Month: April 2021

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.  Beltane, Wicca.

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

World’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge opens in Portugal.  Acrophobes, look away! 

You can now buy a seat on a Bezos-backed Blue Origin rocket.  Wanna get away? Like, really really away?

Tiny cabins become hot property for pandemic getaways.  “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately … and ignore my constant work emails

Kamala Harris to be first vice president with wax figure at Madame Tussauds.  Meeting your own hyper-realistic wax figure must be quite a trip. 

Dark matter may be destroying itself in exoplanets.

An amateur mapmaker found a 2,500-year-old treasure. (h/t Scott Kominers)

A clock’s accuracy may depend on its entropy. 

Books by Stacey Abrams, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Michael Lewis are among 15 new reads for May. 

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

May Day King and Queen Morgan pandolfino and Stephan Duross, who would normally lead the Greenmen of Glastonbury, continue the tradition of Beltane celebrations in Glastonbury
CREDIT: JAON BRYANT/APEX

Ruchama Lubin-Desir, 36, filmed the moment a huge alligator walked across a street that was busy with cars, in Tampa, Florida, US
CREDIT: RUCHAMA LUBIN-DESIR / CATERS NEWS AGENCY

A draft horse ploughs plots of vines at Chateau de Rouillac in Leognan, south-western France
CREDIT: MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Imbabura Tree Frog
CREDOT: DAVID WEILLER/WENN

A dad has its beak full as it has trouble keeping up to feed a trio of hungry chicks in the Voronezh region of Russia.
CREDIT: SERGEY SAVVI/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

Visiting tank engine Prairie no.5526 passes bluebells on the Chawton curve
CREDIT: RUSELL SACH FOR THE TELEGRAPH

Market Closes for April 30^th, 2021

 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	33874.85	-185.51
		-0.54%
S&P 500	4181.17	-30.30
		-0.72%
NASDAQ	13962.684	-119.862 -0.85%
TSX	19108.33	-147.59
		-0.77%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28812.63	-241.34
		-0.83%
HANG SENG	28724.88	-578.38
		-1.97%
SENSEX	48782.36	-983.58
		-1.98%
FTSE 100*	6969.81	+8.33 +0.12%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.546	1.563
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.080	2.090
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.6259	1.6343
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.2967	2.2982

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8139	0.8140
US $	1.2291	1.2285
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4779	0.6766
US $	1.2024	0.8317

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1762.65	1772.20
Oil
WTI Crude Future	63.58	65.01

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1999, Priceline.com, which had gone public at $16 a share exactly one month earlier, closed the day at $162.375—giving the tiny Internet company a one-month return of 914.84% and a total market value of $23 billion. But it was all downhill from there, as Priceline.com ended up trading for less than $6 per share by October 2000.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell on Friday, after tech stocks continued to underperform. They S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.8% in Toronto, most since April 20. All of the sectors closed in the red, with tech and materials being the worst performers. Eldorado Gold was the worst performer, falling 8.2%, after first-quarter results missed estimates. Meanwhile, Aurinia  Pharmaceuticals was the biggest gainer, rising 10%.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at about a $12.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,767.55 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was flat at C$1.2289 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell slightly to 1.547%
By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.8 percent, or 147.59 to 19,108.33 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 0.9 percent on April 20. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.2 percent. Eldorado Gold Corp. had the largest drop, falling 8.2 percent. Today, 168 of 229 shares fell, while 59 rose; all sectors were lower, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.2 percent
* So far this week, the index was little changed
* The index advanced 29 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 46 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.7 percent below its 52-week high on April 29, 2021 and 34.7 percent above its low on May 14, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.5 on a trailing basis and 17 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.7 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.01t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.87 percent compared with 8.50 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.67 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | -57.1023| -3.0| 3/8
* Materials | -32.5280| -1.4| 4/47
* Financials | -32.0521| -0.5| 8/19
* Energy | -9.4964| -0.4| 7/16
* Industrials | -6.7149| -0.3| 6/24
* Consumer Discretionary | -3.9724| -0.5| 2/11
* Utilities | -1.8104| -0.2| 9/7
* Communication Services | -1.2625| -0.1| 2/6
* Consumer Staples | -1.0837| -0.2| 5/8
* Real Estate | -1.0688| -0.2| 10/15
* Health Care | -0.4793| -0.2| 3/7

US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Stocks dropped from a record as traders assessed corporate earnings, economic data showing potential inflation pressures and hawkish remarks from a Federal Reserve official. The dollar climbed. The S&P 500 trimmed its biggest monthly advance since November, with energy and technology shares leading losses on Friday.  Twitter Inc. sank as the social media company posted a sluggish start to the year in its advertising business. Despite living up to Wall Street’s profit expectations, Chevron Corp. slid after disappointing investors who were anticipating a revival of buybacks. Signs of excess risk taking in markets show it’s time to start debating a reduction in bond purchases, said Robert Kaplan, president of the Dallas Fed, breaking ranks with Chairman Jerome Powell.
Data showed personal incomes soared in March by the most in monthly records back to 1946, powered by fiscal stimulus. A key measure of consumer prices that the Fed officially uses for its target had the biggest increase since 2018. With the S&P 500 rallying more than 10% in the first four months of 2021, the adage of “sell in May and go away” may be on many investors’ minds. However, JPMorgan Chase & Co. urged traders to get ready for a revival of the reflation trade as the economic reopening gathers pace.
Meanwhile, Credit Suisse Group AG’s Jonathan Golub raised his forecast for the stock benchmark, citing a “red-hot economy fueling earnings.”  Still, for Ralph Bassett, head of North American equities at Aberdeen Standard Investments, companies have done so well that the market is getting to a point where a lot of that optimism may be priced in. “The setup is very good, but with multiples where they are, the upside risks are just really becoming less likely at this stage,” he said. The S&P 500 has had better months, but never before has a rally been so widespread, according to one measure tracked by Bloomberg. During 18 sessions in April through trading on Thursday, 95% or more of the index’s members traded above their 200-day moving average.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.9%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.7%
* The euro fell 0.8% to $1.2023
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 109.29 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 1.62%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.20%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.84%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.3% to $64 a barrel
–With assistance from Maria Tadeo, Emily Barrett, Srinivasan Sivabalan, Cecile Gutscher, Claire Ballentine and Kamaron Leach.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become. -Steve Jobs, 1955-2011.

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

On April 29, 1992, deadly rioting that claimed 54 lives and caused $1 billion in damage erupted in Los Angeles after a jury in Simi Valley acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of almost all state charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King.  Go to article »

Microsoft is retiring its default font, and it wants your help choosing a new one.  Comic Sans lovers, IT’S TIME

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Tulips are seen at the Keukenhof park in Lisse, Netherlands
CREDIT:PIROSCHKA CAN DE WOUW/REUTERS

A Red Throated Diver lands on a lake in the Nuuksio National Park, Finland
CREDIT: ERKKI BADERMANN/COVER-IMAGES.COM

Students of the Scandinavian Cello School perform for Mogens and Louise Haugaard’s cows in Lund, Denmark, April 23, 2021. A collaboration between a cattle farmer and a Danish music training program brings regular recitals to pampered livestock.
CREDIT: NEW YORK TIMES / REDUX / EYEVINE

Market Closes for April 29^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34060.36	+239.98
		+0.71%
S&P 500	4211.47	+28.29
		+0.68%
NASDAQ	14082.547	+31.517 +0.22%
TSX	19255.92	-101.04
		-0.52%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	29053.97	+62.08
		+0.21%
HANG SENG	29303.26	+231.92
		+0.80%
SENSEX	49765.94	+32.10
		+0.06%
FTSE 100*	6961.48	-2.19 -0.03%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.563	1.530
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.090	2.070
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.6343	1.6094
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.2982	2.2889

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8140	0.8119
US $	1.2285	1.2317
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4892	0.6715
US $	1.2122	0.8249

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1772.20	1784.15
Oil
WTI Crude Future	65.01	63.86

