Author: Carolann

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Carolann is away from the office; I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

No two are alike: The colossal stone heads of Olmec in Mexico
he massive statues likely depict rulers from the ancient Olmec civilization.

32 stunning centuries-old hoards unearthed by metal detectorists
Archaeologists and amateurs armed with metal detectors have discovered previous hoards from centuries past.

50,000-year-old Neanderthal bones harbor oldest-known human viruses
A new analysis of two skeletons suggests that three modern human viruses infected Neanderthals around 50,000 years ago.

‘We’ll be studying this event for years’: Recent auroras may have been the strongest in 500 years, NASA says
Vibrant auroras that were recently observed by millions of people across the globe were some of the most widespread in the last five centuries, NASA says. The light shows may have also reached the equator.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Seoul, South Korea
Dancers wearing traditional clothing perform before the Dano festival
Photograph: Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA

Andalucia, Spain
‘Sunset over the mouth of the Rio Guadalquivir where it meets the Atlantic – taken while wild camping on the beach in our campervan in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz province.’
Photograph: Damian Connelly

​​​​​​​Ontario, Canada
‘This was was taken in our garden in Guelph. Even on a grey, drizzly day, this male Baltimore oriole shines on his migratory return here.’
Photograph: Brad Morley
Market Closes for May 22^nd, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39671.04	-201.95
		-0.51%
S&P 500	5307.01	-14.40
		-0.27%
NASDAQ	16801.54	-31.09
		-0.18%
TSX	22346.76	-121.40
		-0.54%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38617.10	-329.83
		-0.85%
HANG SENG	19195.60	-25.02
		-0.13%
SENSEX	74221.06	+267.75
		+0.36%
FTSE 100*	8370.33	-46.12
		-0.55%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.589	3.574
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.461	3.456
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.4218	4.4120
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.5377	4.5491

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7305	0.7333
US $	1.3690	1.3637

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4820	0.6748
US $	1.0826	0.9237

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2407.90	2427.30
Oil
WTI Crude Future	78.23	79.26

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1928: Oil prospector and trader Thomas Boone Pickens was born in Holdenville, Okla. He shook up the oil industry with hostile takeover bids in the 1980s, and was known for his plain speaking and folksy catchphrases such as “I’d rather be lucky than good.”
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.5% at 22,346.76 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 1.3% on April 30 and follows the previous session’s little change.
Today, materials stocks led the market lower, as 7 of 11 sectors lost; 161 of 223 shares fell, while 60 rose.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.0%.
Iamgold Corp. had the largest drop, falling 10.3%.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.9%
* The index advanced 9.8% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 26% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.9% below its 52-week high on May 21, 2024 and 19.6% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.5% in the past 5 days and rose 2.2% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.7 on a trailing basis and 15.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.57t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.06% compared with 9.18% in the previous session and the average of 8.96% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -89.1782| -3.1| 5/45
Energy | -47.5168| -1.1| 4/36
Financials | -25.3303| -0.4| 8/19
Utilities | -3.7200| -0.4| 4/11
Consumer Discretionary | -3.2572| -0.4| 1/11
Real Estate | -2.9487| -0.6| 5/15
Health Care | -0.8842| -1.5| 0/4
Communication Services | 6.3513| 0.9| 3/2
Consumer Staples | 9.6385| 1.1| 5/6
Industrials | 10.6873| 0.3| 16/11
Information Technology | 24.7605| 1.5| 9/1
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Natural Resources | -15.3900| -2.0| 35.3| 18.9
Teck Resources | -11.0700| -4.7| 23.6| 23.9
TD Bank | -10.1800| -1.1| -46.9| -10.3
Bombardier | 7.5470| 15.7| 249.9| 71.3
Couche-Tard | 8.6860| 2.2| 2.3| -0.5
Shopify | 21.6300| 3.3| -28.7| -22.1
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Big tech climbed in late trading after Nvidia Corp.’s solid results and outlook bolstered confidence in the artificial-intelligence frenzy that has powered the stock rally.
A $270 billion exchange-traded fund tracking the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) gained after the giant chipmaker predicted another blowout sales gain.
The poster child for AI said second-quarter revenue will be about $28 billion — beating estimates.
The company also announced a 10-for-1 stock split and boosted its quarterly dividend by 150% to 10 cents a share.
“Even in the face of huge expectations, the company once again stepped up and delivered,” said Ryan Detrick at Carson Group. “The always important data center revenue was strong, while future revenue was also impressive. Bottom line, the bar was high and cleared it once again.”
In regular hours, stocks fell as the latest Federal Reserve minutes signaled officials remain in no rush to cut rates.
“Many” Fed officials expressed uncertainty over the degree to which policy is restraining the economy — but the minutes also noted policy “was seen as restrictive.”
The S&P 500 closed around 5,307. US two-year yields climbed four basis points to 4.87%.
The dollar rose, weakening the appeal of commodities priced in the currency.
To Ryan Grabinski at Strategas Securities, Nvidia’s earnings are “more important” than the Fed in the near term.
Not only has its weight increased to almost 3% of the S&P 500’s net income, but it has been the poster child for the AI craze — which has kicked off a capital-expenditure cycle among the largest tech players, he noted.
“As we all know, the stock market has pushed to new all- time highs recently,” said said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak + Co.
“If Nvidia’s earnings or anything else push these indices further above their recent highs, it’s going to create another round of ‘FOMO’.”
US tech earnings so far have been among the strongest in the first-quarter reporting season, with revisions in the sector outpacing the rest of the market. However, earnings results also suggest a broadening market, according to Solita Marcelli at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“We stay positive on the AI trend and maintain our preference for big tech given the advantageous market positions,” she said. “We forecast global tech earnings growth of 20% and 16% this year and next, respectively, led by the
semiconductor sector where we see investment opportunities.”
To Tom Essaye at the Sevens Report, Nvidia is still the most-important single stock in the market.
But more importantly, the market broadening is an ongoing phenomenon and one we think can continue as long as Goldilocks is here.
“Ensuring balanced exposure to that broadening is one way we think investors can continue to outperform in 2024,” he noted.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Solomon said he currently expects the Fed won’t cut rates this year amid an economy that’s proved more resilient thanks to government spending.

Wall Street Reacts to Fed Minutes:
* Peter Boockvar, author of the Boock Report:
The bottom line: ‘Play it by ear’ is the stance of monetary policy right now. The use of the word ‘restrictive’ by some Fed members with regards to policy is code word for ‘no more hikes’ with a lean to cutting, but asking them to define ‘restrictive’? Not so easy.
* Alex McGrath at NorthEnd Private Wealth:
Hawkish surprise (kind of) from the Fed minutes. The investing world will have to wait at least another month to hear anything about rate cuts — but the kicker in this report was the willingness of some participants to restrict policy further.
* Paul Ashworth at Capital Economics:
It will take at least several more months of better data before officials would have the confidence to cut rates, which we don’t think will happen before September.
* Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley:
Today’s minutes were from a meeting that preceded last week’s cooler inflation data, so their somewhat hawkish tone wasn’t surprising. But the initial down moves in the major stock indexes suggested the market didn’t appreciate the sentiment, regardless.
* Chris Zaccarelli at Independent Advisor Alliance:
Higher for longer is the official mantra as the Fed officially acknowledged that inflation is staying more sticky than they would have liked and although they wanted to cut rates, they are not going to be able to do that in the near future.
* Jeffrey Roach at LPL Financial:
Although inflation in April eased a bit, Fed officials need more confirmation that the trajectory is favorable for their 2% target. In general, the committee believes policy is restrictive and so the next move for the Fed will likely be a cut later this year.

Key events this week:
* Eurozone S&P Global services and manufacturing PMIs, consumer confidence, Thursday
* G-7 finance meeting, May 23-25
* US new home sales, initial jobless claims, Thursday
* Fed’s Raphael Bostic speaks, Thursday
* US durable goods, consumer sentiment, Friday
* Fed’s Christopher Waller speaks, Friday

— This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Shabnam
” Courage is very important. Like a muscle, it is strengthened by use.” — Ruth Gordon

Shabnam Mohammadpourmarzbali
Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff
Queensbury Securities Inc.

340A – 730 View Street
Victoria BC  V8W 3Y7
Tel: 778-430-5851
Fax: 778-430-5828

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Carolann is away from the office; I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

May 21^st: International Tea Day!
May 21, 1846: 1st steamship arrives in Hawaii. Read more.

AI computers could run in extreme environments like Venus thanks to heat-proof memory device
Ultra-heat resistant computer storage can operate at Venus-like temperatures and may be used in extreme conditions such as nuclear plants and even for future NASA missions.

Earth from space: Rare phenomenon transforms African thunderstorm into giant ethereal ‘jellyfish’
In 2018, a weather satellite captured a massive thunderstorm cloud in the shape of a jellyfish. The bizarre cloud was the result of a meteorological phenomenon gone wrong.

6,800-year-old burial of Neolithic ‘mayor’ unearthed in Bavaria
The wealth of grave goods suggests the person buried there was a leader of high status — possibly a Stone Age chieftain.

Scientists grow diamonds from scratch in 15 minutes thanks to groundbreaking new process
Scientists have used a new technique to synthesize diamonds at normal, atmospheric pressure and without a starter gem, which could make the precious gemstones easier to grow in the lab.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Desert Bloom | Goblin Valley state park, Utah
Photographer Marcin Zajac: ‘Wildflowers blooming in front of a group of hoodoos (a type of desert rock formation) called the Three Sisters in Goblin Valley state park in Utah. The park, located in a remote corner of the Colorado Plateau and away from major urban centres, yields one of the darkest skies in the country’
Photograph: Marcin Zajac/2024 Milky Way photographer of the year

Porto Alegre, Brazil
An aircraft is reflected in floodwater at Salgado Filho international airport
Photograph: Anselmo Cunha/AFP/Getty Images

Lucerne, Switzerland
Men’s single sculls, during the last qualifying regattas for the Paris Olympics and Paralympics 2024, before the World Rowing Cup
Photograph: Pierre Albouy/Reuters
Market Closes for May 21^st, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39872.99	+66.22
		+0.17%
S&P 500	5321.41	+13.28
		+0.25%
NASDAQ	16832.63	+37.75
		+0.22%
TSX	22468.16	+2.79
		+0.01%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38946.93	-122.75
		-0.31%
HANG SENG	19220.62	-415.60
		-2.12%
SENSEX	73953.31	-52.63
		-0.07%
FTSE 100*	8416.45	-7.75
		-0.09%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.574	3.625
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.456	3.483
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.4120	4.4198
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.5491	4.5586

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7333	0.7351
US $	1.3637	1.3604

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4809	0.6753
US $	1.0859	0.9209

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2427.30	2402.60
Oil
WTI Crude Future	79.26	79.23

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1720, the London Daily Post published a prospectus selling stock in “a design of more general advantage…and of more certain profit…than any undertaking yet set on foot.” We can safely assume the profit went to the promoters of this proposal, the earliest known example of a blind pool.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 22,468.16 in Toronto.
Suncor Energy Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.7%.
Canada Goose Holdings Inc. had the largest increase, rising 5.8%.
Today, 106 of 223 shares rose, while 115 fell; 4 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 3.5%
* The index advanced 10% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 26% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 20.2% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.9% in the past 5 days and rose 3% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.7 on a trailing basis and 15.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.57t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.18% compared with 9.27% in the previous session and the average of 8.96% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 29.7676| 0.7| 24/17
Materials | 28.2116| 1.0| 34/15
Consumer Staples | 0.4731| 0.1| 5/6
Utilities | 0.3848| 0.0| 9/6
Health Care | -1.0167| -1.6| 0/4
Real Estate | -1.5875| -0.3| 4/15
Consumer Discretionary | -4.9272| -0.6| 3/10
Communication Services | -7.9069| -1.1| 0/5
Information Technology | -10.1853| -0.6| 7/3
Industrials | -11.5433| -0.4| 7/20
Financials | -18.8877| -0.3| 13/14
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Suncor Energy | 13.1800| 2.7| 236.0| 32.0
Nutrien | 9.3750| 3.5| 46.4| 8.9
Wheaton Precious Metals | 4.2150| 1.7| -13.3| 20.7
Canadian Pacific Kansas | -5.2810| -0.7| -2.6| 5.7
RBC | -7.9710| -0.6| 12.8| 7.9
Shopify | -15.0400| -2.2| -34.2| -24.5
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rose to another record ahead of results from Nvidia Corp. — the giant chipmaker at the heart of the artificial-intelligence revolution that has powered the bull market.
The bar is high for the Santa Clara, California-based company — whose shares have soared over 90% this year after more than tripling in 2023.
Investors are waiting to see whether the poster child of AI will be able to match the sky-high expectations surrounding the technology.
Nvidia’s revenue is expected to be buoyed by soaring demand in its data-center business.
“With markets trending upward and emotions in check, Nvidia’s performance will be pivotal in gauging the sustainability of the current market run and the potential for a more inclusive market rally,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide.
Traders also kept a close eye on a handful of Federal Reserve speakers, with Governor Christopher Waller saying a continued softening in data over the next three to five months would allow the Fed to consider cutting rates at the end of 2024.
The S&P 500 saw its 24th record this year.
Nvidia edged up.
Palo Alto Networks Inc. slid on a downbeat forecast.
Macy’s Inc. rallied after beating profit estimates.
The Cboe Volatility Index – the VIX – closed at its lowest since November 2019.
Treasury 10-year yields dropped three basis points to 4.41%.
Stock investors are bracing for a spike in volatility, and upcoming events such as Nvidia’s earnings report can exacerbate any moves, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists.
The bank’s measure of risk appetite hit the highest since 2021 last week, driven by optimism around economic growth and monetary policy, but momentum has slowed, the team led by Andrea Ferrario wrote.
The strategists point to CBOE Volatility Index options data that signal higher demand for hedges against sudden market declines, at a time when the gauge has dropped to historically low levels.

