Month: April 2020

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Tonight is Beltane, Wicca, & Walpurgisnacht~ Witch’s Night, Europe.
It is an ancient Celtic festival with a sacrificial fire, beginning just past Midnight, welcoming in May 1^st and celebrating May Day.  The derivation is uncertain, but the name is not connected with Baal.  Fires are lit on the hill tops, and cattle were driven between the flames in times of old – either to protect them from disease or as preparation for sacrifice.  Animal guisering, familiar from the hobby horse, derives from Beltane animal sacrifices, and a person born “between the Beltanes”, i.e., in the week beginning on May Day, is said to have power and influence over all living things.

April 30, 1789-George Washington is inaugurated as the first President of the United States of America.

On this day in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson signed the Louisiana Purchase, paying Napoleon Bonaparte $15 million for 828,000 square miles of territory, which stretches from the Mississippi River to the Rockies and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. In the stroke of a pen, the United States nearly doubled in size, and a huge frontier of opportunity opens for its citizens. The U.S. financed the deal by borrowing $11.25 million in 6% bonds from European investors

On April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces. Go to article »

Watch: Jordan Casteel, painter of Michelle Obama’s portrait, has her first solo museum show, and provides the voice-over for our video tour. Check out five artists to follow on Instagram. Then get to know Alice Wu, the director who influenced Awkwafina and Ali Wong. Ms. Wu’s new show on Netflix, “Half of It,” is a young-adult take on “Cyrano de Bergerac.” -from The New York Times.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A Robin is seen on a fence in Downing Street, London
CREDIT: REUTERS/TOBY MELVILLE

Face masks are on display outside a clothing store in Berlin amid the COVID – 19 pandemic. Masks are mandatory in shops across Germany as medical experts warned the public to stay disciplined.
CREDIT: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP

Aerial view of Venice city during nationwide lockdown, Gondola boats are moored in Piazza San Marco square in Venice, northern Italy.
CREDIT: FABIO MUZZI/EPA
Market Closes for April 30th, 2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	24345.72	-288.14
		-1.17%
S&P 500	2912.43	-27.08
		-0.92%
NASDAQ	8889.551	-25.159 -0.28%
TSX	14780.74	-447.37
		-2.94%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	20193.69	+422.50
		+2.14%
HANG SENG	24643.59	+67.63
		+0.28%
SENSEX	33717.62	+997.46
		+3.05%
FTSE 100*	5901.21	-214.04 -3.50%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.547	0.566
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.128	1.155
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.6393	0.6269
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.2848	1.2499

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.71649	0.72036
US $	1.39569	1.38819
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.52780	0.65454
US $	1.09465	0.91353

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1703.35	1691.55
Oil
WTI Crude Future	18.84	15.06

Market Commentary:
Royal Dutch Shell cut its dividend for the first time since World War II after first-quarter profit fell by nearly half as the coronavirus pandemic hit. The move was in contrast to BP, which said it would maintain its dividend
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities retreated Thursday after a four-day surge while U.S. stocks slumped amid dire economic warnings and more dismal data.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 2.9%, the most since April 21. Energy and materials led all eleven sectors lower. For the month of April, the index closed higher by more than 10%, the most since 2009.
The initial shock of the coronavirus shutdown has eased. Now comes an equally hard part for thousands of business owners: figuring out their next move as Canada crawls toward reopening its economy. Oil climbed for the second day as global production cuts deepened and signs of a recovery in physical markets emerged.
Gold futures fell for a fifth straight session after European Central Bank moves to stem the impact of virus weren’t as aggressive as some traders had anticipated.
Canada’s budget deficit will mushroom to C$252.1 billion($181 billion) in 2020-21 on Covid-19 spending and plummeting oil prices, according to estimates from the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
Large Canadian retailers are working with mall landlords and the government to find a way to absorb the hit from coronavirus shutdowns, according to the country’s biggest book chain.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $7.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold slid 1.5% to about $1,686.80 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.3% to C$1.3924 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 2.8 basis points to 0.539%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 2.9 percent at 14,780.74 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 3.1 percent on April 21 and follows the previous session’s increase of 2.9 percent.
Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.6 percent. Gildan Activewear Inc. had the largest drop, falling 12.8 percent.
Today, 195 of 230 shares fell, while 35 rose; all sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss nine times. The next day, it advanced eight times for an average 4.8 percent and declined 12.3 percent once
* So far this week, the index rose 2.5 percent
* This month, the index rose 10 percent, heading for the biggest advance in at least 10 years
* The index declined 11 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 2.6 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 17.8 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 32.3 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 3.7 percent in the past 5 days and rose 10 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.9 on a trailing basis and 18.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.5 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.32t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 54.68 percent compared with 54.22 percent in the previous session and the average of 81.79 percent over the past month
=============================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
=============================================
Financials | -157.2103| -3.5| 2/24
Energy | -81.0610| -3.9| 13/17
Materials | -80.4839| -3.7| 2/45
Industrials | -37.1663| -2.1| 11/20
Utilities | -23.1294| -2.9| 0/16
Consumer Discretionary| -16.7180| -2.9| 1/14
Communication Services| -15.3308| -1.8| 1/7
Consumer Staples | -14.7902| -2.3| 0/11
Real Estate | -9.0618| -1.9| 3/23
Information Technology| -7.4730| -0.6| 2/8
Health Care | -4.9091| -3.2| 0/10
US
By Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slumped amid dire economic warnings, more dismal data and corporate results that reflected the coronavirus’s toll, ending their best month in three decades on a slightly sour note.
Futures turned lower after the cash session ended, pushed down by Amazon.com’s warning that it could post a second-quarter loss as expenses balloon during the crisis. Apple also edged lower in after-hours trading before its earnings release.
The S&P 500 Index fell from a seven-week high as the U.S. reported a larger-than-expected jump in unemployment claims, with about four stocks lower for everyone in the green. Strong results from Microsoft Corp., Facebook Inc. and Tesla Inc. limited losses on the tech-heavy Nasdaq gauges. Crude rose for a second day on signs fuel consumption is starting to recover in the world’s biggest economies.
Still, the S&P 500 posted its biggest monthly gain since 1987, climbing 13% amid speculation that damage from the coronavirus may be short lived.
Investors continue to weigh a brutal economic picture against hopes for a coronavirus treatment and an eventual end to lockdown measures across the world. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn said the agency is moving at “lightning speed” to review data on Gilead Sciences’
experimental Covid-19 treatment. But earnings reports from tech giants show some parts of the economy have remained resilient. “It’s encouraging you’re seeing big tech earnings come in strong, but there’s still challenges,” said Brian Price, head of investment management for Commonwealth Financial Network. “There’s going to be a push-pull in the market for the foreseeable future.”
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell amid a barrage of bad economic readings and after European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said the euro-area economy could shrink 12% this year. The ECB intensified its response to the coronavirus crisis and the Federal Reserve said it planned to expand its
Main Street Lending Program.
Twitter Inc. slumped after reporting a drop in sales. Kraft Heinz Inc. fell as it said 2020 guidance remains uncertain. Royal Dutch Shell shares slipped after the firm cut its dividend for the first time since World War II.
Elsewhere, Japanese and Chinese equities rose over 1% as their Australian peers jumped more than 2%. Hong Kong and South Korea were shut for a holiday. Emerging-market stocks jumped.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index dropped 0.9% at the close of trade in New York.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 2%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.8%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 0.4%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.
* The euro rose 0.7% to $1.0955.
* The British pound rose 1% to $1.2591.
* The Japanese yen fell 0.6% to 107.34 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose one basis point to 0.64%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield sank nine basis points to -0.59%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 0.23%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 26% to $18.99 a barrel.
* Gold weakened 1.5% to $1,687.82 an ounce.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Life is not fair; get used to it.
             -Bill Gates, b.1955

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: ARBOR DAY – plant a tree!

52 places to visit virtually. This list will help you remember what…places…are.-The Skimm.

Easter Island, where about 1,000 monolithic statues dot the landscape. The photojournalist Benjamin Lowy traveled to the island, 2,200 miles off the coast of Chile, and his report is the latest in our Travel section series “The World Through a Lens.” –The New York Times.

A giant asteroid will fly by and be visible by telescope tonight, but experts say it won’t hit us 
………………..how comforting. -CNN.

And finally, turn your audio on for this one.
What would you play for friends to get them to fall in love with opera? We posed the question to Patti Smith, John Turturro, Renée Fleming and others, who picked five minutes of music that moves them.
For Ms. Fleming, the final scene of Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” is “absolutely riveting.” It was the heartbreaking aria in “Tosca” by Puccini for Ms. Smith. And Zachary Woolfe, the Times’s classical music editor, recommends the final duet in Monteverdi’s witty, wicked “L’Incoronazione di Poppea,” the tale of the crowning of Nero’s mistress as empress. -from The New York Times.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A selection of the 125,000 birthday cards that have been sent it Captain Tom Moore, for his 100^th birthday displayed in the Great Hall of Bedford school. 99-year-old Moore captured the hearts of the UK after initially setting out to raise just £1,000 for the NHS following the novel coronavirus outbreak, by walking 100 laps of his 25-metre garden. He has gone on to break the record for raising the most money in an individual charity walk, more than £27 million.
CREDIT: JUSTINTALLIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

A local resident dressed as Yamraj or Hindu god of death, wears a coronavirus-themed balloon necklace, during an awareness about social distancing and staying at home organised by Delhi police during a nationwide lockdown to slow the spreading of the Covid-19, in New Delhi, India
CREDIT: REUTERS/ADNAN ABIDI

