April 29, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: ARBOR DAY – plant a tree!

52 places to visit virtually. This list will help you remember what…places…are.-The Skimm.

Easter Island, where about 1,000 monolithic statues dot the landscape. The photojournalist Benjamin Lowy traveled to the island, 2,200 miles off the coast of Chile, and his report is the latest in our Travel section series “The World Through a Lens.” –The New York Times.

A giant asteroid will fly by and be visible by telescope tonight, but experts say it won’t hit us 
………………..how comforting. -CNN.

And finally, turn your audio on for this one.
What would you play for friends to get them to fall in love with opera? We posed the question to Patti Smith, John Turturro, Renée Fleming and others, who picked five minutes of music that moves them.
For Ms. Fleming, the final scene of Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” is “absolutely riveting.” It was the heartbreaking aria in “Tosca” by Puccini for Ms. Smith. And Zachary Woolfe, the Times’s classical music editor, recommends the final duet in Monteverdi’s witty, wicked “L’Incoronazione di Poppea,” the tale of the crowning of Nero’s mistress as empress. -from The New York Times.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A selection of the 125,000 birthday cards that have been sent it Captain Tom Moore, for his 100^th birthday displayed in the Great Hall of Bedford school. 99-year-old Moore captured the hearts of the UK after initially setting out to raise just £1,000 for the NHS following the novel coronavirus outbreak, by walking 100 laps of his 25-metre garden. He has gone on to break the record for raising the most money in an individual charity walk, more than £27 million.
CREDIT: JUSTINTALLIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

A local resident dressed as Yamraj or Hindu god of death, wears a coronavirus-themed balloon necklace, during an awareness about social distancing and staying at home organised by Delhi police during a nationwide lockdown to slow the spreading of the Covid-19, in New Delhi, India
CREDIT: REUTERS/ADNAN ABIDI

Hatflinger mares with their foals run during this years first turn-out to grass at Europe’s largest Haflinger stud-farmin Meura, central Germany
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/JENS MEYER
Market Closes for April 29th, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1863, William Randolph Hearst, one of the founders of the American media industry, was born to George Hearst, a wealthy miner and rancher, and Phoebe Apperson Hearst, a schoolteacher. In 1887, young “Billie Buster,” just out of Harvard, took over as editor of a fledgling newspaper called the San Francisco Examiner, which his father had recently acquired as settlement for a gambling debt. By the turn of the century, William Randolph Hearst was one of the world’s most powerful press barons—and the model for Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rallied Wednesday, following U.S. shares higher optimism surrounding a potential coronavirus treatment.
The U.S. government’s top infectious-disease expert said that early results of a closely watched clinical trial offered “quite good news” regarding a possible Covid-19 therapy made by Gilead Sciences Inc.
Also, oil rallied on a belief that consumption could gradually turn up as major producers continue to cut output to counter a global glut.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 2.9% for a fourth straight gain, to its highest level since March 6. Energy shares led the way as 10 of 11 sectors advanced. “The comeback in equity markets has been nothing short of impressive in the last month,” Candice Bangsund, a portfolio manager at Fiera Capital said on BNN Bloomberg. “Obviously investors are pricing in a fairly optimistic scenario,” she added. While global oil prices remain nearmulti-decade lows, the heads of two major Canadian crude producers see reasons for hope that the market will rebound in the months ahead.
Meanwhile, Bank of Montreal is preparing for a version 2.0 of life after the coronavirus pandemic, with plans being made for ongoing physical distancing and a blend of working at home and in offices.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $8 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.6% to about $1,717 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.9% to C$1.3928 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 1.5 basis points to 0.561%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the fourth day, climbing 2.9 percent, or 429.82 to 15,228.11 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 3.3 percent on April 17. Suncor Energy Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 13.4 percent. Celestica Inc. had the largest increase, rising 17.7 percent.
Today, 196 of 230 shares rose, while 34 fell; 10 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain seven times. The next day, it advanced four times for an average 1.7 percent and declined three times for an average 5.7 percent
* This month, the index rose 14 percent, heading for the biggest advance in at least 10 years
* The index declined 8.3 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 1.4 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 15.3 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 36.3 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 6.6 percent in the past 5 days and rose 20 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.2 on a trailing basis and 19.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.4 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.25t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 54.22 percent compared with 59.89 percent in the previous session and the average of 83.03 percent over the past month
================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================
Financials | 183.7227| 4.3| 25/1
Energy | 146.8343| 7.6| 29/1
Industrials | 34.4867| 2.0| 29/2
Consumer Discretionary | 18.4890| 3.4| 14/1
Materials | 16.4444| 0.8| 43/4
Information Technology | 14.6707| 1.2| 9/1
Utilities | 12.3531| 1.6| 14/2
Real Estate | 5.3827| 1.2| 18/8
Health Care | 3.5401| 2.3| 6/4
Communication Services | 2.4991| 0.3| 5/3
Consumer Staples | -8.6179| -1.3| 4/7
US
By Vildana Hajric and Sarah Ponczek
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied to a seven-week high on better-than-estimated revenue for Google’s parent company and hopes for a coronavirus treatment. Oil surged.
The S&P 500 Index gained 2.7% in a broad advance, with four stocks up for every one that fell after Gilead Sciences Inc. said its experimental drug helped Covid-19 patients recover faster. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose to within 1% of erasing losses for the year, led by Alphabet Inc. after it reported an ad-sales slowdown that wasn’t as bad as expected.
Oil futures rebounded after plunging 27% in two sessions. The dollar weakened.
Investors shrugged off warnings from the Federal Reserve that the ongoing public health crisis “poses considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term.” Data also showed the biggest contraction since 2008 in the first quarter as the world’s largest economy shrank at a 4.8% annualized pace.
Meantime, investors are weighing plans by countries around the world to restart activity, with hard-hit nations like Spain saying they need at least eight more weeks to fully lift restrictions. Post-market earnings from mega caps like Facebook Inc. will also give more insight into the impact of the outbreak. “What’s really driving markets at this stage is any positive news of potential treatments and vaccines, because ultimately that is a game changer,” said Seema Shah, a global investment strategist for Principal Global Investors. “That’s what’s going to be pushing markets, plus anything with regards to the lockdown being lifted earlier.”
Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index posted a third straight advance. Asian shares also rose. Japan was shut for a holiday. Colombia’s peso led a rally in emerging-market currencies, which were headed toward their best gain in 10 months.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index increased 2.7% at the close of trade in New York.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 1.8%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1.1%.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index gained 2.4%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.6%.
* The euro increased 0.5% to $1.0879.
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.246.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.3% to 106.6 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 0.61%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield decreased two basis points to -0.50%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.28%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 25% to $15.38 a barrel.
* Gold rose 0.4% to $1,713.97 an ounce.
–With assistance from Ishika Mookerjee, Adam Haigh, Robert Brand, Andreea Papuc and Todd White.

Have a great evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Common sense is instinct, and enough of it is genius.
                                     -Josh Billings, 1818-1885

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