On Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.7% and Toronto fell o.8%.
Preferred shares mostly rose, for example the Canadian Western Bank preferred share was up 3.8%.
Oil prices fell as oil inventories rose. Apparently, the North American oil producers are mostly maintaining or increasing production while hoping that the OPEC countries reduce consumption. Meanwhile OPEC may be hoping that some North America oil producers will be driven out of business and that they will stay out of business even if oil prices rise because they and their lenders will live in fear of low oil prices. No longer will oil companies be able to borrow money on the basis of projections of oil prices at $100 or anything close to it. If OPEC (or maybe just Saudi Arabia) stands its ground then we are going to need to see significant oil production in North America come out of production before oil prices will rise. Alberta laments that future oil sands projects will no longer happen. The reality may be that even some current oil sands production or some projects that are well underway will need to be canceled.