July 31, 2023, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Monday.

July 31, 1498: Christopher Columbus discovers the island of Trinidad on his third voyage.
July 31, 1914: The New York Stock Exchange closed due to the outbreak of World War I. Go to article >>
1790: US Patent Office opens.

Michelle Yeoh marries partner Jean Todt after 19-year engagement.  Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh has married her longtime partner nearly two decades after the French businessman first proposed to her.

Bronny James plays piano days after cardiac arrestNBA star LeBron James shared this video of his son Bronny James playing a piano, days after the 18-year-old suffered cardiac arrest.

4,000-year-old cemetery discovered at future rocket launch site in UK.  Archaeologists think the burial site dates from about 4,000 years ago, during the Bronze Age. Read More

Spherical ‘minibrains’ to be grown on the International Space Station
An upcoming resupply mission to the International Space Station will include stem cells destined to be grown into tiny, 3D models of the human brain. Read More

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Westerhausen, Germany: A sunflower labyrinth takes the shape of a horse’s head and flowing mane Photograph: Matthias Schräder/AP

Burbank, US: A bear sits in a whirlpool bath in the Californian city. Burbank police said officers responded to a sighting of a bear in the area and found it enjoying a short dip. The bear later climbed over a wall and headed to a tree behind the property, police said in a statement.  Photograph: AP

Mies, Switzerland:  Mayeul van den Broek pilots the SP80 sailboat during a traction test on Lake Geneva, ahead of an attempt to break the world sailing speed record next year in the south of France. Developed with the support of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), the sleek vessel aims to reach 80 knots (148 km/h) using only wind power. Started by three sailing enthusiasts, the project team now has about 50 members including students and recent EPFL graduates, with an average age of only 23.  Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images.
Market Closes for July 31st, 2023

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
35559.53 +100.24
+0.28%
S&P 500 4588.96 +6.73
+0.15%
NASDAQ  14346.02 +29.36
+0.21%
TSX 20626.64 +107.27
+0.52%

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 33172.22 +412.99
+1.26%
HANG
SENG
20078.94 +162.38
+0.82%
SENSEX 66527.67 +367.47
+0.56%
FTSE 100* 7699.41 +5.14
+0.07%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
3.499 3.516
CND.
30 Year
Bond
3.306 3.327
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
3.9628 3.9526
U.S.
30 Year Bond
4.0153 4.0115

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.7580 0.7556
US
$
1.3192 1.3234

 

Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse   
Canadian $ 1.4504 0.6895
US
$
1.0995 0.9095

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix 
1954.25 1945.35
Oil
WTI Crude Future  81.80 80.42

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1914: With war raging in Europe, the New York Stock Exchange closed. It stayed shut for another four and a half months to allow the chaotic market to settle.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.5%, or 107.27 to 20,626.64 in Toronto.

The index advanced to the highest closing level since April 28.
TC Energy Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.4%. Tilray Brands Inc. had the largest increase, rising 9.6%.
Today, 155 of 228 shares rose, while 71 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.

Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.3%
* The index advanced 4.7% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 11% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 15.4% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 2.3% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.5 on a trailing basis and 14.6 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.25t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.58% compared with 10.54% in the previous session and the average of 10.66% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 40.7295| 1.7| 44/6
Energy | 33.5528| 1.0| 26/12
Information Technology | 23.6380| 1.5| 10/1
Financials | 16.8686| 0.3| 16/13
Real Estate | 3.2313| 0.7| 16/5
Health Care | 1.3184| 2.1| 2/2
Consumer Staples | 0.4552| 0.1| 6/5
Utilities | -0.2918| 0.0| 11/5
Consumer Discretionary | -1.3017| -0.2| 8/7
Communication Services | -3.8519| -0.5| 1/4
Industrials | -7.0873| -0.3| 15/11
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
TC Energy | 14.3800| 4.4| -3.6| -12.4
Shopify | 14.1000| 1.9| -20.9| 89.5
TD Bank | 11.2700| 1.0| 14.6| -0.8
Restaurant Brands | -1.8070| -0.8| -30.6| 15.3
Intact Financial | -4.0210| -1.7| 6.0| -0.1
Canadian Pacific Kansas | -9.3120| -1.3| 20.7| 7.5

US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stock traders refrained from making big bets in the final day of July as concern about an overheated market resurfaced amid a rally that drove the S&P 500 to its longest streak of monthly gains since August 2021.
Wall Street has looked past concern about an earnings recession as data bolstered hopes on a soft landing despite the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes.

While many investors are betting the great tech rally that drove this year’s advance in equities has staying power, there’s a growing view the sector is due for a breather — which could weigh on the broader market.
To Matt Maley at Miller Tabak + Co., investors need to be careful about extrapolating what we’ve seen this year in stocks, and it’s essential to have a backup plan for when the “FOMO rally” fades or “some compelling cracks” start to form.

He’s among those betting broad equity averages will see limited upside over the next couple of months.
“Is merely ‘avoiding a recession’ really enough to push the stock market a lot higher from its expensive level?” said Maley.
“Investors need to be careful about trying to squeeze every last penny out of this rally in the stock market over the coming days and weeks given that many of the best stocks are quite expensive.”
The S&P 500 edged higher to around 4,590, hovering near a 16-month high.

The mega-cap space also saw subdued action, with Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. due to report earnings in the coming days.
The Nasdaq 100 notched its longest streak of monthly gains since August 2020.
Treasury 10-year yields traded close to 3.95% while the dollar was little changed.
Traders took a Fed survey of lending officers in stride.

