Month: July 2021

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.

July 30, 1935~Paperback books first introduced.

On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis, which had just delivered key components of the Hiroshima atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Only 316 out of 1,196 men survived the sinking and shark-infested waters.  Go to article »

Emily Bronte, writer, b. 1818.
Henry Moore, sculptor, b. 1848.
Henry Ford, industrialist, b. 1863.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor, b. 1947

‘The Green Knight’ puts a dream-like spin on Arthurian legend.  Weekend movie plans, made. 

LEGO has launched a cute typewriter set that looks and moves just like the real thing — once you put the more than 2,000 pieces together, that is. (Click here to view)

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

In South Africa, elephants old and young huddle together to keep each other safe, captured by Josef Schwarz from Germany To celebrate the CEWE Photo Award 2021, CEWE has released the 10 images that have been shortlisted as winners from each of the ten categories in the world largest photo competition
CREDIT: JOSEF SCHWARZ

Rain droplets have been captured on this dandelion clock seed to create a striking image by Petra Jung from Switzerland o celebrate the CEWE Photo Award 2021, CEWE has released the 10 images that have been shortlisted as winners from each of the ten categories in the world largest photo competition
CREDIT: PETRA JUNG

Tate Modern encourages visitors of all ages to transform the floor of the Turbine Hall into a giant work of art. It is part of a project by artist Ei Arakawa, which launched UNIQLO Tate Play, Tate Modern’s new free programme of playful art-inspired activities for families
CREDIT: GUY BELL/ALAMY LIVE NEWS

People look at a model of the sun while visiting the recently-opened Shanghai Planetarium in Shanghai
CREDIT: HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Market Closes for July 30^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34935.47	-149.06
		-0.42%
S&P 500	4395.30	-23.85
		-0.54%
NASDAQ	14672.68	-105.58 -0.71%
TSX	20270.44	-41.35
		-0.20%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27283.59	-498.83
		-1.80%
HANG SENG	25961.03	-354.29
		-1.35%
SENSEX	52586.84	-66.23
		-0.13%
FTSE 100*	7032.30	-46.12 -0.65%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.203	1.206
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.760	1.754
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.2289	1.2693
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8974	1.9195

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8014	0.8036
US $	1.2478	1.2444
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4801	0.6756
US $	1.1862	0.8431

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1829.30	1796.60
Oil
WTI Crude Future	73.95	73.62

Market Commentary:
    On this day in 1914, just weeks after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo, stock exchanges in Berlin, Rome, and Vienna shut down as Austria declared war on Serbia. Investors panicked in New York: The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 6.9% to 71.42, on immense volume of 1,307,000 shares.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities fell Friday, led by declines in energy shares including ARC Resources and Tourmaline, both falling over 5%. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell about 0.4% even as a report showed Canada’s economy sprang back to life at the end of the second quarter, with vaccine-led re-openings spurring a return to growth. In addition, Quebecor Inc. spent C$830 million ($667 million) in Canada’s wireless spectrum auction, a move that signals an ambition to challenge the country’s three dominant telecommunications companies in 5G services.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,822 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.2% to C$1.2479 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 1.3 basis points to 1.191%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.1 percent at 20,287.80 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 1.3 percent on July 19 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.4 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.4 percent.  Denison Mines Corp. had the largest drop, falling 5.6 percent. Today, 100 of 230 shares fell, while 127 rose; 5 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 0.6 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 0.5 percent
* The index advanced 24 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 36 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.5 percent below its 52-week high on July 7, 2021 and 31.6 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.9 on a trailing basis and 16.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.5 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.19t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.04 percent compared with 9.32 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.03 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | -38.2190| -0.6| 16/12
* Energy | -17.9661| -0.7| 5/18
* Information Technology | -16.1046| -0.7| 6/6
* Health Care | -5.7245| -2.3| 1/9
* Materials | -2.1634| -0.1| 21/30
* Real Estate | 3.1493| 0.5| 22/3
* Utilities | 5.3953| 0.6| 15/1
* Communication Services | 6.0062| 0.6| 4/3
* Consumer Staples | 7.7557| 1.0| 7/6
* Consumer Discretionary | 11.7786| 1.6| 9/3
* Industrials | 22.1245| 0.9| 21/9
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -20.7400| -1.4| 12.0| 30.3
* TD Bank | -9.5100| -0.9| -10.7| 15.3
* Royal Bank of Canada | -8.1370| -0.7| -16.1| 20.6
* Constellation | | | |
* Software | 6.0800| 2.2| 51.1| 20.9
* Canadian National | 9.0370| 1.4| 1.3| -3.1
* Restaurant Brands | 9.3760| 5.4| 119.4| 9.4

US
By Richard Richtmyer and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities retreated at the tail end of a big earnings week as investors worried about slowing growth at the megacap technology companies that have helped drive the market to record highs during the pandemic. Amazon.com Inc. dropped 7.6% in its biggest decline since May 2020, contributing the most to declines in the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 indexes, after the company’s sales outlook missed expectations.  Tech stocks including Microsoft Corp. also weighed down the Dow Jones Industrial Average.  European equities dropped from a record and Asian stocks slid amid China’s regulatory clampdown. Markets were whipsawed this week by China’s tightening regulatory grip, a slew of earnings and the outlook for stimulus.  Amazon’s sales forecast adds to cautious forecasts from Facebook Inc. and Apple Inc., stoking a debate about whether tech stocks’ pandemic-related out performance will give way to a cyclical revival. So far, the second-quarter earnings season has been stronger than expected. About three-fifths of S&P 500 companies have reported, and more than 80% have exceeded both sales and profit estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
With stocks trading near record highs and valuations stretched, some investors are increasingly concerned that the corporate earnings recovery is peaking as the market faces risks ranging from inflation to the fast-spreading Covid-19 delta variant and China’s crackdown on private technology firms. “When you get to the valuation levels we’re at, professional investors are looking for a reason to sell,” said David Spika, president of GuideStone Capital Management, which has about $18 billion of assets under management. “It could be the delta variant, it could be China. It doesn’t matter. They’re looking for a reason to sell because they know valuations are extended and they don’t want to be the last one holding the bag.” Investors piled into cash and equities in the past week, according to a Bank of America Corp. note citing EPFR Global data. BofA strategists recommended owning defensive and quality names in the second half of the year, as “policy flip-flops will end in market correction.” Elsewhere, Pinterest Inc. plunged 18% to a two-month low after analysts said the company’s monthly user trends were disappointing. Oil prices rose, with West Texas Intermediate crude settling at $73.95 a barrel as concerns about the delta variant’s impact on fuel demand eased amid tight global supplies.  The Bloomberg Commodity Index was down more than 1%, paring a third consecutive weekly gain.
Here are the main moves in the markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.5% as of 4:02 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.6%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.8%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1861
* The British pound fell 0.4% to $1.3899
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 109.71 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 1.23%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.46%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.56%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to $73.77 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 1% to $1,816.90 an ounce
–With assistance from Eric Lam and Namitha Jagadeesh.
Have a wonderful long weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

The question is whether any civilization can wage relentless war on life without destroying itself,
and without losing the right to be called civilized. -Rachel Carson, 1907-1964.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1914 Transcontinental telephone service began with the first phone conversation between New York and San Francisco. Go to article »

1958: NASA  established.

Life on Earth may be much older than we thought.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Lightning strikes in front of a rainbow at Houghton Hall Park near Dunstable
CREDIT: IZZY BRETT/PA WIRE

Two of the characters taking part in the Midsummer Lights event at Painswick Rococo Gardens in Gloucestershire. The gardens are transformed in to a mystical world
CREDIT: ANDREW FOX

Amateur wildlife photographer Andy Wilson captured a Tawny owl in still ponds near Stonehaven Scotland
CREDIT: ANDY WILSON/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

Market Closes for July 29^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35084.53	+153.60
		+0.44%
S&P 500	4419.15	+18.51
		+0.42%
NASDAQ	14778.26	+15.68 +0.11%
TSX	20311.78	+81.38
		+0.40%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27782.42	+200.76
		+0.73%
HANG SENG	26315.32	+841.44
		+3.30%
SENSEX	52653.07	+209.36
		+0.40%
FTSE 100*	7078.42	+61.79 +0.88%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.206	1.168
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.754	1.731
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.2693	1.2327
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.9195	1.8801

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8036	0.7984
US $	1.2444	1.2525
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4795	0.6759
US $	1.1889	0.8411

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1796.60	1800.35
Oil
WTI Crude Future	73.62	72.39

