May 25, 2023 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.
May 25, 1977: The first “Star Wars” movie is released in theatres.  The film suffered production difficulties; cast and crew involved believed the film would be a failure.  It was retroactively titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
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 >

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

Saturn’s iconic rings are slowly disappearing.  Slowly as in “over the next 100 million years” slowly.
Climate change could trigger gigantic deadly tsunamis from Antarctica, new study warns
Slippages in sediment beneath the Antarctic seabed could spawn gigantic tsunamis as oceans warm. Read More

What’s the difference between outer space and deep space?
Space, outer space, and deep space — which is further out, and which is the real final frontier? Read More

in memoriam…
Tina Turner, the “Queen of Rock and Roll,” has died at the age of 83. Her family said in a statement the legendary singer passed away after a “long illness.” Turner was the first Black artist and the first female artist to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone and was one of only a few artists to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. Tributes for the icon have been rolling in. Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama called Turner “a star whose light will never fade.” Oprah Winfrey praised Turner’s resilience amid personal struggles. “Once she claimed her freedom from years of domestic abuse, her life became a clarion call for triumph,” she said.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Küsnacht, Switzerland
A fan outside the gates of a villa belonging to the singer Tina Turner, who died on Wednesday.  Photograph: Michael Buholzer/AP

Savièse, Switzerland
Angele, a fresco by the artist Jasm One, is part of a project to create the world’s largest open-air urban art museum, covering 5,224 sq km of Alpine territory, linking the Rhone glacier in St-Gingolph and Lake Geneva.  Photograph: Gabriel Monnet/EPA

Rabat, Morocco
Drones form an image in the sky to mark the end of the African Capital of Culture programme in the Moroccan capital.  Photograph: Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for May 25^th, 2023

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1931, the New York Stock Exchange began regularly reporting short sales. For the first time, the sale of stock by those who are betting shares will drop became public record.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the third day, dropping 0.8%, or 153.61 to 19,774.08 in Toronto.
The index dropped to the lowest closing level since March 28.
Today, energy stocks led the market lower, as 9 of 11 sectors lost; 159 of 232 shares fell, while 70 rose.
Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.2%. Canopy Growth Corp. had the largest drop, falling 14.2%.
Insights
* This month, the index fell 4.2%
* So far this week, the index fell 2.8%, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended March 10
* The index declined 3% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 3.4% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 6% below its 52-week high on June 2, 2022 and 10.6% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 2.6% in the past 5 days and fell 3.3% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.2 on a trailing basis and 13.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.18t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 10.37% compared with 10.36% in the previous session and the average of 9.23% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | -60.4582| -1.8| 2/38
Materials | -39.6219| -1.7| 6/44
Financials | -35.9162| -0.6| 17/11
Communication Services | -15.7988| -1.8| 1/4
Utilities | -9.9440| -1.1| 0/16
Information Technology | -1.9812| -0.1| 9/3
Health Care | -0.9300| -1.2| 3/3
Real Estate | -0.7969| -0.2| 6/14
Consumer Staples | -0.3329| 0.0| 3/7
Consumer Discretionary | 1.5661| 0.2| 7/8
Industrials | 10.6071| 0.4| 16/11
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
TD Bank | -43.0200| -4.2| 116.7| -11.3
RBC | -21.8500| -1.8| -0.7| -4.6
Canadian Natural Resources | -17.6900| -3.0| 20.5| 0.0
Brookfield Corp | 5.3570| 1.3| -32.1| -1.0
CIBC | 7.1740| 2.1| 95.5| 3.7
Bank of Nova Scotia| 8.7720| 1.6| 29.3| 0.6
US
By Isabelle Lee, Julien Ponthus and Lynn Thomasson
(Bloomberg) — US stocks rose Thursday as a rally in companies linked to the frenzy in artificial intelligence outweighed broader market concerns including a US debt default.
The S&P 500 gained 0.9% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 added 2.5% after a bullish sales forecast from Nvidia Corp. ignited gains in the technology sector.
Shares of Nvidia soared 24% after the company’s forecast related to AI surprised even the most optimistic analysts on Wall Street, propelling the company to the cusp of a $1 trillion market value.
It’s another sign that investors are willing to pile into promising tech stocks, despite the growing worries about China’s economy and a potentially catastrophic US debt default.
Fitch Ratings warned that the US’s AAA rating is under threat, though it still expects politicians will reach an agreement before time runs out.
“Between the debt ceiling and AI, everything else is kind of dwarfed by the magnitude of those two things,” said Louise Goudy Willmering, partner at Crewe Advisors LLC.
Treasury-bill yields slated to mature early next month edged higher as investors continued to demand a premium on securities seen most at risk of non-payment if the government exhausts its borrowing capacity.
The wrangling in Washington adds to the risks assessed by Federal Reserve officials as they consider pausing interest rate increases.
Traders are now fully pricing in another quarter-point hike within the next two policy meetings after the release of mixed data on Thursday, including a higher revised first-quarter GDP and fewer-than-expected jobless claims.
“Nvidia was last night’s good surprise,” said Gilles Guibout, head of European equity strategies at Axa Investment Managers. “But more broadly, there are few reasons for the market to keep rising: interest rates are not going down, global economic growth isn’t rebounding, full-year earnings are seen flat, and stock valuations are already at a decent level.”
In corporate news, Dish Network Corp. gained 7.1% on a report of talks to offer mobile plans on Amazon.
And Snowflake Inc. dropped 17% after the cloud-software company cut its product revenue guidance for the full year.
Elsewhere, in Asian markets, sentiment continued to worsen.
The Hang Seng Index shed 1.9% on the day and the yuan broke through the closely-watched 7-per-dollar level.
The key worry for investors is that China’s economy is losing momentum and there are persistent financial troubles in the real estate sector. Recent data suggest GDP growth this year will be closer to the government’s target of about 5%, contrary to expectations of a large overshoot formed earlier in the year.
Meanwhile, traders added to bets the Bank of England will keep raising interest rates after an unexpectedly strong reading of UK inflation on Wednesday.
Money markets are now pricing more than 100 basis points of additional tightening by December.
The  Europe Stoxx 600 ended the day 0.3% lower.
Key events this week:
* Interest rate decisions in Turkey, South Africa, Indonesia, South Korea, Thursday
* Tokyo CPI, Friday
* US consumer income, wholesale inventories, durable goods, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.9% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 2.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%
* The MSCI World index fell 1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro fell 0.3% to $1.0721
* The British pound fell 0.4% to $1.2318
* The Japanese yen fell 0.5% to 140.17 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.3% to $26,474.68
* Ether rose 0.3% to $1,809.68
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced seven basis points to 3.81%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 2.52%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced 16 basis points to 4.37%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.2% to $71.99 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 1.2% to $1,959.40 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Georgina McKay.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
There is a magnet in your heart that will attract true friends.  That magnet is unselfishness, thinking of others first…
when you learn to live for others, they will live for you. –Paramahansa Yogananda, 1893-1952.

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