June 7, 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
2000 A federal judge ordered the breakup of Microsoft Corp.  Go to article »
June 7, 2021: Auckland named world’s most livable city (due to success with COVID) and Damascus named the worst by The Economist Intelligence Unit.
1975: VCR introduced.

Paul Gauguin, artist, b. 1848.
Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge. -Paul Gauguin.

2,100-year-old burial of woman lying on bronze ‘mermaid bed’ unearthed in Greece.
Archaeologists have unearthed the ancient burial of a woman lying on a bronze bed near the city of Kozani in northern Greece. It dates to the first century B.C.
Depictions of mermaids decorate the posts of the bed. The bed also displays an image of a bird holding a snake in its mouth, a symbol of the ancient Greek god Apollo. The woman’s head was covered with gold laurel leaves that likely were part of a wreath, Areti Chondrogianni-Metoki, director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Kozani, told Live Science in an email. The wooden portions of the bed have decomposed.  Full Story: Live Science (6/3)

Stars are born amid turbulent clouds, and their deaths can be just as explosive. But how long do stars actually live?  The short answer is: It depends on the size of the star.  Full Story: Live Science (6/6) 
 
Experimental rectal cancer drug caused all patients’ tumors to disappear in small trial.
In an unprecedented clinical trial, a dozen rectal cancer patients saw their tumors disappear after they received an experimental drug called dostarlimab, and none of the patients experienced significant side effects from the treatment.   “I believe this is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer,” in that this is the first cancer trial in which every patient entered remission, Dr. Luis Alberto Diaz, Jr., one of the trial leaders and a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center told The New York Times.  Full Story: Live Science (6/6) 

To kick off the summer season, Apple TV+ has dropped a dino-sized documentary miniseries that you don’t want to miss.  Here’s how to watch “Prehistoric Planet,” plus a complete overview of its contents and the talent behind the massive project.  Full Story: Live Science (6/6) 

PHOTOS O FTHE DAY

Marion Cotillard rehearses for Joan of Arc at the Stake at the Teatro Real
CREDIT:  Teatro Real/Javier del Real /EPA

Philippe Starck stands by Medallion chairs he designed for Dior at the city’s furniture fair
CREDIT: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images

The peloton passes through during the second stage of the Women’s Tour of Britain
CREDIT:  Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

Market Closes for June 7^th, 2022

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 2000, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson finalized his ruling that Microsoft was a monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act, ordering that the “untrustworthy” company be split in two and placed under various restrictions
Canada
By Geoffrey Morgan
(Bloomberg) — Canadian energy stocks advanced and lifted S&P/TSX  Composite Index Tuesday as crude futures topped $120 per barrel.
The composite rose for a second day, climbing 0.5%, or 109.12 to 20,928.21 in Toronto.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 5.3% after investors agreed to grant CEO Tobi Lutke special voting rights.
Energy Fuels had the largest increase, rising 12.7% as the US pushes ahead with a $4.3-billion plan to wean off Russian uranium supplies.
Today, 151 of 239 shares rose, while 82 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index fell 4.4%, heading for the biggest decline since the first quarter of 2020
* The index advanced 4.5% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 3.3% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 5.8% below its 52-week high on April 5, 2022 and 7.4% above its low on May 12, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1% in the past 5 days and rose 1.4% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 16 on a trailing basis and 12.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year * The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.33t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 19.96% compared with 20.45% in the previous session and the average of 19.94% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Energy | 75.1217| 1.9| 34/0
* Financials | 20.1808| 0.3| 23/5
* Information Technology | 14.0508| 1.3| 7/9
* Communication Services | 9.4366| 0.9| 5/2
* Real Estate | 1.1782| 0.2| 16/6
* Industrials | 0.7941| 0.0| 20/10
* Health Care | 0.5603| 0.7| 5/2
* Utilities | -1.1787| -0.1| 9/7
* Consumer Discretionary | -1.4914| -0.2| 7/7
* Consumer Staples | -2.5786| -0.3| 3/8
* Materials | -2.7755| -0.1| 22/27
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 18.7900| 5.3| 10.4| -72.6
* Canadian Natural Resources | 15.7300| 2.3| 10.2| 60.9
* Cenovus Energy | 7.8010| 3.0| -6.6| 99.5
* Constellation Software | -2.9000| -1.1| -39.2| -18.5
* Canadian National | -8.2110| -1.3| -48.1| -6.0
* Nutrien | -14.9000| -3.4| 46.3| 17.9
US
By Stephen Kirkland and Peyton Forte
(Bloomberg) — US stocks rose for a second day, climbing to session highs in the last hour of trading amid a broad-based rally.
Treasuries pared gains and the dollar slipped.
Back-to-back gains in the S&P 500 clawed back all of last week’s losses.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 advanced with mega caps Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. offsetting declines in ecommerce giant Amazon.com Inc.
Consumer discretionary stocks led declines throughout the day, with Target Corp. falling after the retailer cut its profit outlook for the second time in three weeks amid an inventory surplus.
Sentiment whipsawed for much of the day with traders hesitant to take on risk amid concern monetary tightening by Federal Reserve will stifle growth.
But that changed in late trading as buyers emerged across the equity market, with 10 of the 11 sectors in the S&P advancing and the Russell 2000 of small caps climbing more than 1.5%.
“It does seem that the odds of a soft landing are reasonably good but it’s tough to manage,” Anthony Crescenzi, market strategist and portfolio manager at Pacific Investment Management Co., said on Bloomberg TV. “Navigating it into that narrow runway is challenging. The price of oil rising of course, will reduce aggregate demand, perhaps. And that will likely help bring it into that zone. But lots of other things have to happen.”