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1999, day-trader Mark O. Barton, panicked over severe losses, marched into the offices of All-Tech Investment Group and Momentum Securities in Atlanta. Barton said, “I hope I’m not upsetting your trading day,” then opened fire with two handguns, killing nine people before committing suicide.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose to a record high on a closing basis, with materials leading the charge Thursday. The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 0.4%, with seven of the 11 sectors advancing.  Tech and health care were the main laggards. Gold headed for the biggest gain in more than two months as the dollar extended declines a day after the Federal Reserve said it wants more progress toward its goals first before reducing stimulus.  Silver also advanced. Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem took to the pages of a major newspaper to defend a three-month run of excessive consumer price gains.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 1.2% to $1,828 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.7% to C$1.2446 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 3.5 basis points to 1.203%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 0.4 percent, or 81.38 to 20,311.78 in Toronto. Franco-Nevada Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.8 percent. Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 6.4 percent. Today, 156 of 230 shares rose, while 74 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 0.7 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 0.6 percent
* The index advanced 25 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 37 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.3 percent below its 52-week high on July 7, 2021 and 31.7 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.1 percent in the past 5 days and rose 0.7 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.6 on a trailing basis and 16.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.5 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.17t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.32 percent compared with 9.34 percent in the previous session and the average of 7.95 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Materials | 50.9997| 2.1| 50/3
* Financials | 42.0053| 0.7| 26/2
* Industrials | 11.9855| 0.5| 22/8
* Consumer Staples | 5.9679| 0.8| 8/5
* Consumer Discretionary | 4.4391| 0.6| 10/3
* Energy | 2.7135| 0.1| 17/6
* Utilities | 0.3189| 0.0| 7/9
* Real Estate | -1.1026| -0.2| 11/14
* Communication Services | -2.8724| -0.3| 2/5
* Health Care | -5.2153| -2.0| 0/10
* Information Technology | -27.8411| -1.2| 3/9
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Franco-Nevada | 9.6730| 3.8| 19.4| 24.7
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 6.1700| 0.9| -33.5| 30.0
* Kirkland Lake | 5.9340| 6.4| 92.4| 1.0
* TC Energy | -4.2270| -1.0| -56.8| 18.5
* Suncor Energy | -8.6000| -3.2| 80.4| 16.6
* Shopify | -24.5900| -1.6| 5.2| 32.1

US
By Richard Richtmyer and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities rose toward all-time highs as the latest read on the economy eased concerns about inflation and the Federal Reserve scaling back its ultra-accommodative policies. All of the main American stock indexes advanced, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average touching records.  Ford Motor Co. rallied after a surprise profit.  Facebook Inc. weighed on the Nasdaq 100 after the social-media company gave a cautious outlook. And Amazon.com Inc. fell in extended trading after its sales forecast fell short. Stocks in the U.S. jumped after gross domestic product data showed that consumer spending was strong in the second quarter even as overall growth trailed expectations. A separate report showed applications for U.S. state unemployment fell last week, but were still higher than forecast. The data comes a day after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said officials are moving closer to when they can start reducing bond purchases but there’s still some way to go before doing so. Yields on 10-year Treasuries rose, while the dollar weakened. West Texas Intermediate crude extended gains past $73 a barrel as U.S. stockpiles declined. “The disappointing jobless claims numbers put some fire-power behind Powell’s comments yesterday, emphasizing that we have a ways to go for the labor market to recover,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*Trade Financial. “The miss on GDP only puts a finer point on the fact that growth may be stalling.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate voted to move ahead with a broad infrastructure package, after a bipartisan group of senators and the White House reached an agreement on a $550 billion plan. In other stock moves, Robinhood Markets Inc. had a choppy market debut. The online trading platform slid as much as 12% before climbing back closer to its initial public offering price.  PayPal Holdings Inc. slid the most since March after its quarterly revenue missed estimates.  Uber Technologies Inc. fell after SoftBank Group Corp. was said to be selling $2.1 billion of its stake in the ride-hailing giant in a block trade through Goldman Sachs. The Stoxx 600 Europe Index closed at its highest level ever after updates from Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Airbus SE.  In Asia, a Hang Seng tech index surged on a report that China will continue to allow local firms to go public in the U.S.  Bitcoin slipped below $40,000.
Here are the main moves in the markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.4% as of 4:04 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.9%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%
* The euro rose 0.4% to $1.1888
* The British pound rose 0.4% to $1.3964
* The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 109.47 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 1.27%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.45%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.57%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.7% to $73.61 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 1.6% to $1,832.60 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Akshay Chinchalkar, Ksenia Galouchko and Namitha Jagadeesh.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.  -Muhammad Ali, 1942-2016.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
July 28, 1914 – World War l begins.  Archduke Ferdinand killed.

On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. World War I began as declarations of war by other European nations quickly followed.  Go to article »

Jacqueline O. Kennedy, first lady, b. 1929
Marcel Duchamp, surrealist, b. 1887
Beatrix Potter, writer, b. 1866

How much do I need to sleep? It depends on your age.  The answer is usually “not enough as you’re getting.”

New York City restaurant unveils $200 French fries.  For that price they better be covered in … oh. They are covered in gold.

The most detailed 3-D map of the universe.

Einstein proven right as back of black hole finally seen  
Astronomers have managed to look behind a black hole for the first time and have proven Albert Einstein was right about how these mysterious celestial behemoths behave. An international team of researchers used high-powered X-ray telescopes to study a supermassive black hole 800 million light years away at the centre of a distant galaxy. As well as the usual hallmarks of a black hole, the researchers spotted light – in the form of X-rays – being emitted by its far side. Read how this proves what Einstein’s dogmatic theory of general relativity predicted in 1915.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Anything Goes.. Sutton Foster and cast at the Barbican
CREDIT: IAM WEST/PA WIRE

Actors perform in a dress rehearsal for a production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Kew Gardens
CREDIT:  ROB PINNEY/GETTY IMAGES

These are the first baby beavers born at a rewilding site on Bodmin Moor the first for hundreds of years
CREDIT: CAMERON GOODHEAD/TRIANGLE NEWS

Astronomers see the back of a black hole for the first time, confirming Einstein was right yet again. Very complex study, but researchers studied X-rays which are produced from a reaction inside the core of a black hole, and are spewed out
CREDIT: TELEGRAPH/PICTURE OF THE DAY

Market Closes for July 28^th, 2021

 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34930.93	-127.59
		-0.36%
S&P 500	4400.64	-0.82
		-0.02%
NASDAQ	14762.59	+102.01 +0.70%
TSX	20230.40	+57.05
		+0.28%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27581.66	-388.56
		-1.39%
HANG SENG	25473.88	+387.45
		+1.54%
SENSEX	52443.71	-135.05
		-0.29%
FTSE 100*	7016.63	+20.55 +0.29%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.168	1.167
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.731	1.743
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.2327	1.2411
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8801	1.8936

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7984	0.7935
US $	1.2525	1.2602
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4836	0.6741
US $	1.1845	0.8442

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1800.35	1800.20
Oil
WTI Crude Future	72.39	71.65

