, National Bank said, also favor a new approach to federal budgeting, shifting the focus to an operational budget they aim to balance by year four of their mandate.
No explicit debt targets were outlined in the Liberal plan, the bank noted. ”
Regardless, bond investors will be called upon to absorb incremental GoC supply, with non-residents having been a particularly vital source of demand lately,” National Bank added.
National Bank said the first most vital piece of business for the Prime Minister will be a quick re-engagement with the U.S. President on trade and security issues, ultimately with a view to lessening the tariff burden and securing predictable access for Canadian exporters.
“With the ‘old relationship’ with the U.S. essentially over, Canada needs a fresh strategy and bold action.
The Liberals aim to move on multiple fronts, promoting inter-provincial trade, lessening the personal tax burden, boosting housing supply, among other things.
There’s an opportunity to re-think Canada’s energy strategy too, though quick progress will require revisiting some contentious federal legislation.
We view this a worthwhile endeavor, having the potential to strengthen federal-provincial relationships and the national economy at the same time,” the bank noted.
Of commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell for a second day on Tuesday on concerns supply is set to outpace flagging demand.
WTI crude oil for June delivery closed down $1.63 to settle at US$60.32 per barrel, while June Brent crude was last seen down $1.65 to US$64.21.
Also, gold eased late afternoon Tuesday as the dollar rose ahead of key U.S. economic data coming this week.
Gold for June delivery was last seen down $16.70 to US$3,331.00 per ounce.
By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.3%, with eight of 11 sectors higher, led by health care stocks.
As of market close, 150 of 218 stocks rose, while 61 fell.
Brookfield Business Partners LP led the advances, rising 3.9%,
while Kelt Exploration Ltd. decreased 3.7%.
Markets at a Glance:
* S&P/TSX Index rose 0.3% to 24,874
* Eight of 11 sectors rose
** Health care gained, up 1.1%
** Materials declined, down 0.8%
* Crude oil fell 2.9% to $60/bbl
* Natgas rose 0.7% to $3.37/mmbtu
* Gold fell 0.5% to $3,332/oz
* Silver fell 0.2% to $33/oz
Advancers:
* Brookfield Business Partners LP (BBU-U CN) +3.9%
* Tilray Brands Inc. (TLRY CN) +3.1%
* TMX Group Ltd. (X CN) +2.9%: Florida SBA Backs TMX Group on 14 of 14 Proposals May 6, 2025
* GFL Environmental Inc. (GFL CN) +2.9%: GFL Environmental to Report Results; Shares Up 5.5% YTD: Preview
* Nutrien Ltd. (NTR CN) +2.4%: CalSTRS Backs Nutrien on 14 of 14 Proposals at May 7, 2025 AGM
Decliners:
* Kelt Exploration Ltd. (KEL CN) -3.7%
* International Petroleum Corp. (IPCO CN) -3.6%
* Birchcliff Energy Ltd. (BIR CN) -3.5%
* ARC Resources Ltd. (ARX CN) -3.3%
* Energy Fuels Inc/Canada (EFR CN) -3.1%
US
By Rita Nazareth and Isabelle Lee
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders are cautiously adding fuel to the stock rebound, in a high-stakes bet that Corporate America will weather slowing economic growth and tariff-fueled disruptions to earnings.
Investors looked past weak consumer confidence and labor data to send the S&P 500 to its best six-day advance since March 2022 – with the gauge up about 8% in the span.
The Nasdaq 100 is close to erasing all its losses since April 2, when President Donald Trump announced his tariff offensive.
Treasuries extended their April gains on bets US activity will further cool down.
A cohort of stock bulls are fueling a comeback in equities, even as Trump’s tariff turmoil shows no sign of letting up with the economic toll rising by the day.
One theory holds that investors are fearful of missing out on the early phase of the market bounce, mindful of the long history of US rebounds.
Add bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates to prevent a recession, and a risk-on investment case may build.
Yet after cruising along comfortably for most of last year, the world’s largest economy lost altitude at the start of 2025 as consumers tired, and the trade deficit ballooned on a tariff- related scramble for imports.
In the latest pivot in Trump’s trade strategy, the president is set to sign an executive order easing the impact of his auto tariffs, preventing duties on foreign-made vehicles from stacking on top of other levies and lessening charges on parts from overseas used to make vehicles in the US.
“Many are still calling for a recession and even lower equity levels, but we think the ‘Trump put’ is real for equities while the ‘Fed put’ is real for the economy,” said Andrew Brenner at NatAlliance Securities.
“And while tops and bottoms are hard to recognize as they are happening, we think the worst is behind us.”
In corporate news, Amazon.com Inc. said it will not display the cost of US tariffs on products after the White House blasted the reported move.
Apple Inc. wants to build the iPhone in the US, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC.
General Motors Co. and JetBlue Airways Corp. pulled their outlooks.
United Parcel Service Inc. expects to cut 20,000 jobs this year and close dozens of facilities.
After the closing bell, Starbucks Corp. reported sales that fell slightly faster than expected.
Visa Inc.’s earnings beat estimates.
Snap Inc. declined to issue a sales forecast for the current period, saying it’s navigating macroeconomic “headwinds” for its advertising business.
“Looking ahead, we believe the worst-case scenarios for policy change may be in,” said Lauren Goodwin at New York Life Investments.
“But since uncertainty is still high in market- critical areas like business cost and revenue, and since valuations have already improved from recent market bottoms, market volatility is likely to persist.”
At HSBC Holdings Plc, a group of strategists cut their year-end S&P 500 target to 5,600 from 6,700, saying tariffs and weaker-than-expected US economic growth will pressure corporate earnings.
“We expect the market narrative will flip-flop between recession and stagflation until tariff turmoil subsides, the Fed starts easing, and/or inflationary pressures fail to build up,” strategists including Nicole Inui wrote in a note to clients.
Raymond James’ Larry Adam noted that while he’s keeping his S&P 500 target of 5,800 by the end of the year, there’s a long time between here and there.
“In the interim, I would be more cautious because I do think that you’re going to see more tangible evidence show that this economy is slowing,” he said in an interview at Bloomberg headquarters in New York.
A robust earnings season has boosted positioning momentum in US stocks, leaving exposure levels near neutral, according to Citigroup Inc. strategists led by Chris Montagu.
Meantime, hedge-fund managers who’ve been holding fire as tariff headlines whipsawed markets are still reluctant to place any major bets, with one big exception: shorting US stocks.
So-called market conviction, a gauge of hedge funds’ confidence in pursuing a particular investment strategy, is recovering somewhat after swooning to near its lowest in decades, according to data provided by Bob Elliott, a former top executive at Bridgewater Associates Ltd. Positioning across major asset classes — including currencies, bonds and commodities — remains weak after having fallen at the end of March into the bottom 10th percentile relative to levels since 2000.
“On the positive side, while the Trump administration has stirred up volatility, the so-called Trump Put has become more visible, with louder talk of off-ramps and trade deals lately,” said HSBC strategists Alastair Pinder and Dmitriy Leskin.
“On the flip side, recession chatter is also getting louder – and though some of it is already reflected in prices, we think it does cap the upside.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Honeywell International Inc. raised its full-year guidance for earnings per share, saying it will offset about $500 million in tariff exposure with price changes and other actions to protect its bottom line.
* Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. raised its profit outlook for the year as cruise demand continues to defy the increasingly dire situation of the wider travel market.
* Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. lowered its earnings forecast for 2025, as growing uncertainty about the US economy weighs on future travel demand.
* Kraft Heinz Co. trimmed its annual sales and profit outlook, citing worsening consumer sentiment and the cost of tariffs.
* PayPal Holdings Inc. left its full-year forecast for earnings unchanged even after reporting a stronger first quarter than analysts were expecting, citing “uncertainty in the global macro environment.”
* NXP Semiconductors NV sank after the company announced a new chief executive officer as part of its quarterly earnings report and warned that tariff threats have created “a very uncertain environment.”
* Spotify Technology SA gave a muted outlook for profit and subscriber growth in the current quarter.
* Pfizer Inc. expects to pull off two or three deals totaling as much as $15 billion this year to replenish its pipeline following the failure of its closely watched obesity pill.
* Hims & Hers Health Inc. soared after Novo Nordisk A/S said it would sell its popular weight-loss drug Wegovy for a steeply reduced price on several telehealth platforms.
* Altria Group Inc. reaffirmed its full-year profit guidance even as the Marlboro maker wrestles with weak cigarette and oral tobacco product sales.
* S&P Global Inc. said it expects to bring in less revenue than originally forecast this year, as on-again, off-again tariff policies spur market tumult and cause companies to delay debt sales.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.6%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.5%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 0.6%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.3% to $1.1382
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3404
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 142.32 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.9% to $95,358.61
* Ether rose 2.1% to $1,823.72
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.17%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.50%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 4.48%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.9% to $60.28 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.7% to $3,320.75 an ounce

Have a lovely evening everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
There is no failure except in no longer trying. –Elbert Hubbard, 1856-1915.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Monday.

April 28, 1789: Mutiny on the Bounty.
April 28, 1945: Mussolini executed.
April 28, 1947: Thor Heyerdahl begins his 101-day journey on Kon-Tiki, sailing with his crew n a self-built raft to prove South Americans could have settled Polynesia in pre-Columbian times.
April 28, 1972: Apollo 16 returned to Earth after a manned voyage to the moon. Go to article.

James Munro, 5^th president, b. 1758.
Alice Waters, restauranteur, b. 1944.
Jay Leno, comedian, b. 1950.
Penelope Cruz, actress, b. 1974.

Mini ice age was final death blow to Roman Empire, unusual rocks in Iceland suggest
Rocks from Greenland found on Iceland’s west coast could link the late Roman Empire’s fall to a spell of sudden climate change. But historians say that the real story is likely much more complicated. Read More.

Scientists find ‘breathing’ magma cap inside Yellowstone super volcano
Yellowstone’s super volcano appears to have a magma cap that vents pressure and reduces the chances of a massive eruption happening anytime soon. Read More.

James Webb telescope reveals truth about ‘impossible’ black hole thought to be feeding at 40 times the theoretical limit
Astronomers have used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to revisit a misunderstood black hole thought to be gulping matter 40 times faster than the theoretical limit. It turns out, dust may have obscured the truth. Read More.

Did the James Webb telescope really find evidence of alien life? Here’s the truth about exoplanet K2-18b.
A study suggesting the exoplanet K2-18b shows potential signs of alien life has been met with skepticism from the scientific community. Here’s the truth about what the
James Webb Space Telescope saw. Read More.

Buy the Bard’s First Folio
If you can afford it, of course. A set of the first four editions of William Shakespeare’s collected works is going up for auction in May. It’s the first time since 1989 that all four folios have been offered as a single lot. Sotheby’s auction house expects the set to sell for up to $6 million.

The secret life of pangolins
These small and adorable mammals are one of the most trafficked animals in the world. Now, an Oscar-winning director hopes to teach the world more about them with her documentary, “Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey.”

