May 29th, 20225 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.

May 29, 1453: Constantinople falls to the Turks.
May 29, 1919: Charles Strite files a patent for the automatic pop-up toaster, revolutionizing breakfast convenience.
May 29, 1953: Mount Everest summit firs reached.

G.K. Chesterton, author, b. 1874.
Bob Hope, comedian, b.1903.
John F. Kennedy, 35^th President, b. 1917.

There’s a humongous boulder on a cliff in Tonga. Now we know how it got there. Read More.

‘Unlike anything we have seen before’: Astronomers discover mysterious object firing strange signals at Earth every 44 minutes
ASKAP J1832-0911, which is periodically throwing out pulses of radio waves and X-rays, could be a brand-new cosmic object. Read More.

Giant 85 million-year-old mystery sea monster fossil finally identified
A brand new species of elasmosaur named Traskasaura sandrae has been identified from three specimens found on Vancouver Island. Read More.

The giants don’t need your money
A new campaign is encouraging visitors to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland to stop wedging coins between the stones. 

What was on the megalodon’s menu?
The prehistoric predator was widely thought to subsist on large marine mammals, but a new study of fossilized teeth has found more variety in its diet.
A mystery of cosmic proportions
Astronomers are trying to determine what kind of celestial object is emitting bright flashes of radio waves and X-rays that last for two minutes and repeat every 44 minutes.

It would be a sin to miss this
Residents of the theater-less Mississippi town that inspired “Sinners” will finally get to see the film. 

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Varanasi, India
A boy plays with a football on the banks of the Ganges at Scindia Ghat on a hot summer’s day
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Florida, USA
campground near the Everglades
Photograph: Rebecca Blackwell/AP

Oregon, US
Feral honeybees interact at the edge of their hive behind a fruit processing barn near Elkton in rural south-western Oregon
Photograph: Robin Loznak/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock
Market Closes for May 29^th, 2025

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
One thousand dollars left to earn interest at 8 per cent a year will grow to $43 quadrillion in 400 years, but the first hundred years are the hardest. –Sidney Homer, 1902-1983.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.3% at 26,210.56 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 0.8% on May 21 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.1%.
Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.5%. Eqb Inc. had the largest drop, falling 7.4%.
Today, 119 of 217 shares fell, while 95 rose; 7 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.

Insights
* This month, the index rose 5.5%
* So far this week, the index rose 1.3%
* The index advanced 20% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 13% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 22.1% above its low on June 17, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.4% in the past 5 days and rose 5.4% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.1 on a trailing basis and 15.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.7% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$4.24t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 7.99% compared with 7.80% in the previous session and the average of 23.18% over the past month

