Dear Friends,
Tangents: CINCO DE MAYO: Mexican national holiday recognizing the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla in 1862, in which Mexican troops under General Ignacio Zaragoza, outnumbered three to one, defeated invading French forces of Napolean III. Anniversary is observed by Mexicans everywhere with parades, festivals, dances and speeches. Portland, Oregon, sister city of Guadalajara, Mexico, celebrates Cinco de Mayo every year in Waterfront Park with more than 300,000 people attending.
May 5, 1821 Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the island of St. Helena. Go to article.
May 5, 1961: Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space, proving human spaceflight is feasible for the US programme.
May 5, 1904: Cy Young pitches a perfect game.
Soren Kierkegaard, philosopher, b. 1813.
Nellie Bly, journalist, b. 1864.
Party of one: Solo dining is more popular than ever
Dining alone is becoming more common globally, but some restaurants continue to refuse solo guests
A cosmic mystery
Astronomers have found an atmosphere around a solar system object that shouldn’t have one.
Why you’re paying for the jet fuel shortage when you fill up your car
In this short video, CNN’s David Goldman shows how different types of oil shape gas prices nationwide.
The journey is the thing, not the destination. –Isabella Bird.
| Centuries-old Christian Nubian murals inspire gorgeous fashion reconstructions |
Stunning clothes from medieval Christian Nubia have been re-created and put on models, whose performance brought onlookers to tears. Read more.
| Mysterious green rocks in Pyrenees cave hint that prehistoric people were working copper there for 4,000 years |
Dozens of pieces of bright-green rock discovered in a cave in the Pyrenees may be evidence of copper smelting 7,000 years ago. Read more.
| City birds appear to like men more than women, but experts have no idea why |
An analysis of 37 urban bird species found that men could get slightly closer to the avians than women could, suggesting that these animals recognize sex differences in humans. Read more.
| Scientists identify 10,000 ‘impossible’ exoplanet candidates, potentially tripling the number of known alien worlds |
A new study has identified a potentially record-breaking haul of transiting exoplanets, thanks to a machine learning algorithm that analyzed the light curves of more than 80 million previously overlooked stars. Read more.
| NASA just released 12,000 more Artemis II photos — here are a dozen of our favorites |
NASA just uploaded more than 12,000 photos snapped by the Artemis II crew during their record-breaking flyby around the moon. Here are some of the most inspiring ones. Read more.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Cornwall, UK
‘Heavy onshore wind over three days had traced ripples in the sand of Porthminster beach in St Ives. The beach was deserted, and as I was walking home the sun came out and cast a tropical shadow of a palm, in total contrast to the gust and cold weather of the day.
’Photograph: Alan Hocking
Newport, Wales
‘This was taken at RSPB Newport Wetlands at Christmas, the year I got divorced – the only Christmas I’ve ever spent on my own. As I sat peacefully looking out at this scene that the universe was offering up to me, I knew I was going to be OK.’
Photograph: Gwyneth Marshman
London, UK
‘Look up! The ceiling of the recently refurbished “Upstairs at Ronnie’s” jazz club in Soho.
’Photograph: John Earls
Market Closes for May 5th, 2026
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| Dow Jones |
49298.25 | +356.35 |
| +0.73% | ||
| S&P 500 | 7259.22 | +58.47 |
| +0.81% | ||
| NASDAQ | 25326.13 | +258.33 |
| +1.03% | ||
| TSX | 33566.91 | -71.96 |
| -0.21% |
International Markets
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| NIKKEI | 59513.12 | +228.20 |
| +0.38% | ||
| HANG SENG |
25898.61 | -197.27 |
| -0.76% | ||
| SEN SEX | 77017.79 | -251.61 |
| -0.33% | ||
| FTSE 100* | 10219.11 | -144.82 |
| -1.40% |
Bonds
| Bonds | % Yield | Previous % Yield |
| CND. 10 Year Bond |
3.608 | 3.613 |
| CND. 30 Year Bond |
3.964 | 3.958 |
| U.S. 10 Year Bond |
4.4241 | 4.4382 |
| U.S. 30 Year Bond |
4.9876 | 5.0147 |
| BOC Close | Today | Previous |
| Canadian $ | 0.7352 | 0.7341 |
| US $ |
1.3600 | 1.3622 |
| Euro Rate 1 Euro= |
Inverse | |
| Canadian $ | 0.6274 | 1.5938 |
| US $ |
0.8532 | 1.1719 |
Commodities
| Gold | Close | Previous |
| London Gold Fix |
4636.90 | 4636.90 |
| Oil | ||
| WTI Crude Future | 102.27 | 106.42 |
Market Commentary:
On this day in 1818, Karl Marx, the father of communism, was born in Trier in the Kingdom of Prussia.