As hinted by Chair Jerome Powell, the central bank said financial institutions reported tighter standards and continued weak demand for loans in the second quarter, extending a trend that began before recent stresses in the banking sector emerged.
The stock market has been seasonally more muted in August, but if history is any guide, the S&P 500 could see more gains after a five-month winning run.

In the prior 37 such streaks since 1928, the gauge extended gains into a sixth month almost 80% of the time, according to Bespoke Investment Group.
Signs are beginning to point to capitulation among bearish institutional investors, economists and Wall Street strategists as market returns and economic data continue to defy expectations, said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide.
Citigroup Inc.’s Scott Chronert has joined the list of prognosticators who have revisited their gloomy outlooks in recent weeks.

He raised his 2023 year-end call for the US stock gauge to 4,600 and to 5,000 by mid-2024.
“The near-term hurdles we envisioned headed into Q3 are now behind,” Chronert wrote in a note to clients. “The new targets reflect increased probability of a soft landing in our scenario approach.”
Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson, one of the few Wall Street strategists to see last year’s equities rout coming, has been among the market’s leading pessimists throughout 2023.

But on Monday, after months of soaring stocks, he changed his tone and now sees the rally running further.
Nationwide’s Hackett reckons that while earnings picture has been mixed, the challenges companies have endured – stubborn inflation, weak markets, and sluggishness internationally – are no longer headwinds.
“Now, we’re not only seeing tailwinds heading into 2024, but we’re getting less disruptive reactions in the stock market following earnings reports. These are very encouraging signs that a lot of the emotion that was driving markets has subsided,” Hackett added.
Indeed, US firms beating profit estimates hasn’t been as impressive a feat as it once was.

Companies whose earnings outpaced analysts’ expectations for the second quarter are still underperforming the S&P 500 Index by the most in 18 years on the day after results, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists led by David Kostin.
“With lackluster earnings ‘beats’ mostly below historical averages, any breakaway from this sideways market will require additional fuel,” said Robert Teeter at Silvercrest Asset Management.
In corporate news, Exxon Mobil Corp. climbed as Bloomberg News reported it’s in talks with Tesla Inc., Ford Motor Co. and other automakers about supplying them with lithium.

SoFi Technologies Inc. surged 20% as the online bank raised its revenue guidance, citing benefits from deposit growth and lower funding costs on loans.
Yellow Corp., which hauls about 15% of major companies’ so-called less-than-truckload shipments, soared after ceasing operations and told union leaders that it plans to file for bankruptcy following years of financial struggles.
Traders also waded through the latest remarks from central bank officials.
Fed Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said Monday that data showing slower inflation is “fabulous news,” but he hasn’t yet decided on whether to support pausing rate hikes at the next policy meeting.

Over the weekend, his Minneapolis counterpart Neel Kashkari said the inflation outlook is “quite positive,” though the central bank’s aggressive monetary tightening campaign will likely result in some job losses and slower growth.
Elsewhere, the yen dropped after the Bank of Japan announced an unscheduled bond-purchase operation to tamp down rates after adjusting policy on Friday to allow benchmark yields to climb as high as 1%. The purchases are another reminder that Japan’s slow retreat from ultra-loose monetary policy brings a heightened risk of volatility.

Key events this week:
* Reserve Bank of Australia policy decision, Tuesday
* Eurozone S&P Global Eurozone Manufacturing PMI, unemployment, Tuesday
* US construction spending, ISM Manufacturing, job openings, light vehicle sales, Tuesday
* China Caixin Services PMI, Thursday
* Eurozone S&P Global Eurozone Services PMI, PPI, Thursday
* Bank of England rate decision, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, productivity, factory orders, ISM Services, Thursday
* Eurozone retail sales, Friday
* US unemployment rate, non-farm payrolls, Friday

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 was little changed
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.2%

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.0995
* The British pound fell 0.1% to $1.2834
* The Japanese yen fell 0.8% to 142.25 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 0.3% to $29,172.15
* Ether fell 0.5% to $1,856.3

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.96%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.49%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.31%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.6% to $81.86 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.2% to $2,004 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Brett Miller, Richard Henderson, John Viljoen, Vildana Hajric and Isabelle Lee.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Don’t count the days, make the days count.  -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

July 28, 2023 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.

July 28th, 1896: The Olympic Games return to Athens, Greece, the birthplace  of the ancient Olympics, after a hiatus of over a century, rekindling the spirit f athletic competition on a global stage.

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 >>

Jaqueline Kennedy, first lady, b. 1929.
Beatrix Potter, writer, b. 1866.
Marcel Duchamp, surrealist, b.1887.
Terry Fox, b.b1958.

Taylor Swift fans cause record-breaking seismic activity at concertsDancing fans at Swift’s concerts in Seattle caused seismic activity equivalent to a 2.3 magnitude earthquake. Swifties, I knew you were trouble … try not to shake the Earth too much.

The fate of AI in music.  See how people are using voice cloning in songs — and why a 1980s Bette Midler lawsuit could decide the fate of artificial intelligence in music.

Blood pressure is best lowered by these 2 exercises.  A new study suggests exercises that engage muscles without movement — such as wall squats and planks — may be best for lowering blood pressure.

Ruins of ancient Roman emperor Nero’s theater unearthed in ‘exceptional’ discovery in Rome
Archaeologists may have found the ruins of Nero’s theater, a first-century imperial performance space whose whereabouts had remained largely elusive. Read More.

