June 8, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Frank Lloyd Wright, architect, b. 1848.

A famed treasure chest said to contain gold and jewels has finally been found in the Rocky Mountains 
And it actually DID contain gold and jewels! -CNN

The Golden Gate Bridge has been ‘singing’ recently. Here’s why. 
Chalk it up to aerodynamics — and a key new addition. -CNN

A million-mile battery could charge your electric car.-Bloomberg.

On June 8, 1968, authorities announced the capture in London of James Earl Ray, the suspected assassin of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Go to article »

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) collects fibres of garden twine for nest building from a suburban garden in north west London. Usually, five eggs laid in June in nests built within thick cover several metres above ground, with the chicks hatching two weeks later.
CREDIT: STEPHEN CHUNG/ALAMY LIVE NEWS

Fleur Hulme aged 12 in a field of poppies in bloom at Woolley, Near Barnsley, West Yorkshire
CREDIT: YORKSHIRE POST/SWNS

John Roberts is a re-knowned puppet maker, director and player over the past forty years creating puppets for a diverse clientel, including Jim Henson’s Creatures workshops, Opera North and television adverts for drinks or insurance (Meercat 2009) as well as private collectors. He has been curating an exhibition of 70 puppets from across the ages and around the world for exhibition that should have begun at the Guild of Craftsmen in Bovey Tracey, Devon last week, but due to the Coronavirus he has had to re-configure how and what piece can travel from abroad with new restrictions for the show that is now planned to take place in January 2021
CREDIT: RUSSELL SACH
Market Closes for June 8th, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1999, drkoop.com, Inc. went public on the Nasdaq, selling 9,375,000 shares at $9.00 each. For a brief shining moment, founder Dr. C. Everett Koop’s stake was worth more than $50 million. Within a year, the online health-care company was on its deathbed.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose Monday while U.S. stocks climbed, with the S&P 500 erasing its losses for 2020, as easing lockdowns bolstered economic optimism.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index advanced 0.8% to its highest since March 6. Nine of 11 sectors rose, with health care and real estate stocks leading the way while consumer staples lagged.
Ontario is moving to the next phase of reopening its economy after months of Covid-19 restrictions, but its financial capital is being excluded.
The oil market is already moving past this weekend’s producer deal to extend supply cuts, with prices sliding on Saudi Arabia’s decision to end extra reductions.
Consumer confidence continues to show signs of improving in Canada, inching higher for a sixth straight week.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $8.95 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold climbed 0.8% to $1,700 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.4% to C$1.3367 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 5 basis points to 0.678%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.8 percent, or 120.84 to 15,974.91 in Toronto.
The index advanced to the highest closing level since March 6. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.4 percent. ShawCor Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 44.5 percent.
Today, 167 of 229 shares rose, while 59 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 19 percent, heading for the biggest advance in at least 10 years
* The index declined 1.6 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 11 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 11.1 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 43 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 4.8 percent in the past 5 days and rose 6.7 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.9 on a trailing basis and 26.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.4t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 19.91 percent compared with 20.20 percent in the previous session and the average of 25.67 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 49.6472| 1.0| 20/6
Energy | 37.2998| 1.7| 27/3
Real Estate | 16.3924| 3.3| 25/1
Health Care | 12.7784| 8.0| 9/1
Materials | 8.1970| 0.4| 31/15
Communication Services | 7.5009| 0.8| 6/2
Utilities | 4.3620| 0.5| 9/5
Consumer Discretionary | 2.2775| 0.4| 10/4
Information Technology | 0.4592| 0.0| 7/3
Industrials | -4.7382| -0.3| 19/12
Consumer Staples | -13.3469| -2.0| 4/7
US
By Rita Nazareth and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — The torrid rally in U.S. stocks pushed the S&P 500 into the green for the year as easing lockdowns bolstered economic optimism. The dollar fell.
The equity benchmark extended a rally from its 2020 low to almost 45%, rising to a 15-week high. Occidental Petroleum Corp. surged after Bloomberg News reported the company is reviewing options for its Middle Eastern assets. The Nasdaq 100 rose to a record high, and Boeing Co. led gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The dollar posted its longest slide in almost a decade, while Treasuries advanced. Oil sank after Saudi Arabia said it wouldn’t continue its additional, deeper output curbs after June. Traders pushed up the value of U.S. equities as many parts of the country came out of the shutdowns that brought the world’s largest economy to a standstill. To Citigroup’s strategists including Tobias Levkovich, positioning may be overly extended, and investors may not be factoring all the potential risks.
     Meanwhile, Stan Druckenmiller — who last month warned about owning stocks — said on Monday that he now believes he was “far too cautious” during the current market rally. “As long as the data is improving and the market has the tailwind of liquidity at its back, it’s probably going to continue to rise,” said Ed Campbell, portfolio manager and managing director at QMA. “I wouldn’t be betting against equities at this point.”
The dollar fell for an eighth straight day, down to the level before the coronavirus crisis sparked a rush to haven assets. Where it goes from here mostly depends on the Federal Reserve, which will probably welcome all signs of recovery in its statement at the conclusion of this week’s meeting. But policy makers may be wary of an unruly increase in borrowing costs that could add to strains on businesses and households, and raise the price tag of the government’s rescue efforts.
What to watch this week:
* The Fed’s next policy decision is Wednesday. Officials are expected to leave rates above zero.
* OECD releases its economic outlook Wednesday, a twice-yearly analysis of the economic prospects of member countries
* Euro-area finance ministers meet Thursday to discuss the EU’s recovery package and Eurogroup presidency succession.
These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index climbed 1.2% to 3,232.39 as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.3%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 1.2%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.6%.
* The euro was little changed at $1.1296.
* The Japanese yen appreciated 1.1% to 108.37 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased two basis points to 0.87%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield decreased four basis points to -0.32%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.334%.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index decreased 0.1%.
* West Texas Intermediate crude decreased 3.3% to $38.23 a barrel.
* Gold surged 1.4% to $1,706.30 an ounce.
–With assistance from Cormac Mullen, Masaki Kondo, Todd White, Lynn Thomasson, Sophie Caronello and Nancy Moran.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.
                                     -Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, 1918-2013

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