May 5, 2023, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.  Happy Cinco De Mayo.  Full moon tonight.

On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. became America’s first space traveler as he made a 15-minute suborbital flight in a capsule launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla.  Go to article >
May 5, 1980: The British Special Air Service (SAS) terminate the Iranian Embassy siege in London.  Six gunmen had held 26 people hostage fir six days, demanding the release of Iranian Arab prisoners.  Two of the hostages were killed.

How to watch the Eta Aquarid meteor shower — a burst of ‘shooting stars’ left by Halley’s Comet — peak this weekend
An outburst of ‘shooting stars’ from Halley’s Comet could result in a dazzling Eta Aquarid meteor shower on May 5 and 6 — if the full moon doesn’t get in the way. Read More

1st-century burial holds Roman doctor buried with medical tools, including ‘top-quality’ scalpels
The grave of a medical man who died roughly 2,000 years ago has been unearthed in Hungary, along with needles, forceps, scalpels and other tools he used for his profession. Read More

For the first time, scientists watched a dying star swallow a planet whole
Astronomers have spotted a bright flash of light from a Jupiter-size world being consumed by its own star in a preview of Earth’s likely fate. Read More

Take this online Cambridge University test to discover whether you have an exceptional memory.

Google debuts new folding phone.  Remember the hype surrounding the Motorola Razr years ago? Well, it appears foldable smartphones are making a big comeback.
Hawaii’s over-tourism problem may get even worse.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Puertollano, Spain
A female blackcap perches on the branch of a hawthorn tree in Ciudad Real. Rising global temperatures have negatively affected brood production in migratory and large birds, while small, sedentary species appear to benefit from the situation, according to a study.  Photograph: Beldad/EPA

Canberra, Australia
The Commonwealth Avenue Bridge appears shrouded in morning fog Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock

Los Angeles, US
Lucha libre wrestlers perform during the Lucha VaVoom spectacle Cinco de Mayan at the Mayan Theater in California.  Photograph: Caroline Brehman/EPA
Market Closes for May 5^th, 2023

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1850, the National Bank of Belgium was founded as a public limited-liability company. Its shares are still publicly traded, listed in Brussels under the ticker BNB, making it one of the world’s only central banks you can own.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 1.5% at 20,542.03 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 1.6% on Jan. 6 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.6%.
Today, financials stocks led the market higher, as 10 of 11 sectors gained; 170 of 232 shares rose, while 60 fell.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 6.9%.
Open Text Corp. had the largest increase, rising 12.1%.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain 15 times. The next day, it advanced 10 times for an average 0.8% and declined five times for an average 0.9%
* So far this week, the index fell 0.5%, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended March 17
* The index declined 0.7% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 1% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.7% below its 52-week high on May 5, 2022 and 14.9% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.3 on a trailing basis and 13.6 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.2% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.22t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.46% compared with 8.55% in the previous session and the average of 10.62% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 104.2076| 1.7| 27/2
Energy | 78.1178| 2.3| 39/1
Information Technology | 59.8936| 4.1| 11/1
Industrials | 33.7285| 1.2| 16/11
Consumer Discretionary | 13.2632| 1.8| 13/2
Materials | 5.1545| 0.2| 27/23
Utilities | 3.5259| 0.4| 10/5
Consumer Staples | 3.0266| 0.3| 7/4
Health Care | 1.7976| 2.6| 4/2
Real Estate | 1.2951| 0.3| 14/7
Communication Services | -0.1772| 0.0| 2/2
================================================================
| | | | YTD
| Index | | Volume VS | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change |20D AVG (%)| (%)
================================================================
Shopify | 44.7800| 6.9| 37.9| 76.6
Canadian Natural Resources | 22.3900| 3.9| -40.7| 2.5
TD Bank | 20.6300| 2.0| -39.5| -5.0
Altus Group | -2.4340| -14.8| 1,019.1| -18.2
Agnico Eagle Mines | -5.8470| -2.1| -12.1| 13.8
Barrick Gold | -6.9770| -2.1| -11.7| 16.5
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — The chaotic week for financial markets ended with a rally in risk assets — possibly driven by short-covering — as regional banks rebounded from a brutal rout and solid jobs data tempered fears of a recession.
Treasuries fell.
A rally in equities halted the S&P 500’s longest losing streak since February.
PacWest Bancorp soared over 80%, following a rout that saw its shares tumbling to a record low.
Western Alliance Bancorp and First Horizon Corp., which were also strongly hit this week, jumped.
The KBW Bank Index of financial heavyweights rebounded from its lowest since September 2020.
Wall Street’s favorite volatility gauge, the VIX, snapped a four-day surge to hover near 17.
Strong earnings at Apple Inc. helped lift the mega-cap tech space, with the world’s most-valuable company climbing almost 5%.
US hiring and workers’ pay gains accelerated in April, showing signs of labor-market resilience and inflationary pressures in the face of headwinds.
“For now, this report is another sign that the Fed hasn’t broken the economy yet,” said Callie Cox, a US investment analyst at eToro. “The bears’ best argument is that a recession is around the corner, but it may be hard to make that argument until we see actual evidence in jobs data.”
Another key aspect of the data is the fact that the strong figures also increase chances the Federal Reserve will hold rates higher for longer, and potentially keep the door open to an 11th straight hike in June.
Fed Bank of St Louis President James Bullard said policymakers will probably have to push rates higher to cool inflation, but added he would wait and see what the data show before deciding what move to support in June.
Bullard also said he thinks the central bank can still achieve a soft landing, with inflation returning to the target without triggering a significant downturn.
Rates on swap contracts linked to Fed meetings — which on Thursday briefly priced in a cut in July — moved higher, to levels consistent with a stable policy rate until September — followed by at least two quarter-point cuts by year-end.
Treasury two-year yields climbed as much as 15 basis points to 3.94%.
“If the Fed was expecting definitive confirmation it’s time to pause, this is not that signal,” said Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard. “All said, 500 bps of rate hikes are having an impact, but it’s too early to declare victory over inflation.”
In fact, while inflation has shown some signs of moderation, it’s still well above the central bank’s 2% target.
The core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy and is closely watched by the Fed, is projected to show a 5.5% increase in April from a year ago.
The report is due Wednesday.
Bank of America Corp.’s Michael Hartnett — who correctly predicted the equity exodus last year — said that a “new structural bull market requires big Fed easing,” which in turn needs a “big recession.”
Resilience in the labor market and price pressures that remain sticky, however, are likely to prevent the Fed from pivoting to cut rates.
The strategist reiterated a call to “sell the last rate hike” in the note dated May 4, before the jobs report came out.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.9% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 2.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.6%
* The MSCI World index rose 1.5%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro was little changed at $1.1018
* The British pound rose 0.5% to $1.2635
* The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 134.85 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 2.4% to $29,585.59
* Ether rose 6% to $1,991.7
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 3.43%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced 10 basis points to 2.29%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced 13 basis points to 3.78%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 4.1% to $71.36 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 1.5% to $2,025.80 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Carly Wanna, Peyton Forte, and Ksenia Galouchko.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
There is no distance on this earth as far away as yesterday. –Robert Nathan, 1894-1985.

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