Plastic-eating fungi could help take a bite out of Earth’s rampant pollution crisis, study suggests.  When their preferred meal isn’t available, wood-decaying fungi can chow down on plastic instead.
Full Story: Live Science (7/27)

Nematode resurrected from Siberian permafrost lay dormant for 46,000 years
The nematode has lain dormant in a fossilized squirrel burrow since the late Pleistocene, revealing that these worms can survive for tens of thousands of years longer than thought.  Read More.

Predicting earthquakes is currently impossible. GPS data could help change that
Global Positioning System (GPS) data could help spot early warning signs two hours before a big quake strikes. Read More.

RIP Randy Meisner, a founding member of the legendary rock band the Eagles, has died, according to an announcement on the band’s official website. He was 77. The bassist and vocalist contributed to some of the band’s most iconic songs, including “Try and Love Again” and “Take it to the Limit.”
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Madrid, Spain:  Ralf Hütter, Fritz Hilpert, Henning Schmitz and Falk Grieffenhagen of Kraftwerk perform at the Universal Music festival in Teatro Real.  Photograph: Aldara Zarraoa/Redferns

Liverpool, UK: Peter Walker stands next to his art installation, Identity, at Liverpool Cathedral. The work features seven illuminated columns, with individual strips of light representing the double helix.
Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA Media

Florida, US: SpaceX launches Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral.  Photograph: Joe Marino/UPI/Shutterstock
Market Closes for July 28th, 2023

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
35459.29 +176.57
+0.50%
S&P 500 4582.23 +44.82
+0.99%
NASDAQ  14316.66 +266.55
+1.90%
TSX 20519.08 +133.61
+0.66%

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 32759.23 -131.93
-0.40%
HANG
SENG
19916.56 +277.45
+1.41%
SENSEX 66160.20 -106.62
-0.16%
FTSE 100* 7694.27 +1.51
+0.02%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
3.516 3.614
CND.
30 Year
Bond
3.327 3.420
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
3.9526 3.9982
U.S.
30 Year Bond
4.0115 4.0390

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.7556 0.7560
US
$
1.3235 1.3228

 

Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse   
Canadian $ 1.4517 0.6888
US
$
1.1022 0.9073

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix 
1945.35 1966.30
Oil
WTI Crude Future  80.42 80.09

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 Corp.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.7% at 20,519.37 in Toronto.

The move was the biggest gain since July 18 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.9%.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.2%.

Celestica Inc. had the largest increase, rising 15.2%.
Today, 165 of 228 shares rose, while 63 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.

Insights
* This month, the index rose 1.8%
* So far this week, the index was little changed
* The index advanced 5.5% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 12% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.6% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 14.8% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.4 on a trailing basis and 14.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.23t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.54% compared with 10.45% in the previous session and the average of 10.71% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | 35.8080| 2.3| 11/0
Energy | 33.6563| 1.0| 37/3
Materials | 29.6897| 1.2| 43/7
Industrials | 28.1089| 1.0| 20/6
Financials | 14.2185| 0.2| 22/7
Health Care | 1.7785| 3.0| 4/0
Consumer Discretionary | 1.2944| 0.2| 8/7
Communication Services | -0.2114| 0.0| 3/2
Consumer Staples | -2.8604| -0.3| 6/5
Real Estate | -3.1119| -0.6| 7/14
Utilities | -4.4539| -0.5| 4/12
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | 22.9900| 3.2| -16.9| 85.9
Canadian National | 13.3500| 2.0| 4.9| -0.6
Canadian Natural Resources | 12.5000| 2.1| -55.0| 6.4
Telus | -2.6190| -1.1| 25.3| -9.6
Enbridge | -6.5160| -1.0| 26.8| -8.9
TC Energy | -14.6700| -4.3| 190.6| -16.2

US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street shook off worries over the Bank of Japan policy tweak as another round of US data bolstered bets on the so-called Goldilocks scenario of an economy that’s neither running too hot nor too cold.
The stock market powered ahead as key gauges of inflation showed further easing while Americans grew more optimistic about the economic outlook.

When taken together with recent figures showing the US has remained fairly resilient despite aggressive rate hikes, the reports fueled speculation the Federal Reserve will be able to avoid a recession.
It’s a week “chock full of economic data that all points to a higher probability of a soft landing,” said Gina Bolvin, president of Bolvin Wealth Management Group. “This could be the catalyst to send the market to new highs.”
Mega-caps led gains in equities Friday, with the Nasdaq 100 up almost 2% and the S&P 500 rising 1% and notching its third straight weekly advance. Meta Platforms Inc. and Tesla Inc. each climbed more than 4%, while Intel Corp. rallied about 6.5% on a bullish sales forecast. Bond yields fell alongside the dollar.
Tech firms in the US are talking less about recession and more about artificial intelligence this earnings season — signaling that companies are increasingly optimistic about a soft economic landing.
Nearly half of the Nasdaq 100 firms have reported their results, and executives are less frequently using words like “headwinds”, “inflation”, and “recession” in calls with investors, according to a Bloomberg analysis.

That’s a sharp reversal from last year, when such concerns drove steep equity losses.
With the macro environment being quite powerful right now, investors are buying the notion that the Fed has been able to bring inflation down without a recession, according to David Donabedian, chief investment officer of CIBC Private Wealth US.
“The market has had a trifecta of good news over the last few weeks,” Donabedian said. “Inflation is coming down, the economy is holding steady, and earnings thus far are coming in ahead of expectations. This is fueling a strong market environment and the rally continues.”
In what looked like a “sell the rumor, buy the news” episode, US markets saw a reversal from Thursday, when anxiety was running high before the BOJ decision.

