May 17, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

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 »

1844: Rubber band patented

Cranes may be returning to Ireland after a 300-year vacation. (h/t Ellen Kominers)

Where to Travel in Summer 2021: How to Score Deals, Navigate Covid Restrictions and More: A whole new set of hurdles make planning a summer vacation a mind-boggling challenge this year. Here, expert advice on avoiding pitfalls, finding bargains and seeking out uncrowded destinations in U.S. and Europe. -WSJ.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

An adult female snow leopard is photographed by a remote motion-sensor camera as she walks along a ridge in the Altai Mountains, southern Russia
CREDIT:ALTAISKY NATURE RESERVE / WWF/PA

A Kazakh hunter, dressed in furs, holds an eagle while cantering on a horse
CREDIT: BATZAYA CHIJILJAV / CATERS NEWS

Rehearsals for Christopher Wheeldon’s ballet ‘Within The Golden Hour’ take place at the Royal Opera House in London 
CREDIT: ELLIOT FRANKS

Market Closes for May 17^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     Selling a soybean contract short is worth two years at the Harvard Business School. –Robert Stovall, 60-year veteran Wall Street analyst and strategist, b. 1926.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equity markets rose on Monday as materials and health care stocks advanced. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.6% in Toronto. Materials stocks outperformed as gold, silver and copper miners rallied. Meanwhile, industrials were the worst performers. On the M&A front, Canadian National Railway Co.’s proposal to acquire Kansas City Southern will be judged under stricter regulations adopted in 2001, the U.S. regulator said in an expected decision that lays the ground rules for what would be the first major rail merger in more than two decades.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at about a $13.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 1.2% to $1,865.78 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.3% to C$1.2067 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 1.3 basis points to 1.571%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 0.6 percent, or 107.96 to 19,474.65 in Toronto. Today, materials stocks led the market higher, as 6 of 11 sectors gained; 132 of 229 shares rose, while 95 fell. Barrick Gold Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.7 percent. Endeavour Silver Corp. had the largest increase, rising 11.6 percent.

Insights
* The index advanced 33 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 47 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.4 percent below its 52-week high on May 10, 2021 and 34.8 percent above its low on May 15, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.6 percent in the past 5 days and rose 0.6 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.1 on a trailing basis and 17.2 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$3.04t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.38 percent compared with 9.32 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.83 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Materials | 75.7943| 3.0| 43/9
* Energy | 29.7293| 1.2| 22/1
* Financials | 18.7697| 0.3| 15/12
* Health Care | 5.7850| 2.4| 10/0
* Information Technology | 0.7124| 0.0| 5/6
* Consumer Staples | 0.6661| 0.1| 5/8
* Consumer Discretionary | -0.1757| 0.0| 5/7
* Real Estate | -0.4319| -0.1| 15/10
* Utilities | -2.8375| -0.3| 3/13
* Communication Services | -3.0619| -0.3| 0/8
* Industrials | -17.0021| -0.7| 9/21

US
By Vildana Hajric and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for the first time in three sessions and the dollar weakened as investors mulled risks to the economic outlook including inflation and a spike in Covid-19 cases in parts of the world. Technology and communication services led the benchmark S&P 500 into the red, while energy shares rose. Apple and Microsoft weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100. Semiconductor stocks continued to be under pressure, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropping as low as 10% from a peak in early April. “Investors should brace for further bouts of volatility, driven by inflation data along with other risks, such as setbacks in curbing the pandemic,” wrote UBS Global Wealth Management’s Chief Investment Officer Mark Haefele. “But we don’t see inflation concerns ending the rally in stocks, which we expect to be led by cyclical parts of the market as the global economic reopening broadens.” Oil edged up as rising optimism around a demand recovery in regions such as the U.S. offset Covid-19 flare-ups in parts of Asia.
Bitcoin tumbled to as low as $42,133 before stabilizing after a volatile weekend that saw Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk whipsaw prices with a series of tweets that touched on the energy usage of the cryptocurrency and whether he was selling. Coinbase Global Inc. fell to a record low and below the reference price used in its April direct listing. Gold climbed to the highest in more than three months. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida said during a webinar that weaker-than-expected April payroll report shows “we have not made substantial further progress” on the central bank’s goals for employment and inflation laid out as thresholds to begin scaling back the central bank’s massive monthly bond purchases.
Concerns that policy makers may have to pull back support sooner than expected to quell rising inflation have weighed on global equities. Investors this week will parse the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s latest meeting for any discussion about accelerating price pressures, and hints of a timeline for reducing asset purchases. “Expect this volatility to continue as the market searches for direction,” said Mike Loukas, chief executive officer at TrueMark Investments. “The release of the Fed minutes on Wednesday will be interesting. With earnings season almost over, inflation will continue to hold center stage.”  Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index edged lower and stocks in Asia were mixed.
Here are some key events this week:
* Reserve Bank of Australia publishes minutes of its latest meeting Tuesday
* The Fed publishes minutes from its April meeting Wednesday, which may provide clues to officials’ views on the recovery and how they define “transitory” when it comes to inflation

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.6%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%
* The MSCI World index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%, falling for the third straight day, the longest losing streak since May 10
* The euro rose 0.1% to $1.2158
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.4142
* The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 109.17 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 1.64%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to the highest in about two years
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.86%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.5% to $66 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 1.6%, the most since May 7

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

Carolann

As ever, the measure of who we are is what we do with what we have. –Vince Lombardi, 1913-1970.

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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com