Ahead of US consumer price data later this week, uncertainty about the outlook has led to a back and forth between stocks and bonds, which saw equities rally as 10-year yields held below 3%.
“The yield on the 10-year note fell back below 3%, so it seems like the stock market is very focused on the Treasury market this week,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist for Miller Tabak + Co. “I’m not so sure that the 3% level is as important as the stock market does this week, but with no Fed speak this week and the CPI number not due out until Friday, we could see stocks whip around in both directions for a few days.”
The inflation reading for May due Friday may help traders discern the Fed’s rate path and whether it will continue to hike in 50-basis point increments.
Strong hiring data last week provided some justification for an aggressive approach.
Wall Street weighs in on the growth debate ;
* “Much of the mispricing we see is in the bond market right now — the 10-year Treasury yield just keeps going up, even though the economy’s slowing,” Matt Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management, said in an interview. “Eventually it’s going to be an anchor of slower growth that pulls down yields. And that’s actually where we’re seeing the best opportunity to kind of exploit.”
* Fed Chair Jerome “Powell faces a tough challenge bringing inflation under control,” wrote Evercore ISI’s Krishna Guha. “We will likely see this again this week with CPI data that shows another boost to headline inflation from energy prices while elevated shelter costs and a surge in travel-related services inflation significantly offset welcome moderation in goods inflation that is being slowed down by ongoing supply dislocations in Europe and China.”
* “We believe the Fed will manage to reduce inflation while avoiding a recession, but we continue to monitor the data to see if employment, credit conditions, production, sentiment and income remain consistent with a continued economic expansion,” Gargi Chaudhuri, head of iShares investment strategy for the Americas at BlackRock, wrote in a note.

Earlier, the Reserve Bank of Australia blindsided the market with an outsized hike to combat rising costs.
The RBA responded to price pressures with its biggest rate increase in 22 years — predicted by just three of 29 economists – and  indicated it remained committed to “doing what is necessary” to rein in inflationary pressures.
The European Central Bank on Thursday is set to end trillions of euros of asset purchases and cement a path to exiting eight years of negative interest rates.
Key events to watch this week:
* Reserve Bank of India rate decision Wednesday
* OECD Economic Outlook, a twice-yearly analysis of major global economic trends and prospects for the next two years. Wednesday
* European Central Bank rate decision, Christine Lagarde briefing, Thursday
* China trade, new yuan loans, money supply, aggregate financing. Thursday
* US CPI, University of Michigan consumer sentiment Friday
* China CPI, PPI Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.9% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.9%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro rose 0.1% to $1.0709
* The British pound rose 0.5% to $1.2596
* The Japanese yen fell 0.6% to 132.63 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined six basis points to 2.98%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 1.29%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.21%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.3% to $120.03 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.7% to $1,856 an ounce

–With assistance from Nisha Gopalan, Sagarika Jaisinghani, Andreea Papuc, Farah Elbahrawy, Denitsa Tsekova, Vildana Hajric, Isabelle Lee and Cormac Mullen.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

I’m quite illiterate, but I read a lot. -J.D. Salinger, 1919-2010, The Catcher in the Rye.

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