A Warhol in the wastebasket?
A 1980s Andy Warhol print depicting the Netherlands’ then-Queen Beatrix has disappeared along with an art collection that was stored in a Dutch town’s basement during a renovation. Left unprotected, the print and 45 other works were possibly tossed in the trash.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Tochigi, Japan
People enjoy the blooms at Ashikaga flower park, to the north of Tokyo
Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

Greater Manchester, UK
Morris dancers with the Milltown Cloggies attend the Joint Morris Organisations’ annual National Day of Dance on Saturday in Stockport
Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images

London, England
Visitors enjoy the spring blooms in Richmond Park
Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
Market Closes for April 28^th , 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	40227.59	+114.09
		+0.28%
S&P 500	5528.75	+3.54
		+0.06%
NASDAQ	17366.13	-16.81
		-0.10%
TSX	24798.59	+88.08
		+0.36%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	35839.99	+134.25
		+0.38%
HANG SENG	21971.96	-8.78
		-0.04%
SENSEX	80218.37	+1005.84
		+1.27%
FTSE 100*	8417.34	+2.09
		+0.02%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.160	3.175
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.494	3.500
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.2025	4.2353
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.6784	4.7010

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7230	0.7213
US $	1.3831	1.3863

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5797	0.6330
US $	1.1422	0.8755

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	3277.30	3314.75
Oil
WTI Crude Future	63.95	63.57

Market Commentary:
The stone age didn’t end for lack of stone, and the oil age will end long before the world runs out of oil. –Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani, b. 1930.
Canada
(MT Newswires)
Investors pushed the Toronto Stock Exchange higher for the ninth time over the last 11 sessions on Monday ahead of the end of voting in a federal election that could herald a new era of self-determination for Canada, marked by increased economic independence from the United States.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 88.08 points at 24,798.59.
Among sectors, Health Care, down 1.36%, and Base Metals, down 0.77%, were the biggest decliners, with Telecoms, up 0.61%, the biggest gainer on the day.
As a sign of how important this federal election is to most Canadians tired of threats to the economy and sovereignty of the nation from U.S. President Donald Trump, Scotiabank on Monday noted about one quarter of eligible voters voted in advance polls.
For the rest, polls opened first in Newfoundland at 7:00 a.m., Eastern Time and then over the rest of Canada, depending on time zones.
Scotiabank noted results will start rolling in shortly after polls close in Newfoundland at 7:00 p.m. ET and then the rest of Atlantic Canada after 7:30 p.m. ET.
The bank said key to the outcome will be when Ontario, Quebec and the Prairies begin reporting later in the evening and then if the vote is still close, when British Columbia begins reporting after 10 p.m. ET.
“I would guess that we’ll probably know by 11pm, maybe a little earlier or a little later. If the seat mapping sites are close to the actual outcome, then their projected tallies could make BC’s outcome count,” said Derek Holt, Scotia’s Head of Capital Markets Economics.
Holt said whichever political party wins, most likely the Liberals under new leader and former central banker, Mark Carney, will not have the support of a majority of Canadian voters.
Roughly six in 10 voters will choose another party, according to the polls, Holt noted.
According to Holt, the country is likely to remain highly divided, with the outcome speaking more to the political divisions within a first past the post parliamentary system.
“Ask the UK about that one, after Labour’s massive 2024 majority (411 out of 650 seats) was won with just about one-third of the popular vote,” he added.
Of commodities, gold traded higher late afternoon on Monday as the U.S. dollar weakened, boosting safe-haven demand.
Gold for June delivery was last seen up $63.20 to US$3,360.90 per ounce, sticking below the April 21 record high of US$3,425.30.
But West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell as OPEC+ readies to add supply while U.S. President Donald Trump’s global trade wars continue to roil markets.
WTI crude oil for June delivery closed down $0.97 to US$62.05 per barrel, while June Brent crude was last seen down $1.22 to US$65.65.
By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.4%, with eight of 11 sectors higher, led by information technology stocks.
As of market close, 116 of 218 stocks fell, while 97 rose.
Tilray Brands Inc. led the declines, falling 5.8%, while Denison Mines Corp. increased 4.6%.
Markets at a Glance:
* S&P/TSX Index rose 0.4% to 24,799
* Eight of 11 sectors rose
** Information technology gained, up 0.8%
** Industrials declined, down 0.5%
* S&P 500 Index was little changed at 5,529
* Nasdaq 100 Index was little changed at 19,427
* Crude oil fell 1.8% to $62/bbl
* Natgas rose 7.9% to $3.17/mmbtu
* Gold rose 1.5% to $3,333/oz
* Silver rose 0.3% to $33/oz
Advancers:
* Denison Mines Corp. (DML CN) +4.6%
* NexGen Energy Ltd. (NXE CN) +4.4%
* Aecon Group Inc. (ARE CN) +3.2%
* SSR Mining Inc. (SSRM CN) +3.2%
* Cameco Corp. (CCO CN) +2.6%
Decliners:
* Tilray Brands Inc. (TLRY CN) -5.8%
* Lundin Gold Inc. (LUG CN) -3.8%: TSX-Listed Gold Names Plunge as Safe Haven Demand Wanes
* First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM CN) -3.1%
* Lundin Mining Corp. (LUN CN) -2.5%
* Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (IVN CN) -2.4%
US
By Rita Nazareth and Lu Wang
(Bloomberg) — A late-day wave of dip buying erased losses in stocks, with Wall Street investors awaiting a slew of corporate earnings and economic data for insights on the impacts of President Donald Trump’s tariff war.
As the S&P 500 closed higher for five consecutive sessions, the US equity benchmark posted its longest winning streak since November.
Monday marked the fifth time in the past month the index fully wiped out an intraday gain or drop of 1% or more.
The number of reversals already matches the total seen in the entire year of 2024.
Boeing Co. and International Business Machines Corp. led blue chips up, while Nvidia Corp. sank on news Huawei
Technologies Co. is set to test a new AI chip.
Mega caps Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., and Amazon.com Inc. will report results in coming days.
Treasuries rose.
The dollar fell.
From jobs to inflation and economic growth, traders will have a lot to digest this week.
A measure of Texas manufacturing activity weakened significantly as executives used words like “chaos” and “insanity” to describe the tariff turmoil, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
“This will be one of the busiest weeks of the year,” said Anthony Saglimbene at Ameriprise.
“Ongoing trade headlines, an economic calendar filled with key releases and the peak week of the earnings season, including several Magnificent Seven companies reporting results, should keep investors’ heads spinning.”
With a jittery April near a close, several market pros see little reason to think volatility is in the rearview mirror.
For equities to keep rallying, investors would need to see the White House follow through on the “dovish pivot” toward trade with China, according to Chris Larkin at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC the US has put China to the side for now as it seeks trade deals with between 15 to 17 other countries, while indicating it’s up to Beijing to take the first step in de-escalating the tariff fight.
“Underneath the surface, key risks persist — trade tensions, recession worries, and monetary policy uncertainties are very much alive,” said Fawad Razaqzada at City Index and Forex.com.
While many executives have declined to predict how tariffs might impact their bottom lines, Wall Street has been doing its own math.
Based on a 22% tariff rate modeled by Bloomberg Economics, lower gross margins could result in a net income contraction of about 7% in 2025 for the S&P 500, compared with the current consensus estimate of nearly 12% growth, wrote Bloomberg Intelligence chief equity strategist Gina Martin Adams.
Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson says the weak dollar will support US corporate earnings, helping the American stock market to outperform the rest of the world.
Yet Wilson expects the S&P 500 to remain in the 5,000 to 5,500 range.
A more substantial increase would require a tariff deal with China, clear rebound in earnings estimates and the possibility of easier monetary policy, he wrote.
Meantime, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s trading desk is turning tactically bullish on US equities, predicting that tailwinds including big-tech earnings and trade deal announcements will continue to lift stocks after the recent rout.
Still, the bank was quick to emphasize in a note to clients Monday that the rally’s momentum could fade within weeks, with the negative impacts of US tariffs poised to begin dragging on the economy in the months ahead.

Corporate Highlights:
* Chief executive officers from Nvidia Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly & Co., General Electric Co. and SoftBank Group Corp. are among corporate leaders slated to visit the White House on Wednesday as President Trump highlights the US investments they’ve announced in the first 100 days of his second term in office.
* International Business Machines Corp. plans to invest $150 billion in the US over the next five years, joining a cohort of companies that have announced spending commitments following Trump’s election and tariff threats.
* Boeing Co.’s debt is no longer at immediate risk of being cut to junk status by S&P Global Ratings, a sign of progress in the plane maker’s turnaround after a brutal year in 2024.
* United Parcel Service Inc. is in talks with robotics startup Figure AI Inc. to use humanoid robots for some tasks in the logistics giant’s network, according to people familiar with the matter.
* NXP Semiconductors NV announced a new chief executive officer as part of its quarterly earnings report and warned that the chipmaker was navigating “a very uncertain environment” due to tariffs.
* OpenAI now lets users shop for products within ChatGPT, the latest move by the artificial intelligence startup to expand the reach of its popular chatbot and challenge rivals like Google.
* Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. took the wraps off a new version of its flagship Qwen AI model, sustaining the breakneck pace of development that’s characterized China’s artificial intelligence sphere in the wake of DeepSeek.
* Mastercard Inc. announced that it will give merchants the option to receive payments in stablecoins amid increasing global regulatory clarity on the digital assets that are usually pegged to fiat currencies.
* HG Vora Capital Management, an activist investor seeking changes at casino operator Penn Entertainment Inc., criticized  the company for reducing the number of board seats up for election and said it will continue a proxy fight.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 was little changed
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.4%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 0.4%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.5%
* The euro rose 0.5% to $1.1420
* The British pound rose 0.9% to $1.3438
* The Japanese yen rose 1.1% to 142.08 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.5% to $94,803.48
* Ether fell 0.2% to $1,799.16
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 4.20%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 2.52%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 4.51%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.8% to $61.90 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.9% to $3,350.33 an ounce

–With assistance from Cecile Gutscher and Anand Krishnamoorthy.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
The poor don’t know that their function in life is to exercise our generosity. -Jean-Paul Sartre, 1905-1980.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.  Anzac Day, Australia, New Zealand.

April 25, 1915: Battle of Gallipoli.
April 25, 1953:The double helix structure of DNA is described by James Watson and Francis Crick, revolutionizing the understanding of genetics and heredity.
April 25, 1959: The St. Lawrence Seaway opened to shipping. Go to article

1901: First license plates issued.
Oliver Cromwell, English Statesman, Revolutionary, b. 1599.
Ella Fitzgerald, singer, b. 1917.

‘SNL’ wraps up milestone season
The final two celebrity hosts for the 50th season of “Saturday Night Live” have been announced. “White Lotus” star Walton Goggins will make his debut on the show’s May 10 broadcast, with Arcade Fire appearing as the musical guest. For the season finale on May 17, actress Scarlett Johansson will host for the seventh time, with Bad Bunny serving as the musical guest.

Back for more ‘revenge’
“Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” is returning to theaters next week to celebrate the film’s 20th anniversary. Starring Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor and Samuel L. Jackson, the final film in the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy will be shown in several formats, including, for the first time, 4DX.