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1971, Wells Fargo launched the world’s first stock-index fund with $6 million from the pension fund of Samsonite. The trader executing the orders for the new fund immediately acquired the sarcastic nickname “Discount Diane.”
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities edged higher for a third session, led by a rally in cannabis producers following Tilray’s earnings. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.3%. Technology giant Shopify fell despite strong results. Inflation decelerated in Canada for the first time this year, but price pressures continue to run at some of the hottest levels in nearly a decade. Meanwhile, oil advanced to the highest level in two weeks after declining stockpiles of U.S. crude, gasoline and distillate signaled healthy demand during the nation’s summer driving season.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.25 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.5% to $1,808 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.6% to C$1.2525 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose to 1.169%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.3 percent, or 57.05 to 20,230.40 in Toronto.  The index advanced to the highest closing level since July 13. Today, materials stocks led the market higher, as 6 of 11 sectors gained; 141 of 230 shares rose, while 86 fell. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.5 percent. Tilray Inc. had the largest increase, rising 25.1 percent.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 0.3 percent
* The index advanced 25 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 38 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7 percent below its 52-week high on July 7, 2021 and 31.2 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.6 percent in the past 5 days and rose 0.4 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.9 on a trailing basis and 16.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.16t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.34 percent compared with 9.30 percent in the previous session and the average of 7.85 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Materials | 30.7457| 1.3| 48/5
* Financials | 24.3603| 0.4| 16/11
* Health Care | 23.1127| 9.8| 10/0
* Energy | 15.3450| 0.6| 19/4
* Utilities | 1.3435| 0.1| 12/4
* Consumer Staples | 0.2001| 0.0| 9/4
* Consumer Discretionary | -1.7932| -0.2| 5/8
* Real Estate | -2.0725| -0.3| 5/19
* Communication Services | -4.6593| -0.5| 2/5
* Industrials | -9.1320| -0.4| 9/20
* Information Technology | -20.3965| -0.9| 6/6
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 16.5900| 2.5| 97.8| 28.9
* Tilray | 11.8700| 25.1| 295.0|n/a
* Barrick Gold | 4.0870| 1.3| -27.8| -7.2
* Couche-Tard | -3.0450| -1.1| -43.5| 12.8
* CGI Inc | -4.9990| -2.8| 3.8| 11.7
* Shopify | -21.7300| -1.4| 51.5| 34.3
US
By Richard Richtmyer, Vildana Hajric and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities advanced and Treasury yields fell after the Federal Reserve held interest rates near zero and Chairman Jerome Powell said that despite the economy’s progress he was still “a ways away” from raising them. The Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 advanced following the announcement, with Alphabet Inc. giving the biggest boost to both indexes after it reported sales that beat estimates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell, with a drop in McDonald’s Corp. weighing heavily after its earnings release.  Ten-year Treasury yields fell 1 basis point to 1.23% after climbing to as high of 1.27%. While strong earnings have been bolstering confidence in the corporate recovery, investors have remained nervous about the threat to global growth from the Covid-19 delta variant and the potential for tighter monetary policy. The Fed, in its statement released after a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, kept the benchmark policy rate near zero and repeated language that inflation had run persistently below its long-run 2% goal. “While the economy appears to be inching closer, the Fed has not yet seen sufficiently outsized data to warrant a meaningful policy change,” said Greg Bassuk, chief executive officer at AXS Investments LLC. “As a result, we expect the markets to remain volatile in the near-term, driven largely by this season’s remaining corporate earnings announcements, key upcoming economic data reports and the pace of progress in curtailing the global pandemic.” News that a bipartisan Senate group had agreed on a broad infrastructure deal for spending on projects like roads and bridges lifted stocks like Caterpillar Inc.  and Vulcan Materials Co., which rose as much as 4%, the most since May.
Large-cap China stocks listed in the U.S. rebounded after Chinese state media attempted to reassure investors about the market’s stability. In Asia, the Hang Seng Index reversed losses after coming close to entering a bear market.  China’s securities regulator held a video conference with executives of major investment banks on Wednesday in an attempt to ease market fears. A five-day rally that pushed major U.S. equity indexes to all-time highs paused on Tuesday as Alphabet, Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. prepared to release their earnings.  While Alphabet gave the biggest lift to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 on Wednesday, Apple weighed it down the most after the iPhone maker warned that its sales growth could be slowing.  Microsoft was fluctuating between gains and losses after its report. Meanwhile, Facebook Inc. closed at a record high before its post market earnings release. “This is the time, as we get past the pandemic, get past all of the fiscal and monetary support, that really you need to know which companies that you’re investing in,” Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors, said on Bloomberg TV.  “Do they have very strong balance sheets? Do they have a strong customer base? And I think what we’re seeing with the big tech, they’re proving again this week is that’s exactly what they have.” Earnings also drove moves in other major U.S. stocks. Boeing Co. climbed after its posting its first profit since 2019. Starbucks Corp. dropped on slowing China growth.  Advanced Micro Devices Inc. climbed to an all-time high after the chipmaker raised its outlook for full-year revenue growth. McDonald’s fell for the first time in seven sessions on concern about its outlook for margins. So far, almost 90% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported second-quarter results have exceeded analysts’ earnings estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Here are some key events to watch this week:
* Facebook, Amazon report earnings this week
* U.S. GDP data are due Thursday

Here are the main moves in the markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 3:52 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1845
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3905
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 109.88 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 1.23%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.45%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 0.57%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.8% to $72.22 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,811.40 an ounce
–With assistance from Michael Msika and Jan-Patrick Barnert.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. -Truman Capote, 1924-1984.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
July 27, 1866~Atlantic telegraph cable laid.

You won’t believe how this beetle walks on water.

Why Peter the Great taxed beards.

The Great Coral Reef is having a decent year.

Largest known comet has been traveling for millions of years.  An interesting journey to ponder next time you’re stuck in a traffic jam. 

Still don’t know what cryptocurrency is? Here’s an explainer.  It’s also OK if you never want to know. This is a judgment-free zone.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

MonoVision Photography Awards 2021 Winners announced /Honourable Single Mention Soccer at Sunset in Landscape category by Marc Apers Belgium
CREDIT: MARC APERS/MONOVISIONS PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS/TNG

MonoVision Photography Awards 2021 Winner. By using nudes to capture trust and vulnerability each winner delivers a strong message towards conserving Africas wildlife and habitat
CREDIT: PAUL GIGGLE/MONOVISIONS PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS/TNG

Check out these mind-blowing pictures of Snow Tunnels in the Scottish Highlands. Gary Hodgson visited and photographed summer snow tunnels in Carn Ban Mor, Glenfeshie, Cairngorms National Park
CREDIT: GARY HODGSON PHOTOGRAPHY / CATERS NEWS

Luke Jerram shows his seven-metre model of Mars in the Great Hall of the Wills Memorial Building Bristol University. Using NASA imagery, the model allows people to see the mountains, valleys and craters of our neighbour the Red Planet
CREDIT: JMF NEWS/ALAMY LIVE NEWS

Market Closes for July 27^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35058.52	-85.79
		-0.24%
S&P 500	4401.46	-20.84
		-0.47%
NASDAQ	14660.58	-180.13 -1.21%
TSX	20173.35	+8.39
		+0.04%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27970.22	+136.93
		+0.49%
HANG SENG	25086.43	-1105.89
		-4.22%
SENSEX	52578.76	-273.51
		-0.52%
FTSE 100*	6996.08	-29.35 -0.42%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.167	1.222
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.743	1.799
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.2411	1.2896
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8936	1.9418

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7935	0.7968
US $	1.2602	1.2550
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4893	0.6714
US $	1.1818	0.8462

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1800.20	1799.60
Oil
WTI Crude Future	71.65	71.91

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1971, Merrill Lynch went public, becoming the first New York Stock Exchange firm to do its own initial public offering on the NYSE. The brokerage industry had waited nearly 200 years to share its profits with the public, and Merrill Lynch let the public own a piece less than three years before the worst stock market slump since 1929.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were mixed Tuesday as investors digested corporate earnings. The S&P/TSX Composite Index was mostly unchanged, with real estate and industrials rising, while cannabis and energy lagged. Pot investors will gain some color this week as Tilray is set to report earnings after combining with Aphria. Shopify Inc. has entered the ranks of one of the biggest Canadian companies ever, passing $200 billion in stock market value last week.  It’s a sign of the market’s upbeat view of its prospects — even as its growth rate begins to soften. Bank of Canada officials need to “temper their enthusiasm” that strong inflation readings will be short-lived, according to one former governor.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,800.35 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.4% to C$1.2595 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 5.5 basis points to 1.167%
By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 20,173.35 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.1 percent. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.1 percent. Celestica Inc. had the largest increase, rising 16.2 percent.Today, 105 of 230 shares rose, while 124 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.

Insights
* This month, the index was little changed
* The index advanced 25 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 37 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1 percent below its 52-week high on July 7, 2021 and 30.8 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.2 percent in the past 5 days and fell 0.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.1 on a trailing basis and 16.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.17t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.30 percent compared with 9.37 percent in the previous session and the average of 7.78 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 29.9027| 0.5| 12/16
* Industrials | 17.6327| 0.8| 15/14
* Real Estate | 6.3848| 1.0| 25/0
* Utilities | 5.6084| 0.6| 13/3
* Communication Services | 2.8799| 0.3| 4/3
* Consumer Staples | -0.7494| -0.1| 3/10
* Materials | -0.8885| 0.0| 19/34
* Consumer Discretionary | -4.7078| -0.6| 1/12
* Health Care | -7.9355| -3.3| 2/8
* Information Technology | -17.0483| -0.7| 8/4
* Energy | -22.6945| -0.9| 3/20
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 20.1300| 3.1| 38.6| 25.7
* Canadian National | 11.3600| 1.8| 4.7| -4.3
* Royal Bank of | | | |
* Canada | 6.7470| 0.5| 19.6| 21.0
* Canadian Natural | | | |
* Resources | -4.5430| -1.3| -36.8| 33.3
* Suncor Energy | -11.5400| -4.1| 36.1| 20.0
* Shopify | -23.1300| -1.5| 81.5| 36.2

