June 30, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On June 30, 1971, the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, freed The New York Times and The Washington Post to resume immediate publication of articles based on the secret Pentagon Papers on the origins of the Vietnam War. Go to article »
 
1937~The world’s first emergency telephone number (999) launched in London. 

Rejected at 10, 70-year-old woman is now a Yankee bat girl. (h/t Ellen Kominers)

$10,000 flute is back after a nine-year cab ride. (h/t Scott Kominers

‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ will head to Broadway in November.  This continues the Potter spinoff series, “Harry Potter and the Inevitable Stage Production.” 

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Troops in the mud at the Battle of the Somme. Colourised images of the Battle of the Somme have been revealed marking the conflict’s 105th anniversary
CREDIT: MEDIADRUMVWORLD.COM/ROYSTON LEONA
The Australian Army at the Battle of the Somme. Colourised images of the Battle of the Somme have been revealed marking the conflicts 105th anniversary.
CREDIT:MEDIADRUMWORLD.COM/ROYSTON LEONA

A young girl runs in a lavender field on June 29, 2021 in Sale San Giovanni, near Cuneo, Northwestern Italy.
CREDIT: MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

A hungry bird bit off a bit more than it could chew as it struggled to swallow its fishy prey. This great cormorant was hunting on a lake in Kiskuns¡g National Park in Hungary when it caught a brown bullhead catfish in its beak.
CREDIT: THOMAS HINSCHE/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY
Market Closes for June 30th, 2021

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
34502.51 +210.22
+0.61%
S&P 500 4297.50 +5.70
+0.13%
NASDAQ 14503.95 -24.38

-0.17%

TSX 20165.58 -5.45
-0.03%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 28791.53 -21.08
-0.07%
HANG
SENG
28827.95 -166.15
-0.57%
SENSEX 52482.71 -66.95
-0.13%
FTSE 100* 7037.47 -50.08

-0.71%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
1.389 1.417
CND.
30 Year
Bond
1.844 1.874
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
1.4680 1.4714
U.S.
30 Year Bond
  2.0857   2.0851

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.8065 0.8066
US
$
1.2399 1.2398
Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse
Canadian $ 1.4703 0.6801
US
$
1.1859 0.8433

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix
1755.45 1780.30
 
Oil
WTI Crude Future 73.47 72.98

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1938, in a move the New York Stock Exchange had resisted for a decade, William McChesney Martin was elected the NYSE’s first paid, independent president. In a striking sign that he took his independence seriously, Martin immediately sold his stake in his own brokerage firm and auctioned off his seat on the exchange.
His starting salary: $48,000.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canada’s main stock exchange scored its best first half since the financial crisis of more than a decade ago, helped by investors piling into value and cyclical equities as the economy revives.
The S&P/TSX Composite index climbed about 16% so far this year, outpacing the S&P 500 and MSCI World Indexes.

     The benchmark last climbed more than 15% in the first half of a year in 2009, coming out of the financial crisis of 2008.
Some of the best-performing sectors in Canada this year were energy and financials — both of which are beneficiaries of the global economy reopening after the pandemic driven downturn –and make up about 44% of the Canadian benchmark.
“The first half of 2021 has largely gone according to script – Value and Quality factor styles have somewhat outperformed the market,” said CIBC’s strategist Ian de Verteuil in a note. If the market continues to expect better economic growth and higher interest rates, the two investing strategies should continue to outperform, he added.
The TSX energy index outperformed all the sectors this year, climbing more than 30%, driven by oil’s rebound from a pandemic low and by rotation into value stocks.  Enerplus Corp., Tourmaline Oil Corp. and MEG Energy Corp. were the top three performers within the energy sector, and among top five overall within the index.  Copper producer Capstone Mining Corp. and cannabis stock Organigram Holdings Inc. were the other two top five outperformers within the benchmark.

     All of the stocks climbed more than 100% in the first half of 2021.
Health care stocks were the second best performers, led by pot stocks.

     The tech index, which only accounts for about 11% weight within the TSX, was the third best performer, led by BlackBerry Ltd amid meme-stock mania.
This gradual migration higher for equities is unlikely to reverse any time soon as investors are not ready to sell value stocks yet, according to Canaccord Genuity’s portfolio Strategist Martin Roberge.  “A key takeaway from our virtual roadshow with clients is that many find equity markets overvalued, but very few are willing to jump ship since value stocks are not expensive enough, in their view.” Roberge said that value stocks in Canada could be seen as cheap using price-to-book basis, but expensive on price-to-cash flow multiples. However, “the valuation of value stocks in Canada is no roadblock to higher S&P/TSX levels.”
–With assistance from Michael Bellusci.

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite declined slightly to 20,165.58 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s increase of 0.1 percent.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.4 percent. Altus Group Ltd/Canada had the largest drop, falling 4.1 percent.
Today, 101 of 231 shares fell, while 126 rose; 6 of 11 sectors were lower, led by information technology stocks.

Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 7.8 percent
* This month, the index rose 2.2 percent
* The index advanced 30 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 40 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.6 percent below its 52-week high on June 16, 2021 and 31.6 percent above its low on June 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is unchanged 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 23.3 on a trailing basis and 17 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.17t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 7.00 percent compared with 7.21 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.56 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | -29.4595| -1.3| 1/10
Financials | -16.0322| -0.3| 13/15
Industrials | -7.7251| -0.3| 16/14
Real Estate | -4.5296| -0.7| 5/20
Consumer Discretionary | -2.2358| -0.3| 7/6
Utilities | -1.5467| -0.2| 3/12
Health Care | 0.2224| 0.1| 3/7
Communication Services | 2.4339| 0.2| 6/1
Consumer Staples | 9.4760| 1.3| 8/5
Energy | 15.4260| 0.6| 16/7
Materials | 28.5158| 1.2| 48/4
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | -20.3400| -1.4| -14.1| 26.1
Brookfield Asset | | | |
Management | -15.4300| -2.4| 63.0| 21.1
Canadian National | -5.0790| -0.8| 1.1| -6.5
Suncor Energy | 4.6080| 1.5| -46.3| 39.1
Nutrien | 6.2670| 2.2| 53.1| 22.6
Couche-Tard | 8.7790| 3.5| 59.2| 5.0

US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — The end of one of the best first halves for stocks since 1998 was marked by small moves and slow trading.
Solid economic data tempered concern about high valuations and the spread of a more contagious coronavirus variant, with the S&P 500 closing slightly higher.
The gauge notched its longest streak of monthly gains since August and has rallied 14% in 2021.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average outperformed major benchmarks on Wednesday, and the Nasdaq 100 fell.

     Treasuries, which have surprisingly beaten the world’s biggest bond markets since the Federal Reserve’s hawkish tilt in June, rose.
Investors are assessing hopes for an imminent return to normalcy amid worries that runaway inflation or further Covid-19 restrictions could derail the economic rebound. Interestingly enough, companies that stand to benefit the most from a recovery in activity — like energy, industrial and financial shares – rose on Wednesday, beating the tech giants that had fueled the stay-at-home trade.

“While we expect stock markets will ultimately thrive in the reflationary environment of strong, above-trend growth and ample liquidity conditions, it won’t be a smooth ride,” said Candice Bangsund, vice president and portfolio manager at Montreal-based Fiera Capital Corp. “The next phase of the bull market may exhibit more frequent bouts of volatility.” Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said the tapering of asset purchases, which he hopes will start “soon,” should run smoother this time around as investors already know that a move is being discussed. His Atlanta counterpart Raphael Bostic noted the U.S. has “actually fully recovered” from the pandemic on a gross domestic product basis, but “it is going to take some time to get back” on employment.
Elsewhere, oil advanced, with investors awaiting a key meeting between OPEC+ producers that may reveal a collective output hike as a stalemate in Iranian nuclear talks drags on.
Here are some events to watch in the markets this week:
* China’s President Xi Jinping will deliver a speech as the nation marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party Thursday
* OPEC+ ministerial meeting Thursday
* ECB President Christine Lagarde speaks Friday
* The U.S. jobs report is due Friday

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.2%

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro fell 0.3% to $1.1859
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3833
* The Japanese yen fell 0.5% to 111.08 per dollar

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 1.45%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to -0.21%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.72%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.8% to $73.53 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,770.60 an ounce

–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Yakob Peterseil and Lu Wang.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

A problem is a chance for you to do your best. –Duke Ellington, 1899-1974.

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

June 29, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1938~Olympic National Park established.
1900~Antoine de Saint-Exupery, born.
1861~William James Mayo, co-founder Mayo Clinic, born.
On June 29, 1995, the shuttle Atlantis and the Russian space station Mir docked, forming the largest man-made satellite ever to orbit the Earth.  Go to article »
2009~American hedge-fund investment manager Bernie Madoff sentenced to up to 150 years in prison for operating the largest Ponzi scheme in history.  He died in April 2021, having served 12 years of his sentence.

