Tangents:
On April 15, 1912, the British luxury liner Titanic sank in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland, less than three hours after striking an iceberg. About 1,500 people died. Go to article
April  15, 1955: First McDonald’s opens.
April 15, 1995: The World Trade Organization is founded to coordinate and strive to liberalize international trade.

Leonardo da Vinci, artist, b.1452.
Henry James, writer, b.1843.

Zoo elephants form protective ring around young during California earthquake.

Primates: Facts about the group that includes humans, apes, monkeys and other close relatives.

T. rex fossil trade hurting scientific research, study claims.

Trove of dinosaur footprints reveal Jurassic secrets on Isle of Skye where would-be Scottish king Bonnie Prince Charlie escaped.

Don’t fly off the handle
After years of disruption, air traffic is once again surpassing pre-pandemic levels. If you’re planning to fly in the future, be sure to pack some patience, particularly at these 10 busy airports.

This diet may benefit your bones
Many people who try to lose weight, primarily through diet alone, can experience a reduction in bone density. Exercising without dieting doesn’t solve the problem either. But, new research shows that older women who adopted the nutrient-rich Mediterranean diet and continued to exercise were able to lose weight and prevent bone loss.

Food is so fancy — and fashionable
Would you spend $88 for a lamp made from real croissants? How about $1,500 for a purse that looks like a box of Barilla pasta? The trend of food in home decor and in fashion is apparently hitting the luxury sector.

Back as Burr on Broadway
One of the original cast members of the hit musical, “Hamilton,” is returning for another shot. Leslie Odom Jr., who played Aaron Burr, will once again tackle his Tony Award-winning role this fall.

The James Webb telescope reveals the truth about a planet that crashed into its own star
Scientists thought they saw a distant star swallow a planet for the first time ever. But new observations from the James Webb Space Telescope suggest something very different, but equally rare, may have happened instead. Read More.

Newly discovered comet SWAN just ‘erupted’ with a bright, icy burst. Is it a cold volcano?
Photos show that comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN) experienced a “major eruption,” causing it to become temporarily brighter. However, it’s still unclear whether the icy object is a true “cryovolcano.” Read More.

Watch zoo elephants form protective ‘alert circle’ around young during 5.2 San Diego earthquake
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s elephants raced to protect their calves with an “alert circle” when a 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck Julian in Southern California. Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

downtown Bonn, Germany
People take pictures near pink cherry blossom trees on Cherry Blossom Avenue in downtown Bonn, Germany, April.
REUTERS/Jana Rodenbusch

Sky Festival, in Lusail
Paramotors fly during the Lusail Sky Festival, in Lusail, Qatar, April.
REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

​​​​​​​ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER, ISRAEL
People pick buttercup flowers in a field near the Israel-Gaza border, in southern Israel.
REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Market Closes for April 15^th, 2025

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Taxes are what we pay for civilized society. -Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., 1841-1935.
Canada
(MT Newswires)
The Toronto Stock Exchange posted a third-straight gain on Tuesday, buoyed by lower than expected March inflation data but leaving observers divided on whether or not the Bank of Canada will cut its key benchmark interest rate again tomorrow.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 201.4 points at 24.067.93, adding more than 1,000 points over the past three sessions, but leaving the index more than 1,200 point under the April 2 record high.
Among sectors, Telecom was the sole decliner, down 0.42%, with Information Technology and Health Care the biggest gainers, up 1.87% and 2.37% respectively.
The TSX did dip modestly after White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, during a Tuesday afternoon briefing revived talk around Canada becoming the 51st state of the United States, comments that are seen as a threat to this nation’s sovereignty, while also playing down reports that U.S. President Donald Trump was thinking about putting a pause on tariffs for the auto industry, which is a key part of the Canadian economy.
But that dip was short lived as Canadians re-focused on domestic matters, digesting today’s CPI data and awaiting tomorrow’s central bank meeting.
Following the inflation data, the interest-rate swaps market, which captures investor expectations around monetary policy, was suggesting it’s a coin-flip outcome over whether the BoC will cut rates again or hold them steady at 2.75% on Wednesday, according to LSEG data, the Globe and Mail noted.
If the central bank opts to cut it would be the eighth consecutive rate cut since last summer.
David Doyle, head of economics at Macquarie, noted inflation moderated in March, driven by lower prices for gasoline and travel.
Headline CPI was unchanged month over month and decelerated to 2.3% annualized.
Trim/median moderated MoM to an average of 0.14%, the lowest reading since Feb-24. Year over year, these remain elevated at 2.85%.
Doyle said further downward pressures are likely on CPI near-term.
He noted the consumer carbon tax was removed in April, and added this could lead to a drop of 0.5 percentage points or more in YoY CPI for the month with much of this flowing through the gasoline price.
Macquarie’s BoC outlook is unchanged on today’s CPI release.
As outlined yesterday in its Bank of Canada preview note, Macquarie said while “not an open and shut case”, it continues to see a 25 bps rate cut tomorrow and further rate cuts of 25 bps in each of June and July.
This would take the overnight rate down to 2.0%.
Desjardins also said Canadian central bankers face a difficult decision this week.
It noted while tariffs and market volatility will slow the economy, policymakers are concerned that the global trade war could unleash another wave of inflation.
As a result, Desjardins believes the BoC will opt to hold its policy rate steady Wednesday.
“That forecast was made easier by recent Bank of Canada communications which outlined a revised reaction function for this unusual environment.”
According to Desjardins, key to understanding the BoC’s willingness to hold off making any changes to interest rates tomorrow is knowing the central bank is also willing to act “quickly when things materialize.”
So, if by June or July, the hard economic data deteriorate and both inflation and inflation expectations look more tame, Desjardins thinks monetary policymakers will be debating whether to cut 25 or 50 basis points ahead of each of the announcement dates.
It is reiterating its call that the BoC reaches a terminal rate of 1.75% later this year, given the additional headwinds from slower population growth and mortgage renewals.
Meanwhile, Desjardins said its models suggest there is little reason to expect the BoC to revise its estimated neutral rate range of 2.25% to 3.25%.
Desjardins said: “While rising forecasts of the U.S. neutral rate will put upward pressure on the Canadian neutral rate, slower domestic population and productivity growth should provide an offset.
As a result, we are relatively neutral on the neutral rate.”
Of commodities, gold traded at a record high late afternoon on Tuesday even as the dollar rose and treasury yields stabilized after last week’s market turmoil amid a tariff battle between China and the United States.
Gold for June delivery was last seen up $21.40 to US$3,247.70 per ounce, topping Friday’s record close of US$3,244.60.
But West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed with a small loss on Tuesday after the International Energy Agency (IEA) slashed its 2025 demand-growth forecast on slowing global growth amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff wars.
WTI crude oil for May delivery closed down $0.20 to settle at US$61.33 per barrel, while June Brent crude was last seen down $0.22 to US$64.66.