🍒Canada🍓
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the third day, dropping 0.2%, or 71.96 to 33,566.91 in Toronto.
Today, information technology stocks led the market lower, as 2 of 11 sectors lost; 78 of 220 shares fell, while 140 rose.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline and had the largest move, decreasing 15.6%.
Insights
* The index advanced 35% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 29% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.8% below its 52-week high on March 2, 2026, and 35% above its low on May 6, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 1.4% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.1 on a trailing basis and 16.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.2% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$5.31t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 14.47% compared with 14.42% in the previous session and the average of 16.96% over the past month
Index Points
Information Technology| -235.9719| -9.1| 3/6
Real Estate | -2.8372| -0.6| 9/8
Health Care | 2.1714| 2.3| 4/0
Communication Services| 3.4365| 0.6| 4/1
Consumer Staples | 7.0176| 0.7| 7/3
Utilities | 9.7242| 0.8| 13/1
Industrials | 13.8992| 0.4| 22/7
Consumer Discretionary| 16.4630| 1.6| 8/1
Materials | 19.6557| 0.3| 27/33
Energy | 20.9894| 0.3| 26/11
Financials | 73.5074| 0.7| 17/7
Shopify | -232.6000| -15.6| 200.5| -33.8
Cameco | -15.1900| -3.1| 41.2| 24.3
Waste Connections | -6.5180| -1.7| -17.8| -10.7
Manulife Financial | 12.6800| 2.1| 48.5| 7.4
Suncor | 14.5800| 1.9| 93.8| 56.0
Brookfield Corp | 18.9900| 2.0| -40.9| -0.9
MT Newswires:
The Toronto Stock Exchange has closed lower in all but one of the last eight sessions, with the latest losses on this Tuesday coming as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US-Iran ceasefire "is not over" despite attacks in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 71.96 points, or 0.2%, at 33.566.91, even as most sectors were higher, led by Health Care, up 2.5%, followed By Base Metals, up 2%, and Energy, up 1.4%.
Information Technology was down near 4.2% and the Battery Metals Index was down 2.6%.
Among individual stocks, BNN Bloomberg TV cited Ero Copper, up more than 5% today and up just short of 100% over one year.
The company reported first-quarter results earlier Tuesday.
BNN also cited Parex Resources (PXT.TO), up near 5% as Frontera (FEC.TO) obtained a final order approving their plan of arrangement.
On the negative side, BNN cited Shopify (SHOP.TO), down more than 15% after its Q1 results, and Keyera (KEY.TO), which lost more than 7% as the Competition Bureau moved to block its $5.15-billion acquisition of Plains All American Pipelines Canadian natural-gas liquids business.
Still on individual stocks, Morningstar Canada said the top performing dividend payers in April included engineering and construction company Aecon (ARE.TO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO), and asset management firm IGM Financial (IGM.TO). Morningstar noted dividend-paying stocks that "combine healthy balance sheets with hefty yields" can provide investors with "steady incomes, cushion against market downturns, and grow investments at a healthy clip".