Key events this week:
* US existing home sales, Wednesday
* Fed minutes, Wednesday
* Nvidia earnings, Wednesday
* Eurozone S&P Global services and manufacturing PMIs, consumer confidence, Thursday
* G-7 finance meeting, May 23-25
* US new home sales, initial jobless claims, Thursday
* Fed’s Raphael Bostic speaks, Thursday
* US durable goods, consumer sentiment, Friday
* Fed’s Christopher Waller speaks, Friday

–With assistance from Carly Wanna.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Shabnam
“What we play is life.”– Louis Armstrong “Satchmo”

Shabnam Mohammadpourmarzbali
Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff
Queensbury Securities Inc.

340A – 730 View Street
Victoria BC  V8W 3Y7
Tel: 778-430-5851
Fax: 778-430-5828

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.

***May 17, 1792: The New York Stock Exchange was founded by brokers meeting under a tree on what is now Wall Street.  Go to article >> ***

May 17,1844: Rubber band patented.
May 17, 1954: School segregation banned.  Brown vs Board of Education.
May 17, 1990: The WHO deletes homosexuality from its list of mental diseases.

JWST spots 2 monster black holes merging at the dawn of time, challenging our understanding of the universe
New observations with the James Webb Space Telescope reveal the most distant pair of merging black holes ever spotted. The discovery further challenges leading theories of cosmology. Read More.

Long-lost branch of the Nile was ‘indispensable for building the pyramids,’ research shows
The Nile’s now-extinct branch likely helped the ancient Egyptians move materials to pyramid building sites. Read More.

Some of the oldest stars in the universe found hiding near the Milky Way’s edge — and they may not be alone
Astronomers reanalyzed the chemical composition of three stars in the Milky Way’s halo and found that they are between 12 and 13 billion years old. They may have also been stolen from other galaxies. Read More.

Deaf baby can hear after ‘mind-blowing’ gene therapy treatment
Seven months after her treatment, the baby girl can now respond to her parents’ voices without the aid of a cochlear implant. Read More.

The Mirage in Las Vegas is closing after 34 years
See which resort is taking its place on the iconic Las Vegas Strip.

Flowers, socks and sparkling wine: Queen Camilla reveals some of her favorite brands
Britain’s Queen Camilla has granted her first royal warrants to seven companies. These act as a stamp of approval to indicate the preferred goods and services used by the royal household.

Highlights from the PGA Championship
Xander Schauffele is playing some of the best golf of his career while world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler made a start that surpassed even his expectations.

Academy of Country Music Awards 2024: See the list of winners
Luke Combs took home the trophy for single of the year at the ACM Awards. See who else won big.

PHOTOS OF HE DAY

Geneva, Switzerland
Breathe, a pulsating dome of light created by the artist Dan Acher, in the Plainpalais neighbourhood
Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

Elk gather around a calf at the Daqingshan National Nature Reserve in Hohhot, Mongolia, China
Photograph: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

​​​​​​​Edinburgh, Scotland
The Northern lights during a solar storm over the National Monument of Scotland. The aurora borealis lit up the night sky last weekend with rare sightings across the UK, Europe and the northern hemisphere.
Photograph: Jacob Anderson/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for May 17^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	40003.59	+134.21
		+0.34%
S&P 500	5303.27	+6.17
		+0.12%
NASDAQ	16685.97	-12.35
		-0.07%
TSX	22465.37	+165.55
		+0.74%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38787.38	-132.88
		-0.34%
HANG SENG	19553.61	+177.08
		+0.91%
SENSEX	73917.03	+253.31
		+0.34%
FTSE 100*	8420.26	-18.39
		-0.22%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.625	3.562
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.483	3.419
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.4198	4.3750
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.5586	4.5122

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7351	0.7344
US $	1.3604	1.3617

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4800	0.6757
US $	1.0883	0.9189

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2402.60	2357.50
Oil
WTI Crude Future	79.23	78.63

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1961, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 700 for the first time, a bit more than two years after passing 600.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 0.7%, or 165.55 to 22,465.37 in Toronto.  
The move was the biggest since rising 1.4% on May 6.
Today, materials stocks led the market higher, as 8 of 11 sectors gained; 138 of 223 shares rose, while 82 fell.
Cameco Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 6.4%.
New Gold Inc. had the largest increase, rising 13.3%.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 0.7%
* The index advanced 11% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 27% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0% below its 52-week high on May 10, 2024 and 20.2% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.7 on a trailing basis and 15.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.54t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.27% compared with 9.01% in the previous session and the average of 8.84% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 78.1689| 2.8| 46/4
Energy | 41.8693| 1.0| 30/9
Financials | 36.6580| 0.5| 21/6
Information Technology | 8.6416| 0.5| 5/5
Industrials | 5.1165| 0.2| 12/15
Utilities | 0.7509| 0.1| 6/9
Communication Services | 0.6953| 0.1| 2/3
Consumer Staples | 0.0305| 0.0| 5/6
Health Care | -1.8743| -2.9| 1/3
Consumer Discretionary | -2.2375| -0.3| 7/5
Real Estate | -2.2740| -0.5| 3/17
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Cameco | 13.2700| 6.4| 65.9| 26.4
Canadian Natural Resources | 12.9100| 1.7| -43.5| 20.8
RBC | 10.0400| 0.7| -29.7| 8.5
TFI International | -2.1990| -2.1| 6.8| 0.7
Restaurant Brands | -2.2730| -1.1| -13.1| -6.8
Brookfield Corp | -2.5010| -0.4| -22.3| 13.9
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks extended gains into a fourth consecutive week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing above the 40,000 mark for the first time.
Following a set of inflation reports that reignited hopes on Federal Reserve rate cuts, the S&P 500 saw its longest weekly win since February.
Strong earnings have also fueled gains, with the focus now shifting to next Wednesday’s results from Nvidia Corp. — the poster child of the artificial-intelligence boom.
While the advance lost steam in the past two days, the market is still on pace for its best month in 2024.
“The pause that refreshes,” said Mark Newton at Fundstrat.
“Whether or not investors choose to hold out for a possible consolidation here is a tough choice, but I suspect that any weakness proves temporary.
It’s right to be bullish, and consolidation would make the S&P 500 more attractive for further gains up to 5,400.”
The S&P 500 hovered near 5,300.
Mega-caps were mixed, with Tesla Inc. up and Nvidia down.
GameStop Corp. sank on plans to sell up to 45 million shares.
Reddit Inc. jumped as it forged a partnership with OpenAI.
Applied Materials Inc.’s forecast failed to impress investors.
About $3 trillion of options were due to expire Friday, according to Rocky Fishman at Asym 500.
While trading in short-dated contracts has grown, the monthly event is still on Wall Street’s radar as it obliges investors to roll over existing positions or start new ones, potentially leading to sudden price swings.
Treasury 10-year yields rose four basis points to 4.42%.
Investor sentiment hit levels that signal market “euphoria,” driven by a spike in trading volumes amid rallies earlier this week in meme stocks like GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., according to Citigroup Inc.
Citi’s Levkovich Index, a contrarian indicator that measures trader attitudes toward stocks, re-entered euphoric territory, strategists led by Scott Chronert said.
Such levels imply a lower probability of positive forward returns over the subsequent year.
“Wild moves in retail favorite stocks have been headline-making over the past couple weeks, albeit in both directions,” Chronert wrote.
“This action, which is hard to explain using any traditional logic, provides perspective that the system is still awash with liquidity.”
After suffering the first 5% pullback of the year, the S&P 500 has rebounded to hit its 23rd record in 2024 earlier this week.
Following the end of the previous 28 declines of that same magnitude since stocks bottomed during the financial crisis in 2009, the median gain until the next correction has been 17.4% — with a minimum advance of 8.5%, according to Keith Lerner at Truist Advisory Services.
“This suggests upside potential remains, even while it won’t likely be a straight line higher,” he said.
“Until the weight of the evidence shifts, bull market rules apply. That is, investors should stick with the primary market uptrend and view pullbacks as opportunities.”
Deutsche Bank AG strategists led by Binky Chadha raised their year-end S&P 500 target to 5,500 from 5,100, pointing to a strong earnings cycle and expectations for market confidence to rise by year-end, which is set to bode well for US stocks.
“We see the earnings cycle having plenty of legs,” the strategists wrote. “While all the growth may not materialize this year, we see market confidence in a continued recovery rising by year end, supporting equity multiples.”
To Mark Haefele at UBS Global Wealth Management, the recent rally in stocks has been well-supported.
“If inflation pressures ease more quickly or profit growth is stronger, we think the S&P 500 could reach 5,500 by the end of the year,” he noted.
Analysts have ratcheted up earnings forecasts for the current quarter at the swiftest pace in two years, suggesting that the worst of the US profit slump may be firmly in the rear-view mirror, Bloomberg Intelligence data show.
Two groups with strong links to the economic cycle — energy and materials — have led the upward adjustments.
As the robust earnings season draws to a close, Florian Ielpo at Lombard Odier Asset Management says attention is shifting to the broader economic landscape.
“It appears that lower interest rates alone may no longer suffice to prop up the markets, raising the specter of potential pitfalls ahead,” he noted.
“In particular, investors are now faced with the conundrum of whether the softer growth context could have a detrimental impact on earnings or not.”
In fact, a series of weaker-than-estimated data points — from jobs to retail sales and manufacturing — has sent the US version of Citigroup’s Economic Surprise Index to the lowest since January 2023.
The gauge measures the difference between actual releases and analyst expectations.
As macroeconomic conditions soften, long-duration bonds are set for a comeback later in 2024, according to strategists at Bank of America Corp.
Positioning in markets, the next moves in monetary policy, and the risk to corporate profits from some weaker signals on the economy set the scene for a reversal of the “anything but bonds” trade in the second half, a team led by Michael Hartnett wrote in a note.
He pointed to investors being very long on cash, investment-grade bonds and stocks, “but no one” making bullish bets on the 30-year Treasury, which Hartnett sees as the best hedge for weaker nominal growth.
James Rossiter at TD Securities remarked that markets continue to see-saw around volatile data surprises, especially in the US.
“The dramatic moves in hard and soft data surprises have been extreme in recent months, but the bottom line is that inflation surprises, while moving in the right direction recently, are still persistently too high,” he noted.
Fed Governor Michelle Bowman repeated she anticipates inflation to remain elevated for “some time,” but continues to expect price pressures to ultimately subside with interest rates held at the current level.
Officials kept their benchmark rate steady earlier this month at a target range of 5.25% to 5.5% — the same level it’s been at since July.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that officials will “need to be patient and let restrictive policy do its work.”
“The Fed can wait a little longer to cut rates given the domestic picture, but not a lot longer in our opinion,” said Don Rissmiller at Strategas.
“A few more months are likely enough to validate that the ‘last mile’ of this inflation fight is proceeding acceptably in the US given the reassuring data this week.”
Traders are keeping a close eye on flows into equities from the retail crowd as stocks hover near record highs and meme stocks popped and then fizzled this week.
“I am starting to have conversations regarding FOMU, fear of materially underperforming, this week heading into a positive trading window for the ‘US 60/40 portfolio,’”
Scott Rubner, global markets division managing director and tactical specialist at Goldman Sachs Inc., wrote in a note to clients Friday.
On Thursday, off-exchange volume, which shows the percentage of all US equities traded after the market close, reached 51.6%.
That surpassed the prior peak of 50% in January 2021.

–With assistance from Lu Wang, Jessica Menton, Alexandra Semenova, Farah Elbahrawy and Natalia Kniazhevich.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
The lack of money is the root of all evil. -Mark Twain, 1835-1910.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.
Biographer’s Day: Celebrates the meeting of Boswell & Johnson.

May 16, 1770: Marie Antoinette, age 14, married the future King Louis XVI of France, who was 15. Go to article >>
May 16, 1929: The Oscars are awarded for the first time.

15 of the world’s most spectacular airport landings
These are some of the world’s best airplane approaches — and what side of the plane you should be sitting for them.

