Month: March 2020

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
March 31, 1889: the Eiffel Tower opens.
On March 31, 1968,President Johnson stunned the country by announcing he would not run for another term of office. Go to article »

Top chefs share their go-to comfort foods 
Spoiler: There are a lot of carbs.-CNN

On March 30, 1921, Virginia Woolf wrote the following in her diary from Zennor:

This is the last evening, and Leonard is packing, and I’m not in the mood for writing, but feel superstitiously that I should like to read something actually written in Cornwall.  By looking over my left shoulder I see gorse yellow against the Atlantic blue.  And we’ve been lying on the Gurnard’s Head, on beds of samphire among grey rocks with buttons of yellow lichen on them.  You look down onto the semi-transparent water – the waves all scrambled into white round the rocks – gulls swaying on bits of seaweed – rocks now dry , now drenched with white waterfalls pouring down crevices.  We took a rabbit path round the cliff, and I find myself a little shakier than I used to be.
Still however maintaining without force to my conscience that this is the loveliest place in the world.

From today’s The NY Times:
A wildlife safari — from your living room.
We’ve started a new series, “The World Through a Lens,” to transport you, virtually, to stunning places around the world. This week, the photographer Marcus Westberg takes us to Zambia, home to some of Africa’s best national parks.
In a country with no shortage of natural gems, Mr. Westberg has been captivated by the Luangwa Valley, “my first, and still strongest, love,” which he has visited more than half a dozen times.
His photos of Luangwa’s parks bring you up close to ferocious hippos, vibrant birds and affectionate giraffes — and let you pretend you’re the only visitor.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Ducks venture into the streets of Paris, France, during the coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19).
CREDIT: BACKGRID

A leaping dog looks just like a fluffy cloud in this extraordinary image which captures it in mid-air. The identity of the thick-coated pooch – from a breed of herding dogs knows as Puli – is only betrayed by the two black eyes emerging from its flying fur. The image was taken by Italian photographer Claudio Piccoli, 48.
CREDIT: CLAUDIO PICCOLI/SWNS.COM

Runner Andrew Coscoran training on the beach cliffs in from of Bremore Castle Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
CREDIT: MORGAN TREACY/INPHO/SHUTTERSTOCK

Market Closes for March 31^st  ,2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	21917.16	-410.32
		-1.84%
S&P 500	2584.59	-42.06
		-1.60%
NASDAQ	7700.098	-74.053 -0.95%
TSX	13378.75	+340.25
		+2.61%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18917.01	-167.96
		-0.88%
HANG SENG	23603.48	+428.37
		+1.85%
SENSEX	29468.49	+1028.17
		+3.62%
FTSE 100*	5671.96	+108.22 +1.95%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.697	0.760
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.304	1.322
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.6695	0.7059
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.3214	1.3128

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.71071	0.70614
US $	1.40704	1.41615
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.55257	0.64409
US $	1.10354	0.90617

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1618.30	1617.30
Oil
WTI Crude Future	20.48	20.09

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1854, U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry—after belching black smoke from his warships in Tokyo Bay and then unloading a telegraph, a daguerreotype camera and a chronicle of the Mexican War illustrated with bloody battle scenes—arm twisted the Japanese imperial government into signing the Treaty of Kanagawa, opening Japan to U.S. trade for the first time.

Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities jumped while U.S. stocks extended losses in late trading Tuesday, wrapping up a volatile month as investors assessed widespread impacts from the coronavirus pandemic. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 2.6% Tuesday in Toronto, following Monday’s 2.8% advance. Energy companies were the top performers after TC Energy Corp.’s plan to proceed with the Keystone XL pipeline. A bounce from lows is typical in bear markets, and the current rally is coinciding with quarter-end portfolio repositioning, according to Bryden Teich, a Toronto-based portfolio manager at Avenue Investment Management. The TSX index fell 22% this quarter, its biggest drop since the final three months of 2008. Take a look at some of Toronto’s winners and losers during the rout here, including Shopify Inc. and Spin Master Corp. “Investors still need to be cautious about wanting to be all in or all out of the market,” Teich said on BNN Bloomberg. Avenue is adding to certain stocks during ugly trading sessions, while “lightening up on positions that we view as non-core” during rallies, he added. Weak outlooks on Canada’s GDP were reinforced after the domestic economy expanded less than expected in January even before the pandemic caused a virtual shutdown. On the trade front, a spat with China that’s left Canada with little access to its biggest canola market is showing signs of easing as the Asian nation looks to stock up on edible oil.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $16.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose fell about 2.8% to $1,577.00 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.9% to C$1.4040 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 6.7 basis points to 0.697%
By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 2.6 percent, or 340.25 to 13,378.75 in Toronto. The index advanced to the highest closing level since March 13. Suncor Energy Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 18.4 percent. ShawCor Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 32.8 percent. Today, 168 of 231 shares rose, while 62 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain seven times. The next day, it declined four times for an average 6.2 percent and advanced three times for an average 3 percent
* This quarter, the index fell 22 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* This month, the index fell 18 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* The index declined 17 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 10 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 25.6 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 19.7 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 6.4 percent in the past 5 days and fell 18 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.3 on a trailing basis and 14 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$1.99t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 87.93 percent compared with 87.34 percent in the previous session and the average of 57.58 percent over the past month
==========================================
| Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
==========================================
Energy | 138.2195| 8.5| 27/3
Financials | 128.5074| 3.1| 23/3
Communication Services | 29.3173| 3.5| 5/3
Utilities | 21.7931| 2.9| 16/1
Industrials | 21.4918| 1.4| 23/8
Consumer Staples | 10.7321| 1.8| 10/1
Real Estate | 6.5445| 1.6| 20/5
Consumer Discretionary | 0.9110| 0.2| 8/8
Health Care | -0.2377| -0.2| 5/4
Information Technology | -7.3875| -0.8| 8/2
Materials | -9.6362| -0.6| 23/24

US
By Jeremy Herron and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks sank, bulging the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s loss in the quarter to a level not seen
since 1987 as the pandemic almost certainly plunged the American economy into recession. The blue-chip index tumbled 23% in the three months, closing the period with a 1.9% drop. The S&P 500 fared little better, even after a furious, weeklong 17% rally that halted Tuesday. The Nasdaq 100 Index fell least among major indexes, as dip-buyers targeted the cash-rich tech mega caps that make up its core. There was almost nowhere to hide for Dow investors, as all but one of the 30 members ended lower for the year. Boeing plunged 54%, while Chevron and Exxon sank at least 39% after oil suffered its worst quarterly beatdown on record. Microsoft fared best, ending higher by 0.01%. Risk assets around the world tumbled in the period as governments instituted unprecedented shutdowns in large swaths of the global economy to combat the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Massive government spending and monetary stimulus lifted U.S. stocks from a rout that reached 33%, but the hit to GDP is shaping up to be monumental, with Goldman Sachs now forecasting a 34% contraction in the second quarter before a sharp rebound. As March ends, here are some of the major quarterly moves:
* The record bull market in U.S. stocks turned into a bear market on March 12, 11 years and three days after the last one ended.
* Bloomberg’s dollar index surged 6%, most since 2016, even after tumbling more than 3% since March 23.
* The Cboe Volatility Index averaged 57.1 in March, triple the mean in the prior decade.
* European shares plunged more than 20% for the worst three months since 2002. Spain lost 30%.
* West Texas oil lost 65%, the worst quarter on record.
* The 10-year Treasury yield hit 1.94% on Jan. 20. It fell to 0.31% by March 9 and is just over 0.6% now.
* Gold topped $1,700 in early March before plunging $200 an ounce. It’s on track for a sixth quarterly gain.
* China’s Shanghai Composite lost 10%, while Tokyo’s Topix fell almost 20% in its worst three months since 2008.
* Copper fell 23% and nickel lost 19%, both most since 2011.
* The pound fell more than 6%, while the yen was virtually flat versus the dollar.
* South Africa’s rand had its worst quarter since 2001 and Mexico’s peso fell the most since 2008.
On Tuesday, investors focused on signs that Congress could deliver a fourth round of stimulus as the virus spreads deeper in the country. President Donald Trump is reportedly seeking a $2 trillion infrastructure package. Treasuries edged higher, while the dollar fell and crude pushed back above $20 a barrel. Investors are at a crossroads, questioning whether extraordinary stimulus by countries and central banks can counter further retrenchment of firms and consumers as the outbreak spreads. New York City, which is emerging as the new epicenter of the pandemic, reported a 16% increase in deaths in six hours. Italy and the Netherlands are considering extending lockdowns, and Spain’s 849 deaths were the most in one day for the country. “The recent market movements do reflect efforts to factor in what has happened on the pandemic control side of things and the stimulus measures,” Cameron Brandt, director of research at EPFR, said by phone. “It’s almost certain that we’ll continue to see volatility.” In Europe, the Stoxx 600 rose and a measure of corporate- credit stress eased. Equities were mixed in Asia, where China had stronger-than-anticipated manufacturing data. The dollar rose versus the euro. In China, the official purchasing managers’ index rose to 52.0 this month. That’s up from a record low of 35.7 in February and above the 50 mark which signals improving conditions. Still, the country’s bureau of statistics cautioned that the single- month data didn’t necessarily mean that economy has returned to normal level amid continuing coronavirus concerns.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 1.7% as of 3:20 p.m. New York time.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index dropped 0.2%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 1.6%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.4%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.
* The euro declined 0.3% to $1.1013.
* The British pound was little changed at $1.2414.
* The Japanese yen gained 0.1% to 107.83 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 0.69%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield climbed by two basis points to -0.46%.
Commodities
* Gold sank 2.4% to $1,604.30 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude increased 3.1% to $20.75 a barrel.
–With assistance from Todd White, Gregor Stuart Hunter and Andreea Papuc.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.
                                       -John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1917-1963

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Maimonides, physician, b. 1135.
Vincent Van Gogh, b. 1853.
Sean O’Casey, playwright, b. 1880.
Eric Clapton, guitarist, b. 1945.

1858: pencil patented.