Mathematicians just solved a 125-year-old problem, uniting 3 theories in physics

Ghost forests are growing as sea levels rise

‘Royal Egyptian inscription’ of Ramesses III’s name is first of its kind discovered in Jordan

Cloudy with a chance of mushballs: Jupiter’s monster storms include softball size hailstones made of ammonia

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Passy, France
Tandem paragliders fly over the Arve Valley, one of the most polluted in France. Pollution in the area is mainly caused by wood heating, particularly used in the many chalets in winter, as well as heavy road transport on the major traffic route between France and Italy, and industrial activity
Photograph: Jean-Philippe Ksiazek/AFP/Getty Images

Qingdao, China
Imported iron ore is sorted into piles at a port
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Emperor penguin chicks take their first swim in Atka bay, Antarctica
Photograph: National Geographic/Bertie Gregory/Reuters
Market Closes for April 25^th, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	40113.50	+20.10
		+0.05%
S&P 500	5525.21	+40.44
		+0.74%
NASDAQ	17382.94	+216.90
		+1.26%
TSX	24710.51	-17.02
		-0.07%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	35705.74	+666.59
		+1.90%
HANG SENG	21980.74	+70.98
		+0.32%
SENSEX	79212.53	-588.90
		-0.74%
FTSE 100*	8415.25	+7.81
		+0.09%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.175	3.191
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.500	3.521
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.2353	4.3130
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.7010	4.7728

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7213	0.7220
US $	1.3863	1.3850

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5782	0.6336
US $	1.1392	0.8778

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	3314.75	3262.95
Oil
WTI Crude Future	63.57	62.98

Market Commentary:
Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today. –Herman Wouk, 1915-2019.
Canada
(MT Newswires)
The Toronto Stock Exchange closed modestly lower on Friday as investors took positions ahead of Monday’s federal election, even as Rosenberg Research flagged the index “should soon move into position for a summer rally”.
Today, the S&P/TSX Composite Index fell only the second time in the last 10 sessions, closing down 17.02 points at 24,710.51.
Sectors were mixed, with Base Metals down 1.4% and Industrials down 1%, while the Battery Metals Index was up 3.5%.
In its latest ‘Technical Analysis’ on global equity markets, Rosenberg Research said the TSX had “successfully tested important support during its tariff-related decline earlier this month and then rebounded”.
It noted the relevant support was the 22,554 to 21,467 range.
By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite was little changed, with seven of 11 sectors higher and four lower.
As of market close, 171 of 218 stocks rose, while 43 fell.
Boralex Inc. led the advances, rising 3.2%, while Novagold Resources Inc. decreased 11%.
Markets at a Glance:
* S&P/TSX Index was little changed at 24,711
* Four of 11 sectors fell
** Industrials declined, down 1%
** Health care gained, up 1%
* Crude oil rose 0.7% to $63/bbl
* Natgas rose 1% to $2.96/mmbtu
* Gold fell 1.5% to $3,282/oz
* Silver fell 1.6% to $33/oz
Advancers:
* Boralex Inc. (BLX CN) +3.2%
* Spin Master Corp. (TOY CN) +3.1%
* TransAlta Corp. (TA CN) +2.4%
* Shopify Inc. (SHOP CN) +2.2%: Hartford Growth Adds CME Group, Exits Shopify
* Chartwell Retirement Residences (CSH-U CN) +2%
Decliners:
* Novagold Resources Inc. (NG CN) -11%: M&A in U.S. Totaled $18.6 Billion Last Week
* Energy Fuels Inc/Canada (EFR CN) -6%
* Tfi International Inc. (TFII CN) -5.5%: TFI International PT Cut to $115 from $128 at TD Cowen
* WSP Global Inc. (WSP CN) -4.3%: WSP Global Falls as Largest Holder Plans 2.1 Million Share Sale
* Cargojet Inc. (CJT CN) -3.6%
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A solid Wall Street week ended with gains for stocks as a rally in the market’s most-influential group offset conflicting signals about progress in President Donald Trump’s trade negotiations.
The surge in megacaps sent the S&P 500 above 5,500, with the gauge notching its longest advance since January.
Tesla Inc. jumped 9.8% while Alphabet Inc. climbed on solid results.
Equities briefly lost steam as Trump suggested another delay to reciprocal tariffs was unlikely, and he wouldn’t drop levies on China without “something substantial” in return.
Bonds and the dollar rose.
“Markets have staged an impressive recovery,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide.
“While fears of a 2008- or 2020-style crisis are fading, the road back to record highs won’t be easy.
Markets are showing resilience, but still face the same persistent challenges, including tariff uncertainty and signs of an economic slowdown.”
Worries about the economic fallout from tariffs drove US consumer sentiment to one of its lowest readings on record while long-term inflation expectations climbed to the highest since 1991.
As investors weighed mixed signs on whether the trade war between the world’s two largest economies is de-escalating, Bloomberg News reported China is considering suspending its 125% tariff on some US imports.
Trump told Time magazine he expects to wrap up trade deals with US partners looking for lower tariffs in three to four weeks.
But the president gave confusing signals about the status of talks with China, even as Beijing has denied negotiations are taking place.
“We are currently in tariff purgatory,” said Joachim Klement, strategist at Panmure Liberum.
“There is no fundamental change to the outlook, so markets latch on to noise and get constantly whipsawed by the ever-changing utterances of Donald Trump and his cabinet.”
While recent data indicate US spending is holding up so far, the outlook for this year is less promising.
With companies poised to pass on tariff and commodity costs to shoppers, the hikes could further slow consumer demand and juice inflation.
As profit margins remain close to record levels, Corporate America has some room to absorb costs from higher tariffs.
However, the track record of S&P 500 companies over the past two decades suggests their ability to withstand additional levies is fragile, at least by one measure.
Nearly all the margin growth eked out from corporate sales on the gauge since 2004 has come from the booming technology sector, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Removing the group, profitability barely rose.
“The tariff-induced slowdown in economic activity, as well as the higher costs, will crimp corporate profit growth,” said David Lefkowitz at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“But the economy should rebound next year as businesses and consumers adjust to the tariffs, with an assist from Federal Reserve rate cuts and certainty on tax policy.”
Bank of America Corp. strategists led by Michael Hartnett said investors should sell into rallies in US stocks and the dollar.
The greenback is during a longer-term depreciation while the shift away from US assets has further to go, they noted.
The trend would continue until the Federal Reserve starts cutting rates, the US reaches a trade deal with China and consumer spending stays resilient.
Foreign investors have sold $63 billion of US equities since the start of March, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists estimate, noting that the data from high-frequency fund flows suggest that European investors have been driving the selling, while other regions have continued to buy US stocks.
Forecasters anticipate the trade war will hit economic growth this year and next as tariffs push prices higher and put a dent in consumer spending.
The US economy is set to expand 1.4% in 2025 and 1.5% in 2026, according to the latest Bloomberg survey of economists, compared with 2% and 1.9% in last month’s poll.
The median respondent now sees a 45% chance of a downturn in the next 12 months, up from 30% in March.

Corporate Highlights:
* Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan gave investors a stark diagnosis of the chipmaker’s problems this week, along with the sense that it will take a while to fix them.
* Apple Inc. is seeking to import most of the iPhones it sells in the US from India by the end of next year, accelerating a shift beyond China to mitigate risks related to tariffs and geopolitical tensions.
* T-Mobile US Inc. reported fewer new wireless phone subscribers than analysts expected in the first quarter.
* AbbVie Inc. raised its profit outlook for the year on better- than-expected sales from newer autoimmune treatments but warned its forecast doesn’t consider any potential changes in trade policy.
* Centene Corp. expects higher medical costs this year, adding to investor concerns after the largest health insurer sounded a similar alarm earlier this month.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.6%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 2.8%
* The Russell 2000 Index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1363
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3320
* The Japanese yen fell 0.7% to 143.64 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 2.1% to $95,404.61
* Ether rose 2.3% to $1,803.71
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined six basis points to 4.26%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.47%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.48%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.6% to $63.19 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 1.3% to $3,305.25 an ounce

–With assistance from John Viljoen and Kit Rees.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
I don’t know why we are here, but I’m pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves. –Ludwig Wittgenstein, 1889-1951.

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

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.

April 24, 1898: Spain declares war on U.S.

April 24^th, 1990: The Hubble Space Telescope is launched into Earth orbit, providing unprecedented views of he universe and greatly advancing our understanding of space.

April 24, 2005: Pope Benedict XVI was installed as leader of the Roman Catholic Church in ceremonies at the Vatican. Go to article.

 

Robert Bailey Thomas, founder of The Farmer’s Almanac, b. 1766.

Shirley MacLaine, actress, b. 1934.

Barbara Streisand, actress, chanteuse, b. 1942.

 

Simone Biles wins World Sportswoman of the Year
It was the fourth time the Olympic gold medalist gymnast has won the award.

 

American Music Awards nominees announced
And rapper Kendrick Lamar, who wowed audiences with his Super Bowl LIX halftime show in February, leads the list with 10 nominations, including artist of the year, album of the year and song of the year.

 

Time to pick your players!
The first round of the 2025 NFL draft begins at 8 p.m. ET tonight, with the second and third rounds taking place tomorrow and the remaining four rounds happening on Saturday. Fans can watch all of the picks on the NFL Network and ESPN; CNN Sports will also offer live digital coverage.

 

Pedro Pascal makes statement of solidarity
The star of the hit show “The Last of Us” recently wore a T-shirt to the European premiere of “Thunderbolts*” that said “Protect the dolls.” The slogan is seen as a show of solidarity with trans women, who are affectionately known as “dolls” in the LGBTQ community. The issue is personal for Pascal; his younger sister Lux is a trans actress and model.

 

Stone Age quiz: What do you know about the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic?

 

EVs could charge 500% faster in freezing weather after new discovery

 

Gamma-ray bursts reveal largest structure in the universe is bigger and closer to Earth than we knew: ‘The jury is still out on what it all means.’

 

What is the ancient Egyptian ‘Eye of Horus’ — and why is it found in so many burials?

 

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Norfolk, UK
Wicked fans visit a tulip farm where the movie was filmed in Norfolk, UK. Around 31,000 lucky fans of the Hollywood blockbuster have snapped up tickets to walk through the colourful bulb fields near the Royal Sandringham estate in King’s Lynn – which are open to the public for just two weeks

Photograph: Bav Media

Miniature horses race in New Zealand

A pair of runners in the Great Northern Gallop in Houhora in New Zealand’s Far North.
Photographs by Fiona Goodall

Paris, France
Pastry chefs work on a huge strawberry cake during a Guinness world Record attempt in Argenteuil. About 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar, 415kg of crème pâtissière and 4,000 eggs were used to create the 121.9-metre (400ft) creation

Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for April 24^th, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	40093.40	+486.83
		+1.23%
S&P 500	5484.77	+108.91
		+2.03%
NASDAQ	17166.04	+457.99
		+2.74%
TSX	24727.53	+254.85
		+1.04%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	35039.15	+170.52
		+0.49%
HANG SENG	21909.76	-162.86
		-0.74%
SENSEX	79801.43	-315.06
		-0.39%
FTSE 100*	8407.44	+4.26
		+0.05%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.191	3.243
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.521	3.563
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.3130	4.3870
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.7728	4.8304

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7220	0.7207
US $	1.3850	1.3874

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5773	0.6339
US $	1.1389	0.8780

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	3262.95	3433.55
Oil
WTI Crude Future	62.98	64.31

Market Commentary:

You do not rise to the level of your goals.  You fall to the level of your systems. –James Clear, b. 1986.

Canada
(MT Newswires)