World’s highest hotel opens in China.  Stay in style … and the constant grip of acrophobia

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

It may look like these tigers are a pair of copycats as their reflection bounces back off the water. Harsha Narasimhamurthy, 30, captured the tiger siblings having a drink at The Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is a wildlife sanctuary in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra state in India

CREDIT: HARSHA NARASIMHAMURTHY / CATERS NEWS

Filipino photographer Kirkamon Cabello photographed a female chinspot bird feeding its chicks in a nest in Kolwezi Lualaba Province, Democratic Republic of Congo

CREDIT: MEDIADRUMWORLD/COM/KIRKAMON CABE

A staff member sits in an interactive digital installation “Floating in the Falling Universe of Flowers” during a media preview at TeamLab Planets in the Toyosu district of Tokyo

CREDIT: PHILIP FONG/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Market Closes for June 29th, 2021

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
34292.29 +9.02
+0.03%
S&P 500 4291.80 +1.19
+0.03%
NASDAQ 14528.34 +27.83

+0.19%

TSX 20171.02 +25.77
+0.13%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 28812.61 -235.41
-0.81%
HANG
SENG
28994.10 -274.20
-0.94%
SENSEX 52549.66 -185.93
-0.35%
FTSE 100* 7087.55 +14.58

+0.21%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
1.417 1.415
CND.
30 Year
Bond
1.874 1.873
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
1.4714 1.4765
U.S.
30 Year Bond
  2.0851   2.0946

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.8066 0.8103
US
$
1.2398 1.2340
Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse
Canadian $ 1.4753 0.6778
US
$
1.1900 0.8404

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix
1780.30 1786.65
 
Oil
WTI Crude Future 72.98 72.91

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1979, as the American auto industry sputtered and the technology industry took off, the editors of The Wall Street Journal booted Chrysler from the Dow Jones Industrial Average and replaced it with IBM. And with healthcare growing faster than the food industry, Merck replaced Esmark.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks advanced on Tuesday, after consumer discretionary and industrial stocks rose. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.1% in Toronto, after falling 0.4% on Monday. Consumer discretionary stocks were the best performers, led by Gildan Activewear and Canada Goose. Corus Entertainment was the best performing stock on Tuesday, rising 6.2%, after the company’s third-quarter earnings beat the average analyst estimate.  Meanwhile, Labrador Iron Ore was the worst performer, falling 6.8%, after TD cut the ratings of the stock to hold from buy on valuation.

Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell about 1% to $1,761.59 an ounce

FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.4% to C$1.2392 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield was flat at 1.417%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite is rising 0.3 percent at 20,198.31 in Toronto. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 0.8 percent. Corus Entertainment Inc. had the largest increase, rising 6.4 percent. In midday trading, 143 of 231 shares rose, while 82 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by industrials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 8 percent
* This month, the index rose 2.4 percent
* The index advanced 31 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 43 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.5 percent below its 52-week high on June 16, 2021 and 33 percent above its low on June 29, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is unchanged in the past 5 days and rose 1.7 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.3 on a trailing basis and 16.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.17t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 7.23 percent compared with 7.21 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.63 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Industrials | 16.4944| 0.7| 23/6
* Information Technology | 13.1684| 0.6| 9/3
* Consumer Discretionary | 6.8507| 0.9| 11/2
* Communication Services | 6.8096| 0.7| 7/0
* Energy | 5.8856| 0.2| 13/10
* Consumer Staples | 4.8272| 0.7| 10/3
* Materials | 3.3765| 0.1| 30/18
* Real Estate | 1.7641| 0.3| 18/8
* Utilities | -0.6515| -0.1| 9/7
* Health Care | -2.6562| -0.9| 2/8
* Financials | -3.0858| 0.0| 11/17
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 11.6600| 0.8| -58.3| 29.4
* Canadian National | 6.2130| 1.0| -66.6| -6.0
* Canadian Natural | | | |
* Resources | 4.7840| 1.3| -64.5| 46.4
* Fortis | -1.4370| -0.8| -11.4| 6.6
* Bank of Montreal | -1.9360| -0.3| -37.6| 30.9
* Blackberry | -2.0270| -3.5| -66.6| 80.9

US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — For all the talk about inflated equity prices, a peak in earnings growth and the spread of a highly infectious coronavirus strain, stocks managed to close at another record. In what some traders called a boring trading session, the S&P 500 eked out a gain of less than 0.1%. The benchmark gauge of American shares also remained on track for its fifth straight monthly advance — the longest run since August. Technology and retail companies rose, while financials underperformed even after some of the largest Wall Street banks boosted payouts to shareholders. Investors have been weighing possible risks to the rally that drove equities up more than 90% from last year’s lows amid expectations that this quarter will mark the peak of a profit recovery from the depths of the pandemic. BlackRock Investment Institute strategists are dialing down their excitement for U.S. stocks, saying that potentially higher taxes and more regulations could pose “challenges” to the market. “Investors are probably taking a minute to reassess their near-term outlook,” said Adam Phillips, managing director of portfolio strategy at EP Wealth Advisors. “With momentum fading, stocks likely need a meaningful catalyst from here.” 

Here are some events to watch in the markets this week:
* OECD meets in Paris to finalize a proposal to overhaul global minimum corporate taxation Wednesday
* China’s President Xi Jinping will deliver a speech as the nation marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party Thursday
* OPEC+ ministerial meeting Thursday
* ECB President Christine Lagarde speaks Friday
* The U.S. jobs report is due Friday

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World index was little changed

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1902
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3850
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 110.55 per dollar

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.47%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to -0.17%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 0.74%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.7% to $73.42 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 1.1% to $1,761.70 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Yakob Peterseil, Nancy Moran, Sophie Caronello, Kamaron Leach and Francesca Maglione.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you
have was once among the things only hoped for. -Epicurus, 341-270 BCE.

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

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

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

June 28, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed in France, ending World War I. Go to article »

Peter Paul Rubens, painter, b. 1577.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, philosopher, b. 1712.

Researchers find a way to hack ATMs by waving a phone.

way to hack ATMs by waving a phone.

Denisova Cave has been a hot spot for 300,000 years. –Scott Kominers.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Isis Macadaeg, age 7, plays in a spray park at Jefferson Park during a heat wave in Seattle, Washington

CREDIT: REUTERS/KAREN DUCEY

Tyler, the Creator performs during the BET Awards at Microsoft theatre in Los Angeles

CREDIT: REUTERS/MARIO ANZUONI

‘Buddy’ the cocker spaniel sits and look out at a glorious golden sunrise rising over the rolling hills to the east and low lying mist as see from Wooler common in Northumberland 

CREDIT: PHIL WILKINSON

Market Closes for June 28th, 2021

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
34283.27 -150.57
-0.44%
S&P 500 4290.61 +9.91
+0.23%
NASDAQ 14500.51 +140.12

+0.98%

TSX 20145.25 -85.01
-0.42%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 29048.02 -18.16
-0.06%
HANG
SENG
29268.30 -19.92
-0.07%
SENSEX 52735.59 -189.45
-0.36%
FTSE 100* 7072.97 -63.10

-0.88%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
1.415 1.453
CND.
30 Year
Bond
1.873 1.897
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
1.4765 1.5241
U.S.
30 Year Bond
  2.0946   2.1487

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.8103 0.8133
US
$
1.2340 1.2296
Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse
Canadian $ 1.4717 0.6795
US
$
1.1926 0.8385

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix
1786.65 1784.85
 
Oil
WTI Crude Future 72.91 74.25

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1887, John Stith (“Doc”) Pemberton, an Atlanta druggist, received a trademark from the U.S. Patent Office for his “New and Popular Soda Fountain Drink, containing the properties of the wonderful Coca plant and the famous Cola nuts.”
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell after energy and materials companies underperformed on Monday. The S&P/TSX Composite index fell 0.4% in Toronto. Energy shares were the worst performers as oil prices fell amid expectations of an upcoming supply increase from OPEC+ producers at a time when the delta variant is threatening a recovery in demand. Some of the underperformers within the energy sector were MEG Energy, Vermilion, and Imperial Oil. Meanwhile, office vacancies in downtown Toronto, Canada’s financial capital, rose to their highest since 2008 as the era of remote work prompts companies to question their long-term needs for space.

Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold was flat around $1,781 an ounce

FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.4% to C$1.2343 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 4 basis points to 1.413%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.4 percent at 20,145.51 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 0.7 percent on June 18 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.1 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 0.9 percent. Sandstorm Gold Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 7.4 percent. Today, 149 of 232 shares fell, while 79 rose; 5 of 11 sectors were lower, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 7.7 percent
* This month, the index rose 2.1 percent
* The index advanced 33 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 45 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7 percent below its 52-week high on June 16, 2021 and 32.8 percent above its low on June 26, 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 23.2 on a trailing basis and 16.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.18t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 7.21 percent compared with 7.13 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.75 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Energy | -48.0767| -1.8| 2/21
* Financials | -43.5070| -0.7| 5/23
* Materials | -23.8850| -1.0| 8/44
* Industrials | -10.2157| -0.4| 11/19
* Consumer Discretionary | -7.1730| -0.9| 3/10
* Consumer Staples | 0.5305| 0.1| 8/5
* Health Care | 0.6688| 0.2| 5/5
* Real Estate | 1.5441| 0.2| 13/12
* Communication Services | 3.5915| 0.4| 6/0
* Utilities | 4.2323| 0.5| 8/8
* Information Technology | 37.2823| 1.7| 10/2
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* TD Bank | -10.0000| -0.9| -35.0| 20.8
* Suncor Energy | -9.9470| -3.1| -35.1| 37.5
* Canadian Natural | | | |
* Resources | -9.4010| -2.5| -67.8| 44.5
* Blackberry | 3.2200| 6.0| -56.4| 87.6
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 4.4390| 0.7| -23.7| 21.9
* Shopify | 25.3100| 1.8| -35.7| 28.3

US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Some of the world’s largest technology companies led stocks to a fresh record on Monday, extending a rally that’s already added $6 trillion in value to the equity market this year. After swinging between gains and losses throughout most of the session, the S&P 500 moved higher on news that Facebook Inc. won dismissal of two monopoly lawsuits.  Some of the stay-at-home darlings like Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Zoom Video Communications Inc. climbed as the reflation trade waned.  Cruise operators and airlines sank as governments from Europe to Asia imposed new limits on travel from Britain — which is seeing a spike in coronavirus cases. With stocks on track for one of their best first halves in history, the debate over elevated valuations is coming back to the forefront.
The S&P 500 is trading above the average of the  past decade, and this quarter potentially marking the peak of a profit recovery from the depths of the pandemic. Meantime, demand for protection against losses in coming months has risen in the options market. “Investors should not be looking for stocks to move higher in a straight line, but rather prepare for the economic recovery taking shape,” John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer,  wrote to clients. “We look for progress, not perfection in the economic data this week, with the potential for any disappointments to give rise to volatility, and with results that are better than expected likely to provide positive offsets.” Traders will sift through readings on consumer confidence, housing, manufacturing and the labor market over the course of the week — with Friday’s jobs report forecast to show an  acceleration in payrolls growth.

Here are some events to watch in the markets this week:
* OECD meets in Paris to finalize a proposal to overhaul global minimum corporate taxation Wednesday
* China’s President Xi Jinping will deliver a speech as the nation marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party Thursday
* OPEC+ ministerial meeting Thursday
* ECB President Christine Lagarde speaks Friday
* The U.S. jobs report is due Friday

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%
* The MSCI World index was little changed

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%
* The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1922
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3875
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 110.62 per dollar

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 1.48%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to -0.19%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined six basis points to 0.72%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.7% to $72.76 a barrel
* Gold futures were little changed
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Yakob Peterseil, Kamaron Leach and Lu Wang.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Remember that how you say something is as important as what you say. –H. Jackson Brown, b. 1940.

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

June 25, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.

A couple of years ago, when it was first published, I read the book by the  Navy Seal David Goggin entitled You Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds.  I was in awe of the seemingly inhuman training regimen that the Navy Seals undertake and the discipline and endurance that it bestows on those  rare and superhuman individuals who are able to complete the training.  I highly recommend the book.   I was reminded of it this week when Gary sent me the following link of a convocation address given by Navy Seal and retired four star Admiral William H. McRaven.  This is a really compelling speech and I highly recommend that you watch this:
https://youtu.be/yaQZFhrW0fU

June 25th, 1950:  War broke out on the Korean peninsula as forces from the communist North invaded the South.  Go to article »
1962~Supreme Court bans school prayer.
1990~Supreme Court upholds the right to die.
1903~ George Orwell, writer, b.
1945~Carly Simon, singer & songwriter, b.

A coronavirus epidemic hit 20,000 year ago, new study finds. 
Area sea lion crashes interview about plague of sea lions.
The ground is always moving beneath you. (h/t Ellen Kominers)

There’s a Trick to Making the Summer’s Perfect Tomato Sandwich

The Late Night Hosts weigh in on Giuliani:
“This is a dramatic fall from grace. In the city he was famously the mayor of, Rudy Giuliani can no longer practice law. And if the last year has proven anything, it’s that when it comes to law, Rudy needs a lot of practice.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“You know you’ve crossed the line when other lawyers are, like, ‘This guy lies way too much.’” — JIMMY FALLON

“How is he gonna eat? And, more likely, drink? Well, if he needs cash, he could always sell the fracking rights to his skull.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“I mean, I’m just shocked to find out Rudy had a law license. I bet Rudy is, too: [imitating Giuliani] ‘I thought that was my Quiznos card — I’m one hole punch away from a free sub!’” — SETH MEYERS

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The full moon is seen rising over the Temple of Poseidon at cape Sounion, some 70 km southeast of Athens, Greece

CREDIT: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY / EYEVINE

A 15,000-pound elephant marches through the Savanna.These images were taken by photographer Ramachandiran Govindaraj (34) from Coimbatore, India, who captured the images in the Masai Mara, Kenya. 

CREDIT: RAMACHANDIRAN GOVINDARAJMEDIADRUM

The Flying Scotsman steam train travels across the Forth Bridge, as it makes a journey through Fife

CREDIT: JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES

George meet George : D-Day and Russian Convoys World War II Veteran George Winter, 95yrs, meeting George the Giant Tortoise, 85yrs, at Cotswold Wildlife Park

CREDIT: PAUL NICHOLL
Market Closes for June 25th, 2021

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
34433.84 +237.02
+0.69%
S&P 500 4280.70 +14.21
+0.33%
NASDAQ 14360.39 -9.32

-0.06%

TSX 20230.26 +15.14
+0.07%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 29066.18 +190.95
0.66%
HANG
SENG
29288.22 +405.76
+1.40%
SENSEX 529825.04 +226.04
+0.43%
FTSE 100* 7136.07 +26.10

+0.37%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
1.453 1.418
CND.
30 Year
Bond
1.897 1.849
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
1.5241 1.4919
U.S.
30 Year Bond
  2.1487   2.0981

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.8133 0.8115
US
$
1.2296 1.2323
Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse
Canadian $ 1.4675 0.6814
US
$
1.1935 0.8379

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix
1784.85 1791.60
 
Oil
WTI Crude Future 74.25 73.45

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1974, Texas Instruments and three of its key engineers, Jack S. Kilby, Jerry D. Merryman, and James H. VanTassel, received U.S. Patent No. 3,819,921 for their hand-held aluminum calculator. The gizmo was 1 3/4” thick and weighed 2 lbs., 13 oz.  It could add, subtract, multiply, and divide, and sold for between $84.95 and $119.95.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities posted a weekly gain after strong performance from energy firms including PrairieSky Royalty, while luxury jacket maker Canada Goose Holdings also rallied. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.1% Friday, with mixed performance. Financials gained while health care and tech retreated. BlackBerry fell after analyst downgrades, but Chief Executive Officer John Chen urged patience and said he’s boosting the sales force to improve growth. Oil posted its fifth straight weekly gain, the longest winning streak since December, as demand recovers and supplies continue tighten in the U.S. and China. Canada’s parliament broke for summer this week, with conditions ripe for Justin Trudeau to trigger an election in a bid to win back complete command of the legislature.

Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.85 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,779.60 an ounce

FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.2% to C$1.2299 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 3.5 basis points to 1.453%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 20,230.26 in Toronto. Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 0.6 percent. ARC Resources Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 5.0 percent. Today, 93 of 231 shares rose, while 131 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 8.2 percent
* This month, the index rose 2.5 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 1.2 percent
* The index advanced 31 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 41 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.3 percent below its 52-week high on June 16, 2021 and 33.4 percent above its low on June 26, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.3 on a trailing basis and 16.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.18t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 7.13 percent compared with 7.78 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.93 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 30.2666| 0.5| 19/9
* Industrials | 5.1590| 0.2| 16/14
* Communication Services | 0.7082| 0.1| 4/2
* Energy | 0.6492| 0.0| 9/13
* Utilities | 0.6489| 0.1| 6/10
* Consumer Staples | -0.5240| -0.1| 6/7
* Consumer Discretionary | -1.0329| -0.1| 5/7
* Health Care | -1.2659| -0.4| 2/7
* Real Estate | -1.8326| -0.3| 5/19
* Information Technology | -8.6984| -0.4| 6/6
* Materials | -8.9275| -0.4| 15/37
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* TD Bank | 6.7100| 0.6| -26.2| 21.9
* Manulife Financial | 5.9420| 1.8| -29.2| 8.7
* Bank of Nova Scotia| 5.4850| 0.8| -6.0| 17.6
* Blackberry | -2.5690| -4.5| -48.6| 77.0
* Suncor Energy | -3.7700| -1.2| -34.0| 42.0
* Shopify | -8.1800| -0.6| -15.5| 26.1

US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — In a week that saw a plunge in stock volatility, investors scooped up companies mostly tied to a recovery of the world’s largest economy.  On the other side of the spectrum, bond traders sent Treasuries slumping. It may be too early to say that the reflation trade is coming back in full force, but at least the anxiety regarding the Federal Reserve’s hawkish shift has eased.  At least for now,  there’s a perception that officials won’t rush to boost interest rates despite mounting inflation pressures. Equities notched their best week since February, with financial and industrial shares beating the tech giants that powered the stay-at-home strategy.  The Cboe Volatility Index, or the VIX, tumbled to pre-pandemic levels. Aside from President Joe Biden’s infrastructure deal and reassurances from some prominent voices such as Fed Chair Jerome Powell, a batch of economic readings came out this week.  Data Friday showed personal spending stagnated in May, while a closely watched inflation measure continued to climb.
Meantime, U.S. consumer sentiment rose in June by less than forecast and longer-term inflation expectations moderated from a month earlier. “Equities have rallied because the Fed is successfully walking the tightrope,” said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab. “That’s a very tricky tightrope to walk — watching and taking action enough to keep inflation under control, but at the same time not acting too aggressively or too quickly that you squash economic growth.” Among the corporate highlights, some of the biggest banks rose on speculation of a potential deluge of dividends and buybacks after the Fed’s stress tests.  Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. soared after getting regulatory approval to fly customers into space. Nike Inc. jumped on an upbeat forecast, while FedEx Corp. sank amid a disappointing outlook.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.1%
* 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 $1.1941
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3890
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 110.76 per dollar

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 1.52%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to -0.16%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 0.78%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.9% to $73.98 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,779.50 an ounce
–With assistance from Sunil Jagtiani, Namitha Jagadeesh, Claire Ballentine and Kamaron Leach.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Concentration is everything.  On the day I’m performing, I don’t hear anything anyone says to me. -Luciano Pavarotti, 1935-2007.