On March 30, 1981, President Reagan was shot and seriously injured outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John W. Hinckley Jr. Also wounded were White House news secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent and a District of Columbia police officer.  Go to article »

How to Survive This
-by Barbara Kingsolver

O misery.  Imperfect
universe of days stretched out
ahead, the string of pearls
and drops of venom on the web,
losses of heart, of life
and limb, news of the worst:

Remind me again
the day will come
when I look back amazed
at the waste of sorry salt
when I had no more than this
to cry about.

Now I lay me down.
I’m not there yet.

The Getty Museum is asking people to recreate famous art using household objects
Gotta harness that quarantine creativity! 

Thieves stole a Van Gogh from a locked-down Dutch museum.  -Bloomberg.

Joseph Pilates worked on his exercise system in a WWI POW camp. -Bloomberg.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People applaud from their houses in support of the medical staff that are working on the CONVID-19 virus outbreak in Barcelona, Spain
CREDIT: EMILIO MORENATTI/AP

Out-of- season snow falls in Tokyo
CREDIT: NEWSCOM

Spring lambs soak in the sun at White Post Farm, Nottinghamshire, UK
CREDIT: SWNS/ TOM MADDICK
Market Closes for March 30^th ,2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	22327.48	+690.70
		+3.19%
S&P 500	2626.65	+85.18
		+3.35%
NASDAQ	7774.152	+271.775 +3.62%
TSX	13038.50	+350.76
		+2.76%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19084.97	-304.46
		-1.57%
HANG SENG	23175.11	-309.17
		-1.32%
SENSEX	28440.32	-1375.27
		-4.61%
FTSE 100*	5563.74	+53.41 +.97%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.760	0.742
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.322	1.295
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.7059	0.6746
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.3128	1.2635

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.70614	0.71517
US $	1.41615	1.39827
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.56439	0.63923
US $	1.10473	0.90520

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1617.30	1634.80
Oil
WTI Crude Future	20.09	21.51

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward agreed to purchase the Alaskan territories from Russia for $7 million—a price so preposterous that newspapers around the country immediately tagged the deal “Seward’s Folly” and christened Alaska “the polar bear garden.”
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities bounced higher Monday afternoon as investors saw glimmers of optimism in efforts to deliver rapid virus testing.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 2.8%. Ten of eleven sectors advanced, with real estate being the only laggard. Quebec-based Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust dropped 11% after withdrawing guidance amid the spread of coronavirus.
Energy stocks shook off weakness in crude prices, with oil- sands producers including MEG Energy Corp., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Suncor Energy Inc. all up double-digits. Oil tumbled to an 18-year low as coronavirus lockdowns cascaded through the world’s largest economies, while Western
Canadian Select fell below $4 earlier Monday. Utility equities were also strong, with shares of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP and Atco Ltd. Gaining more than 5%. BMO Capital Markets upgraded a handful of utility companies, saying the bank is “shifting our investment preference towards power & utility over pipeline & midstream.”
At least one Canadian strategist thinks it’s too early for investors to boost exposure to equities, citing multiple unknowns in combating the pandemic. “While equities are priced lower than they were a month ago, we do not believe that means they are cheap currently,” Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce strategist Ian de Verteuil said in a note to clients. “We remain cautious, and continue to believe investors should have exposure to gold,” he said.
On Canada’s job front, in the 10 days between March 16 and March 25, some 1.55 million Canadians applied for jobless benefits, according to a senior government official with knowledge of the matter.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $16 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose fell about 0.4% to $1,622 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 1.1% to C$1.4143 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose 1.7 basis points to 0.758%
from By Bloomberg Automation
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 2.8 percent at 13,038.50 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s
decrease of 5.1 percent. Suncor Energy Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 15.5 percent. MEG Energy Corp. had the largest increase, rising 22.1 percent.
Today, 141 of 230 shares rose, while 85 fell; 10 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain five times. The next day, it declined three times for an average 5.7 percent and advanced twice for an average 3.1 percent
* This quarter, the index fell 24 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* This month, the index fell 20 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* The index declined 19 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 9.2 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 27.4 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 16.7 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 16 percent in the past 5 days and fell 20 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13 on a trailing basis and 13.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 4 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$1.94t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 87.34 percent compared with 86.62 percent in the previous session and the average of 56.13 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 112.8273| 2.8| 20/6
Energy | 68.7952| 4.4| 21/7
Industrials | 54.8429| 3.6| 16/14
Information Technology | 38.7620| 4.3| 7/3
Utilities | 32.0852| 4.5| 13/3
Communication Services | 24.1812| 3.0| 7/1
Consumer Staples | 8.6814| 1.5| 10/1
Materials | 8.6537| 0.6| 19/27
Consumer Discretionary | 5.8321| 1.3| 11/5
Health Care | 0.8275| 0.6| 6/4
Real Estate | -4.7264| -1.1| 11/14
US
By Randall Jensen and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied as investors saw glimmers of optimism in efforts to deliver rapid testing for the
new coronavirus. The dollar rose.
The S&P 500 Index climbed for the fourth time in five days, rising 17% over the last week, with health-care shares among the biggest gainers. The Nasdaq 100 advanced nearly 4%, leading the rebound among benchmarks from Friday’s losses. Abbott Laboratories surged after unveiling a five-minute Covid-19 test and Johnson & Johnson announced a vaccine candidate for the virus.
Crude fell more than 5% even after Trump spoke with Russia’s Vladimir Putin about falling oil prices. The 10-year Treasury yield rose, while the dollar was on course to snap a four-session losing streak. Gold dipped.
Investors are grappling with the reality that the world’s biggest economy will stay crippled for longer after Trump heeded advice from the government’s top doctors that re-opening the U.S. in two weeks risks greater loss of life. The president said that social distancing guidelines would remain until at least April 30. But traders also continue to try to plumb the bottom and look for bright spots, such as in health-care companies that could produce products that help curb the outbreak. “We’re going to continue to see volatility,” said Fabiana Fedeli, global head of fundamental equities at Robeco. “We’re going to have a lot of news flow and some of it will be negative — it could be concerns over the outbreak, it could be concerning the balance sheets of companies. And there will also be positive news as well.”
In the latest stimulus moves, China’s central bank lowered short-term funding rates and injected cash into its financial system, Australia announced a job-support program and limited public gatherings to just two people, while Singapore unveiled an unprecedented easing in policy.
Elsewhere, Australian stocks surged by a record thanks to the new stimulus measures. Emerging-market currencies including South Africa’s rand and Mexico’s peso tumbled amid concern about debt downgrades.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index climbed 3.4% as of 4 p.m. in New York.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 3.3%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 1.3%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dipped 0.8%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index jumped 0.7%.
* The euro declined 0.8% to $1.1050.
* The British pound decreased 0.3% to $1.2418.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% at 107.78 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose one basis point to 0.69%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield dipped two basis points to -0.5%.
Commodities
* Gold fell 0.7% to $1,641 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude decreased 5.4% to $20.36 a barrel.
–With assistance from Adam Haigh and Todd White.
Have a great night!

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

When you learn, teach.  When you get, give.
                 -Dr. Maya Angelou, 1928-2014

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday!
2009 – President Barack Obama launched a fresh effort to defeat al-Qaida terrorists in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, ordering in 4,000 more troops. Go to article »

From The Financial Times:
Top 10 operas to watch from your sofa — for free
From the Royal Opera to the Vienna State Opera, companies have dug into their archives to make legendary performances available online

-from CNN today:
Doughnuts featuring pictures of immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci are becoming a hit
You know you’ve really made it as the voice of reason during a pandemic when people start putting your face on pastries.
If you wear contact lenses, you should probably switch to glasses to reduce virus transmission risk
You know how you’re not supposed to be touching your face right now? That includes your eyeballs.

We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.  -Kahil Gibran, 1883-1931
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Lincoln Cathedral lit up in blue in a gesture of thanks to the hardworking NHS staff who are trying to battle coronavirus
CREDIT: LINCOLN CATHEDRAL/PA

Apricot trees in blossom are covered with ice in the middle of the Swiss Alps mountains, in Saillon, Canton of Valais, Switzerland. Fruit trees are sprayed with water to protect them from freezing, when the temperature drops bellow zero on cold spring nights.
CREDIT: LAURENT GILLIERON/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Two huge circles carved out of heather which have mysteriously appeared on moorland at Keighley Gate, West Yorkshire. The circles were spotted by photographer Mark Pearson as he viewed footage from a drone he was flying to capture heather burning.
CREDIT: MARK PEARSON/GUZELIAN

Remarkable images that show lightning strikes raining down on Dubai have been caught on camera by a photographer. Intense thunderstorms saw lighting crashing to the ground and into buildings in the United Arab Emirates City. Atlantis, The Palm hotel, appeared to only narrowly avoid being struck.
CREDIT: ASIF ALI YOUSAFZAI/SWNS.COM
Market Closes for March 27^th ,2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	21636.78	-915.39
		-4.06%
S&P 500	2541.47	-88.60
		-3.37%
NASDAQ	7502.379	-295.158 -3.79%
TSX	12687.74	-683.43
		-5.11%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19389.43	+724.83
		+3.88%
HANG SENG	23484.28	+131.94
		+0.56%
SENSEX	29815.59	-131.18
		-0.44%
FTSE 100*	5510.33	-305.40 -5.25%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.742	0.846
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.295	1.339
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.6746	0.8447
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.2635	1.4352

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.71517	0.71258
US $	1.39827	1.40334
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.56045	0.64084
US $	1.11614	0.89594

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1634.80	1605.45
Oil
WTI Crude Future	21.51	22.60