300 million
That’s how many images were combined to create the most detailed ever map of the human brain. The project, developed by researchers at Google and Harvard University, took over a decade to complete.

New Miss USA crowned amid ongoing turmoil at pageant
Amid a flurry of resignations, the new Miss USA, Savannah Gankiewicz, stepped up to be crowned on Wednesday in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Netflix releases ‘Bridgerton’ season 3 today
Dearest gentle reader, the third season of the beloved Netflix show “Bridgerton” releases today after a two-year wait. Here’s what you can expect.

Newfound ‘glitch’ in Einstein’s relativity could rewrite the rules of the universe, study suggests
Einstein’s theory of general relativity is our best description of the universe at large scales, but a new observation that reports a “glitch” in gravity around ancient structures could force it to be modified. Read More.

130,000-year-old Neanderthal-carved bear bone is symbolic art, study argues
A nearly 130,000-year-old bear bone was deliberately marked with cuts and might be one of the oldest art pieces in Eurasia crafted by the Neanderthals, researchers say. Read More.

CRISPR can treat common form of inherited blindness, early data hint
In a small trial, some people with inherited vision loss experienced improvements in their sight after being treated with CRISPR. Read More.

Orcas have attacked and sunk another boat in Europe — and experts warn there could be more attacks soon
A group of orcas known to attack boats in southwest Europe have sunk a 50-foot sailing yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar after ripping open its hull. It is the fifth time these killer whales have sent a ship to the seafloor in the last three years. Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Zurich, Switzerland
An aerial photograph taken by the French land artist Guillaume Legros, AKA Saype, of his artwork Bright Dreams, in Irchelpark. Made with eco-friendly paint, the work shows a girl surrounded by several symbols evoking rescue at sea, in support of the humanitarian NGO SOS Mediterranee Switzerland
Photograph: Guillaume Legros AKA as Saype/AFP/Getty Images

Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse, France
Béatrice Fabre, a former climbing and ultra-trail athlete, on a zipline during the Olympic torch relay
Photograph: Valentine Chapuis/AFP/Getty Images

Palomino and the Cavinzas Islands, Peru
A team of biologists carry out monthly research, as part of efforts to protect marine fauna in the region. The islands, located off the port of Callao in Lima, have been awarded the prestigious ITB Earth Award
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Market Closes for May 16^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39869.38	-38.62
		-0.10%
S&P 500	5297.10	-11.05
		-0.21%
NASDAQ	16698.32	-44.07
		-0.26%
TSX	22299.83	+15.07
		+0.07%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38920.26	+534.53
		+1.39%
HANG SENG	19376.53	+302.82
		+1.59%
SENSEX	73663.72	+676.69
		+0.93%
FTSE 100*	8438.65	-7.15
		-0.09%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.562	3.562
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.419	3.438
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.3750	4.3400
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.5122	4.5000

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7344	0.7353
US $	1.3617	1.3599

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4798	0.6758
US $	1.0867	0.9202

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2357.50	2354.85
Oil
WTI Crude Future	78.63	78.63

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1949, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, originally founded in 1878, reopened for business, along with exchanges in Osaka and Nagoya, after the devastation of World War II.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 22,299.83 in Toronto.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.2%.
Lightspeed Commerce Inc. had the largest increase, rising 18.3%.
Today, 113 of 223 shares rose, while 106 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by industrials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index was little changed
* The index advanced 10% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 28% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.8% below its 52-week high on May 10, 2024 and 19.3% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.3% in the past 5 days and rose 3% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.6 on a trailing basis and 15.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.54t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.01% compared with 9.45% in the previous session and the average of 8.80% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Industrials | 9.7342| 0.3| 13/13
Financials | 9.5090| 0.1| 14/13
Utilities | 3.7355| 0.4| 12/3
Consumer Discretionary | 3.4477| 0.4| 7/5
Real Estate | 1.4056| 0.3| 12/7
Health Care | 1.0501| 1.7| 2/2
Consumer Staples | -1.5944| -0.2| 6/5
Communication Services | -1.6600| -0.2| 2/3
Information Technology | -2.7977| -0.2| 7/3
Energy | -3.1927| -0.1| 19/21
Materials | -4.5891| -0.2| 19/31
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Pacific Kansas | 8.8670| 1.2| -13.9| 6.2
RBC | 7.8730| 0.6| -57.9| 7.7
Canadian National | 6.7090| 1.0| 43.8| 3.5
Couche-Tard | -6.2340| -1.6| 19.5| -3.3
WSP Global | -10.1200| -5.3| 213.7| 10.9
Shopify | -10.5600| -1.6| -38.4| -23.7
US
By Rita Nazareth and Jessica Menton
(Bloomberg) — The world’s largest stock market hovered near its all-time highs, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average touching the historic 40,000 mark on bets that rate cuts will keep powering Corporate America.
Following a series of small twists and turns, equities closed slightly lower as traders digested the gains of the past few weeks.
Just as the rest of the market, the oldest of Wall Street’s three main stock indexes had rallied on prospects of a resilient economy, ebbing inflation and robust earnings.
The last time the measure of blue chips broke a major milestone was in November 2020 — when it topped 30,000 — amid market-friendly developments that unleashed animal spirits even as the pandemic continued to rage.
This time around, the market is defying the old adage “sell in May and go away,” with equities on pace for their best month in 2024.
“Breaking the 40,000 barrier is a big psychological boost for the bulls as round numbers hold special significance in people’s hearts and minds,” said Chris Zaccarelli at Independent Advisor Alliance.
“Markets are now headed into ‘overvalued territory,’ so it’s prudent to dollar-cost average and be more discerning when investing in equities.”
The S&P 500 closed below 5,300.
Walmart Inc. surged on a bullish outlook as the big-box retailer attracts consumers looking for essentials and discounts.
GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. tumbled as the meme-stock frenzy faded.
Treasury 10-year yields rose four basis points to 4.38%.
The dollar bounced back after dropping to a one-month low.
“40,000 is a great milestone, but at the end of the day, there isn’t much difference between 39,999 and 40,000,” said Ryan Detrick at Carson Group.
“Still, this is a great reminder of how far we’ve come. Think about how many people were talking about recessions and bear markets all of last year, now we are once again back to new highs.”
Can stocks keep going? “We think they can,” Detrick said. “Earnings continue to surprise to the upside, balance sheets for Corporate America are in great shape, while the consumer might have some cracks, but is still strong thanks to a very healthy employment backdrop.
Then consider lower rates are likely coming, thanks to inflation that should drastically improve in the second half of this year.”
To Matt Maley at Miller Tabak + Co., a very short-term “breather” is quite likely right now and would be a healthy development after the rally to fresh records.
“There is a lot of leeway for the stock market if we do see a short-term pullback soon,” Maley said. “Put another way, the bulls are still fully in charge right now, and so it will take a significant reversal to stem the tide of the upside momentum.”
“The market is showing more and more confidence in a genuine soft landing or even no landing scenario where overall economic growth in the US continues to stay solid,” said Lisa Shalett at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.
“It makes sense that a broader group of companies, even those that are more cyclical in areas like industrials, materials and energy can do well.”
Analysts have ratcheted up earnings forecasts for the current quarter at the swiftest pace in two years, suggesting that the worst of the US profit slump may be firmly in the rear-view mirror, Bloomberg Intelligence data show.
To John Lynch at Comerica Wealth Management, the Dow hitting 40,000 is a testament to the powers of capital formation, innovation, profit growth, and economic resilience.
“The recent technical momentum and fundamental strengths, including earnings and interest rates, suggest further near-term gains,” he said. “Investors should be careful not to sprint on the victory lap, though, as a combination of geopolitics, valuation, and market interest rates may lead to a sudden directional shift.”
It’s also worth saying that while the Dow Average has evolved over time since it was first launched in 1896 by American journalist Charles Dow, it’s still a much narrower equity gauge than the S&P 500 or Nasdaq 100.
The Dow is price-weighted, meaning that changes in the highest-priced stocks have greater impact on the index level than price changes in the lower-priced stocks.
The S&P 500, however, is market-cap-weighted.
Traders also kept a close eye on a drumbeat of Fed speakers, with three officials saying the central bank should keep borrowing costs high for longer as policymakers await more evidence inflation is easing, suggesting they’re not in a rush
to cut interest rates.
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, New York Fed President John Williams and Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, speaking separately Thursday, argued it may take longer for inflation to reach their 2% target.
Meantime, Jamie Dimon said he’s still more worried about inflation than markets appear to be.
The JPMorgan Chase & Co. chief said significant price pressures are still influencing the US economy and may mean interest rates will be higher for longer than many investors are expecting.
Dimon cited costs linked to the green economy, re-militarization, infrastructure spending, trade disputes and large fiscal deficits.
“There are a lot of inflationary forces in front of us,” Dimon said in an interview on Bloomberg Television Thursday. “The underlying inflation may not go away the way people expect it to.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Amgen Inc. won US approval for a new drug to treat a particularly aggressive form of advanced lung cancer, providing a badly needed new option for patients when chemotherapy stops working.
* Under Armour Inc. will restructure its business amid a continued decline in revenue and make men’s apparel its highest priority as the company realigns itself under founder Kevin Plank.
* Tractor maker Deere & Co. reduced its profit outlook for the year as declining agriculture income pressured the world’s biggest farm machinery maker.
* Charles Schwab Corp. said Chief Financial Officer Peter Crawford is leaving after 22 years with the firm and will be replaced by Mike Verdeschi from Citigroup Inc. as part of a series of management changes.
* Meta Platforms Inc. is under investigation by the European Union over concerns its algorithms are illegally exploiting the weakness of children to get them addicted to Facebook and Instagram.
* United Airlines Holdings Inc. said it can begin the process to add new planes and routes again after the Federal Aviation Administration indicated it would ease restrictions, a sign of progress after a series of safety issues led to a clampdown on the carrier’s operations.

Key events this week:
* China property prices, retail sales, industrial production, Friday
* Eurozone CPI, Friday
* US Conf. Board leading index, Friday

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
Nothing will work unless you do. –Maya Angelou, 1928-2014.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

May 15, 1940: The first McDonald’s fast food restaurant opens.
May 15, 1948:  Hours after declaring its independence, the new state of Israel was attacked by Transjordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Go to article >>
Henry James, writer, b. 1843.

Atoms squished closer together than ever before, revealing seemingly impossible quantum effects
Using a clever laser technique, scientists have squished pairs of atoms closer together than ever before, revealing some truly mind-boggling quantum effects. Read More.

Tree rings reveal summer 2023 was the hottest in 2 millennia
Tree rings suggest the Northern Hemisphere summer of 2023 was the hottest in 2,000 years, with temperatures exceeding those of the coldest summer in the same period by 7 degrees Fahrenheit (3.9 Celsius).  Read More.

Heavy metals in Beethoven’s hair may explain his deafness, study finds
A DNA analysis of Ludwig van Beethoven’s hair shows that he likely had lead poisoning. Read More.

Sun launches strongest solar flare of current cycle in monster X8.7-class eruption
The strongest solar flare in half a decade just launched off the sun from the same sunspot group that triggered dazzling auroras last weekend. But don’t expect northern lights this time around. Read More.

‘Quantum-inspired’ laser computing is more effective than both supercomputing and quantum computing, startup claims
The desktop-sized LPU100 eschews traditional electronics and qubits in favor of lasers, and it can reportedly perform complex AI calculations in nanoseconds. Read More.

Little dog wins big at Westminster Dog Show
This adorable fluff ball won best in show at the 2024 Westminster Dog Show.

King Charles’ first official portrait since coronation proves divisive
An artist’s depiction of the British monarch is proving to be quite divisive with its fiery red background.