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

June 24, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Full moon tonight.  St. Jean Baptiste Day>Quebec parties.

“In the 1930s the Maine Farmer’s Almanac began publishing Native American names for the full Moons of the year. According to this Almanac, the Algonquin tribes of what is now the northeastern United States called this the Strawberry Moon. The name comes from the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries in the northeastern United States.
An old European name for this full Moon is the Mead Moon or Honey Moon. Mead is a drink created by fermenting honey mixed with water and sometimes with fruits, spices, grains, or hops. In some countries, mead is also called honey wine (though in others honey wine is different). Some writings suggest that the time around the end of June was when honey was ready for harvesting, which made this the “sweetest” Moon.
The word “honeymoon” traces back to at least the 1500s in Europe. The tradition of calling the first month of marriage the “honeymoon” may be tied to this full Moon because of the custom of marrying in June or because the “Honey Moon” is the “sweetest” Moon of the year.
Another European name for this full Moon is the Rose Moon. Some sources indicate the name “Rose Moon” comes from the roses that bloom this time of year. Others indicate that the name comes from the color of the full Moon this time of year.
For Buddhists, this full Moon is the Poson Poya. The Poson holiday in Sri Lanka celebrates the introduction of Buddhism in 236 BCE.” –by  Gordon Johnston, NASA Science.

June 24, 1497~Discovery of Newfoundland.
On June 24, 1997, the Air Force released a report on the so-called “Roswell Incident,” suggesting the alien bodies witnesses reported seeing in 1947 were actually life-sized dummies. Go to article » 
The Roswell Incident Fact vs. Fiction

Could alien astronomers have spotted Earth?  Honk if you see us, aliens

On sale: $125,000 balloon trips to the edge of space.  Six figures, just to get that close to leaving the planet and then come back down? No, no. Set us free!

The Late Night Hosts on Voting Rights:
“The Senate voted yesterday to block the For the People voting rights bill, but not until they got their voting paperwork in order. Let’s see, I got my license, passport, tax returns, high school yearbook. OK, I think I’m ready for my riddle.” — SETH MEYERS

“Yes, the Senate’s founding purpose: to do nothing. It’s right there in Article I: ‘All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate, where one wizened, ancient turtle man, with no regard for anything but the self-preservation of his own power, shall, with his pockets stuffed with greasy bags full of money, strangle the hope of all who dare to dream of true democracy, and recognize April as National Jazz Month.’”— STEPHEN COLBERT, on Senator Mitch McConnell’s saying the Senate was fulfilling its “founding purpose”

“Yep, Democrats wanted things like automatic voter registration and Election Day to be a national holiday, while Republicans wanted every polling place to be at a yacht club.” — JIMMY FALLON

“Senate Republicans haven’t been this happy since Kenny G started touring again.” — JIMMY FALLON 

PHOTOS OF THE DAY


The almost full Strawberry Supermoon rises up in the hazy evening sky from behind St Michaels Tower on Glastonbury Tor in Somerset

CREDIT: GRAHAM HUNT / ALAMY LIVE NEWS

Eruption at Mount Etna in Catania, Italy. The volcano is erupting every 24 hours, the paroxysmal events have exceeded the threshold of 40 in 2021, it had not happened for two decades

CREDIT: ALLEGRA/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES

The Comedy Pet Photography Awards 2021 picture by Sophie Bonnefoi : Inquisitive Chicks Description: Cutie and Speedy are two chicks hatched from eggs placed in an incubator at home in August 2020. The first 3 months they spent most of their time with me. They just loved looking at the screen of my iPad when I was replying to emails or chatting on FaceTime. On the photo they are only 9 days old.

CREDIT: SOPHIE BONNEFOI

Market Closes for June 24th, 2021

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
34196.82 +332.58
+0.95%
S&P 500 4266.49 +24.65
+0.58%
NASDAQ 14369.71 +97.98

+0.69%

TSX 20215.12 +50.73
+0.25%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 28875.23 +0.34
–%
HANG
SENG
28882.46 +65.39
+0.23%
SENSEX 52699.00 +392.92
+0.75%
FTSE 100* 7109.97 +35.91

+0.51%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
1.418 1.422
CND.
30 Year
Bond
1.849 1.854
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
1.4919 1.4852
U.S.
30 Year Bond
  2.0981   2.1083

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.8115 0.8124
US
$
1.2323 1.2308
Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse
Canadian $ 1.4704 0.6801
US
$
1.1932 0.8381

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix
1791.60 1775.05
 
Oil
WTI Crude Future 73.45 73.28

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1971, Fred Smith founded a company to compete with the U.S. Postal Service. His goal was to deliver packages overnight—by routing everything, no matter where it originated, through Memphis. He called his new outfit Federal Express—and before long, a new verb (“to FedEx”) had entered the language
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose as traders digest economic data and global reopenings, and U.S. President Joe Biden set a tentative bipartisan $579 billion infrastructure deal. The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.3%, with cannabis producers including Canopy Growth Corp. leading health care stocks higher. Enbridge Inc. is set to raise $1 billion by issuing what would be the first sustainability-linked bond sold by a North American pipeline company. Meanwhile south of the border, President Joe Biden celebrated his tentative deal with a group of Democratic and Republican senators on a $579 billion infrastructure plan, saying it would create millions of jobs while fulfilling a major piece of his economic agenda.

Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.85 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,773.85 an ounce

FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.1% to C$1.2322 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 0.07 percentage point to 1.413%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.3 percent at 20,215.12 in Toronto. The index advanced to the highest closing level since June 16 after the previous session’s decrease of 0.2 percent. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.0 percent. Westport Fuel Systems Inc. had the largest increase, rising 7.0 percent. Today, 144 of 231 shares rose, while 82 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 8.1 percent
* This month, the index rose 2.5 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 1.1 percent
* The index advanced 32 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 42 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.4 percent below its 52-week high on June 16, 2021 and 33.5 percent above its low on June 24, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.4 percent in the past 5 days and rose 3.5 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.3 on a trailing basis and 16.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.17t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 7.78 percent compared with 7.78 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.01 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 32.9473| 0.5| 21/7
* Energy | 12.1900| 0.5| 18/5
* Health Care | 9.0060| 3.3| 9/1
* Industrials | 7.9745| 0.3| 18/10
* Consumer Discretionary | 6.7587| 0.9| 11/2
* Consumer Staples | 3.4779| 0.5| 12/1
* Materials | 2.6233| 0.1| 32/20
* Communication Services | -1.0296| -0.1| 2/5
* Real Estate | -2.4193| -0.4| 7/19
* Utilities | -2.5224| -0.3| 6/8
* Information Technology | -18.2710| -0.8| 8/4
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 18.1600| 3.0| -20.9| 21.0
* Manulife Financial | 4.9970| 1.6| 6.2| 6.8
* Enbridge | 4.5080| 0.7| -56.5| 21.3
* Brookfield | | | |
* Renewable Partners | -1.8500| -2.8| 69.7| -17.5
* Blackberry | -1.8820| -3.2| -74.2| 85.4
* Shopify | -19.8200| -1.4| -9.1| 26.8

US
By Rita Nazareth and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed to a record as President Joe Biden’s bipartisan $579 billion infrastructure deal added to optimism the economic recovery will keep pushing ahead.  The dollar fell. Companies that stand to benefit the most from a rebound in activity outperformed — with financial and energy shares leading gains in the S&P 500. Caterpillar Inc., the world’s biggest maker of mining and construction equipment, jumped alongside raw-material producers such as U.S. Steel Corp. and Nucor Corp. Banks rallied before the results of the Federal Reserve’s stress tests, while Tesla Inc. extended its three-day advance to almost 10%. The bipartisan legislation is expected to move through Congress alongside a separate bill that would spend trillions more on what Biden called “human infrastructure” that the GOP opposes.
Earlier Thursday, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and his Philadelphia counterpart Patrick Harker urged more spending on infrastructure investment — noting that it could boost  U.S. productivity and growth. “Infrastructure spending strengthens an already very strong economic growth outlook,” said Jeff Buchbinder, equity strategist at LPL Financial.  Those investments will “bolster the outlook for corporate profits and should keep this bull market going strong well beyond 2021,” he added. Data Thursday showed applications for U.S. state unemployment insurance fell slightly last week, though were higher than forecast, while orders for durable goods rose in May at the fastest pace since January. Shares of the fastest-growing U.S. companies have stopped moving in lockstep with the cheapest stocks.  The shift is evident from the correlation between the S&P 500 Pure Growth and Pure Value indexes during the past 200 trading days, which plummeted after setting an eight-year high in April 2020. Elsewhere, the pound fell after the Bank of England pushed back against speculation that a surge in inflation means it’s preparing to boost interest rates — saying the economy still needs support.