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1980, Texas oil barons Nelson Bunker Hunt and W. Herbert Hunt failed spectacularly to corner the market in silver. After the brothers drove the price up, new supplies came flooding into the market, catching the Hunts by surprise. In a single day, silver plunged from $21.62 to $10.80 an ounce, and Bache Halsey Stuart Shields, the stock brokerage firm affiliated with the Hunts, nearly went under.
Canada
By Divya Balji, Sandra Mergulhao and Paula Sambo
(Bloomberg) — To say it’s been a volatile week doesn’t quite describe it. For traders, it was mayhem.
For a brief 24 hours this week, it looked like Canada’s stocks would technically crawl out of a bear market. Those hopes came crashing down Friday as rapidly deteriorating economic conditions gripped markets even as central banks and governments rushed to announce more stimulus measures.
The week started with the S&P/TSX Composite Index plunging to its lowest in almost nine years after Ontario and Quebec — the nation’s economic heavyweights — ordered the shutdown of non-essential businesses. That was followed by a 12% rebound on Tuesday, the biggest jump since at least 1977, as stimulus packages eased concerns about a global economy in freefall. After another big rally Wednesday, the Canadian benchmark was a mere 335 points away from a 20% rise — the standard measure for a bull market.
For a couple of hours on Thursday, the TSX actually crossed that level, but backed away from it at the close. Then the kicker on Friday — the index slumped as recession fears escalated. “We believe the moves higher that we have seen over the past couple of days would fall in the camp of ‘bear-market rally’,” said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at Manulife Investment Management. “The overall move by the market is very typical of what we see in advance of a recession.”
The three-day surge earlier in the week was “just a recovery from oversold panic drop. A bull market is real when the virus recedes and we can go back to work,” said Barry Schwartz, chief investment officer at Baskin Wealth Management. Governments are spending unprecedented amounts of money to stem a downward spiral that is showing up in some shocking weekly unemployment claims — 3.28 million in the U.S. and almost 1 million in Canada. Trudeau’s government added tens of billions Friday to a stimulus package that had already topped C$100 billion. In the U.S., a $2 trillion package passed the House and is on its way for Donald Trump’s signature. Trillions more will be spent in the rest of the world.
Central banks are also in shock-and-awe mode: the Bank of Canada announced a large scale asset purchase program and cut
its benchmark rate to a record low. Coronavirus cases in Canada have quadrupled this week with about 40 deaths announced so far. About 80% of Canadians believe it will be at least three months, if not much longer, before their lives go back to normal, according to an Angus Reid Institute survey released Thursday.
Even after a week in which it rose about 7%, the Canadian benchmark is still down about almost 30% from its Feb. 20 record high. Breadth is abysmal with only three and seven members of the index trading above their 50 and 200-daily moving averages respectively. And there’s limited evidence fundamentals are improving as more  companies announce the temporary suspension of operations, pulling their first quarter and annual forecasts.
“Who would dare to issue a forecast at all?” David Rosenberg, founder and chief economist of Rosenberg Research and Associates, said in an interview on BNN Bloomberg television. It’s too soon to rule out another setback, said Kurt Reiman, who sets strategy for the Canadian arm of BlackRock Inc. “Elevated levels of implied volatility suggest we should be prepared for large market moves, both up and down.” Stick with strong and high quality companies that are sheltered from big volatile market moves, Reiman added. Petursson is applying a similar strategy. “While we believe the markets can potentially see further downside, we believe it is less than what we have already experienced and at these levels we are starting to view equities with more optimism. There are some great bargains to be had.” “We suggest dipping a toe in rather than jumping in waist deep as the market may be prone to further downside,” Petursson said. But “for those clients that have been looking to increase their equity weight, we believe the markets are presenting those opportunities now.”
“Investor sentiment is almost certain to remain extremely fragile in the near-term as investors weigh the latest developments on the Covid-front,” said Candice Bangsund,
portfolio manager at Fiera Capital Corp. While concrete and sizable stimulus measures should help revive investor sentiment, it’s too soon to call a bottom, Bangsund said. “With little visibility on the depth and duration of the economic fallout as the virus continues to spread across Europe and the U.S., investors will be beholden to virus-related headlines that are likely to inflict more periodic episodes of volatility and the erratic market gyrations that come with it.”
By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 5.1 percent at 12,687.74 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s increase of 1.8 percent.
Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 5.8 percent. Pembina Pipeline Corp. had the largest drop, falling 17.9 percent. Today, 203 of 230 shares fell, while 27 rose; 10 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss five times. The next day, it advanced after all five occasions
* So far this week, the index rose 7.1 percent, heading for the biggest advance in at least 10 years
* This quarter, the index fell 26 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* This month, the index fell 22 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* The index declined 21 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 11 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 29.4 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 13.6 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.6 on a trailing basis and 13 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 4.1 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.04t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 86.62 percent compared with 85.77 percent in the previous session and the average of 50.81 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | -219.0133| -5.1| 0/26
Energy | -135.8359| -8.0| 1/29
Materials | -100.5854| -6.0| 1/46
Industrials | -71.7065| -4.5| 2/29
Information Technology| -54.3845| -5.7| 1/9
Utilities | -30.1698| -4.1| 0/16
Consumer Discretionary| -24.3345| -5.0| 0/16
Consumer Staples | -22.7187| -3.8| 2/9
Communication Services| -22.2703| -2.7| 2/6
Health Care | -3.1998| -2.3| 5/5
Real Estate | 0.7890| 0.2| 13/12
US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks weathered a late-Friday plunge to post their best week in over 10 years, buoyed by an unprecedented stimulus package meant to blunt the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Treasuries gained and oil slipped.
The S&P 500 Index climbed 10% this week, its biggest gain since March 2009, on the strength of a record three-day rally. But that rally sputtered Friday, and the benchmark plunged just minutes before the close, illustrating how tenuous any gains can be, even with a $2 trillion spending deal heading to the president’s desk for his signature. The S&P remains 25% below its February record, and the Cboe Volatility Index is on track for a 10th straight close above 60. It averaged 18.7 in the past year.       The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its best week since 1938, even as all but two of its 30 members declined Friday.
Treasuries gained after the Federal Reserve said it would reduce the pace of its purchases next week. That announcement may have contributed to the stock market’s late-day swoon. “When some of the short-term traders saw that, they decided to take some chips off the table in front of the weekend,” said
Matt Maley, strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. “They probably decided it was a good idea to pare back some of their long
positions in front of the weekend.”
Investors had piled back into the battered U.S. equity market this week on speculation that the massive relief bill would offset some of the pandemic’s impact on businesses and households. A debate has ensued over whether that furious rally represented unwarranted optimism or the start of a long-term upswing.
What remains clear is that the virus has ground the American economy to a near total halt, with new jobless claims spiking above 3 million as large areas of the country remain virtually locked down to slow the spread of the infection. A measure of U.S. consumer confidence fell the most since 2008. West Texas crude declined, setting up a fifth straight week of losses. The dollar had its worst five-day skid since 2009.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was led lower by banks and real estate shares after the region’s leaders struggled to agree on a concrete strategy to contain the fallout of the pandemic. Asian equities mostly rose, though shares in Australia slumped. The pound gained even as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he had tested positive for coronavirus.
The recent revival of risk appetite looks sure to be tested by the continuing spread of the infection and the crippling effect of business closures. Tokyo is now seeing a surge in cases, while global deaths from the pandemic surpassed 24,000.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday became the latest central bank to step up emergency action to cushion the economic impact. “It is by no means a given that volatility has ceased to be a feature of global equity markets,” said Paul Markham, global equities portfolio manager at Newton Investment Management. “Markets will oscillate between the reassurance that governments and central banks will be standing by to support them and the uncertainty of both the duration and depth of what will undoubtedly be a significant economic impact.”
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index decreased 3.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped 3.3%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.9%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.6%.
* The euro gained 0.9% to $1.1127.
* The British pound increased 2.1% to $1.2461.
* The Japanese yen gained 1.6% to 107.87 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined 17 basis points to 0.67%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield dipped 11 basis points to -0.474%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to 0.367%.
Commodities
* Gold decreased 0.6% to $1,622.33 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude decreased 4.4% to $21.59 a barrel.
–With assistance from Yakob Peterseil and Adam Haigh.
Have  wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
For time is the longest distance between two places.
 -Tennessee Williams, 1911-1983

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Sent to me from one of my clients last night:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgylp3Td1Bw

On March 26, 1979, the Camp David peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the White House. Go to article »

Robert Frost, poet, b. 1874.
Happiness makes up for in height for what it lacks in length, –Robert Frost, 1874-1963.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A couple do a handstand among the daffodils in Sefton Park in Liverpool, UK
CREDIT: IAIN WATTS/MERCURY PRESS

Tourists dance in a rape field in Chongqing, China
CREDIT: BARCROFT MEDIA

A Thai Buddhist monk prepares to take part in a televised anti-coronavirus prayer at Wat Traimit Temple
CREDIT: MLADEN ANTONOV/ AFP

The Milky Way glows brightly in the clear night sky above the obelisk at Portland Bill in Dorset
CREDIT: GRAHAM HUNT/ ALAMY LIVE NEWS
Market Closes for March 26^th ,2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	22552.17	+1351.62
		+6.38%
S&P 500	2630.07	+154.51
		+6.24%
NASDAQ	7797.535	+413.240 +5.60%
TSX	13371.17	+231.94
		+1.77%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18664.60	-882.03
		-4.51%
HANG SENG	23352.34	-174.85
		-0.74%
SENSEX	29946.77	+1410.99
		+4.94%
FTSE 100*	5815.73	+127.53 +2.24%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.846	0.899
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.339	1.380
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.8447	0.8657
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.4352	1.4424

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.71258	0.70435
US $	1.40334	1.41975
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.54766	0.64614
US $	1.10276	0.90682

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1605.45	1605.75
Oil
WTI Crude Future	22.60	18.99

