April 30, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Tonight is Beltane, Wicca, & Walpurgisnacht~ Witch’s Night, Europe.
It is an ancient Celtic festival with a sacrificial fire, beginning just past Midnight, welcoming in May 1^st and celebrating May Day.  The derivation is uncertain, but the name is not connected with Baal.  Fires are lit on the hill tops, and cattle were driven between the flames in times of old – either to protect them from disease or as preparation for sacrifice.  Animal guisering, familiar from the hobby horse, derives from Beltane animal sacrifices, and a person born “between the Beltanes”, i.e., in the week beginning on May Day, is said to have power and influence over all living things.

April 30, 1789-George Washington is inaugurated as the first President of the United States of America.

On this day in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson signed the Louisiana Purchase, paying Napoleon Bonaparte $15 million for 828,000 square miles of territory, which stretches from the Mississippi River to the Rockies and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. In the stroke of a pen, the United States nearly doubled in size, and a huge frontier of opportunity opens for its citizens. The U.S. financed the deal by borrowing $11.25 million in 6% bonds from European investors

On April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces. Go to article »

Watch: Jordan Casteel, painter of Michelle Obama’s portrait, has her first solo museum show, and provides the voice-over for our video tour. Check out five artists to follow on Instagram. Then get to know Alice Wu, the director who influenced Awkwafina and Ali Wong. Ms. Wu’s new show on Netflix, “Half of It,” is a young-adult take on “Cyrano de Bergerac.” -from The New York Times.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A Robin is seen on a fence in Downing Street, London
CREDIT: REUTERS/TOBY MELVILLE

Face masks are on display outside a clothing store in Berlin amid the COVID – 19 pandemic. Masks are mandatory in shops across Germany as medical experts warned the public to stay disciplined.
CREDIT: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP

Aerial view of Venice city during nationwide lockdown, Gondola boats are moored in Piazza San Marco square in Venice, northern Italy.
CREDIT: FABIO MUZZI/EPA
Market Closes for April 30th, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Royal Dutch Shell cut its dividend for the first time since World War II after first-quarter profit fell by nearly half as the coronavirus pandemic hit. The move was in contrast to BP, which said it would maintain its dividend
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities retreated Thursday after a four-day surge while U.S. stocks slumped amid dire economic warnings and more dismal data.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 2.9%, the most since April 21. Energy and materials led all eleven sectors lower. For the month of April, the index closed higher by more than 10%, the most since 2009.
The initial shock of the coronavirus shutdown has eased. Now comes an equally hard part for thousands of business owners: figuring out their next move as Canada crawls toward reopening its economy. Oil climbed for the second day as global production cuts deepened and signs of a recovery in physical markets emerged.
Gold futures fell for a fifth straight session after European Central Bank moves to stem the impact of virus weren’t as aggressive as some traders had anticipated.
Canada’s budget deficit will mushroom to C$252.1 billion($181 billion) in 2020-21 on Covid-19 spending and plummeting oil prices, according to estimates from the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
Large Canadian retailers are working with mall landlords and the government to find a way to absorb the hit from coronavirus shutdowns, according to the country’s biggest book chain.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $7.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold slid 1.5% to about $1,686.80 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.3% to C$1.3924 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 2.8 basis points to 0.539%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 2.9 percent at 14,780.74 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 3.1 percent on April 21 and follows the previous session’s increase of 2.9 percent.
Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.6 percent. Gildan Activewear Inc. had the largest drop, falling 12.8 percent.
Today, 195 of 230 shares fell, while 35 rose; all sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss nine times. The next day, it advanced eight times for an average 4.8 percent and declined 12.3 percent once
* So far this week, the index rose 2.5 percent
* This month, the index rose 10 percent, heading for the biggest advance in at least 10 years
* The index declined 11 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 2.6 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 17.8 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 32.3 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 3.7 percent in the past 5 days and rose 10 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.9 on a trailing basis and 18.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.5 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.32t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 54.68 percent compared with 54.22 percent in the previous session and the average of 81.79 percent over the past month
=============================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
=============================================
Financials | -157.2103| -3.5| 2/24
Energy | -81.0610| -3.9| 13/17
Materials | -80.4839| -3.7| 2/45
Industrials | -37.1663| -2.1| 11/20
Utilities | -23.1294| -2.9| 0/16
Consumer Discretionary| -16.7180| -2.9| 1/14
Communication Services| -15.3308| -1.8| 1/7
Consumer Staples | -14.7902| -2.3| 0/11
Real Estate | -9.0618| -1.9| 3/23
Information Technology| -7.4730| -0.6| 2/8
Health Care | -4.9091| -3.2| 0/10
US
By Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slumped amid dire economic warnings, more dismal data and corporate results that reflected the coronavirus’s toll, ending their best month in three decades on a slightly sour note.
Futures turned lower after the cash session ended, pushed down by Amazon.com’s warning that it could post a second-quarter loss as expenses balloon during the crisis. Apple also edged lower in after-hours trading before its earnings release.
The S&P 500 Index fell from a seven-week high as the U.S. reported a larger-than-expected jump in unemployment claims, with about four stocks lower for everyone in the green. Strong results from Microsoft Corp., Facebook Inc. and Tesla Inc. limited losses on the tech-heavy Nasdaq gauges. Crude rose for a second day on signs fuel consumption is starting to recover in the world’s biggest economies.
Still, the S&P 500 posted its biggest monthly gain since 1987, climbing 13% amid speculation that damage from the coronavirus may be short lived.
Investors continue to weigh a brutal economic picture against hopes for a coronavirus treatment and an eventual end to lockdown measures across the world. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn said the agency is moving at “lightning speed” to review data on Gilead Sciences’
experimental Covid-19 treatment. But earnings reports from tech giants show some parts of the economy have remained resilient. “It’s encouraging you’re seeing big tech earnings come in strong, but there’s still challenges,” said Brian Price, head of investment management for Commonwealth Financial Network. “There’s going to be a push-pull in the market for the foreseeable future.”
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell amid a barrage of bad economic readings and after European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said the euro-area economy could shrink 12% this year. The ECB intensified its response to the coronavirus crisis and the Federal Reserve said it planned to expand its
Main Street Lending Program.
Twitter Inc. slumped after reporting a drop in sales. Kraft Heinz Inc. fell as it said 2020 guidance remains uncertain. Royal Dutch Shell shares slipped after the firm cut its dividend for the first time since World War II.
Elsewhere, Japanese and Chinese equities rose over 1% as their Australian peers jumped more than 2%. Hong Kong and South Korea were shut for a holiday. Emerging-market stocks jumped.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index dropped 0.9% at the close of trade in New York.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 2%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.8%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 0.4%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.
* The euro rose 0.7% to $1.0955.
* The British pound rose 1% to $1.2591.
* The Japanese yen fell 0.6% to 107.34 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose one basis point to 0.64%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield sank nine basis points to -0.59%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 0.23%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 26% to $18.99 a barrel.
* Gold weakened 1.5% to $1,687.82 an ounce.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Life is not fair; get used to it.
             -Bill Gates, b.1955

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