Recap of Caitlin Clark’s first WNBA game
Caitlin Clark scored 20 points and committed 10 turnovers in her first WNBA game as the Indiana Fever lost to the Connecticut Sun.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Sydney, Australia
A model rehearses ahead of the Romance Was Born show during the Australian fashion week presented by Pandora at Carriageworks
Photograph: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for AFW

Mojokerto, Indonesia
Doves fly past a giant Buddha statue at the Maha Vihara Mojopahit temple ahead of the Vesak festival, which commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha
Photograph: Juni Kriswanto/AFP/Getty Images

​​​​​​​Ajmer, India
An owl perches on a branch of a tree on the outskirts of the city
Photograph: Abaca/Rex/Shutterstock
Market Closes for May 15^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39908.00	+349.89
		+0.88%
S&P 500	5308.15	+61.47
		+1.17%
NASDAQ	16742.39	+231.21
		+1.40%
TSX	22284.76	+41.42
		+0.19%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38385.73	+29.67
		+0.08%
HANG SENG	19073.71	-41.35
		-0.22%
SENSEX	72987.03	-117.58
		-0.16%
FTSE 100*	8445.80	+17.67
		+0.21%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.562	3.685
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.438	3.540
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.3400	4.4394
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.5000	4.5855

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7353	0.7324
US $	1.3599	1.3653

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4809	0.6753
US $	1.0889	0.9184

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2354.85	2343.80
Oil
WTI Crude Future	78.63	78.02

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1911, the Supreme Court upheld the government’s decision to break up John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil on the grounds it was such a powerful monopoly that it violated the “rule of reason”.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.2% at 22,284.76 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.1%.
Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 0.8%.
Orla Mining Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 9.2%.
Today, 122 of 223 shares rose, while 94 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 8.5% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 28% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.8% below its 52-week high on May 10, 2024 and 19.2% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 2.5% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.5 on a trailing basis and 15.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.53t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.45% compared with 9.49% in the previous session and the average of 8.77% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 19.5045| 0.3| 16/11
Information Technology | 16.2839| 1.0| 8/2
Utilities | 10.7646| 1.3| 11/4
Energy | 2.8302| 0.1| 21/19
Real Estate | 2.0792| 0.5| 11/8
Communication Services | 1.8706| 0.3| 2/3
Consumer Staples | 1.0964| 0.1| 3/7
Consumer Discretionary | 0.9441| 0.1| 6/7
Materials | 0.0517| 0.0| 32/16
Health Care | -1.0696| -1.7| 0/3
Industrials | -12.9438| -0.4| 12/14
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
RBC | 11.6100| 0.8| -49.4| 7.1
Shopify | 6.6750| 1.0| -23.7| -22.5
Element Fleet | 4.4640| 7.4| 101.2| 10.7
First Quantum Minerals | -4.6090| -4.8| -7.4| 71.4
Canadian Pacific Kansas | -6.5850| -0.9| -5.3| 4.9
Canadian National | -7.6390| -1.1| 44.2| 2.5
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders sent stocks to all-time highs as bond yields slumped after an inflation slowdown reinforced bets the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates as early as September.
The S&P 500 notched its 23rd record in 2024 as data showed the consumer price index cooled for the first time in six months.
Wall Street’s “fear gauge” — the VIX — sank to the lowest since January.
Treasuries climbed across the US curve.
Fed swaps priced in a faster pace of policy easing this year.
The dollar fell against all of its developed-market peers.
The latest inflation report may offer US policymakers hope that inflation is resuming its downward trend, which would help pave the way for rate cuts.
Separate retail sales data indicated some softening of the resilient consumer demand that’s been bolstering the economy.
“The market likes it,” said Gary Pzegeo at CIBC Private Wealth US. “The news on core inflation was better than expected.
Retail sales also showed some deceleration from the previously hot consumer sector. Taken together, this supports a Fed rate-cut in the fall.”
Most major groups in the S&P 500 advanced, with the gauge up 1.2% and topping 5,300. Nvidia Corp. led a rally in chipmakers.
Homebuilders jumped.
The meme rally that added about $11 billion in value to GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. fizzled out.
In late hours, Cisco Systems Inc. gave a bullish forecast.
Treasury 10-year yields sank 10 basis points to 4.34%. The
Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index hit a one-month low.
“Equity markets continue to show impressive resilience,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide. “The sustainability of the recent rally will rely on the belief that we are heading for a ‘soft landing’ — with easing inflation and moderate growth.”
The so-called core CPI — which excludes food and energy costs — climbed 0.3% from March, snapping a streak of three above-forecast readings which spurred concern that inflation was becoming entrenched.
The year-over-year measure cooled to the slowest pace in three years.
“We see the April print as consistent with a direction of travel for inflation dynamics that – in the context of moderation in the real economy – can yield a September cut followed by a second in December,” said Krishna Guha at Evercore.
To Tom Essaye at The Sevens Report, the data show there’s still work to do on inflation, but most importantly it reminds investors disinflation is still occurring — and that will support stocks.
When taken together with the latest reading on producer prices, the report also bodes well for the Fed’s preferred inflation metric — the personal consumption expenditures price index.
Sonu Varghese at Carson Group says the gauge will likely come in softer than in the first quarter.
To Jason Pride at Glenmede, the CPI data is “a step in the right direction,” but the Fed will need to see several of those steps strung together before getting too excited about imminent rate cuts.
The next CPI figures will be released exactly on the same day when the Fed meets to decide on interest rates — June 12.
The data should begin to shift the narrative back towards “when” the Fed will cut in 2024 rather than “if” they will cut, said Josh Jamner at ClearBridge Investments.
To Chris Zaccarelli at Independent Advisor Alliance, the good news is that CPI hasn’t reaccelerated and the bad news is that consumers seem to be reducing their spending.
A number of weaker-than-estimated data points — from jobs to services and manufacturing — has recently sent the US version of Citigroup’s Economic Surprise Index to the lowest since January 2023.
The gauge measures the difference between actual releases and analyst expectations.
“Investors cheer rate cuts, neglect potential downturn,” said Jose Torres at Interactive Brokers.
Seema Shah at Principal Asset Management notes that cooling consumer spending is good, but if that transitions into a deeper slowdown, it could herald some economic problems that markets would not welcome.
“Both inflation and consumer spending appear to be cooling off, but at least so far, nothing in the data suggests that the economy is heading for a hard landing,” Brian Rose at UBS Global Wealth Management noted. “We maintain our view that the Fed will start cutting rates in September, and this should lead to lower bond yields by year-end.”
Following the report, swap markets are now pricing about two quarter-point Fed cuts by the end of 2024.
Wall Street also pared its expectations for inflation.
The five-year breakeven rate, which tracks yield differences between Treasuries and inflation-linked bonds, tumbled to the lowest since February.
Though markets appeared relieved that the closely-watched inflation data did not show a larger than expected increase, the data is still worrying since the US will need a more substantial deceleration in the prices of consumer goods before it considers easing policy,” said Tiffany Wilding at Pacific Investment Management Co.
“The data does not change our expectations that the Federal Reserve will delay rate cuts until it sees more sustained deceleration in inflation, which means in 2024 there’s a possibility that policy makers keep rates on hold,” she said.
Fed Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari repeated the central bank likely needs to keep rates at the current level for “a while longer,” and questioned how much they’re restraining the US economy.
A team led by Bank of America Corp.’s Michael Gapen is retaining its call for the first cut to be in December.
“We think inflation data will have to slow much more or the labor market data needs to weaken to really bring a September cut into play,” they wrote.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell recently described the labor market as “very strong” with signs of gradual cooling and re-balancing, in part driven by an increase in labor supply from immigration as well as an easing in demand. Powell also described current policy as restrictive by “many, many measures” but noted time will tell whether rates are sufficiently high to bring inflation back to the central bank’s 2% goal.
“One month does not a trend make, but the trend of moderating inflation and slowing in consumer spending is favorable for risk assets,” said George Mateyo at Key Wealth.
“All eyes will shift next to the labor market, which will likely set the course for the Fed in the weeks ahead.”
Inflation will continue to cool in the second quarter as lower energy prices feed into both headline and core inflation, said Jay Hatfield at Infrastructure Capital Advisors.
“We continue to believe that our 5,750 targets on the S&P will prove to be conservative as global rate cuts and AI propel global stock and bond markets higher after global cuts commence, with the ECB to act in early June,” he noted.
History reminds — but does not guarantee — that the S&P 500’s new high this year concludes the 62nd pullback (-5% to -9.9%) since World War II, according to Sam Stovall at CFRA.
That would open the door to a 5% to 10% advance over the coming three plus months — before the benchmark gauge endures another decline of more than 5%, he noted.
With the S&P 500 Index setting all-time highs, BMO Capital Markets is predicting even more gains through the end of 2024.
Brian Belski, the firm’s chief investment strategist, lifted his year-end forecast on the US equity benchmark to 5,600, the highest among Wall Street soothsayers tracked by Bloomberg.
The upgrade comes just two months shy of Belski reiterating his call for a drop to 5,100 on concern that the stock market had run up too far, too fast.
“It has become clear to us that we underestimated the strength of the market momentum,” he admitted Wednesday in a note to clients.

More Comments:
* Quincy Krosby at LPL Financial:
The Fed will certainly need a series of cooler reports for adjusting its rate easing timetable, but the CPI report suggests that the path towards 2% is a bit less bumpy.
* Cayla Seder at State Street:
This should be supportive of risk assets here. With that said, we’re not entirely out of the woods. We’ll likely need to see a continuation in data readings like today, but this could be the start of that trend.
* George Mateyo at Key Wealth:
One month does not a trend make, but the trend of moderating inflation and slowing in consumer spending is favorable for risk assets. All eyes will shift next to the labor market, which will likely set the course for the Fed in the weeks ahead.
* Chris Larkin at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley:
No upside surprise this time. Today’s cooler CPI and retail sales data may make investors more hopeful the Fed will get in a cut or two before the clock runs out on 2024.
* Skyler Weinand at Regan Capital:
We’re still a far cry from the Fed’s desired 2% inflation level and the economy remains strong, so we’ll need a few more weak inflation prints to give the Fed the green light on lowering rates.
* Richard Flynn at Charles Schwab UK:
Although this will offer reassurance to markets after an unwelcome uptick in CPI figures last month, the figures are unlikely to prompt an imminent change in interest rates.
Patience has been the Fed’s core message lately. In the meantime, we watch and wait.

Corporate Highlights:
* Boeing Co. faces possible criminal prosecution after the US Justice Department found the company violated a deferred- prosecution agreement tied to two fatal crashes half a decade ago, intensifying the crisis engulfing the embattled US planemaker.
* Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger said marketing expenses at the flagship Disney+ streaming service are too high and will be cut as the company seeks to make a profit in that business by the end of its fiscal year.
* Netflix Inc. will air two National Football League games this Christmas Day, in the streaming TV giant’s latest push into live events.
* Shareholders in BHP Group Ltd. and takeover target Anglo American Plc expect the world’s largest miner to come back with a third and improved proposal before a regulatory deadline next week, even after the smaller company laid out a bold restructuring plan of its own.
* The chances of Deutsche Bank AG carrying out a second share buyback this year have become slimmer, the German lender told investors just before its annual general meeting.
* Burberry Group Plc warned of a challenging first half after the British maker of pricey trench coats reported tumbling sales on weak demand in China and the US.

Key events this week:
* Japan GDP, industrial production, Thursday
* US housing starts, initial jobless claims, industrial production, Thursday
* Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker speaks, Thursday
* Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester speaks, Thursday
* Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks, Thursday
* China property prices, retail sales, industrial production, Friday
* Eurozone CPI, Friday
* US Conf. Board leading index, Friday

–With assistance from Natalia Kniazhevich, Alexandra Semenova
and Augusta Saraiva.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. -Kahlil Gibran, 1883-1931.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On May 14, 1948, the independent state of Israel was proclaimed as British rule in Palestine came to an end. Go to article >>.

Thomas Gainsborough, artist, b. 1727.dCate Blanchett, b. 1969

‘Extreme’ geomagnetic storm that painted Earth with auroras this weekend was the most powerful in 21 years
Between Friday and Sunday, people across the world were treated to stunning aurora displays as Earth’s magnetic field experienced its biggest disturbance since October 2003. Read More.

Sketchy stem-cell treatments in Mexico led to drug-resistant infections.
Three U.S. hospital patients contracted drug-resistant infections in Mexico in 2022 and were still being treated as of March 2024. Full Story: Live Science (5/14)

China creates its largest ever quantum computing chip — and it could be key to building the nation’s own ‘quantum cloud’
China’s supersized superconducting chip looks to match the performance of industry leaders like IBM and will be used to help scale up the performance of quantum computers globally. Read More.

Meghan visited Nigeria as a duchess and left an African princess
Learn about Harry and Meghan’s visit to Nigeria, where the Duchess of Sussex explored her Nigerian ancestry after discovering several years ago that she is 43% Nigerian through a genealogy test.

Scientists say they’ve discovered a ‘phonetic alphabet’ in whale calls.
Researchers have identified previously unknown complexity in whale communication with the help of artificial intelligence — although what the whales are saying remains a mystery to human ears.

2024 WNBA season: How to watch as a new era of women’s basketball dawns
Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s highly anticipated WNBA season, which begins today.