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1979, meeting in Geneva, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries declared that its members would raise the price of crude oil from $13.34 to $14.55, igniting another round of global inflation.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose for a third session but fell just short of a bull market as an early rally cooled off.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 1.8% to 13,371.17 in Toronto, with materials the only sector to close in the red. Marijuana stocks were among standouts as several jurisdictions allowed dispensaries to remain open during stay-at-home orders.
Elsewhere among equity gainers, Winnipeg-based bus maker NFI Group Inc. surged 33%, the most on record. The company temporarily cut its dividend earlier this week while laying off staff. Canada’s government and central bank are gearing up to acquire hundreds of billions of dollars in assets from the financial system in coming weeks in order to keep markets running smoothly during the pandemic-induced economic shutdown.
Oil posted an ugly session after the head of the International Energy Agency warned global demand was in “free fall” as coronavirus lockdowns wreak havoc on consumption. Futures in New York tumbled 7.7%. Meanwhile, Canadian heavy crude has become so cheap that the cost of shipping it to refineries exceeds the value of the oil itself, a situation that may result in even more oil-sands producers shutting operations. Western Canadian Select crude in Alberta dropped $2.84 to a record low of $6.45 a barrel on Thursday, according to Bloomberg data going back to 2008.
As investors digest stimulus packages along with social- distancing efforts, “fear is part of the cure,” Eddie Perkin, chief equity investment officer at Boston-based Eaton Vance Management, said on BNN Bloomberg. Eaton Vance isn’t looking to make a “big cyclical recovery bet,” but said maintaining a balanced portfolio is key. Opportunities exist to deploy capital in the current market, though keeping some dry powder is crucial, Perkin added.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $16.40 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose about 1% to $1,633.82 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 1% to C$1.4057 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 5 basis points to 0.85%
–With assistance from Divya Balji.
From Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 1.8 percent, or 231.94 to 13,371.17 in Toronto.
The index advanced to the highest closing level since March 13. Enbridge Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.4 percent. Hexo Corp. had the largest increase, rising 34.9 percent.
Today, 153 of 230 shares rose, while 73 fell; 10 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain eight times. The next day, it declined six times for an average 4.5 percent and advanced twice for an average 3.1 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 13 percent, heading for the biggest advance in at least 10 years
* This quarter, the index fell 22 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* This month, the index fell 18 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* The index declined 17 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 8.3 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 25.6 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 19.7 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 9.9 percent in the past 5 days and fell 22 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.4 on a trailing basis and 13.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 85.77 percent compared with 85.40 percent in the previous session and the average of 47.38 percent over the past month
=======================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
=======================================
Financials | 72.1072| 1.7| 24/1
Industrials | 50.5915| 3.3| 25/6
Utilities | 23.0741| 3.2| 14/2
Information Technology | 19.8673| 2.1| 9/1
Communication Services | 18.5426| 2.3| 6/2
Energy | 18.2963| 1.1| 13/17
Consumer Staples | 16.3470| 2.8| 11/0
Real Estate | 6.6507| 1.6| 14/9
Consumer Discretionary | 4.4249| 0.9| 13/3
Health Care | 4.3093| 3.1| 7/3
Materials | -2.2563| -0.1| 17/29
US
By Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied again as investors speculated that the $2 trillion rescue package poised to pass Congress will blunt the coronavirus pandemic’s toll on the economy. Treasuries held gains and the dollar fell.
The S&P 500 closed near session highs, posting its first three-day rally since February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw its biggest three-day gain since 1931 — and is now 21% above its March 23 trough — buoyed by another big advance in Boeing Co. Jobless claims surged to a record 3.28 million Americans last week as businesses shut down to help prevent the spread of the virus. While the reading exceeded estimates, aid from the U.S. government my help offset the damage to workers and businesses. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell also sought to assure the public that the central bank wouldn’t run out of crisis-fighting ammunition.
“Now that the stimulus bill is moving through, that’s a countervailing force to the rising jobless claims,” said Brian Nick, chief investment strategist at Nuveen. “Hopefully, if all works as intended, businesses should be able to get loans relatively quickly, cease their layoffs and potentially – if they want to get the full benefits of the loans — bring people back that they already laid off.”
The jobless number is one of the first major data points to show the extent of the impact on the American economy since states around the country began widespread business shutdowns aimed at preventing the coronavirus from spreading. European stocks moved higher, and sovereign debt rose after the region’s central bank announced it will scrap limits on bond purchases for its emergency program, a landmark decision that gives it almost unlimited power to fight the economic fallout from the virus. The euro strengthened while a gauge of the dollar headed for a third down day.
While rescue measures across major economies are unprecedented, traders remain cognizant of the virus’s escalating toll. The world’s cases now top 451,000, with more than 20,000 deaths. The U.S. death toll has topped 1,000. “Investors need to remain vigilant about how the growth rate of new cases develops and how governments respond going forward,” said Oliver Blackbourn, a multi-asset portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors. “The support package should help to assuage the fears about the worst possible economic outcomes for individuals and companies.”
Elsewhere, crude declined after three days of gains. The head of the International Energy Agency said global oil demand is in free fall because of the pandemic, made worse by the price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Emerging-market shares and currencies climbed.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 6.1% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 2.6%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.9%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased 1.9%.
* The euro advanced 1.6% to $1.1055.
* The British pound increased 2.9% to $1.2224.
* The Japanese yen advanced 1.6% to 109.42 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped five basis points to 0.82%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield decreased 10 basis points to -0.36%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell five basis points to 0.4%.
Commodities
* Gold rose 1% to $1,632.66 an ounce.
* WTI crude decreased 5.1% to $23.23 a barrel.
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Adam Haigh, Nancy Moran and Sophie Caronello.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.
                                                  -Maya Angelou, 1928-2014

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

 

Tangents:

Old New Year’s Day was on this date until 1751

On March 25, 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led 25,000 marchers to the state capitol in Montgomery, Ala., to protest the denial of voting rights to blacks.  Go to article »

 

By Gary Zukav:

Your job and my  job while here is to align our personalities with our souls.  And we do that by becoming the personality that has the same intentions as the soul: harmony, cooperation, sharing, and reverence for life.  Suppose, for example, you’ve got three children, and you’re overwhelmed a lot.

You can find yourself frustrated and/or exasperated by the child that’s most demanding.  You can find yourself angry at your spouse.  What do you do?  This is exactly the time to create authentic power, and here’s how you do it.  First, instead of acting on the impulse to tell the child, “Be quiet or you’re going to go to your room for six months,” or yelling at your spouse, instead go inside yourself.  That’s the first step.  That is developing emotional awareness.

  The second step: Once you can do this, you put yourself in a very powerful position.  Because just by turning inward instead of acting in the moment, you have created a little gap between the impulse and the action.  And into that space, you can inject consciousness.  Into that  space, you can do something you couldn’t have done before.  Choose consciously.  You can decide, I am going to say this to my spouse.  He or she is insensitive and I’m sick and tired of it.  But instead of reacting harshly, I’m going to act from the most loving part of my personality that I can reach for in that moment.

And it may be that the most loving part of your personality you can reach for is just not to say anything.

But you have then changed your universe.  It’s your choice.  And you make the choice every time you choose an intention.  When you choose an intention of love instead of an intention of fear.  That is the spiritual journey.  That is the spiritual path. –The Path Made Clear, Oprah Winfrey, 2019.

 

Neighborhood restaurants are turning into liquor stores. –Bloomberg.

Take Yale’s most popular course ever, “The Science of Well Being.”-Bloomberg.

Take a video tour of the Winchester Mystery House. -Bloomberg.

 

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The moon disguised as Saturn as clouds form rings around it, above the base camp of volcano Acarenango, Guatemala.

CREDIT: FRANCISCO SOJUEL/ SWNS.COM

A lone 17^th century church sits in the middle of a red lake. The water is turned red as a result of algae-phytoplankton -blooming. But this year, as a result of climate change and a mild winter, the colour is more intense.

CREDIT: ALES KOMOVEC/SOLENT NEWS

A 6-day-old baby Asian elephant walks with his mother “La Petite” at the Ramat Gan Safari, or the Tel Aviv Zoological Center-Ramat Gan in Israel.

CREDIT: JACK GUEZ/ AFP

A playful lion cub, trying to get the attention of his father, jumps onto his head. The cub had been circling the lion and nipping his hear attempting to get him tp play-but the relaxed lion was unfazed. Masai Mara national reserve in Kenya.

CREDIT: MICHAEL SNEDIC/SOLENT NEWS

Market Closes for March 25^th ,2020 

 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	21200.55	+495.64
		+2.39%
S&P 500	2475.56	+28.23
		+1.15%
NASDAQ	7384.297	-33.560   -0.45%
TSX	13139.23	+568.15
		+4.52%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19546.63	+1454.28
		+8.04%
HANG SENG	23527.19	+863.70
		+3.81%
SENSEX	28535.78	+1861.75
		+6.98%
FTSE 100*	5688.20	+242.19   +4.45%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.899	0.874
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.380	1.334
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.8657	0.8482
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.4424	1.3990

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.70435	0.69076
US $	1.41975	1.44767
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.54435	0.64752
US $	1.08791	0.91920

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1605.75	1525.40
Oil
WTI Crude Future	18.99	20.01

Market Commentary:

On this day in 1966, Bank of America executive Kenneth Larkin drafted a memo proposing that Bankamericard should expand outside the bank’s home state of California and offer credit card services to merchants and retail customers nationwide. The Visa card, and the ability to borrow and spend anywhere at any time, were born.

Canada

By Divya Balji and Aoyon Ashraf
     (Bloomberg) — Canada’s stock market surged for a second day, putting it on the cusp of a bull market, as investors saw hope that government spending plans will bolster a global economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed 4.5% higher, posting its first back-to-back gains since Feb. 20, the day the market peaked. The head-spinning rebound happened as Justin Trudeau’s government won support in the House of Commons for his stimulus deal and the U.S. Senate moved toward a vote on a $2 trillion package of spending and tax breaks.
     “Canadian stocks are surging higher as fiscal stimulus measures across the globe get finalized and as some investors see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel,” said Ed Moya, a senior market analyst at Oanda Corp. in New York. With a 17% rise in two days, the S&P/TSX Composite is 335 points or 2.5% away from crossing 13,474.19, the level that would signal a new bull market. That would be a dramatic turn of events for a market that sank to the lowest level since 2011 only on Monday. Moya said investors should stay cautious. “Last week, panic selling seemed to have ended, but if history of past crashes holds true, investors should not be surprised if we see the majority of this two-day rally erased,” he said.
     The economic hit of the coronavirus fallout in North America is only now starting to show. Last week, 929,000 Canadians applied for unemployment benefits and two new surveys suggested the economic pain is just beginning. The pandemic- induced shutdown of the economy has resulted in job loss or reduced work hours for 44% of Canadian households, the Angus Reid Institute said Wednesday.
     The Canadian Federation of Independent Business also reported that small business confidence in Canada collapsed in March to the lowest level on record. The confidence index fell to 30.8, from 60.5 in February, and widespread declines are seen in every province and industry.
     And while the benchmark’s winning streak has helped investors recoup some losses from the rout, it’s still down about 27% from its Feb. 20 record high. Markets will bounce back eventually, said Alicia Levine, chief strategist at BNY Mellon Investment Management. “Ultimately the stimulus will support the economy when we
get to the other side of this,” she said on BNN Bloomberg. “The reality is that we all understand that all of our societies and economies have to be under lockdown for a while simultaneously to get through it.”
     The loonie strengthened 1.9% to C$1.4194 per U.S. dollar and the yield on 10-year federal government debt climbed to 0.89%.

