May 23, 2024, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve!
Carolann is away from the office; I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

Metal detectorists unearth 300-year-old coin stash hidden by legendary Polish con man 
Metal detectorists have unearthed a cache of gold and silver coins hidden in a mountain range in Poland that once belonged to a legendary con artist.

Scientists just discovered an enormous lithium reservoir under Pennsylvania
The new source of lithium, which could meet up to 40% of U.S. demand, was discovered in fracking wastewater.

‘Manhattan henge’ returns: Where and when to see the sun ‘kiss the grid’ in New York next week. Read more.

Euclid space telescope reveals more than 300,000 new objects in 1st 24 hours of observations (photos)

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

La Paz, Bolivia
A full moon rises behind Illimani Mountain
Photograph: Esteban Biba/EPA

Atmospheric fireworks | Dordogne, France
Photographer Julien Looten: ‘Last winter, I ventured to the foot of a medieval castle in France to capture the Milky Way’s winter arch. An exceptional airglow illuminated the sky, resembling multicoloured clouds. This phenomenon occurs due to a chemical reaction in the upper atmosphere, emitting faint light known as chemiluminescenc. You can also see, from left to right, Sirius and the constellation of Orion, Mars, the Pleiades, the California nebula, Cassiopeia, the double cluster of Perseus, and the Andromeda galaxy’
Photograph: Julien Looten/2024 Milky Way photographer of the year

​​​​​​​London, UK
‘The poppy meadow at London Fields in Hackney.’
Photograph: Jerry Sandler
Market Closes for May 23^rd, 2024

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1995: Sun Microsystems launched Java, the now widely used internet-programming language. Sun was bought by Oracle over a decade later.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.7%, or 145.97 to 22,200.79 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 1.3% on April 30.
Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.6%.
Bombardier Inc. had the largest drop, falling 7.6%.
Today, 175 of 223 shares fell, while 46 rose; 10 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.2%
* So far this week, the index fell 1.2%, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended April 12
* The index advanced 10% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 26% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.6% below its 52-week high on May 21, 2024 and 18.8% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.4% in the past 5 days and rose 0.9% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.6 on a trailing basis and 15.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.55t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.20% compared with 9.06% in the previous session and the average of 9.01% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -37.3409| -1.3| 5/44
Financials | -30.3764| -0.4| 9/18
Energy | -26.7892| -0.7| 12/28
Industrials | -23.8063| -0.8| 5/22
Utilities | -10.3442| -1.2| 1/14
Information Technology | -10.2571| -0.6| 2/8
Consumer Discretionary | -7.9444| -1.0| 2/11
Communication Services | -4.7952| -0.7| 0/5
Real Estate | -4.3829| -1.0| 1/19
Health Care | -0.6356| -1.1| 0/4
Consumer Staples | 10.7210| 1.2| 9/2
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
TD Bank | -15.2700| -1.6| -3.7| -11.7
RBC | -13.1900| -0.9| 14.0| 7.2
Shopify | -10.3100| -1.5| 2.3| -23.2
Canadian Natural Resources | 2.2520| 0.3| 69.3| 19.3
Bank of Montreal | 2.6890| 0.4| 7.8| -0.9
Couche-Tard | 8.9920| 2.3| 43.6| 1.7
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks and bonds retreated as data showing US business activity accelerated amid a pickup in inflation reinforced bets the Federal Reserve will remain on hold.
The S&P 500 dropped below 5,300, with all megacaps down except Nvidia Corp.
The giant chipmaker jumped over 9% on a solid outlook, topping the historic $1,000 mark.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.5%, led by a plunge in Boeing Co. — which said it will continue to burn cash this quarter and in the full year.
Treasury yields climbed, with the move led by shorter maturities.
10-Year TIPS Demand Weakens at May $16 Billion Reopening Auction.
Swaps now fully price in a full quarter-point rate cut in December, versus November a day earlier.
Growth in activity at service providers this month was the fastest in a year and manufacturing output expanded at a quicker pace.
Such resilience is making it difficult for inflation to cool, helping explain why the Fed is intent on keeping rates higher for longer.
“Fed members have indicated they want to see more progress on inflation – fortunately the US economy still looks robust enough to take an extended rate pause,” said Don Rissmiller at Strategas Securities. “We continue to look for the first Fed rate cut in September.”
Treasury two-year yields climbed seven basis points to 4.94%.
The dollar edged up.
Bitcoin fell over 4%.
Oil and gold retreated.
US policymakers earlier this month coalesced around a desire to hold rates higher for longer and “many” questioned whether policy was restrictive enough to bring inflation down to their target, according to Fed minutes released this week.
“The minutes are a reminder that while the Fed does not see another rate hike as likely — and certainly does not see it as a base-case — it will not rule out hikes if inflation does not behave,” said Chris Low at FHN Financial.
Meantime, another round of blowout earnings from artificial-intelligence darling Nvidia and the economy’s steady advance mean the S&P 500 likely has further room to rise, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s trading desk.
“With the AI-theme still delivering and the macro hypothesis intact, we are likely to continue to make new all- time highs,” the team including Head of US Market Intelligence Andrew Tyler wrote in a note to clients.

Key events this week:
* Japan CPI
* Canada retail sales
* Germany GDP
* US durable goods, consumer sentiment, Friday
* Fed’s Christopher Waller speaks, Friday

Some market moves:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.5%
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%
* The euro fell 0.1% to $1.0809
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.2693
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 156.88 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 4.3% to $66,428.35
* Ether fell 5.7% to $3,534.98
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 4.48%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced six basis points to 2.60%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 4.26%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.9% to $76.87 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 2% to $2,331.70 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Shabnam
” Art is the means we have of undoing the damage of haste. It’s what everything else isn’t.” — Theodore Huebner Roethke

Shabnam Mohammadpourmarzbali
Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff
Queensbury Securities Inc.

340A – 730 View Street
Victoria BC  V8W 3Y7
Tel: 778-430-5851
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