US
By Richard Richtmyer, Vildana Hajric and Natalia Kniazhevich
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities ended a five-day winning streak on Tuesday as megacap technology stocks including Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. tumbled ahead of their earnings reports. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 posted its biggest drop in more than two months as all three of the major American equity indexes fell from all-time highs.  The Hang Seng Index sank the most since May 2020 as speculation swirled that U.S. funds are offloading China and Hong Kong assets. The rout in China is adding to global market unease, with investors already concerned about the economic recovery, given the rise in the Covid-19 delta variant and central-bank talk of tightening policy.  While a strong start to the earnings season has helped U.S. equities, investors have been anticipating further catalysts from this week’s Federal Reserve meeting and the updates due today from Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet Inc., which are among the top five heaviest-weighted stocks in the S&P 500.  Shares of all three were among the biggest drags on the index on Tuesday. “The turmoil in tech stocks in China is finally bleeding into U.S. tech stocks,” said Chris Murphy, Susquehanna International Group’s co-head of derivatives strategy.  “We might also be seeing investors taking profits ahead of the big tech earnings later this week. I am concerned investors will lighten up in general after those earnings this week as we head into a
seasonably weak period for equities.” Shares of Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc., which are set to report earnings later this week, also tumbled.  Nine of the 10 stocks in the NYSE FANG+ index, which includes the biggest U.S.-based tech companies as well as China’s Baidu Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., ended the session lower.
Forecasts indicate that S&P 500 earnings growth should set new highs during the second-quarter season, and so far more than 80% of the companies that have reported their results beat Wall Street’s sales and profit estimates.  That’s helped to offset concern about inflation and the spread of Covid-19.  At the same time, it has some investors thinking this might be as good as it’s going to get for a while. “We probably are at peak earnings,” Victoria Fernandez, chief market strategist at Crossmark Global Investments, said on Bloomberg TV.  “They have easy comps so that’s helping.  Plus they’ve been able to start putting through some of the price increases.” In China, the yuan slid to its lowest since April against the dollar and bonds slumped, indicating mounting worries that Beijing’s crackdown on education, food delivery and property sectors could expand to other industries.  Meanwhile, a slump in U.S.-listed Chinese shares accelerated. Elsewhere in markets, Treasuries rose with the yen amid demand for haven assets. Bitcoin traded around $38,000 after briefly rising above $40,000 overnight.
Here are some key events to watch this week:
* Alphabet, Apple, Facebook, Amazon report earnings this week
* Federal Reserve policy meeting concludes Wednesday
* U.S. GDP data are due Thursday Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.6%
Currencies:
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1822
* The British pound rose 0.5% to $1.3885
* The Japanese yen rose 0.6% to 109.71 per dollar
Bonds:
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined six basis points to 1.23%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to -0.44%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 0.56%
Commodities:
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.1% to $71.83 a barrel
* Gold futures were little changed
–With assistance from Michael Msika, David Wilson and Andreea Papuc.
Have a wonderful evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. -C.S. Lewis, 1898-1963.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
2000 A federal judge approved a $1.25 billion settlement between Swiss banks and more than a half million plaintiffs who alleged the banks had hoarded money
deposited by Holocaust victims.  Go to article »

Mick Jagger, musician, b. 1943
Aldous Huxley, author, b. 1894
George Bernard Shaw, author, b. 1856
Carl Jung, psychoanalyst, b. 1875
Sandra Bullock, actor, b. 1965

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Spectacular image on an Osprey catching a trout in lake near Aviemore Scotland
CREDIT: CHARLOTTE GRAHAM FOR THE TELEGRAPH

Aerial dancers Georgi Thorns, 26, Hannah Tattersall, 24, and Jamie Hall, 27 suspended from 1000ft in the air on the longest high wire bridge in Europe in Honister Slate Mine in the Lake District
CREDIT: TOM MCNALLY/TRIANGLE NEWS

Tom Pidcock on his way to a gold medal in the Mountain Bike Cross Country at Tokyo Olympics
CREDIT: REUTERS/CHRISTIAN HARTMANN

Market Closes for July 26^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35144.31	+82.76
		+0.24%
S&P 500	4422.30	+10.51
		+0.24%
NASDAQ	14840.71	+3.72 +0.03%
TSX	20164.96	-23.47
		-0.12%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27833.29	+285.29
		+1.04%
HANG SENG	26192.32	-1129.66
		-4.13%
SENSEX	52852.27	-123.53
		-0.23%
FTSE 100*	7025.43	-2.15 -0.03%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.222	1.208
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.799	1.780
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.2896	1.2763
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.9418	1.9151

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7968	0.7957
US $	1.2550	1.2568
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4816	0.6750
US $	1.1805	0.8471

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1799.60	1799.45
Oil
WTI Crude Future	71.91	72.27

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1786, the earliest known U.S. stock and bond tables were published in the Massachusetts Centinel.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities fell Monday with weakness in information-technology stocks. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.1%. Shopify Inc. dropped 3.9%, most since May 3. The Canadian tech giant is set to report second quarter earnings July 28.  Meanwhile, materials and energy stocks rallied ahead of big earnings reports. The takeover battle for one of Canada’s largest energy companies moved closer to resolution after Pembina Pipeline Corp. terminated its C$8.5 billion ($6.7 billion) deal to acquire Inter Pipeline Ltd., clearing a path for Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP, which has pursued a hostile bid. On the commodities front, nickel rose for a third straight session, approaching a seven-year high on booming demand for the metal used in stainless steel and electric-vehicle batteries. Copper advanced the most in more than two months.

Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.90 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,797.50 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.2% to C$1.2545 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 1.0 basis point to 1.218%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.1 percent at 20,164.96 in Toronto.  The move follows the previous session’s increase of 0.5 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.9 percent.  Trillium Therapeutics Inc. had the largest drop, falling 5.3 percent. Today, 83 of 231 shares fell, while 146 rose; 6 of 11 sectors were lower, led by information technology stocks.

Insights
* This month, the index was unchanged
* The index advanced 26 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 39 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.1 percent below its 52-week high on July 7, 2021 and 30.8 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.2 percent in the past 5 days and fell 0.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.1 on a trailing basis and 16.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent 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 9.37 percent compared with 9.36 percent in the previous session and the average of 7.70 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | -65.5943| -2.7| 4/8
* Industrials | -16.2997| -0.7| 15/15
* Utilities | -4.0763| -0.4| 5/11
* Communication Services | -2.3005| -0.2| 0/6
* Real Estate | -1.8440| -0.3| 11/14
* Health Care | -0.1158| 0.0| 5/5
* Consumer Discretionary | 0.2924| 0.0| 8/5
* Consumer Staples | 4.3748| 0.6| 8/5
* Financials | 5.7098| 0.1| 20/8
* Energy | 24.4976| 1.0| 20/3
* Materials | 31.8802| 1.4| 50/3
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -63.3700| -3.9| 62.7| 38.3
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | -7.0300| -1.1| 194.6| 21.9
* Canadian National | -6.7050| -1.0| -34.6| -5.9
* Franco-Nevada | 5.7920| 2.4| 53.6| 18.6
* Suncor Energy | 6.0730| 2.2| -35.3| 25.2
* Pembina Pipeline | 6.2340| 4.1| 60.3| 36.3

US
By Richard Richtmyer and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities extended their run to all-time highs on Monday, with megacap technology companies leading the way higher as investors  weighed the outlook for growth at the start of a busy week of earnings and policy updates. Tesla Inc. was among those providing the biggest boost to the S&P 500, rising for the first time in four sessions and then extending gains in post market trading after second-quarter  results beat analysts’ estimates.  Gains in other heavyweights set to report earnings later this week including Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Facebook Inc. also propelled the benchmark index. While a positive start to the earnings season has helped push stocks to their best five-day streak of gains since March, volatility returned to the market on Monday as some investors remain worried about the pace of economic growth and inflation. Concern also has been mounting that the Covid-19 delta variant will derail the recovery. The real yield on U.S. 10-year debt touched a record low ahead of this week’s Federal Reserve meeting, at which officials will likely discuss the outlook for stimulus. “We’re heading into a very eventful week with big tech earnings and a Fed meeting,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance.  The market showed how resilient it was last week, with the impressive bounce-back from the sustained selling on Monday, but we expect more caution as all eyes (and ears) turn to the Fed.”
The Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones Industrial Average also ended Monday’s session at record highs.  Seven of the main 11 S&P 500 industry groups advanced.  Energy stocks climbed the most, despite weakness in crude prices. Royal Dutch Shell Plc kicks off second-quarter earnings for oil majors on Thursday.  The earnings season is expected to show higher profits, falling debt and better returns in the sector. Trade tension is on the radar too.  China lashed out at U.S. policies in a tense start to high-level talks in Tianjin, declaring the relationship between the world’s two largest economies in a “stalemate.” Elsewhere, Bitcoin surpassed $40,000, extending recent gains amid speculation that Amazon may be considering accepting the digital currency as a method of payment.  Cryptocurrency-linked stocks including MicroStrategy Inc. and Coinbase Global Inc. also rallied.

Here are some key events to watch this week:
* Tesla, Alphabet, Apple, Facebook, Amazon report earnings this week
* Federal Reserve policy meeting concludes Wednesday
* U.S. GDP data are due Thursday

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.2% as of 4:09 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%
* The MSCI World index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro rose 0.3% to $1.1805
* The British pound rose 0.5% to $1.3818
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 110.39 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 1.29%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.42%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 0.57%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.1% to $72.17 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,801.20 an ounce
–With assistance from Cormac Mullen, Kit Rees, Andreea Papuc and Namitha Jagadeesh.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

To listen closely and reply well is the highest perfection we are able to attain in the art of conversation. –Francois de la Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.