Hatflinger mares with their foals run during this years first turn-out to grass at Europe’s largest Haflinger stud-farmin Meura, central Germany
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/JENS MEYER
Market Closes for April 29th, 2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	24633.86	+0.86
		+0.04%
S&P 500	2939.51	+76.12
		+2.66%
NASDAQ	8914.711	+306.980 +3.57%
TSX	15228.11	+429.82
		+2.90%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19771.19	-12.03
		-0.06%
HANG SENG	24643.59	+67.63
		+0.28%
SENSEX	32720.16	+605.64
		+1.89%
FTSE 100*	6115.25	+156.75 +2.63%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.566	0.576
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.155	1.168
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.6269	0.6129
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.2499	1.2042

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.72036	0.71416
US $	1.38819	1.40025
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.50958	0.72036
US $	1.08744	0.91959

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1691.55	1714.95
Oil
WTI Crude Future	15.06	12.34

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1863, William Randolph Hearst, one of the founders of the American media industry, was born to George Hearst, a wealthy miner and rancher, and Phoebe Apperson Hearst, a schoolteacher. In 1887, young “Billie Buster,” just out of Harvard, took over as editor of a fledgling newspaper called the San Francisco Examiner, which his father had recently acquired as settlement for a gambling debt. By the turn of the century, William Randolph Hearst was one of the world’s most powerful press barons—and the model for Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rallied Wednesday, following U.S. shares higher optimism surrounding a potential coronavirus treatment.
The U.S. government’s top infectious-disease expert said that early results of a closely watched clinical trial offered “quite good news” regarding a possible Covid-19 therapy made by Gilead Sciences Inc.
Also, oil rallied on a belief that consumption could gradually turn up as major producers continue to cut output to counter a global glut.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 2.9% for a fourth straight gain, to its highest level since March 6. Energy shares led the way as 10 of 11 sectors advanced. “The comeback in equity markets has been nothing short of impressive in the last month,” Candice Bangsund, a portfolio manager at Fiera Capital said on BNN Bloomberg. “Obviously investors are pricing in a fairly optimistic scenario,” she added. While global oil prices remain nearmulti-decade lows, the heads of two major Canadian crude producers see reasons for hope that the market will rebound in the months ahead.
Meanwhile, Bank of Montreal is preparing for a version 2.0 of life after the coronavirus pandemic, with plans being made for ongoing physical distancing and a blend of working at home and in offices.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $8 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.6% to about $1,717 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.9% to C$1.3928 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 1.5 basis points to 0.561%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the fourth day, climbing 2.9 percent, or 429.82 to 15,228.11 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 3.3 percent on April 17. Suncor Energy Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 13.4 percent. Celestica Inc. had the largest increase, rising 17.7 percent.
Today, 196 of 230 shares rose, while 34 fell; 10 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain seven times. The next day, it advanced four times for an average 1.7 percent and declined three times for an average 5.7 percent
* This month, the index rose 14 percent, heading for the biggest advance in at least 10 years
* The index declined 8.3 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 1.4 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 15.3 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 36.3 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 6.6 percent in the past 5 days and rose 20 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.2 on a trailing basis and 19.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.4 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.25t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 54.22 percent compared with 59.89 percent in the previous session and the average of 83.03 percent over the past month
================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================
Financials | 183.7227| 4.3| 25/1
Energy | 146.8343| 7.6| 29/1
Industrials | 34.4867| 2.0| 29/2
Consumer Discretionary | 18.4890| 3.4| 14/1
Materials | 16.4444| 0.8| 43/4
Information Technology | 14.6707| 1.2| 9/1
Utilities | 12.3531| 1.6| 14/2
Real Estate | 5.3827| 1.2| 18/8
Health Care | 3.5401| 2.3| 6/4
Communication Services | 2.4991| 0.3| 5/3
Consumer Staples | -8.6179| -1.3| 4/7
US
By Vildana Hajric and Sarah Ponczek
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied to a seven-week high on better-than-estimated revenue for Google’s parent company and hopes for a coronavirus treatment. Oil surged.
The S&P 500 Index gained 2.7% in a broad advance, with four stocks up for every one that fell after Gilead Sciences Inc. said its experimental drug helped Covid-19 patients recover faster. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose to within 1% of erasing losses for the year, led by Alphabet Inc. after it reported an ad-sales slowdown that wasn’t as bad as expected.
Oil futures rebounded after plunging 27% in two sessions. The dollar weakened.
Investors shrugged off warnings from the Federal Reserve that the ongoing public health crisis “poses considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term.” Data also showed the biggest contraction since 2008 in the first quarter as the world’s largest economy shrank at a 4.8% annualized pace.
Meantime, investors are weighing plans by countries around the world to restart activity, with hard-hit nations like Spain saying they need at least eight more weeks to fully lift restrictions. Post-market earnings from mega caps like Facebook Inc. will also give more insight into the impact of the outbreak. “What’s really driving markets at this stage is any positive news of potential treatments and vaccines, because ultimately that is a game changer,” said Seema Shah, a global investment strategist for Principal Global Investors. “That’s what’s going to be pushing markets, plus anything with regards to the lockdown being lifted earlier.”
Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index posted a third straight advance. Asian shares also rose. Japan was shut for a holiday. Colombia’s peso led a rally in emerging-market currencies, which were headed toward their best gain in 10 months.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index increased 2.7% at the close of trade in New York.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 1.8%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1.1%.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index gained 2.4%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.6%.
* The euro increased 0.5% to $1.0879.
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.246.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.3% to 106.6 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 0.61%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield decreased two basis points to -0.50%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.28%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 25% to $15.38 a barrel.
* Gold rose 0.4% to $1,713.97 an ounce.
–With assistance from Ishika Mookerjee, Adam Haigh, Robert Brand, Andreea Papuc and Todd White.

Have a great evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Common sense is instinct, and enough of it is genius.
                                     -Josh Billings, 1818-1885

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:
1789~The crew of the British ship Bounty mutinied, setting Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific.  Go to article »
April 28, 1789, Captain Bligh describes the mutiny on the Bounty in his Journal, quoted by John Barrow, Second Secretary of the Admiralty:

“Just before sun-rising….while I was yet asleep, Mr. Christian, officer of the watch, Charles Churchill, ship’s corporal, John Mills, gunner’s mate, and Thomas Burkitt, seaman, came into my cabin, and seizing me, tied my hands with a cord behind my back, threatening me with instant death if I spoke or made the least noise.  I called, however, as loud as I could in hopes of assistance; but they had already secured the officers who were not of their party, by placing sentinels at their doors.  There were three men at my cabin door, besides the four within; Christian had only a cutlass in his hand, the others had muskets and bayonets.  I was hauled out of bed, and forced on deck in my shirt, suffering great pain from the tightness with which they had tied my hands behind my back, held by Fletcher Christian, and Charles Churchill, with a bayonet at my breast, and two men, Alexander Smith and Thomas Burkitt, behind me, with loaded muskets cocked and bayonets fixed.  I demanded the reason of such violence, but received no other answer than abuse, for not holding my tongue…
  When the boat was out, Mr. hayward and Mr. Hallet, two of the mid-shipmen, and Mr. Samuel, were ordered into it.  I demanded what their intention was in giving this order, and endeavoured to persuade the people near me not to persist in such acts of violence; but it was to no effect – ‘Hold your tongue, Sir, or you are dead  this instant’ was constantly repeated to me… Particular persons were called on to go into the boat and were hurried over the side; whence I concluded that with these people I was to be set adrift…
  The officers and men being in the boat, they only waited for me, of which the master-at-arms informed Christian; who then said – ‘Come, Captain Bligh, your officers and men are now in the boat, and you must go with them; if you attempt to make the least resistance, you will instantly be put to death’; and without further ceremony, with a tribe of armed ruffians about me, I was forced over the side, when they untied my hands.  Being in the boat, we were veered astern by a rope, a few pieces of pork were thrown to us, and some clothes, also the cutlasses I have already mentioned; and it was then that the armourer and carpenters called out to me to remember that they had no hand in the transaction.  After having undergone a great deal of ridicule, and been kept for some time to make sport for these unfeeling wretches, we were at length cast adrift I the open ocean.”

1937~First commercial transpacific flight, operated by Pan Am.

1945~Muussolini executed.

The British Museum makes 1.9 million photos available free. –Bloomberg.

New fiction from Simone de Beauvoir: A novel abandoned by the author, who died in 1986, draws on a childhood relationship that shaped her views on gender inequality and sexism. The book is being released in France this fall and in the U.S. next year.  -from The New York Times.

Peak TV  Seven of our favorite series to discover (or rediscover) and get lost in right now. -Ralph Lauren Newsletter.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Captain Tom Moore’s grandson Benjie, in the Great Hall of Bedford School, Bedfordshire, UK, where over 120,000 birthday cards sent from around the world are being opened and displayed by staff. Captain Moore celebrates his 100^th birthday on Thursday.
CREDIT: JOE GIDDENS/PA WIRE

A man walks underneath the sculptur ‘Mama’ by French artist Louise Bourgeois next to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Guggenheim’s deputy director and chief officer for global strategies, Juan Gnacio Vidarte, is optimistic about reopening the museum in June.
CREDIT: LUIS TEJIDO/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

An aerial view shows the Suleymaniye mosque during fasting time in Istanbul, Turkey, during a four-day curfew to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease, caused by the novel coronavirus.
CREDIT: OZAN KOSE/AFP CIA GETTY IMAGES

Market Closes for April 28th, 2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	24101.55	-32.23
		-0.13%
S&P 500	2863.39	-15.09
		-0.52%
NASDAQ	8607.730	-122.434 -1.40%
TSX	14798.29	+156.18
		+1.07%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19771.19	-12.03
		-0.06%
HANG SENG	24575.96	+295.82
		+1.22%
SENSEX	32114.52	+371.44
		+1.17%
FTSE 100*	5958.50	+111.71 +1.91%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.576	0.625
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.168	1.219
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.6129	0.6605
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.2042	1.2557

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.71416	0.7131
US $	1.40025	1.4024
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.51514	0.66000
US $	1.08205	0.92417

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1714.95	1712.92
Oil
WTI Crude Future	12.34	12.78

