May 7, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Full Moon tonight – known as the “Flower Super Moon.”
Full moon this week is the last supermoon in 2020 – CNN

1824 – Premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth symphony.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composer, b. 1840.
1939 – Germany and Italy announce an alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.
On May 7, 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, to take effect the following day, ending the European conflict of World War II.  Go to article »

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A blue tit approaches it’s nest with an insect in it’s beak on a garden wall in Dublin.
CREDIT: BRIAN LAWLESS/PA

Steven Da Costa of France, world champion in Karate and qualified for the Olympics 2021 trains on the terrace at the family home, Mont Saint Martin, eastern France.
CREDIT: FRANCK FIFE/AFP

Fisherman collect fish on a beach in Da Nang city, Vietnam.
CREDIT: REUTERS/KHAM

Market Closes for May 7^th, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1825, one of the earliest buying frenzies for an American IPO was reported, as the Bank of Southwark went public in Philadelphia. Investors hired muscular goons to sign their names into the subscription books that conferred the right to buy shares, and “noses were smashed, hats jammed in, and the police court was at work over the wounded for weeks after.”
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities’ streak of gains this week almost came to a halt Thursday as Shopify Inc. gave up its brief title as the country’s largest stock to Royal Bank of Canada. The S&P/TSX Composite was up 0.02% in Toronto, giving up most of its 1.3% intraday advance. Shopify lost its position as the most valuable company in Canada, after eclipsing Royal Bank for the first time on Wednesday. The e-commerce company fell 1.8%, after the stock received two downgrades.
Oil fell in a day of wild price swings as investors weighed supply-and-demand fundamentals against Saudi Arabia’s global price hike. TC Energy was the biggest drag on the index, declining 3.8%, while other energy stocks gave up some of their earlier gains. Bombardier had the biggest drop, falling 15%, after reporting its first-quarter earnings and saying it sees luxury-jet demand crumbling by at least 30%. Brookfield Asset Management Inc., which made a large bet on malls back in 2018, plans to invest $5 billion to help struggling retailers. The Toronto-based firm has launched a “retail revitalization” program that will focus on taking minority stakes in retail businesses that have been hit hard by the pandemic.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $5.75 discount to West Texas Intermediate.
* Spot gold rose 2% to about $1,719.05 an ounce.
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 1.1% to C$1.3996 per U.S. dollar.
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 11 basis points to 0.544%.
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 14,833.69 in Toronto. Enbridge Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.1 percent. Primo Water Corp. had the largest increase, rising 11.5 percent. Today, 125 of 229 shares rose, while 102 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 1.5 percent
* The index declined 9.3 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 1.4 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 17.5 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 32.8 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.4 percent in the past 5 days and rose 9 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.7 on a trailing basis and 20.1 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$2.26t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 36.95 percent compared with 37.17 percent in the previous session and the average of 71.27 percent over the past month
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| Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
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Materials | 30.9548| 1.4| 40/7
Energy | 14.1638| 0.7| 20/9
Consumer Discretionary | 8.3234| 1.7| 8/6
Industrials | 4.4852| 0.3| 13/18
Real Estate | 1.7245| 0.4| 14/12
Consumer Staples | -2.7494| -0.4| 4/7
Communication Services | -4.2888| -0.5| 5/3
Health Care | -5.3099| -3.6| 2/7
Utilities | -7.1133| -0.9| 5/11
Information Technology | -7.3887| -0.6| 7/3
Financials | -29.8606| -0.7| 7/19
US
By Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose to the highest in a week as investors sifted through the latest company earnings and poor labor data. Yields on Treasuries tumbled. The S&P 500 rallied 1.15% with speculation mounting that the worst of the economic damage has passed as more of the country reopens. Filings for unemployment continued at historically high levels, but fell from the prior week. News that top U.S. and Chinese negotiators will speak as soon as next week on trade helped boost sentiment. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite turned positive for the year, wiping out losses that reached as much as 24% at the depths of the pandemic-fueled sell-off.
The bond market delivered a different take on the economy’s future. Two-year yields plunged to a record low and 10-year rates fell toward 0.6%. Banks stocks defied the move, with financial firms in the S&P 500 rising more than 2% to halt a five-day slide. “You ask the question, are things likely to be better six months from now than they are today?” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab & Co. “Most people would say yes, and the market is looking ahead. Right now the market thinks the future looks better.”
In the latest corporate news:
* ViacomCBS Inc. rallied after reporting a surge in streaming subscribers.
* Raytheon Technologies jumped after results beat expectations. Moderna surged after saying its experimental vaccine for the new coronavirus would be in late-stage studies by early this summer.

     The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained as most national gauges and industry sectors climbed. Crude oil declined after reaching $26 a barrel in New York. The pound swung between losses and gains after the Bank of England kept its policy settings unchanged and signaled it may expand monetary stimulus as soon as next month. Risk assets rebounded swiftly in April following a dramatic sell-off in the first quarter, but stocks have struggled for direction this month as bulls and bears duel over the outlook. Optimists point to efforts to reopen economies, a slowing rate of new infections and unprecedented stimulus. Pessimists fret over the mounting economic toll, with payrolls data from the largest economy on Friday expected to be dire.
     Worries about rising tension between the U.S. and China have added an extra headache for investors lately; the planned call between the two countries may signal an effort to de-escalate the situation. Most Asian stocks slipped earlier, including in Japan where exchanges opened for the first time this week following a holiday. China’s yuan advanced offshore after the country reported a surprise gain in exports, even as the virus pandemic damaged global demand.
Here are some key events coming up:
* U.K. markets will be closed on Friday for a holiday.
* Friday also brings the U.S. jobs report for April, expected to show a severe impact from the pandemic. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists calls for a 21 million plunge in payrolls

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 Index rose 1.1% to 2,881.19 as of 4:03 p.m. New York time.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.9% to 23,875.89.
The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.3% to 8,979.66, the highest in two months.
The MSCI All-Country World Index gained 0.9% to 482.46.
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased 0.4% to 1,250.89, the first retreat in a week.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.2% to 106.28 per dollar, the first retreat in a week.
The euro rose 0.3% to $1.0831.
The British pound increased 0.1% to $1.2357, the first advance in a week.
Bonds
The yield on two-year Treasuries declined five basis points to 0.13%, the lowest on record with the largest decrease in more than five weeks.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell seven basis points to 0.63%, the biggest fall in almost three weeks.
Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to -0.55%.
Britain’s 10-year yield increased less than one basis point to 0.235%.
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude declined 3% to $23.25 a barrel.
Gold strengthened 2% to $1,718.06 an ounce, the highest in more than a week on the biggest rise in more than three weeks.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Feel the fear and do it anyway.
    -Susan Jeffers, 1938-2012

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