Market View

Major stock indices rose today amid hope of coronavirus treatment. US President Donald Trump announced guidelines to gradually reopen the country’s economy. Canadian banks begin to relax lending standards for energy firms struggling to operate as oil prices fall to half the level needed to cover costs. The Canadian dollar was 71.08 cents. U.S. S&P500 rose 2.2% this week and TSX ended the week flat.

It was a mixed bag for the TSX this week. Technology stocks rose the highest, by 13.4%, followed by consumer discretionary, which rose 4.9%. Consumer staples grew by 3.5% and industrials by 1.2%. Energy stocks slumped by 6.6%, and financials fell 3.7%. The auto supplier, Magna International, announced plans for a return to production in North America on May 4. The most heavily traded shares by volume were Bombardier Inc, Cenovus Energy, and Baytex Energy.

5 from 5i

Here are five reads we found interesting last week:

• Where we are in the typical Sentiment Cycle, written by Jason Goepfert on the Sentiment Trader website
• Long-term fund outflows amid volatility triple ’08 figures, by Tony Thomas & Nick Watson on the Morningstar website
• Is now the time to buy individual stocks? by Peter Lazaroff
• How cheap (or expensive) are value stocks? By Ryan Kirlin on the Alpha Architect website
• Death of a value investor, by Nick Maggiulli of Dollars and Data

ICYMI: 

• The Lockdown Portfolio: Five stocks positioned to outperform if COVID-19 social distancing drags on, by Peter Hodson via Financial Post

Enjoy!

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Disclosure: Please note that the author does not hold a financial or other interest stocks or funds mentioned.