June 10, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1943~ballpoint pen patented.
Judy Garland, actress, b. 1922
Saul Bellow, writer, b. 1915

1940~ Italy declares war on France and Great Britain as part of its Axis alliance with Nazi Germany, after withholding formal allegiance to either side in the battle between Germany and the Allies.

On June 10, 1967, the Six-Day War ended as Israel and Syria agreed to observe a United Nations-mediated cease-fire. Go to article »

France is sending a second Statue of Liberty to the US.  Lady Liberty is getting a little sister this Independence Day.

The Perseverance rover is going on a Martian road trip.  It’s headed for a crater that could contain evidence of ancient microbial life.

Hundreds of mysterious fast radio bursts have been detected in space.  These fleeting flashes of light could help us better understand the universe.

What It’s Like to Visit Paris Right Now
When Parisians woke up May 19, they found a city reborn. The curfew had been pushed back to 9 p.m. The streets surrounding Opera Garnier were bustling, and in the Pigalle district the excitement had bistro owners serving their first pints before 10 a.m. Bloomberg Pursuits has the inside scoop on what spring and summer in the City of Light looks like this year

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

An annular solar eclipse rises over the skyline of Toronto. Parts of the US, Canada, Europe and Asia saw an annular eclipse – which occurs when the sun and the moon are exactly in line with the Earth, but the apparent size of the moon is smaller than that of the sun. Observers in the UK and Ireland saw a crescent sun instead of a ring, as this was a partial eclipse in these areas.
CREDIT: FRANK GUNN/THE CANADIAN PRESS VIA AP

Ukrainian photographer Elena Pakhalyuk’s image ‘Eruption’ showcased the night sky above a mud volcano in the Crimea Peninsula earning her third place in the ‘Astro-Landscape’ category of the Astro Camera 2021 Photography Competition
CREDIT: MEDIADRUMWORLD.COM/ELENA PARKHALY

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson walk outside Carbis Bay Hotel in Cornwall with U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden. The two leaders are meeting for the first time Thursday ahead of the Group of Seven summit that the UK is hosting.
CREDIT: TOBY MELVILLE/REUTERS
Market Closes for June 10^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1997, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 7,500 for the first time, and The Wall Street Journal noted that the market’s climb “seems to inspire equal parts awe and dread among many investors.”
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose Thursday with mining companies leading the way. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.2% as seven of eleven sectors gained. Materials and tech led, while health care retreated. Gold erased early losses after U.S. inflation data showed domestic prices rising slightly faster than expected, causing real Treasury yields to decline. Transat AT Inc., the vacation operator that Air Canada tried to buy, will discontinue its nascent hotel division and increase its presence in Eastern Canada in an effort to restart its business and return to profit. Shares advanced for a fifth session.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.5% to $1,898.55 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.2% to C$1.2091 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 3.3 basis points to 1.378%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.2 percent at 20,049.47 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.3 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.4 percent. Denison Mines Corp. had the largest increase, rising 6.9 percent. Today, 148 of 229 shares rose, while 80 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 7.2 percent
* So far this week, the index was little changed
* The index advanced 28 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 35 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.3 percent below its 52-week high on June 8, 2021 and 34.2 percent above its low on June 15, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.5 percent in the past 5 days and rose 3.6 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23 on a trailing basis and 16.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.14t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.00 percent compared with 9.21 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.44 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Materials | 37.6801| 1.5| 42/9
* Information Technology | 14.9596| 0.8| 8/3
* Utilities | 5.0055| 0.5| 15/1
* Industrials | 4.0711| 0.2| 22/8
* Consumer Staples | 3.5601| 0.5| 10/3
* Energy | 2.5113| 0.1| 16/7
* Real Estate | 2.3343| 0.4| 18/8
* Consumer Discretionary | -0.5802| -0.1| 6/7
* Communication Services | -0.8868| -0.1| 3/5
* Health Care | -6.2905| -2.2| 2/8
* Financials | -15.1351| -0.2| 6/21

US
By Richard Richtmyer and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities climbed to a record and benchmark Treasury yields extended declines to the lowest since March as investors bet that the Federal Reserve will maintain its ultra-accommodative policies even after data showed consumer prices rose more than forecast last month. The S&P 500 led the major American equity indexes higher, closing at an all-time high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose to its highest level since late April as megacap technology stocks rallied. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to as low as 1.44% after initially surge in the wake of the inflation report. The consumer price index data released Thursday showed that the increase in May was driven largely by categories associated with a broader reopening of the economy as vaccinations bring the pandemic under control. The report comes amid a debate about whether the Fed can stick to the dovish stance that has helped lift markets in the face of a strengthening economy that brings the risk of destabilizing inflation. Rangebound trading in equities and falling yields had characterized the start of June as investors awaited some impetus from progress reports on the recovery.
A frenzy in meme stocks and gyrations in cryptocurrencies have been among the few sources of pronounced market volatility. “The frothiness in CPI continues for now but between base effects and pent-up demand pressures, it is probably not giving a definite answer to the great inflation debate, and you need to read the bond market tea leaves,” said Anu Gaggar, senior global investment analyst at Commonwealth Financial Network. “The 10-year Treasury yield is back at levels last seen in early March, signaling that the bond market is falling in line with the Fed’s thinking that inflation is transitory and does not warrant tapering of monetary stimulus any time soon.” Seven of the main 11 S&P 500 industry groups climbed, with health-care stocks leading the advance. Financial stocks were the outliers, with large banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. among the biggest laggards in the broader index.
Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Tesla Inc. contributed the most to the Nasdaq 100’s gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session little changed, with financial stocks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and American Express Co. among those weighing it down. GameStop Corp. fell the most since March after the company said it planned to offer more shares and disclosed that regulators are investigating trading of its stock. Other retail trader favorites were mixed, with some of the stocks that surged amid the frenzy on Wednesday giving back gains. European stocks closed little changed at a record high, with defensives rallying after the European Central Bank raised its inflation forecast and renewed its pledge to maintain faster emergency bond-buying to sustain the euro area. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was up less than 0.1% at the close, with banks outperforming. With European equities notching several fresh records in June, investors are growing increasingly sensitive to data and policy statements on inflation that could signal an earlier end to central-bank largesse than expected. Commodities, one of the leading reflation plays, resumed gains, with the Bloomberg Commodity Index trading around the highest since 2015.
Here are key events to watch this week:
* Group of Seven leaders’ summit starts in Cornwall, England Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.5% as of 4:02 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World index rose 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%
* The euro was little changed at $1.2173
* The British pound rose 0.4% to $1.4169
* The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 109.32 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined five basis points to 1.44%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.26%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 0.75%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.3% to $70 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,901 an ounce
–With assistance from Vildana Hajric and Andreea Papuc.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

You gotta be ready when luck comes around. –Ernest Hemingway, 1899-1961.

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