The Toronto Stock Exchange rose for a third-straight session on Thursday as optimistic investors chose to mostly ignore Wednesday threats from U.S.
President Donald Trump to impose fresh tariffs on Canada’s auto industry.
Boosted by rising commodity prices.
The resources heavy S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 254.85 points to 24,727.53.
Among sectors, Base Metals was up 4.46%, with Health Care the second biggest gainer, up 5.07%.
Telecoms were down 0.14%.
According to Dow Jones Market Data and FactSet, the TSX was as at the close of trade yesterday off more than 5% from its record close of 25,808.25 on Jan. 30 and off 2.37% from the day that Trump was inaugurated and his threat of all-out tariff wars against every nation, including Canada, began.
Trump on Wednesday said the tariff on Canadian autos “could go up” as he said he wants to force Canadian manufacturers to set up shop in the United States.
Of individual stocks, Briacell Therapeutics (BCT.TO) closed 11% to $8.45 as it earlier reported positive results with its Bria-OMT monotherapy, with a patient reporting sustained complete remission of a metastasized lung tumor.
Canadian market watchers of late have been more mindful of domestic economic issues than those related to the U.S., although they are of course keeping a watching brief on the trade war between the two nations.
On Canadian data points, Rosenberg Research noted industry employment fell sharply in February, and in sectors sensitive to the Canadian dollar and to interest rates.
“The BoC erred in not cutting rates at its recent meeting, but there is time to correct that policy misstep,” it said.
Rosenberg noted February data on industry employment, the SEPH or the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, was “a dud.”
Payrolls fell by 49,000, the steepest decline since November 2023, and January was revised sharply lower to now show a 14.400 gain instead of 26.800, as the initial report estimated.
“The workweek was as flat as a beaver’s tail,” the Rosenberg noted, before adding: “Thank God for health care and social assistance because if it weren’t for these non-cyclical areas, the jobs plunge would have been closer to -62k on the month.”
According to Rosenberg, the Bank of Canada’s decision to stand pat at the most recent policy meeting is “one that they will come to regret.”
It said the latest jobs data point came before the latest unstable chapter in the Trump trade war and revealed an economy that is in need of a whole lot of help.
And, it added, we already know from the Household survey (LFS) that the labor market eroded further in March, with jobs in this poll showing a steep drop of 33,000.
Of commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed higher on Thursday even as the focus turned to a potential fracturing of solidarity among OPEC+ members on reports the group will again speed the return of 2.2-million barrels of production cuts in June as some members continue to produce above quota.
WTI crude oil for June delivery closed up $0.52 to US$62.79 per barrel, while June Brent crude was last seen up $0.43 to US$66.55.
Gold prices rebounded from two losing sessions as the dollar and yields slump with investors looking for a safe haven amid volatile markets.
Gold for June delivery was last seen up $58.30 to US$3,352.40 per ounce, but it remained under Monday’s record close of US$3,425.30.
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 1%, with nine of 11 sectors higher, led by health care stocks.
As of market close, 122 of 218 stocks rose, while 93 fell.
Cargojet Inc. led the advances, rising 15%, while Aecon Group Inc. decreased 9.8%.
Markets at a Glance:
* S&P/TSX Index rose 1% to 24,728
* Nine of 11 sectors rose
** Health care gained, up 3.7%
** Consumer staples declined, down 0.6%
* S&P 500 Index rose 2% to 5,485
* Nasdaq 100 Index rose 2.8% to 19,214
* Crude oil rose 0.7% to $63/bbl
* Natgas fell 3.1% to $2.93/mmbtu
* Gold rose 1.7% to $3,332/oz
* Silver was little changed at $34/oz
Advancers:
* Cargojet Inc. (CJT CN) +15%: Cargojet PT Cut to C$121 from C$147 at National Bank
* Tilray Brands Inc. (TLRY CN) +11%
* Tfi International Inc. (TFII CN) +7.3%: TFI International Falls on Q1 Miss, Headwinds: Street Wrap
* Energy Fuels Inc/Canada (EFR CN) +7.2%
* Calibre Mining Corp. (CXB CN) +7%: Equinox Gold, Calibre Mining Amend Proposed Combination Pact
Decliners:
* Aecon Group Inc. (ARE CN) -9.8%: Aecon Falls as Legacy Project Losses Hurt Ebitda: Street Wrap
* Boyd Group Services Inc. (BYD CN) -4.1%: Boyd Shares Fall as Stifel Flags Negatives in LKQ’s Results
* Aya Gold & Silver Inc. (AYA CN) -2.6%
* Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. (WDO CN) -2.1%
* Torex Gold Resources Inc. (TXG CN) -2%: Torex Gold Resources Rated New Buy at Desjardins; PT C$60
US

By Rita Nazareth and Denitsa Tsekova
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street investors weighing the impacts of Donald Trump’s trade war on Corporate America sent stocks climbing amid bets the Federal Reserve could cut rates sooner than anticipated to prevent a recession.
The S&P 500 rose 2% to the highest since the day Trump announced his tariff offensive.
The president said the US is talking with China on trade despite Beijing’s denial.
In late hours, Alphabet Inc. jumped on solid earnings. Intel Corp. gave a weak forecast.
Bond yields slid on wagers Fed Chair Jerome Powell will be under pressure to ease policy if the labor market unravels.
In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he’d support rate cuts in the event aggressive tariff levels hurt the jobs market.
Fed Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack told CNBC the central bank could move on rates as early as June if it has clear evidence of the economy’s direction.
“While the Fed has maintained a cautious approach to monetary easing, we believe it will be willing and able to respond to signs of economic weakness, especially rising layoffs,” said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Global Wealth Management.
Trump’s tariffs are more likely to hurt growth than spur inflation, Myles Bradshaw at JPMorgan Asset Management told Bloomberg Television.
He expects the US central bank will eventually need to cut rates more aggressively, having kept policy on hold for longer.
As traders waded through the latest batch of earnings, signs of unease about economic prospects have become evident.
American Airlines Group Inc. withdrew its full year earnings outlook, joining a growing number of companies hedging their bets on the broader economy.
Southwest Airlines Co.’s chief said his industry is already in a recession.
PepsiCo Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co.lowered their forecasts.
The looming impact of higher costs from the Trump administration’s trade policy is making it very difficult for the corporate world to forecast how the year will play out as consumers brace for economic pain.
“Companies with direct impact from tariffs are generally being forthcoming, providing guide that incorporates the full brunt of both blanket and reciprocal tariffs,” said John Belton at Gabelli Funds.
In another sign of how firms are growing cautious amid uncertainty surrounding tariffs and tax policy, data Thursday showed orders placed with US factories for business equipment barely rose in March.
“Companies are front running the tariffs, so these durable goods data aren’t something to get excited about,” said Jamie Cox at Harris Financial Group.
“The good news is that companies are protecting their earnings and margins, and investors will be happy about that.”
Yet several analysts are souring on the profit outlook due, to the risk of an economic slowdown, with the US benchmark’s earnings revisions breadth — or estimated upgrades versus downgrades — approaching downside extremes.
One of Wall Street’s biggest bulls is seeing tariffs hitting Corporate America the hardest.
Deutsche Bank AG’s Bankim Chadha slashed his year-end S&P 500 target to 6,150.
He also sees S&P 500 earnings declining 5% this year, compared with a consensus expecting 8% growth.
“Investors should continue to focus on the long term, with an eye toward companies with high earnings achievability, limited tariff exposure, and quality balance sheets,” said Daniel Skelly, head of Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management Market Research & Strategy Team.
While stocks have finally found breathing room, that doesn’t mean pressure points that rattled the market are gone, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Flow of Funds team.
“Much like an 80-degree day in NYC in April, I wouldn’t jump into the pool just yet,” the funds specialists wrote in a note to clients this week.
“We continue to expect very volatile trading heading into and including next week,” said Dan Wantrobski at Janney Montgomery Scott.
“This includes the potential for explosive moves in either direction.”
He also noted that the 5,500 level in the S&P 500 remains a key resistance level to watch.
That’s roughly a 50% retracement of the entire correction cycle to date, he added.
“Rallying above this on a closing basis would generate a bullish technical signal and help put the bulls back in charge of the field,” he concluded.
Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler noted that while the recent rally is constructive, he’s also monitoring the 5,500 marks as a key resistance.
“Until buyers overcome that level, ideally with increased volume, more backing and filling is likely,” he said.
“However, once 5,500 is successfully cleared, we are likely to see another leg up toward 5,800.”
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 2.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2%
* The MSCI World Index rose 1.6%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 2.9%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%
* The euro rose 0.6% to $1.1384
* The British pound rose 0.6% to $1.3338
* The Japanese yen rose 0.5% to 142.72 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin was little changed at $93,594.76
* Ether fell 1.8% to $1,763.7
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined seven basis points to 4.31%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 2.45%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 4.50%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.7% to $62.71 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1.6% to $3,340.33 an ounce

–With assistance from John Viljoen, Sujata Rao, Robert Brand
and Anand Krishnamoorthy.
Have a lovely evening.

 

Be magnificent!

As ever,

 

Carolann

Love beauty; it is the shadow of God in the Universe. –Gabriela Mistral, 1889-1957.

 

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

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents: St. George’s Day.

April 23, 1985: The Coca-Cola Co. announced it was changing its secret formula for Coke. (Negative public reaction forced the company to revert to the original version.) Go to article

April 23, 2005: the first YouTube video is posted, with co-founder Jawed Karim sharing an 18-second clip titled “Me at the zoo’ at the San Diego Zoo.

 

“I’m one with the Force. The Force is with me.”
But if you’re feeling a bit lost by all of the latest “Star Wars” offerings, fear not. CNN’s Scottie Andrew has put together this fabulous timeline of the ever-expanding “Star Wars” galaxy.

 

Miguel Cervantes, d.1616.

William Shakespeare, b. 1564; d. 1616.

Michael Moore, filmmaker, b. 1954.

 

What is the ancient Egyptian ‘Eye of Horus’ — and why is it found in so many burials?

 

Cancer: Facts about the diseases that cause out-of-control cell growth

 

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft snaps first close-ups of weird peanut-shaped asteroid

 

Lion mauled gladiator to death 1,800 years ago in Roman Britain, controversial study suggests

 

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Nevşehir, Turkey

Hot-air balloons fill the sky above the unique rock formations of the Cappadocia region

Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Kilauea, Hawaii
Lava spews into the sky during the 18th eruption of Mt Kilauea since December 2024

Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Hirosaki, Japan
People admire cherry trees in full blossom

Photograph: 斎藤美雪/AP

Market Closes for April 23rd, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39606.57	+419.59
		+1.07%
S&P 500	5375.86	+88.10
		+1.67%
NASDAQ	16708.05	+407.63
		+2.50%
TSX	24472.68	+166.70
		+0.69%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	34868.63	648.03
		+1.89%
HANG SENG	22072.62	+510.30
		+2.37%
SENSEX	80116.49	+520.90
		+0.65%
FTSE 100*	8403.18	+74.58
		+0.90%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.243	3.194
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.563	3.539
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.3870	4.4008
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.8304	4.8775

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7207	0.7228
US $	1.3874	1.3835

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5728	0.6357
US $	1.1337	0.8821

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	3433.55	3433.55
Oil
WTI Crude Future	64.31	64.31

Market Commentary:

When you lose, say little.  When you win, say less.  Everyone can see the score. –Al Shaver, 1927-2024.

Canada

By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.7%, with six of 11 sectors higher, led by information technology stocks.
As of market close, 157 of 218 stocks rose, while 60 fell.
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. led the advances, rising 9.4%, while Iamgold Corp. decreased 4.9%.
Markets at a Glance:
* S&P/TSX Index rose 0.7% to 24,473
* Six of 11 sectors rose
** Information technology gained, up 4.4%
** Materials declined, down 0.9%
* S&P 500 Index rose 1.7% to 5,376
* Nasdaq 100 Index rose 2.3% to 18,693
* Crude oil fell 2.2% to $62/bbl
* Natgas was little changed at $3/mmbtu
* Gold fell 3.6% to $3,277/oz
* Silver rose 2.1% to $34/oz
Advancers:
* First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM CN) +9.4%: US HY OPEN: Junk Bonds Post Gains as Primary Market Awakens
* Capstone Copper Corp. (CS CN) +8.6%
* Novagold Resources Inc. (NG CN) +7.8%: Barrick Is Cashing In on Gold’s Record Rally With Asset Sales
* NexGen Energy Ltd. (NXE CN) +7.4%
* Celestica Inc. (CLS CN) +7.1%: Celestica to Report Results; Shares Down 6.6% YTD: Preview

The Toronto Stock Exchange rose for the sixth session in seven on Wednesday as BMO Capital Markets encouraged investors looking to continue to diffuse market uncertainty to add higher quality and dividend growth names to their portfolios.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed 166.7 points at 24,472.68.
Among sectors, the biggest gainers were Information Technology, up 3.32%, and Base Metals, up 4.10%.
Energy was the biggest decliner, down 0.77%.
On sectors, BMO Capital Markets in a report said investors should look to dividend and quality, two of the most consistent strategies for the TSX, often outpacing the broader market for extended periods of time.
“Indeed,” BMO added, “their long-term return profiles are remarkably similar, with both strategies posting some of their best relative returns when markets are soft, and/or volatility is elevated.
Additionally, these strategies can even keep pace with the market during periods of prolonged strength, making these ideal tools for diffusing profound market swings.
While these strategies have similar return profiles, we believe they can be complementary to each other, particularly during the current period of heightened angst, to say the least.”
In citing key Outperform-rated names for both screens, BMO named Alimentation Couche-Tard (ATD.TO), CCL Industries (CCL-A.TO, CCL-B.TO), Choice Properties REIT (CHP-UN.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO), Dollarama (DOL.TO), FirstService (FSV.TO), CGI Inc. (GIB-A.TO), Intact Financial (IFC.TO), Metro (MRU.TO), National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), Stantec (STN.TO), Toromont Industries (TIH.TO) and WSP Global (WSP.TO).
Of commodities, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) closed lower on Wednesday after a report said OPEC+ is considering boosting production again in June.
Providing some support for crude, U.S. President Donald Trump said he is willing to negotiate lower tariffs with China and backed down from threats to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
In its first day as the active contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery closed $1.40 to settle at US$62.27 per barrel, while June Bent crude was last seen down $1.33 to US$66.11.
Gold traded sharply lower late afternoon on Wednesday, falling for a second day off Monday’s record high as the dollar rose.
Gold for June delivery was last seen down $112.30 to US$3,307.10 per ounce.
Decliners:
* Iamgold Corp. (IMG CN) -4.9%
* Tilray Brands Inc. (TLRY CN) -4.7%
* G. Mining Ventures Corp. (GMIN CN) -4.5%: Chipmakers, China ADRs Rise as Trump Floats China Tariff Cut (1)
* Sprott Inc. (SII CN) -4.4%
* Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX CN) -4.2%: Barrick Is Cashing in on Gold’s Record Rally with Asset Sales