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. 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 Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell on Thursday, after tech and materials stocks underperformed. The S&P/TSX Composite index fell 0.5% in Toronto. Tech stocks were the worst performers, while energy outperformed. Meanwhile, lumber demand is so strong that Resolute Forest Products Inc.’s order book exceeds its inventory, according to Chief Executive Officer Remi Lalonde.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at about a $11.75 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.4 to $1,774.21 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.3% to C$1.2277 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose to 1.566%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.5 percent at 19,255.92 in Toronto, ending a 4-day gain.   The loss follows the previous session’s increase of 0.9 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.7 percent. Methanex Corp. had the largest drop, falling 9.0 percent. Today, 138 of 229 shares fell, while 88 rose; 7 of 11 sectors were lower, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 3 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 0.8 percent
* The index advanced 26 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 46 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.9 percent below its 52-week high on April 29, 2021 and 35.7 percent above its low on May 14, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.2 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.9 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.1 on a trailing basis and 17.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.7 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.02t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.50 percent compared with 8.70 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.78 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | -59.9055| -3.0| 3/8
* Materials | -48.2153| -2.0| 3/49
* Consumer Discretionary | -9.4822| -1.2| 6/7
* Industrials | -7.2860| -0.3| 14/15
* Utilities | -4.9302| -0.5| 4/12
* Health Care | -4.2961| -1.6| 2/8
* Real Estate | -1.9555| -0.3| 11/15
* Consumer Staples | 0.4531| 0.1| 4/9
* Communication Services | 2.6192| 0.3| 5/3
* Energy | 11.0788| 0.5| 17/4
* Financials | 20.8760| 0.3| 19/8
US
By Vildana Hajric and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose to a record as investors digested the latest batch of corporate earnings and data that showed the American economy gained steam in the first three months of the year. Amazon.com climbed after hours on a better-than-estimated revenue forecast, while Twitter sank amid a lackluster outlook. In regular trading, Apple wiped out its gains on concern that the iPhone maker may not sustain growth after a blockbuster quarter as it faces a tightening supply of chips. Weak earnings dented Ford and eBay. Facebook held its post-earning gains, surging to a record after its sales dwarfed estimates. The S&P 500 briefly turned negative in afternoon trading. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 broke a two-day losing streak.
The volatility came as investors continued to assess major corporate results that overshadowed signs of a resurgence in the economy. Data released Thursday showed U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 6.4% annualized rate in the first quarter, while applications for U.S. state unemployment insurance fell last week to a fresh pandemic low. “It looks like it’s a tug-of-war between those that think the good earnings results we’ve seen are just the beginning of a longer economic and corporate earnings boom and those that believe we are at peak growth and markets are unlikely to go higher from here,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance. While the GDP figures may support the Federal Reserve’s strong assessment of the economy, the central bank is in no mood to halt aggressive support as it looks for even further progress in employment and inflation.
Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday dismissed worries about price surges or anecdotes of labor shortage, implying policy makers are prepared to run the economy hot for a while. President Joe Biden unveiled a $1.8 trillion spending plan targeted at American families, adding to the economic optimism. With their plans, the Fed and Biden have delivered a boost to investor sentiment that has see-sawed in recent days between optimism over a string of robust economic data and caution amid high valuations and speculation about stimulus tapering by year-end. “All evidence still points to continued support from both fiscal and monetary policy against a backdrop of accelerating corporate earnings,” said Mark Haefele, UBS Global Wealth Management’s chief investment officer. “This reinforces our view that markets can advance further, with cyclical parts of the market — such as financials, energy, and value stocks – likely to benefit most from the global upswing.” Crude oil rose on a confident outlook on demand from OPEC and its allies, despite the threat from India’s Covid-19 crisis.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.2128
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3950
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 108.89 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 1.63%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to -0.19%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 0.84%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.7% to $65 a barrel
* Gold futures were little changed
–With assistance from Richard Richtmyer, Claire Ballentine, Andreea Papuc and Srinivasan Sivabalan.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

There is no more important lesson to be learned or habit to be formed
than that of right judgement and of delighting in
good characters and noble actions. –Aristotle, 384 BC – 322 BC.

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 on the British ship Bounty mutinied, setting Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific.  Go to article »
1945-Mussolini executed.

Jay Leno, comedian, b. 1950.
Alice Waters, restauranteur, b. 1944.
Penelope Cruz, actor, b. 1974.

Crocs sales surge, and Questlove even wore a gold pair to the Oscars.  Lo, the age of the Formal Croc is upon us! 

Beavers chewed through a cable and knocked out internet service to hundreds in a Canadian town.  “Nice fiber optic cables ya got there. Would be a shame if they were crudely gnawed by an animal with no appreciation for high-speed internet.”

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The full moon, known as the “Super Pink Moon” rises behind the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France
CREDIT:CHRISTIAN HARTMAN/REUTERS

Abu Dhabi in Dubai is covered with with rolling fog, photo taken from the Al Ain Tower
CREDIT:ZOHAID ANJUM / SWNS.COM

The sun rises over Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire on Wednesday morning
CREDIT: ANDREW SHARPE/BAV MEDIA

A  20-foot-long great white shark, weighing about four thousand pounds,  breaches and bares its impressive teeth for a group of tourists in Gansbaai, South Africa
CREDIT: MEDIADRUMMIMAGES/DAVE CARAVIAS

Market Closes for April 28^th, 2021

 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	33820.38	-164.55
		-0.48%
S&P 500	4183.18	-3.54
		-0.08%
NASDAQ	14051.031	-39.185 -0.28%
TSX	19356.95	+181.86
		+0.95%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	29053.97	+62.08
		+0.21%
HANG SENG	29071.34	+129.80
		+0.45%
SENSEX	49733.84	+789.70
		+1.61%
FTSE 100*	6963.67	+18.70 +0.27%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.530	1.560
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.070	2.102
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.6094	1.6252
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.2889	2.2958

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8119	0.80625
US $	1.2317	1.2404
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4936	0.6695
US $	1.2126	0.8249

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1784.15	1773.35
Oil
WTI Crude Future	63.86	62.94

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% for the year to date. Over the next four years, the market more than doubled.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian shares climbed to a record on Wednesday after e-commerce giant Shopify rallied on a first quarter earnings beat. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose about 1% in Toronto. The tech sector was the best performing, led by Shopify shares, while health care was the second best. On the M&A front, Bausch Health is exploring a potential sale of its eye-care business, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at about a $12.20 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,781.29 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.7% to C$1.2312 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell to 1.533%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the fourth day, climbing 0.9 percent, or 181.86 to 19,356.95 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 1.5 percent on April 1. Today, information technology stocks led the market higher, as 5 of 11 sectors gained; 127 of 229 shares rose, while 94 fell. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain and had the largest move, increasing 11.1 percent.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 3.5 percent
* The index advanced 31 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 49 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.2 percent below its 52-week high on April 28, 2021 and 36.4 percent above its low on May 14, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.1 percent in the past 5 days and rose 3.2 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.4 on a trailing basis and 17.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.7 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.70 percent compared with 8.42 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.84 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | 127.8353| 6.9| 6/5
* Energy | 37.1523| 1.6| 21/2
* Financials | 11.1116| 0.2| 16/10
* Materials | 9.4974| 0.4| 37/12
* Health Care | 9.4931| 3.7| 8/2
* Communication Services | -0.3535| 0.0| 2/5
* Real Estate | -1.3444| -0.2| 14/11
* Industrials | -1.7918| -0.1| 11/18
* Consumer Staples | -2.4517| -0.4| 4/9
* Consumer Discretionary | -3.1969| -0.4| 4/8
* Utilities | -4.0891| -0.4| 4/12

US
By Richard Richtmyer and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, while Treasuries rose after the Federal Reserve maintained its support for the economy. Policy makers strengthened their view of the economy and said that recent increases in inflation looked “transitory,” reassuring investors that the central bank is in no hurry to tap the brakes on growth. The dollar was lower, the 10-year Treasury rate was at 1.61% and gold was little changed. “No news is good news as far as the market is concerned because it means the Fed will remain accommodative for the near future,” said Ellen Hazen, portfolio manager and principal at F.L.Putnam Wealth Management. “This is a Goldilocks Fed. It is exactly what the equity markets are looking for.” The Fed decision came as investors parsed the latest batch of corporate earnings reports. Alphabet Inc. rose to a record after its results showed a surge in ad sales. Microsoft Corp. was among the biggest drags, dropping to a three-week low after the software maker failed to deliver the blockbuster results some analysts were looking for. All of the main U.S. equity gauges closed lower. Facebook Inc. rallied 5% postmarket, adding to gains from the cash session after earnings and sales topped estimates. Ford Motor Co. extended declines after giving a disappointing forecast for the year.
Among other earnings-related news:
* Boeing Co. dropped after it burned through more cash than expected in the first quarter.
* Texas Instruments Inc. fell the most in two months after it gave a sales forecast that some analysts saw as weak.