Governor Kazuo Ueda announced Friday the central bank would allow yields to rise above a ceiling it now calls a point of reference.
That paves the way for a future normalization of policy that has implications for a wide range of global assets and markets heavily exposed to Japanese money.
Yields on 10-year Japanese government bonds jumped to their highest since 2014 as investors speculated whether this tweak monetary policy.
Any significant adjustment to the YCC policy would have implications for the Treasury market given that Japan households are one of the largest buyers of US debt, according to Dennis DeBusschere founder of 22V Research.

The rationale is: if yields in Japan become more attractive, there could be selling of US government bonds to buy the Asian nation’s debt.
“But the actual YCC change was not as dramatic as feared,” he noted.
In corporate news, US regional lenders posted their longest streak of weekly gains since March 2021, bolstered by a merger deal for PacWest Bancorp.

Procter & Gamble Co. rallied Friday as the maker of Gillette razors reported earnings that beat estimates.
Ford Motor Co. slipped as it expects to see losses from electric vehicles hit $4.5 billion this year.
Exxon Mobil Corp. retreated as it fell short of analysts’ expectations with a third straight drop in profit.
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 1.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.7%

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%
* The euro rose 0.4% to $1.1022
* The British pound rose 0.5% to $1.2857
* The Japanese yen fell 1.1% to 141.07 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.6% to $29,314.79
* Ether rose 0.8% to $1,873.88

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 3.95%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.49%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.33%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5% to $80.47 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.6% to $1,998 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Rob Verdonck, Tassia Sipahutar, Sujata Rao and Isabelle Lee.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
Caution is the eldest child of wisdom. –Victor Hugo, 1802-1885.

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

July 27, 2023, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.
July 27, 1866: Atlantic telegraph cable lays.

July 27, 1953: The Korean War armistice is signed, bringing an end to three years of conflict and establishing a demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.

July 27, 1940: Bugs Bunny made his debut in the Warner Bros. animated cartoon “A Wild Hare.”  Go to article >>

On July 27, 1940: Billboard magazine published its first “music popularity chart” listing best-selling retail records. In first place was “I’ll Never Smile Again” recorded by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, with featured vocalist Frank Sinatra.

Ancient Nero’s Theater ruins found at a hotel site near the Vatican:  Archaeologists discover that the ruins of Nero’s Theater, an imperial theater referred to in ancient Roman texts but never found, have been found under the garden of a future Four Seasons Hotel steps from the Vatican.

Chincoteague wild ponies complete 98th annual swim: Thousands of people gathered to watch the Chincoteague wild ponies make their annual trek across the Assateague Channel.

Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic torch unveiled.  French designer Mathieu Lehanneur has created a sleek Olympic torch for next year’s Games.

Iconic piece of space exploration history goes up for auction:  For around half a million dollars, a bidder can own the first recorded interstellar message from humankind to potential intelligent life in space.

Iconic piece of space exploration history goes up for auction: For around half a million dollars, a bidder can own the first recorded interstellar message from humankind to potential intelligent life in space.

US government is hiding evidence of ‘non-human intelligence’, UFO whistleblower tells Congress
During a congressional hearing on Wednesday (July 26), military witnesses claimed that evidence of non-human technology is being hidden from the public. Read More

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

New York City, US:  People take part in a ‘Sky-High’ yoga session on the Edge observation deck in Manhattan Photograph: Amr Alfiky/Reuters

Milan, Italy: Performers at the Weeknd’s concert at Ippodromo SNAI La Maura.  Photograph: Sergione Infuso/Corbis/Getty Images

​​​​​​​Vancouver, Canada: Fireworks presented by Team Mexico light up the sky during the 31st Celebration of Light fireworks competition at English Bay in British Columbia Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock
Market Closes for July 27th, 2023

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
35282.72 -237.40
-0.67%
S&P 500 4537.41 -29.34
-0.64%
NASDAQ  14050.11 -77.17
-0.55%
TSX 20385.47 -176.17
-0.86%

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 32891.16 +222.82
+0.68%
HANG
SENG
19639.11 +273.97
+1.41%
SENSEX 66266.82 -440.38
-0.66%
FTSE 100* 7692.76 +15.87
+0.21%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
3.614 3.475
CND.
30 Year
Bond
3.420 3.314
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
3.9982 3.8668
U.S.
30 Year Bond
4.0390 3.9344

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.7560 0.7571
US
$
1.3228 1.3209

 

Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse   
Canadian $ 1.4517 0.6888
US
$
1.0978 0.9109

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix 
1966.30 1958.70
Oil
WTI Crude Future  80.09 78.78

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1694, amid choral chants of “Laus Deo” (Praise the Lord), the Bank of England opened for business in London to print currency and manage the national debt.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.9% at 20,385.47 in Toronto.

The move was the biggest since falling 1.5% on July 6 and follows the previous session’s little change.
Today, materials stocks led the market lower, as 10 of 11 sectors lost; 189 of 228 shares fell, while 37 rose.
TC Energy Corp. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.4%.