US

By Rita Nazareth, Emily Graffeo, and Isabelle Lee
(Bloomberg) — Signs Donald Trump is rethinking the most- aggressive elements of his combative stances on trade and the Federal Reserve sent stocks to the first back-to-back gains since his tariff war escalated, while soothing volatility across asset classes.
The S&P 500 rose 1.7%, though it pared an earlier rally that had swelled to as much 3.4%, as investors tried to gauge how seriously to take pronouncements of flexibility in negotiations with China and other trading partners.
After a report that the US would be willing to phase in lighter tariffs on Beijing over five years on Wednesday, Trump told reporters that China was “going to do fine” once talks had settled.
Meantime, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the president hasn’t offered to take down US tariffs in China on a unilateral basis.
Long-maturity Treasury yields fell as Trump allayed fears he would fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
The dollar rose.
The yen slid as Bessent said America won’t be pursuing specific exchange-rate targets in its talks with Japan.
Bitcoin climbed while haven trades like gold pushed lower.
“It’s just the perception of how strong the tensions are or not,” said Brent Schutte at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management.
“I suspect that you’re going to see more of this in the coming months as we see a ratcheting up and a pulling back up of trade tensions until we get some sort of an idea of what the future actually looks like.”
As the earnings season rolled in, Boeing Co.’s results beat estimates.
Tesla Inc. rallied as Elon Musk vowed to pull back “significantly” from his work with the government, assuaging investors worried about the carmaker’s profits.
In late hours, Texas Instruments Inc. gave a bullish forecast.
Bessent said that the Trump administration is looking at multiple factors regarding China beyond just tariffs.
He also noted that the strongest relationship between Washington and Beijing is at the top, and that there was no timeframe for engagement.
He said that a full rebalancing of trade might take two to three years.
Trump said separately that the US is going to have a fair deal with China.
Trade Worries Dominate Fed’s Beige Book, Activity Little Changed “Given our view that policy is driving the proverbial bus, we haven’t spent too much time in trying to forecast the outlook for earnings or the economy all that much,” said Michael
Kantrowitz at Piper Sandler & Co.
“As the policy backdrop becomes clearer, and is driving markets less, estimates about the economic and earnings road ahead will become important once again.”
Kantrowitz continues to recommend a balanced portfolio of companies with more stable fundamentals during the period of uncertainty.
“While we don’t think we’re out of the woods, we must respect history and how market corrections begin to find their footing as the primary problem begins to ‘heal’,” he noted.
Despite the advance on Tuesday and Wednesday, the S&P 500 is still down since April 2, when Trump announced his tariff plans.
Stocks have swung wildly over that stretch, with the gauge posting five declines of more than 2% and two gains of more than 2% in just 14 sessions.
Retail investors have been aggressive buyers of US equities this year even as professional money managers ran for cover.
Since April 2 alone, the group has pumped over $30 billion into American stocks and ETFs, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Emma Wu.
Meantime, the amount of money clearing houses demands to cover equity futures positions has spiked this month amid wild market swings, adding one more headache for Wall Street money managers.
CME Group Inc.’s CME Clearing raised the initial margin requirement for E-mini-S&P 500 futures by nearly 30% during April, including a 12% jump in a single day, the most since the post-Covid era, according to data seen by Bloomberg.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 2.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1%
* The MSCI World Index rose 1.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.6%
* The euro fell 0.8% to $1.1325
* The British pound fell 0.5% to $1.3264
* The Japanese yen fell 1.3% to 143.43 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 2.6% to $93,547.06
* Ether rose 5.3% to $1,786.66
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.38%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 2.50%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.55%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.1% to $62.31 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 2.6% to $3,292.99 an ounce

–With assistance from Rheaa Rao, John Viljoen, Robert Brand, Julien Ponthus and Anand Krishnamoorthy.

 

Have a lovely evening.

 

Be magnificent!

As ever,

 

Carolann

Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. –Mother Teresa, 1910-1997.

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Earth Day today est. April 22, 1970.

April 22, 1955: Congress orders all US coins bear the motto ”In God We Trust.”
April 22, 2010: The Deepwater Horizon oil platform, operated by BP, sank into the Gulf of Mexico two days after a massive explosion that killed 11 workers. Go to article.
April 22, 2016: Over 170 countries sign the Paris Agreement on climate change, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

Henry Fielding, novelist, b. 1707.
Germaine de Stael, salonnaire, b. 1766
Charles Mingus, bassist, b. 1922.
Jack Nicholson, actor, b. 1937.

Today is Earth Day
Which means it’s the perfect time to celebrate our planet’s wonders. Touch the grass. Listen to the birds. Watch a nature documentary. Admire some of the world’s most unusual landscapes. Start composting. Plant a tree. Or take part in a local cleanup event.

Ryan Gosling’s dream comes true
The “Barbie” actor, who had “Star Wars”-themed sheets on his childhood bed, will star in the new film “Star Wars: Starfighter.” The story will take place approximately five years after “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker,” but will serve as a standalone film.
A game changer for combating marine pollution
Hundreds of oil spills happen every year. Now, scientists are hoping to ease the environmental destruction by using artificial intelligence to automatically detect spills at sea.
5000: That’s how many ants two Belgian teens allegedly collected in Kenya. They have been charged with wildlife piracy in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser known species.
Ancient ‘military outpost’ in North Macedonia might be birthplace of Alexander the Great’s grandmother.

NASA rover discovers out-of-place ‘Skull’ on Mars, and scientists are baffled.

Watch boozing chimps share alcoholic fruit. Is this how social drinking started?

A long-lost Antarctic ice sheet could predict the future of New York City — one in which Lower Manhattan and Coney Island are ‘perpetually submerged’.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Taizhou, China
Volunteers descend cliffs via safety ropes to clean garbage left by tourists in Zhejiang province
Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

Ladakh, India
A nomadic herder leads his pashmina goats across the Changthang plateau
Photograph: Mohd Arhaan Archer/AFP/Getty Images
Salgótarján, Hungary
Fog surrounds Salgo Castle
Photograph: Péter Komka/EPA
Market Closes for April 22nd, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39186.98	+1016.57
		+2.66%
S&P 500	5287.76	+129.56
		+2.51%
NASDAQ	16300.42	+429.52
		+2.71%
TSX	24305.98	+297.12
		+1.24%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	34220.60	-59.32
		-0.17%
HANG SENG	21562.32	+167.18
		+0.78%
SENSEX	79595.59	+187.09
		+0.24%
FTSE 100*	8328.60	+52.94
		0.64%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.194	3.238
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.539	3.579
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.4008	4.4106
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.8775	4.9023

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7228	0.7227
US $	1.3835	1.3837

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5735	0.6355
US $	1.1373	0.8892

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	3433.55	3305.65
Oil
WTI Crude Future	64.31	64.68

