Newsletter ,April 23rd ,2025

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

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

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