RIP David Sanborn
An influential saxophonist who found success across pop, R&B, jazz and more, died Sunday. He was 78. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018, but continued performing until recently. During the six-time Grammy Award winner’s career, he played with the Rolling Stones and toured with Stevie Wonder and David Bowie.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Java, Indonesia
Mount Merapi spews lava down its slopes
Photograph: Devi Rahman/AFP/Getty Images

London, England
Gucci transformed Tate Modern into a jungle for its cruise collection
Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

​​​​​​​The village of Debrad in Slovakia
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty
Market Closes for May 14^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39558.11	+126.60
		+0.32%
S&P 500	5246.68	+25.26
		+0.48%
NASDAQ	16511.18	+122.94
		+0.75%
TSX	22243.34	-15.83
		-0.07%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38356.06	+176.60
		+0.46%
HANG SENG	19073.71	-41.35
		-0.22%
SENSEX	73104.61	+328.48
		+0.45%
FTSE 100*	8428.13	+13.14
		+0.16%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.685	3.683
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.540	3.533
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.4394	4.4865
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.5855	4.6289

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7324	0.7314
US $	1.3653	1.3672

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4768	0.6771
US $	1.0818	0.9244

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2343.80	2343.80
Oil
WTI Crude Future	78.02	78.26

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1997: Amazon went public on the Nasdaq, offering 3 million shares at an initial price of $18 per share.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite declined slightly to 22,243.34 in Toronto.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.4%.
GFL Environmental Inc. had the largest drop, falling 3.6%.
Today, 110 of 223 shares fell, while 107 rose; 6 of 11
sectors were lower, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 8.9% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 27% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1% below its 52-week high on May 10, 2024 and 19% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 1.6% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.5 on a trailing basis and 15.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.53t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 9.49% compared with 9.49% in the previous session and the average of 8.74% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | -34.1606| -0.8| 16/22
Industrials | -17.9217| -0.6| 7/20
Information Technology | -15.9400| -1.0| 5/5
Utilities | -4.3427| -0.5| 2/13
Financials | -3.6676| -0.1| 8/18
Real Estate | -1.0362| -0.2| 5/14
Consumer Discretionary | 0.4370| 0.1| 5/8
Health Care | 0.8319| 1.3| 2/1
Communication Services | 4.7047| 0.7| 5/0
Consumer Staples | 6.0370| 0.7| 9/2
Materials | 49.2410| 1.8| 43/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | -9.3790| -1.4| -14.9| -23.2
Constellation Software | -8.8010| -1.7| 15.3| 10.9
Canadian Pacific Kansas | -8.0200| -1.1| -46.0| 5.8
Teck Resources | 4.5560| 2.0| -12.1| 28.0
First Quantum Minerals | 7.7310| 8.7| -2.7| 80.0
Brookfield Corp | 8.0030| 1.3| -26.0| 14.6
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A rally in big tech drove stocks close to their all-time highs as bond yields fell, with investors awaiting key inflation data for clues on the Federal Reserve’s next steps.
In the run-up to the consumer price index, Wall Street shrugged off a mixed reading on producer inflation and Jerome Powell’s signals that interest rates will be higher for longer.
The S&P 500 traded just a few points away from its record, with Tesla Inc. and Nvidia Corp. leading gains in the “Magnificent Seven” cohort of mega caps. Meme-stock traders once again piled into GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc.
Underlying US inflation probably moderated in April for the first time in six months, offering a ray of hope that price pressures will start to ease again.
Compared with April 2023, the core CPI is projected to rise 3.6%.
While the annual increase would be the smallest in three years, it would still be too high to warrant rate cuts.
A survey conducted by 22V Research showed 49% of investors expect the market reaction to the CPI report to be “risk-on” —while only 27% said “risk-off.”
“Investors are expecting inflation to fall in April,” said Anthony Saglimbene at Ameriprise.
“Even if the decline is slight, markets are looking for further evidence that the downward trend in inflation remains intact and, importantly, is not in the process of reversing course higher.”
The S&P 500 rose to around 5,247. The gauge would need to top the March 28 closing level of 5,254.35 to notch its 23^rd record in 2024.
Treasury 10-year yields fell four basis points to 4.44%.
US producer prices rose in April by more than projected, though key components that feed into the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge were more muted.
Several categories in the PPI report that are used to calculate the personal consumption expenditures price index eased.
“A more granular look suggests the components that feed into PCE inflation sent mixed signals,” said Krishna Guha at Evercore. “This means that the burden largely remains on CPI.”
The options market is betting that the S&P 500 will move 1% in either direction after Wednesday’s report on consumer prices, based on the price of that day’s at-the-money straddles, according to Andrew Tyler, head of US market Intelligence at
JPMorgan Chase’s trading desk.
“We believe that the stock market will move higher throughout the year on strong corporate profits and consumer spending, but volatility is likely to spike in the meantime, because the inflation data is going to keep the Fed on edge,” said Chris Zaccarelli at Independent Advisor Alliance.
The S&P 500 is unlikely to deliver any more gains from now through the end of the year, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s David Kostin.
The firm’s chief US equity strategist reiterated his 2024 price target on the benchmark of 5,200 in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday.
“The probability of a multiple expansion, while possible, is less probable,” Kostin said.
Wagers on rate cuts have sent investor optimism to a two-and-a-half-year high, but stocks will suffer if evidence of “stagflation” materializes, according to Bank of America Corp. strategist Michael Hartnett.
According to BofA’s global poll, a majority of fund managers see the Fed cutting rates in the second half of 2024.
That has lifted sentiment — derived from a combination of cash levels, equity allocation and economic growth expectations — to the highest since November 2021.
Within that mix, however, the outlook for economic growth and corporate profits has deteriorated for the first time this year, the survey showed.
A separate note showed BofA clients were net sellers of US equities last week, though outflows were chiefly led by institutional clients as hedge funds and mom-and-pop investors bought shares.
Meantime, Commodity Trading Advisors increased their exposure to stocks last week and are expected to continue buying this week regardless of the direction taken by the broader market, according to Goldman Sachs.
Equity derivatives and flows specialist Cullen Morgan estimates that CTAs are long $148 billion of global equities, the 92nd percentile, after buying the equivalent of $30 billion last week.

Corporate Highlights:
* Oracle Corp. climbed after the Information reported the company is close to a deal for a $10 billion cloud contract with Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI.
* Alphabet Inc.’s Google said it’s rolling out a version of its ubiquitous search engine that includes responses written by artificial intelligence, in one of the most significant overhauls since the iconic gateway to the internet was founded decades ago.
* Boeing Co. delivered 24 commercial jets in April, its lowest monthly tally since February 2022, as the plane maker slowed production of its workhorse 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner widebody to focus on improving quality.
* Home Depot Inc.’s string of negative sales extended into a sixth straight quarter as the big-box retailer struggles to overcome a weak housing market and lower demand for big-ticket items.
* Tencent Holdings Ltd. reported a far better-than-projected 62% surge in earnings while rival Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s profit plunged, highlighting the growing divergence between China’s twin internet powerhouses during a rocky post-Covid recovery.
* Comcast Corp. will offer customers a streaming bundle that includes Apple TV+, Netflix and its own Peacock service as it tries to reduce subscriber churn, Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts said Tuesday at an investor conference.
* Hydrogen producer Plug Power Inc. surged after the Biden administration offered the US company a conditional commitment for $1.66 billion in loan guarantees to build up to six facilities.
* Verizon Communications Inc. is interested in buying back US Cellular Corp.’s stake in its Los Angeles business if the companies can agree on a reasonable price, the chief of Verizon’s consumer division said.

Key events this week:
* China rate decision, Wednesday
* Eurozone industrial production, GDP, Wednesday
* US CPI, retail sales, business inventories, empire manufacturing, Wednesday
* Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari speaks, Wednesday
* Japan GDP, industrial production, Thursday
* US housing starts, initial jobless claims, industrial production, Thursday
* Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker speaks, Thursday
* Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester speaks, Thursday
* Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks, Thursday
* China property prices, retail sales, industrial production, Friday
* Eurozone CPI, Friday
* US Conf. Board leading index, Friday

–With assistance from Carly Wanna, Julien Ponthus and Sagarika
Jaisinghani.

Have  a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone. –Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811-1896.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Monday.

May 13, 1950: The first Formula One World Championship season kicks off.
May 13, 2002: Jimmy Carter became the first present or former U.S. president to visit Cuba since Fidel Castro seized power in 1959. Go to article >>

Stevie Wonder, b.1950.

“Frasier,” the television sitcom set in Seattle but filmed in Los Angeles, in 2004 airs its last show after an 11-year run. The show debuts in 1993, just as Seattle is beginning to receive notoriety for grunge music, its coffee, and its dot-com business boom. Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) portrays a call-in psychiatrist at a fictitious radio station. The view from Frasier’s ritzy condo looks over a compressed downtown with an impossible view of the Space Needle. (Compiled from HistoryLink.org)

Papua New Guineans, genetically isolated for 50,000 years, carry Denisovan genes that help their immune system, study suggests
Genes inherited from Denisovans, extinct human relatives, may help Papua New Guineans in the lowlands fight off infection, while mutations to red blood cells may help highlanders live at altitude. Read More.

Stone with 1,600-year-old Irish inscription found in English garden
Investigations show the stone is inscribed with a message in ogham, an Irish alphabet used from the fourth century A.D.. Read More.

Earth from space: Majestic ‘yin-yang’ crater sits atop a dormant volcano in Turkey
The massive caldera of Turkey’s Mount Nemrut volcano is split in half, with one side made of solidified lava flows and the other half a deep crater lake. Covered in snow, the summit scene looks like the yin-yang symbol when viewed from above. Read More.

James Webb telescope detects 1-of-a-kind atmosphere around ‘Hell Planet’ in distant star system
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists have discovered evidence of a carbon-rich atmosphere around the hellish world 55 Cancri e. This marks the best evidence yet of an atmosphere around a rocky exoplanet.
Read More.

Meta just stuck its AI somewhere you didn’t expect it — a pair of Ray-Ban smart glasses
Ray-Ban smart glasses will now use Meta AI virtual assistant software so that wearers can speak with their smart glasses and ask questions about what they’re looking at. Read More.

The iconic Porsche 911 is going hybrid
A hybrid model of Porsche’s signature model, with its gas engine assisted by at least one battery-powered electric motor, will officially be revealed in an online event later this month.

Hear Jerry Seinfeld’s advice to 2024 grads
The comedian was Duke University’s 2024 commencement speaker, offering graduates some unconventional advice.

Auroras light the sky during rare solar storm
See the dazzling Auroras created around the globe by a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections from the sun.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Soberania national park, Panama
A keel-billed toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus) pictured on Global Big Day 2024, a worldwide birdwatching event
Photograph: Bienvenido Velasco/EPA

I think I saw a mouse
Photograph: Debby Thomas/Comedy Pet Awards 2024

​​​​​​​Las Vegas, Nevada
The aurora borealis lights up the night sky over the desert
Photograph: David Becker/Zuma Press/Rex/Shutterstock
Market Closes for May 13^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39431.51	-81.33
		-0.21%
S&P 500	5221.42	-1.26
		-0.02%
NASDAQ	16388.24	+47.37
		+0.29%
TSX	22259.17	-49.76
		-0.22%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38179.46	-49.65
		-0.13%
HANG SENG	19115.06	+151.38
		+0.80%
SENSEX	72776.13	+111
		+0.15%
FTSE 100*	8414.99	-18.77
		-0.22%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.683	3.696
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.533	3.552
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.4865	4.4963
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.6289	4.6386

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7314	0.7318
US $	1.3672	1.3665

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4749	0.6780
US $	1.0787	0.9270

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2343.80	2372.45
Oil
WTI Crude Future	78.26	79.26