Market Commentary:
There is no greater obstacle to learning than to be the prisoner of totally invalid but dogmatic theories. -Peter F. Drucker, 1909-2005.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 1.2%, with nine of 11 sectors higher, led by health care stocks.
As of market close, 149 of 218 stocks fell, while 67 rose.
Aya Gold & Silver Inc. led the decliners, falling 8.1%, while Novagold Resources Inc. increased 39%.
Markets at a Glance:
* S&P/TSX Index rose 1.2% to 24,306
* Nine of 11 sectors rose
** Health care gained, up 3.2%
** Materials declined, down 1%
* Crude oil rose 1.9% to $64/bbl
* Natgas rose 0.3% to $3.03/mmbtu
* Gold fell 1.3% to $3,362/oz
* Silver was little changed at $33/oz
The Toronto Stock Exchange made it five-win days over the last six on Tuesday, boosted by hopes for calming trade tensions between Canada and the United States, and reports that the U.S.
Treasury Secretary expects a “de-escalation” in the trade war between his nation and China.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed 297.12 points at 24,305.98.
Among sectors, Base Metals and Health Care had leading gains, recording 2.53% and 4.01% respectively, with Telecoms the sole decliner, down 0.50%.
In tariff related news, Canada’s April 28 federal election could be a catalyst for ratcheting down of Canada-US trade tensions, according to one Macquarie economist.
In the near term, said David Doyle, head of economics at Macquarie, a majority Canadian government that can successfully reduce trade tensions with the U.S.
“Would be a positive catalyst for economic growth and help to remove the tremendous uncertainty impacting Canada.”
Doyle added: “Canada could actually prove to be a winner from the trade tensions, should tariffs remain in place on other countries, but subside against Canada.
For example, our analysis suggests Canada could be a beneficiary from the elevated tariffs against China.
In a minority government scenario, there would still likely be reduced trade tensions, however, it is possible that such a government may not have the same credibility to negotiate long-term changes to the USMCA, particularly if there is no formal support from a third party (as there was from 2021 to 2025 when the NDP [The New Democratic Party] supported the LPC [Liberal Party of Canada]).”
Of commodities, oil closed higher on Tuesday, rebounding from a day-prior loss after the United States imposed additional sanctions on Iran.
WTI oil for May delivery closed $1.23 to settle at US$64.31 per barrel, while June Brent crude was last seen up $1.16 to US$67.42.
Gold fell off a record high late afternoon on Tuesday as stock markets and the dollar moved higher.
Gold for June delivery was last seen down $37.00 from Monday’s record close to US$3,388.30 per ounce after touching US$3,509.90 earlier in the session.
Of individual stocks on the TSX today, Bausch Health (BHC.TO) was up 10% after earlier revealing that billionaire Carl Icahn had built a 34% economic interest in the company.
Meanwhile, Barrick Gold (ABX.TO, GOLD) was down 2.5% as Bloomberg reported the company is looking to sell its last mine in Canada in a push to capitalize on record gold prices and a renewed interest in North American mining operations.
Barrick began a process this month to sell its Hemlo gold mine in Ontario and retained Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to find buyers and solicit bids, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named.
Bloomberg noted the sale of the mine, if completed, would leave Barrick without any mines in the country where it was founded.
One of the largest Toronto-headquartered miners, Barrick has cut back on its Canada presence since it merged with Africa-focused Randgold.
It moved some head office jobs out of Toronto in an effort to decentralize operations, while few executives or board members are still based in Canada.
The company, Bloomberg also noted, has also sought to shed mines and dispense with smaller investments as bullion prices hit repeat record highs.
Barrick sold its stake in an Alaskan gold project for US$1 billion on Tuesday and has sought buyers for its Tongon gold mine in the Ivory Coast.
The strategy mimics that of Newmont (NGT.TO), the world’s largest gold producer, which has generated $4.3 billion from selling some assets the company considered to be “non-core” to its portfolio.
US
By Rheaa Rao
(Bloomberg) — US stocks jumped, wiping out Monday’s plunge, as traders unleashed risky bets that the White House will clinch crucial trade deals with top economic partners.
The dollar recovered slightly from Monday’s lows while short-term Treasury yields climbed.
The S&P 500 rose 2.5% — notching its best day since April 9 — after a series of reports nurtured Wall Street expectations that tariff-related hostilities are easing as the US makes progress in fleshing out agreements.
Traders turned their attention to Tesla Inc.’s earnings after markets closed.
The company reported adjusted earnings that missed analyst estimates and backed away from an earlier view for 2025 sales growth.
Shares were little changed in extended trading in New York as of 4:41 p.m. During the session, the stock rose 4.6% but remains 41% lower this year as controversy over CEO Elon Musk’s role in the federal government has contributed to a global sales slump.
QuickTake
‘Period of Extreme Uncertainty’
A volley of tariff-related headlines during Tuesday’s session continued to fuel market moves as fast-twitch investors pour over news reports for clues on how to trade the crisis.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, in a news briefing, said that progress is being made on trade deals and that the “ball is moving in the right direction with China.”
It follows a Politico report that the White House is nearing general agreements with Japan and India on trade.
Earlier, stocks had pushed even higher following Bloomberg News’ report of closed-door comments by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying the tariff standoff with China is unsustainable and that he expects the situation to de-escalate.
Bessent’s comments came against the backdrop of the International Monetary Fund sharply lowering its forecasts for world growth this year and next, along with warning that the outlook could worsen because of the trade war.
Treasuries and the dollar still posted smaller moves on Tuesday, showing greater stability after Monday, when investors were worried about the implications of any effort to replace the Federal Reserve Chair by Trump, who has berated Jerome Powell for being slow to cut interest rates.
While the 10-year Treasury yield barely budged on Tuesday, two-year yields rose to 3.82% after lackluster demand for an auction.
Similar to yesterday, Tuesday’s big moves in stocks came amid lighter-than-usual trading, a backdrop that sometimes exacerbates swings.
“We are in a period of extreme uncertainty, where one should not react too much to daily moves,” Anwiti Bahuguna, Northern Trust Asset Management’s CIO of global asset allocation, said on Bloomberg Television on Tuesday.
Read More: S&P 500 Bounce Has Traders Fearing Another Head- Fake Market Near term, Jeff Schulze of Clearbridge Investments expects the S&P 500 to move between lows seen a couple of weeks ago to around the 5,400 level.
“I think the biggest driver of being outside of that range is whether or not the US does indeed have a recession,” Schulze said at an event on Tuesday.
“However, longer term, I think this is a great opportunity to be dollar-cost-averaging into the weakness that we’ve seen. A lot of negativities have been priced in a short period of time for US equities.”
Gold declined after rising to a record high past $3,500.
Bitcoin advanced more than 4%.
Among individual stock movers on Tuesday:
* All members of the Bloomberg Magnificent Seven Index traded higher on Tuesday
* 3M Co. rose 8.1% after it stood by its full-year financial guidance while acknowledging new risks from the trade war
* Northrop Grumman Corp. reported first-quarter profit that missed analysts’ expectations and cut its earnings forecast for the year — shares dropped 13%
* Shares of RTX Corp., an aerospace and defense giant, fell 9.8% after the company said tariffs pose a significant risk to operating profit
* Verizon Communications Inc. reported a larger-than-expected decline in mobile-phone subscribers in the first quarter.
Shares still closed the session 0.6% higher.
Central-Bank Speakers
Traders also heard from several central-bank speakers on Tuesday.
European Central Bank’s President Christine Lagarde told CNBC that the bank has almost achieved its goal of returning inflation to 2% but must be flexible as the economic backdrop becomes more volatile.
Earlier, Fed vice chair Philip Jefferson said the central bank’s goals of stable prices and maximum employment can help foster economic mobility.
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker wrote in an essay released Tuesday that measuring economic stability with the federal poverty line can fail to provide an accurate picture of the struggles among lower-income households.
Meanwhile, Fed Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said it’s the central bank’s job to make sure tariffs don’t spur an ongoing inflation problem, echoing recent comments by Powell.
Trade War
Even though stocks bounced back on Tuesday, concerns that Trump may be preparing to fire Powell have added to unease for traders already grappling with the turmoil unleashed by the president’s tariff onslaught.
Trump’s policies and his broadsides against the Fed have forced a reappraisal of the dollar and Treasuries as havens in times of stress.
The IMF said the latest escalation in the trade war risks saddling China and the US with losses — and that it could only get worse after this year.
Yet, some traders are waiting to see how negotiations play out with allies.
“We are looking at more successful trade negotiations with key trading allies.
I put Europe, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia in that category,” Stuart Kaiser, head of equity trading strategy at Citigroup Inc., said on Bloomberg Television on Tuesday.
“I think we will see good progress there and that is good for markets.”
The US said it’s made “significant progress” toward a bilateral trade deal following talks between Vice President JD Vance and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Vance on Tuesday called on India to buy more American goods, particularly energy and military equipment.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the country for high tariffs.
Read More: India Pulls Ahead of Rivals as Trump’s Trade War

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 2.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 2.6%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.7%
* The MSCI World Index rose 1.7%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.5%
* The euro fell 0.8% to $1.1421
* The British pound fell 0.4% to $1.3332
* The Japanese yen fell 0.5% to 141.63 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 4.8% to $91,530.35
* Ether rose 7.8% to $1,700.97
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.39%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.44%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.54%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.9% to $64.31 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 1.4% to $3,375.54 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Lynn Thomasson, John Viljoen, Julien Ponthus, Vildana Hajric and Isabelle Lee.
​​​​​​​
Have a  wonderful evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. –C.S. Lewis, 1898-1963.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
I’m writing the newsletter on Carolann’s behalf today, as she is away from the office for the Easter holidays.

April 21, 1789: John Adams sworn in as 1st US Vice President (9 days before Washington)
April 21, 1865: Abraham Lincoln‘s funeral train leaves Washington
April 21, 1956: Elvis Presley‘s first hit record, “Heartbreak Hotel,” reaches #1
April 21, 1980: The first Cubans sailing to the United States as part of the massive Mariel boatlift reached Florida. Go to article

April 21, 2025: Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, a towering figure on the world stage, dies after stroke and cardiac arrest. Go to article

The North Pole could wander nearly 90 feet west by the end of the century
As climate change melts ice sheets and glaciers, water is being redistributed across the globe — and could end up moving the point of Earth’s axis of rotation. Read More.

Two planets will form a ‘smiley face’ with the moon on April 25. Here’s where to look.
A rare ‘smiley face’ triple conjunction is coming to Earth’s morning skies on April 25, when Venus, Saturn and the crescent moon form a celestial smirk near the horizon. Read More.

Student accidentally creates ‘shape-recovering liquid’ that’s an exception to the laws of thermodynamics
A graduate student accidentally created a blend of oil, water and nickel particles that formed an unexpected shape. Read More.

A mysterious, 100-year solar cycle may have just restarted — and it could mean decades of dangerous space weather
New research suggests that the unexpected intensity of the ongoing solar maximum may be partly tied to a lesser-known, 100-year solar cycle. If true, solar activity could spike further in the coming decades. But some experts are skeptical. Read More.

Scientists may have finally found where the ‘missing half’ of the universe’s matter is hiding
About half of the non-dark matter in the universe cannot be accounted for by stars and galaxies alone. Now, scientists say previously undetected clouds of hydrogen gas could finally reveal it. Read More.

TSMC’s upcoming 2nm microchip is a breakthrough. Here’s what it means for the future of tech — from AI to smartphones.
Taiwanese manufacturer TSMC will begin producing the chips from the second half of this year. Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Antarctica
An emperor penguin chick begs its parent to be fed during a blizzard, in the midst of a colony, on the Ekström ice shelf
Photograph: National Geographic/Bertie Gregory/Reuters

Hanoi, Vietnam
Workers check railway tracks at Long Bien Bridge
Photograph: Luong Thai Linh/EPA

Old City, Jerusalem
Christian pilgrims light candles at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Photograph: Saeed Qaq/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock
Market Closes for April 21st, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	38170.41	-971.82
		-2.48%
S&P 500	5158.20	-124.50
		-2.36%
NASDAQ	15870.90	-415.55
		-2.55%
TSX	24008.86	-183.95
		-0.76%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	34279.92	-450.36
		-1.30%
HANG SENG	21395.14	+338.16
		+1.61%
SENSEX	79408.50	+855.30
		+1.09%
FTSE 100*	8275.66	+0.06
		—

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.238	3.135
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.579	3.459
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.4106	4.3249
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.9023	4.7980

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7227	0.7226
US $	1.3837	1.3838

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5940	0.6273
US $	1.1519	0.8681

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	3305.65	3322.90
Oil
WTI Crude Future	64.68	64.68