A screening of the Morningstar Canada Index, which measures the performance of Canada’s broad regional markets, targeting the top 97% of stocks by market capitalization, for companies with a forward dividend yield of at least 1.5%, excluding real estate investment trusts, showed the best performing Canadian dividend stocks last month.
This included the aforementioned Aecon, CIBC and IGM.
The list also included National Bank of Canada (NA.TO), TD Bank Group (TD.TO), Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services (IAG.TO), Power Corporation of Canada (POW.TO), TMX Group (X.TO), Sun Life Financial (SLF.TO) and Superior Plus (SPB.TO).
Of commodities, gold traded higher by midafternoon, rising off a five-week low as treasury yields weakened. Gold for June delivery was up US$35.60 to US$4,568.90 per ounce.
But West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 3.9% with the ceasefire between the United States and Iran seen holding, calming Monday’s gains as violence in the Persian Gulf eased.
WTI crude oil for June delivery closed down US$4.15 to settle at US$102.27 per barrel, after rising 4.4% on Monday, while July Brent oil was down US$4.24 to US$110.20.
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Relative calm returned to global markets, with stocks rising and oil falling as signs that a US-Iran ceasefire is still in place reduced fears about a full-scale war that could hamper the economic outlook.
The rebound in equities drove the S&P 500 to fresh all-time highs as Washington played down the prospect of an active conflict with Tehran a day after an escalation of hostilities over the Strait of Hormuz.
While crude prices remained elevated in the face of a blockade of the key energy chokepoint, Brent settled below $110 a barrel.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the truce that began about a month ago is still holding.
Meantime, Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that the move to give military support to ships passing through Hormuz near Iran is a “defensive operation,” noting the US will only fire if fired upon.
The lack of further escalation in tensions with Iran is supporting investor sentiment, according to Brock Weimer at Edward Jones.
“Our base-case for markets and the economy has been that there will be a near-term resolution between the US and Iran, allowing for energy prices to fall after the Strait of Hormuz is reopened,” said Chris Senyek at Wolfe Research.
The rebound in global stocks from their Iran war lows has been so narrow that the market is primed for broader gains triggered by even slightly positive news, according to strategists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. led by Mislav Matejka.
“Many investors are trying to read the tea leaves on the next shoe to drop with the Iran war and oil prices, but stocks have historically moved on quickly from geopolitical events, and we believe this current issue is no different,” said Julian Koski at New Age Alpha.
A rally in tech also buoyed the market Tuesday, with a key gauge of chipmakers climbing to a record.
Apple Inc. is weighing using Intel Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. to build the main processors for its devices in the US.
Meantime, the Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled a proposal that would let US companies choose to report earnings semiannually, enabling them to focus on long-term growth without the pressure of quarterly deadlines.
Critics argue that less frequent reports would increase the potential to bury bad news and boost the risk of insider trading.
On the economic front, job openings were little changed in March while hiring rebounded as the labor market showed continued signs of stabilization.
Separate figures showed a pickup in new-home sales.
The services expansion cooled in April as orders growth slowed.
Corporate Highlights:
* Anthropic PBC unveiled a set of new artificial-intelligence agents designed to handle a broader mix of financial services tasks.
* Pinterest Inc. jumped as first-quarter sales topped estimates and its outlook for revenue in the current period was higher than anticipated.
* Palantir Technologies Inc.’s disappointing US commercial sales in the first quarter overshadowed an otherwise bullish outlook.
* Pfizer Inc. reported first-quarter sales that beat estimates as demand for older blockbusters helped to offset a decline in revenues from Covid products.
* Coinbase Global Inc. will slash around 14% of its workforce, citing a need to manage costs in volatile markets and technological advances in AI.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.8% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.1695
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3543
* The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 157.89 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 2.1% to $81,644.81
* Ether rose 0.9% to $2,371.68
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.42%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 3.06%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced 10 basis points to 5.06%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.4% to $102.77 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.7% to $4,554.69 an ounce
Have a lovely evening.
Be magnificent!
As ever,
Carolann
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. -Calvin Coolidge, 1872-1933.
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