With stock valuations about 25% above their five-year average, investors have been searching for new catalysts to sustain the bull market momentum. A string of encouraging data and rapid vaccination progress have boosted optimism about growth prospects in the developed world, reviving the so-called reflation trade in recent days. A release Thursday may show the U.S. gross domestic product increased an annualized 6.8% in the first quarter. Crude-oil futures rose after OPEC+ expressed confidence in the demand outlook with plans to boost supply, even India’s raging Covid-19 crisis is causing near-term pressure.

Here are some key events to watch this week:
* President Joe Biden makes his first address as president to a joint session of Congress Wednesday
* U.S. GDP Thursday is forecast to show growth strengthened in the first quarter

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.1% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.2129
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3947
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 108.59 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 1.61%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to -0.23%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 0.80%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.2% to $64 a barrel
* Gold futures were little changed

–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Emily Barrett, Srinivasan Sivabalan and Claire Ballentine.
Have a  great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

The more I see the less I know for sure. –John W 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:
1805- US marines attack Tripoli.
1972 Apollo 16 returned to Earth after a manned voyage to the moon. Go to article »

The pandemic has made ghost kitchens and online-only, small-menu restaurants the hot new thing. — Sarah Halzack 

Archaeologists find a 1,600-year-old mosaic.

Free will is an illusion, science is starting to think, because it must.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The pink supermoon sets behind the Statue of Liberty in New York City, USA. This week’s supermoon is dubbed the “pink” moon because of its timing close to flower blooming season.
CREDIT: JOHN ANGELILLO/UPI/SHUTTERSTOCK

Rebecca Olarescu, a Masters screendance student at the London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS), performs during a dramatic sunrise at the fountains near Tower Bridge ahead of International Dance Day on 29th April
CREDIT: GUY CORBISHLEY/ALAMY LIVE NEWS

Gardener Jose Marques, 63, tends to 20,000 bulbs planted in the 18th century garden at Dunsborough Park Tulip Festival in Ripley, Surrey
CREDIT: OLIVER DIXON

Michael Francis Connelly won the Grand Prize Water in the Whalebone Magazine 2021 Photo contest with this picture of an octopus. He says that he bonded with the eight-legged creatures after spending a lot of time with them free-diving in Oahu, Hawaii. He no longer thinks of them as sushi, instead always returning them to the reef after handling.
CREDIT: MICHAEL FRANCIS CONNELLY/ WHALEBONE MAGAXINE/ TRIANGLE NEWS

Surfer Vincent Schneider rides an artificial wave in the “Alaia Bay” surf wavepool during a press day, in Sion, Switzerland
CREDIT: VALENTIN FLAURAUD/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK
Market Closes for April 27^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	33984.93	+3.36
		+0.01%
S&P 500	4186.72	-0.90
		-0.02%
NASDAQ	14090.215	-48.560 -0.34%
TSX	19175.09	+4.53
		+0.02%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28991.89	-134.34
		-0.46%
HANG SENG	28941.54	-11.29
		-0.04%
SENSEX	48944.14	+557.63
		+1.15%
FTSE 100*	6944.97	-18.15 -0.26%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.560	1.528
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.102	2.072
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.6252	1.5684
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.2958	2.2445

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.80625	0.80687
US $	1.2404	1.2394
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4998	0.66674
US $	1.2091	0.82704

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1773.35	1781.80
Oil
WTI Crude Future	62.94	61.91

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1791, Samuel Finley Breese Morse was born in Charlestown, Mass., to the Rev. Jedidiah Morse and Elizabeth Breese Morse. After working as a successful portrait painter, Morse demonstrated the world’s first working telegraph in 1844.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian shares were little changed as a rally in energy stocks were matched by a decline in mining companies.
The S&P/TSX Composite index was flat in Toronto. Energy stocks were the best performers as oil climbed with the OPEC+ alliance and BP Plc pointing to signs of a robust demand recovery taking shape in parts of the world. Materials stocks, including miners, were the worst performers as gold prices fell.
Meanwhile, the lumber market has clearly entered its “frenzied stage.” Prices in Chicago rose to previously uncharted heights before plunging Tuesday. The wild swings – which touched exchange limits in both directions — are coming as peak home-building season in the U.S. clashes with a lumber supply chain that’s being dogged by everything from trucking delays to worker shortages.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at about a $12.10 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,776.48 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar little changed at C$1.2400 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose to 1.561%
By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 19,175.09 in Toronto.
Enbridge Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.4 percent. Cargojet Inc. had the largest increase, rising 5.0 percent.
Today, 104 of 229 shares rose, while 120 fell; 4 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.5 percent
* The index advanced 31 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 48 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.1 percent below its 52-week high on April 16, 2021 and 35.2 percent above its low on May 14, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.7 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.4 on a trailing basis and 17.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.7 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.42 percent compared with 8.54 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.90 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 27.4830| 1.2| 17/5
Financials | 15.9252| 0.3| 19/8
Consumer Discretionary | 4.0139| 0.5| 4/7
Real Estate | 3.9547| 0.6| 19/7
Industrials | -0.0651| 0.0| 21/8
Health Care | -1.8399| -0.7| 2/8
Utilities | -2.0440| -0.2| 3/13
Consumer Staples | -2.9265| -0.4| 1/12
Communication Services | -5.1084| -0.5| 2/6
Information Technology | -9.0981| -0.5| 6/5
Materials | -25.7553| -1.1| 10/41
================================================================
US
By Vildana Hajric and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. technology stocks fell as investors turned their attention to a batch of earnings from industry heavyweights that have helped drive the market to all-time highs.
The Nasdaq 100 dropped for the first time in three sessions, weighed down by declines in tech heavyweights including Tesla Inc. and Alphabet Inc. The S&P 500 closed little changed after swinging between gains and losses throughout the day. United Parcel Service Inc. soared to a record after beating Wall Street’s profit estimates.
Tesla ended a two-day streak of gains after its results failed to impress investors. 3M Co. was the biggest drag on the Dow Jones Industrial Average after it warned that higher costs for raw materials and transportation is a worsening threat.
Google parent Alphabet climbed more than 4% postmarket, erasing its cash-session decline after profit and revenue exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. Microsoft Corp. reversed a gain and dropped 3.5% after reporting revenue that missed the highest analysts’ estimates.
Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. are set to release results
later this week.
While the earnings season has been generally strong so far, investors may be waiting for more robust beats to fan the next move higher. Four out of five S&P 500 companies that have released results have either met or beaten expectations. On average, shares have gained less than 0.1% after the reports,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Earnings optimism already was largely embedded into expectations moving into the current earnings period, so investors are looking for substantially outsized positive results, without which stock price advances will be muted and, like today, could take a hit,” said Greg Bassuk, chief executive officer at AXS Investments.
Meanwhile, U.S. data this week are expected to show growth accelerated to an annualized 6.8% in the first quarter. A Conference Board measure Tuesday showed consumer confidence reached the highest since February 2020 as Americans grew more upbeat about the economy and job market.
Such reports aren’t shifting the Federal Reserve’s highly accommodative stance, with the central bank expected to keep policy unchanged at this week’s meeting. “Since the last Fed meeting, strong economic expectations have started to make their way into the data,” said Lauren Goodwin, economist and portfolio strategist at New York Life Investments. “We’re seeing that reflected not only on the economic side but also in pretty impressive earnings reports on the whole.”
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid as investors weighed the scope for further gains. HSBC Holdings Plc rose after saying quarterly earnings more than doubled and returning to profit in Europe and the U.S.
The Bloomberg Commodity Index climbed for a seventh day as copper extended a rally on the Biden administration’s plans for a large infrastructure package. Oil climbed after OPEC+ projected a strong recovery beyond near-term demand destruction from India’s Covid-19 surge.
Here are some key events to watch this week:
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds a press conference Wednesday following the Fed meeting
* Joe Biden makes his first address as president to a joint session of Congress Wednesday
* U.S. GDP is forecast to show growth strengthened in the first  quarter, bolstered by government stimulus Thursday
* For live updates and commentary on the markets see the MLIV blog

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro was little changed at $1.2089
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3906
* The Japanese yen fell 0.6% to 108.74 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced six basis points to 1.62%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.25%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 0.77%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.1% to $63 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,776 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Haslinda Amin, Emily Barrett and Claire Ballentine.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work,  and give orders.  Instead, teach  them to yearn for the vast  and endless sea. –Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1900-1944.

