May 3, 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1670 The Hudson Bay Co. was chartered by England’s King Charles II.   Go to article »

1971: National Public Radio’s first news broadcast.
Niccolò Machiavelli, b. 1469.

Tiny crystals unearthed in South Africa contain evidence of a sudden transition on the planet’s surface 3.8 billion years ago.  These crystals, each no bigger than a grain of sand, show that around that time, Earth’s crust broke up and began moving — a precursor to the process known as plate tectonics.  Full Story: Live Science (4/30) 

An Astro photographer captured a beautiful picture of two planets aligned in the sky above Rome — and a little rain didn’t stop him.   Gianluca Masi spotted Venus and Jupiter hiding behind a thin cloud shortly after scuttling a planned livestream of the conjunction Sunday (May 1) on his astronomy broadcast service, the Virtual Telescope Project.  Full Story: Live Science (5/2) 

Here’s what stars wore at the Met Gala.  Some celebrities embraced the “Gilded Glamour” theme, but others marched to the beat of their own drum — because why not? Fashion has no limits!

Jackie Robinson All-Star Game bat sells for $1.08 million.  The seven-figure price tag places the bat among the most expensive pieces of sports memorabilia. Legendary! 

Inside the space hotel scheduled to open in 2025.  Have you heard the buzz about the space hotel? Yes, it’s happening. And yes, the room rates will likely be astronomical. 

A CNN story helped a former refugee find the mystery woman who gave her $100 on a plane decades ago.  Some people enter your life at the right time and right place. This is one of those beautiful instances.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Part of the construction site of a tourist train project in the Yucatán peninsula. Work was halted by a district judge pending resolution of an injunction sought by environmentalists
CREDIT: Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images

Theary Seng, a US-Cambodian lawyer and activist who is facing treason and incitement charges, poses in front of Phnom Penh municipal court before her hearing
CREDIT: Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images

A man plays with his daughter after offering Eid al-Fitr prayers at Jama Masjid
CREDIT: Naveen Sharma/Sopa Images/Rex/Shutterstock

Market Closes for May 3^rd, 2022

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in in 1999, the Dow closes above 11,000 for the first time. It was just 24 trading days after breaking the 10,000 mark, the shortest interval on record between 1,000-point milestones. 
Canada
By Geoffrey Morgan
(Bloomberg) — Natural resources stocks surged and led a 1% rise for Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite index to 20,905.28 in Toronto, snapping a two-day losing streak.
Nutrien Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 6.0%.
SSR Mining Inc. had the largest percentage increase, rising 7.5%.
On Tuesday, 159 of 239 shares rose, while 79 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy and materials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain 18  times. The next day, it advanced 11 times for an average 0.6% and declined seven times for an average 0.6%
* The index advanced 8.8% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 1.8% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 5.9% below its 52-week high on April 5, 2022 and 9.7% above its low on May 4, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1% in the past 5 days and fell 4.8% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.2 on a trailing basis and 13.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.7% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.31t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 13.84% compared with 13.41% in the previous session and the average of 11.79% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Energy | 94.9414| 2.6| 34/0
* Materials | 62.7132| 2.3| 47/5
* Financials | 58.7637| 0.9| 24/4
* Information Technology | 15.3417| 1.3| 7/9
* Communication Services | 2.3716| 0.2| 4/3
* Real Estate | 0.7562| 0.1| 12/10
* Health Care | -1.3630| -1.1| 1/7
* Consumer Discretionary | -3.4250| -0.5| 9/5
* Industrials | -4.1527| -0.2| 13/17
* Utilities | -4.7470| -0.5| 5/11
* Consumer Staples | -8.1326| -1.0| 3/8
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Nutrien | 29.0700| 6.0| 55.0| 42.5
* Canadian Natural Resources | 24.9600| 4.0| -36.9| 53.2
* TD Bank | 12.5400| 1.1| -51.2| -3.4
* Loblaw | -2.7640| -2.1| 23.6| 10.0
* Intact Financial | -3.8370| -1.8| 20.9| 6.5
* Restaurant Brands | -5.4020| -3.5| 111.2| -7.7

US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks faced another volatile session, with traders awaiting more clues on whether the Federal Reserve will be able to pull off a soft landing that brings down inflation without triggering a recession.
After several twists and turns, the S&P 500 closed higher, led by gains in economically sensitive shares like commodity producers and banks. Small caps also climbed, while technology companies underperformed.
Treasury 10-year yields stabilized amid speculation that the worst of the bond-market selloff may be over even though the Fed’s monetary-policy tightening is only just getting underway.
The dollar fell.
Markets have whipsawed amid concerns about persistent inflationary spirals and risks to global growth from rising yields.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues are expected to raise rates by 50 basis points Wednesday and signal they’re on track to lift them to around 2.5% by the end of the year.
It’s not clear, though, if that’ll be enough to tame inflation, which is running above the central bank’s target.
The Fed will have to boost rates to as much as 5% just as the world faces a “perfect storm” of potential recessions in the U.S., European Union and China, former International Monetary Fund chief economist Kenneth Rogoff said. Bond markets will continue to face pressures from inflation and tighter monetary policy, making stocks a better bet during this stage of the economic cycle, Pacific Investment Management Co. noted in its May asset-allocation outlook.

Comments:
* “The 50-basis-point hike is baked in the cake. We see less than 10% chance of a 75-basis point hike,” said Leo Grohowski, chief investment officer for BNY Mellon Wealth Management, adding that traders will be closely watching any clues from Powell on “whether or not 75 basis points could be in the cards for the June meeting.”
* “Because the market has priced in a 50-basis-point rate hike at the Federal Reserve’s May meeting, the focus will immediately shift to just how many half-point hikes the Fed expects to initiate over the balance of 2022,” wrote Danielle DiMartino zBooth, chief executive officer of Quill Intelligence. “Powell’s greatest folly would be to insist that the economy is very strong in the face of overwhelming evidence that it is slowing and slowing fast.”
* “Clearly there’s just a great deal of volatility,” said Mark Hamilton, chief investment officer at Hirtle Callaghan & Co. “The biggest risk possibly really going on into next year is this question of: ‘Does the Fed tighten at the same time as other forces are causing the economy to weaken, and does that lead to a recession?”’  After the close of regular trading:
* Starbucks Corp. reported profit and comparable sales that missed analysts’ estimates in its latest quarter, signaling that interim Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz has a difficult road ahead of him as inflation and China’s Covid measures hurt the coffee giant’s performance.
* Advanced Micro Devices Inc. gave a strong sales forecast for the current quarter, indicating that it continues to win in its most lucrative market: data-center chips.
* Airbnb Inc. gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that easily surpassed Wall Street’s estimates as the company sees “substantial demand” for travel heading into the busy summer season.
* Lyft Inc. reported first-quarter revenue that beat analysts’ estimates, but recorded fewer-than-expected riders.

Key events this week:
* Fed rate decision, briefing with Chair Jerome Powell, Wednesday
* EIA crude oil inventory report, Wednesday
* Bank of England rate decision and briefing, Thursday
* OPEC+ convenes virtually for a regular meeting, Thursday
* U.S. April jobs report, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.0526
* The British pound was little changed at $1.2497
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 130.12 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 2.97%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.96%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 1.96%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.2% to $102.89 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,866 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Abigail Moses, Vildana Hajric and Isabelle Lee.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Remember that failure is an event, not a person. -Zig Ziglar, 1926-2012.

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