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1942, the World War II bear market hit bottom, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 92.92, down 0.97 points for the day and 16.3% year-to-date. Over the next four years, the market more than doubled

Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose for a third session Tuesday while U.S. stocks edged lower. The S&P/TSX Composite Index advanced 1.1%, with eight of
eleven sectors higher. Energy stocks led the way, with stocks including Vermilion Energy Inc. and Whitecap Resources Inc. both gaining over 5%. Consumer discretionary stocks were also strong. Canada underestimated its Covid-19 fatalities amid virulent outbreaks at long-term care facilities, public health officials said. The country now expects a total of 3,277 to 3,883 deaths by May 5, according to an updated model unveiled by Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam on Tuesday. Meanwhile, business leaders say they want more detail on Ontario’s strategy for restarting the economy after Premier Doug Ford outlined a plan without a timeframe. Quebec unveiled the first steps of a gradual restart of its economy, with retailers everywhere except Montreal reopening as early as next week.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $7.75 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to about $1,708 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.3% to C$1.3985 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 5.3 basis points to 0.572%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 1.1 percent, or 156.18 to 14,798.29 in Toronto. The index advanced to the highest closing level since March 10. Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.9 percent. Canfor Corp. had the largest increase, rising 14.6 percent. Today, 150 of 230 shares rose, while 76 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain 20 times. The next day, it declined 12 times for an average 3.3 percent and advanced eight times for an average 1.7 percent
* This month, the index rose 11 percent, heading for the biggest advance in at least 10 years
* The index declined 11 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 4 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 17.7 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 32.5 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 6.2 percent in the past 5 days and rose 17 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.6 on a trailing basis and 18.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.5 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.23t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 59.89 percent compared with 60.20 percent in the previous session and the average of 84.40 percent over the past month
====================================================
|Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
====================================================
Energy | 58.7093| 3.1| 28/0
Financials | 58.4966| 1.4| 22/4
Consumer Discretionary | 13.9272| 2.6| 12/3
Industrials | 13.2288| 0.8| 22/9
Communication Services | 8.0703| 0.9| 8/0
Materials | 6.3779| 0.3| 25/22
Utilities | 5.4841| 0.7| 9/7
Real Estate | 2.9485| 0.6| 13/11
Consumer Staples | -2.7773| -0.4| 4/7
Information Technology | -3.0406| -0.3| 6/4
Health Care | -5.2338| -3.3| 1/9

US
By Claire Ballentine and Katherine Greifeld
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks traded mixed, with a slide in the biggest technology shares weighed on major equity gauges as consumer confidence crashed and more companies withdrew earnings guidance. The dollar weakened. The S&P 500 Index edged higher, led by casino operators, cruise liners and other coronavirus-sensitive stocks, while the Nasdaq Composite slumped as data showed U.S. consumer confidence dropped in April to the lowest since 2014. Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Netflix Inc were among the biggest drags on the tech-heavy gauge. “It seems like a rotation is underway,” said Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. ““The question is whether this is a durable shift or a counter-trend move.”
The Stoxx Europe 600 climbed to a seven-week high as several major economies moved toward loosening restrictions. Oil futures in New York slumped to about $10 a barrel before paring losses in a volatile session. Treasuries edged higher. With U.S. equities up more than 25% since the lows of March, investors are in search of new catalysts to drive further gains. This week has policy decisions due from the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank as well as earnings still to come from some of the world’s biggest companies, among them Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. At the same time, traders are monitoring coronavirus infection rates and the ongoing discussions of how to restart activity. “Nobody expects us to go back to where we left off, but at least there are steps to opening back up,” said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA. “We’re going to continue to see volatility.” China’s top scientists said the novel coronavirus will not be eradicated, joining a growing consensus that the pathogen will likely return in waves. Spain said it aimed to lift its lockdown within eight weeks as Europe moves to loosen restrictions. The Trump administration issued a strategy to expand U.S. testing, including partnering with retail chains. On the earnings front, Alphabet Inc. is among those still to report Tuesday. Caterpillar Inc. and PepsiCo Inc. joined companies shelving earnings forecasts for the rest of the year. Merck & Co. reported profit that beat estimates, while UBS Group AG gained after earnings rose.
Elsewhere, it was a choppy session in Asia, where South Korean and Hong Kong equities climbed, shares in Japan finished slightly higher and those in Australia edged down.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.3% as of 2:22 p.m. New York time; the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 1.7%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.5%.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index rose 0.7%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index sank 0.3%.
* The euro rose 0.1% to $1.0837.
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.2444.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.4% to 106.87 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped five basis points to 0.61%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield decreased one basis point to -0.47%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.28%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.8% to $12.56 a barrel.
* Copper added 0.1% to $2.348 per pound.
* Gold weakened 0.4% to $1,707.65 an ounce.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

I am an optimist.  It does not seem too much use being anything else.
                                                    -Winston Churchill, 1874-1965

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:

People in Spain have been ‘walking’ fishbowls and chickens to get around stay-at-home orders
Okay, maybe not “literally anything.” -from CNN.

Happy birthday, Hubble. 

Songs written for big Broadway stages can also succeed in close quarters, it turns out.
That’s what our co-chief theater critic discovered from “Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration,” a star-studded streaming tribute to the master songwriter
Despite tech problems, the at-home performances from a cavalcade of singers — including Meryl Streep, Patti LuPone and Neil Patrick Harris — brought theater fans a moment of comfort and reflection.
In other streamable video, here’s what to tune into tonight. -from The New York Times.

On April 26, 1986, the world’s worst nuclear accident occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union. An explosion and fire in the No. 4 reactor sent radioactivity into the atmosphere; at least 31 Soviets died immediately. Go to article »

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Ramadan Holy month begins with sighting of crescent moon over Shard, London.
CREDIT: GUY CORBISHLEY/ALAMY LIVE NEWS

An aerial view shows of a giant landart painting entitled ‘Beyond Crisis’ by Swiss-French artist Saype, in the alpine resort of Leysin, Switzerland.
CREDIT: VALENTIN FLAURAUD/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

A ewe has defied odds of a million to one by giving birth to a set of five healthy lambs – name after characters from The Simpsons.
The incredibly rare quintuplet set were born on Easter Sunday and gave farm manager, James Marshall, quite a shock when they arrived at Castletown Estate.
CREDIT: SWNS

Market Closes for April 27th, 2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	24133.78	+358.51
		+1.51%
S&P 500	2878.48	+41.74
		+1.47%
NASDAQ	8730.164	+95.644 +1.11%
TSX	14642.11	+221.75
		+1.54%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19783.22	+521.22
		+2.71%
HANG SENG	24280.14	+448.81
		+1.88%
SENSEX	31743.08	+415.86
		+1.33%
FTSE 100*	5846.79	+94.56 +1.64%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.625	0.581
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.219	1.186
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.6605	0.6008
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.2557	1.1696

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7131	0.7093
US $	1.4024	1.4099
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5191	0.6583
US $	1.0831	0.9232

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1712.92	1727.19
Oil
WTI Crude Future	12.78	16.04

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1896, Wallace Hume Carothers was born in Burlington, Iowa. He later joined DuPont, where he invented the synthetic fabric used in rugs, parachutes and pantyhose: nylon.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities advanced Monday alongside U.S. stocks as major economies edged toward reopening and corporate earnings season continued. Crude fell after the biggest oil ETF said it would sell out of its June WTI futures position amid ballooning physical storage levels. The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 1.5% to its highest level since March 10. Health care stocks rallied led by Canopy Growth Corp. Real estate firms and utilities also climbed. Meanwhile, it could be August before Ontario’s economy is fully back in business after the coronavirus pandemic eases, a time frame that depends heavily on the province seeing a continued decline in cases.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $6.25 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.8% to about $1,716 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.4% to C$1.4045 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield gained 3.7 basis points to 0.619%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 1.5 percent, or 221.75 to 14,642.11 in Toronto. The index advanced to the highest closing level since March 10. Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.6 percent. Mag Silver Corp. had the largest
increase, rising 19.4 percent. Today, 175 of 230 shares rose, while 53 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain 17 times. The next day, it declined 11 times for an average 3.4 percent and advanced six times for an average 1.8 percent
* This month, the index rose 9.4 percent, heading for the biggest advance in at least 10 years
* The index declined 12 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 3.7 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 18.5 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 31.1 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.8 percent in the past 5 days and rose 15 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.5 on a trailing basis and 18.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.2t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 60.20 percent compared with 68.50 percent in the previous session and the average of 85.67 percent over the past month
=============================================
| Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
=============================================
Financials | 123.4185| 3.0| 26/0
Industrials | 27.1462| 1.6| 25/6
Utilities | 27.1379| 3.6| 16/0
Real Estate | 21.5981| 4.9| 25/1
Energy | 10.8467| 0.6| 16/13
Health Care | 10.7478| 7.4| 10/0
Consumer Discretionary | 10.2869| 2.0| 14/1
Communication Services | 7.0455| 0.8| 7/1
Consumer Staples | -1.0181| -0.2| 4/7
Materials | -3.2569| -0.2| 24/22
Information Technology | -12.2005| -1.0| 8/2
US
By Luke Kawa and Sarah Ponczek
(Bloomberg) — Stocks advanced as major economies moved toward reopening and policy makers in Japan and Europe sought to reduce pressure on credit markets. The dollar weakened and oil took another dive. The S&P 500 Index climbed to its highest close since March 10, led by financial companies after a surprisingly good earnings report from Deutsche Bank and amid continued talk of easing lockdowns. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index also rose after Covid-19 deaths slowed in Spain, Italy and France and the countries signaled tentative moves to reopen their economies. The misery for West Texas oil continued and futures in New York traded near $13 a barrel amid a glut of crude. Treasury yields rose amid a report that European regulators will provide banks with a fourth round of capital relief and as the Bank of Japan ratcheted up its stimulus measures with plans to buy as many government bonds as needed.
     With the S&P 500 Index up more than 25% since its lows in March but still down more than 10% this year, investors are waiting on a slew of corporate earnings this week and forecasts on what’s to come, with reports due from Amazon.com Inc., Barclays Plc and Samsung Electronics Co. For now, traders are focused on the positive, with all 11 of the S&P 500’s major subgroups gaining on the day. “There’s a glimmer of light today in some of the breadth coming back to the market,” said Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at Ally Invest. “It could be a sign investors feel more confident that we’re getting out of the woods.” Stocks held gains throughout the day amid good news on the fight against the pandemic. A coronavirus vaccine could be available as early as this year, according to a coalition funding nine projects. U.S. cases rose at the slowest pace this month, while the U.K. reported the lowest daily increase in deaths since March. New York recorded 337 deaths, down sharply from daily peaks earlier this month.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 advanced 1.4% at the close of trade in New York.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 1.8%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 2%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%.
* The euro rose 0.1% to $1.0832.
* The Japanese yen appreciated 0.3% to 107.24 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased six basis points to 0.66%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield climbed two basis points to -0.45%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 0.301%.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index decreased 1.1%.
* West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 23% to $13.11 a barrel.
* Gold fell 0.8% to $1,716.15 an ounce.
–With assistance from Adam Haigh, David Wilson, Yakob Peterseil and Vildana Hajric.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The more I see the less I know for sure.
                  -John Lennon, 1940-1980

