April 6, 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

The Poem:

          APRIL

Now out of this vast silence
the cherry trees scraping their gnarled limbs
on the sky, and the wind hurls down
a flurry of petals, a snowstorm really,
a thousand prints on the wet pavement,
each one a pair of white shutters, opening.
Numinous, the souls of the dead, and now you,
. . . among them—an intake of breath.
How little it seems to me now,
we knew each other.
But still, it is so beautiful, the place where you were—
a table, two chairs, a tree growing up
right through the floor, and outside,
a flicker of swallows in the hedgerows,
the tulips’ purple chevrons a row of arrowheads.
. . . It is wherever you
want to be, although by now you are
beyond wanting. Or at least that’s
what they say of the dead.
The place where you were holds the light
the way the leaves do after dusk
when small animals conduct
their assignations—the shrew, the mouse, the mole
running their études in the mossy shadows.
. . . You were always so
afraid of falling short. If only you hadn’t
done such a good job of dying.
      But it is so
beautiful where you were, above
the garden, where it is snowing, this morning in April,
on the bleached white pansies,
the downed cherry blossoms
. . . .
where you so often sat,
talking and talking.
                                                    -Cynthia Zarin
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Principal dancer Jerome Anthony Barnes and soloist Claire Souet during a photocall ahead of Scottish Ballet’s world premiere of The Scandal at Mayerling, in the City Chambers
CREDIT:  Jane Barlow/PA

People unroll a giant installation by the French street artist JR showing a picture of a Ukrainian refugee, Valeriia, who has become a symbol of resilience during the war, in front of Paris city hall
CREDIT: Chesnot/Getty Images

A 12ft art installation, Standing With Giants, has been unveiled in Broad Street to pay homage to the people of Ukraine
CREDIT: Geoffrey Swaine/Rex/Shutterstock

Market Closes for April 6^th, 2022

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

MARKET COMMENTARY:
On this day in 1988, the S&P 500 was overhauled. Instead of being made up of 400 industrial stocks, 40 utilities, 40 financial stocks and 20 transportation issues, its industry weights began to float freely, so that stocks from all sectors were represented by market value.
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities slumped to their lowest level in three weeks as technology and real estate stocks led losses after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s March meeting minutes signaled aggressive rate hikes.
The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.7%, or 142.23 to 21,788.60 in Toronto.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 6.4%. Goeasy Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 8.8%.
Today, 161 of 239 shares fell, while 74 rose; 7 of 11 sectors were lower.
Insights
* The index advanced 14% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 8.7% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.9% below its 52-week high on April 5, 2022 and 14.9% above its low on April 20, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.3% in the past 5 days and rose 1.8% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.4 on a trailing basis and 14 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.5t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 12.05% compared with 11.79% in the previous session and the average of 12.76% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | -68.2578| -1.0| 3/25
* Information Technology | -61.5316| -4.1| 0/16
* Industrials | -19.7923| -0.8| 3/27
* Energy | -9.3037| -0.3| 10/22
* Real Estate | -8.7302| -1.4| 3/20
* Consumer Discretionary | -2.6153| -0.4| 4/10
* Health Care | -0.1624| -0.1| 3/5
* Consumer Staples | 0.3705| 0.0| 6/5
* Materials | 2.2049| 0.1| 22/28
* Communication Services | 11.0637| 1.0| 5/2
* Utilities | 14.5311| 1.4| 15/1
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -43.9300| -6.4| 1.3| -52.8
* TD Bank | -13.1700| -1.1| 24.8| 2.2
* Bank of Nova Scotia | -10.1800| -1.4| -15.2| -1.7
* BCE | 4.8750| 1.1| -17.0| 9.6
* Franco-Nevada | 5.9720| 2.3| -40.0| 17.3
* TC Energy | 9.0360| 1.9| -70.8| 25.2

US
By Jennifer Bissell-Linsk and Isabelle Lee
(Bloomberg) — Stocks and long-dated Treasuries maintained losses after minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting showed officials were laser focused on tamping down inflation.
The S&P 500 ended trading 1% lower while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 shed 2.2% as the minutes signaled the U.S. central bank is prepared to raise rates sharply and reduce its balance sheet to cool the economy.
The commentary was largely in line with what Fed officials have said in recent days, showing a willingness to raise rates 50 basis points at the May meeting and start winding down the balance sheet quickly. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 2.59% while the two-year rate dipped to 2.49%.
Ahead of the minutes, traders had bet the Fed would implement 225 basis points of rate hikes by the end of the year, adding to the 25 basis points already delivered in March.
The central bank hasn’t tightened that much in one year since 1994, a famously brutal year for bond investors that even included a 75 basis-point hike.
“Another very hawkish readout indicates the Fed is willing to walk the walk,” Sean Bandazian, senior investment analyst for Cornerstone Wealth, said. “Aside from the pace of the balance sheet roll off, most telling from the minutes was the preparedness to hike 50 basis points last month. If not for the crisis in Eastern Europe we could have been staring down at least three meetings in a row with 50 basis point hikes, which the market was not expecting. Clearly they’re sending all the smoke signals of the most aggressive tightening cycle in a generation.”
Shares of consumer discretionary and technology stocks led equity losses, with traders flocking to traditionally defensive companies like utilities, real estate and consumer staples.
The dollar strengthened against peers, and crude oil continued a slide in New York.
“The Fed is going to be very aggressive going forward even if it has a negative impact on economic growth and the stock market,” Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co., wrote in a note. “If the Fed does indeed feel the need to change course before they hike rates that many times, the stock market will be a lot lower and so will the bond market. Put another way, by the time the Fed reacts, the markets will have  already felt a lot of pain.”
Russia’s growing isolation over the war in Ukraine only adds to concerns as disrupted commodity flows could pressure price increases further.
Fresh sanctions on Moscow are expected.
Earlier, Russia’s finance ministry also said a Eurobond payment was sent in rubles after foreign banks declined to process coupon payments, raising the specter of a technical default.
“There’s clearly some negative momentum in markets. They’re very nervous; volatility is high. Markets probably have an inclination to sell off further, but you have to look at what’s already priced in and how much things have moved and start thinking that, at some stage, there’s going to be the tactical opportunity to actually dip a toe into this market,” April LaRusse, head of investment specialists
at Insight Investment, said by phone..

Key events to watch this week:
* St. Louis Fed’s James Bullard, Atlanta Fed’s Raphael Bostic, Chicago Fed’s Charles Evans speak at separate events Thursday
* Reserve Bank of India rate decision Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 1% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 2.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%
* The MSCI World index fell 1.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro was little changed at $1.0899
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3075
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 123.79 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced six basis points to 2.60%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 0.65%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 1.70%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 4.9% to $96.98 a barrel
* Gold futures were little changed
–With assistance from Robert Brand, Sunil Jagtiani, Garfield Reynolds and Benjamin Purvis.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

He who awaits much can expect little. –Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1927-2014.

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