May 14, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Midnight Sun, Norway, begins today.

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

Quote of the Day:
“In terms of my health I am fine, with the same minor annoyances that anyone can have.”
Maria Branyas, who at 113 years old is thought to be Spain’s oldest living person, vastly underselling her fortitude after surviving a mild case of Covid-19. -CNN.

Paleontologists find dinosaur footprints on a cave ceiling

Poem:
The Day the War Ended
by Randall Swingler

On the day the war ended
The sung laced through the avenues with lime-tree scent
The silver birches danced on the sidewalk
And the girls came out like tulips in their colours:
Only the soldiers were caught, like sleepwalkers
Wakened unaware, naked there in the street.
Fatuous in flowers, their tanks, tamed elephants,
Wallowed among the crowds in the square.
There is a moment when contradictions cross,
A split of a moment when history twirls on one toe
Like a ballerina, and all men are really equal
And happiness could be impartial for once-
Only the soldier, snatched by the sudden stop
In his word’s turning, whirled like a meteor
Through a phoenix night of stars, is falling, falling
And as his trajectory bows and earth begins
To pull again, his hollow ears are moaning
With a wild tone of sorrow and the loss, the loss…

-Gradisca, May, 1945.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man wearing a protective face mask walks through the Senbon Torii, a tunnel of torii gates, at Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine in Kyoto, Japan
CREDIT: DAI KUROKAWA/ EPA

French street artist Ardif poses in front of his artwork to pay tribute to caregivers and medical workers due to the epidemic of coronavirus in Paris, France
CREDIT: CHESNOT/GETTY IMAGES

Rob Underhill looks out to sea as he sits outside his beach hut on Bournemouth beach in Dorset on the first day of easing for some coronavirus lockdown restrictions in England
CREDIT: ANDREW MATTHEWS/PA WIRE
Market Closes for May 14^th, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1997, Amazon.com went public on the Nasdaq, offering 3 million shares at an initial price of $18 per share.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities finished slightly higher Thursday after a weak open. U.S. shares advanced.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.04% after falling as much as 2.2%, with five of eleven sectors higher. Materials led the way, gaining 1.9%, closely followed by real estate, which advanced 1.3%. Industrials weakened.
Quebec abandoned a plan to let children return to school this month in Montreal as dozens of people continue to die every day from Covid-19 in Canada’s second-biggest city. In contrast, Ontario announced it would allow the reopening of most stores, except for those in shopping malls, on Tuesday.
Canada’s financial system remains resilient even in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and moves to keep credit markets functioning have been largely effective, though risks remain, according to the Bank of Canada.
Oil surged to the highest in more than five weeks as signs emerge that OPEC and its allies are scaling back crude shipments at a time when consumption is recovering.
Also, Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is well-positioned to make it through the pandemic, with $46 billion in client commitments for new investments and $15 billion in cash, other financial assets and long-dated credit facilities across its various businesses that remain largely undrawn, its CEO said.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $4.40 discount to West Texas Intermediate.
* Spot gold rose 0.9% to about $1,732 an ounce.
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.5% to C$1.4035 per U.S. dollar.
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 1.8 basis points to 0.531%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 14,509.66 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 2.5 percent.
Barrick Gold Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.4 percent. Aurora Cannabis Inc. had the largest increase, rising 11.0 percent.
Today, 111 of 229 shares rose, while 112 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 3.1 percent, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended March 20
* The index declined 11 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 0.7 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 19.3 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 29.9 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 2.2 percent in the past 5 days and rose 1.8 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.4 on a trailing basis and 22 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.19t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 30.23 percent compared with 30.48 percent in the previous session and the average of 59.24 percent over the past month
=====================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
=====================================================
Materials | 41.2387| 1.9| 32/15
Real Estate | 5.5502| 1.3| 20/6
Communication Services | 3.7300| 0.4| 6/2
Consumer Discretionary | 2.4254| 0.5| 5/8
Utilities | 1.9821| 0.3| 9/7
Health Care | 0.0007| 0.0| 5/5
Financials | -0.2381| 0.0| 8/17
Consumer Staples | -1.1554| -0.2| 6/5
Information Technology | -12.0766| -0.9| 2/8
Energy | -17.1934| -0.9| 10/18
Industrials | -17.8075| -1.1| 8/21
US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rebounded as a rally in beaten- down industries outweighed pessimism over bleak economic data and trade tensions.
In a very volatile session, banks led gains in the S&P 500 as Wells Fargo, JPMorgan and Bank of America jumped at least 4%.
Energy shares joined a surge in crude. Both industries are still the worst performers this year — tumbling more than 30%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average outperformed major benchmarks as American Express and Cisco Systems jumped. Treasuries rose.
     Earlier losses in stocks were driven by weak U.S. jobless claims and as President Donald Trump said he doesn’t want to talk to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping right now. While caution still prevails, some traders may be buying the dip after a sell-off that put the S&P 500 on pace for its worst week since March 20 — or just before the start of a furious stock rally. “We’ve had another day of bad news with jobless claims today,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak. “In the last two months, we bounced back every time we pulled back like this and people don’t want to get too aggressive on the sell-side.” Shares of U.S. banks have become so weak by comparison with technology stocks that a turning point is coming soon, Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at Bay Crest Partners LLC, wrote in a report Wednesday. He cited the ratio between the KBW Bank Index and the Nasdaq 100, which closed at record lows the past two days. Wednesday’s ratio was 39% below the average for the past 200 trading days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The historically large gap shows “we are in the ballpark” for a swing toward banks, Krinsky wrote.
Elsewhere, oil rose as Saudi Aramco slashed its sales to key buyers and the IEA said that the market is showing signs of improving.
Here are some key events coming up:
* China on Friday releases industrial production and retail sales data for April.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 2.2%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 1.5%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.
* The euro decreased 0.2% to $1.0801.
* The Japanese yen weakened 0.3% to 107.31 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 0.63%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield decreased one basis point to -0.54%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell less than one basis point to 0.204%.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index rose 1.1%.
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 9.3% to $27.64 a barrel.
* Gold rose 1.3% to $1,739.30 an ounce.

–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Yakob Peterseil, Todd White, Elena Popina, Sarah Ponczek, Claire Ballentine and David Wilson.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

To be prepared is half the victory.
 -Miguel De Cervantes, 1547-1616

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