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!
On April 24, 1898, Spain declared war on the United States after rejecting America’s ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba. Go to article »

1916-Easter Rising of Irish republicans against British occupation begins in Dublin.
1934-Shirley MacLaine b.
1942-Barbra Streisand b.

A giant asteroid that will whiz by Earth next week looks like it’s wearing a face mask 
That’s some astronomical social distancing.-CNN

Flour demand spike reopens thousand-year-old mill.-Bloomberg.
How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master.-Bloomberg.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A sun halo appears over the Couple sculpture at Newbiggin-by -the Sea in Northumberland, UK. Sun halos are produced by light interaction with ice crystals in the atmosphere.
CREDIT: OWEN HUMPHREYS/PA WIRE

Sea of Bluebells in Dorset, UK, basking in hot weather today, as temperatures rose to as high as 24C. The warm weather has help provide a breathtaking amount bluebells at Eype Down in Dorset. The sea of flowers transformed a hillside opposite the historic Colmers Hill.
CREDIT: BPNS

With only four wagons, the narrow-gauge railway Molli runs through a rape field. Due to corona protection measures and the lack of tourists, the railway currently has only a few passengers and runs according to a special corona timetable. For almost 135 years the trains have been running between Bad Doberan and Heilingendamm, in 1910 the line was extended to Kuhlungsborn in Heiligendamm, Germany
CREDIT: TELEGRAPH.CO.UK APRIL 24, 2020

A man drives an auto-rickshaw depicting the coronavirus to create a awareness about staying at home during a nationwide lockdown to slow the spreading of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Chennai, India
CREDIT: REUTERS/P. RAVIKUMAR
Market Closes for April 24th, 2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	23775.27	+260.01
		+1.11%
S&P 500	2836.74	+38.94
		+1.39%
NASDAQ	8634.520	+139.767 +1.65%
TSX	14420.36	+169.27
		+1.19%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19262.00	-167.44
		-0.86%
HANG SENG	23831.33	-145.99
		-0.61%
SENSEX	31327.22	-535.86
		-1.68%
FTSE 100*	5752.23	-74.38 -1.28%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.581	0.599
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.186	1.196
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.6008	0.6015
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.1696	1.1804

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7093	0.70623
US $	1.4099	1.41598
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5258	0.6554
US $	1.0822	0.9240

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1727.19	1710.55
Oil
WTI Crude Future	16.04	15.75

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1990, Michael Milken, former king of the junk-bond underwriting business, pleaded guilty to five technical counts of violating securities laws. He was later sentenced to ten years in federal prison but was released early for good behavior.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose in Toronto, capping a fifth straight week of gains, the longest stretch in over a year.
The S&P/TSX Composite index added 1.2% on Friday, with the health-care and technology sectors posting the biggest increases. Tech stocks have gained 25% this year, led by e-commerce company Shopify Inc.’s more than 75% surge. The e-commerce sector has been a favorite play on Wall Street during the coronavirus pandemic amid a growing consensus that upcoming results will reveal a potentially permanent shift in consumer behavior toward online shopping.
Oil prices edged lower for the week after paring losses following the dramatic collapse on Monday that saw prices in New York plunge below zero for the first time in history.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled a government program on Friday that aims to reduce rents for the country’s small businesses by 75%. Commercial property owners will be eligible for loans to cover 50% of the rent over three months beginning in April, Trudeau said Friday in Ottawa. Finance Minister Bill Morneau also said on Friday that the Canadian government hopes to avoid bailing out any particular sector.
On the debt side, private and structured credit offer the best value in fixed income, while the pain isn’t over yet for public debt markets, according to the investment head   of Sun Life Financial Inc.
The Canadian dollar weakened slightly to C$1.4087 per U.S. dollar. The 10-year government bond yield fell 2.3 basis points to 0.576%.

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 1.2 percent at 14,420.36 in Toronto. The index advanced to the highest closing level since March 10 after the previous session’s decrease of 0.3 percent.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.3 percent. BRP Inc. had the largest increase, rising 10.7 percent.
Today, 159 of 230 shares rose, while 68 fell; 10 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain 18 times. The next day, it declined 12 times for an average 3.3 percent and advanced six times for an average 1.8 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 0.4 percent
* This month, the index rose 7.8 percent
* The index declined 13 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 4.8 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 19.8 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 29.1 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.2 on a trailing basis and 17.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.17t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 68.50 percent compared with 73.63 percent in the previous session and the average of 86.69 percent over the past month
=============================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
=============================================
Materials | 39.8171| 1.9| 37/9
Information Technology | 31.1061| 2.6| 8/2
Financials | 29.9428| 0.7| 15/11
Industrials | 23.0095| 1.4| 23/7
Energy | 11.1947| 0.6| 10/20
Consumer Discretionary | 11.0735| 2.2| 12/2
Consumer Staples | 7.5755| 1.1| 10/1
Communication Services | 6.9734| 0.8| 6/2
Real Estate | 5.0762| 1.2| 21/5
Health Care | 4.4029| 3.1| 8/2
Utilities | -0.8997| -0.1| 9/7
US
By Vildana Hajric and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — Technology and consumer shares pushed U.S. stocks higher as investors assessed the latest batch of earnings reports and efforts to reopen the American economy. Oil gained after a week of wild price swings.
The S&P 500 gained 1.4% Friday, but still finished down 1.3% in a week that brought fresh evidence of deep damage to the American economy. In an optimistic sign, President Donald Trump signed a $484 billion spending package that includes more money for small businesses, the latest bid by lawmakers to rescue an economy devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The stability and resilience of the market in the face of what is still horrific economic data is probably a function of an assumption or hope that the compression in earnings and the economy, although deep, won’t be long lasting,” said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab. “The market is sort of looking through the valley.” Apple and Microsoft were the biggest percentage gainers in the tech sector of the benchmark index. Earnings continued to roll in, with Intel Corp. joining the ranks that have withdrawn full-year guidance. West Texas Intermediate crude futures hovered around $17 a barrel in New York, after collapsing earlier this week. Treasury yields fell and the dollar strengthened on the week.
In Europe, leaders signed off on a 540 billion-euro ($580 billion) plan tackling the immediate fallout from the pandemic, but failed to come up with a longer-term rebuilding program.
Stocks slumped and bonds rose. Data showed German business confidence fell to record low while virus cases in the region’s biggest economy rose by the most in nearly a week.
A global stock rally built on optimism that infection rates were slowing faltered this week amid mounting evidence of a deep economic slowdown. With total job losses in the U.S. now exceeding 26 million, investors are focusing on effects of lockdowns and will study earnings for the effects of consumer-credit deterioration.
In China, there was limited reaction to the central bank’s partial roll-over of maturing medium-term funding to banks, at a lower interest rate. Japanese bonds rallied after a Nikkei report that the Bank of Japan may replace its government bond- purchase target to allow for unlimited buying.
These were the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index climbed 1.4% to 2,836.60 as of 4:00 p.m. New York time.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% to 23,771.36.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 1.6% to 8,634.52.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index gained 0.2% to 472.66.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1% to 1,261.12, hitting the highest in two weeks with its fifth straight advance.
*The Japanese yen strengthened 0.2% to 107.40 per dollar.
*The euro increased 0.3% to $1.0809, the first advance in a week.
*The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.2366.
Bonds
*The yield on two-year Treasuries decreased one basis point to 0.21%.
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased one basis point to 0.59%.
*Britain’s 10-year yield declined less than one basis point to 0.291%, the lowest in more than five weeks.
*Germany’s 10-year yield dipped five basis points to -0.47%.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 3.6% to $17.06 a barrel.
*Brent crude rose 2.4% to $21.84 a barrel.
*Gold weakened 0.2% to $1,727.95 an ounce.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The two most important days in your life are the day
you are born and the day you find out why.
                                      -Mark Twain, 1835-1910

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:  Today is St. George’s Day, for England’s Patron Saint.

Today also  marks the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims. -CNN.
The Muslim holy month begins with the appearance of the crescent moon.

Michael Moore, filmmaker, b. 1954.

2005 – Co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded the first video to YouTube.com. Go to article »

Hospitals around the New York area have adopted anthems like the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun,” Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’s “Empire State of Mind” or “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” to celebrate patients’ victories in the battle against the coronavirus.
The victories differ — from getting off life support or a ventilator to being discharged — but the purpose is the same: an anthem of affirmation for the medical professionals and a tribute to the resilience of the patients. -The New York Times.

