Newsletter,22nd,2025

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

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

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.
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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