On July 23, 1914, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia following the killing of Archduke Francis Ferdinand by a Serb assassin; the dispute led to World War I.  Go to article »

Australian cockatoos teach each other to open trash cans.

New Cornell app helps you ID birds by sound.

Watch 1981 freak out about the rise of the Walkman.

There will probably be a shortage of back-to-school supplies.  Don’t get stuck clamoring over the last ugly backpack in the store. 

“Meanwhile, bad news from the Tokyo Games: Poland has sent six swimmers home from the Olympics after selecting too many by mistake. Turns out, upon closer review, what they thought was one swimmer was actually three swimmers in a trench coat.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“And finally, fact: the Games will have no spectators. Fiction: when they heard, badminton players were like, ‘Wait, you can have spectators?’
That’s fiction, they know that.” — JIMMY FALLON

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka poses after lighting the Olympic Cauldron with the Olympic flame
CREDIT: ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Carissa Moore of the United States in action during training at Tokyo Olympics
CREDIT: REUTERS/LISI NIESNER

Mont Saint Michel under Stars, Normandy, France
CREDIT: JEAN MARC LECLEIRE/PNA/CHASSEURS DE NUITS/TNG

Children interact with Mega Please Draw Freely by artist Ei Arakawa inside the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern in London, part of UNIQLO Tate Play the gallery’s new free programme of art-inspired activities for families
CREDIT: YOU MOK/PA WIRE

Brightly coloured fishing nets are repaired by workers. Holes in the nets need to be mended as they get snagged on rocks whilst being used for fishing in the ocean. The nets are also so big that local children in Vietnam often play in them. Photographer and musician David Lazar captured these pictures of the colourful nets
CREDIT: DAVID LAZAR/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

Market Closes for July 23^rd, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35061.55	+238.20
		+0.68%
S&P 500	4411.79	+44.31
		+1.01%
NASDAQ	14836.99	+152.39 +1.04%
TSX	20188.43	+90.91
		+0.45%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27548.00	+159.84
		+0.58%
HANG SENG	27321.98	-401.86
		-1.45%
SENSEX	52975.80	+138.59
		+0.26%
FTSE 100*	7027.58	+59.28 +0.85%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.208	1.204
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.780	1.772
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.2763	1.2783
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.9151	1.9158

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7957	0.7960
US $	1.2568	1.2563
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4791	0.6761
US $	1.1769	0.8497

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1799.45	1802.15
Oil
WTI Crude Future	72.27	72.06

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1996, stock guru Elaine Garzarelli told her clients to get out of the market. Her forecast that stocks would drop 15% to 25%, which would put the Dow at about 4300, helped send stocks plunging. But Ms. Garzarelli turned out to be off the mark: The Dow never again came within 1000 points of 4300.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks climbed on Friday to cap the biggest weekly increase in four after overcoming concerns about a peak in earnings and coronavirus resurgence. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.5% in Toronto, marking the best Monday through Friday gain since June 25.  Tech sector led the gains, as Shopify advanced 3.2% on Friday.
Meanwhile, health care sector was the worst performers, led by biotech companies. Meanwhile, Bridging Finance Inc., the private lender that was seized by Canadian regulators amid an investigation of its top executives, has drawn interest from a “broad range” Of potential bidders, according to the firm managing its affairs during the probe.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.15 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,801.83 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar was flat around C$1.2565 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose to 1.208%
By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.5 percent at 20,188.43 in Toronto.  The index advanced to the highest closing level since July 13 after the previous session’s decrease of 0.1 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.2 percent. Westshore Terminals Investment Corp. had the largest increase, rising 28.4 percent. Today, 134 of 231 shares rose, while 90 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index was little changed
* So far this week, the index rose 1 percent
* The index advanced 26 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 37 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.9 percent below its 52-week high on July 7, 2021 and 30.9 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.2 on a trailing basis and 16.6 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12- month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.16t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 9.36 percent compared with 9.36 percent in the previous session and the average of 7.61 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | 57.9382| 2.4| 11/1
* Industrials | 20.9959| 0.9| 21/8
* Financials | 7.7408| 0.1| 18/8
* Consumer Staples | 7.6750| 1.0| 12/1
* Communication Services | 3.0469| 0.3| 5/2
* Utilities | 2.9100| 0.3| 9/7
* Energy | 2.6237| 0.1| 11/11
* Real Estate | 2.4508| 0.4| 18/6
* Health Care | -2.1002| -0.9| 2/8
* Consumer Discretionary | -2.7201| -0.4| 8/5
* Materials | -9.6431| -0.4| 19/33
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 50.9800| 3.2| 18.7| 43.9
* Canadian Pacific | 6.2120| 1.5| -6.2| 5.1
* Canadian National | 6.0150| 0.9| 8.3| -5.0
* Nutrien | -2.1410| -0.7| -1.9| 21.3
* Franco-Nevada | -4.2380| -1.7| 34.4| 15.8
* Magna International | -10.0700| -4.9| 267.7| 12.9

US
By Rita Nazareth and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — Another raft of blockbuster corporate profits pushed stocks to a record at the end of a week that started with concern about a peak in earnings and a coronavirus   resurgence. About 87% of the S&P 500 companies reporting results so far this season have beaten Wall Street estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.  Twitter Inc. and Snap Inc. led a rally in social-media firms as sales blew past forecasts, while American Express Co. jumped after adding a record number of new customers  to its tony Platinum card in the second quarter. After this week’s gains in equities, the S&P 500 is now up 97% from the depths of the pandemic. Though the rapid spread of the delta variant has sown volatility, several investors are betting that a robust economic recovery will fuel corporate America — even with threat of higher inflation.  For Evercore ISI’s Chairman Ed Hyman, retailers have more power than ever to pass on higher prices to consumers, and that will spur earnings growth in the quarters ahead. “Earnings are reflecting an incredible snapback in economic activity,” said Jeffrey Kleintop, chief global investment strategist at Charles Schwab & Co.  “Concerns that stocks are overvalued are less potent here in terms of a threat to the market simply because earnings are rising at fast clip.” For Angelo Kourkafas, investment strategist at Edward Jones, the strong start of the second-quarter earnings season has allowed investors to look through the uncertainties.  The “buy-the-dip mentality is alive and well,” he added.

Other corporate highlights:
* Honeywell International Inc.’s profit topped estimates as its aerospace and energy businesses started to recover.
* Schlumberger, the world’s biggest oilfield services provider, reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue.
* Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger struck a bullish tone about the chipmaker’s prospects for the rest of the year.
* Kimberly-Clark Corp. trimmed its annual forecast, saying inflation and slowing toilet paper demand are hurting results.

Some of the biggest Chinese firms listed in the U.S. slumped as concerns surrounding further regulatory scrutiny deepened.
The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index had its longest stretch of weekly losses since May 2019, while ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc. tumbled.

These are 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 1.1%
* 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 $1.1772
* The British pound fell 0.1% to $1.3750
* The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 110.55 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.28%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.42%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 0.58%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to $72.03 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,805.60 an ounce
–With assistance from Sunil Jagtiani and Robert Brand.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook. –William James, 1842-1910.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
July 22, 1376: Pied Piper of Hamelin, Germany.

On July 22, 1934, a man identified as bank robber John Dillinger was shot to death by federal agents in Chicago. Go to article »

New York now has better Indian food than London.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Casper and Romeo’s adorable friendship has won the hearts of netizens who often compare their current moods with the unusual facial expressions
CREDIT: CASPERANDROMEO / CATERS NEWS AGENCY

The sun sets over the city on another very warm evening. The weather is due to cool slightly over the next few days. The sky here is believed by some to be caused by forest fires is California. New York City has experienced some of its worst air quality in the last 2 days due to this reason
CREDIT: CHRIS GORMAN / BIG LADDER

A fleet of 470 class dinghy’s in action during a practice race today in Enoshima ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
CREDIT: CLIVE MASON/CLIVE MASON

A cunning kittiwake gull swooped in and attempted to steal a dozen sand eels from a puffin. After trying to flee, the puffin dropped the eels which fell back into the sea at the Isle of May, off the east coast of Scotland
CREDIT: ANDY SHEPPARD/ SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

Market Closes for July 22^nd, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34823.35	+25.35
		+0.07%
S&P 500	4367.48	+8.79
		+0.20%
NASDAQ	14684.60	+52.65 +0.36%
TSX	20097.52	-12.53
		-0.06%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27548.00	+159.84
		+0.58%
HANG SENG	27723.84	+499.26
		+1.83%
SENSEX	52837.21	+638.70
		+1.22%
FTSE 100*	6968.30	-29.98 -0.43%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.204	1.223
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.772	1.796
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.2783	1.2884
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.9158	1.9387