Social Distancing Has Become Second Nature for Remote-Home Owners. “It’s The Biggest Luxury”:  The coronavirus pandemic has spiked buyer interest in off-the-grid properties like these. -Wall Street Journal.

William Shakespeare, b. April 23, 1564, d. April 23, 1616:
The theory that William Shakespeare was not the writer of the works attributed to him, based on the assumption that he did not possess the knowledge and culture revealed in those works, was first put forward by Herbert Lawrence in 1769.  In 1857 William Henry Smith suggested that the only writer of that age competent to produce such writings was Francis Bacon.  Thus the Baconian theory began its lengthy career.  In 1887 Ignatius Donnelly, a former senator of Minnesota, published The Great Cryptogram, which professed to show that cryptograms in the plays revealed Bacon as the undoubted author.  The cryptographic method was further advanced by Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence in Bacon is Shakespeare (1910), where he claimed that the all-revealing cryptic word was Honorificabilitudinitatibus. 
This is a concocted word based on the Latin honorificabilitudo, “honourableness”, found in Shakespeare.  Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence discovered this to be the all-revealing word, since its 27 letters were clearly an anagram of “Hi ludi F Baconis nati tuiti orbi”, “These plays, F. Bacon’s offspring, are preserved for the whole world.” -from Brewer’s 16^th ed.
The Baconians still persist today.

Thou are not so long by the head as honorificabilitudinitatibus.  –Love’s Labour’s Lost, V, I (1594).
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man cycles between rapeseed fields in Grantchester near Cambridge, parts of the UK will enjoy 24C over the coming days, as the hottest April in six years continues
CREDIT: JOE GIDENS/PA

A mural to honor the medics currently helping to fight COVID-19 is seen on in Melbourne, Australia
CREDIT: ROBERT CIANFLONE/GETTY IMAGES

P person runs near the Dhauladhar mountain range at Jalot village, Himachal Pradesh, India
CREDIT: SANJAY BAID/EPA

This combination of pictures taken through the car window of a taxi shows the deserted Paris monuments, on the thirty-fifth day of a lockdown in France, aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 disease
CRESIT: CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP
Market Closes for April 23rd, 2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	23515.26	+39.44
		+0.17%
S&P 500	2797.80	-1.51
		-0.05%
NASDAQ	8494.754	-0.625 -0.01%
TSX	14251.09	-37.07
		-0.26%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19429.44	+291.49
		+1.52%
HANG SENG	23977.32	+83.96
		+0.35%
SENSEX	31863.08	+483.53
		+1.54%
FTSE 100*	5826.61	+55.98 +0.97%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.599	0.615
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.196	1.229
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.6015	0.6143
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.1804	1.2124

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.65910	0.70623
US $	1.40746	1.41598
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.51722	0.65910
US $	1.07798	0.92766

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1710.55	1682.05
Oil
WTI Crude Future	15.75	12.28

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1985, amid huge fanfare, Coca-Cola boss Roberto Goizueta introduced New Coke at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in Manhattan’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. “The best,” he declared, “has been made even better.” When it became clear that the company was replacing its original formula, rather than offering New Coke alongside it, the company’s Atlanta headquarters was deluged with thousands of angry telephone calls from consumers. As one customer complained, “Changing Coke is like God making the grass purple or putting toes on our ears or teeth on our knees.”
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks ended Thursday’s session slightly lower, pairing earlier gains, after a Chinese trial of Gilead’s promising Covid-19 drug appeared to be a failure.
The S&P/TSX Composite index fell 0.3% in Toronto, after rising as much as 0.9% in early trading. Gilead Sciences Inc.’s antiviral drug remdesivir flopped in its first randomized clinical trial, the Financial Times reported, citing draft documents published accidentally by the World Health Organization. However, the drug company disputed that characterization.
The only sectors that were positive within the index were mining and energy, as oil and metal prices rose. Shopify contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.9%, while Alaris Royalty had the largest drop, falling 7.8%. Gold miners Agnico Eagle Mines provided one of the biggest boosts to
the index, advancing 5.5%. Baytex Energy had the biggest gain, rising 15%.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar got a boost from the recovering oil prices, even as the crash in crude has put the country’s stellar AAA credit rating on the line.
The loonie advanced 0.7% to C$1.4070 per U.S. dollar while the 10-year government bond yield fell about 2.5 basis points to 0.601%.
By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.3 percent at 14,251.09 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s increase of 2.5 percent.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.9 percent. Alaris Royalty Corp. had the largest drop, falling 7.8 percent.
Today, 95 of 230 shares fell, while 131 rose; 9 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 0.8 percent, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended March 20
* This month, the index rose 6.5 percent
* The index declined 15 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 6.3 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 20.7 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 27.6 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.5 percent in the past 5 days and rose 27 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.1 on a trailing basis and 17.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.7 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.18t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 73.63 percent compared with 84.19 percent in the previous session and the average of 86.95 percent over the past month

===============================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
===============================================
Financials | -34.7985| -0.8| 9/17
Utilities | -12.8173| -1.7| 3/13
Consumer Staples | -12.0581| -1.8| 4/7
Information Technology | -10.4538| -0.9| 6/4
Communication Services | -8.2136| -1.0| 4/4
Industrials | -4.6963| -0.3| 19/11
Consumer Discretionary | -3.8179| -0.7| 7/8
Real Estate | -2.4045| -0.6| 10/15
Health Care | -0.9653| -0.7| 4/6
Energy | 18.1627| 1.0| 26/2
Materials | 34.9911| 1.7| 39/8
US
By Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks closed mostly lower after a report said that a leading experimental coronavirus drug performed poorly in a test. Crude oil climbed back above $16 a barrel.
The benchmark S&P 500 finished in the red after whipsawing investors between gains and losses in the last few hours of trading. Gilead Sciences Inc.’s antiviral drug remdesivir flopped in its first randomized clinical trial, the Financial Times reported, citing draft documents published accidentally by the World Health Organization. The drug company disputed that characterization.
“Investors have pinned their hopes on continued progress toward curve flattening and eventually a vaccine. They are willing to look past negative economic prints for now and focus on more favorable developments that suggest current headwinds could prove transitory,” said Adam Phillips, director of portfolio strategy at EP Wealth Advisors. “Today’s sudden reaction illustrates how fickle investors are in the current environment.”
The S&P 500 had been on pace for a second consecutive gain before the Gilead news. Exxon and Chevron were the biggest gains in the energy sector. Crude oil climbed in New York, two days after futures dropped below zero. Equities had gained earlier even after a report showed U.S. jobless claims surged by 4.4 million last week. Total job losses now exceed 26 million in the wake of the economic shutdown prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Elsewhere, the dollar was little changed against most major peers. Gold managed its first back-to-back gain in over a week as investors weighed the prospects of another wave of stimulus in virus-hit economies.
These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks:
*The S&P 500 Index fell 0.1% to 2,797.80 as of 4:13 p.m. New York time.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.2% to 23,515.26.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index was little changed at 8,494.75.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index increased 0.2% to 470.08.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.1% to 1,261.12, the highest in two weeks.
*The Japanese yen strengthened 0.1% to 107.62 per dollar.
*The euro dipped 0.4% to $1.0773, the weakest in four weeks.
*The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.2346.
Bonds
*The yield on two-year Treasuries gained less than one basis point to 0.22%.
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased two basis points to 0.59%.
*Britain’s 10-year yield dipped four basis points to 0.292%, the lowest in more than five weeks.
*Germany’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to -0.42%.
Commodities
*Brent crude rose 6.8% to $21.79 a barrel, the biggest advance in more than two weeks.
*Gold strengthened 1.1% to $1,731.65 an ounce, the highest on record.
* West Texas Intermediate crude for June rose 23% to $17 a barrel.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

To live is the rarest thing in the world.  Most people exist, that is all.
                                                          -Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900

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: 50^TH Anniversary,  Earth Day

1937, Jack Nicholson b.
1955: Congress orders all US coins bear the motto “In God We Trust.”

-from today’s New York Times:
Today is Earth Day, the annual event established to raise awareness about the state of our planet. John Schwartz, a Times reporter who covers climate change, spoke about what Earth Day means five decades later.
In broad terms, what has changed since 1970?
The air over the U.S. is much cleaner, and so is the water we drink in most parts of the country. We don’t use DDT or asbestos. But other threats have arisen. The biggest of those — the issue that wasn’t really on the radar for most people in 1970 — is climate change. Scientific evidence has grown and scientific consensus has gelled, and so now we recognize that there are threats that are more fundamental, and ultimately more harmful, than we ever knew 50 years ago.
With the coronavirus crisis dominating our lives, is Earth Day relegated to a second-tier event this year?
It’s anything but second-tier, but it’s virtual. You won’t have millions marching in the streets, but there are activities all around the world. Young climate strikers are speaking out. The modern-day equivalents of the 1970 “teach-ins” are happening online.
How can people celebrate Earth Day from home?
We’ve put together a great package of stories that provide a crash course on climate change, help readers pick out books about climate change, introduce the original organizer of Earth Day and more. And there’s so much going on at earthday.org and on the websites of other climate- and environment-oriented groups that there’s something for everyone.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Icelandic stallions run in their paddock at a stud farm in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany.
CREDIT: MICHAEL PROBST/AP

An arctic fox in snow in Northern Svalbard, Norway. People are being asked to vote for animals they think should be part of a new “Big Five” of the natural world’s top creatures to photograph.
Unlike the old big five, based on the five toughest animals in Africa for colonial hunters to shoot and kill, the new list will be animals to see in the wild and shoot with a camera.
CREDIT: MARCO GAIOTTI/PA WIRE

Startrails are seen during the Lyrids meteor shower over Michaelskapelle in Niederhollabrunn, Austria.
The clear skies created by the New Moon coincide with the Lyrid meteor shower, an annual display caused by the Earth passing through a cloud of debris from a comet called C/186 Thatcher
CREDIT: THOMAS KRONSTEINIER/GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for April 22nd , 2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	23475.82	+456.94
		+1.99%
S&P 500	2799.31	+62.75
		+2.29%
NASDAQ	8495.379	+232.150 +2.81%
TSX	14288.16	+348.10
		+2.50%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19137.95	-142.83
		-0.74%
HANG SENG	23893.36	+99.81
		+0.42%
SENSEX	30636.71	-1011.29
		-3.20%
FTSE 100*	5770.63	+129.60 +2.30%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.615	0.576
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.229	1.225
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.6143	0.5644
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.2124	1.1538

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.70623	0.70402
US $	1.41598	1.42041
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.53227	0.65263
US $	1.08213	0.92410

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1682.05	1686.20
Oil
WTI Crude Future	12.28	9.48

Market Commentary:
Crude prices stabilized Wednesday after prices fell to levels not seen since late last century. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark for oil markets, edged up 0.1% to $19.35 a barrel, after having slid to their lowest since 1999 in Asian trading hours. West Texas Intermediate futures edged up 0.2% to $11.59 a barrel, after plummeting 43% Tuesday to close at its lowest price in 21 years.

