April 1, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Happy April Fool’s Day!
“If it thunders on All Fools’ Day, it brings good crops of corn and hay.” All pranks aside, there’s a lot of truth behind that old weather proverb.

On April 1, 1945, American forces invaded Okinawa during World War II. Go to article »

April 1, 1976 – Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs start Apple Computer Company as a business partnership in the garage of Jobs’ parents house in Cupertino California.

Oak trees support more life-forms than any other trees in North America. Here’s why you should plant them. And for more gardening advice, read this charming interview with Margaret Roach, The Times’s gardening columnist. -The NY Times

POEM #63/ e.e. cummings

…come quickly come
   run run
   with me now
   jump shout (laugh
   dance cry
   sing) for it’s Spring….

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A rare upward lightning strike races upwards in the iconic Italian Dolomites, this picture is a finalist in the Storm Photos of the Year competition
CREDIT: BERNARD GERAGHTY/STORM PHOTOS OF THE YEAR/COVER-IMAGES.COM

A family is letting Instagrammers pose with an Easter wreath on the doorstep of their iconic Georgian townhouse
CREDIT: KATIELEE ARROWSMITH/SWNS

Stuart Mason-Elliott, also known as Mr Samuel Pickwick as President of the oldest cycling club in the world The Pickwick Bicycle Club, rides his original 1872 Coventry Machinist Company penny farthing wearing the traditional club uniform alongside Arthur Naish (2) on his tricycle at Southampton Common in Hampshire
CREDIT: JORDAN PETITT/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

Market Closes for April 1^st, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     Second quarter of the year for corporate earnings begins today.  We’ll start getting first quarter (which ended March 31^st) earnings next week. J
The Nasdaq, up only 1.2% for the first quarter heading into Wednesday’s session, gained more on the last day of the period than it had for the previous three months as the tech sector continued its recent bout of volatility. The Nasdaq added 2.8% for the quarter.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equity markets climbed on Thursday, erasing this week’s losses and reaching a new record as tech and materials stocks outperformed. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 1.6% in Toronto, climbing most since February. All but health care stocks were in the green. Meanwhile, Toronto-Dominion Bank Chief Executive Officer Bharat Masrani said he’s still interested in a major acquisition to add to the firm’s U.S. retail operations, and that he’s unfazed by the recent valuation surge for the regional lenders that would be his most likely targets.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $9.90 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose about 1.2% to $1,728.70 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.1% to C$1.2546 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell about 5 basis points to 1.509%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 1.5 percent at 18,990.32 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 2.1 percent on Feb. 1 and follows the previous session’s little change. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.4 percent. Denison Mines Corp. had the largest increase, rising 8.0 percent. Today, 209 of 230 shares rose, while 21 fell; 10 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain 13
times. The next day, it advanced seven times for an average 0.8
percent and declined six times for an average 1.1 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 1.3 percent
* The index advanced 47 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI
AC Americas Index gained 66 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.2 percent below its 52-week high on
March 17, 2021 and 48.2 percent above its low on April 1, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.8 percent in the past 5 days and rose 3.8 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
28 on a trailing basis and 17 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$2.91t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 12.00 percent compared with
11.27 percent in the previous session and the average of 13.01 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 72.0271| 3.2| 51/1
Information Technology | 61.5582| 3.4| 11/0
Energy | 47.4522| 2.0| 23/1
Financials | 35.9092| 0.6| 24/3
Industrials | 29.4793| 1.3| 27/3
Consumer Discretionary | 12.6847| 1.7| 13/0
Communication Services | 10.7216| 1.2| 8/0
Consumer Staples | 8.2425| 1.2| 11/2
Utilities | 6.7448| 0.7| 14/2
Real Estate | 5.8368| 1.0| 23/3
Health Care | -1.0322| -0.4| 4/6

US
By Olivia Raimonde and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose to all-time highs as increased stimulus in the world’s largest economy fueled optimism about the global recovery. The benchmark S&P 500 Index climbed past 4,000 for the first time as investors weighed President Joe Biden’s newly unveiled $2.25 trillion spending plan ahead of Friday’s U.S. employment report, which is expected to show the quickest pace of hiring in five months. Technology shares led the rally, with investors again favoring growth over value stocks. Treasuries rebounded after the worst quarter in decades.
Oil climbed after the OPEC+ alliance agreed to increase production gradually over the next three months. “The S&P 500 hitting a high point is a sign of the positive environment in this highly volatile time,” said Greg Bassuk, chief executive officer at AXS Investments LLC. Traders are jockeying for position before the Easter weekend after data showed U.S. private employers hired the most workers in six months, while initial jobless claims unexpectedly increased. Biden’s ambitious plan to rebuild U.S. infrastructure has added to the growth outlook, even though Republican opposition to the plan raises questions about how much can actually be delivered. Microsoft Corp. climbed for a second day as the company’s multibillion-dollar deal to build customized versions of its HoloLens goggles for the U.S. Army moved forward.
Western Digital Corp. and Micron Technology Inc. rallied after a report the two companies are individually exploring a potential deal for Japan’s Kioxia Holdings Corp. Investors remain focused on inflation risk as central banks reassert their commitment to low interest rates. Traders for now are looking past worsening virus trends, such as lockdowns in France and Canada’s Ontario province. “Before you worry about inflation, there’s reflation and I think that’s the main theme in the market,” said Ed Campbell, portfolio manager and managing director at QMA.

Some key events to watch this week:
* U.S. employment report for March on Friday.
* Good Friday starts the Easter weekend in countries including the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Australia and Canada.

These are some of the main moves in financial markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 Index increased 1% to 4,012.70 as of 3:12 p.m. New
York time, the highest on record.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% to 33,134.56.
The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.5% to 13,448.41, the highest in more than two weeks.
The Nasdaq 100 Index jumped 1.6% to 13,302.51, the highest in almost six weeks on the biggest surge in more than a week.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.6% to 432.22, the highest in more than 13 months.
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index sank 0.2% to 1,149.36, the biggest dip in more than two weeks.
The euro climbed 0.3% to $1.177, the largest climb in more than two weeks.
The British pound increased 0.3% to $1.3827, the strongest in
more than a week.
The Japanese yen strengthened 0.1% to 110.64 per dollar, the first advance in more than a week.
Bonds
The yield on two-year Treasuries climbed less than one basis
point to 0.16%, reaching the highest in more than three weeks on its fifth straight advance.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell six basis points to 1.68%, the largest drop in more than a week.
The yield on 30-year Treasuries sank seven basis points to
2.34%, the lowest in more than a week on the biggest tumble in more than three weeks.
Germany’s 10-year yield sank four basis points to -0.33%, the largest tumble in a month.
Britain’s 10-year yield fell five basis points to 0.795%, the
first retreat in a week and the biggest drop in more than a week.
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 3.7% to $61.33 a barrel.
Gold strengthened 1.1% to $1,726.54 an ounce.
–With assistance from Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric.

Have a wonderful long weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied
is to do what you believe is great work.  And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. 
If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.  Don’t settle.  As with all matters of the heart,
you’ll know when you find it. -Steve Jobs, 1955-2011.
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