StorageVault Canada Inc. had the largest drop, falling 9.3%.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 1.1%
* So far this week, the index fell 0.8%
* The index advanced 5.9% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 13% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.2% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 14.1% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.3% in the past 5 days and rose 3.3% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.4 on a trailing basis and 14.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.4% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.25t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.45% compared with 10.05% in the previous session and the average of 10.74% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -45.0070| -1.8| 10/40
Energy | -40.7744| -1.2| 3/35
Industrials | -20.6698| -0.7| 3/23
Financials | -18.3740| -0.3| 9/20
Communication Services | -13.8344| -1.7| 0/5
Real Estate | -11.5411| -2.3| 0/21
Utilities | -9.7807| -1.1| 2/14
Information Technology | -9.6901| -0.6| 3/8
Consumer Discretionary | -4.6382| -0.6| 4/11
Consumer Staples | -2.2823| -0.3| 2/9
Health Care | 0.4246| 0.7| 1/3
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
TC Energy | -11.7300| -3.4| 15.0| -12.4
Enbridge | -9.6320| -1.4| -51.7| -8.1
Rogers Communications| -8.6800| -5.5| 231.7| -9.3
First Quantum Minerals | 2.5900| 1.8| 61.4| 32.5
Fairfax Financial | 2.9850| 1.8| -30.1| 30.4
Cenovus Energy | 6.2390| 2.

US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Just when US traders were trying to take a break from all the anxiety on whether Federal Reserve rate hikes will cause a recession, speculation about a tweak in policy on the other side of the world roiled markets across the board.
Stocks erased gains, Treasury 10-year yields hit 4% and the yen advanced on a news report the Bank of Japan will discuss tolerating higher domestic bond yields at a scheduled meeting Friday.

Wall Street’s “fear gauge”, the VIX, jumped the most since May.
In late trading, Intel Corp. rose on a bullish revenue forecast.
With the BOJ widely expected to retain its ultra-easy policy, investor focus will now fall on whether authorities use a revision to their inflation forecast as an excuse to tweak the yield curve control program.

If the BOJ adjusts its YCC program, markets will likely take it as the start of a policy tightening cycle,” according to Kristina Clifton at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
“Headlines around the potential for the BOJ to discuss widening the YCC were enough to exaggerate the selling pressure in Treasuries in the wake of the 7-year auction,” said Ian Lyngen at BMO Capital Markets. “What had been a collective expectation of unchanged policy was replaced by far more uncertainty.”
Implied volatility in Japan’s bond futures has climbed to a three-month high, signaling wariness over the potential for near-term gyrations.
Equities gained earlier in the day as US gross domestic product unexpectedly picked up steam in the second quarter, while pending home sales unexpectedly climbed in June.

On Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said his staff had ditched the recession forecast it put in place in March, when banking turmoil had raised fears about a potential credit crunch.
To Mike Loewengart at Morgan Stanley Global Investment Office, Thursday’s reports all pointed to a buoyant economy that continues to cruise despite interest rates reaching their highest levels in more than two decades.
“The Fed has been hesitant to close the door on additional rate hikes, and if today’s strong data is any indication, it may have to wait a while longer before it’s comfortable signaling this tightening cycle has run its course,” Loewengart added.
“For now, the indicators are still pointing toward a relatively soft economic landing.”
Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund raised its outlook for the world economy, estimating that risks have eased in recent months after the US averted a default and authorities staved off a banking crisis on both sides of the Atlantic.

The fund is among a growing number of voices that see a potential American soft landing.
Economists in a Bloomberg survey this month boosted estimates for GDP growth in the second and third quarters, although they still say there’s a 60% chance the US will fall into recession in the next 12 months.

Meantime, investors are still split: 58% of respondents in JPMorgan Chase’s weekly survey expect a soft landing, while 42% are bracing for a recession.
Michelle Cluver, portfolio strategist at Global X ETFs, said despite the growing sentiment the US may avoid a recession, the resilience of the consumer and the economy keeps the focus on the Fed and its September meeting.
To Richard Flynn at Charles Schwab, while the solid US GDP is a positive sign of a strengthening economy, high demand will also reinforce the inflationary pressures that are an “ongoing concern” for policymakers.  “As long as the labor market remains tight and inflation remains above the central bank’s 2% target, we can expect to see further rate increases in coming months,” Flynn noted. “The market eagerly awaits the end of the rate hiking cycle, but may be reassured to see that policy has not yet pushed the economy closer to recession as some investors fear.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Meta Platforms Inc. climbed after the social-media company reported strong results for the second quarter and gave an optimistic outlook for the current period.
* Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. advanced after raising its full year profit forecast to a level that significantly beat expectations.
* McDonald’s Corp. rose as sales and profit surpassed analysts’ projections, but the company warned of slower growth later this year amid a challenging economic backdrop.
* Lam Research Corp. climbed after the semiconductor equipment maker gave a strong revenue forecast for its first quarter, prompting analysts to raise their price targets on the stock.
* eBay Inc. dropped after projecting earnings in the current quarter that narrowly missed analysts’ estimates, suggesting the e-commerce company is struggling to perform with a shrinking customer base.
* Southwest Airlines Co. fell after warning of higher-than-expected costs, pressuring the carrier’s earnings and countering gains from a surge in early-summer travel.
Key events this week:
* Japan Tokyo CPI, Friday
* BOJ rate decision, Friday
* Eurozone economic confidence, consumer confidence, Friday
* US consumer income, employment cost index, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.2%

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.6%
* The euro fell 1.1% to $1.0967
* The British pound fell 1.2% to $1.2784
* The Japanese yen rose 0.8% to 139.12 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 1.4% to $29,167.5
* Ether fell 1.1% to $1,860.76

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced 13 basis points to 4.00%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 2.47%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 4.31%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.4% to $79.85 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 1.3% to $1,982.90 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Brett Miller, Tassia Sipahutar, Sujata Rao, Isabelle Lee and Emily Graffeo.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
You can’t use up creativity.  The more you use, the more you have. –Maya Angelou, 1928-2014.