By Bloomberg Automation
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 4.5 percent, or 568.15 to 13,139.23 in Toronto.
     The index advanced to the highest closing level since March 13. Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 6.6 percent. Chorus Aviation Inc. had the largest increase, rising 28.5 percent.
     Today, 204 of 230 shares rose, while 26 fell; all sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain two times. The next day, it declined 9.9 percent once and advanced 4.5 percent once
* This quarter, the index fell 23 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* This month, the index fell 19 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* The index declined 18 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 13 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 26.9 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 17.6 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 12 percent in the past 5 days and fell 24 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.1 on a trailing basis and 13.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 4 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$1.92t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 85.40 percent compared with 83.83 percent in the previous session and the average of 43.97
percent over the past month
=========================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
=========================================
Financials | 263.1992| 6.7| 25/1
Energy | 93.5028| 5.9| 29/1
Utilities | 76.1062| 11.9| 16/0
Communication Services | 40.5146| 5.3| 7/1
Consumer Discretionary | 37.4546| 8.5| 16/0
Real Estate | 36.8795| 9.9| 25/0
Health Care | 7.4556| 5.7| 10/0
Materials | 5.5530| 0.3| 39/8
Consumer Staples | 5.1106| 0.9| 5/6
Industrials | 1.5156| 0.1| 25/6
Information Technology | 0.8726| 0.1| 7/3

US

By Vildana Hajric and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks posted their first back-to-back gains since Feb. 12 as investors awaited unprecedented government spending packages aimed at countering the hit from the coronavirus pandemic. Ten-year Treasury yields were steady.
     The S&P 500 Index logged its biggest two-day advance since November 2008 after overnight negotiations in Congress paved the way for a vote on the stimulus bill this week. Boeing Co. rallied 24%, lifting the price-weighted Dow Jones Industrial Average toward its best two days since 1987. The blue-chip index is still down about 25% from its February record.
     Stocks fell from the day’s highs late in the session after Republican senators raised objections to the unemployment benefits section of the stimulus bill, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders threatened to hold up the legislation unless those objections were dropped. Apple Inc. was said to be discussing delaying its 5G iPhone, also weighing on sentiment.
     Despite hopes surrounding the stimulus, James Bullard of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank told reporters that he expects jobless claims to surge and said the U.S. won’t resume normal life until people feel safe. “The agreement of a $2 trillion stimulus can help cushion the blow to the economy, but we don’t think that it’s all systems go for risk assets,” said Mark McCormick, global head of FX strategy at Toronto Dominion Bank. “At least, the path ahead will be choppy.” Equities also gained in Europe, where leaders are inching toward a fiscal package of their own. In Asia, a regional stock benchmark is posting the best one-day increase since 2008. West Texas crude rebounded somewhat after falling below $25 a barrel.
     The dollar dropped for a second day versus its biggest peers. Investors are seeing U.S. and global equity indexes posting their first consecutive daily gains since just before the rout began a month ago, even as economies from Milan to Seattle reel from the deepening pandemic. With infections mounting globally and Spain reporting more than 700 deaths in a single day, traders are reminded that the threat to the global economy is well alive.
     “These markets are trading on sentiment. Shifting between panic to optimism,” said Nathan Thooft, Manulife Investment Management’s head of global asset allocation. “At the macro level, policy keeps evolving, and the economic data we know is going to be bad, but magnitudes are a wild card and there is little certainty on duration.”
     Spot gold drifted lower after a squeeze of historic proportions pushed its prices to the biggest one-day gain since November 2008 on Tuesday. The closing of refineries and demand for physical gold had caused a disconnect between prices in London and New York.
     These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 1.2% as of 4:04 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 3.1%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 5.6%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 1.2%.
* The euro gained 0.9% to $1.0888.
* The British pound advanced 1.1% to $1.1886.
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 111.18 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 0.84%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose six basis points to -0.262%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield slid three basis points to 0.445%.
Commodities
* Gold declined 1.3% to $1,610.41 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 1.5% to $24.37 a barrel.
–With assistance from Jeremy Herron, Katherine Greifeld, Cecile Gutscher and Todd White.
Have a great night.

 

Be magnificent!

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Nothing softeneth the arrogance of our nature like a mixture of some frailties. It is by them that we are best told, that we must not strike too hard upon others because we ourselves do so often deserve blows. They pull our rage by the sleeve and whisper gentleness to us in our censures.

                                                                         -Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1^st Earl of Halifax, 1881-1959.

 

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM

Senior Investment Advisor

 

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

 

Tel: 778.430.5808

(C): 250.881.0801

Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895

Fax: 778.430.5828

www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On March 24, 1989, one of the nation’s worst oil spills occurred as the supertanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on a reef in Alaska’s Prince William Sound and began leaking 11 million gallons of crude. Go to article »

William Morris, poet, b. 1834.
Founder of the Arts and Crafts movement, William Morris believed that simple objects crafted by hand  were preferable to ornate mass-produced objects cheaply turned out by machine.  He created elegant textile designs incorporating arabesques of plants, flowers, and birds, which found their inspiration in medieval tapestries and historical fabrics and relied on traditional methods, such as hand-block printing and vegetable dyeing.
     -From the exhibition “William Morris: The Reactionary Revolutionary” at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Beauty, which is what is meant by art, using the word in its widest sense, is, I contend, no mere accident to human life, which people can take or leave as they choose, but a positive necessity of life. -William Morris.

What it looks like from space when everything stops. -Bloomberg.

At the 19th annual U.S. Coffee Championships (which convened a month before any coronavirus restrictions), competitors in the barista division had just 15 minutes to prove their coffee-making skills. Each contestant was judged for creativity and taste — and did not disappoint.

Take a look at some of their wild designs, which ranged from the whimsical to theatrical — one barista used a device to turn coffee clear, and another used an edible-bubble maker to encapsulate Earl Grey essential oil smoke on top of an espresso shot.-NY Times.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Clear skies and a light frost in Ely, Cambridgeshire, on Monday morning. The forecast for England this week is mostly cold nights and sunny days.
CREDIT: DAVID ROSE FOR THE TELEGRAPH

This incredible image of a bluetit and a a siskin fighting in mid-air were captured by photographer Andrew Fusek Peters as he captured the squabbling birds through his kitchen window during self-isolation. Wildlife photographer Andrew has been coing up with new ways to continue his hoppy whilst following best practice on social distancing due to Coronavirus.
CREDIT: ANDREW FUSEK PETERS /SWNS.COM

A rare unnamed foal takes its first steps on to the fields at Orchid Stud near Yeovil, Somerset, UK. The Pure Spanish colt foal of Lago Hidalga and Peral of Peace was born on March 11^th at 4am and is an extremely rare colour in the Spanish breed, one of a handful in the entire world.
CREDIT: LEN COPLAND/SWNS

The Milky Way over Bamburgh lighthouse at Stag Rock in Northumberland, UK.
CREDIT: OWEN HUMPHREYS/PA WIRE

Market Closes for March 24^th ,2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20704.91	+2112.98
		+11.36%
S&P 500	2447.33	+209.93
		+9.38%
NASDAQ	7417.855	+557.182 +8.12%
TSX	12571.08	+1342.59
		+11.96%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18092.35	+1204.57
		+7.13%
HANG SENG	22663.49	+967.36
		+4.46%
SENSEX	26674.03	+692.79
		+2.67%
FTSE 100*	5446.01	+452.12 +9.05%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.874	0.791
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.334	1.260
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.8482	0.7547
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.3990	1.3201

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.69076	0.68938
US $	1.44767	1.45058
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.56174	0.64031
US $	1.07890	0.92687

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1525.40	1494.40
Oil
WTI Crude Future	20.01	20.36

Market Commentary:
On this day in 2008, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon raised his firm’s bid for Bear Stearns to $10 a share, or $1.2 billion, to quell objections to the deal. Bear had been worth about $20 billion at the start of 2007.

Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks soared the most in at least 43 years, joining a global rally on hopes government stimulus will soon flow to economies hammered by the coronavirus. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 12% on Tuesday, the biggest one-day percentage jump since at least 1977 when the index’s predecessor began. South of the border, stocks boomed with the Dow Jones Industrial average posting its best day since 1933 as a U.S. stimulus bill of about $2 trillion inches forward. Investors had been searching for buying opportunities amid the brutal sell-off but volatility has made it difficult to call a bottom on the stocks. The Canadian market is still down about 30% from its February peak. “We had cash going into this period, and I have been investing it as the market has been going down,” said Whitney George, chief investment officer of Sprott Asset Management. “I have been reinvesting the proceeds incrementally as the market keeps dropping.” Gold’s spot price was up about 5% and silver more than 6% on Tuesday, giving a boost to mining stocks. The spending package by the U.S. government caused Goldman Sachs to predict an “inflection point” for gold and the bank is recommending its clients buy now.
     Canada’s economic heartland is shutting down to fight the virus outbreak. Ontario and Quebec, which together account for about 57% of the country’s economy, have ordered non-essential businesses to close by the end of today. Nearly one million Canadians applied for jobless claims last week, representing almost 5% of the labor force, according to a senior government official with knowledge of the data. Debate on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s C$82 billion ($57 billion) stimulus package is stalled as parties negotiate the terms in a minority parliament. Within the energy patch, record low prices for heavy Canadian crude have prompted one of the biggest operators in the oil sands to take the rare step of shutting production. Motivated by the “extremely low” prices, Suncor Energy Inc. announced on Tuesday that it will shut in one of its two so- called trains at its two-year-old, 194,000 barrel a day Fort Hills oil sands mine. Bombardier Inc. said it will suspend all non-essential work at most Canadian-based operations tonight until April 26 to comply with government mandates to help slow the spread of Covid-19. Sprott’s George is keeping a positive outlook for the market despite all the volatility. “Looking ahead, I am confident that markets and the economy will bounce back as they have had in the past,” he said.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $15.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose about 4.7% to $1,626.15 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was little changed at C$1.4487 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose about 8 basis points to 0.873%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 12 percent at 12,571.08 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 16 percent on Jan. 1, 1975 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 5.3 percent. Today, financials stocks led the market higher, as all sectors gained; 226 of 230 shares rose, while 2 fell. Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 13.2 percent. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. Had the largest increase, rising 41.9 percent.
Insights
* This quarter, the index fell 26 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* This month, the index fell 23 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* The index declined 22 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 14 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 30 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 12.5 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.9 percent in the past 5 days and fell 28 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.5 on a trailing basis and 12.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 4.1 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$1.71t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 83.83 percent compared with 74.55 percent in the previous session and the average of 40.47 percent over the past month
====================================
| Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
====================================
Financials | 463.1995| 13.4| 26/0
Energy | 203.2162| 14.7| 28/0
Materials | 184.9451| 12.5| 47/0
Industrials | 135.1444| 9.7| 29/2
Information Technology | 94.0207| 11.2| 10/0
Utilities | 67.6293| 11.8| 16/0
Communication Services | 55.7043| 7.8| 8/0
Consumer Discretionary | 53.0214| 13.6| 16/0
Consumer Staples | 42.4571| 7.9| 11/0
Real Estate | 33.7777| 10.0| 25/0
Health Care | 9.4742| 7.9| 10/0

US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — With Congress closing in on an unprecedented spending bill to prop up the slumping economy, U.S. stocks had
their best day in almost a dozen years as investors rediscovered their appetite for risk. The dollar halted a 10-day winning streak. The S&P 500 rebounded from the lowest level since 2016, notching a third straight Tuesday turnaround — and the biggest one-day gain since October 2008 — after starting the week with a rout. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 11% to clock its biggest advance since 1933. Lawmakers are negotiating the final sticking points in a roughly $2 trillion stimulus bill to help the U.S. economy get through the coronavirus pandemic, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was hopeful a deal could be reached today. “U.S. equities are responding to the possibility of this gargantuan fiscal stimulus package and some certainty in the political situation,” Stephen Dover, head of equities at Franklin Templeton, said in a phone interview.
     The Stoxx Europe 600 Index also surged, led by health-care and industrial companies, even as data began to show the extent of economic damage to the region from the coronavirus pandemic. Benchmarks across Asia jumped, with Korea’s index soaring almost 9% after the government announced measures to stabilize markets. The dollar slumped against developed and emerging currencies alike, in a tentative sign of reduced stress after the greenback’s steepest appreciation since the global financial crisis and longest winning streak since 2012. European bonds tracked Treasuries lower. About $26 trillion has evaporated from equity markets since mid-February, and investors have been left sifting the wreckage and weigh the chances of a lasting rebound.
     On the one hand, Wall Street has begun to argue that liquidations are nearing an end with real-money investors like pension funds ready to step in, and there are signs of improvement in some of world’s regions that were hardest-hit by the virus. On the other, the number of infections globally continues to accelerate and many of the largest economies are grinding to a halt. Tuesday’s gain in risk assets follows an unprecedented move by the Federal Reserve to backstop large swaths of the financial system. Still, key gauges of U.S. manufacturing and services in March fell the most on record, suggesting the deep toll the pandemic has already taken. “Sentiment has improved, but to call it a turning point is too strong a word for now,” said James McCormick, global head of desk strategy at NatWest Markets. “It is more of a tug-of-war. Policy bazooka is in place, but will be fighting against very weak data and still worrying trends on Covid-19 data. We are more neutral on risk assets now.” Elsewhere, emerging-market stocks jumped alongside their currencies. Gold extended recent a recent surge and industrial metals rallied.

Here are the moves across major assets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index gained 9.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 8.4%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index surged 4.9%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index sank 0.7%.
* The euro increased 0.4% to $1.0772.
* The British pound climbed 1.7% to $1.1743.
* The Japanese yen slipped 0.3% to 111.51 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased six basis points to 0.85%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to -0.322%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose five basis points to 0.479%.
Commodities
* Gold increased 4.6% to $1,625.32 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 2.3% to $23.89 a barrel.

–With assistance from Sarah Ponczek.

Have a  great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Experience is helpful, but it is judgement that matters.
                              -General Colin Powell, b. 1937

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Happy Friday!
Something to smile about. 4 of the 5 happiest countries in the world are in Scandinavia, with Finland coming in first place. -Bloomberg

The latest product to sell out in the stockpiling rush? Coconut water
People are a mystery sometimes. -CNN

Meet Wonderchicken, the oldest modern bird, which lived with dinosaurs and survived their extinction 
Yes, we absolutely do want to meet anything called Wonderchicken. –CNN

Closer look: A photographer in New York has been documenting the anxious purchase of emergency supplies, and other virus-related economic activity.

The 100 best movies on Netflix, and all the HBO shows, ranked. –The New York Times.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Early-morning sunlight shines on an empty country road near Bautzen, eastern Germany
CREDIT: FILP SINGER/EPA -EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

A man walks on a snow-covered path during a snowfall in Ankara
CREDIT: ADEM ALTAN/ AFP

Cheviot Mule ewes catch the morning light in their lambing shed at Oxnam village in the Scottish Borders.
CREDIT: CHRIS STRICKLAND / ALAMY LIVE NEWS
Market Closes for March 20^th ,2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19173.98	-913.21
		-4.55%
S&P 500	2304.92	-104.47
		-4.34%
NASDAQ	6879.520	-271.058 -3.79%
TSX	11851.81	-318.71
		-2.62%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16552.83	-173.72
		-1.04%
HANG SENG	22805.07	+1095.94
		+5.05%
SENSEX	29915.96	+1627.73
		+5.75%
FTSE 100*	5190.78	+39.17 +0.76%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.869	1.000
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.286	1.427
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.8454	1.1404
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.4169	1.7848

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6969	0.68912
US $	1.4348	1.45112
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5399	0.6490
US $	1.0730	0.9312

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1498.65	1498.20
Oil
WTI Crude Future	22.43	25.22

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1602, the Western world’s first major publicly traded company was born, as the Dutch legislature granted a monopoly on trade to the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or Dutch East India Company, which dealt in booming consumer products like cloves, tea, black pepper and Chinese porcelain. In 1609, the company’s directors declared that investors could not sell their shares back to the company, but only to other investors—giving birth to the modern stock market.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 2.6 percent at 11,851.56 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s increase of 3.8 percent.
Brookfield Asset Management Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 10.7 percent. OceanaGold Corp. had the largest drop, falling 18.3 percent.
Today, 143 of 230 shares fell, while 85 rose; 8 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.

Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss six times. The next day, it advanced five times for an average 4.2 percent and declined 12.3 percent once
* So far this week, the index fell 14 percent
* This quarter, the index fell 31 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* This month, the index fell 27 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* The index declined 27 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 20 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 34 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 4.3 percent above its low on March 19, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.8 on a trailing basis and 11.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 4.4 percent on a trailing 12- month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$1.86t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 73.82 percent compared with 73.75 percent in the previous session and the average of 33.88 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | -140.6847| -3.6| 6/20
Materials | -85.6200| -5.7| 5/42
Industrials | -63.1177| -4.2| 9/22
Communication Services| -37.2592| -4.5| 1/7
Utilities | -20.7231| -3.0| 6/9
Information Technology| -9.9447| -1.2| 4/6
Consumer Discretionary| -1.4239| -0.4| 8/8
Consumer Staples | -1.0074| -0.2| 4/7
Real Estate | 1.6142| 0.4| 17/8
Health Care | 2.1566| 1.8| 7/2
Energy | 37.2995| 2.6| 18/12
US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks dropped to cap the worst week for equities since the global financial crisis amid dire warnings about the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic and as governments stepped up efforts to keep people at home.
The S&P 500 Index tumbled to its lowest in three years, ending the week down 15% as the European Union said the recession this year may be as bad as 2009, and Goldman Sachs warned the U.S. economy may shrink 24% on an annualized basis in the second quarter. Oil sank as governments around the world imposed restrictions on movement to slow the disease’s spread, bringing its weekly decline to 29%.
The 10-year Treasury yield fell back below 1%. The dollar was little changed after vaulting more than 8% in the previous eight sessions as the Federal Reserve coordinated action with global central banks to beef up dollar liquidity swap line arrangements. Gold edged higher.
“This is not a market that is going to all of a sudden heal itself,” Marvin Loh, senior global macro strategist at State Street Global Markets, said by phone. Investors are weighing a faster pace of coronavirus infections against flickers of optimism that have followed extraordinary government actions to protect the global economy, from plans for stimulus and cash handouts to nationalizing companies. Hedge funds, stock exchanges, banks and even brick- and-mortar businesses in the U.S. are lobbying Washington policy makers not to shut markets.
Still, the World Health Organization said that the pace of infections is speeding up. Cases doubled to 200,000 in the 12 days through Thursday, but just one day later the tally already was almost halfway to 300,000. U.S. stock trading volumes surged to about 60% above the average in the midst of a phenomenon known as quadruple witching caused by expiring options and futures contracts.
In the latest virus developments,
* Global deaths top more than 10,000, according to Johns Hopkins University; Italy reported 627 deaths, the most in one day
* Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered New Yorkers to stay at home for the foreseeable future following a similar move by California
* The European Central Bank provided capital relief measures to banks
* Air France-KLM and Airbus SE are poised to tap French government-backed loans
* Switzerland announced a 32 billion franc ($32.6 billion) economic support package
* The German government wants to set up a rescue fund for companies hit by coronavirus worth about 500 billion euros.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 4.4% at 4 p.m. New York time; the Nasdaq Composite slid 3.8%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 1.8%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index surged 2.5%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%.
* The euro weakened 0.3% to $1.0665.
* The British pound climbed 0.8% to $1.1574.
* The Japanese yen slipped 0.5% to 111.23 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries dropped 23 basis points to 0.91%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell 13 basis points to -0.33%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield decreased 16 basis points to 0.55%.
Commodities
* Gold gained 0.9% to $1,484.98 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 11% to $22.43 a barrel.
–With assistance from Adam Haigh and Jake Lloyd-Smith.
Have  a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Behold my son, with what little wisdom the world is ruled.
               -Count Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna, 1583-1654
Letter to his son at the conclusion of the Thirty Years War

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy first day of Spring!

