Market volatility is causing a sell-off in equities around the world. A combination of panic-selling from retail investors, margin calls, and forced redemptions is continuing to push stock prices lower and lower. Pushing stock prices lower has the effect of raising the yield on their dividends, which are listed on a dollars per share basis. We're seeing the dividend yields on some large-cap dividend-paying names reach extremely attractive levels, and we're reaching out with this opportunity.

Last weekend, the cartel that controls global oil production met to discuss cutting production in light of the global dip in demand. Those negotiations failed, and now Saudi Arabia and Russia (the two largest producers of oil outside of the United States) are instead engaging in a "price war," ramping up production to their highest levels ever. The effect on the price of oil, already brought down by the lack of demand, was dramatic:

As you are probably aware, Argentine currency controls are still presenting obstacles for businesses who need to send money into or out of the country. Global market volatility is making this need more urgent for most investors, who need to act decisively in these uncertain times.

The last few weeks have been a time of severe market volatility and we understand that this is a concern to our clients. Most importantly for our cash management clients, the Bank of Canada announced a 50 basis point cut to its overnight rate target, following the Federal Reserve's emergency meeting to lower its target range.

This morning, the Bank of Canada (BoC) announced a 50 basis point cut to the overnight rate target, the benchmark rate that all Canadian fixed-income is measured against. This leaves the overnight target rate at 1.25%, down from its previous level of 1.75%.

This morning, the US Federal Reserve held its first emergency meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) since 2008 and announced a 50 basis point cut to its main policy rate. This cut, which brought the target range from 1.50-1.75% to 1.00-1.25%, was in response to the turmoil in global markets observed over the last week and the obvious slowdown in economic activity caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.