June 18, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1812- War of 1812 begins as US declares war against Britain.
1942-Pula McCartney, musician, b.
1952-Isabella Rossellini, actress, b.
Scientists grow mini-brains with Neanderthal DNA. -Mike Smedley, Bloomberg.

On June 18, 1948, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted its International Declaration of Human Rights. Go to article »

Spring has come and almost gone. This weekend marks the start of summer, and for many, months of isolation are yielding. But during lockdown, the spotlight in classical music shifted away from ensembles to individual performances.
One of our culture editors rounded up some of his favorites, from the violinist Alexi Kenney’s bright takes on popular songs, to Anthony McGill, the principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic, who recently recorded a spare and mournful version of “America the Beautiful.”
“Solos,” notes the editor, “amplified the qualities we only get glimpses of onstage.” -The NY Times.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Thunderbolts and lighting captured over Tamworth Castle, Staffordshire, England
CREDIT: JAY BIRMINGHAM/TRIANGLE NEWS

A traditional dragon boat race along the Guanjiang river in Dengjiabu village, with dozens of paddlers compete to the beat of drum, Quanzhou county of Guilin city, south China’s Guangxin province
CREDIT: SPLASH NEWS

Louis Vuitton stores in seen with a rainbow in reference to LGBTQ +pride month on Fifth Avenue on Manhattan Island in New York City in the United States
CREDIT: TELEGRAPH, JUNE 18, 2020
Market Closes for June 18th, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1998, internet stocks got an electrifying boost as Disney agreed to buy 43% of Infoseek for roughly $550 million in cash, stock and warrants. Infoseek stock shot up to $42, then closed at $35.125. “If you want to buy your way in,” to internet stocks, “now is the time to do it,” said one prominent tech analyst. By March, 2001, Disney had exchanged the old Infoseek assets for its own shares at an approximate value of only $5 per share.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks climbed on Thursday, led by technology companies. The Bank of Canada sees a gradual recovery after an initial bounce back in the country’s economy.
The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.3% in Toronto, after falling 0.6% yesterday. Technology stocks were led by Shopify Inc. Materials was the worst performing sector, hurt by copper and gold stocks.
The Bank of Canada is taking a more cautious tone on the recovery, with expectations for a bumpy and gradual road toward full recuperation. While the central bank is seeing evidence of a quick, initial bounce back in economic activity as provinces reopen, the second stage of recovery will be more “prolonged and uneven,” Deputy Governor Lawrence Schembri said in a speech to the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce.
Meanwhile, the heads of 27 Canadian companies, including the CEOs of two large banks and Brookfield Asset Management Inc., urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and provincial premiers to ease air travel restrictions.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at an $9.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.1% to $1,724.69 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.3% to C$1.3606 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell to 0.523%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.3 percent at 15,479.83 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.6 percent.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain and had the largest move, increasing 5.9 percent.
Today, 103 of 229 shares rose, while 117 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 1.5 percent
* This quarter, the index rose 16 percent, heading for the biggest advance in at least 10 years
* The index declined 6.2 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 5.8 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 13.9 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 38.6 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.8 percent in the past 5 days and rose 5.7 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.3 on a trailing basis and 25.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.4 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.34t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 20.99 percent compared with 20.99 percent in the previous session and the  average of 22.43 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | 52.1956| 3.6| 7/3
Energy | 13.8294| 0.7| 14/12
Utilities | 7.6153| 1.0| 15/1
Communication Services | 5.7933| 0.7| 7/1
Consumer Staples | 5.7747| 0.9| 10/1
Health Care | 1.7612| 1.1| 5/4
Financials | -0.9247| 0.0| 12/14
Consumer Discretionary | -1.4237| -0.3| 7/7
Real Estate | -3.1653| -0.6| 6/18
Industrials | -8.9967| -0.5| 11/19
Materials | -21.3323| -1.0| 9/37
US
By Sarah Ponczek and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks edged higher after trading in a narrow range for much of Thursday as investors weighed the latest economic data and reports about fresh outbreaks of the coronavirus. Treasuries extended their advance.
The benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.06%, led by gains in energy, consumer staple and technology shares. Equities had opened lower in the wake of a report that weekly U.S. jobless claims stayed above one million. Meanwhile, Florida’s new cases rose faster than the past week’s average and Texas hospitalizations climbed for a record seventh straight day.
Volume in S&P 500 stocks was 25% lighter than the average during the last 30 days, the first time this year where trading fell at least 15% two sessions in a row. The slide in volume came just ahead of Friday’s quadruple witching, during which options and futures on indexes and equities are scheduled to expire.
“The story has been and remains that with such powerful cross-currents facing the market we are going to have periods of positivity and even exuberance, and we’re going to have moments of disappointment,” said Lauren Goodwin, economist andmulti- asset portfolio strategist at New York Life Investments. “It’s just endemic of the economic, political, earnings, health, everything environment just being so uncertain.”
Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 declined. The pound held onto losses and gilt yields rose after the Bank of England expanded its quantitative easing program.
The picture for global markets remains complex as investors mull reports on China battling its worst outbreak since Wuhan, and Israel pausing further reopening of the economy after a rise in cases. That’s competing with some positive news on the economic front, as well as a flood of promised stimulus measures.
Crude oil prices gained after erasing earlier losses.
“The markets are fragile right now and I think a lot of investors see how quick the markets have recovered – equity market in particular,” said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank. “Everyone is starting to feel that maybe we’re ahead of ourselves.”
These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index increased 0.1% to 3,115.34 as of 4:07 p.m. New York time.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to 26,080.10.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.3% to 9,943.05, hitting the highest in more than a week with its fifth consecutive advance.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index declined 0.1% to 527.51, the first retreat in a week.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index advanced 0.5% to 1,220.54, the highest in almost three weeks on the largest gain in a week.
*The euro declined 0.4% to $1.1204, the weakest in more than two weeks.
*The Japanese yen was little changed at 106.98 per dollar, the strongest in a week.
*The British pound fell 1.1% to $1.242, the weakest in almost three weeks on the biggest fall in a week.
Bonds
*The yield on two-year Treasuries dipped less than one basis point to 0.19%.
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell four basis points to 0.70%, the lowest in a week on the biggest fall in a week.
*Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to -0.41%.
*Britain’s 10-year yield jumped four basis points to 0.228%, the highest in more than a week on the biggest surge in almost two weeks.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude gained 2.3% to $38.85 a barrel, the highest in more than a week.
*Gold depreciated 0.1% to $1,724.87 an ounce, the weakest in more than a week.
–With assistance from Lu Wang.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen,
few in pursuit of the goal. –Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900

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