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1982, futures contracts on the S&P 500 index become available for the first time, as they opened for trading in the pits of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Canada
(MT Newswires)
The Toronto Stock Exchange started the week with a sharp drop, falling along with U.S. exchanges as investors returned from the holiday weekend amid spreading economic turmoil as U.S. Donald Trump’s tariff wars bite into growth.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index shed 183.95 points, closing out the start of the week on a down note, wrapping up Monday at 24,008.86.
The biggest decliners were Health Care, down 2.77%, and Information Technology, down 1.96%.
Telecoms was the sole gainer, up 0.83%.
By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.8%, with eight of 11 sectors lower, led by health care stocks.
As of market close, 136 of 218 stocks rose, while 79 fell.
Novagold Resources Inc. led the advances, rising 4.6%, while Energy Fuels Inc/Canada decreased 9.5%.
Markets at a Glance:
* S&P/TSX Index fell 0.8% to 24,009
* Eight of 11 sectors fell
** Health care declined, down 2.7%
** Communication services gained, up 0.9%
* Crude oil fell 1.9% to $63/bbl
* Natgas fell 6.2% to $3.04/mmbtu
* Gold rose 3.1% to $3,411/oz
* Silver rose 0.6% to $33/oz
Advancers:
* Novagold Resources Inc. (NG CN) +4.6%
* Torex Gold Resources Inc. (TXG CN) +2.9%
* G. Mining Ventures Corp. (GMIN CN) +2.6%
* Orla Mining Ltd. (OLA CN) +2.1%: Orla Mining PT Raised to C$19 from C$15.50 at Stifel
* Quebecor Inc. (QBR/B CN) +2%
Decliners:
* Energy Fuels Inc/Canada (EFR CN) -9.5%
* Bausch Health Cos. (BHC CN) -7.9%: Bausch Health PT Cutto $5 from $7 at BofA
* Denison Mines Corp. (DML CN) -6.9%
* Ces Energy Solutions Corp. (CEU CN) -5.9%
* Goeasy Ltd. (GSY CN) -5.6%
US
By Cristin Flanagan
(Bloomberg) — Heavy selling lashed Wall Street anew Monday, with longer-dated Treasuries joining stocks and the dollar in a deepening slump, after President Donald Trump’s censure of Jerome Powell’s interest-rate policy sowed angst among investors already coping with a global trade war.
Trump’s assurances that tariff talks were progressing did little to stop the rout.
The S&P 500 and other major US stock indexes tumbled around 2.5% each in light trading, while a gauge of the dollar weakened to a 15-month low.
The benchmark 10-year fell with the yield reaching 4.4%.
As investors turned away from US securities, haven assets climbed.
Gold jumped to another record, above $3,400 an ounce, while the Swiss franc gained around 1% against the dollar.
The agita also spread to the US credit market.
In derivatives, the cost of protecting a basket of high-grade credit securities against default rose to the highest in more than a week.
Three investment-grade companies looked at selling bonds on Monday, but after seeing the market backdrop, two elected to stand down, and only American Express Co. moved forward with a sale.
The US president took to Truth Social Monday, amping up the pressure on the Fed chair insisting there was “virtually” no inflation and it was time for “preemptive cuts.”
The last reading of the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge remains above the central bank’s target; there will be a new readout next week.
Paul Singer, founder of Elliott Investment Management, warned recently at a private event in Abu Dhabi that the US dollar might lose its reserve currency status, according to people present.
Rebuking the Fed risks politicizing US monetary policy in a way that markets find deeply unsettling, according to Christopher Wong, a currency strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.
“Frankly, firing Powell stretches belief,” said Wong.
“If the credibility of the Fed is called into question, it could severely erode confidence in the dollar.”
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee warned against efforts to curtail the central bank’s independence.
“There’s virtual unanimity among economists that monetary independence from political interference — that the Fed or any central bank be able to do the job that it needs to do — is really important,” Goolsbee said on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday.
Legal scholars say that a president can’t dismiss a Fed chair easily, and Powell has previously said he wouldn’t resign if asked by Trump.
Trade War
A closely watched ETF tracking the S&P 500 is the second- worst performer among 45 country-specific products since Trump’s second term began, according to Bespoke Investment Group.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust is down about 14% in that period while a BlackRock ETF tracking German stock market moves has surged 12%.
Monday’s stock selling came amid light volume — around 20% below recent averages — that was crimped by the Easter holiday, and an earnings-reporting season that is still being probed by investors for clues on the future of the economy.
Trading was in Contrast to S&P 500 selloffs earlier this month, those were accompanied by record numbers of shares changing hands.
Major retailers, including representatives from Walmart Inc. and Home Depot Inc., are reported to be meeting with President Trump Monday to discuss his levies.
His tariff offensive has been a weight on US markets amid worries about a financial slump down the road.
“The global economy is being buffeted by a US war on trade, which we believe generates a large enough economic shock to threaten the life of the US and global expansion,” wrote Bruce Kasman, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase.
“While pointing to heightened global recession risk, we also emphasize that this outcome is not likely to take hold immediately.”
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slid 0.7% on Monday.
Every Group-of-10 currency gained against the greenback.
The jump in the yen weighed on stock indexes in Japan, pushing the Nikkei 225 down 1.3%.
WTI crude fell around 2% to below $64 a barrel.
European stock markets were largely still shut for a public holiday.
In a sign that investors are rotating investments away from the US, Deutsche Bank AG said that Chinese clients have reduced some of their Treasury’s holdings in favor of European debt.
European high-quality bonds, Japanese government bonds and gold are likely to be the potential choices for investors as alternatives to Treasuries, said Lillian Tao, head of China macro and global emerging market sales at the bank.
Shares of Tesla Inc. ended the day down 5.7%.
Dan Ives at Wedbush Securities said the electric vehicle maker faces a “code red” moment as it prepares to report earnings on Tuesday, and called for Elon Musk to step back from his work at the Department of Government Efficiency to focus on the company.
Verizon Communications Inc. and a smattering of defense contractors, including Northrop Grumman Corp., also report Tuesday.
Netflix Inc. was a rare winner after posting record profits on Thursday.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 2.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 2.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.5%
* The MSCI World Index fell 1.5%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.7%
* The euro rose 1.1% to $1.1514
* The British pound rose 0.6% to $1.3376
* The Japanese yen rose 0.9% to 140.86 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 2.6% to $87,319.06
* Ether fell 0.9% to $1,574.62
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced nine basis points to 4.42%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.47%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.57%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.8% to $63.50 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 2.9% to $3,422.49 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Dan Wilchins, Denitsa Tsekova, Ruth Carson, David Finnerty, Catherine Bosley, Joanne Wong, Anand Krishnamoorthy and Phil Kuntz.

Have a lovely day.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Shab
” Be as you wish to seem.”– Socrates
Shab Mohammadpour

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff
Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:Happy Friday Eve!
I’m writing the newsletter on Carolann’s behalf today, as she is away from the office for the Easter holidays.

April 17, 1961, about 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. Go to article
April17,1982, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Queen Elizabeth II sign the “Proclamation of the Constitution Act”, establishing the “Charter of Rights and Freedoms” as part of the country’s new Constitution

Scientists reveal ‘most promising yet’ signs of alien life on planet k2-18b
Scientists have discovered evidence of large quantities of biosignature chemicals — only known to be made by life on Earth — on an exoplanet more than 100 light-years away. It could be the most promising sign yet of alien life.

Scientists observe new quantum phase that could have major implications for quantum computing
The exotic quantum phase, predicted over half a century ago, could lead to advances in quantum computing, sensors and communication technology.

A mysterious, 100-year solar cycle may have just restarted — and it could mean decades of dangerous space weather
New research suggests that the unexpected intensity of the ongoing solar maximum may be partly tied to a lesser-known, 100-year solar cycle. If true, solar activity could spike further in the coming decades. But some experts are skeptical. Read more.

Watch Yellowstone wolf pack hunting bison after death of one-eyed alpha ‘queen’
Yellowstone’s Junction Butte wolf pack failed in a recent attempt to kill a bison, but the pack appears to be thriving again after the death of its former alpha female, Wolf 907F.

Massive circular tomb filled with battle-scarred people unearthed in Peru
Human skeletons from a large stone tomb may help archaeologists understand a mysterious pre-Inca population in Peru. Read More.

‘Richly decorated’ antler from Stone Age Sweden was used as battle ax and fishing harpoon
A 7,500-year-old antler unearthed in Sweden had characteristic breakage patterns that suggest it was the handle for a battle ax. Read More.

Lyrid meteor shower peaks after Easter: How to spot the most ‘shooting stars’
Roughly 20 “shooting stars” per hour may be visible during the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower overnight on Monday, April 21-22. Read More.

Scientists reveal signs of crucial life-sustaining process on Mars: ‘I knew right away how important this discovery was’
Samples drilled by the Curiosity rover on Mars have revealed abundant signs of a carbon cycle that remained hidden from orbital scans, alongside clues of how life may have been wiped out on the planet. Read more.

HAPPY EASTER!
HAPPY PASSOVER! “Chag Pesach Sameach”

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Saillon, Switzerlan
Council workers clear snow from a road in Valais canton. This week’s storms brought flooding, landslides, heavy snow and fallen trees to Valais, severely disrupting traffic. Numerous rail and road links were closed, with the Brig region hit particularly hard
Photograph: Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA

Tokyo,Japan
Visitors stroll through the grounds of Nezu Shrine during the annual Azalea festival
Photograph: Richard A Brooks/AFP/Getty Images

Isle of Palms, South Carolina, US
Beachgoers are silhouetted by the sunrise as they watch from the pier along Front Beach
Photograph: Richard Ellis/Zuma/Rex/Shutterstock
Market Closes for April 17^th, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39142.23	-527.16
		-1.33%
S&P 500	5282.70	+7.00
		+0.13%
NASDAQ	16286.45	-20.71
		-0.13%
TSX	24192.81	+86.02
		+0.36%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	34377.60	+457.20
		+1.35%
HANG SENG	21395.14	+338.16
		+1.61%
SENSEX	78553.19	+1508.90
		+1.96%
FTSE 100*	8275.66	+0.06
		—

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.135	3.079
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.459	3.400
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.3249	4.2768
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.7980	4.7387

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7226	0.7215
US $	1.3839	1.3860

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5734	0.6356
US $	1.13​70	0.8795

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	3322.90	3322.90
Oil
WTI Crude Future	64.68	61.33

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1930, the stock market hit a high following the November 1929 crash, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing up 48%.
Canada
(MT Newswires)
The Toronto Stock Exchange was up for a fifth-straight day Thursday ahead of the holiday long weekend, buoyed by signs that Canadians are much less concerned about a major break higher in inflation.
Also boosted by elevated commodity prices, the S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 86.02 points at 24,192.81.
Most sectors were higher, led by Energy, up 2.2%, Telecoms, up 1.9%, and Health Care, up 1.7%.
In contrast, Base Metals declined by 1%.

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.4%, with nine of 11 sectors higher, led by health care stocks.
As of market close, 130 of 218 stocks rose, while 87 fell.
Bausch Health Cos. led the advances, rising 13%, while Tilray\ Brands Inc. decreased 6.1%.
Markets at a Glance:
* S&P/TSX Index rose 0.4% to 24,193
* Nine of 11 sectors rose
** Health care gained, up 2.1%
** Materials declined, down 1.4%
* Crude oil rose 3% to $64/bbl
* Natgas fell 0.1% to $3.24/mmbtu
* Gold fell 0.3% to $3,315/oz
* Silver fell 1.4% to $33/oz
Advancers:
* Bausch Health Cos. (BHC CN) +13%: Bausch Health Upgraded to CCC+ by Fitch
* Energy Fuels Inc/Canada (EFR CN) +11%: Energy Fuels Shares Jump on Plans to Produce Rare Earth Oxides
* Athabasca Oil Corp. (ATH CN) +5.1%
* Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE CN) +4.8%
* International Petroleum Corp. (IPCO CN) +4.2%
Decliners:
* Tilray Brands Inc. (TLRY CN) -6.1%: Tilray Brands Shares Drop on Reverse Stock Split Proposal (1)
* Endeavour Silver Corp. (EDR CN) -4.7%
* Aya Gold & Silver Inc. (AYA CN) -3.8%
* Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. (WDO CN) -3.7%
* G. Mining Ventures Corp. (GMIN CN) -3.7%
US
By Cristin Flanagan
(Bloomberg) — A rebound in US stocks evaporated this week after Chair Jerome Powell pushed back on the idea of the Federal Reserve stepping in to bolster markets, rankling President Donald Trump who touted a smattering of deals Thursday.
The S&P 500 slumped 1.5% over the four-day span, briefly trimming losses after Trump said there would be a trade deal with the European Union, without giving details or a timeline on when an agreement would be reached.
He was more decisive on a critical US-Ukraine minerals accord, saying that a deal would be signed next week.
The gains eventually melted away and choppy trading ahead of Friday’s holiday left the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 with a 2.3% weekly loss.
Trump lashed out at the Fed chair on social media, saying Powell’s termination from his post can’t come quickly enough, arguing that the central bank should have lowered interest rates already this year, and in any case should do so now.
Later in the day, Trump told reporters he could force Powell out if he wanted to.
The rebuke came after Powell pierced the market calm Wednesday by indicating he would take a wait-and-see approach to how the trade war would impact inflation, dashing hopes for an immediate intervention.
The moves were far smaller than the prior week when Trump’s trade war machinations drove wild swings in stocks, bonds and the dollar.
All the tariff policy pivots have eroded confidence in the world’s reserve currency, with the dollar extending its losing streak into third week.
In the bond market, yields on Treasuries climbed Thursday as US government bonds pared q weekly advance.
Rising oil prices added pressure as did Trump’s sallies aimed at Powell.
To Krishna Guha at Evercore ISI the independence of the Fed will be a sticking point in the days ahead as tariffs bleed through to consumer prices.
“Continued confidence in the Fed amid a loss of confidence in the administration has shaped the market response to date:
real rates / real term premia higher, dollar lower, less US exceptionalism in equity markets – but well-behaved inflation expectations and no stagflation panic,” the former executive at the New York Fed wrote in a note to clients.
A case involving two heads of independent regulatory agencies ousted by Trump bears watching for any implications to the central bank.
“If you liked the tariff debacle in markets, you’d love the loss-of-Fed-independence trade,” Guha said.
Economic data Thursday was mixed.
Applications for US unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in two months, signaling a stable labor market.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Fed Index tumbled, trailing all economists’ estimates, a warning shot from manufacturing.
Energy was one of the best performing stock sectors as WTI crude climbed more than 5% — its biggest weekly gain this year.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he was prepared to take action to get Iran’s energy exports down to zero.
In company news, health insurers slumped after UnitedHealth Group Inc. slashed its earnings outlook for the year, the company’s plunge weighed on the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average which tumbled 1.3%.
Shares of Alphabet Inc. dipped after a federal judge found Google was illegally monopolizing some online advertising technology markets.
Eli Lilly & Co. soared on positive data from a weight-loss pill study.
Trade War
Following the turmoil triggered by the announcement of broad US levies earlier this month, investors are focusing more on developments in country-specific trade negotiations. Key questions surround China, after Beijing indicated Wednesday it has several conditions for agreeing to talks with the Trump administration.
The US and Japan kicked off negotiations with an aim to reach a deal as soon as possible, top Japan negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said.
Preparations are underway for a second round of discussions later this month, he said.
Countries are racing to negotiate deals with the US to avert high import taxes Trump imposed — and then quickly paused — on about 60 trading partners.
That move put a 24% across-the- board tariff on Japanese imports on hold, though a 10% baseline charge still applies — as well as 25% levies on cars, steel and aluminum.
“The trajectory of US-Japan trade talks will continue to be closely monitored, not just for their bilateral implications, but also as a potential framework for how the US may approach trade relationships with other allies,” said Rajeev De Mello, a global macro portfolio manager at Gama Asset Management.
The ECB lowered interest rates for the seventh time since last June as global trade tensions threaten to derail the region’s economic recovery.
The deposit rate was decreased by a quarter-point to 2.25%, as predicted by almost all analysts polled by Bloomberg.
In commodities, gold hit a record earlier Thursday on demand for havens, before turning lower.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.1% as of 4:02 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 was little changed
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.3% to $1.1370
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3266
* The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 142.42 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.8% to $84,969.84
* Ether rose 0.8% to $1,585.43
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 4.32%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 2.47%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 4.57%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3% to $64.37 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.7% to $3,318.85 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Alyce Andres, Aya Wagatsuma, Julien Ponthus, Anand Krishnamoorthy, Allegra Catelli, John Viljoen and Michael Mackenzie.

