May 19, 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: MAY RAY DAY TODAY.  This day is set aside yearly to celebrate all of the rays of sunshine which brighten our lives. It’s the time of year when the remnants of spring make room for the inviting sunshine of summer.   It’s a day to take a walk and embrace the beauty of our world with gratitude.

1936: Gone With The Wind published.
1780: Dark Day in New England.
1890: Ho chi Minh, Vietnamese President, b.
1925: Malcolm X, black civil rights leader, b.
2018: Prince Harry married American actress Meghan Markle at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
2001 Apple, Inc. opened its first retail stores, in Tysons Corner, Va., and Glendale, Calif.  Go to article »

Apple is close to launching a VR headset.

The Voyager probe is sending back strange data, just as “Star Trek” predicted. 
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Flamingos fly over the Chaxa lagoon, in the Atacama Salar salt flats, as a study shows lithium mining is forcing the birds to leave the area
CREDIT: Reuters

The pack of riders cycle through the streets of Parma before the start of the 12th stage of the Giro d’Italia 2022 cycling race, which covers 127 miles (204km) from Parma to Genova
CREDIT: Luca Bettini/AFP/Getty Images

Covent Garden hangs more than 4,000 union flags in celebration of the upcoming Queen’s platinum jubilee
CREDIT: Paul Grover

Market Closes for May 19^th, 2022

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1568, one of the earliest known junk bonds was issued, as the Russia Co. borrowed 4,000 pounds, 8 shillings and 10 pence from the British exchequer. The loan was priced to yield 13.5%, and the company was to repay it not with cash, but with hundreds of tons of cables and rope—making it one of the earliest “asset-backed” loans as well.
Canada
By Geoffrey Morgan
(Bloomberg) — Canadian gold and silver miners joined a rally in precious metals after an unexpected jump in US jobless claims.
Materials led an S&P/TSX Composite rally of 0.4% to 20,181.92 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 1.9%.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 7.9%.
ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. had the  largest percentage increase, rising 11.9%.
On Thursday, 137 of 239 shares rose, while 98 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 0.4%, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended March 25
* The index advanced 3.9% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 6.5% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 9.1% below its 52-week high on April 5, 2022 and 5% above its low on May 19, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.5% in the past 5 days and fell 8.3% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.1 on a trailing basis and 12.6 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.22t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 20.36% compared with 20.31% in the previous session and the average of 15.33% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Materials | 79.9437| 3.1| 42/10
* Information Technology | 39.6366| 3.7| 13/3
* Energy | 8.7876| 0.2| 20/13
* Health Care | 1.8206| 1.9| 6/1
* Consumer Staples | 0.4231| 0.1| 3/8
* Utilities | -0.3994| 0.0| 9/7
* Consumer Discretionary | -0.5366| -0.1| 8/5
* Real Estate | -0.8569| -0.2| 8/15
* Financials | -12.5278| -0.2| 9/18
* Communication Services | -14.6093| -1.4| 1/6
* Industrials | -21.1492| -0.9| 18/12
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 28.8300| 7.9| 6.3| -71.2
* Barrick Gold | 13.5800| 4.4| 218.9| 10.4
* Agnico Eagle Mines | 11.4100| 5.6| 62.3| 3.1
* TD Bank | -8.6560| -0.8| -41.3| -5.4
* Canadian National | -12.7700| -2.1| 26.5| -8.5
* Canadian Pacific | -13.1700| -2.3| 12.0| -3.3
US
By Stephen Kirkland and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — US stocks fell in a volatile day of trading as investors weighed prospects for growth against a backdrop of rising prices and tightening monetary policy.
Treasuries held gains amid a steady stream of haven bids.
The S&P 500 swung back into the red in the last hour of trading, a day after the biggest single-day drop since June 2020 that erased $1.5 trillion from its market value.
The Nasdaq 100 posted modest losses, slipping 0.4% on Thursday.
Cisco Systems Inc. slid more than 10% after warning that Chinese lockdowns and other supply disruptions would wipe out sales growth in the current quarter.
Treasury yields were lower across the board amid a growing sense of angst over the health of the global economy and selloff in equity markets.
Weaker than forecast US jobless claims and a sharp decline in a regional Philadelphia Fed survey also spurred a burst of buying.
Gold gained while the dollar weakened against all of its Group-of-10 counterparts.
Applied Materials Inc., the biggest maker of machinery used to manufacture semiconductors, fell in post-market trading as  persistent chip shortages weighed on its forecast for the current quarter. Ross Stores Inc. dropped more than 15% after the bell as the discount retailer cut its outlook for profit and sales.
The selloff in stocks this week has left the S&P 500 on the brink of notching up its seventh weekly decline, the longest streak since the dotcom bubble burst more than two decades ago.
Bets that robust earnings can help investors weather this year’s turbulence were thrown in doubt after US consumer titans signaled a growing impact of high inflation on margins and consumer spending.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve officials reaffirmed this week that tighter monetary policy lies ahead, while investors fretted over stagflation risks.
Commentary
* “In this bear market, the sour mood has been persistent and hasn’t helped at all in trying to time a market rebound,” said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group. “But that’s what happens in bear markets, oversold gets more oversold. That said, this level of bearishness can always lead to good bear market rallies.”
* “The focus has shifted obviously from ‘OK, we will see the Fed aggressively raise rates,’ to ‘Uh oh, what’s going to go on with growth — are we entering a sustained period of stagflation?’”  said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank. “In some instances, we’re already in a period of stagflation, but the question now is how long will that last. That’s just cast a negative tone on the markets when you’re considering central banks aggressively raising rates and at the same time we’re going into a period of maybe slower growth. That’s what’s causing the selloff.”
* “The stock market is square in the crosshairs of the Federal Reserve, which no longer has its back and is solely focused on slowing inflation back down to their long-range target of 2%,” Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance, said in a note. “As the stock market goes down, the Fed can’t ease policy as long as inflation remains their main concern, and if the stock market rises significantly then then Fed will see that as an impediment to their inflation goals and will be emboldened to raise rates even higher.”
* Everybody’s afraid that policy makers are “going to get it  wrong,” Lori Heinel at State Street Global Advisors said on Bloomberg TV. “We actually are a little bit more dovish in terms of what we think the Fed’s gonna do, and if they move in the summer and then actually do take a bit of a pause, then there’s a chance that we get out of this without a recession.”
On the corporate front, Twitter Inc. executives told employees on Thursday that the $44 billion deal to sell the company to billionaire Elon Musk is moving forward as planned.
Apple Inc. executives previewed its upcoming mixed-reality headset to the company’s board last week, indicating that development of the device has reached an advanced stage, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Kohl’s Corp. cut its profit and sales outlook in an already tough week for retail companies as inflationary pressures cut into profits.
Elsewhere, the Swiss franc extended its advance versus the dollar after Swiss National Bank President Thomas Jordan said policy makers are ready to act against inflation.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.9%
* The euro rose 1.2% to $1.0590
* The British pound rose 1.2% to $1.2495
* The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 127.71 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 2.85%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined eight basis points to 0.95%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 1.86%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.7% to $111.44 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 1.4% to $1,847.70 an ounce
–With assistance from Ksenia Galouchko, Srinivasan Sivabalan, Robert Brand, Isabelle Lee and Peyton Forte.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. –Confucius, 551 BC-479 BC.

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

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

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