June 22, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Archaeologists find the oldest evidence of bow-and-arrow hunting outside of Africa. -Bloomberg.

How the pandemic is changing cities. –Bloomberg.

June 22, 1854: First Victoria Cross won during bombardment of Bomarsund in the Aland Islands (Crimean War).

On June 21, 1964, three civil rights workers disappeared in Philadelphia, Miss. Their bodies were found buried in an earthen dam six weeks later. Eight members of the Ku Klux Klan went to prison on federal conspiracy charges; none served more than six years. Go to article »

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A woman runs on a small road between fields and acres as the sun rises in Frankfurt, Germany.
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/MICHAEL PROBST

A woman wears an illuminated cape as people gather on Glastonbury Tor for sunset on the Summer Solstice weekend on the longest day of the year.
CREDIT: SIMON CHAPMAN/LNP

Indo-Tibetan Border Police performing Yoga in sub-zero temperatures, on the occasion of the International Day of Yoga, dubbed World Yoga Day, in Ladakh, India.
CREDIT: INDO TIBETAN BORDER POLICE/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Visitors are dwarfed by brightly coloured sculptures comprising of stones that punctuate the stark, dry landscape of the Mohave desert in Nevada, USA.
CREDIT: HENRY DO/SOLENT NEWS

Market Closes for June 22^nd, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1775, Congress authorized the first issuance of Continental Currency, or U.S. paper money. Officially known as “Continentals,” the money soon came to be called “shinplasters” as high inflation rendered it nearly worthless.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities advanced Monday amid a climb in commodities and tech shares. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.3%, with eight of eleven sectors retreating, though a rally in materials and information technology carried the market.  Gold futures settled near the highest since 2012, supported by concerns over a second wave of coronavirus infections and ongoing expectations of a flood of stimulus measures. Oil gained on optimism that fuel demand is recovering as lockdowns are lifted and major producers scale back output. Canada’s economy will take a long time to fully recover from the Covid-19 lockdowns, requiring the central bank to continue purchases of government bonds to keep interest rates at historical lows indefinitely, according to Tiff Macklem. Meanwhile, Toronto will reopen restaurant patios, shopping malls and swimming pools on Wednesday after officials determined that the Covid-19 virus is under control.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at an $9.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.7% to about $1,756 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.6% to C$1.3533 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield edged higher to 0.540%
By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.3 percent at 15,516.90 in Toronto. The index advanced to the highest closing level since June 10 after the previous session’s little change. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.7 percent. Westshore Terminals Investment Corp. had the largest increase, rising 12.0 percent. Today, 132 of 222 shares rose, while 85 fell; 3 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 16 percent, heading for the biggest advance in at least 10 years
* This month, the index rose 2.1 percent
* The index declined 6.1 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 4.7 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 13.7 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 38.9 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1 percent in the past 5 days and rose 4 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.4 on a trailing basis and 25.9 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$2.35t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 20.73 percent compared with 20.87 percent in the previous session and the average of 21.72 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 59.8510| 2.8| 47/4
Information Technology | 23.1399| 1.5| 8/2
Consumer Discretionary | 2.6262| 0.5| 9/4
Real Estate | -0.0928| 0.0| 17/7
Health Care | -1.0395| -0.6| 5/4
Utilities | -1.3897| -0.2| 7/9
Industrials | -2.3330| -0.1| 15/13
Energy | -2.9300| -0.1| 8/14
Communication Services | -8.9277| -1.0| 1/7
Consumer Staples | -12.7274| -1.9| 2/9
Financials | -13.4910| -0.3| 13/12
US
By Sarah Ponczek and Jeremy Herron
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, with technology leading the advance, as investors continued to bet on companies with strong balance sheets and better prospects in an economy where work-from-home remains part of the norm. The Nasdaq 100 jumped more than 1%, with Adobe, Amazon.com and Square ending at all-time highs. The Nasdaq Composite capped a seventh straight advance in its longest rally of the year. The S&P 500 lagged behind, with some sectors under pressure as investors weighed the economic impact of virus flareups in some states. “There’s absolutely a big tug-of-war going on right now,” JJ Kinahan, the chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, said by phone. “Everyone is trying to figure out who is going to be the winners and losers when things get quote-unquote back to normal. That to me shows that everybody is trying to figure out which way to go.”
Gold tested a seven-year high, while the dollar weakened. European stocks slumped, with Wirecard AG plunging after more than $2 billion in assets went missing. The yield on Germany’s 30-year government debt fell below zero for the first time since May. Crude oil settled above $40 a barrel in New York. The comments from Texas’s governor come with a dozen states reporting sharp increases in virus cases over the weaken, even as others move forward with phased reopening. There were also new scares in Germany and Australia. But investors are wagering that policy makers will be unwilling to stop business activity or slow progress toward a recovery. At the same time, risk appetite is being supported by historic stimulus programs by central banks around the world.
Equity markets have steadied in recent weeks and the S&P 500 is within 10% of its pre-pandemic peak. “The market doesn’t believe that we will see such draconian lockdowns even if there is a resurgence of the virus. The politics have moved on,” said James Athey, a money manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments. “Rightly or wrongly, there’s also a pretty widespread feeling that riskier assets won’t go down too far because the Federal Reserve won’t let them.”
Here are some key events coming up:
* MSCI Inc. on Tuesday announces its market classification review for 2020.
* The IMF will release new 2020 growth projections on Wednesday.
* U.S. jobless claims, durable goods and GDP data are due Thursday.
* A rebalance of Russell indexes is due on Friday.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 Index increased 0.7% to 3,118 as of 4 p.m. New York time.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.2%.
The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.8%, hitting the highest in
more than a week with its seventh consecutive advance.
The MSCI All-Country World Index was little changed at 527.04.
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased 0.5% to 1,213.48, hitting the lowest in a week with the first retreat in a week and the largest dip in three weeks.
The euro increased 0.7% to $1.1259, the first advance in a week and the biggest climb in more than two weeks.
The Japanese yen was little changed at 106.83 per dollar, hitting the strongest in more than six weeks with its sixth straight advance.
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose one basis point to 0.70%, the lowest in more than a week.
Germany’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to -0.44%, the lowest in a week on the largest fall in more than a week.
Britain’s 10-year yield fell four basis points to 0.2%, the biggest fall in more than a week.
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 1.8% to $40.46 a barrel.
Gold futures strengthened 0.8% to $1,765.90 an ounce.
–With assistance from Sophie Caronello and Michael Hunter.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

In summer, the song sings itself.
    -William Carlos Williams, 1883-1963

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