Here are some events to watch this week:
* U.S. personal income/spending, University of Michigan sentiment on Friday

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.6%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.6%

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro was little changed at $1.1935
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3936
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 110.84 per dollar

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.49%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.19%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 0.74%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to $73.26 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.5% to $1,774.70 an ounce
–With assistance from Sunil Jagtiani, Namitha Jagadeesh, Vildana Hajric and Claire Ballentine.

Have a wonderful evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

What loneliness is more lonely than distrust?  -George Eliot,  1819-1880.

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

June 23, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  
1868~Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called the “Type-Writer.”  Go to article »

2016~ Brexit referendum: UK votes to leave the European Union.

South African brothers vanish, and so does $3.6 billion in Bitcoin.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Museum director Taco Dibbits explains how Rembrandt’s biggest painting the Night Watch just got bigger with the help of artificial intelligence in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Right above Dibbits, left, one of the added parts is seen, the Dutch national museum and art gallery reveals findings from a long-term project to examine in minute detail Rembrandt van Rijn’s masterpiece the Night Watch. 

CREDIT: AP PHOTO/PETER DEJONG

Hymn to the Big Wheel by Liz West is unveiled as part of the Summer Lights festival at Canary Wharf

CREDIT: DAVID PARRY/PA WIRE

The Royal Ballet’s Beauty Mixed Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The Anemoi World Premiere by Valentino Zucchetti 

CREDIT: ELLIOT FRANKS

A deer amongst the poppies in a field in Salisbury. A drop in temperatures has been forecast this week as two weather fronts slowly move across the UK. Rain and cloud are expected to blanket the UK before a weather front of much heavier rain moves in

CREDIT: MARTIN COOK / SWNS

Market Closes for June 23rd, 2021

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
33874.24 -71.34
-0.21%
S&P 500 4241.84 -4.60
-0.11%
NASDAQ 14271.73 +18.46

+0.13%

TSX 20164.39 -36.26
-0.18%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 28874.89 -9.24
-0.03%
HANG
SENG
28817.07 +507.31
+1.79%
SENSEX 52306.08 -282.63
-0.54%
FTSE 100* 7074.06 -15.95

-0.22%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
1.422 1.405
CND.
30 Year
Bond
1.854 1.858
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
1.4852 1.4616
U.S.
30 Year Bond
  2.1083   2.0845

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.8124 0.8126
US
$
1.2308 1.2307
Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse
Canadian $ 1.4680 0.6812
US
$
1.1927 0.8385

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix
1775.05 1775.05
 
Oil
WTI Crude Future 73.28 73.06

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1836, with the U.S. national debt eliminated the year prior and the federal budget running a surplus, President Andrew Jackson’s plan to distribute it to the states was enacted. Jackson declared that the U.S. would “always” have a budget surplus. Yet by the time it was paid out, it had already shrunk to 25% less than the government’s original estimate
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities closed lower Wednesday in a session lacking direction. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.2% with ten of eleven sectors lagging. Empire Co. led the market lower after reducing same-store sales for the full year. Enbridge Inc.’s embattled plan to build a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac for its Line 5 oil pipeline will need a more thorough review from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the latest setback for the project opposed by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. BlackBerry Ltd. shareholders voted to keep Prem Watsa as lead director, despite complaints from a proxy advisory firm and a prominent investor that he failed to ensure the company’s executive pay is aligned with its performance.

Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold barely budged at ~$1,778.38 an ounce

FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.02% to C$1.2303 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 1.7 basis points to 1.422%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.2 percent at 20,164.39 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s increase of 0.2 percent. Franco-Nevada Corp. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.4 percent. Equinox Gold Corp. had the largest drop, falling 6.3 percent. Today, 134 of 231 shares fell, while 96 rose; 10 of 11 sectors were lower, led by consumer staples stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 7.8 percent
* This month, the index rose 2.2 percent
* The index advanced 30 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 37 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.6 percent below its 52-week high on June 16, 2021 and 33.1 percent above its low on June 24, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.3 percent in the past 5 days and rose 3.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.3 on a trailing basis and 16.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.18t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 7.78 percent compared with 8.33 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.06 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Consumer Staples | -7.1634| -1.0| 3/10
* Communication Services | -5.4919| -0.6| 1/6
* Utilities | -5.0719| -0.5| 5/11
* Financials | -4.8064| -0.1| 12/16
* Energy | -3.8793| -0.1| 13/9
* Real Estate | -3.2677| -0.5| 7/19
* Industrials | -3.1662| -0.1| 14/16
* Materials | -2.5388| -0.1| 23/30
* Consumer Discretionary | -1.7383| -0.2| 5/8
* Information Technology | -0.8969| 0.0| 5/7
* Health Care | 1.7471| 0.6| 8/2
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Franco-Nevada | -3.3480| -1.4| -3.6| 12.8
* BCE | -3.0200| -0.8| -64.0| 11.6
* Enbridge | -2.9580| -0.4| -52.0| 20.6
* Bank of Nova Scotia | 2.5320| 0.4| -7.6| 16.2
* Teck Resources | 2.6910| 3.1| 1.1| 19.5
* First Quantum | | | |
* Minerals | 3.1500| 3.0| 6.5| 22.9

US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Stocks traded in a tight range Wednesday as investors assessed prospects for an economic recovery and continued Federal Reserve support amid the threat of inflation. Treasuries fell. The S&P 500 drifted between gains and losses throughout the day, with companies tied to a broader reopening of the economy – – such as retail and financial shares — outperforming. A rally in Tesla Inc. drove the Nasdaq Composite to a fresh record even as the gauge rose just 0.1%.  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tumbled as the Supreme Court dealt a blow to investors in their challenge to the U.S. collection of more than $100 billion in profits from government-sponsored enterprises. The economy will likely meet the Fed’s threshold for tapering its asset purchases sooner than people think, noted Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan, who’s penciled in a rate hike next year. His Atlanta counterpart Raphael Bostic said the central bank could decide to slow its asset purchases in the next few months.  Meantime, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said her department may exhaust emergency measures to avoid breaching the debt limit as soon as August unless Congress acts to avert a potential default that would be “catastrophic.” Data Wednesday showed U.S. manufacturing activity expanded in June at the fastest pace in records dating back to 2007.
Meantime, sales of new homes unexpectedly fell last month as elevated home prices continued to weigh on affordability.  The reports came a day after Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated his views that policy makers will be patient in waiting to lift rates despite higher inflation. “You’ve got this inflation issue that has captured the imagination of investors for the first time in a long time,”  said David Donabedian, chief investment officer of CIBC Private Wealth Management. “I don’t have a great case for why the market takes another leap forward here over the summer. It’s going to be more of a churn, and we usually do get a little bit more volatility because volumes are down.” One-month correlations between the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Index and the S&P 500 Total Return Index have fallen back below zero.  Stocks and bonds moving in lockstep create headaches for fund managers who use fixed-income securities to diversify their portfolios and protect them against a selloff in equities.

Here are some events to watch this week:
* Bank of England interest rate decision Thursday
* The Fed releases Thursday the results of stress tests on the largest U.S. banks
* U.S. wholesale inventories, initial jobless claims, GDP, durable goods due Thursday
* U.S. personal income/spending, University of Michigan sentiment on Friday

These are some of the main moves in financial markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 was little changed
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%
* The MSCI World index was little changed

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1924
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3959
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 110.99 per dollar

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose three basis points to 1.49%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.18%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.78%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.6% to $73.26 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,775.40 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Namitha Jagadeesh, Cormac Mullen and Claire Ballentine.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

There is only one way to get anybody to do anything.  
And that is by making the other person want to do it. -Dale Carnegie, 1888-1955.

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

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

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

June 22, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On June 22, 1940, during World War II, Adolf Hitler gained a stunning victory as France was forced to sign an armistice eight days after German forces overran Paris. Go to article »

1870~ US Department of Justice created.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A teamLab staff member works inside the “Floating Flower Garden”, which consists of a three-dimensional mass of flowers, at teamLab Planets in Tokyo, Japan
CREDIT: REUTERS/KIM KYUNG-HOON

Alex Zane and actor Isaac Hempstead Wright during the Game Of Thrones Iron Statue unveiling in Leicester Square in London, England. The statue marks the tenth anniversary of Game of Thrones and is the 10th statue unveiled as part of Leicester Square’s “Scenes in the Square”.