Index Points
Financials | -50.1130| -0.6| 10/15
Materials | -14.3858| -0.4| 13/36
Consumer Staples | -10.3173| -1.0| 3/7
Consumer Discretionary | -4.2976| -0.5| 3/7
Energy | -3.5691| -0.1| 17/23
Industrials | -3.5166| -0.1| 12/16
Health Care | -0.0343| -0.1| 2/2
Utilities | 1.0179| 0.1| 11/4
Information Technology | 2.4530| 0.1| 4/6
Real Estate | 4.0949| 0.9| 15/3
Communication Services | 5.7837| 1.0| 5/0
RBC | -61.5200| -3.5| 95.1| -0.5
Couche-Tard | -7.4170| -1.9| -28.2| -10.2
Cameco | -5.8330| -2.3| 12.8| 10.5
Suncor | 4.3660| 1.0| 49.4| -3.8
TD Bank | 8.3500| 0.7| -2.9| 24.0
Bank of Nova Scotia| 11.8000| 1.9| 55.4| -4.7
The Toronto Stock Exchange was down for only the second time in 17 sessions on Thursday, as investors took profits after it posted record closing highs on each of the prior three sessions, but losses may have been limited on the prospect of “more rationalized” sector-based tariffs being introduced by the United States.
Not helped by mixed commodity prices, the resources heavy S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 72.89 points at 26,210.56, amid mixed sectors, none of which were either up or down by more than 1%.
While the TSX was lower today, U.S. stock markets recorded gains.
This as one Macquarie strategist noted an overnight court ruling may speed up the introduction of “more rationalized” sector-based tariffs from the United States, while also noting Nvidia’s upbeat sales outlook was also contributing to the rally.
Yesterday evening, with U.S. markets closed, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) ruled unanimously the emergency laws President Donald Trump invoked did not give him the unilateral authority to impose tariffs on nearly every country via his reciprocal tariff program, nor his retaliatory tariffs.
“For observers that believed that the reciprocal tariffs were adverse to the economy — in the sense that they would lead to an economic slowdown and higher measured consumer inflation and induced by the ‘tax effect’ on consumers and businesses — the prospect that the reciprocal tariffs have been nullified by the CIT is being taken as ‘good news’.
It has led to stocks being way up today, for example,” said Thierry Wizman, Global FX & Rates Strategist at Macquarie.
To be sure however, an appeals court temporarily restored the tariffs on Thursday afternoon while an appeal is heard.
The bottom line on tariffs, Wizman said, is that while the CIT’s ruling marks a first and significant legal challenge to the use of immediate emergency powers and the invocation of arbitrary ‘retaliation’, the ruling is not expansive as it pertains to executive powers in trade more generally, so long as executive actions address true emergencies, are subject to review, and do not contravene other laws.
“After all, it was evident on “Liberation Day” that the reciprocal tariffs were ill-formulated, overly abrupt, and too aggressive,” he added.
With that, Wizman said, the CIT’s ruling yesterday can speed up the introduction of “more rationalized”, sector-based tariffs, many of which may now be announced, but not yet imposed, soon.
“Because of this, we caution against excessive displays of ‘relief,’ especially in the USD.
More surprises of tariffs certainly lie around the corner,” he added.
For his part, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he “welcomes” the decision by the CIT to strike down President Trump’s broad-based tariffs on most countries.
Of commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed lower on Thursday as rising supplies checked investor optimism after a court blocked most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, though rising supply checked optimism.
WTI oil for July delivery closed down $0.90 to settle a US$60.94 per barrel, while July Brent crude was last seen down $0.82 to US$64.08.
Meanwhile, gold traded higher late afternoon on Thursday as the dollar dropped after a court blocked most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs while the U.S. economy weakened less than expected in the first quarter.
Gold for August delivery was last seen up $17.90 to US$3,340.30 per ounce.
Staying on commodities, Rosenberg Research is ‘overweight’ Utilities and ‘underweight’ Energy, as outlined in a market strategy note it published today with a focus on U.S. equities.
“With valuations still stretched and clear headwinds for earnings, we recommend caution from a tactical viewpoint,” it said in summary.
The bullish view of Rosenberg Research on Utilities is derived from the fact that the U.S. power grid is “not ready for the growth in electricity demand and it needs to develop the transmission infrastructure that enables load sharing during periods of peak demand”.
According to the research, Utilities are “undisputedly” the biggest beneficiaries of the sharp rise in electricity demand and are available at a PEG ratio of 1.2x, a level it finds “attractive given the risk/reward calculus at this juncture.”
As a sector highly integrated with the global market, Energy has been a relative underperformer on a year-to-date basis following the April 2 reciprocal tariff announcement that clouded the global macroeconomic outlook, Rosenberg said.
It cited some factors likely to limit the upside to energy prices over the next 12 months, potentially higher U.S. shale production linked to policy shifts by the Trump 2.0 Administration, the unwinding of OPEC+ production cuts and an uncertain economic outlook.
Additionally, a protectionist trade policy will likely lead to a firm U.S. dollar, which is a net negative for most commodities, including oil, it added.
“Our bearish view on oil and oil-related equities does not currently factor in a full-fledged Ukraine/Russia ceasefire, which, if consummated, will create more downside price pressure.”
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders cheering solid results from Nvidia Corp. had to face the harsh reality of slowing economic data and legal uncertainties around Donald Trump’s trade war.
The president told Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell he’s making a mistake for not cutting rates.
The S&P 500 pared most of an advance that earlier approached 1%.
A federal appeals court offered Trump a temporary reprieve from a ruling threatening to throw out the bulk of his tariff agenda.
Treasuries rose on bets the Fed will slash rates twice this year and after a solid $44 billion sale of seven-year notes.
The dollar fell.
“We expect further market volatility ahead as headlines on both trade and fiscal policy emerge,” said Ulrike Hoffmann- Burchardi at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“We still expect US equities to rise over the next 12 months, but near-term gains this year are likely to be more limited.”
The US economy shrank at the start of the year, restrained by weaker consumer spending and an even bigger impact from trade than initially reported.
Pending sales of previously owned homes last month fell by the most since September 2022, while a rise in recurring jobless claims signaled higher unemployment.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4%.
The Nasdaq 100 gained 0.2%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%.
Nvidia led gains in megacaps, up over 3%.
Salesforce Inc. reported signs of traction in its new AI products, but that wasn’t enough to ease investor anxieties over a long trend of slowing revenue growth.
United Airlines Holdings Inc. said Newark disruptions will cut into profits.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell five basis points to 4.43%.
A dollar gauge lost 0.4%.

Corporate Highlights:
* Best Buy Co. reduced its sales and profit outlook as the electronics retailer grapples with tariffs on imports from China, its top source of goods.
* Wells Fargo & Co. resolved another regulatory punishment, the seventh this year, as the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency terminated its 2015 agreements relating to the company’s previously held financial subsidiaries.
* Meta Platforms Inc. is partnering with defense contractor Anduril Industries Inc. to develop new products for the US military, including an artificial intelligence-powered helmet with virtual and augmented reality features.
* Synopsys Inc., a top maker of chip-design software, suspended its financial guidance for the current quarter and fiscal year after receiving word from the US government about new restrictions on exports to China.
* HP Inc.’s profit outlook fell short of estimates, and it cut the annual earnings forecast, pointing toward a weaker economy and continuing costs from US tariffs on goods from China.
* Walt Disney Co. is expanding a program of perks for subscribers to its flagship Disney+ streaming service and adding one for Hulu customers.
* Kohl’s Corp. reported better-than-expected comparable sales, a positive sign amid a tumultuous run of events for the retailer.
* Foot Locker Inc.’s sales slump persisted in the latest quarter, a potential headache for Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. as it prepares to acquire the struggling sneaker chain.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.5%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 0.6%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%
* The euro rose 0.7% to $1.1367
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3494
* The Japanese yen rose 0.5% to 144.14 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 1.5% to $105,764.73
* Ether rose 0.6% to $2,651.93
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined five basis points to 4.43%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 2.51%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined eight basis points to 4.65%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.5% to $60.91 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.9% to $3,316.34 an ounce

Have a lovely evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up. -Babe Ruth, 1895-1948.

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 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com