May 13, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot and seriously wounded in St. Peter’s Square by Turkish assailant Mehmet Ali Agca.  Go to article »

Qantas supermoon ‘flight to nowhere’ sells out in record time.  “Flight to nowhere” sounds so ominous! It’s really more like “flight up in the sky near the airport for a little bit.”

Virtual Travel:  Roger Federer shares his favorite places in his home country of Switzerland.

Late-night hosts were all over the vote by Republicans to boot Representative Liz Cheney on Wednesday from her House leadership post after she refused to toe the party line on Donald J. Trump:

“After the vote, Liz Cheney said that she doesn’t want Trump to get near the Oval Office ever again. Yeah, it’s not that hard — all you have to do is hang a sign outside that says, ‘Just Salad.’” — JIMMY FALLON

“Yeah, Republicans haven’t turned on someone this fast since they tried to murder Mike Pence.” — JIMMY FALLON

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A woman visits the ’10D Experience’ exhibition at the ‘Casa Batllo’ in Barcelona, Spain
CREDIT: ALEJANDRO GARCIA/EPA

A pedestrian crosses an intersection on a rainy day in Tokyo
CREDIT: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Textiles Supervisor Susie Stokoe checks the condition of the Devonshire Hunting Tapestries at Chatsworth House in Bakewell, Derbyshire. The stately home is preparing to reopen to the public on Tuesday May 18, following the further easing of lockdown restrictions. The nearly 600-year-old tapestries are returning to Chatsworth having belonged to the Devonshire family for more than 500 years before being handed over to the Treasury in lieu of tax in 1957.
CREDIT: PAUL COOPER FOR THE TELEGRAPH

A lion rests at Nsinga Waterhole in Greater Kruger National Park. Photographic guide, Moosa Varachia, was on hand to capture the melancholy moment and said the lion may have been sad at the prospect of leaving his pride. The 29-year-old from South Africa said: “As we arrived we found the lions all scattered around the water hole asleep.
CREDIT: MOOSAWILDLIFE / CATERS NEWS

Market Closes for May 13^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1999, Barbie went high-tech as Mattel acquired The Learning Co., a maker of educational software, for $3.51 billion. After only 16 months, Mattel sold The Learning Co. to Gores Technology Group for no cash up front, the assumption of The Learning Co.’s debt and an undisclosed percentage of its future profits. Mattel lost roughly $4 billion on the acquisition, with nothing to show for it—making the deal one of the most disastrous in modern history.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities advanced Thursday after a three-day rout. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.2%, with 7 of eleven sectors rising. Energy and tech were among laggards. Oil slumped the most in over a month alongside a commodities downturn as growing inflation concerns raise the specter of a less accommodative U.S. Federal Reserve. The Bank of Canada is closely monitoring recent gains in the nation’s currency, to ensure the appreciation doesn’t create headwinds for the economic outlook, according to Governor Tiff Macklem.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at about a $12.80 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.6% to ~$1,827.20 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.2% to C$1.2161 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 3.6 basis points to 1.562%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.1 percent at 19,135.81 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.9 percent. Today, financials stocks led the market higher, as 7 of 11 sectors gained; 125 of 229 shares rose, while 97 fell. Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.5 percent. Canadian Tire Corp. had the largest increase, rising 10.6 percent.
Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 1.7 percent, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended Feb. 26
* The index advanced 32 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 48 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.1 percent below its 52-week high on May 10, 2021 and 34.9 percent above its low on May 14, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.8 percent in the past 5 days and fell 0.4 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 24 on a trailing basis and 16.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.7 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.99t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.64 percent compared with 9.75 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.79 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 75.3555| 1.2| 21/5
* Industrials | 27.1211| 1.2| 23/7
* Consumer Discretionary | 13.0994| 1.7| 8/4
* Real Estate | 4.9761| 0.8| 22/4
* Consumer Staples | 4.6867| 0.7| 10/2
* Communication Services | 4.5291| 0.5| 5/2
* Utilities | 0.3480| 0.0| 9/7
* Health Care | -4.4166| -1.8| 4/6
* Materials | -16.0186| -0.6| 13/36
* Information Technology | -33.0202| -1.9| 5/6
* Energy | -48.6374| -2.0| 5/18

US
By Vildana Hajric and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — Stocks halted a three-day slide, with investors migrating to value from growth companies as signs of a strengthening labor market tempered inflation worries. Industrial and financial shares led gains in the S&P 500, while energy producers joined a slump in oil. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 underperformed major equity benchmarks as Tesla Inc. slipped after Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said the electric-car maker is suspending purchases using Bitcoin. In late trading, Coinbase Global Inc. sank as the biggest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange reported revenue below Wall Street estimates. “We’ve been on cyclical value and small cap for the better part of the last year,” said Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management. “Our forecast has been that you would have these cyclical upswings that would lead to a broadening market, and that is exactly what you’ve seen. We haven’t wavered one bit in our conviction that is going to continue.”
Confidence on an economic revival that’s reigned supreme amid continued Federal Reserve stimulus has been recently jolted. Data Thursday showed producer prices rose by more than forecast in April, and jobless claims fell. While some investors insist the surge in inflation is a one-off reopening burst, the broader markets are hedging against the possibility it may persist and force the central bank to take action. Officials have been trying to drive home the message that they see inflation spikes this year as transitory, in contrast with heightened Wall Street concern about runaway prices. Increases above the central bank’s 2% goal should be temporary, but may last through 2022, said Fed Governor Christopher Waller. “Taking a step back from inflation, the fact that jobless claims hit another pandemic-era low suggests we’re inching even closer to full reopening, which is no doubt a good thing,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*Trade Financial. The Fed tweaked its plans for buying Treasuries, keeping the monthly pace at about $80 billion but focusing more attention on securities maturing in seven years or longer.
These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro was little changed at $1.2084
* The British pound was unchanged at $1.4054
* The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 109.44 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 1.65%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.12%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 0.90%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.5% to $64 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,828 an ounce
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude. -Zig Ziglar, 1926-2012

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