CHF WEEKLY ROUND-UP: March 17-21, 2025

The ongoing Trump turmoil may further deepen the recent correction of historically stretched valuations on the U.S. stock market. Still, it is not a bear market, but very few bear markets have occurred outside of recessions. No recession is expected unless the unpredictable President Trump manages to start a trade war that causes one. Volatility is a pattern often seen when there is a new President from a new Party. Look to trade this market.

On Canadian markets, the TSX had a good week, supported by resource stock gains, and is back into a positive level year-to-date (YTD), up 1.4%. The Venture exchange continues to attract investors looking for value, and the index has moved up to the highest level in more than two years, up 7.2 % YTD.

Following last week's rate cut, the Bank of Canada (BoC) has shifted its approach to setting its benchmark interest rate at a time when tariff uncertainty with the United States has made long-term forecasting much more difficult and will use a shorter time horizon in forecasting. BoC Governor Macklem said: “The damage caused by tariff uncertainty has started to be seen on both sides of the border.”

The U.S. Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged Wednesday but suggested that it still expects to cut rates twice this year even while it sees inflation staying stubbornly elevated. Fed Chair Powell said that President Trump’s tariffs have started to push up inflation and would likely stall the progress made in reducing inflation. He also said that he now expects the economy to grow more slowly this year.

The S&P 500 index has declined into correction territory over the last month on fears of a tariff war, which may very well be exacerbated by the arrival of the April 2 round of reciprocal tariffs. There were some gains following the Fed rate announcement, but then all major markets drifted back downward. Less-than-stellar results and uncertain forecasts are weighing on share prices. So far this year, foreign stock markets have mostly outperformed the U.S., especially those in China, India, and Germany.

The U.S. dollar (USD) gained some strength on the hold in rates, ending the slide from the beginning of the month. On Thursday, the Bank of England also kept rates on hold and indicated that it may be less likely to cut anytime soon.

Gold traded as high as USD$3,056/oz on Thursday and is a little quieter today at USD$3,035/oz. Gold must build some support at this price level before taking a run at USD$3,100/oz. Silver continued to face selling pressure this week, opening today at USD$33.15/oz, leading to various claims of market manipulation. The reversion to more normal gold/silver ratios is still anticipated.

Base and industrial metal prices have been active. Shares of copper-mining companies were on the move on the TSX Thursday as the price of copper reached USD$5.07/lb., approaching a record high. Copper prices have spiked as traders have rushed to send metal to America ahead of any tariffs causing metal shortages elsewhere. Nickel is holding onto the recent price gains at USD$7.38/lb. The lower USD and demand driven by impending tariffs are supporting the prices of the other metals. In these uncertain times, it is always best to be in commodities.

Battery and critical materials prices remain in a six-month slump with no real sign of breakout, continuing to be held down by export restrictions on materials and technology being placed by China and the increased U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. Cobalt held in at USD$16.40/lb., a two-year high, as consumers ramped up buying to get ahead of increased tariffs on the mainly Chinese producers. The current level of sector uncertainty needs to settle down before real movement can be seen in critical metals.

We are pleased to present our round-up of client news released between March 17 and 21, 2025.

Technology

On March 18, 2025, Visionstate Corp. (TSXV: VIS) announced the closing of the over-subscribed financing, which was previously announced on March 3, 2025, subject to final acceptance from the TSX Venture Exchange. Visionstate has raised $455,000.00 through the issuance of 18,200,000 units at a price of $0.025 per Unit. Each Unit is comprised of one (1) common share of Visionstate and one (1) Common Share purchase warrant. Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one (1) additional Common Share at a price of $0.05 per Common Share for a period of five (5) years following the date of closing. The Common Shares and Warrants comprising the Units are subject to a four-month plus one-day hold period from the date of issuance.

The net proceeds from the sale of the Units will be allocated towards Visionstate's expansion into the U.S. market for its WANDA™ solution, where the Company recently established an office in Seattle, Washington. Proceeds will be directed toward increased sales support in that market and targeted digital advertising efforts. Additionally, funds will be used for investment into the Company's AI model for facility management scheduling and shoring up investments to diversify the Company's revenue streams.

On March 14, 2025, Tenet Fintech Group Inc. (CSE: PKK) (OTCQB: PKKFF) announced that it had closed a non-brokered private placement financing, with ThreeD Capital Inc. as its lead investor, by selling 72,983,340 units to "accredited investors" within the meaning of NI 45-106 for gross proceeds of $3,649,167. Tenet plans to use the proceeds of the Financing to develop macroeconomic data indexes for the Company's recently launched ie-Pulse platform, to prepare the expansion of the Cubeler Business Hub to the U.S. and for general working capital purposes.

Each unit of the Financing is comprised of one common share of the Company and one Common Share purchase warrant. Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at an exercise price of $0.15 for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance thereof. The securities issued in connection with the Financing are subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the closing date of the Financing.

Fintech

On March 20, 2025, Tenet Fintech Group Inc. (CSE: PKK) (OTCQB: PKKFF) announced that its operating subsidiary Cubeler Inc. has signed a referral agreement with global technology-based lender Uncapped Technologies Inc. (Uncapped). The company continues to offer loan and credit options to SME entrepreneurs through its Business Hub.

Uncapped (https://www.weareuncapped.com) is headquartered in the U.K. and services businesses operating in the U.K., U.S., and, more recently, Canada. The company is a leading provider of working capital for growing e-commerce brands and retailers, offering fast, simple, and transparent financing to SMEs that are often overlooked by traditional banks and MCA lenders. It takes pride in helping founders maintain full equity control of their businesses by offering working capital loans and lines of credit of up to USD$10M. Uncapped uses technology to quickly assess the applicants' sales data and usually renders a lending decision in 24 hours. Uncapped can now simply enter its qualification criteria for loans and lines of credit into its dedicated Business Hub interface to be matched with qualified SME members of the platform.

Fredi Tasciyan, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Financial Institutions at Cubeler, commented: "Uncapped's ability to provide loans of up to USD$10M brings a completely different dimension to the Business Hub, which I believe will immediately benefit our Canadian SME members. Their presence in the U.S. will undoubtedly be equally beneficial to our U.S. SME members when we expand the Hub south of the border early next quarter."