April 29, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: ARBOR DAY

On April 29, 1992, deadly rioting that claimed 54 lives and caused $1 billion in damage erupted in Los Angeles after a jury in Simi Valley acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of almost all state charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King.  Go to article »

Microsoft is retiring its default font, and it wants your help choosing a new one.  Comic Sans lovers, IT’S TIME

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Tulips are seen at the Keukenhof park in Lisse, Netherlands
CREDIT:PIROSCHKA CAN DE WOUW/REUTERS

A Red Throated Diver lands on a lake in the Nuuksio National Park, Finland
CREDIT: ERKKI BADERMANN/COVER-IMAGES.COM

Students of the Scandinavian Cello School perform for Mogens and Louise Haugaard’s cows in Lund, Denmark, April 23, 2021. A collaboration between a cattle farmer and a Danish music training program brings regular recitals to pampered livestock.
CREDIT: NEW YORK TIMES / REDUX / EYEVINE

Market Closes for April 29^th, 2021

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. 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 Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell on Thursday, after tech and materials stocks underperformed. The S&P/TSX Composite index fell 0.5% in Toronto. Tech stocks were the worst performers, while energy outperformed. Meanwhile, lumber demand is so strong that Resolute Forest Products Inc.’s order book exceeds its inventory, according to Chief Executive Officer Remi Lalonde.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at about a $11.75 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.4 to $1,774.21 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.3% to C$1.2277 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose to 1.566%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.5 percent at 19,255.92 in Toronto, ending a 4-day gain.   The loss follows the previous session’s increase of 0.9 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.7 percent. Methanex Corp. had the largest drop, falling 9.0 percent. Today, 138 of 229 shares fell, while 88 rose; 7 of 11 sectors were lower, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 3 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 0.8 percent
* The index advanced 26 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 46 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.9 percent below its 52-week high on April 29, 2021 and 35.7 percent above its low on May 14, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.2 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.9 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.1 on a trailing basis and 17.2 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$3.02t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.50 percent compared with 8.70 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.78 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | -59.9055| -3.0| 3/8
* Materials | -48.2153| -2.0| 3/49
* Consumer Discretionary | -9.4822| -1.2| 6/7
* Industrials | -7.2860| -0.3| 14/15
* Utilities | -4.9302| -0.5| 4/12
* Health Care | -4.2961| -1.6| 2/8
* Real Estate | -1.9555| -0.3| 11/15
* Consumer Staples | 0.4531| 0.1| 4/9
* Communication Services | 2.6192| 0.3| 5/3
* Energy | 11.0788| 0.5| 17/4
* Financials | 20.8760| 0.3| 19/8
US
By Vildana Hajric and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose to a record as investors digested the latest batch of corporate earnings and data that showed the American economy gained steam in the first three months of the year. Amazon.com climbed after hours on a better-than-estimated revenue forecast, while Twitter sank amid a lackluster outlook. In regular trading, Apple wiped out its gains on concern that the iPhone maker may not sustain growth after a blockbuster quarter as it faces a tightening supply of chips. Weak earnings dented Ford and eBay. Facebook held its post-earning gains, surging to a record after its sales dwarfed estimates. The S&P 500 briefly turned negative in afternoon trading. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 broke a two-day losing streak.
The volatility came as investors continued to assess major corporate results that overshadowed signs of a resurgence in the economy. Data released Thursday showed U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 6.4% annualized rate in the first quarter, while applications for U.S. state unemployment insurance fell last week to a fresh pandemic low. “It looks like it’s a tug-of-war between those that think the good earnings results we’ve seen are just the beginning of a longer economic and corporate earnings boom and those that believe we are at peak growth and markets are unlikely to go higher from here,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance. While the GDP figures may support the Federal Reserve’s strong assessment of the economy, the central bank is in no mood to halt aggressive support as it looks for even further progress in employment and inflation.
Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday dismissed worries about price surges or anecdotes of labor shortage, implying policy makers are prepared to run the economy hot for a while. President Joe Biden unveiled a $1.8 trillion spending plan targeted at American families, adding to the economic optimism. With their plans, the Fed and Biden have delivered a boost to investor sentiment that has see-sawed in recent days between optimism over a string of robust economic data and caution amid high valuations and speculation about stimulus tapering by year-end. “All evidence still points to continued support from both fiscal and monetary policy against a backdrop of accelerating corporate earnings,” said Mark Haefele, UBS Global Wealth Management’s chief investment officer. “This reinforces our view that markets can advance further, with cyclical parts of the market — such as financials, energy, and value stocks – likely to benefit most from the global upswing.” Crude oil rose on a confident outlook on demand from OPEC and its allies, despite the threat from India’s Covid-19 crisis.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.2128
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3950
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 108.89 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 1.63%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to -0.19%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 0.84%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.7% to $65 a barrel
* Gold futures were little changed
–With assistance from Richard Richtmyer, Claire Ballentine, Andreea Papuc and Srinivasan Sivabalan.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

There is no more important lesson to be learned or habit to be formed
than that of right judgement and of delighting in
good characters and noble actions. –Aristotle, 384 BC – 322 BC.

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