June 4, 2021 Newsletter
Dear Friends,
Tangents: Happy Friday.
June 4, 1942~ Battle of Midway.
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 »
Socrates, philosopher, b. 470 BC.
Five stamps + one coin = $37 million.
Nineteen million years ago, sharks almost went extinct.
United plans supersonic flights by 2029. We’re still waiting on the “flying cars” part of the future, but this will definitely suffice.
| A key to van Gogh’s last days |
| You probably haven’t heard of the 19th-century painter Edmund Walpole Brooke. But he is a part of art history — not for his own work, but for his proximity to the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. Brooke was friendly with van Gogh in the weeks before his suicide in 1890. And so for historians, he may offer insight into van Gogh’s final days, for which there is little documentation aside from letters to his family. “He might have received letters from van Gogh, he might have received drawings or paintings as a gift — they might have exchanged works,” Tsukasa Kodera, an art historian at Osaka University, told The Times. Kodera has spent several years researching Brooke, and uncovered evidence that his work was exhibited in Britain, France and Japan. But, like other scholars, he had failed to find a painting by Brooke — until perhaps now. In April, Katherine Matthews spotted a watercolor of a Japanese woman and her child with the signature E.W. Brooke in an antique shop in Maine. She paid $45 for the painting, and after looking up the artist’s name online, reached out to Kodera. The Brooke painting is not fully authenticated, and there is no other work of his to compare it to, but Kodera is hopeful. “This CAN be a breakthrough,” the professor said in an email, “to shed new light on the painter, and on van Gogh’s last months.” — Sanam Yar, a Morning writer, NY Times. |
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
The sunrise beams down on a solitary farmhouse perched on a hilltop – as it rises above a thick blanket of clouds. The brick building, surrounded by long, think grass, seems to glow in the morning sunlight, as the clouds appear to take on a slightly purple hue underneath the hill top house. The hill rises just 400 meters above Crete Senesi below it, in the Tuscany region of central Italy.
CREDIT: ALBERTO GHIZZI PANIZZA/SWNS.COM
Sailors participate in the annual long-distance dhow sailing race, known as al-Gaffal, near Sir Abu Nuair island towards Dubai
CREDIT: KARIM SAHIB/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Van Gogh Alive – a multi-sensory art experience that presents over 3,000 images from the legendary artist – has opened in London in Kensington Gardens. It claims to be “the most visted immersive multi-sensory experience in the world”
CREDIT: IAN BAKER PHOTOGRAPHY
Marni the cockatoo and Rémi the toddler are best friends in Belgium. Marni has been obsessed with 16 month-old Remi since before he was born, sitting on his owner Grietje Vermoort’s bump as though he was incubating an egg and investigating every kick.
CREDIT: @MARNITHECOCKATOO/INSTAGRAM/JAN PRESS
Market Closes for June 4th, 2021
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| Dow Jones |
34756.39 | +179.35 |
| +0.52% | ||
| S&P 500 | 4229.89 | +37.04 |
| +0.88% | ||
| NASDAQ | 13814.49 | +199.98
+1.47% |
| TSX | +20029.19 | +87.80 |
| +0.44% |
International Markets
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| NIKKEI | 28941.52 | -116.59 |
| -0.40% | ||
| HANG SENG |
28918.10 | -47.93 |
| -0.17% | ||
| SENSEX | 52100.05 | -132.38 |
| -0.25% | ||
| FTSE 100* | 7069.04 | +4.69
+0.07% |
Bonds
| Bonds | % Yield | Previous % Yield | |
| CND. 10 Year Bond |
1.456 | 1.520 | |
| CND. 30 Year Bond |
1.981 | 2.042 | |
| U.S. 10 Year Bond |
1.5534 | 1.6250 | |
| U.S. 30 Year Bond |
2.2313 | 2.2960 |
Currencies
| BOC Close | Today | Previous |
| Canadian $ | 0.8276 | 0.8259 |
| US $ |
1.2083 | 1.2108 |
| Euro Rate 1 Euro= |
Inverse | |
| Canadian $ | 1.4705 | 0.6800 |
| US $ |
1.2168 | 0.8218 |
Commodities
| Gold | Close | Previous |
| London Gold Fix |
1866.55 | 1902.75 |
| Oil | ||
| WTI Crude Future | 69.62 | 68.81 |
Market Commentary:
On this day in 1953, Woodcock, Hess & Co. of Philadelphia incorporated, becoming the first firm that was a member of the New York Stock Exchange to do so. Until then, all NYSE member firms had been structured as partnerships.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose on Friday, pushing the S&P/TSX Composite index in Toronto up 0.4% and leading it to close above the 20,000 level for the first time. The index previously hit 20,000 on June 1, but failed to close above that level. A surge in commodity prices helped drive materials and energy stocks to outperform on Friday. Meanwhile, healthcare companies were the worst performers, led by pot stocks. Meanwhile, Airlines in the U.S. and Canada are pressing Justin Trudeau’s government for a plan to allow more flights, after a Canadian advisory panel said it’s time to loosen Covid-19 restrictions at the border.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.45 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 1.1% to $1,891.25 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.2% to C$1.2078 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond-yield fell about 6 basis points to 1.459%
