Happy Friday from BMWM!

 

The Current Account (click here to read) covers another stressful day for the markets, Canadian home sales plunging 40% in February, U.S. corporations changing their lenient work-from-home rules, and blueberry joining a list of produce most laden with pesticides.

 

Silicon Valley Bank’s dramatic collapse has rattled markets. U.S. regulators shut down the country’s 16th largest bank in what is the largest failure of a U.S. bank since 2008. SVB imploded after its customers, mostly technology companies struggling to get financing, began withdrawing their deposits. Fears of contagion sparked a US $100-billion rout in U.S. bank stocks, but Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said there’s no systemic risk. The government has ruled out a bailout for SVB but is working with regulators to help depositors. In the UK, HSBC agreed to buy SVB's British subsidiary for £1 under a deal facilitated by the British government and the Bank of England. Canadian regulators have also taken control of the bank's Canadian unit.

 

Taylor’s word of the week is Repristinate, meaning “to restore to the first or original state or condition”. For example, environmentalists attempt to repristinate a wildlife reservation to remove the negative impact of humans.

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Brenda, Taylor, and Matty