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7960	0.7962
US $	1.2563	1.2560
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4784	0.6764
US $	1.1766	0.8499

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1802.15	1823.05
Oil
WTI Crude Future	72.06	70.55

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1946, the Bretton Woods Agreement was signed in Mount Washington, N.H., pegging major foreign currencies to the U.S. dollar, fixing the gold price at $35 per ounce, and laying the groundwork for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were mostly flat on Thursday, after shares of health care companies underperformed, while tech stocks rose. The S&P/TSX Composite index was down 0.06% in Toronto, led by declines in Trillium Therapeutics and Tilray. Tech stocks were best performer, led by Shopify, which rose 1.6% after at least two analysts raised their share price targets amid optimism on the e-commerce company’s upcoming earnings results. Meanwhile, Toronto Dominion Bank and Great-West Lifeco Inc. plan to issue inaugural limited recourse capital notes issues, taking advantage of the fast growing market for the Canadian
dollar denominated hybrid securities first sold one year ago.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,807.46 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar was flat C$1.2565 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell to 1.194%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite declined slightly to 20,097.52 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s increase of 0.8 percent. Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 0.5 percent.  Iamgold Corp. had the largest drop, falling 10.5 percent. Today, 149 of 231 shares fell, while 79 rose; 8 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index fell 0.3 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 0.6 percent
* The index advanced 24 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 34 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.4 percent below its 52-week high on July 7, 2021 and 30.3 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.4 percent in the past 5 days and fell 0.5 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.1 on a trailing basis and 16.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.16t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.36 percent compared with 9.38 percent in the previous session and the average of 7.56 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | -18.3430| -0.3| 8/20
* Materials | -12.1511| -0.5| 14/39
* Health Care | -7.1721| -2.8| 0/10
* Real Estate | -4.3473| -0.6| 4/21
* Consumer Staples | -3.6672| -0.5| 4/9
* Energy | -2.2723| -0.1| 10/12
* Consumer Discretionary | -1.0603| -0.1| 6/7
* Communication Services | -0.2940| 0.0| 3/4
* Utilities | 1.8118| 0.2| 9/7
* Industrials | 8.5062| 0.4| 13/16
* Information Technology | 26.4818| 1.1| 8/4
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* TD Bank | -5.5700| -0.5| -54.1| 14.6
* Bank of Nova Scotia | -5.1470| -0.8| -65.2| 12.5
* Magna International | -5.0180| -2.4| 12.9| 18.8
* CAE | 3.9580| 5.3| 226.4| 9.3
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 5.2720| 0.8| -13.8| 23.7
* Shopify | 24.7300| 1.6| 21.1| 39.4

US
By Rita Nazareth and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — A rebound in technology companies drove stocks to the brink of a record, with traders assessing another batch of economic and earnings reports.  Treasuries climbed. The S&P 500 had its biggest three-day advance since April, but gains paled in comparison to the previous two sessions. Giants Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. rallied, while firms closely tied to a broader reopening of businesses underperformed.  In late trading, Twitter Inc. jumped after a strong outlook, while Intel Corp. — the world’s biggest semiconductor maker — slid on a lackluster sales forecast. Rising earnings expectations have tempered worries over peaking growth and the spread of the delta coronavirus variant that roiled markets at the start of the week.  Economic reports were mixed, showing sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose for the first time in five months, while jobless claims unexpectedly climbed. “There’s going to be some choppiness in the market in the second half of the year, but we think it’s going to trend higher,” said Victoria Fernandez, chief market strategist at Crossmark Global Investments.  “We have so much liquidity in the market right now, you have companies with a tremendous amount of cash on their balance sheets, you have rates at tremendous lows.”
Earlier Thursday, equities fell on news that multiple prominent websites were inaccessible to some users. Among the corporate highlights, Union Pacific Corp., the largest publicly traded railroad, climbed as profit topped analysts’ projections.  AT&T Inc. rose after beating Wall Street estimates.  American Airlines Group Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. slipped amid cautious outlooks, while D.R. Horton Inc. sank on an unexpected plunge in new home orders. As earnings continue to roll in, American stocks are regaining a leadership position in world markets.  The ratio between the S&P 500 and an S&P Global gauge of shares listed outside the U.S. shows as much.  After falling as much as 10.4% between September and February, the ratio rallied to a record on July 9 and again on Tuesday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World index rose 0.4%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 1.5%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1769
* The British pound rose 0.4% to $1.3765
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 110.17 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 1.26%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to -0.43%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 0.57%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2% to $71.71 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,811.60 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Robert Brand, Srinivasan Sivabalan, David Wilson and Kamaron Leach.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent.

As ever,

Carolann

I’d like to live like a poor man – only with lots of money. -Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1861~Battle of Bull Run

On July 21, 1925, the ”monkey trial” ended in Dayton, Tenn., with John T. Scopes convicted of violating state law for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. (The conviction was later overturned.) Go to article »

Marshall McLuhan, writer, b.1911
Ernest Hemingway, writer, b. 1899
Isaac Stern, musician, b. 1920
Robin Williams,, comic/actor, b.1952
Yusuf Islam (Cat Steven), singer, b. 1948

Most people are alive in an earlier time, but you must be alive in your own time. -Marshall McLuhan, 1911-1980.

Courage is grace under pressure. -Ernest Hemingway, 1899-1961.

Late-night hosts had fun with the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s brief trip to space on Tuesday. Stephen Colbert welcomed his audience by saying, “So happy you could all join us tonight for a momentous day in the history of some people having way too much money.”

The hosts couldn’t resist talking about what Bezos was wearing when he returned — a cowboy hat.
“I guess space turns you into Kenny Chesney.” — JIMMY FALLON

“You know you’re rich when you put that on and everyone who works for you goes, ‘Oh, it looks great, yeah. You’re a man of the people, just going to space.’” — JIMMY FALLON

“A cowboy hat? So he went into space and somehow became extra divorced.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Archie and Veronika looking at each other on the boat) A rescued brown bear and his owner can be seen fishing together on a boat. Archie the brown bear and Veronika Dichka like to spend time fishing on the lake in their native Novosibirsk, Russia
CREDIT: VERONIKA DICHKA / CATERS NEWS AGENCY

Pro Athlete Tom Court commutes in style across the Solent on a Fliteboard – the watercraft of the future
CREDIT:FINNBARR WEBSTER/GETTY IMAGES FOR FLITEBOARD

People celebrate in Brisbane, Australia, Wednesday, following an announcement by the International Olympic Committee that Brisbane was picked to host the 2032 Olympics. The Australian city was the inevitable winner of a one-candidate race steered by the IOC to avoid rival bids
CREDIT: JASON O’BRIEN/AAP IMAHE VIA AP

Market Closes for July 21^st, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34798.00	+286.01
		+0.83%
S&P 500	4358.69	+35.63
		+0.82%
NASDAQ	14631.95	+133.07 +0.92%
TSX	20110.05	+167.34
		+0.84%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27548.00	+159.84
		+0.58%
HANG SENG	27224.58	-34.67
		-0.13%
SENSEX	52198.51	-354.89
		-0.68%
FTSE 100*	6998.28	+117.15 +1.70%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.223	1.179
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.796	1.758
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.5884	1.2218
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.9387	1.8771

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7962	0.7886
US $	1.2560	1.2681
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4814	0.6750
US $	1.1795	0.8478

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1823.05	1814.90
Oil
WTI Crude Future	70.55	67.42

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1933, as Wall Street began to digest the implications of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal”—including the Glass-Steagall Act, enacted just over one month earlier—the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its ninth-worst daily percentage loss, dropping 7.8% (or 7.55 points) to close the day at a dismal 88.71.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose for a second day as U.S. markets advanced amid a slew of solid corporate profits. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.8% in Toronto, bringing the two-day climb to 1.9%. Energy and health care stocks were the best performers, while communication services sector was the worst. Meanwhile, Lumber futures rose the most in more than a year on concern that wildfires in western Canada will reduce supply and spur more curtailments at sawmills.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.4% to $1,803.91 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.9% to C$1.2567 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose to about 5 basis points to 1.226%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.8 percent, or 167.34 to 20,110.05 in Toronto. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.9 percent. SilverCrest Metals Inc. had the largest increase, rising 7.6 percent. Today, 188 of 231 shares rose, while 43 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index fell 0.3 percent
* The index advanced 24 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 35 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.3 percent below its 52-week high on July 7, 2021 and 30.4 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and was little changed in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.1 on a trailing basis and 16.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.14t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.38 percent compared with 9.08 percent in the previous session and the average of 7.52 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 58.2587| 0.9| 26/2
* Energy | 38.5997| 1.6| 22/1
* Information Technology | 28.6905| 1.2| 7/5
* Materials | 26.1824| 1.1| 49/4
* Industrials | 15.6189| 0.7| 25/5
* Consumer Discretionary | 4.6656| 0.6| 12/1
* Real Estate | 3.8198| 0.6| 20/6
* Health Care | 3.7561| 1.5| 10/0
* Utilities | 0.3412| 0.0| 12/4
* Consumer Staples | -3.9875| -0.5| 2/11
* Communication Services | -8.6157| -0.9| 3/4
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move|% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 29.1000| 1.9| 27.4| 37.2
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 16.6000| 2.7| -11.2| 22.6
* Canadian Natural | | | |
* Resources | 9.5660| 2.9| -37.2| 34.3
* Brookfield | | | |
* Infrastructure | -1.3560| -1.0| -34.9| 8.1
* BCE | -1.3840| -0.4| -7.2| 13.4
* Rogers Communications | -6.1660| -3.8| 275.9| 8.7