On this day in 1970, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 1.3% to 762.61, and H. Ross Perot suffered the worst one-day personal investment loss then on record. His Electronic Data Systems Corp. dropped from roughly $150 a share to around $80 in chaotic over-the-counter trading, a paper loss of $450 million for Mr. Perot.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose as a rise in oil and metals prices boosted energy companies and miners.
The S&P/TSX Composite rose 2.5% in Toronto, after falling most in three weeks on Tuesday. Oil recovered from a 21-year low, bucking two days of frenzied selling, but a global supply glut continues to loom over the market.
Gold futures rallied as investors bet on further stimulus from governments around the world amid oil-market turmoil and continued volatility across commodities and equities. Among the industrial metals, copper outperformed the group with rebounds in equities, lowered supply outlook.
Meanwhile, only five of 61 Canadian hedge funds posted gains during the first three months of the year, according to Venator Capital Management Ltd., a Toronto-based investment firm that tracks the industry. The top performer was CC&L Market Neutral Fund, with a 9.8% gain; the worst was Lawrence Park Enhanced Preferred with a 38.5% loss.
On the real estate side, Toronto’s home sales and listings plunged in the first part of April as the Covid-19 pandemic curbed demand in Canada’s largest city.
The Canadian dollar advanced 0.2% to C$1.4185 per U.S. dollar and the 10-year government bond yield rose about 5.8
basis points to 0.613%.
By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 2.5 percent at 14,288.16 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 3.1 percent.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 6.9 percent. Secure Energy Services Inc. had the largest increase, rising 25.8 percent.
Today, 180 of 230 shares rose, while 46 fell; 10 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain 10 times. The next day, it declined five times for an average 5.7 percent and advanced five times for an average 1.8 percent
* This month, the index rose 6.8 percent
* The index declined 14 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 5.4 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 20.5 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 27.9 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.4 percent in the past 5 days and rose 21 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.2 on a trailing basis and 17.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.7 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.13t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 84.19 percent compared with 84.98 percent in the previous session and the average of 87.56 percent over the past month
==============================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
==============================================
Materials | 113.0496| 5.8| 45/2
Energy | 58.7343| 3.3| 28/2
Information Technology | 53.0373| 4.7| 9/1
Industrials | 36.6563| 2.2| 23/6
Financials | 24.9052| 0.6| 21/5
Utilities | 20.6394| 2.7| 16/0
Consumer Staples | 17.3224| 2.6| 9/2
Consumer Discretionary | 13.8297| 2.7| 11/4
Communication Services | 11.1861| 1.3| 6/2
Health Care | 0.2857| 0.2| 3/6
Real Estate | -1.5397| -0.4| 9/16
US
By Vildana Hajric and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks halted a two-day slide as investors digested the latest round of corporate earnings and optimism about the eventual reopening of the economy increased.
Oil rose from historic lows.
The S&P 500 Index rebounded from the worst sell-off in three weeks amid quarterly results that sparked speculation a recovery will be sooner than expected. Chipotle Mexican Grill rose on sales that topped estimates, while Texas Instruments advanced on solid results. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he anticipates most of the economy will restart by the end of August. House lawmakers on Thursday are set to pass another
round of aid.
“Until the path becomes clearer, volatility is likely the name of the game as the market weighs the good, bad and ugly of this pandemic,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*Trade Financial.
The oil market continued to hold investor attention. A day after trading negative, futures for West Texas Intermediate crude surged above $13 a barrel after President Donald Trump ordered the Navy to destroy any Iranian gun boats that harass American ships at sea. The biggest oil exchange-traded fund reshuffled the mix of futures it owns to track crude prices for a second day, extending their average expiration amid unprecedented volatility in its markets.
Read more about oil ETF ‘whales’ that roiled market Investors are continuing efforts to assess the pandemic’s damage to the global economy, with the oil market chaos suggesting it will be deeper or longer than anticipated by those who drove the S&P 500 up 28% from its March lows. Governments are devising ways to return people to work even as they discover infections are more extensive than they insisted only weeks ago.
“What I think markets are picking up on is there is light at the end of the tunnel and there’s visibility on what a reopening will look like,” said Michael Reynolds, investment strategy officer at Glenmede Trust Co. “This gives visibility to the next couple of phases and when the clouds can clear.”
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased broadly in the wake of Tuesday’s slump. Treasuries fell along with European bonds and
the dollar strengthened.

Meanwhile, European consumer-goods companies from brewers to paint-makers sounded notes of caution on spending. Heineken NV canceled its interim dividend, while Kering said it doesn’t see a recovery in the U.S. or Europe before at least June or July after sales at its flagship brand Gucci tumbled. “There’s no way you can predict earnings right now,” Michael Cuggino, portfolio manager at Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC, said on Bloomberg TV. “It’s virtually impossible until we have more visibility with respect to how to world comes out of the coronavirus on the other side.”
Elsewhere, stocks slipped in Japan but climbed in other major Asian markets. Gold rebounded to $1,700 an ounce.

     These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index climbed 2.3% to 2,798.70 as of 4:00 p.m. New York time.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2% to 23,469.58.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 2.8% to 8,495.38.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index gained 1.8% to 468.99.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2% to 1,260.67, the highest in two weeks.
*The Japanese yen strengthened 0.1% to 107.70 per dollar.
*The euro dipped 0.4% to $1.0817, the weakest in two weeks.
*The British pound climbed 0.3% to $1.2319.
Bonds
*The yield on two-year Treasuries gained one basis point to 0.21%.
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose five basis points to 0.61%, the biggest advance in a week.
*Britain’s 10-year yield rose three basis points to 0.327%.
*Germany’s 10-year yield gained seven basis points to -0.41%, the biggest climb in almost two weeks.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 18.6% to $13.69 a barrel, the first advance in more than a week and the largest surge in more than a month.
*Brent crude climbed 7% to $20.54 a barrel, the biggest increase in more than two weeks.
*Gold strengthened 1.8% to $1,718.30 an ounce, the largest rise in more than a week.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.
                               -Arthur Rubinstein, 1887-1982

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:
April 21, 753 BC~ Romulus and Remus found Rome (traditional date) Go to article »

April 21, 1918~WWl German fighter ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen “The Red Baron” is shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France.  Canadian pilot Arthur Roy Brown is credited with the strike.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Overlooking qingshuitan Wetland Park in the air, thousands of Chinese fir trees turn green. Gaoyou City, Jiangsu Province, China. April 22 is the World Earth day.
CREDIT: COSTFOTO/BARCROFT MEDIA VIA GETTY IMAGES

Cookie the cockapoo dog has a run through the bluebells in Peterborough. The country is on lockdown due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic. People are not allowed to leave home except for minimal food shopping, medical treatment, exercise – once a day, and essential work.
CREDIT: PAUL MARRIOTT PHOTOGRAPHY

Jack Harris and Alan Price cycle around the deserted streets if Westminster in London, UK, as they take their daily exercise on their Penny Farthings, as the Coronavirus lockdown continues.
CREDIT: STEPHEN LOCK/I-IMAGES

A beautiful sunrise over the compass stone on Glastonbury Tor, Somerset, UK. The good weather is set to last two weeks.
CREDIT: MICHELLE COWBOURNE/ SWNS.COM
Market Closes for April 21^st , 2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	23018.88	-631.56
		-2.67%
S&P 500	2745.05	-78.11
		-2.77%
NASDAQ	8263.230	-297.499 -3.48%
TSX	-14032.09	-356.19
		-2.48%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19280.78	-388.34
		-1.97%
HANG SENG	23793.55	-536.47
		-2.20%
SENSEX	30636.71	-1011.29
		-3.20%
FTSE 100*	5641.03	-171.80 -2.96%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.576	0.628
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.225	1.282
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.5644	0.6053
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.1538	1.2164

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.70402	0.70682
US $	1.42041	1.41480
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.54248	0.64831
US $	1.08594	0.92086

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1686.20	1692.55
Oil
WTI Crude Future	9.48	-37.63