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1999, Barbie went high-tech in one of the most disastrous deals in modern history. Toy company Mattel acquired The Learning Co., a maker of educational software, for $3.51 billion. After 16 months and $342 million in restructuring charges, Mattel sold it on to Gores Technology Group for no cash up front, assumption of debt and a percentage of future profits, bringing the total loss to about $4 billion.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.2%, or 49.76 to 22,259.17 in Toronto.
Cameco Corp. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.8%.
Torex Gold Resources Inc. had the largest drop, falling 5.0%.
Today, 123 of 223 shares fell, while 96 rose; 7 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 9% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 26% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.9% below its 52-week high on May 10, 2024 and 19.1% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is unchanged in the past 5 days and rose 1.6% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.6 on a trailing basis and 15.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.54t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.49% compared with 9.59% in the previous session and the average of 8.70% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -23.1009| -0.8| 10/39
Industrials | -13.3472| -0.4| 13/13
Energy | -12.3356| -0.3| 21/20
Information Technology | -7.7606| -0.5| 4/6
Utilities | -3.5162| -0.4| 7/7
Consumer Staples | -1.6328| -0.2| 6/5
Real Estate | -0.6219| -0.1| 12/8
Health Care | 0.7247| 1.2| 2/2
Consumer Discretionary | 1.6870| 0.2| 8/5
Communication Services | 2.8629| 0.4| 3/1
Financials | 7.2901| 0.1| 10/17
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Cameco | -8.0180| -3.8| 14.2| 17.2
Canadian Pacific Kansas | -7.6290| -1.0| -49.0| 7.0
Manulife Financial | -5.8110| -1.3| 57.1| 20.0
Sun Life Financial | 3.1080| 1.1| 77.0| 0.8
Dollarama | 4.0720| 1.8| -20.2| 26.1
RBC | 18.7000| 1.4| 2.7| 6.7
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street kicked off the week on a cautious note, with traders positioning for key inflation data that will help shape the outlook for Federal Reserve policy and global financial markets.
Stocks, bonds and the dollar saw small moves just a few days ahead of the key consumer price index.
The gauge is projected to show moderation while still remaining too high to warrant rate cuts. On Monday, a Fed Bank of New York survey highlighted an increase in expectations for inflation.
Some prominent trading desks are warning that investors should gear up for a potential break in the calm that’s come over stocks.
The options market is betting the S&P 500 will move 1% in either direction after Wednesday’s CPI, according to Andrew Tyler at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
“The key risk is a hotter CPI print,” Tyler said. “But upcoming macro data creates a two-tailed risk — with one tied to stronger-than-expected growth fueling inflation concerns and the other being weaker growth fueling either recession or ‘stagflation’ concerns.”
US stocks and bonds are facing upside risk this week as traders keep building long positions, said Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Scott Rubner.
Commodity trading advisors’ equity and fixed-income demand is notable, with a so-called “green sweep” showing up in most of Goldman’s models.
This means investors  will keep piling in even if the market goes down.
The S&P 500 hovered near 5,220. Heavily shorted companies got a lift as GameStop Corp. soared after a cryptic X post from Keith Gill, known as “Roaring Kitty,” who gained notoriety during the 2021 meme-stock frenzy.
US 10-year yields fell one basis point to 4.48%.
The all-important inflation data arrive just as a three-week rally had the S&P 500 knocking on the door of its record highs, noted Chris Larkin at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley.
“An extension of the rally could depend on whether investors still feel positive about rate cuts after this week’s numbers.”
Before Wednesday’s CPI, economists will parse producer prices data on Tuesday to assess the impact of categories that feed into the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures price index.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is also scheduled to speak Tuesday.
“Squeeze risks for rate-sensitive laggards on a CPI miss outweigh downside risks on a CPI beat,” said Ohsung Kwon at Bank of America Corp.
“With further hikes ruled out, we think equities may be able to tolerate higher inflation. An in-line print should also be net positive, removing the inflation overhang at least in the near term.”
Stalled-out progress on inflation is probably going to trigger a decline in US equities in the coming months, according to Stifel Nicolaus & Co.’s Barry Bannister.
The S&P 500 will likely drop roughly 10% in the second or third quarter to around 4,750, he noted.
A “merely in-line” US inflation report this week “would likely be enough for further risk-asset gains,” according to HSBC strategists led by Duncan Toms.
The stock market “setup” has left it at a critical juncture, according to Matt Maley at Miller Tabak + Co.
The fact that equities saw a material decline in April, followed by a nice bounce leaves them vulnerable to a “double top” — which is one of the most-bearish signals in technical analysis.
“If this week’s inflation data creates a substantial reversal, it’s going to be a very negative development,” Maley said. “If, however, this week’s data creates a further rally — one that pushes the major indices meaningfully above their 2024 highs — it’s going to be extremely bullish.”
If recent hot prints prove to be a blip in a disinflationary process, one or two cuts starting in the fall may be reasonable, according to Jason Pride and Michael Reynolds at Glenmede.  
But that timeline may undergo further revisions if inflation stays sticky, they say.
It’s difficult to justify buying stocks now due to elevated interest rates, weakening growth and meager potential returns, according to JPMorgan’s Marko Kolanovic.
“We don’t see enough of a return to warrant taking on equity risk at this juncture,” he noted.
“The macro outlook is uncertain and for equities, we are entering into a seasonally tricky time of the year, with a challenging combination of inflation at risk of staying too high, profit margin pressures, and elevated positioning.”
Lofty US equity valuations suggest investors have already priced in a lot of stock market enthusiasm, but that doesn’t mean they should start selling, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
The S&P 500 already is higher than Goldman’s year-end target of 5,200, but the fundamental backdrop for share prices remains “very good,” Ben Snider, senior strategist on Goldman’s US portfolio strategy team, said in an interview. He’s optimistic about stocks down the road because of strong earnings from US companies and confidence in the path of disinflation.
Investors ready to trim or ditch their stock exposure because they are worried the S&P 500 is losing steam after a double-digit run up since October should look to history for reasons to stay committed to their US equity allocations.
Since the 1930s, missing out on the 10 best days per decade for the benchmark would have yielded a 66% gain — a fraction of the roughly 23,000% return staying invested through those days would have generated, according to data from Bank of America Corp.
More importantly, those best days have come after the worst days for stocks, when selling was likely most tempting, the bank’s analysis showed.
In a week that also sees the release of retail sales, guidance from giants Walmart Inc. and Home Depot Inc. will provide some insight into consumer sentiment amid signs of rising joblessness.
Historically, consumer confidence has moved inversely to the two-year/10-year US Treasury yield spread, according to Lisa Shalett at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.
“With curves likely to steepen when rate cuts start, which we forecast by September, it’s unclear whether consumers will view good news as good news or whether cuts will come too late — when consumer moods have worsened as excess savings have been depleted and when a recoupling of the relationship indicates recession, not a soft landing,” she noted.
Still, analysts are ratcheting up earnings forecasts for the current quarter at the swiftest pace in two years, suggesting that the worst of Corporate America’s profit slump may be firmly in the rear-view mirror.
With nearly 90% of S&P 500 companies having reported for this earnings season, upbeat first-quarter results have pushed Wall Street to boost profit projections for the three months through June, Bloomberg Intelligence data show.

Corporate Highlights:
* Apple Inc. has closed in on an agreement with OpenAI to use the startup’s technology on the iPhone, part of a broader push to bring artificial intelligence features to its devices, according to people familiar with the matter.
* Intel Corp. is in advanced talks with Apollo Global Management over a deal that would have the investment firm providing more than $11 billion in funding for a chip manufacturing plant in Ireland, the Wall Street Journal said.
* Johnson & Johnson sold $4 billion of bonds to help finance its $13.1 billion acquisition of Shockwave Medical Inc., the latest blue-chip firm to seize on thriving debt markets to fund purchases.
* Nasdaq Inc. is considering a sale of Solovis, a provider of portfolio-management software and services, as the exchange operator seeks to slim down following its largest-ever acquisition, according to people familiar with the matter.
* Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. is reaching out to potential buyers of the £7 billion ($8.8 billion) Boots drugstore chain in the UK, according to people familiar with the matter.
* UBS Group AG Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti said that he intends to stay at the helm of the Swiss bank until the task of absorbing Credit Suisse is complete, meaning his second stint leading the global wealth manager could stretch to almost four years.
* Anglo American Plc rejected a second approach from BHP Group that valued the miner at $43 billion, as pressure builds on the 107-year old company to lay out a compelling vision to survive on its own.

Key events this week:
* Germany CPI, ZEW survey expectations, Tuesday
* Bank of England Economist Huw Pill speaks, Tuesday
* US PPI, Tuesday
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell and ECB Governing Council member Klaas Knot speak, Tuesday
* China rate decision, Wednesday
* Eurozone industrial production, GDP, Wednesday
* US CPI, retail sales, business inventories, empire manufacturing, Wednesday
* Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari speaks, Wednesday
* Japan GDP, industrial production, Thursday
* US housing starts, initial jobless claims, industrial production, Thursday
* Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker speaks, Thursday
* Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester speaks, Thursday
* Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks, Thursday
* China property prices, retail sales, industrial production, Friday
* Eurozone CPI, Friday
* US Conf. Board leading index, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%
* The MSCI World index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.0789
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.2555
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 156.22 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 3.1% to $63,160.48
* Ether rose 1.1% to $2,955.24
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.48%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.51%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.17%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.2% to $79.22 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 1% to $2,337.33 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Jessica Menton, Alexandra Semenova, Natalia Kniazhevich, Vince Golle and Craig Stirling.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple – that’s creativity. –Charles Mingus, 1922-1979.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
Carolann is away from the office for a conference, I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

May 10, 1877: US President Rutherford B. Hayes has 1st White House telephone installed, in the telegraph room.

NASA details plan to build a levitating robot train on the moon
NASA’s plan to build a train track on the moon is part of the agency’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program, which aims to develop “science fiction-like” projects for future space exploration. Read more.

Cosmic ‘superbubbles’ might be throwing entire galaxies into chaos, theoretical study hints
When there are multiple supernovas in the same galaxy, they can leave enormous voids that tamper with the balance between dark matter and regular matter. Over time, this can throw entire galaxies into chaos.

Collapse of Earth’s magnetic field may have fueled evolution of life 600 million years ago
The planet’s magnetic field may have collapsed around 600 million years ago, enabling a major oxygenation event and perhaps supercharging evolution. Read more.

New invention transforms any smartphone or TV display into a holographic projector
Scientists have developed a method for creating 3D holograms using “incoherent light” emitted from mobile devices — turning iPhone 14 Pro into a projector. Read more.

Elephants use ear flaps, rumbles, trunk reaches and other forms of communication to greet peers, new research suggests. Read more.

Lab-made universal blood could revolutionize transfusions. Scientists just got one step closer to making it.
Enzymes produced by gut bacteria can remove long sugar chains in type A and B blood, leading to improved compatibility with type O. Using gut bacteria, scientists have come one step closer to “universal” donor blood, where any blood type can donate to any other.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Dunhuang, China
Tourists riding camels visit Mingsha Mountain And Crescent Spring during the May Day holiday in Dunhuang
Photograph: Zhang Xiaoliang/VCG/Getty Images

Tandem surfing … a pair of bottlenose dolphins jump out of the sea at New Quay Bay in west Wales, UK.
Photograph: Sarah Michelle Wyer/pictureexclusive.com

​​​​​​​Marseille, France
Fireworks go off after the French 19th-century three-masted barque Belem arrived at the Vieux-Port during the Olympic Flame ceremony ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Marseille
Photograph: Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for May 10^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39512.84	+125.08
		+0.32%
S&P 500	5222.68	+8.60
		+0.16%
NASDAQ	16340.87	-5.39
		-0.03%
TSX	22308.93	-66.90
		-0.30%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38229.11	+155.13
		+0.41%
HANG SENG	18963.68	+425.87
		+2.30%
SENSEX	72664.47	+260.30
		+0.36%
FTSE 100*	8433.76	+52.41
		+0.63%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.696	3.626
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.552	3.506
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.4963	4.4570
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.6386	4.6105

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7318	0.7312
US $	1.3665	1.3676

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4730	0.6789
US $	1.0779	0.9277

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2372.45	2309.05
Oil
WTI Crude Future	79.26	78.99

