April 13, 2023 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Happy Friday Eve.
On April 13, 1970, Apollo 13, four-fifths of the way to the moon, was crippled when a tank containing liquid oxygen burst. (The astronauts managed to return safely.) Go to article >

Thomas Jefferson, 3^rd U.S. President, b. 1743.
Butch Cassidy, outlaw, b. 1866.
1962: Silent Spring published by Rachel Carson.
1997:Tiger Woods becomes the youngest ever golfer to win the Masters Tournament.  The then 21-year old sportsman was also the first person of African heritage to win a major golf title.

Snoopy is real! Meet Bayley, the cartoon dog’s doppelganger.  This adorable pooch has an uncanny resemblance to Snoopy, the canine mascot for the Peanuts cartoon troupe.

Elephant wows researchers with self-taught trick.  Elephants are widely known as intelligent animals, but researchers at a German zoo said they were totally caught off guard by this impressive trick.

‘Green Monster’ supernova is the youngest in the Milky Way, James Webb telescope reveals: Cassiopeia A, the remnants of a stellar explosion that appeared in Earth’s skies 340 years ago, sits 11,000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia.  Full Story: Live Science (4/12)

How to watch Europe launch its alien-hunting JUICE satellite live on Thursday:  Today, the European Space Agency (ESA) is launching an exciting new mission to study whether the moons of Jupiter have the potential to host alien life: the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, also known as JUICE.  And you can watch the launch happen, thanks to ESA’s live coverage.  Full Story: Live Science (4/12)

52 million-year-old bat skeleton is the oldest ever found and belongs to a never-before-seen species
Two stunningly preserved, 52 million-year-old bat skeletons unearthed in Wyoming are the oldest ever found and belong to a never-before-seen species, researchers have revealed.  The rare fossils were discovered in the Green River Formation in the southwest of the state.  Full Story: Live Science (4/12)

First-ever close-up of a supermassive black hole sharpened to ‘full resolution’ by AI, and the results are stunning:  The first-ever photo of a supermassive black hole has gotten a “maximum resolution” makeover, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI).  The iconic 2019 image of M87* was made by pooling radio light that had traveled to us across 53 million light-years of space. Full Story: Live Science (4/13)

The $29 ham sandwich.
The Time 100, feat. Jennifer Coolidge.
The price of childhood.
The backyard bee takeover.

RIP Mary Quant.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Dame Mary Quant, 1960s fashion queen
Mary Quant standing outside her shop Bazaar, on Kings Road in London, 1960
Photograph: Mirrorpix/Getty Images

London, UK
Milliner Justin Smith poses with a crown he has created using 319 Scrabble tiles to mark Scrabble’s 75th anniversary and King Charles III’s coronation
Photograph: Michael Bowles/Mattel/PA

​​​​​​​Giza, Egypt
A view of the Pyramids at the Giza necropolis on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo after a secret passage was discovered at the tomb of fourth dynasty pharaoh, Khufu
Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Market Closes for April 13^th, 2023