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1982, futures contracts on the S&P 500 index became available for the first time, as they opened for trading in the pits of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Arbitrageurs and index fund managers could buy either the underlying stocks in the index, or a futures contract, whichever was cheaper. Program traders could also bet on the futures, helping worsen the October crash of 1987.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell the most since April 1 as investors found little to cheer in Tuesday’s session.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 3.1%, with all eleven sectors declining. Information technology retreated after strong gains prior to Tuesday’s session from Shopify Inc.
Canadian companies are starting to release financial results amid an precedented earnings season as coronavirus lockdowns bring the economy to a screeching halt.
Just a day after U.S. crude futures for May delivery plunged below zero for the first time ever, June futures plummeted 43% to close below $12 a barrel in New York.
Canada may need to create an emergency fund to help provincial governments, despite central bank moves that have cut borrowing costs, Newfoundland and Labrador’s finance minister said.
Meanwhile, elevated household debt combined with a surge in unemployment risks putting Canada in a precarious position amid the coronavirus shutdowns, said the head of domestic banking at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $9.75 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.6% to about $1,685 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.3% to C$1.4197 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 5.2 basis points to 0.576%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 3.1 percent at 13,940.06 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 3.8 percent on April 1 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.2 percent.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 6.4 percent. Martinrea International Inc. had the largest drop, falling 9.5 percent.
Today, 202 of 230 shares fell, while 26 rose; all sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss eight times. The next day, it advanced seven times for an average 5.1 percent and declined 12.3 percent once
* This month, the index rose 4.2 percent
* The index declined 16 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 7.5 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 22.4 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 24.8 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 2.2 percent in the past 5 days and rose 18 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.8 on a trailing basis and 17.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.7 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.19t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 84.98 percent compared with 85.02 percent in the previous session and the average of 87.72 percent over the past month
=============================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
=============================================
Financials | -172.7182| -4.0| 0/26
Information Technology| -68.8952| -5.7| 1/9
Energy | -41.7986| -2.3| 10/19
Industrials | -36.8269| -2.2| 1/30
Communication Services| -28.9552| -3.3| 0/8
Utilities | -27.3892| -3.5| 0/16
Real Estate | -21.9291| -4.8| 1/25
Materials | -17.6413| -0.9| 11/36
Consumer Discretionary| -14.0476| -2.7| 1/14
Consumer Staples | -12.8958| -1.9| 1/10
Health Care | -5.1368| -3.5| 0/9
US
By Jeremy Herron and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks tumbled the most in almost three weeks and Treasury bonds rallied as turmoil in the crude oil futures market triggered a fresh bout of risk aversion.
The S&P 500 fell 3.07%, with equity investors shrugging off a deal reached by the White House and congressional leaders on fresh spending to combat the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
The historic rout in crude rattled markets for a second day, with the June contract plunging almost 70% at one point after May contracts that expired Tuesday sank below zero for the first time in history. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield dropped below 0.55%. The gut-wrenching oil debacle may signal the hit to the global economy will be far worse than anticipated by investors who sent the S&P 500 up 28% from its March lows. While major economies around the world take tentative steps toward reopening, signs the U.S. is close to bolstering spending did little to offset fresh concerns over the depth of the recession.
“Markets appear to be taking a breather after that rapid recovery,” said Candice Bangsund, portfolio manager of global asset allocation at Fiera Capital Corp. “A lot of this is being driven by the profound and historic collapse in crude prices. That’s largely been the catalyst that’s roiled already fragile market sentiment.” President Donald Trump said his administration is working on a plan to make money available to the oil industry to prevent the loss of jobs after prices plunged.
Corporate earnings add to woes. Deep profit declines often come with no company insight into the remainder of the year and mounting signs that capital investment is set to plunge. Still, Netflix shares rose after the close of regular trading when the company said it added nearly twice as many subscribers as predicted in the first quarter. Chipotle withdrew its earnings guidance.
     Meanwhile, reports that North Korea’s Kim Jong Un was in critical condition added to the uncertainty. Shares in the region slumped. The dollar climbed against most major currencies, with the won and ruble tumbling and the yen edging up.
Elsewhere, the kiwi slumped after Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Adrian Orr said he was open-minded on the idea of directly monetizing sovereign debt.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index dipped 3.1% to 2,736.49 as of 4:01 p.m. New
*York time, the lowest in almost two weeks on the largestdecrease in almost three weeks.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 2.7% to 23,019.71, the lowest in almost two weeks on the biggest decrease in almost three weeks.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 3.5% to 8,263.23, the lowest in a week on the largest decrease in almost three weeks.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index dipped 3% to 460.91, the lowest in almost two weeks on the biggest decrease in almost three weeks.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.4% to 1,258.96, the highest in two weeks.
*The Japanese yen weakened 0.1% to 107.76 per dollar.
*The euro was little changed at $1.0861.
*The British pound decreased 1.1% to $1.2306, the weakest in two weeks on the biggest tumble in more than a month.
Bonds
*The yield on two-year Treasuries declined less than one basis point to 0.20%.
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased four basis points to 0.57%, the lowest in six weeks.
*Britain’s 10-year yield fell four basis points to 0.297%, the lowest in more than five weeks on the largest drop in more than a week.
*Germany’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to -0.48%, the lowest in three weeks.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude for June decreased 35% to $13.20 a barrel, its sixth straight decline.
*Brent crude fell 23% to $19.90 a barrel, the lowest on record with the biggest fall on record.
*Gold weakened 0.6% to $1,685.69 an ounce.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Thou art thy mother’s glass, and she in thee
Calls back the lovely April of her prime.
      -William Shakespeare, 1564-1616

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:
1980 – The first Cubans sailing to the United States as part of the massive Mariel boatlift reached Florida. Go to article »

For more ideas on what to read, watch and listen to, may we suggest these 12 new books our editors liked, a glance at the latest small-screen recommendations from Watching and our music critics’ latest playlist. –from The New York Times.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A ray of sunlight illuminates an American flag in front of the skyline of lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in New York City.
CREDIT: GARY HERSHORN/GETTY IMAGES
A man and his dog get their daily exercise at Whitley Bay beach this morning as the UK continues in lockdown
CREDIT: OWEN HUMPHREYS/PA WIRE
Spaced eight feet apart, United States Air Force Academy cadets celebrate their graduation as a team of F-16 Air Force Thunderbirds fly over the academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado
CREDIT: MICHAEL CIAGLO/ GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for April 20th , 2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	23650.44	-592.05
		-2.44%
S&P 500	2823.16	-51.40
		-1.79%
NASDAQ	8560.730	-89.411 -1.03%
TSX	+14388.28	+28.40
		+0.20%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19669.12	-228.14
		-1.15%
HANG SENG	24330.02	-49.98
		-0.20%
SENSEX	31648.00	+59.28
		+0.19%
FTSE 100*	5812.83	+25.87 +0.45%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.628	0.646
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.282	1.301
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.6053	0.6417
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.2164	1.2601

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.70682	0.71428
US $	1.41480	1.40001
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.53714	0.65056
US $	1.08647	0.92041

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1692.55	1729.50
Oil
WTI Crude Future	-37.63	18.27

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1812, mobs of manual laborers smashed and burned a textile mill near Nottingham, England, enraged by its use of mechanized looms, which they feared would put them out of work. Inspired by Ned Ludd, an earlier (and perhaps fictitious) enemy of technology, they became known as Luddites, which still endures as a synonym for people who oppose technological progress. Over the decades to come, England created more jobs than any other nation ever had—even as its factories became more mechanized.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks eked out a gain on Monday as Shopify Inc. hit a record, while oil prices plunged below zero in an unprecedented crash.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.2% on Monday, while U.S. stocks fell. Shopify gained for an eighth session, putting it in a tight race with one of Canada’s largest banks to become the second-most valuable company on the nation’s stock market.
The price on the futures contract for West Texas crude that is due to expire Tuesday fell into negative territory – minus $37.63 a barrel. This means sellers were actually paying buyers to take the stuff off their hands. The reason: with the pandemic bringing the economy to a standstill, there is so much unused oil sloshing around that American energy companies have run out of room to store it.
However, energy stocks largely shook off the plunge in oil, while some investors are attempting to call a bottom. “The end to the oil bloodbath is in sight,” said Eric Nuttall, a portfolio manager at Ninepoint Partners in Toronto.
Meanwhile, supply cuts that were supposed to bolster the beleaguered lumber market are now creating an unintended effect: the wood chips required to make sought-after toilet paper and wipes during the coronavirus pandemic are becoming more scarce.
The Canadian dollar weakened about 0.9% to C$1.4126 per U.S. dollar and the 10-year government bond yield fell about 2.3 basis points to 0.631%.
By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.2 percent, or 28.4 to 14,388.28 in Toronto. The index advanced to the highest closing level since March 10.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 6.7 percent. Ag Growth International Inc. had the largest increase, rising 15.1 percent.
Today, 134 of 230 shares rose, while 95 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 7.5 percent
* The index declined 13 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 4.5 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 19.9 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 28.8 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.2 percent in the past 5 days and rose 21 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.2 on a trailing basis and 17.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.19t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 85.02 percent compared with 90.95 percent in the previous session and the average of 87.19 percent over the past month