Have a lovely long weekend.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shab
” Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”– Julia Child

Shab Mohammadpour

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff
Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

view online version Dear Friends, Tangents: I will be preparing the newsletter on Carolann’s behalf. April 16, 1705: Queen Anne of England knights scientist Isaac Newton at Trinity College, Cambridge April 16, 1912: Harriet Quimby becomes the 1st female pilot to fly across English Channel April 16, 1964: “The Rolling Stones (England’s Newest Hitmakers),” the band’s debut album, was released. Go to article Newly ‘awakened’ black hole is releasing 100 times more energy than scientists have ever seen before The quasi-periodic eruptions of X-rays from a black hole 300 million light-years away are unlike any researchers have ever seen before. Read more. Northern lights ignite night sky after rare double solar eruption, and more are forecast for tonight Solar eruptions created a northern lights display in North America and Europe overnight, with more auroras expected through Thursday. Read More. Some people are ‘wired to connect with music on a deeper level,’ study of 9,000 twins finds Genes affect different aspects of music enjoyment — from the emotional reactions that compositions evoke to the social connection music can foster. Read More. An ocean of magma formed early in Earth’s history and it may still influence our planet today, study finds Remnants of a liquid layer of magma near Earth’s core, formed in the first few hundred million years of the planet’s history, may still persist today as odd anomalies in the mantle. James Webb telescope spots Milky Way’s long-lost ‘twin’ — and it is ‘fundamentally changing our view of the early universe’ The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered Zhúlóng, a candidate for the most distant spiral galaxy in the universe. The perplexing Milky Way ‘twin’ dates to 1 billion years after the Big Bang, and appears too big to explain. Read More. PHOTOS OF THE DAY Osaka, Japan Visitors walk along the Grand Ring, made of wood, as it is reflected in the water during a media preview day for the 2025 Osaka Expo Photograph: Richard A Brooks/AFP/Getty Images Kars, Turkey Flowers remain under snow as snowfall continues in the Sarikamis district of Kars Photograph: Huseyin Demirci/Anadolu/Getty Images Lisse, Netherlands Blooming tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and lily fields create a colourful carpet Photograph: Nikos Oikonomou/Anadolu/Getty Images Market Closes for April 16th, 2025 Market Index  Close  Change  Dow Jones 39669.39 -699.57 -1.73% S&P 500  5257.70 -120.93 -2.24% NASDAQ  16307.16 -516.01 -3.07% TSX  24106.79 +38.86 +0.16% International Markets Market Index  Close  Change  NIKKEI  33920.40 -347.14 -1.01% HANG SENG 21056.98 -409.29 -1.91% SENSEX  77044.29 +309.40 +0.40% FTSE 100* 8275.60 +26.48 +0.32% Bonds Bonds  % Yield  Previous % Yield CND. 10 Year Bond  3.079 3.112 CND. 30 Year Bond  3.400 3.432 U.S. 10 Year Bond 4.2768 4.3330 U.S. 30 Year Bond 4.7387 4.7778 Currencies BOC Close  Today  Previous   Canadian $   0.7215 0.7163 US $ 1.3861 1.3961 Euro Rate 1 Euro=    Inverse    Canadian $   1.5800 0.6329 US $ 1.1397 0.8774 Commodities Gold Close  Previous   London Gold Fix  3322.90 3204.20 Oil WTI Crude Future  61.33 61.53 Market Commentary: On this day in 1991, the Warsaw Stock Exchange reopened for trading, after decades of closure under Communist rule.   Canada   (MT Newswires)  The Toronto Stock Exchange rose for a fourth-straight session on Wednesday, posting a small gain after Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem left interest rates unchanged amid the uncertain effect of U.S. trade wars on Canada’s  economy. The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 38.86 points to 24,106.79. Among sectors, Energy, up 1.96%, was the biggest gainer, followed by Telecoms, up 0.34%. The biggest decliner on the day was Industrials, down 0.9%. Market focus was on the Bank of Canada, which left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.75%. Derek Holt, Head of Capital Markets Economics at Scotiabank, said this was “widely expected, despite the closeness of the call.” Overall though, Holt added, the BoC “basically threw its hands up in the air with a sigh and a collective ‘beats me’ on the bias.” Holt noted markets “largely shook it all off”, aside from slight appreciation in the Canadian dollar as the slight pricing for a cut was struck out. By Bloomberg Automation: (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.2%, with six of 11 sectors higher, led by materials stocks. As of market close, 159 of 218 stocks rose, while 55 fell. Torex Gold Resources Inc. led the advances, rising 9.9%, while Finning International Inc. decreased 4.3%. Markets at a Glance: * S&P/TSX Index rose 0.2% to 24,107 * Six of 11 sectors rose ** Materials gained, up 1.2% ** Industrials declined, down 0.9% * Crude oil rose 2.2% to $63/bbl * Natgas fell 2.8% to $3.24/mmbtu * Gold rose 3.6% to $3,334/oz * Silver rose 1.3% to $33/oz Advancers: * Torex Gold Resources Inc. (TXG CN) +9.9%: S&P/TSX Composite Gold Sub Industry GICS Index Rises 2.4% * Iamgold Corp. (IMG CN) +8.1%: Iamgold Reinstated Outperform at BMO; PT C$12 * Energy Fuels Inc/Canada (EFR CN) +7.3%: Critical Mineral Stocks Rise as Trump Weighs Tariffs on Imports * Lundin Gold Inc. (LUG CN) +5.6% * Sprott Inc. (SII CN) +4.5% Decliners: * Finning International Inc. (FTT CN) -4.3% * Brookfield Business Partners LP (BBU-U CN) -4.1% * Linamar Corp. (LNR CN) -3.9% * BRP Inc. (DOO CN) -3.5% * Celestica Inc. (CLS CN) -3.2% US By Cristin Flanagan and Vildana Hajric (Bloomberg) — Warnings from Jerome Powell that trade tensions risk undermining the Federal Reserve’s employment and inflation goals whipped up fresh volatility on Wall Street Wednesday, with stocks resuming sharp declines while haven assets like Treasuries and gold surged. Two days of relative calm were broken as the Fed chief signaled a wait-and-see approach to President Donald Trump’s tariff offensive, pushing back on hopes he would act quickly to soothe investors. Stocks extended losses that began earlier when two big semiconductor companies reported earnings disappointments linked to the global trade war. Asked at the Economic Club of Chicago if he envisioned a “Fed put” in which the central bank intervened to calm markets, Powell said “no,” adding that too many questions exist about the impact of Trump’s policies. “We don’t know that yet, and until we know that we can’t make informed decisions.” The S&P 500 ended the session down 2.2%. Technology stocks took the brunt of the beating with the Nasdaq 100 tumbling 3.0% after the White House imposed new restrictions on Nvidia Corp.’s chip exports to China. The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell around five basis points to 4.28%. For now, the Fed chief stressed, the labor market is “in a really good place,” with supply and demand falling in tandem. Powell said he expected those conditions to continue. “Many had assumed that the Fed would prioritize the labor side of the mandate if forced to choose, but he suggested that price stability is necessary to maintain a healthy labor market,” said Adam Phillips, managing director of investments at EP Wealth Advisors. “If you’re waiting for a Fed put, you should probably set your sights on a lower strike price as long as inflationary pressures remain elevated,” he added. “Don’t look to monetary policy for market support anytime soon.” To Michael Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partners: “Powell just threw equities under the bus.” “This has been a year of dashed hopes, first with disappointing tariffs, and now with the Fed leaving investors out in the cold,” he said. “Powell’s market snub came at a bad time with semis wreaking havoc on investor sentiment around the world. Earlier, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack took a similar stance as Powell, suggesting the Fed should hold interest rates steady until there’s more clarity on the impact of levies. Swaps traders cemented bets on policy-easing, wagering the Fed would lower interest rates a full percentage point by next January. Chipmakers Quiver Nvidia sank 6.9% Wednesday after the company warned of $5.5 billion in write downs tied to inventory and commitments for its H20 chip in the current quarter. ASML Holding NV added to the angst, reporting lower-than-expected orders. The US government informed Nvidia on Monday that its H20 chip would require a license to export to China “for the indefinite future.” The new rules address Washington’s concerns that “the covered products may be used in, or diverted to, a supercomputer in China,” the company said in a filing. Volatility Rising As volatility picked up, investors turned to haven assets including gold, which set a record high as prices on the precious metal climbed above $3,340 per ounce. The Swiss franc rallied while the dollar weakened as the deepening trade tensions dented conviction in the world’s reserve currency. Also weighing on risk assets, the World Trade organization cut its forecast for the year, saying trade would decline by 0.2% in 2025, almost three percentage points lower than it would have been without new tariffs. China was reported to be looking for a point person and more respect from the Trump administration before it will come to the table to discuss tariffs. “While we expect that trade talks will ultimately yield progress, the brinkmanship between the US and China looks set to continue in the near term,” said Solita Marcelli at UBS Global Wealth Management. US retail sales for March rose 1.4% — the most in two years as Americans went on a spending spree, snapping up everything from cars to electronics, in the days leading up to President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement. Some of the main moves in markets: Stocks * The S&P 500 fell 2.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time * The Nasdaq 100 fell 3% * The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.7% * The MSCI World Index fell 1.5% Currencies * The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.7% * The euro rose 0.9% to $1.1385 * The British pound was little changed at $1.3237 * The Japanese yen rose 0.7% to 142.14 per dollar Cryptocurrencies * Bitcoin rose 0.3% to $84,308.59 * Ether fell 0.4% to $1,588.16 Bonds * The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined five basis points to 4.28% * Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.51% * Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 4.60% Commodities * West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.3% to $62.74 a barrel * Spot gold rose 3.3% to $3,337.90 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation. –With assistance from John Viljoen, Winnie Hsu, Zhu Lin, Abhishek Vishnoi, Anand Krishnamoorthy and Julien Ponthus. Have a lovely evening. Be magnificent! As ever, Shab “You know more of a road by having traveled it than by all the conjectures and descriptions in the world.”– William Hazlitt Shab Mohammadpour Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff Queensbury Securities Inc., St. Andrew’s Square, Suite 340A, 730 View St., Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7 Tel: 778.430.5808 Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895 Fax: 778.430.5828 www.carolannsteinhoff.com Copyright © [CURRENT_YEAR] [COMPANY_NAME], All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: [COMPANY_FULL_ADDRESS] Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.