June 21, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1982 John Hinckley Jr. was found innocent by reason of insanity in the shootings of President Ronald Reagan and three others.  Go to article >>

There were four big cancer-fighting breakthroughs at the ASCO conference this year. — Sam Fazeli 

Valuable paintings discovered tossed at gas station.

The Hubble Space Telescope is on its last, uh, legs?

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Revellers gather to celebrate the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge ancient stone circle, despite official events being cancelled amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), near Amesbury.
CREDIT: REUTERS/TOBY MELVILLE

Curator Dominic Mason interacts with art installation “Future Returns” by contemporary British sculptor Dan Rawlings on display at the 20-21 Visual Arts Centre in Scunthorpe.
CREDIT: DANNY LAWSON/PA WIRE

Exeter Cathedral Canons Mike Williams, James Mustard and Chris Palmer have been training ahead of their part in a Cycle With Purpose.A relay which links all 42 of Englands Anglican cathedrals. 
CREDIT: RUSSEL SACH

Market Closes for June 21^st, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1990, after decades of closure under communist rule, the Budapest Stock Exchange reopened for trading.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities snapped a three-day losing streak after last week’s rout in value stocks brought the index lower. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.8%, the most since June 1. Oil jumped by the most in a month, sending energy stocks higher. The Canadian government will loosen Covid-19 travel restrictions for fully vaccinated people amid warnings that a return to a completely open border will take a while longer.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.15 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 1% to $1,782.90 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.8% to C$1.2361 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 4.9 basis points to ~1.415%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.8 percent at 20,156.36 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 1.2 percent on June 1 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.7 percent. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 5.0 percent. Crescent Point Energy Corp. had the largest increase, rising 8.8 percent. Today, 178 of 231 shares rose, while 50 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 7.8 percent
* This month, the index rose 2.2 percent
* The index advanced 30 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 38 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7 percent below its 52-week high on June 16, 2021 and 33.1 percent above its low on June 24, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is unchanged in the past 5 days and rose 3.2 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.2 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 8.53 percent compared with 8.55 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.18 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Energy | 53.7237| 2.1| 20/3
* Financials | 44.5230| 0.7| 26/2
* Materials | 25.4897| 1.1| 40/11
* Industrials | 13.3246| 0.6| 23/7
* Consumer Discretionary | 9.6435| 1.3| 8/4
* Real Estate | 7.4881| 1.2| 24/2
* Information Technology | 4.5059| 0.2| 7/5
* Communication Services | 4.4823| 0.5| 6/1
* Health Care | 3.3112| 1.2| 9/1
* Utilities | -3.1677| -0.3| 6/10
* Consumer Staples | -6.5666| -0.9| 9/4
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move|% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Canadian Natural | | | |
* Resources | 17.6500| 5.0| 48.9| 46.7
* Suncor Energy | 12.5700| 4.1| -31.2| 41.9
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 8.3970| 1.4| -39.5| 16.7
* Brookfield | | | |
* Infrastructure | -2.6310| -1.9| -41.6| 6.7
* Lundin Mining | -4.7350| -9.4| 211.1| -9.1
* Couche-Tard | -7.6300| -3.0| -12.0| -0.1

US
By Rita Nazareth and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — Stocks notched their biggest rally in five weeks as speculation the Federal Reserve will tighten policy at a gradual pace outweighed concern about the central bank’s hawkish pivot. A relative sense of calm returned to markets, with risk assets rebounding after last week’s selloff. Energy, financial and industrial shares led gains in the S&P 500, while high-flying tech companies underperformed. A gauge of small caps climbed more than 2%. Amazon.com Inc. fell as the online retail giant kicked off its Prime Day sale, with merchants curbing discounts amid rising shipping costs. Treasuries and the dollar retreated. Bitcoin sank as China intensified its cryptocurrency crackdown. A number of influential voices said Monday the central bank’s outlook needs to be more attuned to inflation risks. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said he favors starting the process of reducing bond purchases “sooner rather than later,” while his counterpart from St. Louis James Bullard called it “appropriate” that policy makers opened the taper debate.  Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and billionaire investor Ray Dalio said the U.S. is headed for a period of overheating and inflation that could threaten the economic recovery.
Meanwhile, New York Fed President John Williams said he continues to view the recent spike in inflation as a temporary phenomenon. For Charles Schwab & Co.’s Jeffrey Kleintop, monetary tightening should happen at a much slower pace when compared to the rush to loose policy at the start of the pandemic. “The way back up in terms of rate hikes may be much more gradual, and that might allow economically sensitive stocks to perform well,” said Kleintop, chief global investment strategist at the firm.

Here are some events to watch this week:
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell testifies at a House Subcommittee hearing on the Fed’s pandemic emergency lending and its asset purchase programs Tuesday
* Bank of England interest rate decision Thursday

These are some of the main moves in financial markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.6%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.8%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.7%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%
* The euro rose 0.5% to $1.1918
* The British pound rose 0.9% to $1.3929
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 110.28 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose five basis points to 1.49%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to -0.17%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 0.77%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.7% to $73.54 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.8% to $1,783.10 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Yakob Peterseil and Vildana Hajric.

Have  a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

It is in times of difficulty that great nations, like great men, display the whole energy of their character
and become an object of admiration to posterity. –Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821.

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