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 26, 1937~Massacre, Guernica, Spain.
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 »

John James Audubon, artist, b. 1785.
Charles Richter, scientist, b. 1900
Frederick Law Olmstead, landscaper, b. 1822.
Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher, b. 1889.

Technology, not turbochargers, is the new focus at Porsche.

Tornado rainbow. (h/t Ellen Kominers) 

Look up tonight and you may see 2021’s first supermoon, also called the Pink Moon. The clouds could part in time, according to the National Weather Service, which also offered a peek at drier, warmer weather ahead.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The first Jacobite Express of the 2021 season crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct on its way to Mallaig from Fort William as travel across Scotland is now permitted following the easing of coronavirus restrictions. 
CREDIT: CHARLOTTE GRAHAM FOR THE TELEGRAPH

A single cloud formed perfectly above Ailsa Craig, in the outer Firth of Clyde, as seen from a beach in Girvan, Edinburgh
CREDIT: ROBERT K WILSON/SWNS.COM

Turkmenistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Serdar Berdymukhamedov awards a medal to a Turkmen shepherd dog locally known as Alabai, during celebrations for the national Turkmen Horse Day and the Turkmen Shepherd Dog Day, near Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
CREDIT: REUTERS/VYACHESLAV SARKISYAN

Market Closes for April 26^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	33981.57	-61.92
		-0.18%
S&P 500	4187.62	+7.45
		+0.18%
NASDAQ	14138.777	+121.968 +0.87%
TSX	19170.56	+68.23
		+0.36%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	29126.23	+105.60
		+0.36%
HANG SENG	28952.83	-125.92
		-0.43%
SENSEX	48386.51	+508.06
		+1.06%
FTSE 100*	6963.12	+24.56 +0.35%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.528	1.516
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.072	2.054
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.5684	1.5577
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.2445	2.2339

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.80687	0.8015
US $	1.2394	1.2476
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4981	0.66750
US $	1.2088	0.82724

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1781.80	1787.75
Oil
WTI Crude Future	61.91	62.18

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1973, the Chicago Board Options Exchange opened for trading, with call options available on 16 U.S. common stocks. For the first time, stock options were listed on a dedicated exchange and registered for trading in standardized form.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks advanced on Monday as tech and health care companies outperformed other sectors.
The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.4% in Toronto. Tech stocks were led by Shopify, as the e-commerce giant’s shares rose 5%, heading into this week’s earnings.
On the M&A front, Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. agreed to buy Roxgold Inc. in a C$1.1 billion ($884 million) cash-and-stock deal to gain gold assets in West Africa.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at about a $12.25 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.23% to $1,781.27 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.6% to C$1.2397 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose slightly to 1.528%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.4 percent, or 68.23 to 19,170.56 in Toronto. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.9 percent. Dye & Durham Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 7.7 percent.
Today, 120 of 229 shares rose, while 107 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.5 percent
* The index advanced 33 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 51 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.1 percent below its 52-week high on April 16, 2021 and 35.1 percent above its low on May 14, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 2.2 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.4 on a trailing basis and 17.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.7 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.98t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.54 percent compared with 8.63 percent in the previous session and the average of 10.05 percent over the past month.
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | 55.0868| 3.0| 8/3
Financials | 9.4597| 0.2| 19/8
Health Care | 5.0259| 2.0| 8/2
Energy | 4.3781| 0.2| 17/6
Materials | 2.8790| 0.1| 21/31
Consumer Discretionary | 0.9382| 0.1| 9/4
Communication Services | -0.7926| -0.1| 3/5
Industrials | -1.7048| -0.1| 16/14
Real Estate | -1.9500| -0.3| 8/17
Consumer Staples | -2.4486| -0.4| 5/8
Utilities | -2.6325| -0.3| 6/9
US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities climbed to a record high amid solid corporate earnings and confidence that the Federal Reserve will remain accommodative even as robust growth takes the world’s largest economy back to pre-pandemic levels.
The S&P 500 rose after notching its first weekly decline since mid-March. Most of the main 11 industry groups gained, with energy and consumer-discretionary shares jumping the most.
Small-cap stocks in the Russell 2000 outperformed the broader market. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield hovered around its 50- day moving average. Copper, seen as a barometer of growth, surged to the highest in a decade. Investors this week will focus on corporate earnings and U.S. economic data even as the Fed primes them to expect no change to policy at their two-day meeting ending Wednesday. While emerging economies from India to Brazil are grappling with a Covid-19 surge or renewed curbs, the developed world is on a firmer recovery path with a faster pace of vaccination.
“The Fed is going to likely reiterate their patient stance here,” said Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management. “I’m anticipating that they acknowledge the recent strength we’ve seen in economic data but they will continue to highlight we are a ways away from achieving their goal of full employment. I think they’ll continue to assure markets that Fed policy is going to remain firmly dovish for some time.” Data on Thursday may show U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 6.9% annualized pace from January through March after a more moderate 4.3% rate in the previous quarter. Other reports this week may show a pickup in consumer confidence and robust personal spending. Recent indicators cemented economic optimism, with durable-goods orders rebounding in March and output at manufacturers and service providers reaching a record high in April.
More than three-quarters of the S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far have beaten analysts’ estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A slew of earnings from mega caps including Amazon Inc., Facebook Inc. and Apple Inc. will be parsed this week as investors look for more clues on how companies are faring in the recovery. “We’re gearing up for a busy week on all fronts, said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing product at E*Trade Financial. “Big tech earnings, a look into Q1 GDP, and the Fed meeting could create catalysts for market moves. Though despite the strong earnings reports we’ve seen thus far, the market is really taking beats in stride amid already high valuations.”
     European stocks advanced Monday, as gains for banks and travel companies offset losses for food companies and utilities.
The dollar was little changed after initially falling to a two-month low. It was still on course for the biggest monthly drop this year.
Oil retreated amid concern demand from India may fall after the nation reported a million new coronavirus cases in three days.
Here are some key events to watch this week:
* Bloomberg Live hosts the Bloomberg Green Summit Monday through April 27
* Bank of Japan rate decision and Governor Haruhiko Kuroda briefing Tuesday
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds a press conference Wednesday following the FOMC meeting
* Joe Biden makes his first address as president to a joint session of Congress Wednesday
* U.S. GDP is forecast to show robust 6% growth in the first quarter, bolstered by government stimulus Thursday

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to a record high as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 1.2%
* The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3%
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.2089
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3905
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 108.13 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 1.57%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.25%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 0.76%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $62 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,781 an ounce
–With assistance from Cormac Mullen, Michael Msika, Andreea Papuc and Dave Liedtka.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Some men are uncharitable enough to blame their misfortunes on others, but the truth is that every man is where he is and what he is because of his own mental attitude as it is expressed through his personality. –Andrew Carnegie, 1835-1919

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.

William Shakespeare, b. 1564.
Michael Moore, filmmaker, b. 1954.
Miguel Cervantes, author, d. 1616

1985 The Coca-Cola Co. announced it was changing its secret formula for Coke. (Negative public reaction forced the company to revert to the original version.)  Go to article »

What do you call a bunch of black holes?

Newly discovered pterosaur was adorable. 

