April 26, 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
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 »

1937: Massacre Guernica, Spain.
John James Audubon, artist,  b. 1785.
Charles Richter, scientist, b. 1900.

Amazon’s proposed new building looks like this emoji.  The internet is undefeated… Trolls pounced on the opportunity to joke about this, well, imaginative design. 

How 15 minutes of mental health hygiene can change your whole day.  Breathe in, breathe out. Check out these tips to make your day a little better.
 
The Chevrolet Corvette is officially going electric.  Add this to the list of electric sports cars we can’t wait to see on the road!

The earliest documented case of an aurora, the fleeting but brilliantly colored lights that sometimes illuminate the night sky, dates to the early 10th century B.C., a new study on an ancient Chinese text reveals.
The text describes “five-colored light” witnessed in the northern part of the night sky toward the end of the reign of King Zhāo, the fourth king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. The exact dates of Zhāo’s reign aren’t known, but it’s likely that this “five-colored light” event happened in either 977 B.C. or 957 B.C., according to the study.
Full Story: Live Science (4/25) 

Ancient tablet lists 3,200-year-old Egyptian excuses for missing work.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Anastasiia Minchukova lays a mine detector during a specialist training session for six Ukrainian women in explosive ordnance disposal
CREDIT: Visar Kryeziu/AP

Freight lorries and HGVs queue on the A20 road towards the port of Dover on the south-east coast amid Brexit red tape
CREDIT: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

Elizabeth Olsen attends the photocall for Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in Trafalgar Square
CREDIT: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney

Market Closes for April 26^th, 2022

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, creating a “fair and orderly market.”
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the fifth day, dropping 1.5%, or 321.08 to 20,690.81 in Toronto.
The index dropped to the lowest closing level since Jan. 27.
Today, financials stocks led the market lower, as 10 of 11 sectors lost; 204 of 239 shares fell, while 32 rose.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 6.0%. Hut 8 Mining Corp. had the largest drop, falling 8.4%.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss six times.  The next day, it declined four times for an average 1% and advanced twice for an average 0.3%
* This month, the index fell 5.5%
* The index advanced 7.9% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 1.9% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 6.9% below its 52-week high on April 5, 2022 and 8.6% above its low on May 4, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 6% in the past 5 days and fell 6% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.3 on a trailing basis and 13.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.36t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 13.15% compared with 12.35% in the previous session and the average of 11.56% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | -121.7604| -1.8| 0/28
* Information Technology| -50.3849| -4.1| 0/16
* Materials | -48.1758| -1.7| 3/48
* Industrials | -40.7761| -1.6| 2/28
* Consumer Discretionary| -19.4267| -2.8| 0/14
* Communication Services| -14.7318| -1.3| 0/7
* Consumer Staples | -12.0150| -1.4| 0/11
* Real Estate | -7.8150| -1.3| 1/21
* Utilities | -6.4555| -0.6| 5/11
* Health Care | -3.8407| -2.9| 1/7
* Energy | 4.3102| 0.1| 20/13
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -27.5600| -6.0| 13.0| -68.5
* Brookfield Asset Management | -22.3800| -3.4| 85.8| -16.6
* TD Bank | -21.2000| -1.8| -41.7| -5.8
* Cenovus Energy | 1.3000| 0.7| 27.9| 36.0
* Waste Connections | 5.0280| 1.6| 215.1| 2.2
* Suncor Energy | 7.7320| 2.0| 1.9| 28.2

US
By Vildana Hajric and Isabelle Lee
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks sank to the lowest in six weeks as doubts emerged that corporate profits can withstand the Federal Reserve stepping up its battle to tame runaway inflation.
The S&P 500 lost 2.8% while the Nasdaq 100 shed 3.9% ahead of earnings reports from Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.
Those will provide the latest clues on how Corporate America is weathering the first central bank tightening in three years.
General Electric Co. slid after its profit forecast disappointed, while Tesla Inc. plunged after Elon Musk agreed to use his fortune to buy Twitter Inc.
Treasuries, the dollar and oil prices all rose, while European gas surged on reports of a halt in flow.
The prospect of slower economic expansion alongside persistent inflation is leading to a febrile mood in markets.
The panoply of risks spans the pandemic, supply-chain disruptions, Fed tightening and Russia’s grinding war in Ukraine.
The search for portfolio buffers in the U.S. is evident in the highest relative cost of loss-protecting put contracts in two years.
“There’s no question that economic growth is in trouble, and that the runway for central banks to manage a soft landing is getting smaller as wages and inflation move higher,” said Lauren Goodwin, economist and portfolio strategist at New York Life Investments. “The big question for asset allocation is not whether inflation will be high. That’s a given. Instead, it’s whether growth can keep up.”
U.S. corporate earnings are providing some solace for equity bulls — close to 80% of firms have beaten profit expectations including GE, United Parcel Service Inc. and Pepsico Inc.
However, disappointing forecasts, including those from JetBlue Airways Corp., are weighing on shares. 
China Boost
Stocks in Europe followed those in the U.S. lower, erasing gains earlier in the session from positive corporate results and a sentiment boost from China’s pledge to support its Covid-hit economy.
Most of Beijing is being tested for the virus, fanning fears of an unprecedented lockdown that could drag on global growth.
However, Dennis DeBusschere, founder of 22V Research, said concern over the inflationary pressures may be overblown.
“There are no compounding supply chain pressures from other important supply chain countries like in 2021,” he said. “There is softer consumer demand in general, service spending is recovering (moderating goods spending) and the USD is moving higher.”
An Asia-Pacific equity index eked out a climb for the first time in four sessions amid a 3% jump in technology shares in Hong Kong.
Mainland Chinese bourses dipped but avoided the kind of plunge witnessed Monday.
The yen pushed higher amid short covering.
Events to watch this week:
* Tech earnings include Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Amazon, Apple
* EIA oil inventory report, Wednesday
* Australia CPI, Wednesday
* Bank of Japan monetary policy decision, Thursday
* U.S. 1Q GDP, weekly jobless claims, Thursday
* ECB publishes its economic bulletin, Thursday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 2.8% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 3.9%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.4%
* The MSCI World index fell 2.1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.5%
* The euro fell 0.7% to $1.0642
* The British pound fell 1.2% to $1.2585
* The Japanese yen rose 0.5% to 127.45 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined seven basis points to 2.75%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.81%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 1.80%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.7% to $102.20 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,902.30 an ounce
–With assistance from Cecile Gutscher, Robert Brand and Joanna Ossinger.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

One joy scatters a hundred griefs. –Chinese Proverb.

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