US
By Rita Nazareth and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed as a slew of solid corporate profits took the focus off concerns about the economic impact of coronavirus flareups around the globe. The dollar fell, while Bitcoin surged. After a bruising selloff driven by worries over a peak in earnings and a slowdown in growth momentum, the S&P 500 notched its biggest back-to-back advance in two months.  Once again, the gains were led by companies that stand to benefit the most from a reopening of the economy, such as commodity, financial and industrial shares.  A gauge of small caps rose almost 2%. Bitcoin soared after some prominent voices discussed prospects for the digital currency at the “B Word” conference, hosted by the Crypto Council for Innovation.  Elon Musk, the billionaire head of Tesla Inc., said his space exploration company SpaceX owns the digital token.  Ark Investment Management’s Cathie Wood urged firms to consider the “explosive” Bitcoin growth. Giants Verizon Communications Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. rose after better-than-estimated quarterly results.  Despite investor jitters on whether Covid-19 infections will upend a travel resurgence, United Airlines Holdings Inc. predicted profits ahead.
Meantime, Netflix Inc. retreated on a disappointing subscriber forecast. Traders are rewarding companies with better-than-expected results amid bets that the second quarter’s expected 70% earnings growth will mark the pinnacle of this expansion cycle. More than 85% of the S&P 500 firms reporting results so far have beaten analysts’ predictions, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.  For Michael Purves, chief executive officer at Tallbacken Capital Advisors, earnings forecasts for the benchmark have surged because of a “huge explosion” in profits at economically sensitive firms. “We may be getting back to a point where earnings matter a little bit more than they had,” said Matt Forester, chief investment officer of BNY Mellon’s Lockwood Advisors. “Company guidance is going to be very important as well.” Strategists from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and UBS Global Wealth Management urged clients to buy cyclicals as the economic recovery is just getting started. The “reopening of the economy is not an event but rather a process, which in our opinion is still not priced-in, and especially not now given recent market moves,” wrote JPMorgan strategists led by Dubravko Lakos-Bujas. “This does not signal the beginning of a down cycle.”

Other corporate highlights:
* Johnson & Johnson raised its annual adjusted earnings and revenue forecast as quarterly sales rebounded strongly from a year ago.
* Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. climbed after better-than-expected results and sales guidance.
* Harley-Davidson Inc. tumbled after the motorcycle maker reported sales that slumped in every region but its home market.

Some key events to watch this week:
* European Central Bank rate decision Thursday
* Bank Indonesia rate decision Thursday
* U.S. existing home sales Thursday
* The Tokyo Summer Olympics begin Friday

Here are some of the main market moves:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.8% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%
* The MSCI World index rose 1%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 1.8%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1800
* The British pound rose 0.7% to $1.3718
* The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 110.27 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced seven basis points to 1.29%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to -0.39%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 0.60%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 4.4% to $70.19 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.4% to $1,804.40 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Robert Brand and David Wilson.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

If you can’t tolerate critics, don’t do anything new or interesting. -Jeff Bezos, b. 1964.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Moon Day ~ first human on the moon.

On July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.  Go to article »

Rocket Rides and Skyscrapers Allow the Rich to Keep Rising: Space tourism follows a long tradition of the wealthy seeking higher altitudes.

Selling Your Used Car? You Could Turn a Profit: Normally a depreciating asset, some used cars are worth more now than they were new.

Another billionaire in space: Jeff Bezos went up, then came down

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Mark Bezos, brother of Jeff Bezos; Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and space tourism company Blue Origin; Oliver Daemen, of the Netherlands; and Wally Funk, aviation pioneer from Texas
CREDIT: BLUE ORIGIN VIA AP

The New Shepard Blue Origin rocket lifts-off from the launch pad carrying Jeff Bezos along with his brother Mark Bezos, 18-year-old Oliver Daemen, and 82-year-old Wally Funk prepare to launch in Van Horn, Texas
CREDIT: JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES

Dolphin breach in New Quay, Ceredigion, West Wales) Playful dolphins have been caught on camera as they jump out of the ocean. Sarah Wyer, from New Quay, Ceredigion, West Wales, captured these images of dolphins as they impressively leapt out of the water
CREDIT: SARAH MICHELLE WYER / CATERS NEWS AGENCY

Swan Upping, the annual census of the swan population on the River Thames. The boats pass though one of the many locks between Windsor and Cookham. The swans are counted, weighed and measured
CREDIT: GEOFF RIGH FOR THE TELEGRAPH

Market Closes for July 20^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34511.99	+549.95
		+1.62%
S&P 500	4323.06	+64.57
		+1.52%
NASDAQ	14498.88	+223.90 +1.57%
TSX	19942.71	+216.26
		+1.10%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27388.16	-264.58
		-0.96%
HANG SENG	27259.25	-230.53
		-0.84%
SENSEX	52198.51	-354.89
		-0.68%
FTSE 100*	6884.13	+36.74 +0.54%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.179	1.144
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.758	1.694
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.2218	1.1888
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8771	1.8197

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7886	0.7843
US $	1.2681	1.2750
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4939	0.6694
US $	1.1781	0.8488

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1814.90	1824.30
Oil
WTI Crude Future	67.42	66.42

Market Commentary:
If you want to be wealthy, live below your means.-Paul Merriman.
Canada
Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equity markets gained on Tuesday as investors bought the recent dips in stocks, led by health care companies. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 1.1%, after falling 1.3% on Monday.  All of the sectors were in the green, with health care and tech stocks leading the outperformance. In the oil patch, seven Canadian natural gas producers are teaming up with a West Coast Indigenous group to propose a new liquefied natural gas facility for British Columbia’s coastal waters, after years of failed industry efforts to make such projects a reality.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.60 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.1% to $1,810.41 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar rose C$1.2677 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose to 1.170%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite is rising 1.2 percent at 19,969.12 in Toronto. In midday trading, financials stocks led the market higher, as all sectors gained; 206 of 231 shares rose, while 22 fell. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.6 percent. Air Canada had the largest increase, rising 6.5 percent.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain 11 times. The next day, it advanced six times for an average 0.5 percent and declined five times for an average 0.8 percent
* This month, the index fell 1 percent, heading for the biggest decline since October 2020
* The index advanced 23 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 34 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2 percent below its 52-week high on July 7, 2021 and 29.5 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.5 percent in the past 5 days and was little changed in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23 on a trailing basis and 16.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.1t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.24 percent compared with 8.42 percent in the previous session and the average of 7.44 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 62.0170| 1.0| 27/1
* Information Technology | 53.5338| 2.3| 12/0
* Industrials | 33.5038| 1.5| 29/1
* Materials | 29.3999| 1.3| 44/8
* Energy | 19.6130| 0.8| 18/4
* Consumer Discretionary | 17.9826| 2.4| 13/0
* Real Estate | 10.8454| 1.6| 26/0
* Consumer Staples | 7.4612| 1.0| 12/1
* Health Care | 4.8987| 2.0| 9/1
* Utilities | 2.4341| 0.3| 11/5
* Communication Services | 1.9462| 0.2| 5/1
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 38.1800| 2.6| 37.4| 33.8
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 11.8100| 2.0| 17.4| 19.3
* Bank of Nova Scotia| 8.1850| 1.3| -47.0| 13.0
* Inter Pipeline | -0.4480| -0.7| 25.4| 70.9
* Enbridge | -0.9860| -0.2| 61.1| 18.3
* TC Energy | -1.6670| -0.4| 25.3| 16.0

US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Dip buyers emerged a day after a tumultuous trading session, driving U.S. stocks to their biggest advance since March. The S&P 500 almost erased its Monday’s slide as traders shrugged off concern that the coronavirus resurgence would curtail the economic recovery.  Cyclical companies, which got pummeled during the selloff, were the ones leading gains on Tuesday. A gauge of small caps climbed 3%. For several investors, the recent rout was just another buying opportunity in an environment of solid corporate earnings, government stimulus and ultra-easy monetary policy. “Pretty amazing rebound, really,” said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade.  “That buy-the-dip mentality has played well. It’s like a football coach that runs the same play that keeps working. There’s no reason to change that play.  It’s certainly working again.” In fact, it was during Monday’s selloff that BNY Mellon Wealth Management’s Alicia Levine said she got out her “shopping list.” Levine said in a Bloomberg TV and Radio interview that she remains “very bullish.”
For Bill Callahan, an investment strategist at Schroders, “equities just make sense right now,” and dip buyers will be rewarded as the market continues to grind higher. On the economic front, data showed U.S. housing starts increased in June by more than forecast, suggesting residential construction is stabilizing despite lingering supply-chain constraints and labor shortages. After the close of regular trading, Netflix Inc. forecast sluggish subscriber gains for the third quarter, raising concern that the streaming leader’s rapid growth may be ebbing.