How NASA’s bet on SpaceX’s Starship will change space travel.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A long exposure shows the Lyrid meteor shower over St Michael’s Chapel at Rame Head, Cornwall
CREDIT: SAM WHITFEIELD/APEX

Lightning strikes a building during a thunderstorm in Bangkok, Thailand
CREDIT: MLADEN ANTONOC/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

A solar photographer was delighted after capturing the “clearest photo of the Sun” he has ever taken 
CREDIT:@COSMIC_BACKGROUD / SWNS.COM

Market Closes for April 23^rd, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34043.49	+227.59
		+0.67%
S&P 500	4180.17	+45.19
		+1.09%
NASDAQ	14016.809	+198.397 +1.44%
TSX	19102.33	+70.69
		+0.37%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	29020.63	-167.54
		-0.57%
HANG SENG	29078.75	+323.41
		+1.12%
SENSEX	47878.45	-202.22
		-0.42%
FTSE 100*	6938.56	+0.32 –%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.516	1.515
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.054	2.032
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.5577	1.5380
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.2339	2.2180

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8015	0.7998
US $	1.2476	1.2503
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5090	0.6627
US $	1.2095	0.8268

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1787.75	1798.20
Oil
WTI Crude Future	62.18	61.46

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1856, Granville T. Woods was born in Columbus, Ohio. With only a fourth-grade education, he became one of the greatest African-American inventors. Among his dozens of patents: the multiplex telegraph, which made train travel vastly safer by enabling moving trains to signal their location to stations and other trains, and improved overhead power lines for trains, which made trolleys possible, revolutionizing urban life.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities fell this week after volatility surrounding the economic recovery and coronavirus cases. The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.4% Friday, with health care and financials leading the charge. Consumer staples lagged. On the deal front, Kansas City Southern is preparing to take a key first step to opening takeover talks with Canadian National Railway Co., according to people familiar with the matter, as the battle for the U.S. railroad operator heats up.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at about a $12 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.4% to $1,776.47 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.3% to C$1.2474 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 1.6 basis points to 1.513%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.4 percent at 19,102.33 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.6 percent. Today, financials stocks led the market higher, as 7 of 11 sectors gained; 123 of 229 shares rose, while 103 fell. Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.8 percent. Acuity Ads Holdings Inc. had the largest increase, rising 7.8 percent.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.1 percent
* So far this week, the index fell 1.3 percent, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended Feb. 26
* The index advanced 34 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 52 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.4 percent below its 52-week high on April 16, 2021 and 34.6 percent above its low on May 14, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.3 on a trailing basis and 17 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.7 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.97t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.63 percent compared with 8.57 percent in the previous session and the average of 10.31 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 60.3625| 1.0| 24/3
* Energy | 7.4836| 0.3| 15/8
* Consumer Discretionary | 6.2439| 0.8| 9/4
* Health Care | 4.1367| 1.7| 7/3
* Industrials | 3.8922| 0.2| 18/11
* Information Technology | 2.4474| 0.1| 6/4
* Real Estate | 1.2482| 0.2| 15/11
* Communication Services | -1.5662| -0.2| 4/4
* Utilities | -3.3967| -0.4| 5/11
* Consumer Staples | -4.2829| -0.6| 2/11
* Materials | -5.8621| -0.2| 18/33

US
By Rita Nazareth and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed after strong economic data added to evidence the recovery is gaining momentum, with traders also assessing a batch of corporate earnings. The dollar retreated. Most major groups in the S&P 500 advanced, led by financial and material shares. A gauge of smaller companies outperformed major benchmarks, while Tesla Inc. and Apple Inc. paced gains in mega cap stocks. Blue chips Honeywell International Inc., American Express Co. and Intel Corp. weighed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average after their quarterly results. Equities whipsawed this week amid a flare-up in global coronavirus cases and news that the White House plans to propose almost doubling the capital-gain tax rate for the wealthy. Investors also waded through corporate outlooks and economic readings, with data showing U.S. new-home sales rebounded in March to the highest since 2006. Meanwhile, output at manufacturers and service providers reached a record high in April. “It’s evident the U.S. economy continues to be on the right track,” Jeff Schulze, investment strategist at ClearBridge Investments, said this week. “What the market is going to be looking for is continued economic momentum. This is the beginning of a more sustained move toward value and cyclicals.”

Other corporate highlights:
* Kimberly-Clark Corp., the maker of Scott toilet paper, reported a steep sales decline that signaled the potential end of a boon triggered by the pandemic.
* Schlumberger, the world’s biggest crude contractor, said it expects a gradual recovery of oil demand to boost overseas work through the end of this year.

Comparing U.S. stocks to high-yield bonds makes equities “look less stretched,” according to Jeroen Blokland, a manager
of multi-asset funds at Robeco. While the Cboe Volatility Index, or the VIX, set a 14-month low last week, the yield spread for
the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High-Yield Index reached its narrowest since July 2007 in the previous week.
“Equities are relatively attractive versus high yield” on this basis, he wrote in a blog post.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 1.8%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.9%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%
* The euro rose 0.7% to $1.2096
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 107.89 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose two basis points to 1.55%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.26%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.74%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.2% to $62 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,776 an ounce
–With assistance from Emily Barrett, Joanna Ossinger, Cecile Gutscher and Vildana Hajric.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people,
but care more about their opinions than our own. -Marcus Aurelius, 121 AD-180 AD.

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:

It’s Earth Day, and while conversations about the climate crisis and global emissions may feel overwhelming, there are also plenty of people and organizations doing incredible work to restore Earth’s biodiversity.

Earth Day  est. 1970 ~This year’s specials include a Greta Thunberg documentary, a David Attenborough extravaganza and Cher rescuing an elephant.

On Design: This is not your average stained glass.

Amazon is opening a hair salon in London.  If Alexa suggests you should get bangs, don’t trust her. 

Forget Atlanta: China now has the world’s busiest airport.

When the French astronaut Thomas Pesquet spends six months in the International Space Station, his grub will be a far cry from John Glenn’s apple sauce in 1962. He’ll enjoy a menu that includes lobster, beef bourguignon and almond tarts with caramelized pears, made by Michelin-starred chefs.   Still, the meticulously prepared dishes cannot be exactly like food on Earth: Much of it is freeze-dried, with the water extracted, to reduce its size and volume, and sometimes heated to high temperatures to kill off germs.
“It needs to remind people of their experiences of eating food on Earth,” said Ryan Dowdy, who has managed food on the space station.  Bon appétit.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Cheery trees in Greenwich, London
CREDIT: PAUL GROVER FOR THE TELEGRAPH

A spaniel named ‘Pickle’ jumps through a blanket of bluebells near their peak at the National Trust’s Basildon Park near Goring-on-Thames in Berkshire, where careful management of the estate’s ancient woodland by trust staff and volunteers enables the bluebells to thrive
CREDIT: JONATHAN BRADY/PA

Roses are on display in preparations for Sant Jordi celebrations at the Flower and Ornamental Plant wholesale Market in Vilassar de Dalt, Barcelona, Spain
CREDIT: ENRIC FONTCUBERTA/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK SOURCE

Buddhist monks light 330,000 candles in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest flaming image during Earth Day celebrations at the Wat Dhammakaya Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand
CREDIT: LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Market Closes for April 22^st, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	33815.90	-321.41
		-0.94%
S&P 500	4134.98	-38.44
		-0.92%
NASDAQ	13717.412	-131.806 -0.94%
TSX	19031.64	-111.61
		-0.58%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	29188.17	+679.62
		+2.38%
HANG SENG	28755.34	+133.42
		+0.47%
SENSEX	48080.67	+374.87
		+0.79%
FTSE 100*	6938.24	+42.95 +0.62%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.515	1.524
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.032	2.020
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.5380	1.5555
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.2180	1.2505

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7998	0.8000
US $	1.2503	1.2499
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5026	0.6655
US $	1.2017	0.8321

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1798.20	1777.85
Oil
WTI Crude Future	61.46	61.35

Market Commentary:
     The price of iron ore—one of the world’s most traded commodities—rose to $187.75 a metric ton on April 20, according to S&P Global Platts. It has risen 17% over the past month, extending a rally that began when prices were below $100 a ton less than a year ago.
On this day in 1980, market guru Joe Granville signaled his 1,500 premium subscribers to buy stocks. The next day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 4% to close at 789.85. “I don’t think that I will ever make a serious mistake on the stock market for the rest of my life,” crowed Mr. Granville—who freely admitted he didn’t even invest his own money in stocks.  However, financial newsletter expert Mark Hulbert later calculated that Mr. Granville’s followers lost 98% of their money following his advice between 1980 and 1987.

Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities dipped Thursday in a volatile session, with U.S. President Joe Biden thinking about doubling the capital gains tax rate for wealthy individuals to 39.6%.  The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.6% to its lowest since April 5. All 11 sectors declined, with tech and materials leading the drop. Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Quebec Premier Francois Legault called for stricter federal rules at Canada’s air and land borders as the country grapples with a third wave of Covid-19 cases.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at about a $12.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.5% to $1,784.10 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.01% to C$1.2498 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield edged lower to 1.517%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.6 percent at 19,031.64 in Toronto. The index dropped to the lowest closing level since April 5 after the previous session’s increase of 0.5 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.2 percent. Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 7.0 percent. Today, 154 of 229 shares fell, while 73 rose; 9 of 11 sectors were lower, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 1.8 percent
* So far this week, the index fell 1.7 percent, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended Feb. 26
* The index advanced 33 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 50 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.8 percent below its 52-week high on April 16, 2021 and 34.9 percent above its low on April 22, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.5 percent in the past 5 days and rose 1.2 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.2 on a trailing basis and 17 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.7 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.99t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.57 percent compared with 8.66 percent in the previous session and the average of 10.43 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | -50.1659| -2.7| 0/11
* Materials | -34.9603| -1.4| 4/48
* Energy | -22.9853| -1.0| 5/18
* Consumer Staples | -6.6675| -0.9| 3/10
* Utilities | -3.3703| -0.4| 2/14
* Communication Services | -2.4269| -0.3| 3/5
* Health Care | -2.4247| -1.0| 2/8
* Consumer Discretionary | -0.4693| -0.1| 8/4
* Real Estate | -0.1548| 0.0| 11/14
* Financials | 0.2521| 0.0| 17/10
* Industrials | 11.7423| 0.5| 18/12

US
By Kamaron Leach and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks had their biggest slide in five weeks after President Joe Biden was said to propose almost doubling the capital-gain tax for the wealthy. The dollar advanced. The S&P 500 turned lower after Bloomberg News reported that for those earning $1 million or more, the new top rate, coupled with an existing surtax on investment income, means that federal tax rates for rich investors could be as high as 43.4%. Speculation arose that some traders may sell shares before any change is made to capture the lower rate. “Sticker shock over some of these tax figures will be hard to shake off for some investors,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, wrote in a note. “Some traders are looking for an excuse to lock in profits and they might choose to use this tax story as their catalyst.”
Equities whipsawed throughout the session amid mixed economic data and renewed concern the pandemic was worsening. All major groups in the S&P 500 fell, led by material, energy and tech shares. AT&T Inc. jumped after beating earnings estimates. Intel Corp. — the biggest chipmaker — slid in afterhours trading as it reported a drop in data-center revenue and a steep slump in gross profit margin. Elsewhere, Bitcoin declined for the sixth time in seven days, extending losses after the higher capital gains proposal was revealed. Investors already face a capital-gains tax if they hold the cryptocurrency for more than a year.

Here are some key events to watch this week:
* U.S. releases new home sales data Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.9% at 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.7%.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index declined 0.2%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.2%.
* The euro declined 0.2% to $1.2014.
* The Japanese yen appreciated 0.1% to 107.98 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 1.54%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to -0.25%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield was unchanged at 0.74%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5% to $61.66 a barrel.
* Gold fell 0.5% to $1,783.50 an ounce.
–With assistance from Justina Lee, Andreea Papuc, Cecile Gutscher, Claire Ballentine, Dave Liedtka and Katie Greifeld.
Have  a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.-Vincent Van Gogh, 1853-1890.

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

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

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
First kindergarten is established in 1837.
1994~The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan.

Charlotte Bronte, author, b. 1816
On April 21, 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Conn.  Go to article »

Teaching children to play chess found to decrease risk aversion. 

In 1879, a botanist buried 20 bottles of seeds on a college campus. A secret society of scientists is still studying his stash.  Every 20 years, under the cover of darkness, scientists dig up a bottle from a secret location at Michigan State University, making it one of the world’s longest-running experiments. The experiment’s caretakers then scatter the seeds over a tray of soil and see which ones grow. Last week, they set out to unearth another bottle containing over 1,000 seeds. But first, they had to find where to dig.

In other underground discoveries, officials in Maryland announced they had located the site of a cabin where Harriet Tubman lived with her family as a young adult. The discovery of a coin from 1808, the year her parents were married, led archaeologists to the site.

The annual Lyrid meteor shower marks the first big meteor show of the year. It peaks on April 22 (tomorrow), so make sure to get a good look at the night sky.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Wild swimmers enjoy the sunrise behind North Berwick Law on Portobello beach in Edinburgh
CREDIT: EUAN CHERRY

Footage from a traffic camera on the SP-330 motorway in Campinas, Brazil, shows a toucan pecking the device before trying to eat it
CREDIT: VIRALPRESS

A duckling is reflected in the water of the River Slea in Lincolnshire
CREDIT: DAVE NEWMAN/JAM PRESS

A conservator holds a Bristowe Hat, believed to have belonged to King Henry VIII, as it is put on display for the first time in 500 years at Hampton Court Palace, south west London
CREDIT: AARON CHOWN/PA

Market Closes for April 21^st, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34137.31	+316.01
		+0.93%
S&P 500	4173.42	+38.48
		+0.93%
NASDAQ	13950.219	+163.951 +1.19%
TSX	19143.25	+102.47
		+0.54%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28508.55	-591.83
		-2.03%
HANG SENG	28621.92	-513.81
		-1.76%
SENSEX	47705.80	-243.62
		-0.51%
FTSE 100*	6895.29	+35.42 +0.52%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.524	1.503
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.020	2.008
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.5555	1.5589
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.2505	2.2512

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8000	0.7929
US $	1.2499	1.2612
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5043	0.6648
US $	1.2035	0.8309

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1777.85	1774.50
Oil
WTI Crude Future	61.35	62.44

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. 
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose amid corporate earnings reports after dropping in the previous two session. The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.5%, with eight of 11 sectors higher. Shaw Communications jumped 6.8% after earnings, while Trulieve Cannabis and Canopy Growth Gorp. both rose more than 6%. Oil fell for a second day with an increase in U.S. crude inventories compounding concerns around a choppy global demand recovery. The Bank of Canada took the biggest step yet by a major economy to reduce emergency levels of monetary stimulus as it hailed a stronger-than-expected recovery from the pandemic.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $11.85 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.9% to $1,794 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.9% to C$1.2497 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 1.9 basis points to 1.522%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.5 percent at 19,143.25 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.9 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 0.9 percent. Organigram Holdings Inc. had the largest increase, rising 8.2 percent. Today, 169 of 229 shares rose, while 57 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.4 percent
* The index advanced 37 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 55 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.2 percent below its 52-week high on April 16, 2021 and 37.3 percent above its low on April 21, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 1.5 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.4 on a trailing basis and 17 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.7 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.97t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.66 percent compared with 8.64 percent in the previous session and the average of 10.52 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 28.9921| 0.5| 23/4
* Materials | 26.2096| 1.1| 46/6
* Information Technology | 18.1756| 1.0| 6/4
* Energy | 12.9959| 0.6| 18/4
* Health Care | 9.4512| 3.9| 10/0
* Consumer Discretionary | 7.7291| 1.0| 8/5
* Real Estate | 1.3858| 0.2| 18/8
* Utilities | 1.0703| 0.1| 11/5
* Communication Services | -0.4522| 0.0| 3/5
* Consumer Staples | -0.6734| -0.1| 8/5
* Industrials | -2.4325| -0.1| 18/11

US
By Rita Nazareth and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — Stocks snapped a two-day drop as dip buyers emerged, fueling a rally in companies that stand to benefit the most from an economic revival. Treasuries were little changed. Most major groups in the S&P 500 rose, with raw-material, energy and financial shares leading the charge. A gauge of small caps climbed more than 2%, outperforming major benchmarks.  CSX Corp. paced gains in the Dow Jones Transportation Average after a strong revenue outlook. Netflix Inc. tumbled on disappointing subscriber figures. The Canadian dollar advanced as the nation’s central bank said it’ll pare back asset purchases and move up its expected timeline for potential rate hikes.  Equities rebounded as traders sifted through corporate results for signs on whether an anticipated jump in profits would bring with it forecasts for stronger growth.
     Earlier losses were driven by concern over a flare-up in coronavirus cases around the world that could jeopardize an economic rebound, with stocks trading near their all-time highs.  “Investors are trying to figure out what’s going to accelerate through the reopening based on earnings and guidance, while simultaneously keeping an eye on any reports of a coronavirus resurgence globally,” said Mike Loukas, chief executive officer at TrueMark Investments. “It’ll be a tug-of-war for direction on certain days.” Earnings season may be just the spark the Russell 2000 needs as the index is trailing major benchmarks this month. The gauge’s revenue is set to grow by 8.7%, beating the S&P 500’s by 226 basis points, wrote Bloomberg Intelligence’s Michael Casper and Gina Martin Adams. The small-cap measure’s cyclical sectors — led by raw-material, financial and consumer-discretionary companies — are expected to drive the sales growth, according to analysts’ consensus estimates.