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

July 26, 2023, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
July 26, 1963: Sitcom 2, the world’s first geosynchronous communications satellite is launched.  Part of NASA’s Sitcom program, it was responsible for transmitting the first TV signal from a geosynchronous satellite, a manmade satellite whose orbital period around the Earth matches the Earth’s rotation.

July 26, 1964: Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa and six others were convicted of fraud and conspiracy in the handling of a union pension fund.  Go to article >>

Mick Jagger, musician, b. 1943.  OMG! Mick Jagger turns 80 years old today.
Aldous Huxley, writer, b. 1894
Carl Jung, psychoanalyst, b. 1875.
George Bernard Shaw, writer,  b. 1856.

The surprising list of actors who were up to play Ken in ‘Barbie’.  Ryan Gosling delivered all the “energy” one could ask for. But just for kicks, here are the other actors who might have gotten the role.

Gulf Stream current could collapse in 2025, plunging Earth into climate chaos: ‘We were actually bewildered’
Researchers have predicted the collapse of the AMOC could happen any time between 2025 and 2095 — far sooner than previous predictions, although not all scientists are convinced. Read More
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

London, UK
People visit Luke Jerram’s sculpture, Mars: War & Peace, a Model of the Red Planet, at the Kensington and Chelsea festival
Photograph: Raşid Necati Aslım/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Berlin, Germany
People visit the Devouring Lovers installation by the Spanish artist Eva Fàbregas at Hamburger Bahnhof National Gallery
Photograph: David Gannon/AFP/Getty Images

Albany, Australia
Volunteers try to help pilot whales after more than 50 died in a stranding on Cheynes Beach
Photograph: Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for July 26th, 2023

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
35520.12 +82.05
+0.23%
S&P 500 4566.75 -0.71
-0.02%
NASDAQ  14127.28 -14.28
-0.12%
TSX 20561.64 +10.11
+0.05%

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 32668.34 -14.17
-0.04%
HANG
SENG
19365.14 -69.29
-0.36%
SENSEX 66707.20 +351.49
+0.53%
FTSE 100* 7676.89 -14.91
-0.19%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
3.475 3.515
CND.
30 Year
Bond
3.314 3.340
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
3.8668 3.8845
U.S.
30 Year Bond
3.9344 3.9288

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.7571 0.7591
US
$
1.3208 1.3173

 

Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse   
Canadian $ 1.4644 0.6829
US
$
1.1087 0.9020

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix 
1958.70 1960.00
Oil
WTI Crude Future  78.78 80.03

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1786, the earliest known U.S. stock and bond tables were published in the Massachusetts Centinel.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 20,561.64 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.1%.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.7%.
Tilray Brands Inc. had the largest increase, rising 15.9%.
Today, 123 of 228 shares rose, while 99 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2%
* The index advanced 8.4% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 16% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.4% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 15% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.3% in the past 5 days and rose 5% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.4 on a trailing basis and 14.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.25t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 10.05% compared with 10.05% in the previous session and the average of 10.78% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 21.0089| 0.3| 22/7
Industrials | 17.8979| 0.6| 18/8
Energy | 6.7520| 0.2| 24/14
Consumer Discretionary | 3.5857| 0.4| 10/3
Health Care | 1.7360| 3.0| 2/2
Real Estate | 1.4882| 0.3| 16/5
Utilities | -0.8851| -0.1| 7/9
Communication Services | -1.5697| -0.2| 1/4
Consumer Staples | -7.5346| -0.9| 3/8
Materials | -10.9977| -0.4| 19/29
Information Technology | -21.3762| -1.3| 1/10
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD| Index | | 20D AVG | Change Top Contributors |Points Move|% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Pacific Kansas | 11.7200| 1.7| 55.6| 9.8
TD Bank | 9.8610| 0.9| -46.5| -1.9
Rogers Communications | 4.3400| 2.8| 72.5| -4.0
Teck Resources | -5.8390| -3.2| 56.7| 9.9
Constellation Software| -6.4540| -1.7| 6.5| 33.7
CGI Inc | -8.9360| -4.5| 196.6| 10.8
================================================================
| | Index |Volume VS | YTD| | Points | 20D AVG | Change Biggest Gainers | % Change | Move | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Tilray Brands | 15.9| 1.5590| 335.9| -30.5
MAG Silver | 10.5| 0.9990| 149.7| -22.6
TFI International | 4.3| 3.8500| 85.5| 25.0
================================================================
| |Index Points| Volume VS |YTD Change Biggest Losers | % Change | Move |20D AVG (%)| (%)
================================================================
CGI Inc | -4.5| -8.9360| 196.6| 10.8
Teck Resources | -3.2| -5.8390| 56.7| 9.9
George Weston | -2.7| -1.8710| 44.7| -9.2
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — There was something for every Wall Street bull and bear in Jerome Powell’s remarks Wednesday, but the market finished the day betting the Federal Reserve’s next move will possibly be a skip.
Two-year US yields dropped alongside the dollar.

