April 2, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Poem #63
    -e.e. cummings
…come quickly come

run run
with me now
jump shout(laugh
dance cry sing)for

it’s Spring

– irrevocably;
and in
earth sky trees
:every
where a miracle arrives…

1513: Juan Ponce de Leon reaches Florida.
1725:Casanvova b.
1805:Hans Christian Anderson b.
1917:U.S. President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war against Germany.
2002- Israel seized control of Bethlehem; Palestinian gunmen forced their way into the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, beginning a 39-day standoff.  Go to article »

And finally, drinking with the neighbors (at a very safe distance).
That’s one of the ways readers around the world said they were handling their lockdowns in submissions to the 36 Hours column — the first to be published by our Travel section that involves, well, no traveling.
Beverly Dalton, in Manila, recommended a little meditation. “A litany of gratitude and a remembrance of the good things that have passed can help the mind and the soul,” she wrote.  -The New York Times.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

St Martha’s Church, Surrey, UK, basks in the sunshine, photographed by drone.
CREDIT: OLIVER DIXON

Aerial view of paddy fields in Jiudaolian Village of Longgang in Wenzhou City, east China’s Zhejiang Province. Farmers in south of the Yangtze River have started spring ploughing.
CREDIT: SPASH NEWS

Iran’s Azadi (Freedom) Tower is lit up with flags and messages of hope in solidarity with all the countries affected by the coronavirus pandemic, in Tehran.
CREDIT: AFP

Market Closes for April 2^nd  ,2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1799, the New York State legislature approved the corporate charter for the Manhattan Co., a corporation founded by Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr that planned to build dams, divert streams and lay pipes that would help supply New York City with fresh water. It quickly morphed into the Bank of the Manhattan Co., ancestor of Chase Manhattan Corp.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities jumped as a confluence of news sent oil and precious metals surging on Thursday. The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed 1.7% higher with energy companies leading the charge. U.S. President Donald Trump said Saudi Arabia and Russia would make major output cuts, though uncertainty swirled over the size of the curbs and whether reductions would be made at all. Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $16 discount to West Texas Intermediate. Earlier Trump said in a couple of tweets that he expects Saudi Arabia and Russia to cut oil production by 10 million to 15 million barrels. His comments immediately triggered skepticism as the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin hadn’t agreed to a production cut to boost prices. Saudi Arabia also didn’t confirm the cuts, but called for an urgent meeting of the OPEC+ producer alliance.
     The Canadian dollar strengthened to C$1.4171 per U.S. dollar and the 10-year government bond yield climbed 5 basis points to 0.664%. Gold and silver miners were also among the best performers as record U.S. jobless claims spurred the flight to safe havens. The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits soared to 6.65 million last week, a level unimaginable just a month ago. The spot price of gold rose 1.4% to $1,614.03 an ounce. As Canadian markets try to find some normalcy amid big volatility spikes, Toronto-Dominion Bank’s Chief Executive Officer Bharat Masrani said the nation’s central bank doesn’t need to buy up corporate bonds to boost liquidity because debt markets are returning to more normal conditions. The Bank of Canada launched a program to buy short-term commercial paper, but hasn’t yet ventured into buying longer- term company bonds. It began its first-ever foray into quantitative easing this week to reduce strains in the market brought on by Covid-19 shutdowns, buying C$1.8 billion ($1.27 billion) in government bonds. What was a roaring start to Canada’s spring house-hunting season has ended in a whimper. By the time the dust settles on what’s likely to be months of disruption, the nation could see resales plunge 30% to a 20-year low and the first nationwide drop in prices since 2009, according to Royal Bank of Canada. On the virus front, Covid-19 has now infected 1 million people across the world, a milestone reached just four months after it first surfaced in the Chinese city of Wuhan. More than 51,000 have died and 208,000 recovered in what has become the biggest global public health crisis of our time.
–With assistance from Divya Balji and Andrew Cinko.
By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 1.7 percent at 13,097.76 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 3.8 percent.
Suncor Energy Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 7.9 percent. MEG Energy Corp. had the largest increase, rising 33.8 percent. Today, 173 of 230 shares rose, while 57 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain 11 times. The next day, it declined eight times for an average 4.5 percent and advanced three times for an average 3 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 3.2 percent
* The index declined 19 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 14 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 27.1 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 17.2 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 2 percent in the past 5 days and fell 21 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.1 on a trailing basis and 13.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 4 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$1.97t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 88.65 percent compared with 88.25 percent in the previous session and the average of 60.15 percent over the past month
========================================
| Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
============================================
Energy | 76.7464| 4.6| 28/2
Materials | 68.1780| 4.3| 42/5
Financials | 50.2952| 1.2| 18/8
Industrials | 31.1874| 2.0| 26/5
Communication Services | 19.8501| 2.4| 5/3
Utilities | 12.1195| 1.7| 13/3
Consumer Staples | 9.7118| 1.6| 7/4
Real Estate | 4.2544| 1.1| 20/6
Health Care | 0.0451| 0.0| 5/5
Consumer Discretionary | -10.0712| -2.3| 5/10
Information Technology | -40.8601| -4.6| 4/6
US
By Vildana Hajric and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied, boosted by energy shares as oil surged after President Donald Trump said Russia and Saudi Arabia would cut production. Treasuries fell and the dollar rose. The S&P 500 advanced for the first time in three days, with Chevron Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp. among the top gainers. Shares rebounded after falling 6% over the past two days. Consumer discretionary stocks weighed on the benchmark after jobless claims doubled from last week to 6.6 million. West Texas crude gained 22% after Trump said he expects the two countries to cut output following a conversation with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on Thursday. But oil came off its highs after officials from both sides watered down expectations. The commodity is still down around 60% for the year. After enduring their worst quarter since 2008, stocks are struggling for traction as companies move to slash dividends and more U.S. states enact severe restrictions on movement to curb the Covid-19 pandemic. Initial jobless claims Thursday that showed record high numbers emphasized the uncertainties surrounding the economic toll. However, rebounding oil prices could help damp the impact by buoying a beaten up sector of the economy. “The reality is, there’s no amount of stimulus to spur demand growth until the population is back outside of their homes interacting with society,” said Jeff Klingelhofer, co-head of investments and portfolio manager at Thornburg Investment Management, which has about $37 billion in assets. “I think that we’re in for a period of high volatility for quite some time to come.”
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 2.3% of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.7%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.4%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.6%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.5%.
* The euro declined 1% to $1.0852.
* The British pound rose 0.2% at $1.2399.
* The Japanese yen fell 0.7% to 107.92 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased three basis point to 0.61%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose three basis points to -0.43%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield climbed two basis point to 0.33%.
Commodities
* Gold rose 3.1% to $1,640.80 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude increased 22% to $24.72 a barrel.
–With assistance from Adam Haigh and Yakob Peterseil.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached
in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.
                   -Booker T. Washington, 1856-1915

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