Here are some key events to watch this week:
* European Central Bank rate decision and President Christine Lagarde briefing on Thursday.
* U.S. releases new home sales data Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 climbed 0.9% at 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.7%.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index gained 0.4%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased 0.1%.
* The euro was little changed at $1.2034.
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 108.07 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 1.55%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield was unchanged at -0.26%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield climbed one basis point to 0.74%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.7% to $61 a barrel.
* Gold gained 0.9% to $1,794.90 an ounce.
–With assistance from Srinivasan Sivabalan, Ksenia Galouchko, Robert Brand, Cecile Gutscher, Andreea Papuc, Claire Ballentine, Vildana Hajric, Nancy Moran and Sophie Caronello.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Life’s a bit like mountaineering – never look down. –Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, 1919-2008

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:
1902: Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie isolated the radioactive element radium.  Go to article »

2010: The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes, killing 11 and causing the rig to sink, causing a massive oil discharge into the Gulf of Mexico and an environmental disaster.

Some Syrians fleeing violence have sought refuge in ancient archaeological sites.

Virtual Travel: Each summer along the Alaska coast, millions of salmon begin their journey back to the rivers where they

were spawned. See what it’s like.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The sun rises into an orange sky at dawn by the River Great Ouse in Ely, Cambridgeshire, with the good weather set to continue this week
CREDIT: VERONICA JOHANSSON POULTNEY/BAV MEDIA

The Royal Chapel at Chateau de Versailles in France is pictured after its restoration, which started in Autumn 2017
CREDIT: PASCAL LE SEGRETAIN/GETTY IMAGES

Cypriot marine ecologist Louis Hadjioannou, 38, dives to photograph the coral, as he monitors the impact of climate change on the delicate fauna in the crystal clear waters of Glyko Nero in Ayia Napa,
CREDIT: EMILY IRVING/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Marcia from Norwich stands among thousands of tulips which have burst into colour in fields near King’s Lynn in Norfolk
CREDIT: JOE GIDDENS/PA

Market Closes for April 20^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	33821.30	-256.33
		-0.75%
S&P 500	4134.94	-28.32
		-0.68%
NASDAQ	13784.270	-128.496 -0.92%
TSX	19040.78	-163.64
		-0.85%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	29100.38	-584.99
		-1.97%
HANG SENG	29135.73	+29.58
		+0.10%
SENSEX	47705.80	-243.62
		-0.51%
FTSE 100*	6859.87	-140.21 -2.00%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.503	1.556
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.008	2.061
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.5589	1.6047
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.2512	2.2963

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7929	0.7981
US $	1.2612	1.2530
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5180	0.6588
US $	1.2036	0.8308

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1774.50	1774.45
Oil
WTI Crude Future	62.44	63.38

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1720, declaring that he “can calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the madness of the people,” Isaac Newton sold his 7,000 pounds’ worth of South Sea Co. stock at a 100% profit. But the excitement around England’s first great IPO proved too much even for him, and he soon got back in. Newton ended up losing 20,000 pounds when the bubble burst, and from that moment on, he could “never bear to hear the South Sea referred to for the rest of his life.”

Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities extended their drop early Tuesday after industrials weakened amid railway M&A. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell about 0.6%, with all 11 sectors lower. On the deal front, Canadian National Railway Co. offered $30 billion to snatch Kansas City Southern away from a rival, spurring a possible bidding war over one of the industry’s biggest deals in decades.

Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $11.70 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.1% to $1,769.60 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.1% to C$1.2524 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 1.9 basis points to 1.536%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.9 percent, or 163.64 to 19,040.78 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 1.1 percent on March 4. Today, financials stocks led the market lower, as 6 of 11 sectors lost; 111 of 229 shares fell, while 114 rose. Canadian National Railway Co. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 6.3 percent. Organigram Holdings Inc. had the largest drop, falling 10.1 percent.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 1.8 percent
* The index advanced 32 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 49 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.8 percent below its 52-week high on April 16, 2021 and 36.6 percent above its low on April 21, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.8 percent in the past 5 days and rose 1 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.3 on a trailing basis and 16.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.7 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.64 percent compared with 8.36 percent in the previous session and the average of 10.60 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | -59.5540| -1.0| 7/20
* Industrials | -55.7925| -2.4| 12/17
* Energy | -42.5297| -1.8| 5/18
* Information Technology | -20.2433| -1.1| 2/9
* Health Care | -10.7938| -4.3| 0/10
* Consumer Discretionary | -0.9833| -0.1| 7/6
* Communication Services | 2.1710| 0.2| 4/4
* Real Estate | 2.7941| 0.5| 21/5
* Utilities | 5.4402| 0.6| 13/3
* Consumer Staples | 6.0249| 0.9| 11/2
* Materials | 9.8228| 0.4| 32/17

US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for a second day as rising virus cases around the world led to renewed concern over the continued economic impact, overshadowing a batch of solid corporate results. The S&P 500 extended its slide from an all-time high, with investors showing caution ahead of the brunt of the earnings season. All eyes will be on whether an anticipated rise in profits will bring with it forecasts for stronger growth ahead. International Business Machines Corp. climbed after reporting its largest revenue growth in 11 quarters, while United Airlines Holdings Inc. paced a selloff in travel stocks on a bigger-than-expected loss. Netflix Inc. tumbled after the close of regular trading as its new streaming users lagged estimates.
While American equities are trading at a valuation that’s about 35% above the average of the past decade, investors are focused on what’s forecast to be the best earnings season in two years. One of their biggest concerns is whether companies are equipped to handle mounting inflation pressures as the economic recovery gains momentum. “Earnings season is ramping up, and there’s this concern about how the multinationals will give their guidance in view of the fact that we haven’t drawn a line under Covid yet,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior financial markets analyst at City Index. “That is just starting to unnerve investors. Demand for riskier assets has come off.” For David Donabedian, chief investment officer at CIBC Private Wealth Management, the stock market has been just taking a breather after a big rally, but there are still reasons to be bullish. “The economic recovery has taken hold, the earnings recovery has taken hold, everything we’ve seen from first- quarter earnings so far has been that it’s going to be a blowout quarter,” he said. Elsewhere, the dollar rose for the first time in seven sessions, while the Treasury 10-year yield dropped to the lowest
level in more than five weeks.
Other corporate highlights:
* Johnson & Johnson posted stronger-than-expected sales, while Travelers Cos.’s earnings beat estimates and Philip Morris International Inc. raised its outlook
* Procter & Gamble Co. is boosting the prices of some consumer products as the household-goods behemoth grapples with higher commodity costs
Here are some key events to watch this week:
* EIA crude oil inventory report on Wednesday.
* European Central Bank rate decision and President Christine Lagarde briefing on Thursday.
* U.S. releases new home sales data Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.7%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8%
* The Russel 2000 Index fell 2%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.9%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro was little changed at 1.2033
* The British pound fell 0.4% to 1.3935
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 1.562%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to -0.262%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.731%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.5% to $62 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,778 an ounce

–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Emily Barrett, Cecile Gutscher, Srinivasan Sivabalan, Kamaron Leach and Elizabeth Stanton.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.
                                         -Epictetus, 50 AD- 135 AD

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:
1775 -Start of the American Revolution – Battle of Lexington & Concord.
1932 – Herbert Hoover suggests a 5-day work week.
On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring 500. (Timothy McVeigh was later convicted of federal murder charges and executed.) Go to article »

It’s National Poetry Month in the U.S. These five poets can help you appreciate the form.

NASA conducted its first flight on another planet early Monday morning, a short hop for a small chopper named Ingenuity. The feat demonstrated technology that could prove critical to the future of space exploration. With the U.S. and other nations preparing to return humans to the moon, and eventually land on Mars, using drones will become much more important.

Watching light bend. 

Explore future worlds, get lost in a time loop, go to space: These science fiction movies are worth streaming.

