June 4, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

1940 – Battle of Dunkirk; newspaper headline: “Dunkirk rescue is over – Churchill defiant.”  As the last Allied soldier leaves Dunkirk, the British Prime Minister vows his forces “shall never surrender.”
1942 – Battle of Midway begins.
1989 – Tiananmen Square Massacre, China
On June 4, 1989, Chinese army troops stormed Tiananmen Square in Beijing to crush the pro-democracy movement; hundreds – possibly thousands – of people died.
Go to article »

From today’s New York Times, a fascinating piece of art news:

Herman Wouters for The New York Times

A Dutch art conservator found a surprise in a late-period Claude Monet work.

When Ruth Hoppe of the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague took the painting of wisteria down from the wall for the first time since 1961, she noticed that it had been retouched. An X-ray revealed another artwork underneath: one of his famous water lily paintings.

Ms. Hoppe shared a theory that the canvas, “a bridge between the water lilies and the wisteria,” might have been the final water lily Monet painted.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

John Fatkin captured a stunning rainbow on Sunday at the mouth of the Tyne, in Tyne and Wear. He says it was taken “in a howling gale with horizontal rain.”
CREDIT: JOHN FATKIN/COVER IMAGES

Married Indian women perform rituals on a scared Banyan tree on the occasion of “Vat Savitri Puja” festival, in Jabalpur. The “Vat Savitri Puja” festival is an auspicious day in Hinduism when married women observe fast and pray for their husband’s health and longevity.
CREDIT: UMA SHANKAR MISHRA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

British military band, the Band of HM Royal Marines Plymouth, performs on the occasion of the upcoming 75^th anniversary of D-Day, at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
CREDIT: EMMANUEL DUNAND/ AFP/ GETTY IMAGES

Market Closes for June 4th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1987, the first big domino fell in Wall Street’s insider-trading scandal as Kidder, Peabody & Co. paid a $25.3 million fine to settle federal charges of securities fraud. The SEC claimed that Kidder illegally “parked” stock for dealster Ivan Boesky, taking shares of Unocal off his hands temporarily to conceal his ownership and protect him from loss—and that Kidder takeover maven Martin Siegel had traded inside information on at least six stocks.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose. Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 0.8 percent. Aurora Cannabis Inc. had the largest increase, rising 6.4 percent. In midday trading, 149 of 242 shares rose, while 89 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index was unchanged
* The index advanced 0.3 percent in the past 52 weeks.
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.4 percent below its 52-week high on April 23, 2019 and 16.9 percent above its low on Dec. 24, 2018
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.2 percent in the past 5 days and fell 2.4 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.2 on a trailing basis and 14.6 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.1 percent on a trailing 12- month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.48 trillion
* 30-day price volatility fell to 7.94 percent compared with 7.95 percent in the previous session and the average of 6.96 percent over the past month.
================================================================
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 43.0629| 0.8| 19/7
Energy | 17.4499| 0.6| 31/8
Health Care | 10.9003| 3.6| 10/1
Information Technology | 6.1621| 0.8| 7/3
Materials | 5.9901| 0.4| 28/21
Consumer Discretionary | 3.8087| 0.6| 14/3
Communication Services | 0.5148| 0.1| 3/4
Utilities | -0.5209| -0.1| 7/9
Real Estate | -0.7567| -0.1| 7/16
Consumer Staples | -1.1194| -0.2| 3/7
Industrials | -1.8774| -0.1| 20/10
================================================================
| |Volume VS | YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Royal Bank of Canada| 8.8120| 0.8| -24.7| 9.9
Manulife Financial | 8.5510| 2.7| 12.8| 21.0
TD Bank | 7.5880| 0.8| -15.8| 9.5
Franco-Nevada | -1.5490| -1.1| -0.6| 8.4
Suncor Energy | -3.9600| -0.9| 214.0| 5.8
Waste Connections | -6.6900| -2.8| 96.1| 21.4
================================================================
| | Index | Volume VS |YTD Change
Biggest Gainers | % Change |Points Move|20D AVG (%)| (%)
================================================================
Aurora Cannabis | 6.4| 4.4190| 29.8| 51.3
Aphria | 5.9| 0.7680| 11.8| 14.9
Canfor | 5.5| 0.2150| 2.9| -43.9
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| |Index Points| 20D AVG |YTD Change
Biggest Losers | % Change | Move | (%) | (%)
================================================================
B2Gold | -3.0| -0.8210| 23.5| -5.9
Waste Connections | -2.8| -6.6900| 96.1| 21.4
OceanaGold | -2.6| -0.4420| 205.7| -24.5
* The benchmark 10-year bond fell and the yield rose 6.4 basis points to 1.484 percent
US
By Rita Nazareth, Vildana Hajric and Sarah Ponczek
      (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks climbed the most since January as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled an openness to rate cuts and Mexican officials said they expect to avoid Trump administration tariffs.
     Big banks surged as Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo said the industry would be set to “party like it’s 1995” if rates are cut. Treasury yields rose from multiyear lows as Powell stopped short of signaling an imminent move. Carmakers and chip manufacturers rallied as Mexico’s president said he hopes to reach a deal with the U.S. before next week’s deadline, with his foreign minister seeing 80% odds to negotiate a solution. The peso jumped.
     Later in day, the Washington Post reported that Republican senators warned Trump administration officials they were ready to block efforts to impose duties on Mexican imports. Economists see U.S. tariffs on Mexican goods denting growth and adding to headwinds that could prompt both countries’ central banks to cut interest rates in the next year.
     “Given the ongoing uncertainty on both the interest rate and trade front, any clarity will likely be welcomed by the market,” said Mike Loewengart, vice president of investment strategy at E*TRADE Financial. “A lot of market-watchers will be reading the tea leaves from this week’s jobs data, which could hold significant weight for the Fed’s next rate move.”
     Continued strength in U.S. consumer and business confidence outweighs the recession signal being sent by an inverted yield curve — making a rate cut unlikely this year, according to Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan. He also said that the ongoing trade war isn’t having enough of an impact to warrant recession concern.
     Elsewhere, gains in automakers and banks pushed European stocks higher for a second day. Oil rebounded as signs of tightening supply from OPEC+ temporarily overshadowed concern over global demand. Bitcoin fell as much as 12%.
Here are some notable events coming up:
* China President Xi Jinping begins a two-day visit to Russia on Wednesday.
* Theresa May steps down on Friday as leader of the Conservative Party.
* Friday’s U.S. jobs report is projected to show payrolls rose by 180,000 in May, unemployment held at 3.6%, a 49-year low, and average hourly earnings growth sustained a 3.2% pace.
These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index surged 2.1% to 2,803.27 as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.6%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained less than 0.05%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.
* The euro advanced 0.1% to $1.1257.
* The British pound gained 0.3% to $1.2707.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries jumped five basis points to 2.12%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell less than one basis point to -0.21%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield jumped four basis points to 0.902%.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index advanced 0.3% to 77.71.
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose to $53.48 a barrel.
–With assistance from Andrew Janes, Andreea Papuc, Samuel Potter, Todd White and Lananh Nguyen.

Have  a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

A schedule defends from chaos and whim.

                        -Annie Dillard, b. 1945

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