The Bank of Canada last published a Monetary Policy Report on January 22nd. Although it came out just 84 days ago, it reads like a parchment scroll from antiquity. It does not include the words "COVID," "virus," or "outbreak." It predicts that growth in the Canadian economy will accelerate in 2020. To say the least, it was due for an update.

A month ago, we started recommending a basket of large, dividend-paying stocks that had reached impressive yields. A lot of people thought we were crazy buying into a market that was falling off a cliff, and in some cases they were right. The volatility this basket has exhibited since we recommended it is well above average.

Entering a week that the US Surgeon General warned would be "the hardest and saddest" in most American's lives, you might not expect a broad rally in global equity markets. But that's what we saw, with the Dow Jones Industrial Index gaining more than 1,600 points and the S&P 500 up more than 7%.

Last Thursday, we brought you news of what might have been the single worst economic datapoint ever published by a developed country. This week, that number has been more than doubled, as 6.6 million people filed for unemployment in the United States last week.

With Argentina under a national quarantine until at least the middle of April, many of our clients who previously funded their operations in Argentina locally are no longer able to produce revenue. These clients are covering the fixed costs of their operations in Argentina by using the Blue Chip Swap, which allows funds to quickly, efficiently, and safely be transferred into Argentina.

Today's trading saw strong gains for the major indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial Index closed up 1351.6 points, gaining 6.4% on the day. The S&P 500 closed up 6.2%, and S&P/TSX composite gained 1.8%.