It’s the Spring Equinox tonight.

Matthew Cappucci wrote the following article for The Washington Post this morning, which I found interesting:
An unusually early spring equinox arrives late Thursday night, as days continue to grow longer as sunsets arrive later.
The shifting seasons are marked by the vernal equinox. Equinoxes occur twice a year — once to usher in fall, and once to herald the arrival of spring.
During most years, the spring equinox falls between March 20 and 22. But for those in the United States, that’s not the case this year. In fact, space.com reports that the March 19 equinox is earlier than any in the past 124 years.
When and what is the vernal equinox?
The vernal equinox isn’t a day; it’s a precise moment that strikes at 11:49 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday night. In that instant, the sun’s most direct rays will cross the equator from the Southern Hemisphere into the Northern Hemisphere. And after that, they’re ours for the taking over the next six months.
And with that, spring will arrive — spelling an end to a winter that for many on the East Coast was over before it began.
Earth’s tilted axis is the reason for the season. Our planet is 23.5 degrees off kilter from the vertical, meaning that at certain times of the year some of us receive more direct sunlight than others.
During the spring and summer months, the Northern Hemisphere leans toward the sun. That allows us to soak up the most intense sunlight, with increasing temperatures as we approach June, July and August.
We experience the greatest solar heating in June around the time of the summer solstice, but because of a phenomenon known as “seasonal lag” many of us don’t experience our warmest temperatures until July.
Once we pass the autumnal equinox in September, our tilt, combined with Earth’s position amid its annual orbit around the sun, means our lean is now away from the sun. It’s the Southern Hemisphere’s turn to soak up extra vitamin D.
It’s also why Christmas is a summer holiday in Australia.
Equal day and equal night? Not so fast.
Despite the term “equinox,” originating from Latin words that translate to “equal night,” the length of day vs. night is not in balance on the equinox.  Sunrise is defined as the moment the upper limb of the sun pokes over the horizon — the first hints of sunlight. Sunset occurs when the last glimmers of sunlight disappear below the horizon. Because we’re taking the first-up, last-down approach to defining day length, rather than tracking when a single point on the sun is above the horizon, our day is a couple of minutes longer than 12 hours.
Moreover, our day can sometimes be stretched a bit by mirages. No, mirages don’t only occur in the desert. When the air’s temperature (and therefore its density) and amount of bending light change significantly in various levels of the atmosphere, we can sometimes see the sun even after it has set below the horizon.
The result? Some folks could experience a day as much as 12 hours 20 minutes long on the equinox if they lived near the North Pole.
The days are lengthening rapidly
The spring equinox also marks the point at which day length is growing the fastest. It’s kind of like a pendulum; with one extreme representing winter and the other summer, the pendulum is moving the fastest as it swings past the center point — the spring equinox.
In the nation’s capital, the days are growing longer by 2 minutes 32 seconds every day. In Boston, that figure jumps to 2 minutes 52 seconds. In Miami, the shift is a little less impressive — only about 90 seconds daily.
Areas closer to the equator experience the least day-to-day variation. As you go poleward, it’s more extreme. That’s why the Arctic Circle is sunlit all night in the summertime, but you can see two months of straight darkness as “polar night” settles in each winter.
The position of sunrise and sunset change
The spring and fall equinoxes are the only times when every place on Earth should experience a sunrise that is due east, as well as a sunset perfectly west.
Over the coming three months, sunrise and sunset positions in the Northern Hemisphere will continue to scoot to the north as the sun traces a longer path throughout the sky. During the winter, the sun retreats farther south, and so do the points at which it’s visible over the horizon.
The bottom line?
Spring has sprung! Summer is just a few short months away.

An ode to snowmen.
As we officially say goodbye to winter today, our Surfacing team spoke with an artist obsessed with photographs of that season’s most ephemeral friend. Eric Oglander’s collection contains
contains hundreds of antique photographs of snowmen and their creators.
“Seeing one of these photographs is neat. Seeing 300 creates a thread through human history that ties us together,” he said. “That might sound sappy, but that’s OK.”
Happy spring! -The New York Times.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

David Hockney has created a cheering artwork to boost spirits while he is in self-isolation in France
CREDIT: TELEGRAPH, MARCH 19, 2020

An osprey swoops down to catch a meal after returning from their African migration, Horn Mill, Rutland, UK
CREDIT: RUSSELL PARSONS/SWNS

Participants swing a burning thatch sheaf attached at one end of rope creating a mystical ring of fire during the “Hiburi-Shinji’ ritual at Aso Jinja Shrine in Japan
CREDIT: THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
Market Closes for March 19^th ,2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20087.19	+188.27
		+0.95%
S&P 500	2409.39	+11.29
		+0.47%
NASDAQ	7150.578	+160.734 +2.3%
TSX	12170.52	+449.10
		+3.83%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16552.83	-173.72
		-1.04%
HANG SENG	21709.13	-582.69
		-2.61%
SENSEX	28288.23	-581.28
		-2.01%
FTSE 100*	5151.61	+71.03 +1.40%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.000	1.050
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.427	1.462
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.1404	1.1684
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.7848	1.7580

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.68912	0.69176
US $	1.45112	1.44559
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.54770	0.64612
US $	1.06646	0.93768

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1498.20	1536.20
Oil
WTI Crude Future	25.22	20.37

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1720, shares in the South Sea Co., the hot new seller of speculative annuities, took off on the sharpest upswing the British stock market had ever seen, rocketing from 218 to 320 by March 21 on rumors of financial chaos in France. By year-end the shares were nearly worthless, and investors nearly beat several stockbrokers to death.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose Thursday as investors continue to digest global stimulus plans while also on the lookout for buying opportunities.
After sliding as much as 3.1% at the open, the S&P/TSX Composite erased that slump, rising to close 3.8% higher. All eleven sectors rose, with cannabis and energy producers among some of the biggest gainers.
Pot stocks rallied after Bank of America said that people cooped up at home has spurred higher demand for marijuana. Hexo Corp. was the No. 1 stock on the benchmark with a 56% surge. Oil and gas stocks joined the rally in crude after U.S. President Donald Trump said he could get involved in the standoff between Saudi Arabia and Russia that had roiled the commodities market.
The Canadian government has taken steps to stave off a recession and is already indicating it will do more. But its federal deficit will likely blow past C$100 billion ($69 billion) this year, according to one economist. Scotiabank’s Rebekah Young said in an interview with Bloomberg News that the stimulus package will probably need to double in order to stabilize the economy.
Meanwhile, investors may be assessing potential buying opportunities after fears of a recession and the oil price sent the S&P/TSX Composite through a key support level to the lowest since 2012 on Wednesday. “People were basically selling anything that they could” ahead of today, Mark Wisniewski, senior portfolio manager of Toronto-based Ninepoint Partners said. Liquidity in the market also may not have been as strong as it should have been, he added.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $13.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.8% to $1,474 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.1% to C$1.4518 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 4.7 basis points to 1.001%
From Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 3.8 percent at 12,170.46 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 7.6 percent.
TC Energy Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 9.8 percent. Hexo Corp. had the largest increase, rising 55.8 percent.
Today, 188 of 230 shares rose, while 41 fell; all sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain once
* So far this week, the index fell 11 percent
* This quarter, the index fell 29 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* The index declined 25 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 17 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 32.3 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 7.1 percent above its low on March 19, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 2.7 percent in the past 5 days and fell 32 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.2 on a trailing basis and 11.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 4.3 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$1.79t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 73.75 percent compared with 72.33 percent in the previous session and the average of 30.82 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 105.1666| 2.8| 17/9
Energy | 102.0529| 7.6| 28/1
Materials | 65.0841| 4.6| 39/8
Industrials | 46.4795| 3.2| 24/7
Communication Services | 45.0692| 5.8| 8/0
Consumer Discretionary | 30.8492| 8.3| 15/1
Utilities | 23.8506| 3.6| 15/1
Information Technology | 12.6877| 1.6| 9/1
Health Care | 11.1320| 10.2| 10/0
Consumer Staples | 6.3802| 1.1| 8/3
Real Estate | 0.3457| 0.1| 15/10
US
By Vildana Hajric and Claire Ballentine
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks edged higher as investors gave a tepid vote of confidence to the battery of economic and financial measures from global policy makers aimed at easing the market turmoil. Oil soared and the dollar extended its rally.
     The Nasdaq Composite Index led gains as bargain hunters snapped up tech shares, with Tesla Inc., Twitter Inc. and Netflix Inc. all up at least 5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed back above 20,000. Crude surged the most on record as Middle East producers began to show signs of strain and President Donald Trump said he would get involved in the oil price standoff at the “appropriate time.” “Investors are digesting the coming fiscal tsunami and the implication of central banks pulling out all the stops,” said Ed Campbell, a portfolio manager and managing director at QMA.
     “We’re seeing some stabilization today. I would definitely hesitate to call a bottom.” Treasury yields dipped. Stocks gained in Europe after falling across most of Asia. Sovereign bonds soared in Italy, Spain and Portugal after the region’s central bank boosted its efforts to stabilize the economy and capital markets. The yen, so often a haven amid market stress, slumped in a sign of the extraordinary demand for the greenback, which strengthened for an eighth day to its highest in at least 15 years. WTI oil jumped as much as 36% after a plunge that had taken it to almost $20 a barrel on Wednesday.
     Investors took a break from what has been a wave of selling to evaluate the unprecedented policy actions taken to fight the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump sought to reassure skeptical Republicans that he’s aiming to help workers through the crisis, not necessarily corporations, a priority made all the more urgent after data showed U.S. jobless claims came in higher than expected.
The latest efforts to mitigate the damage include the Bank of England cutting its bank rate and increasing its bond buying program, the European Central Bank launching a 750 billion euro ($815 billion) debt-buying plan, and the Federal Reserve’s support for money-market mutual funds. South Africa cut interest rates and Germany may authorize emergency debt issuance.
     But looming over everything is the question of how long the economic downturn will last as coronavirus cases surged in the U.S. and Europe. The number of dead in Italy has surpassed those in China.
     “There’s a lot of panic, but there are buyers on Wall Street looking for opportunities,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist for the Leuthold Group. “The issue is we don’t know where this is going to be in two months.”
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time; the Nasdaq Composite added 2.3%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 2.9%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 3.1%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index fell 2.4%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 1.3%.
* The euro sank 2.2% to $1.0677.
* The British pound fell 0.6% to $1.1534.
* The Japanese yen weakened 2.4% to 110.78 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 1.16%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose four basis points to -0.20%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell 7 basis points to 0.72%.
* Japan’s 10-year yield climbed three basis points to 0.08%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 25% to $25.43 a barrel.
* Gold weakened 0.4% to $1,479.78 an ounce.
–With assistance from Gregor Stuart Hunter, Cormac Mullen, Adam Haigh, Todd White, Andrew Cinko and Sophie Caronello.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Achilles wrath to Greece the direful Spring
Of Woes unnumber’d, heavenly Goddess, sing!
The Wrath which hurl’d to Pluto’s gloomy Reign
The Soul of mighty Chiefs untimely slain.
-Homer, c. 8^th century BCE, The Illiad, l