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1965, a young, crew-cut Warren Buffett took control of the decrepit textile maker Berkshire Hathaway, whose shares traded at $18 each. Today Berkshire’s Class A shares trade at $615,835.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.3% at 22,308.93 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 1.3% on April 30 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.5%.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 5.6%.
CI Financial Corp. had the largest drop, falling 12.1%.
Today, 115 of 223 shares fell, while 104 rose; 8 of 11 sectors were lower, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 1.6%, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended Dec. 22
* The index advanced 8.8% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 26% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 19.3% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.6 on a trailing basis and 15.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.55t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.59% compared with 9.54% in the previous session and the average of 8.55% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | -52.9088| -3.1| 3/6
Energy | -26.3706| -0.6| 12/29
Financials | -1.5712| 0.0| 15/12
Communication Services | -1.4580| -0.2| 4/1
Real Estate | -1.0094| -0.2| 8/12
Materials | -0.9185| 0.0| 24/25
Consumer Discretionary | -0.3962| -0.1| 5/8
Health Care | -0.2074| -0.3| 1/3
Utilities | 2.1359| 0.2| 9/5
Industrials | 7.0796| 0.2| 14/12
Consumer Staples | 8.7281| 1.0| 9/2
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | -40.6400| -5.6| 115.9| -21.9
Sun Life Financial | -20.1200| -6.7| 209.3| -0.3
Constellation Software | -12.4900| -2.4| 47.6| 13.7
Manulife Financial | 5.1800| 1.2| 61.2| 21.6
TD Bank | 7.6970| 0.8| -10.4| -9.6
Enbridge | 7.8800| 1.0| 9.4| 8.3
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — The stock market struggled to gain much traction after data pointed to an economy that is slowing amid stubborn inflation, posing a challenge to the outlook of Federal Reserve policy.
Equities wavered and bond yields rose following a report that showed US consumer sentiment declined to a six-month low as short-term inflation expectations picked up.
While a slowdown in key sectors has encouraged bets on Fed rate cuts, a chorus of officials continued to echo the higher-for-longer mantra as they try to bring inflation back to the 2% target.
“The Fed is walking a tightrope as they balance both mandates of price stability and growth,” said Jeff Roach at LPL Financial. “Although it’s not our base case, we do see rising risks of ‘stagflation’ — a concern markets will have to deal with.”
The S&P 500 hovered near 5,220, while notching its third straight week of gains — the longest winning run since February.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose for an eighth straight session.
Treasury 10-year yields advanced five basis points to 4.50%.
Fed swaps showed traders have fully priced in a rate cut by November, and a second reduction by the January meeting.
Although inflation data has overshadowed most other reports this year, it’s important to remember that consumer spending is the main pillar that has been holding up the economy, according to Chris Zaccarelli at Independent Advisor Alliance.
“Today’s lower-than-expected consumer sentiment numbers are a warning sign that the consumer shouldn’t be taken for granted,” he noted. “In addition, inflation expectations have been rising as well — which is a double whammy for the Fed.”
Zaccarelli also noted that if spending slows down and inflation increases, “we’ll get the opposite of the Goldilocks scenario that many were hoping for.”
In such case, the Fed would be in “an especially difficult position of choosing between accommodating a slowing economy and fighting increasing inflation expectations,” he concluded.
Fed Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan noted it’s still too early to think about lowering borrowing costs, while Governor Michelle Bowman said she doesn’t expect it will be appropriate for the Fed to cut interest rates in 2024.
Meantime, Fed Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said he doesn’t think inflation is stuck above the target despite recent data showing price pressures picked up at the start of the year.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell, speaking after the central bank’s April 30-May 1 meeting, said policymakers would likely keep rates high for some time. He also said he didn’t see “stagflation” regarding growth or inflation.
A litany of weaker-than-estimated data points — from jobs to services and manufacturing — has sent the US version of Citigroup’s Economic Surprise Index to the lowest since January 2023.
The gauge measures the difference between actual releases and analyst expectations.
“Economic growth slowed sharply in the first quarter and will likely be slow in the rest of 2024, too,” said Bill Adams at Comerica Bank. “Financial markets still expect the Fed to start cutting rates by year-end, with two quarter-percentage- point cuts more likely than one.”
Among the several aspects of Friday’s consumer sentiment report, Peter Boockvar also cited the fact that the higher-for-longer interest rate situation has led to a plunge in buying conditions for big-ticket items.
“I said a few years ago when the Fed was aggressively raising interest rates that I was more worried about a death by a thousand cuts economic response, rather than a big immediate economic event/decline, and I’m sticking to that,” said the author of The Boock Report.
“This sure feels much more like a 1.5% type economy rather than the 3%-ish that some think we’re still in,” he added.
To Don Rissmiller at Strategas, some central banks like the Fed have taken a more hawkish tone as both growth and inflation data have been choppy.
“Any confirmation of a wobble in the US labor market will likely tip the scale to rate cuts in short order,” he noted. “We would expect to hear more talk of the Fed’s dual mandate to justify such a pivot.”
Looking ahead, traders will be focused on Powell’s remarks during an event on Tuesday and a deluge of economic reports — with the highlight being the consumer price index on Wednesday.
“We see the balance of risks around the CPI print tilted slightly bullish rates,” said Bank of America Corp. strategists including Mark Cabana.
Real rates look attractive as carry remains positive through October, but choppy markets may keep investors on the sidelines, according to Gennadiy Goldberg and Oscar Munoz at TD Securities.
“We expect gradually moderating growth and inflation data to continue pushing rates lower in late-2024 as we look for the Fed to start easing in September,” they noted.

Corporate Highlights:
* McDonald’s Corp. is looking to launch a $5 meal deal in the US that the burger chain is betting can lure penny-pinching consumers back in.
* Target Corp. won’t sell LGBTQ-themed merchandise in some stores during Pride Month in June, after a backlash dented revenue last year.
* Novavax Inc. signed a $1.2 billion licensing agreement with Sanofi that includes commercializing a combined Covid-19 and flu shot.
* US regulators’ decision on whether to approve Moderna Inc.’s vaccine for RSV has been delayed due to “administrative constraints” at the Food and Drug Administration, as the company works to get its second product to market.
* 3M Co. was raised to buy at HSBC, which noted the company’s earnings showed nascent signs of an “inflection in growth and margin gains from restructuring” at the manufacturing giant.
* Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. saw April sales jump 60% as sustained artificial-intelligence demand was helped by the beginnings of a recovery in consumer electronics.
* Sweetgreen Inc.’s shares surged after the salad chain increased its annual sales projection and showed improved profitability as it seeks to expand its footprint.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.0772
* The British pound was little changed at $1.2527
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 155.78 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 3.3% to $60,598.01
* Ether fell 4.1% to $2,898.26
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 4.50%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.52%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.17%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.2% to $78.33 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.7% to $2,363.83 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shabnam
“ Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.”– John W Gardner

Shabnam Mohammadpourmarzbali
Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff
Queensbury Securities Inc.

340A – 730 View Street
Victoria BC  V8W 3Y7
Tel: 778-430-5851
Fax: 778-430-5828

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Carolann is away from the office for a conference, I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

May 9, 1502: Christopher Columbus leaves Cádiz, Spain, on his fourth and final trip to the New World

65 million-year-old cow relative looked like a chinchilla and weighed only a pound
Militocodon lydae, a mammal that looked like a chinchilla but is more closely related cows, roamed what is now Colorado after the nonavian dinosaurs went extinct.

Remains of vast 7,000-year-old farming settlement found in a ‘huge void’ in Serbia
Archaeologists discovered a previously unknown Neolithic settlement in Serbia and then fully mapped the “exceptional” site.

James Webb telescope measures the starlight around the universe’s biggest, oldest black holes for 1st time ever
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have separated the light of a quasar from the light of its surrounding stars, offering unprecedented insight into how the universe’s oldest black holes grew.

New mRNA vaccine for deadly brain cancer triggers a strong immune response
COVID-19 vaccine development paves way to a new class of cancer immunotherapy. For the first time, scientists have tested a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine in a patient with a deadly form of brain cancer — and it triggered a strong immune response.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Trat, Thailand
Pink skunk clownfish hide among the pale white stinging tentacles of a bleached sea anemone in a reef affected by coral bleaching from high water temperature. Extreme heat has driven Thai sea temperatures to record highs, causing severe damage to marine ecosystems
Photograph: Sirachai Arunrugstichai/Getty Images

Moscow, Russia
Service members march in columns past an honour guard during a military parade on Victory Day, which marks the 79th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in the second world war
Photograph: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

​​​​​​​Singapore
A visitor takes a photo of an art installation titled Moss wall by Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson during a preview of his exhibition, Olafur Eliasson: Your curious journey, at the Singapore Art Museum
Photograph: How Hwee Young/EPA
Market Closes for May 9^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39387.76	+331.37
		+0.85%
S&P 500	5214.08	+26.41
		+0.51%
NASDAQ	16346.27	+43.51
		+0.27%
TSX	22375.83	+116.67
		+0.52%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38073.98	-128.39
		-0.34%
HANG SENG	18537.81	+223.95
		+1.22%
SENSEX	72404.17	-1062.22
		-1.45%
FTSE 100*	8381.35	+27.30
		+0.33%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.626	3.630
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.506	3.512
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.4570	4.4937
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.6105	4.6390

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7312	0.7286
US $	1.3676	1.3725

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4746	0.6782
US $	1.0782	0.9275

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2309.05	2319.60
Oil
WTI Crude Future	78.99	78.99

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1929, the forerunner of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange was established, just in time to suffer through the worst depression in modern history.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.5% at 22,375.83 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.1%.
Manulife Financial Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.7%.
Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 11.1%.
Today, 129 of 223 shares rose, while 91 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 2%, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended Nov. 17
* The index advanced 8.7% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 26% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 19.7% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.5% in the past 5 days and was little changed in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.6 on a trailing basis and 15.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.54t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.54% compared with 9.45% in the previous session and the average of 8.45% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 57.6555| 2.1| 38/12
Financials | 38.5968| 0.6| 14/12
Energy | 25.5716| 0.6| 25/16
Utilities | 5.1190| 0.6| 11/4
Industrials | 2.5424| 0.1| 13/13
Real Estate | 2.1606| 0.5| 11/9
Communication Services | 1.5142| 0.2| 4/1
Health Care | -0.2411| -0.4| 1/2
Consumer Staples | -2.4676| -0.3| 6/5
Consumer Discretionary | -2.4683| -0.3| 3/10
Information Technology | -11.3181| -0.6| 3/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Manulife Financial | 20.0900| 4.7| 37.1| 20.2
Nutrien | 11.9000| 4.5| 10.6| 6.6
Suncor Energy | 11.3700| 2.4| 124.8| 29.4
CGI Inc | -3.8110| -1.9| 7.5| -1.9
Intact Financial | -4.7520| -1.6| 1.8| 12.2
Shopify | -6.5060| -0.9| 10.1| -17.2
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — The stock market climbed to its highest level since early April, extending a rebound that’s been fueled by speculation the Federal Reserve will be able to cut interest rates this year.
Equities rose as higher-than-estimated jobless claims reinforced bets on US policy easing — with the market extending gains after a $25 billion sale of 30-year bonds saw good demand.
The S&P 500 topped 5,200 amid below-average volume. The advance in stocks has also been attributed to Commodity Trading Advisors — who surf momentum — being modeled to buy shares this week.
“Our sense is that the rebound has been unloved, largely because economic surprises have turned modestly negative, and we believe this is likely to lead to additional near-term upside,” said Chris Senyek at Wolfe Research. “Looking out to year end,
we expect to remain constructive on the outlook.”
To Doug Ramsey at Leuthold, another 10% gain in the S&P 500 isn’t out of the question, at least statistically.
He analyzed 80 years of data on bull-market rallies, focusing on those that happened when unemployment was this low and the economic cycle this mature.
If the current rally meets the prior records for length and height, the S&P 500 would end the year at 5,705.
The S&P 500 traded less than 1% away from its all-time high.
Apple Inc. climbed as Bloomberg News reported the company will deliver some of its upcoming artificial-intelligence features this year via data centers equipped with its own in-house processors.
Nvidia Corp. led losses in chipmakers.
Treasury 10-year yields declined four basis points to 4.46%.
The pound rose, despite growing confidence the Bank of England can soon begin loosening policy.
A survey conducted by 22V Research shows investors are practically split on the S&P 500’s next 10% move — with 52% betting the benchmark gauge will go higher and 48% seeing a down move.
“To the extent that conviction in the next big move in asset prices remains mixed, expect correlations to remain low and stock picking and micro themes to dominate,” said Dennis DeBusschere, founder of 22V.
When it comes to the Treasury market, 68% of those surveyed by the firm believe the 10-year yield is going to 4% next — while only 32% said 5%.
Senyek at Wolfe Research noted that he’d remain constructive in equities unless the economy shows signs of spilling into recession, or inflation is sticky enough that the market starts to price in a Fed hike.
“Neither are part of our base case!” he said.
Initial applications for US unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level since August, topping estimates.
US policymakers are keeping a close eye on labor demand and wage growth as they debate when it might be appropriate to ease policy.
Fed Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly said rates are currently restraining the economy, but it may take “more time” to return inflation to their goal.
“Time will tell whether it’s a one-off or part of a genuine cooldown in the labor market,” said Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley. “Investors may have adjusted to the idea of the Fed waiting until September to cut interest rates, but that doesn’t mean they’re comfortable waiting indefinitely.”
Blackstone Inc. President Jon Gray said economic growth will slow as stubborn inflation weighs on the Fed’s ability to begin lowering borrowing costs.
“We see a deceleration of growth,” Gray said at the Macquarie Australia Conference in Sydney on Thursday.
“Central banks will be slow on the cutting of rates, because they don’t want to see a rise of inflation,” he said. “The Fed will be patient, they’ll have the opportunity to cut once this year,” he added.
If the economy is slowing, unemployment rising, inflation receding, and the Fed is expected to cut rates, there will be plenty of buyers for US Treasury notes and bonds, according to Joe Kalish at Ned Davis Research.
“But make no mistake. When conditions change, prices can change too – and quickly!”
Kalish noted that the buyers of bonds are now different from the buyers of bonds during the quantitative-easing era.
Currently, buyers are price-sensitive, and the burden has mostly fallen on households, he added.
“There will always be a price to clear the market,” he noted. “So now we are just haggling over the price.”

Corporate Highlights:
* The US Securities and Exchange Commission is scrutinizing statements that Boeing Co. made about its safety practices following a near-tragic January accident aboard one of its 737 Max 9 planes.
* United States Cellular Corp. jumped after a Wall Street Journal report that T-Mobile US Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. are nearing separate deals to buy parts of the telecommunications company.
* Equinix Inc., a real estate investment trust that owns data centers, surged after saying it has “substantially” wrapped up an internal investigation of its accounting, which found that its financial reporting has been accurate.
* Arm Holdings Plc gave a lukewarm revenue forecast for the fiscal year, raising concerns that the tech industry’s artificial intelligence spending spree is slowing.
* Gaming giant Roblox Corp. reported a forecast for bookings that fell short of analysts’ estimates, the latest sign of widespread struggles in the video-game industry.
* Google parent Alphabet Inc. has been progressing in talks to acquire marketing software provider HubSpot Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.
* Airbnb Inc. sank after the home-rental company gave lackluster guidance for a second straight quarter, indicating that growth in travel spending will slow ahead of the peak summer season.
* Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav has ordered his lieutenants to find additional opportunities for cost-cutting in order to hit financial targets for the next couple years, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Key events this week:
* UK industrial production, GDP, Friday
* ECB publishes account of April policy meeting, Friday
* US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday
* Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee speaks, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
* The euro rose 0.3% to $1.0782
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.2523
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 155.44 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 1.4% to $62,439.08
* Ether rose 2.4% to $3,020.35
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.46%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 2.50%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.14%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.8% to $79.61 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1.5% to $2,343.95 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Have a wonderful evening everyone!

