April 26, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
April 26, 1937~Massacre, Guernica, Spain.
On April 26, 1986, the world’s worst nuclear accident occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union. An explosion and fire in the No. 4 reactor sent radioactivity into the atmosphere; at least 31 Soviets died immediately.  Go to article »

John James Audubon, artist, b. 1785.
Charles Richter, scientist, b. 1900
Frederick Law Olmstead, landscaper, b. 1822.
Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher, b. 1889.

Technology, not turbochargers, is the new focus at Porsche.

Tornado rainbow. (h/t Ellen Kominers) 

Look up tonight and you may see 2021’s first supermoon, also called the Pink Moon. The clouds could part in time, according to the National Weather Service, which also offered a peek at drier, warmer weather ahead.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The first Jacobite Express of the 2021 season crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct on its way to Mallaig from Fort William as travel across Scotland is now permitted following the easing of coronavirus restrictions. 
CREDIT: CHARLOTTE GRAHAM FOR THE TELEGRAPH

A single cloud formed perfectly above Ailsa Craig, in the outer Firth of Clyde, as seen from a beach in Girvan, Edinburgh
CREDIT: ROBERT K WILSON/SWNS.COM

Turkmenistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Serdar Berdymukhamedov awards a medal to a Turkmen shepherd dog locally known as Alabai, during celebrations for the national Turkmen Horse Day and the Turkmen Shepherd Dog Day, near Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
CREDIT: REUTERS/VYACHESLAV SARKISYAN

Market Closes for April 26^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1973, the Chicago Board Options Exchange opened for trading, with call options available on 16 U.S. common stocks. For the first time, stock options were listed on a dedicated exchange and registered for trading in standardized form.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks advanced on Monday as tech and health care companies outperformed other sectors.
The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.4% in Toronto. Tech stocks were led by Shopify, as the e-commerce giant’s shares rose 5%, heading into this week’s earnings.
On the M&A front, Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. agreed to buy Roxgold Inc. in a C$1.1 billion ($884 million) cash-and-stock deal to gain gold assets in West Africa.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at about a $12.25 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.23% to $1,781.27 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.6% to C$1.2397 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose slightly to 1.528%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.4 percent, or 68.23 to 19,170.56 in Toronto. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.9 percent. Dye & Durham Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 7.7 percent.
Today, 120 of 229 shares rose, while 107 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.5 percent
* The index advanced 33 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 51 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.1 percent below its 52-week high on April 16, 2021 and 35.1 percent above its low on May 14, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 2.2 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 17.1 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$2.98t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.54 percent compared with 8.63 percent in the previous session and the average of 10.05 percent over the past month.
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | 55.0868| 3.0| 8/3
Financials | 9.4597| 0.2| 19/8
Health Care | 5.0259| 2.0| 8/2
Energy | 4.3781| 0.2| 17/6
Materials | 2.8790| 0.1| 21/31
Consumer Discretionary | 0.9382| 0.1| 9/4
Communication Services | -0.7926| -0.1| 3/5
Industrials | -1.7048| -0.1| 16/14
Real Estate | -1.9500| -0.3| 8/17
Consumer Staples | -2.4486| -0.4| 5/8
Utilities | -2.6325| -0.3| 6/9
US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities climbed to a record high amid solid corporate earnings and confidence that the Federal Reserve will remain accommodative even as robust growth takes the world’s largest economy back to pre-pandemic levels.
The S&P 500 rose after notching its first weekly decline since mid-March. Most of the main 11 industry groups gained, with energy and consumer-discretionary shares jumping the most.
Small-cap stocks in the Russell 2000 outperformed the broader market. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield hovered around its 50- day moving average. Copper, seen as a barometer of growth, surged to the highest in a decade. Investors this week will focus on corporate earnings and U.S. economic data even as the Fed primes them to expect no change to policy at their two-day meeting ending Wednesday. While emerging economies from India to Brazil are grappling with a Covid-19 surge or renewed curbs, the developed world is on a firmer recovery path with a faster pace of vaccination.
“The Fed is going to likely reiterate their patient stance here,” said Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management. “I’m anticipating that they acknowledge the recent strength we’ve seen in economic data but they will continue to highlight we are a ways away from achieving their goal of full employment. I think they’ll continue to assure markets that Fed policy is going to remain firmly dovish for some time.” Data on Thursday may show U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 6.9% annualized pace from January through March after a more moderate 4.3% rate in the previous quarter. Other reports this week may show a pickup in consumer confidence and robust personal spending. Recent indicators cemented economic optimism, with durable-goods orders rebounding in March and output at manufacturers and service providers reaching a record high in April.
More than three-quarters of the S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far have beaten analysts’ estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A slew of earnings from mega caps including Amazon Inc., Facebook Inc. and Apple Inc. will be parsed this week as investors look for more clues on how companies are faring in the recovery. “We’re gearing up for a busy week on all fronts, said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing product at E*Trade Financial. “Big tech earnings, a look into Q1 GDP, and the Fed meeting could create catalysts for market moves. Though despite the strong earnings reports we’ve seen thus far, the market is really taking beats in stride amid already high valuations.”
     European stocks advanced Monday, as gains for banks and travel companies offset losses for food companies and utilities.
The dollar was little changed after initially falling to a two-month low. It was still on course for the biggest monthly drop this year.
Oil retreated amid concern demand from India may fall after the nation reported a million new coronavirus cases in three days.
Here are some key events to watch this week:
* Bloomberg Live hosts the Bloomberg Green Summit Monday through April 27
* Bank of Japan rate decision and Governor Haruhiko Kuroda briefing Tuesday
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds a press conference Wednesday following the FOMC meeting
* Joe Biden makes his first address as president to a joint session of Congress Wednesday
* U.S. GDP is forecast to show robust 6% growth in the first quarter, bolstered by government stimulus Thursday

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to a record high as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 1.2%
* The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3%
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.2089
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3905
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 108.13 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 1.57%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.25%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 0.76%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $62 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,781 an ounce
–With assistance from Cormac Mullen, Michael Msika, Andreea Papuc and Dave Liedtka.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Some men are uncharitable enough to blame their misfortunes on others, but the truth is that every man is where he is and what he is because of his own mental attitude as it is expressed through his personality. –Andrew Carnegie, 1835-1919

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