Some key events to watch this week:
* European Central Bank rate decision Thursday
* Bank Indonesia rate decision Thursday
* U.S. existing home sales Thursday
* The Tokyo Summer Olympics begin Friday

Here are some of the main market moves:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.6%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.9%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1782
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3631
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 109.84 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 1.22%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to -0.41%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.56%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.5% to $67.42 a barrel
* Gold futures were little changed
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Robert Brand, Claire Ballentine and Natalia Kniazhevich.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Nothing can resist a will which will stake even existence upon its fulfillment. –Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
July 19, 1999~ David Cone of the New York Yankees pitched the 14th perfect game in modern major league baseball history in a game against the Montreal Expos. Go to article »

Charles Mayo, surgeon, b. 1865.
Edgar Degas, painter, b. 1834.

Fossilized “megaripples” hint at a dinosaur-killing asteroid.

U.S. proposal to legalize cannabis isn’t making anyone happy.

The City of London is pretty empty despite restrictions being lifted.

When Wally Funk blasts off tomorrow in a rocket built by Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’s company, she will be, at 82, the oldest person ever to go into space. But that is not what makes her so special.
In 1961, three years before Mr. Bezos was born, Ms. Funk excelled in a series of tests to see if women would be good candidates for space travel. But the U.S. government shut down the program, and she has spent the past 60 years trying to find another way into space.  Now she’s found it. -The New York Times.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A plane has drawn a smiley face over Cambridge today as England celebrates Freedom Day. The image appeared in the skies over the historic city as many of the pandemic restrictions are finally relaxed
CREDIT: GEOFF ROBINSON PHOTOGRAPHY

The Beefeaters return to the Tower of London, first Yeoman Warder Barney Chandler leads a tour of the Tower of London for the first time in 16 months 
CREDIT: JOE MAHER/GETTY IMAGES

Shaolin monks practice martial arts at Pagoda Forest of Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng City, central China’s Henan Province
CREDIT: XIHUA NEWS AGENCY / EYEVINE

Market Closes for July 19^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	33962.04	-725.81
		-2.09%
S&P 500	4258.49	-68.67
		-1.59%
NASDAQ	14274.98	-152.26 -1.06%
TSX	19726.45	-259.09
		-1.30%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27652.74	-1.25
		-350.34%
HANG SENG	27489.78	-514.90
		-1.84%
SENSEX	52553.40	-586.66
		-1.10%
FTSE 100*	6844.39	-163.70 -2.34%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.144	1.241
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.694	1.768
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.1888	1.2903
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8197	1.9192

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	1.7843	0.7927
US $	1.2750	1.2615
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5049	0.6645
US $	1.1803	0.8473

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1824.30	1823.75
Oil
WTI Crude Future	66.42	71.81

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1990, Wall Street set a new record as six IPOs were issued in a single day. The companies—Command Security, In-Store Advertising, MECA Software, Modtech Holdings, O’Charley’s and Wisconsin Pharmacal—raised a total of $100.4 million. Never before had a half-dozen stocks gone public in one day.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks tumbled on Monday after the delta coronavirus variant raised concern about the economic recovery, while tension between the U.S. and China escalated. The S&P/TSX Composite index fell 1.3%, the most since Feb. 25.  Energy stocks were hit worst as crude oil’s price fell the most in 10 months after OPEC+ agreed to boost supply and a resurgent virus shook investor confidence about economic growth. Tech was the only sector that was in the green on Monday as investors rushed to safe havens. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government presented a road map to reopening Canada’s borders to non-essential international travel beginning next month.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold was flat around $1,811 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar fell 1% to C$1.2745 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 10 basis points to 1.144%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 1.3 percent, or 259.09 to 19,726.45 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 1.4 percent on Feb. 25. Today, financials stocks led the market lower, as 10 of 11 sectors lost; 203 of 231 shares fell, while 26 rose. Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.6 percent.  Hudbay Minerals Inc. had the largest drop, falling 7.2 percent.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss nine times. The next day, it advanced five times for an average 1.1 percent and declined four times for an average 0.8 percent
* The index advanced 22 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 33 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.2 percent below its 52-week high on July 7, 2021 and 27.9 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 2.5 percent in the past 5 days and fell 1.4 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.7 on a trailing basis and 16.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.14t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.42 percent compared with 7.48 percent in the previous session and the average of 7.35 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | -122.3397| -2.0| 0/28
* Energy | -68.5612| -2.8| 1/22
* Materials | -42.2201| -1.8| 2/51
* Industrials | -28.2188| -1.2| 3/27
* Real Estate | -13.9541| -2.1| 0/26
* Consumer Discretionary| -8.3767| -1.1| 2/10
* Communication Services| -5.7039| -0.6| 1/6
* Consumer Staples | -4.8375| -0.6| 3/10
* Utilities | -3.2228| -0.3| 3/12
* Health Care | -1.4395| -0.6| 6/4
* Information Technology| 39.7806| 1.8| 5/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* TD Bank | -27.9800| -2.6| 37.6| 13.8
* Royal Bank of | | | |
* Canada | -19.8100| -1.6| 207.8| 20.0
* Enbridge | -15.6400| -2.3| 231.4| 18.5
* Ballard Power | | | |
* Systems | 0.5260| 1.6| -14.6| -34.8
* Kinaxis | 0.5470| 1.8| -28.0| -11.1
* Shopify | 43.5600| 3.1| 24.5| 30.5

US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Stocks slumped around the world as investors rushed into haven assets after the delta coronavirus variant cast a pall over the economic recovery,  while tension between the U.S. and China escalated. In a reversal of the reopening trade that has powered this year’s equity rally, cyclical companies bore the brunt of the rout on Monday. Commodity, financial and industrial shares led losses in the S&P 500, which fell the most in two months.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its biggest decline since October, while small caps extended a slide from March’s peak to nearly 10%. After recently plunging to pre-pandemic levels, the Cboe Volatility Index, or VIX, soared. With the risk-off sentiment spreading across global markets, long-term Treasury rates spiraled to their lowest since February — dragging the yield curve flatter.  Ten-year yields tumbled as much 12 basis points to as little as 1.17%. The dollar rose alongside the yen and the Swiss franc.  Despite the classic safety trade, gold retreated. Oil sank after OPEC+ agreed to boost supply into 2022. Meantime, Bitcoin’s slide pushed the world’s largest digital currency closer to $30,000.
The resurgence of Covid-19 is unsettling global investors, who are considering whether new lockdown restrictions will sap the economic rebound and reverse an equity rally that had driven stocks to a record. Matt Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management, told Bloomberg Television that the move to “higher-quality assets” such as Treasuries is justified.  Americans should avoid traveling to the U.K. because of a surge in that nation’s spread of Covid-19, U.S. government and health officials warned. “Risk aversion is firmly in place as the Delta Covid variant spread is triggering a flight to safety,” wrote Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.  “Equities were ripe for a pullback given Wall Street was in agreement that this is ‘as good as it gets’ for peak earnings, economic growth, monetary stimulus.  It is hard to hold risky assets over the short-term now.” Geopolitical jitters also resurfaced on Monday after the U.S., the U.K. and their allies said the Chinese government has been the mastermind behind a series of malicious ransomware, data theft and cyber-espionage attacks against public and private entities — including the sprawling Microsoft Exchange hack earlier this year.

Some key events to watch this week:
* Reserve Bank of Australia meeting minutes Tuesday
* European Central Bank rate decision Thursday
* Bank Indonesia rate decision Thursday
* U.S. existing home sales Thursday
* The Tokyo Summer Olympics begin Friday

Here are some of the main market moves:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 1.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.9%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.1%
* The MSCI World index fell 1.7%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro was little changed at $1.1798
* The British pound fell 0.7% to $1.3671
* The Japanese yen rose 0.5% to 109.49 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined 10 basis points to 1.19%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to -0.39%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined seven basis points to 0.56%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 7.6% to $66.34 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,812 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Robert Brand, Kamaron Leach, David Wilson, Natalia Kniazhevich and Nancy Moran.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Perhaps someday it will be pleasant to remember even this. –Virgil, 70 BCE-19 AD.

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