CREDIT: GARETH CARRERMOLE/GETTY IMAGES

Shouko Totsuka, a Miko also known as a shrine maiden, poses for a photograph as she stands inside the tunnel of Red Torii Gate at the Hie-Jinja Shinto Shrine in Tokyo, Japan

CREDIT: REUTERS/KIM KYUNG-HOON

This photograph courtesy of Radchadawan Peungprasopporn via her Facebook account on June 22, 2021 shows an elephant searching for food in the kitchen of her home in Pa La-U, Hua Hin.

CREDIT: RADCHADAWAN PEUNGPRASOPPORN/FACEBOOK/AFP-VIA GETTY IMAGES

Market Closes for June 22nd, 2021

 

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
33945.58 +68.61
+0.20%
S&P 500 4246.44 +21.65
+0.51%
NASDAQ 14253.27 +111.79

+0.79%

TSX 20200.65 +44.29
+0.22%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 28884.13 +873.20
+3.12%
HANG
SENG
28309.76 -179.24
-0.63%
SENSEX 52588.71 +14.25
+0.03%
FTSE 100* 7090.01 +27.72

+0.39%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
1.405 1.414
CND.
30 Year
Bond
1.858 1.858
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
1.4616 1.4886
U.S.
30 Year Bond
  2.0845 2.1097

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.8126 0.8089
US
$
1.2307 1.2363
Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse
Canadian $ 1.4694 0.6805
US
$
1.1940 0.8375

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix
1775.05 1773.10
 
Oil
WTI Crude Future 73.06 73.66

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1775, Congress authorized the first issuance of continental currency, or U.S. paper money. Officially known as “Continentals,” the money soon came to be called “shinplasters” as high inflation rendered it nearly worthless.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities advanced Tuesday, extending their strong start to the week. The S&P/TSX Composite Index increased 0.2% as nine of eleven sectors rose. Technology and consumer staples stocks climbed the most. Canada’s Senate passed legislation that will legalize single-event sports betting in the country. Shares of Score Media and Gaming rose 7%. Investors seeking to capitalize on economic reopening should look north of the border for a cheaper alternative to the “frothy” S&P 500, according to strategists at Bank of America Corp.

Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.35 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,777.74 an ounce

FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.5% to C$1.2308 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell to 1.405%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.2 percent, or 44.29 to 20,200.65 in Toronto. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.5 percent. Canada Goose Holdings Inc. had the largest increase, rising 6.7 percent. Today, 133 of 231 shares rose, while 96 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 8 percent
* This month, the index rose 2.4 percent
* The index advanced 30 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 38 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.5 percent below its 52-week high on June 16, 2021 and 33.4 percent above its low on June 24, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 3.4 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.3 on a trailing basis and 16.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.17t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.33 percent compared with 8.53 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.12 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | 31.3204| 1.4| 10/2
* Materials | 6.3594| 0.3| 29/24
* Consumer Staples | 4.5520| 0.6| 9/4
* Consumer Discretionary | 4.4501| 0.6| 9/4
* Industrials | 3.8141| 0.2| 21/8
* Utilities | 1.3004| 0.1| 10/6
* Financials | 1.1637| 0.0| 20/8
* Real Estate | 0.5332| 0.1| 11/14
* Communication Services | 0.0979| 0.0| 3/4
* Health Care | -0.4732| -0.2| 4/6
* Energy | -8.8302| -0.3| 7/16
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 20.9300| 1.5| 11.5| 28.7
* Nutrien | 6.9400| 2.4| 56.5| 23.2
* Constellation | | | |
* Software | 4.8210| 1.9| 68.3| 13.8
* Royal Bank of Canada| -4.1610| -0.3| -38.2| 20.3
* TC Energy | -4.4920| -1.0| 115.0| 22.3
* TD Bank | -5.5700| -0.5| 27.8| 21.1

US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated his views that inflation pressures will be transitory even after a notable increase in recent months. The dollar fell. The S&P 500 extended gains into a second day as the Fed chief said he’s got “a level of confidence” that prices will eventually come down, while noting that it would be “very, very unlikely” to see the kind of 1970s-style inflation.  In a testimony to the House Select Subcommittee Tuesday, Powell also said that a 5% inflation environment wouldn’t be acceptable, and urged patience at evaluating data on prices. “So inflation is larger than they expected,” said Art Hogan, chief strategist at National Securities. “That part is true. But the part about that’s going to force their hand faster than we think is the part that he’s pushing back on. I think markets have calmed down about that.” Earlier Tuesday, New York Fed President John Williams noted that a discussion about raising interest rates is still “way off in the future.”
Meantime, his Cleveland counterpart Loretta Mester said very low rates for a long period of time and unconventional policy tools such as asset purchases can lead to too much risk-taking and financial-stability issues. Elsewhere, Bitcoin rebounded after earlier tumbling below $30,000 for the first time since January. Oil fell with reports that Russia and other OPEC+ nations are considering raising production in the wake of a tightly-supplied global crude market.

Here are some events to watch this week:
* U.S. new home sales, current account balance on Wednesday
* EIA crude oil inventory report due Wednesday
* Bank of England interest rate decision Thursday
* The Fed releases Thursday the results of stress tests on the largest U.S. banks

These are some of the main moves in financial markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.9%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.5%

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1940
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3948
* The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 110.66 per dollar

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 1.46%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.16%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 0.78%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $72.87 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,777.10 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Namitha Jagadeesh and Claire Ballentine.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

God breaks the heart again and again until it stays open. –Hazrat Inayat Khan, 1882-1927.

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

June 21, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1982 John Hinckley Jr. was found innocent by reason of insanity in the shootings of President Ronald Reagan and three others.  Go to article >>

There were four big cancer-fighting breakthroughs at the ASCO conference this year. — Sam Fazeli 

Valuable paintings discovered tossed at gas station.

The Hubble Space Telescope is on its last, uh, legs?

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Revellers gather to celebrate the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge ancient stone circle, despite official events being cancelled amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), near Amesbury.

CREDIT: REUTERS/TOBY MELVILLE

Curator Dominic Mason interacts with art installation “Future Returns” by contemporary British sculptor Dan Rawlings on display at the 20-21 Visual Arts Centre in Scunthorpe.

CREDIT: DANNY LAWSON/PA WIRE

Exeter Cathedral Canons Mike Williams, James Mustard and Chris Palmer have been training ahead of their part in a Cycle With Purpose.A relay which links all 42 of Englands Anglican cathedrals. 

CREDIT: RUSSEL SACH

Market Closes for June 21st, 2021

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
33876.97 +586.89
+1.76%
S&P 500 4224.79 +58.34
+1.40%
NASDAQ 14141.48 +111.10

+0.79%

TSX 20156.36 +156.77
+0.78%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 28010.93 -953.15
-3.29%
HANG
SENG
28489.00 -312.27
-1.08%
SENSEX 52574.46 +230.01
+0.44%
FTSE 100* 7062.29 +44.82

+0.64%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
1.414 1.366
CND.
30 Year
Bond
1.858 1.797
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
1.4886 1.4381
U.S.
30 Year Bond
2.1097   2.0127

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.8089 0.8018
US
$
1.2363 1.2471
Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse
Canadian $ 1.4734 0.6787
US
$
1.1918 0.8391

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix
1773.10 1778.70
 
Oil
WTI Crude Future 73.66 71.64

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1990, after decades of closure under communist rule, the Budapest Stock Exchange reopened for trading.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities snapped a three-day losing streak after last week’s rout in value stocks brought the index lower. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.8%, the most since June 1. Oil jumped by the most in a month, sending energy stocks higher. The Canadian government will loosen Covid-19 travel restrictions for fully vaccinated people amid warnings that a return to a completely open border will take a while longer.

Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.15 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 1% to $1,782.90 an ounce

FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.8% to C$1.2361 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 4.9 basis points to ~1.415%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.8 percent at 20,156.36 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 1.2 percent on June 1 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.7 percent. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 5.0 percent. Crescent Point Energy Corp. had the largest increase, rising 8.8 percent. Today, 178 of 231 shares rose, while 50 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 7.8 percent
* This month, the index rose 2.2 percent
* The index advanced 30 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 38 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7 percent below its 52-week high on June 16, 2021 and 33.1 percent above its low on June 24, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is unchanged 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 23.2 on a trailing basis and 16.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.14t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.53 percent compared with 8.55 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.18 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Energy | 53.7237| 2.1| 20/3
* Financials | 44.5230| 0.7| 26/2
* Materials | 25.4897| 1.1| 40/11
* Industrials | 13.3246| 0.6| 23/7
* Consumer Discretionary | 9.6435| 1.3| 8/4
* Real Estate | 7.4881| 1.2| 24/2
* Information Technology | 4.5059| 0.2| 7/5
* Communication Services | 4.4823| 0.5| 6/1
* Health Care | 3.3112| 1.2| 9/1
* Utilities | -3.1677| -0.3| 6/10
* Consumer Staples | -6.5666| -0.9| 9/4
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move|% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Canadian Natural | | | |
* Resources | 17.6500| 5.0| 48.9| 46.7
* Suncor Energy | 12.5700| 4.1| -31.2| 41.9
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 8.3970| 1.4| -39.5| 16.7
* Brookfield | | | |
* Infrastructure | -2.6310| -1.9| -41.6| 6.7
* Lundin Mining | -4.7350| -9.4| 211.1| -9.1
* Couche-Tard | -7.6300| -3.0| -12.0| -0.1

US
By Rita Nazareth and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — Stocks notched their biggest rally in five weeks as speculation the Federal Reserve will tighten policy at a gradual pace outweighed concern about the central bank’s hawkish pivot. A relative sense of calm returned to markets, with risk assets rebounding after last week’s selloff. Energy, financial and industrial shares led gains in the S&P 500, while high-flying tech companies underperformed. A gauge of small caps climbed more than 2%. Amazon.com Inc. fell as the online retail giant kicked off its Prime Day sale, with merchants curbing discounts amid rising shipping costs. Treasuries and the dollar retreated. Bitcoin sank as China intensified its cryptocurrency crackdown. A number of influential voices said Monday the central bank’s outlook needs to be more attuned to inflation risks. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said he favors starting the process of reducing bond purchases “sooner rather than later,” while his counterpart from St. Louis James Bullard called it “appropriate” that policy makers opened the taper debate.  Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and billionaire investor Ray Dalio said the U.S. is headed for a period of overheating and inflation that could threaten the economic recovery.
Meanwhile, New York Fed President John Williams said he continues to view the recent spike in inflation as a temporary phenomenon. For Charles Schwab & Co.’s Jeffrey Kleintop, monetary tightening should happen at a much slower pace when compared to the rush to loose policy at the start of the pandemic. “The way back up in terms of rate hikes may be much more gradual, and that might allow economically sensitive stocks to perform well,” said Kleintop, chief global investment strategist at the firm.

Here are some events to watch this week:
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell testifies at a House Subcommittee hearing on the Fed’s pandemic emergency lending and its asset purchase programs Tuesday
* Bank of England interest rate decision Thursday

These are some of the main moves in financial markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.6%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.8%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.7%

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%
* The euro rose 0.5% to $1.1918
* The British pound rose 0.9% to $1.3929
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 110.28 per dollar

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose five basis points to 1.49%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to -0.17%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 0.77%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.7% to $73.54 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.8% to $1,783.10 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Yakob Peterseil and Vildana Hajric.

Have  a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

It is in times of difficulty that great nations, like great men, display the whole energy of their character
and become an object of admiration to posterity. –Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821.

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

June 18, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
Paul McCartney, b. 1942.
Isabella Rossellini, b. 1952.

War of 1812 Declaration.
June 18, 1983~ First US woman in Space, Sally Ride.

1928 Aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as she completed a flight from Newfoundland to Wales in about 21 hours. Go to article >>

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Jumping puddles on day four of the Royal Ascot Meeting at Ascot Racecourse, England

CREDIT: PAUL GROVER FOR THE TELEGRAPH

Scotland fans gather near Leicester Square in the West End ahead of the England vs Scotland match for Euro 2020

CREDIT: ROB PINNEY/GETTY IMAGES

Yoga practitioners attend a class on the Edge Observation Deck, billed as the ‘highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere’ at 345 meters, and overlooking the Manhattan skyline, in New York

CREDIT: ED JONES/AFP

Market Closes for June 18th, 2021

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
33290.08 -533.37
-1.58%
S&P 500 4166.45 -55.41
-1.31%
NASDAQ 14030.38 -130.97

-0.92%

TSX 19999.59 -144.45
-0.72%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 28964.08 -54.25
-0.19%
HANG
SENG
28801.27 +242.68
+0.85%
SENSEX 52344.45 +21.12
+0.04%
FTSE 100* 7017.47 -135.96

-1.90%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
1.366 1.394
CND.
30 Year
Bond
1.797 1.868
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
1.4381 1.5040
U.S.
30 Year Bond
  2.0127   2.0927

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.8018 0.8097
US
$
1.2471 1.2351
Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse
Canadian $ 1.4796 0.6759
US
$
1.1864 0.8429

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix
1778.70 1860.75
 
Oil
WTI Crude Future 71.64 71.04

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1998, internet stocks got an electrifying boost as Disney agreed to buy 43% of Infoseek for roughly $550 million in cash, stock and warrants. Infoseek stock shot up to $42, then closes at $35.125. By March, 2001, Disney has exchanged the old Infoseek assets for its own shares at an approximate value of only $5 per share.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equity markets fell on Friday, after health care, consumer discretionary and energy stocks underperformed. The S&P/TSX Composite index fell 0.7% in Toronto, marking worst week since April 23. Westshore and Village Farms were the worst performing stocks, both falling more than 4%.  Meanwhile, Acuity Ads and Lightspeed were the best performing companies on Friday. Non-essential travel between the U.S. and Canada will be banned for another month despite mounting pressure from businesses to ease Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.6% to $1,762.17 an ounce

FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.7% to C$1.2442 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell about 2 basis points to 1.369%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the third day, dropping 0.7 percent, or 146.96 to 19,997.08 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 0.9 percent on May 12. Bank of Nova Scotia contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.8 percent. Westshore Terminals Investment Corp. had the largest drop, falling 7.0 percent. Today, 177 of 229 shares fell, while 49 rose; 8 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.

Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 6.9 percent
* So far this week, the index fell 0.7 percent, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended April 23
* The index advanced 29 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 36 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.5 percent below its 52-week high on June 16, 2021 and 32 percent above its low on June 24, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23 on a trailing basis and 16.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.15t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.55 percent compared with 8.53 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.25 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | -56.7524| -0.9| 2/24
* Energy | -33.4444| -1.3| 3/20
* Industrials | -23.9708| -1.0| 5/25
* Materials | -22.7926| -1.0| 8/43
* Consumer Discretionary | -12.7350| -1.6| 2/10
* Consumer Staples | -9.2111| -1.3| 2/11
* Communication Services | -6.8209| -0.7| 1/7
* Health Care | -5.3201| -2.0| 1/9
* Real Estate | 2.0528| 0.3| 15/11
* Utilities | 2.1156| 0.2| 6/10
* Information Technology | 22.4353| 1.0| 4/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Bank of Nova Scotia | -12.1700| -1.8| 282.2| 15.4
* Royal Bank of Canada | -11.1200| -0.9| 247.9| 20.4
* TC Energy | -8.1140| -1.8| 87.9| 23.6
* Lightspeed POS | 2.3490| 4.0| 42.0| 10.8
* Brookfield | | | |
* Infrastructure | 3.9130| 2.9| 402.4| 8.7
* Shopify | 23.7800| 1.7| 257.3| 26.7
================================================================
| | Index | Volume VS |YTD Change
Biggest Gainers | % Change |Points Move|20D AVG (%)| (%)
================================================================
* AcuityAds | 4.2| 0.1430| 193.6| -14.7
* Lightspeed POS | 4.0| 2.3490| 42.0| 10.8
* Interfor | 3.4| 0.4550| 39.1| 33.8

US
By Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — Stocks fell for a fourth day, wrapping up the worst week for the S&P 500 since February, as the Federal Reserve’s surprise hawkishness upended the reflation trade that has dominated markets this year.  Commodities such as copper slumped while the dollar touched a two-month high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a proxy for so-called value shares, fell more than the benchmark index as investors stepped back from trades tied to expectations for hot economic growth and inflation.  Even safe harbor big cash-spewing technology companies such as Apple were lower, pushing the Nasdaq 100 down from a record high.  Yields on shorter-maturity Treasuries jumped after St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on CNBC that the central bank has started discussing scaling back the pace of pandemic bond-buying. “The reverse rotation is continuing,” said Giorgio Caputo, senior fund manager at J O Hambro Capital Management. “At a certain point, a hawkish Fed isn’t good for anyone, even technology shares.”
Markets that are clearly benefiting from the reopening are seeing a pullback, with copper registering its worst week since the start of the pandemic. Oil posted a fourth straight weekly gain, even after slipping from the highest levels since 2018. An advance in the dollar this week has made commodities that are priced in the U.S. currency more expensive, driving declines across the complex. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose for a sixth trading session. European shares fell the most in a month, with the longest streak of gains since 1999 brought up short by the Fed’s hawkish tilt at Wednesday’s policy meeting. Elsewhere, some of the biggest gainers in the hottest corner of the cryptocurrency world tumbled back to earth.

These are some of the main moves in financial markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 1.3%, more than any closing loss since May 12 as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.8%, more than any closing loss since June 3
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.6%, falling for the fifth straight day, the longest losing streak since Jan. 27
* The MSCI World index fell 1.3%, more than any closing loss since May 12

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%, climbing for the sixth straight day, the longest winning streak since March 23, 2020
* The euro fell 0.3% to the lowest since April 7
* The British pound slipped 0.8%, more than any closing loss since April 30
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 110.15 per dollar

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined six basis points to 1.44%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.20%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.75%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.9% to $71.65 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.6% to $1,764.70 an ounce
–With assistance from Nancy Moran.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Historically, the most terrible things – war, genocide, and slavery – have resulted not from disobedience,
but from obedience. –Howard Zinn, 1922-2010.