I was impressed by this story that was in The NY Times this morning – thought you might like it too:
Guido Calabresi, a federal judge and Yale law professor, invented a little fable that he has been telling law students for more than three decades.  He tells the students to imagine a god coming forth to offer society a wondrous invention that would improve everyday life in almost every way. It would allow people to spend more time with friends and family, see new places and do jobs they otherwise could not do. But it would also come with a high cost. In exchange for bestowing this invention on society, the god would choose 1,000 young men and women and strike them dead.
Calabresi then asks: Would you take the deal? Almost invariably, the students say no. The professor then delivers the fable’s lesson: “What’s the difference between this and the automobile?”
In truth, automobiles kill many more than 1,000 young Americans each year; the total U.S. death toll hovers at about 40,000 annually. We accept this toll, almost unthinkingly, because vehicle crashes have always been part of our lives. We can’t fathom a world without them.
It’s a classic example of human irrationality about risk. We often underestimate large, chronic dangers, like car crashes or chemical pollution, and fixate on tiny but salient risks, like plane crashes or shark attacks.
One way for a risk to become salient is for it to be new. That’s a core idea behind Calabresi’s fable. He asks students to consider whether they would accept the cost of vehicle travel if it did not already exist. That they say no underscores the very different ways we treat new risks and enduring ones.
I have been thinking about the fable recently because of Covid-19. Covid certainly presents a salient risk: It’s a global pandemic that has upended daily life for more than a year. It has changed how we live, where we work, even what we wear on our faces. Covid feels ubiquitous.
Fortunately, it is also curable. The vaccines have nearly eliminated death, hospitalization and other serious Covid illness among people who have received shots. The vaccines have also radically reduced the chances that people contract even a mild version of Covid or can pass it on to others.
Yet many vaccinated people continue to obsess over the risks from Covid — because they are so new and salient.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Thousands of flamingoes flock into the shape of an eye during a beautiful sunset over a lake in Kenya. The incredible image was captured over Lake Natron by photographer Phillip Chang, 65, from California., with cloud in the sky reflecting back in the water in areas. Philip said, “The birds had surrounded a piece of dry land which you can see in the centre of the image. This lake is a breeding ground for them – and hundreds and thousands gather here.” “This is my favourite image of the flamingos because of the unique shape created by the birds.”
CREDIT: PHILLIP CHANG/SOLENT NEWS PHOTO AGENCY

Flames are seen close to the city fanned by strong winds after a bushfire broke out on the slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa
CREDIT: REUTERS/MIKE HUTCHINGS

Angel of the North sculpture designed by Antony Gormley during sunrise in Gateshead
CREDIT: REUTERS/LEE SMITH

A climber perches above an abandoned slate mine in a stunning picture taken as the adventurer desperately tries to stay still. The image was taken in the Cathedral Cave, the main chamber in a series of former slate mines close to Little Langdale in the Lake District. The main chamber is a staggering 40ft in height, proving an amazing adventure for climbers as well as a great photo opportunity.
CREDIT: EMILY HALL / TRIANGLE NEWS

Market Closes for April 19^th, 2021

 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34077.63	-123.04
		-0.36%
S&P 500	4163.26	-22.21
		-0.53%
NASDAQ	13914.766	-137.576 -0.98%
TSX	19204.42	-146.90
		-0.76%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	29685.37	+2.00
		+0.01%
HANG SENG	29106.15	+136.44
		+0.47%
SENSEX	47949.42	-882.61
		-1.81%
FTSE 100*	7000.08	-19.45 -0.28%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.556	1.541
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.061	1.985
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.6047	1.5798
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.2963	2.2649

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7981	0.7993
US $	1.2530	1.2512
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5082	0.6631
US $	1.2037	0.8308

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1774.45	1757.20
Oil
WTI Crude Future	63.38	63.13

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1933, the day after President Franklin D. Roosevelt devalued the U.S. dollar, the stock market soared, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average leaping 5.66 points, or a near-record 9%, to close at 68.31.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities dropped Monday led by a retreat in information technology stocks. The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.8% to its lowest level since April 14. Shopify and Lightspeed POS led tech shares lower, both down over 3.5%. Ten of eleven sectors dropped. Justin Trudeau’s government set the table for a possible election in Canada with a budget that promises big spending on new programs such as childcare and a return to small deficits by 2025. After the market close, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland outlined C$101.4 billion ($80.9 billion) in new policy actions over three years to aid the economic recovery. The plan includes more cash for pensioners, subsidies for businesses to rehire workers and billions for health care and infrastructure. The Canadian dollar maintained its 0.2% decline against the U.S. dollar after the release of the budget. Two shipments of AstraZeneca vaccines that were expected to arrive in Ontario in late-April and May are delayed, Premier Doug Ford’s office said in a statement Monday.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $11.70 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,770.92 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.2% to C$1.2534 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield edged lower to 1.536%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.8 percent at 19,204.42 in Toronto. The move was the biggest loss since March 23 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.2 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 5.2 percent. Boralex Inc. had the largest drop, falling 6.3 percent. Today, 168 of 229 shares fell, while 59 rose; 10 of 11 sectors were lower, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 34 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 48 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.9 percent below its 52-week high on April 16, 2021 and 37.8 percent above its low on April 21, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is unchanged in the past 5 days and rose 1.9 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.5 on a trailing basis and 17.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.7 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.02t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.36 percent compared with 7.92 percent in the previous session and the average of 10.75 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | -76.5715| -3.9| 0/11
* Financials | -22.4599| -0.4| 10/17
* Materials | -18.7733| -0.8| 9/43
* Industrials | -16.1311| -0.7| 5/25
* Utilities | -5.7149| -0.6| 4/11
* Real Estate | -3.0115| -0.5| 7/19
* Energy | -2.5274| -0.1| 5/18
* Consumer Discretionary | -2.3700| -0.3| 7/6
* Health Care | -2.1465| -0.8| 3/7
* Communication Services | -0.2875| 0.0| 4/4
* Consumer Staples | 3.0782| 0.4| 5/7

US
By Vildana Hajric and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks retreated from an all-time high as investors awaited the heart of the earnings season and more economic data later in the week. The dollar fell. Technology shares dragged down the S&P 500, which posted its biggest drop in almost four weeks. Tesla Inc. contributed the most to the decline as one of its electric cars that “no one” appeared to be driving crashed and killed two passengers. Small caps underperformed, with more than three-quarters of the stocks in the Russell 2000 closing lower. Copper prices surged to a seven-year high on prospects for strong demand and a pickup in inflation as economies rebound. In the U.S., the economic calendar is light this week until Thursday, with reports on unemployment claims and home sales among those scheduled for release. Robust economic data helped push stocks to another record last week despite concerns surrounding the spread of Covid-19 variants. Traders will look for further confirmation of the private sector’s recovery from the pandemic as the earnings season gathers pace.
United Airlines Holdings Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. are among those with reports after the closing bell on Monday. “With a deluge of earnings activity this week from across industries, we may be in a bit of a holding pattern until investors digest any beats or misses on that front,” said Chris  Larkin, managing director of trading and investing product at E*Trade Financial. “Bottom line is that short-term volatility is typical when we’re knocking around market highs as traders look to uncover value.” For Matt Maley, chief market strategist for Miller Tabak + Co., the sharp drop in Bitcoin over the weekend is having an impact on trading as well. “Whenever a headline-grabbing asset sees a big decline at a time when the broad market stands at an expensive level, it usually has a negative impact on the stock market, even if it’s only short-lived,” he wrote.

Here are some key events to watch this week:
* Apple’s first product unveiling of the year on Tuesday.
* Reserve Bank of Australia releases minutes of its policy meeting on Tuesday.
* EIA crude oil inventory report on Wednesday.
* European Central Bank rate decision and President Christine Lagarde briefing on Thursday.
* U.S. releases new home sales data

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.5% as of 4:03 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 1.4%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%
* The euro rose 0.5% to 1.2037
* The British pound rose 1.1% to 1.3986
* The Japanese yen rose 0.6% to 108.17 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced 2.1 basis points to 1.601%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced 2.8 basis points to 0.235%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined 0.9 basis points to 0.755%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5% to $63 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.5% to $1,771/oz
–With assistance from Joanna Ossinger, Cormac Mullen, Andreea Papuc, Emily Barrett and Yakob Peterseil.
Have  a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Do not wish for quick results, nor look for small advantages.  If you seek quick results,
you will not reach the ultimate goal.  If you are led astray by small advantages,
you will never accomplish great things. –Confucius, 551 BC-479 BC.

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