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.8%, with eight of 11 sectors higher, led by health care stocks.
As of market close, 178 of 218 stocks rose, while 35 fell.
Bausch Health Cos. led the advances, rising 5.2%, while BRP Inc. decreased 6.2%.
Markets at a Glance:
* S&P/TSX Index rose 0.8% to 24,068
* Eight of 11 sectors rose
** Health care gained, up 3%
** Communication services declined, down 0.6%
* S&P 500 Index fell 0.2% to 5,397
* Nasdaq 100 Index rose 0.2% to 18,830
* Crude oil was little changed at $62/bbl
* Natgas fell 0.3% to $3.32/mmbtu
* Gold rose 0.4% to $3,219/oz
* Silver rose 0.5% to $32/oz
Advancers:
* Bausch Health Cos. (BHC CN) +5.2%
* Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (SSL CN) +4.5%
* Enerflex Ltd. (EFX CN) +4.3%
* South Bow Corp. (SOBO CN) +4%: Keystone Pipeline Resumes Operation at Reduced Pressure: PHMSA
* Lundin Gold Inc. (LUG CN) +3.9%
Decliners:
* BRP Inc. (DOO CN) -6.2%
* Pet Valu Holdings Ltd. (PET CN) -3%
* Ero Copper Corp. (ERO CN) -2.9%
* Spin Master Corp. (TOY CN) -2.6%
* Energy Fuels Inc/Canada (EFR CN) -2.5%
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks whipsawed as President Donald Trump’s fast-evolving tariff war with top trade partners showed little signs of abating, leaving investors unwilling to take on too much risk after a two-day rally.
That’s even as results from Wall Street’s financial heavyweights underscored an equity-trading boon and still- healthy consumers and businesses.
After climbing almost 1%, the S&P 500 finished lower.
In late hours, United Airlines Holdings Inc. stood by its full-year profit outlook, but warned a “recessionary” scenario would erode demand and dramatically lower earnings.
Bonds rose as a Treasury official said a rule change was under consideration that could lower trading costs for banks.
The dollar snapped a five-day slide.
Trump called on China to reach out to him to kick off negotiations, indicating no end in sight to fight that has seen both sides raise trade barriers.
The Asian nation ordered airlines not to take further deliveries of Boeing Co. jets, according to people familiar with the matter.
Meantime, the European Union and US made scant progress bridging trade differences.
“We would advise investors to avoid making hard and fast assumptions about how tariff developments will ultimately play out in the economy and on corporate profits,” said Anthony Saglimbene at Ameriprise.
“Instead, we suggest investors prepare for a range of possible intermediate-term outcomes that include slow-to-positive economic and profit growth, and scenarios of slow-to-negative growth.”
High uncertainty surrounding US trade policy and a spike in financial-market volatility has unsettled global investors over the past few weeks.
Sentiment regarding economic prospects is the most negative in three decades, yet fund managers’ pessimism isn’t fully reflected in their asset allocation which could mean more losses for US stocks, a Bank of America Corp. survey shows.
Fund managers are “max bearish on macro, not quite max bearish on the market,” strategists led by Michael Hartnett wrote in a note.
“Peak fear” is not yet reflected in cash allocations, they added.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.1%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 0.6%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.1%
* KBW Bank Index rose 1.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro fell 0.6% to $1.1284
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.3228
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 143.16 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 1% to $83,970.85
* Ether fell 1.6% to $1,608.22
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.33%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.53%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 4.65%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed
* Spot gold rose 0.7% to $3,232.61 an ounce
-With assistance from John Viljoen, Julien Ponthus and Anand Krishnamoorthy.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Death destroys a man; the idea of death saves him. -E.M. Forster, 1879-1970

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