Market Review – April 2020

In this month’s market review, our Chief Options Specialist, Jason Ayres, reflects on the April market conditions.

Stocks sold off sharply through the month of March as the fastest market correction in history extended through the last few days of the month and the TSX and S&P 500 gave up approximately 35%.

This was followed by a four-day rally into month/quarter end.

The expectation is that the worst is yet to come for case rates and related deaths due to COVID-19 in Canada and the U.S., markets are forward-looking, and we may be seeing some short-term stability, finally.

Does this mean the worst is over for stocks? Not necessarily. We don’t make the timeline; the virus makes the timeline. And the relaxation of public health measures will dictate the duration of the economic slowdown.

Price charts still suggest that markets are in a downtrend and imply that volatility remains extremely high.

Moving forward what can investors do? We suggest looking for signs of support and continuing to trade actively while remaining defensive. As markets stabilize, there will be some fantastic opportunities.

For now, please continue to stay safe and healthy, and let’s all do our part to flatten the curve. We are looking forward to better times ahead.