May 14, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
Midnight Sun, Norway, until July 30^th.
On May 14, 1948, the independent state of Israel was proclaimed as British rule in Palestine came to an end. Go to article »
2019~ Wikipedia confirms China has banned all versions of their website.

Our brains have something called a “negativity bias” that makes us remember bad news more than good, which is why you quickly forget that your co-worker complimented your presentation but keep dwelling on the fact that a kid at the bus stop insulted your shoes.  To feel balanced, we need at least a five to one ration of good to bad in our lives. -Small Talk.

People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. -Maya Angelou.

Letter written by Einstein featuring his famous equation goes up for auction.  It features one of the few handwritten examples of E=mc², which is wild. 

On Thursday, late-night hosts celebrated the C.D.C.’s new guideline stating that fully vaccinated Americans no longer had to wear masks in most places:

“Everyone is excited about the news while the adults who secretly got braces are like, ‘I thought I had more time.’” — JIMMY FALLON

“Oh, man. Every bar in New York City is going to feel like St. Patrick’s Day fell on Cinco de Mayo.” — JIMMY FALLON

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Photographer Neil Barnes, captured a terrific rainbow from Thorncombe Beacon looking down to Eype and West Bay in Dorset.
CREDIT: Neil Barns/BNPS

Riders take the start of the seventh stage of the Giro d’Italia 2021 cycling race, 181 km between Notaresco and Termoli.
CREDIT: DARIO BELINGHERi/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Jess Farrington cleans the crystals previously covered in clay,  as part of the The Heights of Abraham attraction at Matlock Bath.
CREDIT: ROD KIRKPATRICK/F STOP PRESS

Market Closes for May 14^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1997, Amazon.com went public on the Nasdaq, offering 3 million shares at an initial price of $18 per share.  (FYI, it closed today at $3222.90/sh – that’s a return of +17,805% or +742%/annum).
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks posted a weekly loss, though ended Friday’s session higher after tech shares led the way. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 1.2% Friday, most since April 1. Ten of eleven sectors advanced. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has begun preliminary internal discussions about reopening the border with the U.S., even as Canada remains well behind its neighbor in vaccinations.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at about a $12.75 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.9% to $1,842.42 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.4% to C$1.2113 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 1.2 basis points to 1.556%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 1.2 percent, or 230.88 to 19,366.69 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 1.5 percent on April 1. Today, financials stocks led the market higher, as 10 of 11 sectors gained; 194 of 229 shares rose, while 35 fell. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 6.0 percent. SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.
had the largest increase, rising 16.0 percent.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain 16 times. The next day, it advanced 12 times for an average 0.7
percent and declined four times for an average 1 percent
* So far this week, the index fell 0.5 percent
* The index advanced 33 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 48 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.9 percent below its 52-week high on May 10, 2021 and 36.5 percent above its low on May 14, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.6 on a trailing basis and 17.1 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$3t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.32 percent compared with 8.64 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.78 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 81.7070| 1.3| 26/1
* Energy | 48.8536| 2.0| 23/0
* Materials | 37.0395| 1.5| 40/12
* Information Technology | 36.5737| 2.2| 9/2
* Real Estate | 7.5365| 1.2| 24/2
* Consumer Staples | 6.8227| 1.0| 9/4
* Utilities | 6.0000| 0.7| 14/2
* Consumer Discretionary | 5.0615| 0.7| 9/4
* Health Care | 4.7416| 2.0| 8/2
* Communication Services | 3.9846| 0.4| 7/1
* Industrials | -7.4320| -0.3| 25/5

US
By Vildana Hajric and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose and Treasury yields declined for a second consecutive day as more-tempered commodity prices helped allay concerns about inflation risks. Energy and technology shares led the S&P 500, which tumbled Wednesday by the most since February. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 outperformed the broader index, suggesting a market recovery is gaining momentum, after a bruising week that saw gathering price pressures hit equities. Both indexes still finished the week in the red. An advance in European stocks was led by cyclical industries.  MSCI Inc.’s Asia-Pacific share gauge advanced more than 1%. “People are very optimistic economically,” said Simon Maughan, head of trading alpha at Liquidnet. “Between now and the end of the year, the market is still on the upward trajectory. Clearly sentiment is extremely optimistic about pent-up demand.” Markets appear to be regaining their equilibrium at the end of their biggest retreat in 11 weeks, with the focus of the benefits of an economic rebound overriding worry about the negative side-effect of inflation, for now.
The Federal Reserve’s policy is in a good place right now, said Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, while playing down signals from data that she warns will be volatile as the economy reopens. That may help to reinvigorate the reflation narrative of picking value shares tied to economic growth over pandemic stay-at-home favorites.  Walt Disney Co. fell after results that showed a faltering in growth at streaming service Disney+. Treasuries gained after a report showed U.S. retail sales stalled in April following a sharp advance in the prior month. The dollar remained weaker against all of its Group of 10 peers. “The disappointing retail sales numbers shouldn’t really come as a huge surprise given that last month encompassed stimulus money hitting bank accounts,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*Trade Financial. “It probably supports the point of view that the dip we experienced this week is a buying opportunity as all sectors march toward full recovery.” Iron ore continued its fall from a record amid efforts by China to clamp down on surging prices, with the metal set for the biggest two-day plunge since 2019.  Oil erased an earlier decline, paring its weekly loss. Bitcoin traded above $50,000, reversing some of its slump on Tesla Inc.’s decision to suspend purchases using the digital currency.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.5%, more than any closing gain since March 26 as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 2.2%, more than any closing gain since March 11
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1%
* The MSCI World index rose 1.6%, more than any closing gain since March 1
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%, more than any closing loss since May 7
* The euro rose 0.5% to $1.2143
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.4098
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 109.35 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 1.63%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point, more than any closing loss since May 4
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points, more than any closing loss since May 4
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.4%, the most since May 4
* Gold futures rose 1% to $1,843 an ounce

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose. -Victor Frankl, 1905-1997, Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, philosopher, author and Holocaust survivor.

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