Stocks rebounded from session lows, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average notching its 13th straight advance — the longest winning run since 1987.
In late trading, Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. climbed after projecting revenue that beat estimates while eBay Inc. fell on a disappointing profit outlook.
The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points to the highest level in 22 years, and Powell said further hikes will be “data dependent” as officials fine-tune their effort to further quell inflation.

Swaps referencing future decisions priced in slightly lower odds of another increase this year, which ebbed to 47%.
Comments:
Rajeev Sharma, managing director of fixed income at Key Private Bank:
“In our opinion, the rate hiking cycle is done and the Fed will now pause for the rest of the year. The latest market reaction also supports this thesis with yields dipping slightly across the front end of the yield curve.”

Frances Donald, global chief economist at Manulife Investment Management:
“We now believe that the Fed is on a prolonged ‘hawkish hold’. In our base case, their next move will likely be a cut but it will take until 2024 until we see it. That said, Powell will have no choice but to keep the threat of hikes alive, lest he encourage markets to prematurely price in cuts and reignite inflation expectations.”

Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance:
“Bears can point to Powell’s insistence that all meetings are live and that core inflation is ‘pretty elevated,’ and bulls can point to Powell’s insistence that they could easily skip the next meeting and keep rates unchanged in September.”

Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management:
“While the statement is a yawner, the broad signal is of a Fed that considers each monetary policy meeting as ‘live’. Data dependence remains the buzzword and, given the confusing signals of waning inflation but a tight labor market, keeping all options on the table seems to be a sensible approach.”

Edward Moya, senior market analyst for the Americas at Oanda:
“The Fed is keeping optionality for future rate increases, but it probably won’t need them. The disinflation process will remain as the economy is weakening, and the corporate world should start feeling the impact of tighter credit conditions.”

Preston Caldwell, chief US economist at Morningstar:
“We expect today’s meeting to be the Fed’s final rate hike.  Even with economic growth showing no signs yet of slowing to the below-trend growth rate usually needed to cause broad-based disinflationary pressure in the economy, inflation is nevertheless showing signs of abating due to relaxing of supply side constraints. As such, we expect the Fed to pause on rate hikes in its final three meetings of 2023.”

Jon Maier, chief investment officer at Global X:
“Now, it looks like the Fed might be closing in on the end of its current cycle of rate hikes. But they’re not painting themselves into a corner – they’re keeping an option open for another possible rate increase later this year. It shows they’re staying flexible and ready to respond to any economic twists and turns that might come up.”

David Russell, vice president of Market Intelligence at TradeStation:
“The Fed is in wait-and-see mode. They’re going to get two more months of employment and inflation data before the September meeting, so there’s no reason to make any changes now.  Investors can now put this behind them and get back to earnings.”

Another driver of trading Wednesday was the large batch of earnings reports, with results from big tech being highly scrutinized after the shares notched a historic advance in the first six months of the year.
Google parent Alphabet Inc. climbed to a 15-month high as revenue beat expectations, while Microsoft Corp. fell the most since January on a tepid sales growth and Texas Instruments Inc.’s lukewarm forecast weighed on chipmakers.
“Big tech earnings have been very Darwinian, and investors are only rewarding the companies that truly post strong results,” David Bahnsen, chief investment officer at the Bahnsen Group. “After extreme gains so far this year in big tech stocks, we have now moved to a phase where each company’s stock price is very non-correlated to one another.”

Corporate Highlights
* Boeing Co. rose after generating $2.58 billion in free cash flow in the second quarter, far exceeding expectations, amid a flurry of jet deliveries.
* Regional banks climbed as news that PacWest Bancorp is being bought by Banc of California bolstered confidence in the industry. Wells Fargo & Co. paced gains in larger lenders on plans to repurchase as much as $30 billion of its shares.
* Rail giant Union Pacific Corp. advanced after appointing Jim Vena as its new chief executive officer. Retailer Gap Inc. gained after naming Mattel Inc.’s Richard Dickson as its next CEO.
* Coca-Cola Co. rose after raising its full-year guidance after second-quarter results show continued momentum and consumer willingness to pay higher prices to quench their thirst with the company’s sugary sodas, fruit juices and sports drinks.
* AT&T Inc. advanced on profit and free cash flow that topped analysts’ estimates, offering a brighter picture as the phone giant faces a challenging restructuring effort, a heavy debt load and the potentially high costs of cleaning lead out of its old copper phone network.
* Visa Inc. posted card-spending growth that was more robust than Wall Street expected as consumer demand for travel and dining out remained strong last quarter.
* Snap Inc. fell after projecting revenue at the lower end of analysts’ estimates for this quarter, signaling that improvements to the digital advertising business are taking

Key events this week:
* China industrial profits, Thursday
* ECB rate decision, Thursday
* US GDP, durable goods orders, initial jobless claims, wholesale inventories, Thursday
* Japan Tokyo CPI, Friday
* BOJ rate decision, Friday
* Eurozone economic confidence, consumer confidence, Friday
* US consumer income, employment cost index, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%
* The MSCI World index was little changed

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
* The euro rose 0.4% to $1.1095
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.2946
* The Japanese yen rose 0.5% to 140.25 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.6% to $29,411.02
* Ether rose 0.6% to $1,873.36

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 3.86%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced six basis points to 2.48%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 4.28%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.9% to $78.93 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.6% to $2,015.30 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Brett Miller, Tassia Sipahutar, Sujata Rao, Emily Graffeo, Isabelle Lee and Michael Mackenzie

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power. –George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950.