By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.4 percent at 20,029.19 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.1 percent. Nutrien Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.8 percent. Denison Mines Corp. had the largest increase, rising 6.5 percent. Today, 156 of 229 shares rose, while 69 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 7.1 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 0.9 percent
* The index advanced 29 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 38 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.1 percent below its 52-week high on June 4, 2021 and 34.1 percent above its low on June 15, 2020
* 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 rose to 9.45 percent compared with 9.43 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.35 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Materials | 39.8031| 1.6| 46/6
* Energy | 32.3162| 1.3| 22/1
* Communication Services | 7.1817| 0.7| 6/2
* Information Technology | 5.9753| 0.3| 9/2
* Consumer Discretionary | 5.5611| 0.7| 8/5
* Utilities | 4.7702| 0.5| 14/2
* Industrials | 2.4297| 0.1| 16/14
* Real Estate | 0.6288| 0.1| 14/10
* Consumer Staples | -0.1595| 0.0| 9/3
* Financials | -2.6612| 0.0| 10/17
* Health Care | -8.0547| -2.9| 2/7
US
By Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities climbed to within a whisker of their all-time highs after a pickup in hiring last month bolstered confidence in the economy, while a strong rise in hourly wages added to inflation worries. Information-technology stocks rose the most in the S&P 500, with the index ending Friday’s session less than 3 points below its May 7 closing record after employers added 559,000 jobs last month, just below the average forecast. The Nasdaq 100 rallied the most in two weeks, driven by gains in megacaps including Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc. With stocks largely tranquil of late, traders are assessing Friday’s data for clues on the Federal Reserve’s next moves with regards to interest rates and asset purchases. Strong services figures on Thursday highlighted the rapid recovery in business activity, as the world’s largest economy rebounds from the pandemic. “This is the second month in a row where the number has missed,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance, referring to the hiring data. “This month the expectations were even lower, but we still missed.
The short-term result is that the bond market will likely stay stable as there is less fear that the Fed will have their hand forced and the spillover effects should be a relatively stable stock market.” The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed less than 0.1% below its all-time high, with Salesforce.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. leading gains. The dollar weakened against all of its Group-of-10 peers. Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields fell to 1.56%. Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index capped a third straight weekly gain. Asia shares were mixed, as China’s markets weathered President Joe Biden’s order amending a ban on U.S. investment in Chinese companies. The order named 59 firms with ties to the country’s military or in the surveillance industry, including Huawei Technologies Co. Crude oil edged up, with prices posting a second weekly advance. The Bloomberg Commodity Index closed at a six-year high.
These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.9% as of 4:04 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.7%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.5%
* The euro rose 0.3% to $1.2168
* The British pound rose 0.4% to $1.4165
* The Japanese yen rose 0.7% to 109.50 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined seven basis points to 1.56%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to -0.21%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 0.79%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.7% to $69 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 1.1% to $1,894 an ounce
–With assistance from Jan-Patrick Barnert and Emily Barrett.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.
Be magnificent!
As ever,
Carolann
Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted. –Aldous Huxley, 1894-1963.
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