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shabnam
“ Genius is eternal patience.”– Michelangelo Di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni

Shabnam Mohammadpourmarzbali
Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff
Queensbury Securities Inc.

340A – 730 View Street
Victoria BC  V8W 3Y7
Tel: 778-430-5851
Fax: 778-430-5828

Dear Friends,

Tangents: VE Day; Victory in Europe Day.
Carolann is away from the office for a conference, I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany’s unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official end of World War II in Europe in the Eastern Front, Read More.
May 8, 1846: First major battle of the Mexican–American War fought at Palo Alto, Texas
May 8, 1886 Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta sells the first Coca-Cola (contained cocaine)
May 8, 1899 Ernest Rutherford publishes his discovery of two different kinds of radiation (Alpha and Beta Particles)

Epic NASA video takes you to the heart of a black hole — and destroys you in seconds
What would it be like to fall past the event horizon of a black hole? A new NASA simulation provides a peek into the bizarre physics of spaghettification.

Japan captures 1st image of space debris from orbit, and it’s spookily stunning
A new Japanese mission to photograph space junk from orbit marks a milestone in orbital debris cleanup efforts.

2,500-year-old Illyrian helmet found in burial mound likely caused ‘awe in the enemy’
Archaeologists excavating a burial mound in Croatia have discovered a 2,500-year-old Illyrian helmet that may have been a votive offering. Read More.

Hoard of 17th-century coins hidden during English Civil War unearthed during kitchen renovation
During a kitchen renovation, a family in England unexpectedly discovered a hoard of coins that was likely buried for safekeeping during the first English Civil War. Read More.

‘A dream come true’: Nuclear clock breakthrough could revolutionize study of the universe’s fundamental forces
By nudging a thorium-229 nucleus into a higher energy state, physicists have made it possible to develop a nuclear clock that could probe the most fundamental forces in physics. However, there is still a long way to go. Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Marseille, France
People on boats accompany the Belem, a three-masted sailing ship, as it arrives into the Old Port carrying the Olympic flame, for the Paris Olympics 2024
Photograph: Benoît Tessier/Reuters

Qiqihar, China
A red-crowned crane guards its chick and egg at Zhalong national nature reserve. The reserve is the world’s largest habitat and reproduction base for the birds with more than 380 bred in captivity being released into the wild
Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock

Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil
Tourists view Iguazú Falls, which are currently at full water capacity due to rainfall
Photograph: Kiko Sierich/Reuters
Market Closes for May 8^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39056.39	+172.13
		+0.44%
S&P 500	5187.67	-0.03
		—
NASDAQ	16302.76	-29.80
		-0.18%
TSX	22259.16	-31.47
		-0.14%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38202.37	-632.73
		-1.63%
HANG SENG	18313.86	-165.51
		-0.90%
SENSEX	73466.39	-45.46
		-0.06%
FTSE 100*	8354.05	+40.38
		+0.49%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.630	3.584
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.512	3.470
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.4937	4.4570
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.6390	4.5974

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7286	0.7281
US $	1.3725	1.3734

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4753	0.6778
US $	1.0750	0.9302

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2319.60	2294.45
Oil
WTI Crude Future	78.99	78.48

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1929, John Clifton Bogle, future founder of the Vanguard Group of Investment Cos., is born in Montclair, N.J., to homemaker Josephine Hipkins Bogle and William Yates Bogle, Jr., a manufacturing executive and former aviator.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.1% at 22,259.16 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 1.3% on April 30 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.1%.
Today, information technology stocks led the market lower, as 2 of 11 sectors lost; 74 of 223 shares fell, while 146 rose.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline and had the largest move, decreasing 18.5%.
Insights
* The index advanced 8.1% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 25% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.5% below its 52-week high on April 9, 2024 and 19.1% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.4% in the past 5 days and was unchanged in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.5 on a trailing basis and 15 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.54t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.45% compared with 9.78% in the previous session and the average of 8.35% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology| -153.3138| -8.1| 6/4
Health Care | -1.0531| -1.6| 2/2
Consumer Discretionary| 1.0677| 0.1| 6/7
Communication Services| 3.1220| 0.4| 2/3
Real Estate | 3.2514| 0.7| 16/4
Materials | 7.3492| 0.3| 25/22
Consumer Staples | 7.5846| 0.8| 11/0
Utilities | 8.9801| 1.1| 14/1
Industrials | 13.9957| 0.5| 19/8
Energy | 19.5799| 0.5| 25/16
Financials | 57.9582| 0.9| 20/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
| Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | -165.5000| -18.5| 132.7| -16.5
Cameco | -4.5860| -2.1| -4.0| 21.6
NexGen Energy | -4.5680| -12.3| 246.6| 13.5
Constellation Software | 8.9770| 1.7| 18.9| 16.3
TD Bank | 11.5500| 1.2| -22.4| -10.2
RBC | 12.2000| 0.9| -42.7| 4.4
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street’s enthusiasm for stocks faded as many traders were reluctant to keep piling in after a solid rally in early May.
The S&P 500 closed little changed, remaining below the 5,200 mark that it briefly touched this week.
Tesla Inc. and Google’s parent Alphabet Inc. led losses in megacaps.
Intel Corp. sank as it expects revenue to fall “below the midpoint” of previously issued projections after a US ban on chip exports to Huawei Technologies Co.
Treasuries remained lower after a $42 billion sale of 10-year bonds saw tepid demand.
“All of these ingredients create a perfect recipe for an excuse for investors to take a step back after the recent bounce and reassess things,” said strategists at Bespoke Investment Group.
Lack of conviction among investors to buy into the recent bounce in US stocks shows the market is far from turning fully bullish, said Citigroup Inc. strategists.
The recent unwind of short positions has left the S&P 500 close to one-sided net long, but investors appear hesitant to add to the existing bullish positions, a team led by Chris Montagu noted.
“Flows tell a story of limited enthusiasm with a trickle of new long positions and only marginal increase in risk appetite,” Montagu said.
The S&P 500 hovered near 5,190, following its biggest four- day advance since November. Treasury 10-year yields rose three basis points to 4.49%.
Following a pullback last month, equities resumed their advance in early May as solid corporate earnings bolstered sentiment and speculation grew that the Federal Reserve will be able to cut rates this year.
The recent rally brought the S&P 500 about 1% away from its all-time high.
Yet the bounce off April’s lows was a narrow one, noted Matt Maley at Miller Tabak + Co.
“That’s not the end of the world,” he said. “But it would be a lot more positive if this rally can broaden out over the coming days and weeks — given that the market is a lot more expensive than it was at this time last year.”
A surge in the S&P 500 since the end of October through April had pushed the equity gauge to trade at 20 times projected profits, some 11% above its 10-year average.
Traders are now looking for reasons to justify the high valuations and want to see bigger growth ahead.
The recent stock rally signaled that traders are more driven by “fear of missing out” than confidence about fundamentals as there is still uncertainty as to where earnings go from here and few market catalysts on the horizon, according to David Bahnsen, chief investment officer at The Bahnsen Group.
“With no rate cuts possible until July and not likely until September, and the next earnings season two months from starting, there are no apparent catalysts to change the near future direction of stocks other than speculation around what various data points,” he noted.
Inflation figures due next week will offer fresh insights about the US economy after employment data out Friday showed the labor market is cooling.
Fed Bank of Boston President Susan Collins signaled Wednesday that interest rates will likely need to be held at a two-decade high for longer than previously thought to damp demand and reduce price pressures.
“Despite the lack of good news on inflation, there is a silver lining for patient investors,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide. “As the Federal Reserve extends the timeline for interest rate cuts, historical data shows that longer Fed pauses often correlate with better equity returns. This should give investors reasons to be optimistic.”
Indeed, longer pauses have been constructive for equities, according to a study conducted by Ryan Grabinski at Strategas.
“The longest pause from June 2006 to September 2007 was associated with the best equity market return,” he noted. “We are reaching the point where a Fed cut is probably more likely to mean issues are perking up.”
Robust corporate earnings will continue to lift the S&P 500 to 5,500 by the end of this year as profit margins improve, according to Societe Generale SA.
“Profits are the glue in this cycle,” the firm’s head of US equity strategy Manish Kabra wrote, adding that 2024 should be considered “an inflationary year, rather than stagflationary” as earnings-per-share growth is poised to accelerate further.
S&P 500 companies crushed earnings-growth expectations again in the first quarter, driving upward momentum in consensus for top and bottom lines, but guidance suggests a heavy dependence on margin to meet future expectations, according to
Gina Martin Adams at Bloomberg Intelligence.
“Earnings are well on the recovery path now that the 2022-2023 earnings recession is past, and they should return to double-digit growth with widespread participation later this year,” she noted. “However, sales growth is expected to hover in the low-to mid-single digit range through 2026, suggesting the earnings recovery is so far mostly about margin expansion amid cost-cutting and easing inflation pressures.”
There’s been a resurgence of earnings per share as several industries emerge from “EPS rolling recessions,” according to Erin Browne and Emmanuel Sharef at Pacific Investment Management Co.
That means different equity sectors experience earnings downturns at different times and then recover, one after the other, over a span of several quarters.
The growth sector of the S&P 500 — dominated by technology— went through an EPS recession in 2022 and then recovered in 2023 — while most other sectors’ EPS were contracting, they added.
“As we progress through 2024, we expect defensive and cyclical stocks will emerge from their earnings contractions, potentially leading to significant price appreciation,” they noted. “Macro trends and supportive bottom-up signals have us modestly overweight equities in multi-asset portfolios.”
Against a backdrop of slowing job growth and slumping consumer confidence, investors will now turn their focus to the earnings of retailing giants like Walmart Inc. and Target Corp. to gauge shoppers’ spending habits.
Both firms are due to report over the next couple weeks, with the potential to sway expectations for economic growth and retail shares, which are trailing the broader market in 2024.
Meantime, utility companies are beating the S&P 500 at a blistering pace since the equity benchmark bottomed last month, a defensive shift that poses a roadblock for the bulls in the short-run if traders are using bond-proxy sectors as leadership stocks.
The utilities sector, which includes companies providing electricity, water and gas that are known for their consistent dividend payments, has climbed by 11% in 15 sessions through Tuesday — a sizzling rate that was last exceeded in the depths of the pandemic in 2020, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Corporate Highlights:
* Uber Technologies Inc. reported gross bookings in the first quarter that missed analysts’ estimates with softer-than- expected demand in Latin America and earlier holidays weighing on orders.
* Lyft Inc. reported first-quarter results and financial guidance that beat investors’ expectations, a sign of the company’s ability to retain and attract new riders in the US and Canada.
* Rivian Automotive Inc. fell short of Wall Street’s earnings expectations to start the year as the automaker pursues a costly effort to revamp its manufacturing operations and boost output of electric vehicles.
* Shopify Inc. shares tumbled after the Canadian e-commerce company pledged to continue investing in marketing even though doing so will pinch profits.
* Chinese iPhone shipments jumped about 12% in March after Apple Inc. and its retailers slashed prices, official data showed, suggesting efforts to arrest an accelerating decline in sales are yielding early results.
* Pfizer Inc. has agreed to settle more than 10,000 cases accusing it of hiding the cancer risks of its Zantac heartburn drug, according to people familiar with the deal, the biggest of the litigation.
* Reddit Inc. jumped as improvements to the social-media platform’s advertising system helped push quarterly sales higher than expected in its first results as a public company.
* Brookfield Asset Management reported its first quarterly decline in profit since it spun out of its parent company amid a drop in fees from some permanent capital vehicles.

Key events this week:
* Bank of Japan issues summary of opinions from April policy meeting, Thursday
* China trade, Thursday
* UK BOE rate decision, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, Thursday
* UK industrial production, GDP, Friday
* ECB publishes account of April policy meeting, Friday
* BOE Chief Economist Huw Pill speaks, Friday
* US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday
* Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee speaks, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 was little changed
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro was little changed at $1.0745
* The British pound was little changed at $1.2497
* The Japanese yen fell 0.6% to 155.62 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 1.3% to $62,180.27
* Ether fell 1.6% to $3,000.6
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 4.49%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 2.46%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 4.14%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.1% to $79.21 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.2% to $2,309.04 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Farah Elbahrawy and Jessica Menton.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shabnam
“All great art contains at its center contemplation, a dynamic contemplation.”– Susan Sontag

Shabnam Mohammadpourmarzbali
Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff
Queensbury Securities Inc.

340A – 730 View Street
Victoria BC  V8W 3Y7
Tel: 778-430-5851
Fax: 778-430-5828