June 2, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1953~ The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, who is crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories & Head of the commonwealth, the first major international event to be televised.

1692~ Salem Witch trial begin.

A Times classic: Take a virtual walking tour of New York City

NASA announced two new missions to explore Venus: Both are expected to take place in the coming years, marking NASA’s return to Venus for the first time in three decades. In the past year, Venus returned to the limelight after a team of scientists claimed they had discovered compelling evidence for microbes living in the planet’s clouds.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Italian Air Force aerobatic unit Frecce Tricolori (Tricolor Arrows) fly over Rome to mark Republic Day
CREDIT: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky, left, and Pyotr Dubrov, members of the crew to the International Space Station (ISS), perform their first spacewalk to replace old batteries outside the International Space Station
CREDIT: ROSCOSMOS VIA AP

Hannah Vitos observes The Blenheim Art Foundation interactive sculpture by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei which will go on long-term view in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire
CREDIT: JACOB KING/PA

Friends Hayley Salter and Evelyn Preedy create daisy chains whilst taking shelter beneathe the stall of the ‘ Seated Man ‘ a three meter tall bronze sculpture created by artist Sean Henry that greets visitors to an exhibition showcasing large and unique pieces of art at the Tythe barn in Tisbury as Messum’s opens their doors to welcome back visitors
CREDIT: RUSSELL SACH

Market Closes for June 2nd, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1997, under orders from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nasdaq reduced the minimum “tick size,” or trading increment, from 1/8 to 1/16 on all stocks with a bid price of $10 or more.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equity markets continue their gains into second day as energy stocks outperform with oil rally. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose as much as 0.3% in Toronto, after breaching the 20,000 milestone for the first time on Tuesday. Crescent Point was among best performing energy stocks in the index, rising as much as 4.6% intraday. Westport Fuel Systems led the losers, falling as much as 11%, after launching a $100 million stock sale. Meanwhile, a bidding war for Canada’s energy infrastructure is heating up as Brookfield Infrastructure Partners raised its offer for Inter Pipeline to C$8.4 billion ($6.9 billion) as it sought to break up the company’s takeover by Pembina Pipeline announced a day earlier.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.55 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,904.49 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was flat around C$1.2062 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield was unchanged at 1.502%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite declined slightly to 19,971.15 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s increase of 1.2 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.1 percent. Westport Fuel Systems Inc. had the largest drop, falling 13.1 percent. Today, 114 of 229 shares fell, while 115 rose; 5 of 11 sectors were lower, led by industrials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 6.8 percent
* The index advanced 30 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 38 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.4 percent below its 52-week high on June 2, 2021 and 33.7 percent above its low on June 15, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.1 percent in the past 5 days and rose 4.5 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23 on a trailing basis and 17 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.13t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.65 percent compared with 9.71 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.33 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Industrials | -15.6398| -0.7| 9/21
* Materials | -13.1191| -0.5| 22/30
* Information Technology | -10.4158| -0.5| 5/6
* Consumer Discretionary | -8.6209| -1.1| 3/10
* Financials | -2.1759| 0.0| 7/20
* Communication Services | 1.3975| 0.1| 4/4
* Utilities | 1.8839| 0.2| 12/4
* Consumer Staples | 2.1304| 0.3| 9/4
* Real Estate | 4.2588| 0.7| 22/4
* Health Care | 10.5633| 3.9| 6/4
* Energy | 24.8563| 1.0| 16/7

US
By Jennifer Bissell-Linsk
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities rose on Wednesday as the tussle between economic optimism and inflation concern continued to play out in markets. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 faded from early gains as traders awaited fresh catalysts in economic data, including the U.S. jobs report due later this week.  AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., a favorite among retail traders, rallied. Tesla Inc. fell following a reported loss in electric-vehicle market share.  And energy stocks were among the best performing after WTI crude futures gained. As the U.S. economy continues to claw its way back from the pandemic, traders are looking for fresh signals on whether that growth might translate into inflation and ultimately prompt the Federal Reserve to withdraw support. Treasuries rose and the U.S. dollar erased gains after a trickle of Fed updates.
The central bank’s beige book reported the U.S. economy expanded at a moderate pace in April and May. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said it may be time to “think about thinking about” tapering, and Richmond Fed  President Thomas Barkin said he was watching for signs of wage pressures. Coming up, Friday’s U.S. payrolls data will provide the next hint as to whether the central bank is likely to scale back its monthly asset purchases. “It seems like they’re starting to lay the ground work for tapering,” Aaron Clark, portfolio manager at GW&K Investment Management, said of the Fed’s recent signaling. “So I think investors are just in a holding pattern right now.” The last jobs report weighed on Treasuries and dollar, said Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management.  “We’ll have to see if that narrative reverses.”
These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, more than any closing gain since May 26 as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%, climbing for the fifth straight day, the longest winning streak since May 7
* The MSCI World index rose 0.1% to a record high
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0%
* The euro was little changed at $1.2208
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.4169
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 109.56 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points, more than any closing loss since May 25
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to -0.20%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 0.80%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.5% to $69 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,911 an ounce
–With assistance from Kamaron Leach, Vildana Hajric and Andreea Papuc.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

In the war between falsehood and truth falsehood wins the first battle and truth the last.  –Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, 1920-1975.

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