April 8, 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
Buddha’s Birthday; Siddhartha “the enlightened one.”

Pink Floyd to release first new music in 28 years in support of Ukraine.  The legendary rock band is set to drop its first new music since 1994 today!
 
Google now lets you search by combining images and words.  Some things are just too difficult to describe! Thanks for the assist, Google.

Why is everybody acting so weird?

An immaculately preserved dinosaur leg uncovered in North Dakota may be a relic from the day a massive asteroid slammed into Earth, bringing the age of the nonavian dinosaurs to an end, scientists claim. That said, not all experts are convinced that the dino actually died on that fateful day 66 million years ago — or at least, they’re withholding judgment until more data is available for review.   “We need the whole story,” Kirk Johnson, the Sant Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., told Live Science.  Full Story: Live Science (4/7) 
Astronomers just discovered the farthest object in the known universe — but what is it?   A possible galaxy that exists some 13.5 billion light-years from Earth has broken the record for farthest astronomical object ever seen.  That age places this collection of stars, now dubbed HD1, between a time of total darkness — about 14 billion years ago the universe was a blank slate devoid of any stars or galaxies — and one of just-burgeoning lights as clumps of dust and gas were growing into their cosmic destinies.   Full Story: Live Science (4/7) 

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Rows of tulips and hyacinths in fields at Lissee in the ‘Bollenstreek’ (Dutch flower region)
CREDIT:  Jeffrey Groeneweg/ANP/AFP/Getty Images

A giant cowboy hat on display outside the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing facility during the ‘Cyber Rodeo’ grand opening party
CREDIT: Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP/Getty Images

A leopard walks along a road in Skukuza, Kruger national park, South Africa
CREDIT: Michele Spatari/AFP/Getty Images

Market Closes for April 8^th, 2022

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1935, the U.S. Congress enacted legislation creating the Works Progress Administration, later known as the Works Project Administration, or WPA, which ended up employing more than 8 million people during the Great Depression.
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose for the second day as energy and materials stocks gained and companies in the financials sector snapped a three-day losing streak.
The S&P/TSX Composite climbed 0.2%, or 39.46 to 21,874.35 in Toronto.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.8%.
MTY Food Group Inc. had the largest increase, rising 8.3%.
Today, 153 of 239 shares rose, while 82 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 0.4%, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended Feb. 18
* The index advanced 14% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 8.1% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.5% below its 52-week high on April 5, 2022 and 15.3% above its low on April 20, 2021
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.4 on a trailing basis and 14 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.49t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 11.15% compared with 11.15% in the previous session and the average of 12.62% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Energy | 48.6338| 1.3| 27/6
* Materials | 46.0905| 1.6| 45/7
* Financials | 31.9371| 0.5| 24/4
* Communication Services | 4.5995| 0.4| 5/1
* Real Estate | 3.8999| 0.6| 19/4
* Health Care | 0.0007| 0.0| 3/5
* Consumer Staples | -0.3658| 0.0| 6/5
* Utilities | -0.9736| -0.1| 9/6
* Consumer Discretionary | -5.9543| -0.8| 4/10
* Industrials | -30.9184| -1.2| 7/22
* Information Technology | -57.4788| -4.0| 4/12
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Canadian Natural Resources | 11.7200| 1.8| -53.9| 51.2
* Royal Bank of Canada | 10.6500| 0.8| -35.0| 1.8
* Cenovus Energy | 8.6670| 4.7| -20.6| 42.6
* Canadian Pacific | -10.8600| -1.8| -19.5| 3.7
* Canadian National | -14.3900| -2.2| -28.3| 0.6
* Shopify | -41.6400| -6.6| -17.5| -56.5
US
By Isabelle Lee
(Bloomberg) — Markets ended the week on a negative note as U.S. equities faded in the final minutes of trading and Treasuries fell on Friday following declines sparked by the Federal Reserve’s plan for aggressive monetary-policy tightening.
The S&P 500 slid, bringing its weekly decline to 1.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 also fell, adding to its worst weekly performance since mid-March.
Meanwhile, Treasury losses deepened with investors closely watching for a reversal in curve steepening seen in the wake of Wednesday’s Fed minutes, which outlined plans to reduce the balance sheet alongside interest-rate hikes.
“The Fed aims to tamp down inflation without igniting a recession; investors are skeptical, but we expect inflation will moderate later this year, bringing the doves back,” Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, said in a note.
The U.S. dollar narrowly strengthen against peers for a seventh day, hovering near its highest level since July 2020.
Oil was also higher after three days of losses stoked by plans to release millions of barrels of crude from strategic reserves and China’s demand-sapping virus outbreak.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index climbed 1.3% as investors took advantage of beaten-down stock valuations.
Banks outperformed, with Banco BPM SpA surging after Credit Agricole SA bought ac 9.2% stake in the Italian lender.
Global equities are nursing losses for the week as markets grapple with the Fed’s campaign against elevated price pressures, Russia’s grinding war in Ukraine and China’s Covid travails.
The lockdown in Shanghai — which recorded more than 21,000 new daily virus cases — has become one of President Xi Jinping’s biggest challenges.
Expectations are growing that China will take steps to support its economy.
“The outlook is bleaker and bleaker as investors and economists continue to ratchet down their growth expectations,” Bryce Doty, senior portfolio manager at Sit Investment Associates, said by phone. “The headwinds continued to build. So there’s this nervousness that is also building. It’s like reading the weather report — reading that there’s a pending storm even though it’s bright and sunny today.”
Yield Curve
The steepening in the Treasury yield curve contrasts with the flattening and inversions that have vexed markets this year.
The two-year rate topped the 10-year last week for the first time since 2019, a possible warning of recession.
“We’re seeing a tactical re-steepening right now but the curve is going to continue to flatten,” Kelsey Berro, fixed income portfolio manager at JPMorgan Asset Management, said on Bloomberg Television. “That’s because the Fed has told us, we’d like to get to neutral expeditiously. On top of that, they may need to tighten beyond neutral. Front-end yields can still go higher.”
Meanwhile, U.S. officials warned the war in Ukraine may last for weeks or even years. European Union countries agreed to ban coal imports from Russia, the first time the bloc’s sanctions have targeted Moscow’s crucial energy revenues.
Global food prices are surging at the fastest pace ever as the war in Ukraine chokes crop supplies, piling more inflationary pain on consumers and worsening a global hunger crisis.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 4:05 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%
* The MSCI World index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.0877
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3034
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 124.34 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 2.70%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 0.71%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 1.75%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.9% to $97.85 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,948.40 an ounce
–With assistance from Robert Brand, Farah Elbahrawy and Sunil Jagtiani.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral laws are written on the table of eternity. -Lord Acton, 1834-1902.

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