==================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
==================================================
Information Technology | 47.0081| 4.1| 7/3
Materials | 43.9766| 2.3| 39/8
Consumer Staples | 3.5231| 0.5| 10/1
Real Estate | 2.1663| 0.5| 17/9
Health Care | 1.8186| 1.2| 7/3
Communication Services | -1.6942| -0.2| 5/3
Utilities | -8.3226| -1.1| 5/11
Consumer Discretionary | -10.1806| -1.9| 4/11
Energy | -11.5832| -0.6| 11/18
Industrials | -12.3704| -0.7| 17/14
Financials | -25.9243| -0.6| 12/14
US
By Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell from a six-week high, with investors on edge as oil futures plunged to unprecedented levels and a spate of corporate earnings on tap.
The S&P 500 halted a two-day gain and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 2%. Chevron and Exxon led losses in the blue-chip index as West Texas oil futures expiring Tuesday turned negative for the first time, primarily because the end of the May contract forces physical receipt at a time when storage capacity is low. June prices fell below $22 a barrel. “If there is one thing that’s certain about oil — it’s very unpredictable, especially because prices are really dictated in the futures markets,” said Rick Swope, senior director of investor education at E*Trade Financial. “When it comes to oil, expectations often determine reality.” After the close of trading, IBM reported a drop in first- quarter revenue and pulled its profit forecast for the year.
Meanwhile, Congress continued to negotiate a fresh spending bill to offset the pandemic’s effects, and signs have emerged that New York is past the worst of its outbreak.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index edged higher. Shares retreated across much of Asia, though the benchmark in Shanghai rose. European bonds dropped as Treasuries advanced. Investors start the week weighing both the oil crash and signs that Congress is close to a fresh spending package. The pace of earnings season is about to pick up, with almost one- fifth of S&P 500 companies reporting this week. Coca-Cola Co. and Netflix Inc. are among the other companies due to report in the coming days.
“It’s going to take some time for us to come back and there’s no guarantee we’ll come back without a resurgence,” said Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer of First American Trust, in Santa Ana, California, which is managing $1.8 billion. Governments and policy makers are continuing attempts to limit the economic damage of the pandemic. U.S. lawmakers are moving closer to a deal to top up funds for small businesses, China pledged more stimulus as banks lowered borrowing costs and European officials are discussing creating a bad bank for the region, according to the Financial Times.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index fell 1.8% to 2,822.89 as of 4:00 p.m. New York time.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 2.5% to 23,646.60, the biggest dip in almost three weeks.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 1% to 8,560.73.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index declined 1.2% to 474.74.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4% to 1,254.60.
*The Japanese yen weakened 0.2% to 107.79 per dollar.
*The euro dipped 0.2% to $1.0856.
*The British pound decreased 0.5% to $1.2432, the weakest in more than a week.
Bonds
*The yield on two-year Treasuries dipped less than one basis point to 0.20%.
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell three basis points to 0.62%, the lowest in more than two weeks.
*Britain’s 10-year yield climbed three basis points to 0.337%.
*Germany’s 10-year yield increased two basis points to -0.45%, the biggest climb in almost two weeks.
Commodities
*Gold strengthened 0.8% to $1,696.35 an ounce, the largest rise in a week.
*West Texas Intermediate crude fell 275.9% to $-32.14 a barrel, reaching the lowest on record with its seventh consecutive decline and the biggest fall on record.
–With assistance from Sam Potter.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Life is like riding a bicycle.  To keep your balance, you must keep moving.
                                                               -Albert Einstein, 1879-1955

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!

On this day in 1991, the Dow Jones Index topped 3,000 for the first time ever.  Today, 29 years later – after Y2K, the dot.com bubble bursting, the Sars, Ebola, H1N1 scares, the Global Financial Crises,
Covid-19….and all the other mini pull-backs along the way, the Dow closed today at 24,242.49 – an increase of +708% in 29 years.  That’s +24%/annum on an annualized basis.  And that, my friends, is the key to creating wealth and keeping that wealth once it’s created– buy excellent quality businesses and don’t ever get scared out of them.

1492 – Christopher Columbus signs a contract with the Spanish monarchs to find the “Indies” with the stated goal of converting people to Catholicism.  This promises him 10%  of all riches found, and the governorship of any lands encountered.

On April 17, 1961, about 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. Go to article »

A star’s orbit around a black hole proves Einstein right again. (h/t Scott Kominers) -Bloomberg.

Here are some foods that can boost your mood during these anxious times
Shockingly, this isn’t just a long list of ice creams. –CNN

Are you bored of looking out your window? We asked 17 illustrators and artists in New York City to show us what they’re seeing out theirs. -from The NYTimes.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The biggest collect of Rhododendrons in Europe comes into bloom at the Tregothnan Estate in Cornwall.
CREDIT: SWNS

Irish dancer from the Moulin Rouge, Isabelle, practices in the street next to her home in Paris
CREDIT: FRANCK FIFE/ AFP

A man is silhouetted against the setting sun while taking in the view from a bluff overlooking downtown Kansas City
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/CHARLIE RIEDEL

Undated file handout artist’s impression of the orbits of stars very close to the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way. A star orbiting a supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way moves in a way that was predicted by physicist Albert Einstein more than a century go, astronomers have found.
CREDIT: CALCADA/ESO/ SPACEENGINE. ORG/PA WIRE
Market Closes for April 17th , 2020 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	24242.49	+704.81
		+2.99%
S&P 500	2874.56	+75.01
		+2.68%
NASDAQ	8650.141	+117.779 +1.38%
TSX	+14359.88	+460.56
		+3.31%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19897.26	+607.06
		+3.15%
HANG SENG	24380.00	+373.55
		+1.56%
SENSEX	31588.72	+986.11
		+3.22%
FTSE 100*	5786.96	+158.53 +2.82%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.646	0.610
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.301	1.258
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.6417	0.6157
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.2601	1.2104

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.71428	0.70906
US $	1.40001	1.41033
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.52247	0.65683
US $	1.08747	0.91957

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1729.50	1718.65
Oil
WTI Crude Future	18.27	19.87

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1837, three weeks before the stock market crashed in the Panic of 1837, John Pierpont Morgan was born in Hartford, Ct., to Juliet Pierpont and Junius Spencer Morgan, a merchant and stockbroker. The sickly baby, whom his parents called “Bub” and his friends called “Pip,” grew up to become the most powerful financier in American history.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rallied Friday, advancing 1.4% on the week as investors, speculated the U.S. economy would soon begin to emerge from a lockdown.
Shopify Inc. had a monster week, making the e-commerce retailer the third-largest company in Canada, underscoring the value of the virtual world in the time of the coronavirus.
The S&P/TSX Composite rose 3.3% Friday, with ten of eleven sectors rising. Information technology led in Toronto, while materials lagged. Bellwethers like Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd., Rogers Communications Inc. and Teck Resources Ltd. are set to provide a glimpse into their first quarter, which was barely half over when the coronavirus pandemic began. Some companies on Canada’s benchmark S&P/TSX Composite index have already temporarily suspended or cut dividends to shore up cash, providing some inkling of what to expect when quarterly results are released.
Oil traded near $18 a barrel in New York, the lowest intraday level since 2002, as a wave of gloomy demand forecasts and a cratering physical market outweighed an unprecedented deal to cut output.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced C$2.45 billion ($1.75 billion) to help workers in Canada’s energy sector, a smaller aid package than had been sought by an industry that has been hammered by the plunge in oil prices.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $14 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 1.9% to about $1,684.98 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.5% to C$1.4018 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose 3.2 basis points to 0.646%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 3.3 percent at 14,359.88 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 5.1 percent on April 6 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.4 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 12.2 percent. MEG Energy Corp. had the largest increase, rising 19.2 percent.
Today, 189 of 230 shares rose, while 39 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 advanced three times for an average 2.1 percent and declined twice for an average 6.3 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 1.4 percent
* The index declined 13 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 2.7 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 20.1 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 28.5 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.2 on a trailing basis and 17.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.12t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 90.95 percent compared with 90.39 percent in the previous session and the average of 85.29 percent over the past month
===================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
===================================================
Financials | 185.7498| 4.5| 25/1
Information Technology | 80.8926| 7.5| 9/1
Energy | 73.8557| 4.2| 29/1
Industrials | 39.8523| 2.4| 29/1
Consumer Discretionary | 31.4058| 6.3| 15/0
Utilities | 21.2394| 2.8| 15/1
Communication Services | 17.4262| 2.0| 8/0
Consumer Staples | 16.0111| 2.5| 10/1
Real Estate | 11.9508| 2.7| 22/4
Health Care | 4.1382| 2.9| 7/2
Materials | -21.9514| -1.1| 20/27
US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Stocks extended their weekly rally as investors speculated the American economy would soon begin to emerge from a lockdown amid a glimmer of hope in the race to find a coronavirus treatment.
The S&P 500 posted a second week of gains — the longest run since mid-February — after the U.S. government issued guidelines toward restarting the economy. Gilead Sciences Inc. soared after a report that a group of patients were “seeing rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms.” Meanwhile, Apple Inc. sank after Goldman Sachs recommended selling the shares. Oil traded near $18 a barrel. Treasuries fell.
Some other corporate highlights:
* Boeing Co. plans to restart jetliner manufacturing in the Seattle area next week.
* Procter & Gamble Co.’s organic sales rose 6% as the coronavirus pandemic prompted panic-buying of household staples.
* Schlumberger Ltd. reduced its dividend for the first time in more than 40 years amid a historic crude market crash.
* Ford Motor Co. is taking its first drive through the high- yield market in years, looking to shore up liquidity after reporting one of its largest ever quarterly losses.
The week ended on an upbeat note for stocks after the White House issued guidelines for states to consider as they decide whether to relax stay-at-home orders and other social-distancing measures. The government is under pressure, with 22 million Americans applying for unemployment benefits in a month, erasing a decade worth of job creation. Meanwhile, China pledged stronger policies, including rate cuts, after the pandemic pushed the economy into its first contraction in decades.
“The market is fueled by hope and optimism — hope for a vaccination and optimism around reopening the economy,” Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*Trade Financial, noted. “That said, these are relatively fragile indicators. There is still plenty of uncertainty in the near term.”
The rally on Friday showed there’s an “enormous amount of cash on sidelines, there’s an enormous amount of desire for people to get invested and participate in the recovery,” said Mike Swell, co-head of global portfolio management at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
In fact, weekly flow data from Bank of America Corp. and EPFR Global highlighted a clear investor preference for money- market funds. Assets under management in this category have swelled to $4.5 trillion following seven week of inflows that added $877 billion to the cash pile.
These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 climbed 2.7% at 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 2.6%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 2%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipped 0.5%.
* The euro advanced 0.3% to $1.0868.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.3% to 107.60 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased two basis points to 0.65%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced less than one basis point to -0.47%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield climbed less than one basis point to 0.304%.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index added 0.1%.

–With assistance from Adam Haigh, Todd White, Sam Potter, Cameron Crise, Nancy Moran, Sophie Caronello, Claire Ballentine, Sarah Ponczek and Luke Kawa.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.
                                                                                                          -C. S. Lewis, 1898-1963

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