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

First the good news: The futures are pointing to higher stock prices for Thursday morning due to the ECB announcing a massive stimulus package.
Now the reality of today: S&P closed down 5% after yesterday’s 5% gain, Nasdaq closed down 4.7% and the TSX gave up 7.6% today; oil, West Texas Intermediate closed down 25% to $20.37/barrel, and I never thought I’d ever live to tell you this, but the 3-month US Treasury had a negative yield today.  That means a three month Treasury Bill guaranteed the investor a loss at maturity.  T-bills are discount instruments, meaning you buy them at a discount and they mature at par, e.g. $97 investment matures at $100.  Today, the 3-month bill maturing at $100 cost the investor $104.

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick.  Don’t lose faith. -Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

What some people are using to stay entertained…
The internet. There are several places that offer free trials to stream movies and shows. The Met is offering free streaming of operas. Museums have virtual tours. And celebrities (like Ben Platt, John Legend, and Keith Urban) hosted virtual dance parties and concerts. Oh, and if you’re still trying to figure out how to best WFH (with or without kids around), we have a guide for that. –The Skimm.

All the virtual concerts, plays, museums and other culture you can enjoy from home 
Ballgown and monocle not required (unless you’re feeling fancy). -CNN.

On March 18, 1965, the first spacewalk took place as Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov left his Voskhod 2 capsule and remained outside the spacecraft for 20 minutes, secured by a tether. Go to article »

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Flowers are stored prior to their destruction at the flower auction in Aalsmeer.
CREDIT: LEX VAN LIESHOUT/ AFP

A labourer sprays disinfectant in Jordan’s archaeological city of Petra south of capital Amman.
CREDIT: KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP

Fons Americanus, by artist Kara Walker, on show in the near empty Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, all Tate Galleries will be shut until May.
CREDIT: DOMINIC LIPINSKI/PA

A woman sits on the sand at Arpoador beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Firemen began blaring recordings that urge beachgoers to stay home as a measure to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus , on Monday, one day before Rio’s Gov. Wilson Witzel decreed a state of emergency.
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/SILVIA IZQUIERDO

Market Closes for March 18^th ,2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	19898.92	-1338.46
		-6.30%
S&P 500	2398.10	-131.09
		-5.18%
NASDAQ	6989.844	-344.938 -4.70%
TSX	11721.42	-963.79
		-7.60%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	16726.55	-284.98
		-1.68%
HANG SENG	22291.82	-971.91
		-4.18%
SENSEX	28869.51	-1709.58
		-5.59%
FTSE 100*	5080.58	-214.32 -4.05%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.050	0.970
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.462	1.430
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.1684	1.0572
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.7580	1.6685

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.69176	0.70414
US $	1.44559	1.42017
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.57710	0.63408
US $	1.09097	0.91662

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1536.20	1487.70
Oil
WTI Crude Future	20.37	26.95

Market Commentary:
On this day in 2008, the Fed cut its short-term interest-rate target three-quarters of a percentage point to 2.25%, sending the Dow industrials up 420 points, or 3.5%, at 12392.66. Shares of Lehman Brothers Holdings, which had been under sharp pressure, soared more than 46% after it released first-quarter earnings.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 7.6 percent at 11,721.75 in Toronto. The index dropped to the lowest closing level in at least a year. The move follows the previous session’s increase of 2.6 percent. Today, financials stocks led the market lower, as all sectors lost; 217 of 230 shares fell, while 12 rose. Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 10.2 percent. Inter Pipeline Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 29.8 percent.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss three times. The next day, it advanced after all three occasions
* This quarter, the index fell 31 percent, heading for the biggest decline in at least 10 years
* The index declined 28 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 18 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 34.8 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 3 percent above its low on March 18, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 18 percent in the past 5 days and fell 34 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.7 on a trailing basis and 11.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 4.4 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$1.94t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 72.33 percent compared with 69.72 percent in the previous session and the average of 27.76 percent over the past month

================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | -317.5019| -7.7| 0/26
Energy | -191.0483| -12.5| 4/26
Materials | -142.8154| -9.1| 1/45
Real Estate | -65.7796| -14.3| 0/25
Industrials | -58.6946| -3.9| 3/28
Utilities | -56.0494| -7.9| 0/16
Consumer Discretionary| -51.1344| -12.1| 0/16
Communication Services| -38.9377| -4.8| 0/8
Information Technology| -25.2771| -3.0| 1/9
Health Care | -10.9771| -9.1| 0/10
Consumer Staples | -5.5805| -1.0| 3/8
US
By Jeremy Herron
(Bloomberg) — Financial markets spasmed, sending U.S. stocks down more than 5% and Bloomberg’s dollar index up to a record, as the economic fallout from the pandemic outpaced the massive response from governments and central banks. The S&P 500 fell as much as 9.8%, before a late-session bounce trimmed the decline, with investors craving more government spending to offset the impact from the virus. After markets closed, the Senate cleared the second major bill responding to the coronavirus pandemic and White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the government might take an equity position as part of an aid package. Futures on the S&P500 that trade till 4:15 p.m. in New York trimmed declines. Sovereign debt tumbled around the world and municipal bonds extended the deepest rout since 1987 as markets braced for the potential flood of spending. Oil sank 24% to an 18-year low. The dollar strengthened a seventh straight day. The pound hit its lowest level against the greenback since 1985. Dollar-funding markets remained strained, although improved from extreme levels in recent days. Stocks fell to session lows after Trump offered few details at a press briefing on the specifics his Treasury secretary is discussing with Congress. The Federal Reserve dusted off crisis- era programs to stabilize financial markets.
Governments have pledged or are considering massive fiscal support to offset the economic shock from the pandemic, with the Trump administration moving toward a big package, but the virus continues to spread at a pace that is forcing massive shutdowns across the globe. “The missing fundamental ingredient for a sustainable recovery in risk appetite is some evidence that the growth of global Covid-19 infection rates is peaking,” said Paul O’Connor, head of multi-asset at Janus Henderson Investors. “Clearly, we are not there yet.” The planned U.S. stimulus could amount to $1.2 trillion, aiming to stave off the worst impact of a crisis that already looks set to plunge many of the world’s economies into recession. Meantime, the Federal Reserve reintroduced additional crisis-era tools to stabilize financial markets. Those responses came after stresses appeared in the short-term funding markets. “I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet in terms of liquidity,” Mark Konyn, chief investment officer at AIA Group in Hong Kong, told Bloomberg TV. “It’s a question of when the fiscal measures will have the most efficacy.”

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index fell 5.2% to 2,398 as of 4 p.m. New York time.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 6.3% to the lowest in more than three years.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 4.7%.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index declined 7% to the lowest in more than three years.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 2.1%, hitting the highest in more than three years with its seventh straight advance and the largest rise in almost four years.
*The Japanese yen depreciated 0.7% to 108.43 per dollar, the weakest in more than two weeks.
*The euro declined 1.5% to $1.0836, the weakest in more than three weeks.
*The British pound decreased 4.1% to $1.1561, reaching the weakest on record with its seventh consecutive decline.
Bonds
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose 14 basis points to 1.21%.
*Britain’s 10-year yield increased 20 basis points to 0.756%, the highest in almost 10 weeks on the biggest climb in more than six years.
*Germany’s 10-year yield advanced 16 basis points to -0.27%, hitting the highest in eight weeks with its seventh straight advance.
*Ireland’s 10-year yield gained 15 basis points to 0.499%, reaching the highest in about 10 months on its fifth consecutive advance.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude fell 17% to $22.52 a barrel.
*Gold depreciated 2.2% to $1,494 an ounce, the weakest in 12 weeks.
–With assistance from Robert Brand and Vildana Hajric.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The soul is dyed the  color of its thoughts.  Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day.  The content of your character is your choice.  Day by day, what you do is who you become. -Heraclitus, c. 540 BCE-c. 480 BCE.

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com