April 21, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
First kindergarten is established in 1837.
1994~The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan.

Charlotte Bronte, author, b. 1816
On April 21, 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Conn.  Go to article »

Teaching children to play chess found to decrease risk aversion. 

In 1879, a botanist buried 20 bottles of seeds on a college campus. A secret society of scientists is still studying his stash.  Every 20 years, under the cover of darkness, scientists dig up a bottle from a secret location at Michigan State University, making it one of the world’s longest-running experiments. The experiment’s caretakers then scatter the seeds over a tray of soil and see which ones grow. Last week, they set out to unearth another bottle containing over 1,000 seeds. But first, they had to find where to dig.

In other underground discoveries, officials in Maryland announced they had located the site of a cabin where Harriet Tubman lived with her family as a young adult. The discovery of a coin from 1808, the year her parents were married, led archaeologists to the site.

The annual Lyrid meteor shower marks the first big meteor show of the year. It peaks on April 22 (tomorrow), so make sure to get a good look at the night sky.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Wild swimmers enjoy the sunrise behind North Berwick Law on Portobello beach in Edinburgh
CREDIT: EUAN CHERRY

Footage from a traffic camera on the SP-330 motorway in Campinas, Brazil, shows a toucan pecking the device before trying to eat it
CREDIT: VIRALPRESS

A duckling is reflected in the water of the River Slea in Lincolnshire
CREDIT: DAVE NEWMAN/JAM PRESS

A conservator holds a Bristowe Hat, believed to have belonged to King Henry VIII, as it is put on display for the first time in 500 years at Hampton Court Palace, south west London
CREDIT: AARON CHOWN/PA

Market Closes for April 21^st, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1982, futures contracts on the S&P 500 index became available for the first time, as they opened for trading in the pits of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. 
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose amid corporate earnings reports after dropping in the previous two session. The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.5%, with eight of 11 sectors higher. Shaw Communications jumped 6.8% after earnings, while Trulieve Cannabis and Canopy Growth Gorp. both rose more than 6%. Oil fell for a second day with an increase in U.S. crude inventories compounding concerns around a choppy global demand recovery. The Bank of Canada took the biggest step yet by a major economy to reduce emergency levels of monetary stimulus as it hailed a stronger-than-expected recovery from the pandemic.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $11.85 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.9% to $1,794 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.9% to C$1.2497 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 1.9 basis points to 1.522%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.5 percent at 19,143.25 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.9 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 0.9 percent. Organigram Holdings Inc. had the largest increase, rising 8.2 percent. Today, 169 of 229 shares rose, while 57 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.4 percent
* The index advanced 37 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 55 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.2 percent below its 52-week high on April 16, 2021 and 37.3 percent above its low on April 21, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 1.5 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.4 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$2.97t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.66 percent compared with 8.64 percent in the previous session and the average of 10.52 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 28.9921| 0.5| 23/4
* Materials | 26.2096| 1.1| 46/6
* Information Technology | 18.1756| 1.0| 6/4
* Energy | 12.9959| 0.6| 18/4
* Health Care | 9.4512| 3.9| 10/0
* Consumer Discretionary | 7.7291| 1.0| 8/5
* Real Estate | 1.3858| 0.2| 18/8
* Utilities | 1.0703| 0.1| 11/5
* Communication Services | -0.4522| 0.0| 3/5
* Consumer Staples | -0.6734| -0.1| 8/5
* Industrials | -2.4325| -0.1| 18/11

US
By Rita Nazareth and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — Stocks snapped a two-day drop as dip buyers emerged, fueling a rally in companies that stand to benefit the most from an economic revival. Treasuries were little changed. Most major groups in the S&P 500 rose, with raw-material, energy and financial shares leading the charge. A gauge of small caps climbed more than 2%, outperforming major benchmarks.  CSX Corp. paced gains in the Dow Jones Transportation Average after a strong revenue outlook. Netflix Inc. tumbled on disappointing subscriber figures. The Canadian dollar advanced as the nation’s central bank said it’ll pare back asset purchases and move up its expected timeline for potential rate hikes.  Equities rebounded as traders sifted through corporate results for signs on whether an anticipated jump in profits would bring with it forecasts for stronger growth.
     Earlier losses were driven by concern over a flare-up in coronavirus cases around the world that could jeopardize an economic rebound, with stocks trading near their all-time highs.  “Investors are trying to figure out what’s going to accelerate through the reopening based on earnings and guidance, while simultaneously keeping an eye on any reports of a coronavirus resurgence globally,” said Mike Loukas, chief executive officer at TrueMark Investments. “It’ll be a tug-of-war for direction on certain days.” Earnings season may be just the spark the Russell 2000 needs as the index is trailing major benchmarks this month. The gauge’s revenue is set to grow by 8.7%, beating the S&P 500’s by 226 basis points, wrote Bloomberg Intelligence’s Michael Casper and Gina Martin Adams. The small-cap measure’s cyclical sectors — led by raw-material, financial and consumer-discretionary companies — are expected to drive the sales growth, according to analysts’ consensus estimates.

Here are some key events to watch this week:
* European Central Bank rate decision and President Christine Lagarde briefing on Thursday.
* U.S. releases new home sales data Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 climbed 0.9% at 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.7%.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index gained 0.4%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased 0.1%.
* The euro was little changed at $1.2034.
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 108.07 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 1.55%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield was unchanged at -0.26%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield climbed one basis point to 0.74%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.7% to $61 a barrel.
* Gold gained 0.9% to $1,794.90 an ounce.
–With assistance from Srinivasan Sivabalan, Ksenia Galouchko, Robert Brand, Cecile Gutscher, Andreea Papuc, Claire Ballentine, Vildana Hajric, Nancy Moran and Sophie Caronello.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Life’s a bit like mountaineering – never look down. –Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, 1919-2008

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