May 25, 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
May 25, 2020: George Floyd, an unarmed African American man, was killed during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, setting off massive protest around the country and generating greater support for the Black Lives Matter movement; police officer Derek Chauvin was later convicted of his murder.
On May 25, 2006, Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling, the chief executives who guided Enron through its spectacular rise and even more stunning fall, were found guilty of fraud and conspiracy. Go to article »

Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer, b. 1803.
Miles Davis, musician, b. 1926.

What are the odds we’ve been visited by aliens? Better than you think. — Tyler Cowen.

The best and worst cities for work-life balance.

Pottery shard could be 1,000-year-old hand grenade.

RIP, spacecraft designer Colin Cantwell. (h/t Ellen Kominers)

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee coin

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The US air force Thunderbirds fly past the snow-capped Pikes Peak as they practise for a performance at the Air Force Academy class graduation ceremony
CREDIT: Christian Murdock/AP

Men wearing traditional costume race horses
CREDIT: Hazem Ahmed/Reuters

A man checks his boat at sunrise
CREDIT: Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for May 25^th, 2022

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1763, the Dismal Swamp Co., one of the nation’s first corporations, was formed in Williamsburg, Va. Issuing one share to each of its 12 founders, one of whom was George Washington, it aimed to finance the development and resale of swampland in Virginia and North Carolina. Despite its distinguished founders, the company earned virtually no money until 1810, then fizzled out in 1814.
Canada
By Geoffrey Morgan
(Bloomberg) — Big bank earnings propelled financial equities to lead Canadian stock gains in Toronto, lifting the S&P/TSX Composite 0.5%.
Bank of Nova Scotia contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.9%, after reporting better-than-expected international earnings.
Vermilion Energy Inc. had the largest percentage increase, rising 8.9% as crude oil and natural gas prices surged.
On Wednesday, 136 of 239 shares rose, while 100 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher as Canadian stocks gained for a fourth day.
Insights
* This month, the index fell 1.8%
* The index advanced 4.2% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 6.5% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 8.2% below its 52-week high on April 5, 2022 and 4.6% above its low on May 12, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.5% in the past 5 days and fell 3% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.2 on a trailing basis and 12.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.25t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 20.56% compared with 20.45% in the previous session and the average of 16.81% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 47.6983| 0.8| 18/10
* Energy | 40.0026| 1.0| 31/3
* Information Technology | 14.1065| 1.4| 10/6
* Consumer Discretionary | 5.5782| 0.9| 10/4
* Communication Services | 5.4278| 0.5| 7/0
* Consumer Staples | 5.3718| 0.7| 10/1
* Health Care | 2.5481| 2.8| 7/1
* Real Estate | -1.4455| -0.3| 8/15
* Utilities | -3.1984| -0.3| 7/8
* Industrials | -4.7250| -0.2| 12/16
* Materials | -13.7995| -0.5| 16/36
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Bank of Nova Scotia| 19.7100| 2.9| -15.6| -6.5
* TD Bank | 16.8100| 1.5| -32.3| -3.3
* Suncor Energy | 8.5250| 1.7| -24.7| 59.5
* Waste Connections | -3.2390| -1.1| -20.1| -7.1
* Nutrien | -4.8510| -1.0| -25.6| 32.5
* TC Energy | -7.9570| -1.6| -31.9| 23.8
US
By Abigail Moses
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting gave no signals that officials could turn more hawkish soon to fight inflation.
The S&P 500 rebounded from earlier losses, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 outperformed.
The dollar pared gains.
Treasury two-year yields — which are more sensitive to imminent policy moves — edged higher, while the 10-year rate wavered.
In late trading, Nvidia Corp., the largest US chipmaker by market value, slid after Chinese supply-chain woes and the war in Ukraine weighed on its sales forecast.
Most US policy makers saw half-point rate increases as appropriate at the next two meetings, consistent with Chair Jerome Powell’s comments.
While they noted the potential for rates to go high enough to constrain the economy, there were hints of a possible pause — an “expedited” tightening would leave the Fed “well positioned later this year to assess the effects of policy firming and the extent to which economic developments warranted policy adjustments.”
Comments:
* “After the July meeting, the Fed is likely to become more ‘data dependent’ with regard to rate hikes,” said Bob Miller, BlackRock’s head of Americas fundamental fixed-income.
* “The FOMC will likely hike by 50 bps at their upcoming meeting, but if growth prospects falter, the FOMC could likely revert to more conservative 25 basis point hikes in subsequent meetings,” said Jeffrey Roach, Chief Economist for LPL Financial, referring to the Federal Open Market Committee.
* “The minutes came in close to market pricing,” said Priya Misra, global head of rates strategy at TD Securities.
* “While the Fed has been under the microscope for quite some time now, it’s important to keep in mind that the minutes were from weeks ago,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley.  “It’s possible that investors will be in wait-and-see mode until the next Fed meeting to get it straight from the source.”
* “We got some confirmation that the Fed is going to stay aggressive for at least the next few meetings,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist for Miller Tabak + Co. “However, investors seem to be getting more comfortable with the thought that ‘tearing the band aid off’ quickly might actually be what we need.”
Here are some key events to watch this week:
* Bank of Korea rate decision Thursday
* US GDP, initial jobless claims Thursday
* US core PCE price index; personal income and spending; wholesale inventories; University of Michigan consumer sentiment Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.7%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.5% to $1.0677
* The British pound rose 0.4% to $1.2577
* The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 127.31 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 2.75%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 0.95%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 1.91%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.9% to $110.81 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.7% to $1,859.20 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Our worst misfortunes never happen, and most miseries lie in anticipation. –Honoré de Balzac, 1799-1850.

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