As we’re sure you’re well aware of by now, the round trip is almost complete on U.S./China tariffs following a 90-day pause - we all just want to get off this ride.

While a definitive agreement has yet to be reached the market is betting on one, with yields jumping and the S&P 500 now positive YTD. As they say, the house always wins - watch for the banks to report huge trading numbers at the end of May.

Yesterday Robinhood (HOOD) announced its entry into the Canadian crypto market with the $250M acquisition of WonderFi Technologies (WNDR), a roll-up story with >$2B of client assets.

The immediate strategic rationale of the deal is a crypto land grab, given it’s outsized contribution to HOOD’s results…

… but WonderFi’s Investment Dealer license leaves the door open for an expansion into traditional brokerage services too. With a bigger balance sheet and top tech talent, Wealthsimple (54% owned by Power Corp.) and Questrade have competition.

On Monday Pan American Silver (PAAS) announced its $2.1B acquisition of MAG Silver (MAG) and its 44% stake in the highly coveted Juanicipio silver mine in Mexico.

The deal rationale is clear, as the 34% bump in pro-forma silver production cements PAAS as the 2^nd largest producer globally and materially improves its cost profile.

Where the market isn’t yet convinced is on price, which is rich at ~2.2x NAV - a >20% premium to MAG’s share price. With $500M of cash outlay (over half of Pan American’s cash balance) and 60M new shares, PAAS fell 16% on the day.

With the gold-to-silver ratio sitting well above historical norms though, this deal could prove to have been made at an opportune time.

Imagine trying to explain this year in markets to someone 20 years from now…

Flagging CNQ here, who is the largest seller YTD out of the TSX 60 energy names.

Finning (FTT) popped 14% after a strong Q1 print, with a 5% revenue beat and a 15% EPS beat. Management was optimistic on the call, highlighting the company’s record $2.8B equipment backlog driven by Canadian mining demand, $490M of asset sales, and a 10% dividend hike.

Pet Valu (PET) slid 5% after announcing a $150M secondary offering paired with a buyback.

Aya Gold & Silver (AYA) was up 12% on its Q1, with a 77% jump in silver production at the Zgounder mine, a 120% increase in the Boumadine mineral resource estimate, and a swing to profitability.