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

June 17, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
June 17, 1972~ Watergate arrests, Washington, D.C.
On June 17, 1994, the police charged O. J. Simpson with murdering his former wife and a friend of hers, and then pursued him for about 50 miles along Southern California highways before he finally surrendered outside his home. Go to article »
Igor Stravinsky, composer,  b. 1882
M.C. Escher, artist, b. 1898
Venus Williams, tennis player, b. 1980

Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.

The Late Night Hosts weigh in on the Geneva tête-á-tête between Putin & Biden:

“The ‘Boniva in Geneva’ didn’t have to clear a very high bar. It just had to be less embarrassing than the ‘Stinky in Helsinki.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“That’s right, President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Geneva today for about four hours with a few breaks, but no meals because nobody would volunteer to be the food taster.” — SETH MEYERS

“‘In life there is no happiness.’ That’s basically how Russian soccer moms say ‘Live, laugh, love.’” — TREVOR NOAH, on Putin’s quoting Leo Tolstoy in a news conference.

“It was pretty much the opposite of the ‘Friends’ reunion.” — JIMMY FALLON

“You do not want this guy giving a toast at your wedding. [imitating Putin] ‘Congratulations to Jeffrey and Diane. May the specter of happiness haunt you. Now, please have some cake. It is made of vanilla and children’s tears, for what is life but a difficult birth astride a grave? The light gleams for an instant, then it is night once more. Mazel tov!’” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“I’m guessing this is probably why Putin isn’t asked to speak at a lot of graduations.” — JAMES CORDEN

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Young Scottish football fans get in the mood in Glasgow’s Central Station before boarding trains to London

CREDIT: JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES

Brazilian indigenous from different ethnic groups take part in a protest demanding the land demarcation and against the illegal mining on their lands which is being analyzed by the Justice Commission of the Chamber of Deputies in the National Congress

CREDIT: SERGIO LIMA /AFT VIA GETTY IMAGES

A 1929 O.M. 665 SMM Superba 2000 passes during the ‘Mille Miglia’ vintage car rally’s, in Viareggio (Lucca), Italy. The classic Mille Miglia (1,000 Miles) is a race from Brescia to Rome and Back.

CREDIT: FABIO FRUSTACI/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Visitors enjoy a ride on a roller coaster at Cinecitta World amusement park in the outskirts of Rome on Thursday, the day of its reopening. Amusement parks have been closed since Oct. 25 2020, when Italy’s second national lockdown started.

CREDIT: ALESSANDRA TARANTINO/AP

Visitors enjoy at the Mad Tea Party during the official reopening of the Disneyland Paris theme park in Marne-la-Vallee, near Paris, France. The park reopened with a reduced capacity and is asking visitor older than six to wear a mask.

CREDIT: CHRISTPOHE PETIT TESSON/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Market Closes for June 17th, 2021

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
33823.45 -210.22
-0.62%
S&P 500 4221.86 -1.84
-0.04%
NASDAQ 14161.35 +121.67

+0.87%

TSX 20144.04 -86.92
-0.43%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 29018.33 -272.68
-0.93%
HANG
SENG
28558.59 +121.75
+0.43%
SENSEX 52323.33 -178.65
-0.34%
FTSE 100* 7153.43 -31.52

-0.44%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
1.394 1.441
CND.
30 Year
Bond
1.868 1.951
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
1.5040 1.5754
U.S.
30 Year Bond
  2.0927   2.2073

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.8097 0.8147
US
$
1.2351 1.2275
Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse
Canadian $ 1.4713 0.6797
US
$
1.1912 0.8395

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix
1860.75 1865.10
 
Oil
WTI Crude Future 71.04 72.15

Market Commentary:
     I sold enough papers last year of high school to pay cash for a BMW. – Michael Dell, b. 1965 (Founder Dell computer, Forbes).
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell on Thursday, after cyclical stocks underperformed, while investors rotated into tech stocks after U.S. Federal Reserve officials signaled they’re preparing the way for a tapering of bond purchases. The S&P/TSX Composite index fell 0.4% in Toronto. Miners, energy and financials were the worst performers, while tech stocks rallied. Meanwhile, foreign investors are piling back into Canada’s $3.2 trillion stock market after a pandemic-driven exodus.  The nation’s equities are on pace to record the highest foreign inflows since 2017, adding $22.7 billion as of the end of April, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Statistics Canada data.

Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.60 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 2.1% to $1,773.88 an ounce

FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.7% to C$1.2358 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 4 basis points to 1.4%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.4 percent, or 86.92 to 20,144.04 in Toronto.  The move was the biggest since falling 0.6 percent on May 31. Today, materials stocks led the market lower, as 7 of 11 sectors lost; 148 of 229 shares fell, while 78 rose. Barrick Gold Corp. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 5.7 percent. Yamana Gold Inc. had the largest drop, falling 7.8 percent.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 7.7 percent
* So far this week, the index was little changed
* The index advanced 31 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 37 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7 percent below its 52-week high on June 16, 2021 and 33 percent above its low on June 24, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.5 percent in the past 5 days and rose 3.4 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.2 on a trailing basis and 16.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.17t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.53 percent compared with 8.38 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.28 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Materials | -96.7530| -3.9| 2/50
* Energy | -55.5819| -2.1| 2/21
* Financials | -43.9582| -0.7| 7/20
* Industrials | -10.9173| -0.5| 8/22
* Utilities | -2.3380| -0.3| 10/6
* Health Care | -1.0364| -0.4| 7/3
* Consumer Discretionary | -0.1477| 0.0| 7/6
* Real Estate | 1.9076| 0.3| 12/11
* Communication Services | 3.9329| 0.4| 5/3
* Consumer Staples | 6.6907| 0.9| 8/5
* Information Technology | 111.2840| 5.4| 10/1
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Barrick Gold | -19.3400| -5.7| 51.1| -9.9
* Suncor Energy | -12.4400| -3.8| -32.7| 38.9
* Nutrien | -12.0300| -4.0| 58.8| 19.4
* Lightspeed POS | 4.1490| 7.5| 5.2| 6.6
* Couche-Tard | 5.1270| 2.0| 2.1| 4.4
* Shopify | 93.6300| 7.2| 74.0| 24.5

US
By Kamaron Leach and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — The reflation trade that has ruled markets for most of 2021 was in retreat Thursday, replaced by a stodgier group of winners that included giant cash-spewing technology companies and longer-dated bonds. The reordering, including a fifth day of losses in commodities, came after Federal Reserve officials signaled they’re preparing to slow stimulus. Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft helped push the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 to a record high as investors rotated from cyclical stocks. The benchmark S&P 500 Index finished slightly in the red, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped. Yields on longer-maturity Treasuries tumbled amid speculation investors were unwinding curve steeping trades.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index also rose for a fifth day, the longest winning streak since March 2020, making commodities that are priced in the currency more expensive. “Money is just rotating from cyclicals and other reopening plays, it’s all about growth now,” said Haris Khurshid, portfolio manager at Fate Capital Management. “We’re seeing money being put back into growth-at-a-reasonable-price related names.” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the risks of inflation and said Wednesday that policymakers had begun a discussion about scaling back bond purchases. Policy makers’ dot plot showed they anticipate two rate increases by the end of 2023, a faster-than-expected pace of tightening. This marked a turning point in the Fed’s communication to global markets, which had so far been ultra-dovish. While Powell downplayed the risk of any immediate rate increase, some investors interpreted his comments as preparing markets for a hawkish tilt and an eventual tapering. His remarks followed the Fed’s latest projections, which included upward revisions to its outlook for inflation and interest rates. “2023 is a long way off and I think we’ve already started to see markets stabilize,” said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank. “This economic environment is still an excellent environment for companies.”
Elsewhere, CureVac NV plunged 43% in German trading after a study found that its Covid-19 vaccine fell short of targets.  The findings, though preliminary, throw the future of the vaccine into question as wealthy nations around the world move swiftly to inoculate their populations with shots already available. Copper fell in London to the lowest in two months. The rally in metals has stalled in recent weeks and copper has retreated from last month’s record as concerns about cost pressures spurred expectations stimulus that had been supporting the global recovery would be scaled back. Copper producers Freeport-McMoran and Newmont slumped.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.3% to a record high
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%, falling for the fourth straight day, the longest losing streak since Jan. 27
* The MSCI World index fell 0.5%, more than any closing loss since May 19

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.6%, climbing for the fifth straight day, the longest winning streak since March 23, 2020
* The euro fell 0.8% to the lowest since April 9
* The British pound fell 0.5% to $1.3921
* The Japanese yen surged 0.4%, more than any closing gain since June 4

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined six basis points, more than any closing loss since June 4
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points, more than any closing gain since March 3
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points, more than any closing gain since June 3

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.6% to $70.97 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 4.7%, the most in about 10 months
–With assistance from Claire Ballentine.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions. –Winston Churchill, 1874-1965.

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

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

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