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1945, the market absorbed the news of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 1% to close at 159.75.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the fifth day, climbing 0.5%, or 110.17 to 20,564.49 in Toronto.
The index advanced to the highest closing level since March 3.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.1%.
Ero Copper Corp. had the largest increase, rising 6.2%.
Today, 158 of 232 shares rose, while 68 fell; 10 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 1.8%
* The index declined 5.8% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 7.8% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 6.9% below its 52-week high on April 21, 2022 and 15.1% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2% in the past 5 days and rose 5% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.3 on a trailing basis and 13.6 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.2% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.26t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 12.91% compared with 12.86% in the previous session and the average of 12.06% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 42.5286| 1.6| 43/7
Financials | 28.8009| 0.5| 24/5
Energy | 18.5789| 0.5| 27/11
Communication Services | 7.1706| 0.8| 3/2
Information Technology | 6.7911| 0.5| 8/4
Industrials | 3.7330| 0.1| 18/7
Utilities | 3.2104| 0.3| 8/7
Consumer Discretionary | 1.3869| 0.2| 11/4
Real Estate | 0.2551| 0.1| 10/10
Health Care | 0.2027| 0.3| 3/3
Consumer Staples | -2.4876| -0.3| 3/8
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Natural Resources | 12.7000| 2.1| -10.1| 9.0
Brookfield Corp | 7.9420| 1.9| -30.8| 3.0
First Quantum Minerals | 7.7980| 6.1| 10.8| 23.1
Canadian National | -1.3080| -0.2| -11.6| 0.7
Suncor Energy | -2.8140| -0.7| -21.6| 1.4
Cenovus Energy | -4.2250| -1.8| 7.4| -9.3
US
By Isabelle Lee and Peyton Forte
(Bloomberg) — US equities traded higher Thursday, as the latest readings on jobs and factory-gate inflation were slightly softer than expected, a boost for those hoping the Federal Reserve may be approaching the end point of an era of aggressive interest rate hikes.
The S&P 500 rose 1.3% while the more rate-sensitive Nasdaq 100 gained 2.0% after US jobless claims for the week ended April 8 rose to 239,000, compared to estimates of 235,000.
Meanwhile, producer prices came in at 2.7% year-on-year, versus the 3% that had been expected.
Treasury yields rose with the 10-year trading around 3.44%.
The dollar lost more ground against a basket of currencies, and the euro/dollar exchange rate was at a one-year high.
“Basically what the data are showing is two things,” Que Nguyen, chief investment officer of equity strategies at Research Affiliates, said by phone. “The first is that inflation is not surprising to the upside, and at the same time, the job market seems stable. And so what we’re getting today is sort of an optimistic outlook that we’re going to have an almost like a goldilocks situation where inflation’s going to slow, but the economy is not crashing.”
This week’s consumer inflation report showed a fall in year-on-year headline figures, but a rise in core prices.
Meanwhile, last week’s March payrolls rose at a firm pace with unemployment near record lows again.
All that has left swaps markets still favoring a quarter-point hike by the Federal Reserve in May, though traders added to wagers that the Fed will cut interest rates by year-end at a faster pace than anticipated
earlier in the week.
“For a Fed already inclined to pause, this report tips the scale just a bit more in favor, especially after yesterday’s CPI failed to reveal any new inflationary problems,” Christopher Low of FHN Financial said. “The link between the PPI and CPI is not as clear as it once was, but persistently small increases — or, as in March, an outright decline — will eventually come through to consumers.”
Minutes of the Fed’s March meeting published Wednesday showed policymakers scaled back expectations for rate hikes this year after a series of bank collapses roiled markets, and stressed they would remain vigilant in the face of a potential credit crunch. Officials also forecast a “mild recession” starting later this year given “the potential economic effects of the recent banking-sector developments.”
Next, investors will be turning their attention to bank earnings starting on Friday and commentary from executives on the probability of a recession.
“Bank lending is arguably the most important component of a strong economy, so insights from bank CEOs are critical right now,” David Trainer, CEO of New Constructs, wrote. “Investors are counting on strong earnings to help the year-to-date stock market rally continue, which is why this upcoming first quarter earnings season is so important.”
Europe’s equity benchmark posted a modest gain.
Oil fell, gold rose, and Bitcoin traded around $30,300.
Key events this week:
* US retail sales, business inventories, industrial production, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday
* Major US banks JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup report earnings, Friday

Some of the main market moves:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1%
* The MSCI World index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.6%
* The euro rose 0.5% to $1.1047
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.2527
* The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 132.74 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 1.3% to $30,354.47
* Ether rose 5.4% to $2,012.48
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced six basis points to 3.45%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.37%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.57%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.2% to $82.29 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 1.5% to $2,054.70 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Desperation is sometimes as powerful an inspirer as genius. –Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881.

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