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

July 25, 2023, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
July 25, 1885: Louis Pasteur successfully administers the firs rabies vaccine to a human, revolutionizing the field of immunization and paving the way for advancements in preventing infectious diseases.
July 25, 1978 The first baby conceived by in-vitro fertilization was born in Oldham, England.  Go to article >>

Pilgrimage of St. Anne d’Auray, France.
St. James the Great Day, Christian calendar.

Moviegoers have spotted a blooper in ‘Oppenheimer’.  Eagle-eyed fans noticed that some American flags used in the film bear the wrong number of stars.

The rise of gig workers is changing the face of the US economyLabor market experts say the number of gig workers is growing, and their alternative working arrangements are rippling through the economy.

Casey Phair becomes youngest player in World Cup history.  South Korea forward Casey Phair became the youngest player to appear at the World Cup — just a few weeks after celebrating her 16th birthday.

Twitter’s new logo ‘X’ is set to kill billions in brand value

Invisible barrier that runs through Indonesia finally explained by scientists
Researchers now understand why there is an uneven distribution of animal species on either side of the Wallace Line. Read More.

Bizarre ‘relic galaxy’ is missing a key component of the universe, and scientists are stumped
A massive galaxy far from Earth seems to be entirely devoid of dark matter, contrary to all accepted cosmological models. Read More.

AI is transforming every aspect of science. Here’s how.
In the future, research labs will embrace the transformative potential of artificial intelligence to speed up scientific discovery. Read More.

Grizzly bear believed to have killed woman on Buttermilk Trail near Yellowstone National Park
The suspected attack comes after officials warned that grizzly bears were moving into new areas in the state. Read More.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Gilgit, Pakistan: A view of K2, the world’s second tallest mountain, from Concordia camp in the Karakoram range of Gilgit-Baltistan.  Photograph: Joe Stenson/AFP/Getty Images

San Francisco, US: A worker removes letters from the Twitter sign that is posted on the exterior of Twitter headquarters in California. Workers began removing the letters from the sign outside Twitter headquarters less than 24 hours after the firm’s CEO, Elon Musk, officially rebranded Twitter as X and has changed its iconic bird logo, the biggest change he has made since taking over the social media platform. San Francisco police halted the sign removal shortly after it began.  Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Rhodes, Greece: A wildfire in Vati village. A third successive heatwave in Greece pushed temperatures back above 40C across parts of the country following more evacuations from fires.  Photograph: Petros Giannakouris/AP
Market Closes for July 25th, 2023

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
35438.07 +26.83
+0.08%
S&P 500 4567.46 +12.82
+0.28%
NASDAQ  14144.55 +85.68
+0.61%
TSX 20551.53 -30.59
-0.15%

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 32682.51 -18.43
-0.06%
HANG
SENG
19434.40 +766.25
+4.10%
SENSEX 66355.71 -29.07
-0.04%
FTSE 100* 7691.80 +13.21
+0.17%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
3.515 3.498
CND.
30 Year
Bond
3.340 3.335
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
3.8845 3.8725
U.S.
30 Year Bond
3.9288 3.9242

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.7591 0.7592
US
$
1.3173 1.3172

 

Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse   
Canadian $ 1.4561 0.6868
US
$
1.1055 0.9046

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix 
1960.00 1960.60
Oil
WTI Crude Future  80.03 78.89

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1893, nearly one-quarter of U.S. railroads were heading into bankruptcy. It was the low point of the Panic of 1893 and caused the New York Stock Exchange to nearly close down.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.1% at 20,551.53 in Toronto.

The move follows the previous session’s increase of 0.2%.
TC Energy Corp. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.7%. ATS Corp. had the largest drop, falling 5.1%.
Today, 91 of 228 shares fell, while 133 rose; 6 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.

Insights
* This month, the index rose 2%
* The index advanced 7.6% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 15% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.4% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 15% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.9% in the past 5 days and rose 5.8% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.4 on a trailing basis and 14.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3% on a trailing 12-month  basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.26t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 10.05% compared with 10.05% in the previous session and the average of 10.82% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | -49.5574| -0.8| 14/15
Information Technology | -8.9201| -0.6| 6/5
Energy | -8.3943| -0.2| 20/20
Communication Services | -6.6562| -0.8| 1/4
Consumer Staples | -2.5541| -0.3| 4/7
Health Care | -0.1660| -0.3| 2/2
Utilities | 0.4952| 0.1| 7/7
Consumer Discretionary | 1.0251| 0.1| 7/8
Industrials | 1.3005| 0.0| 14/12
Real Estate | 1.6351| 0.3| 14/6
Materials | 41.1867| 1.7| 44/5
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
TC Energy | -17.1000| -4.7| 16.6| -10.2
Bank of Nova Scotia| -14.6700| -2.6| 52.7| -1.5
TD Bank | -13.9600| -1.3| -50.6| -2.8
Canadian Pacific Kansas | 5.0140| 0.7| 24.8| 8.1
First Quantum Minerals | 5.6500| 4.2| 10.0| 27.7
Canadian Natural Resources | 6.7500| 1.1| -39.0| 5.7

US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A rally in big tech drove stocks higher, with traders counting on the earnings season to see whether the enthusiasm around artificial intelligence will justify this year’s market advance.
In late trading, a $210 billion exchange-traded fund tracking the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) advanced as Google parent Alphabet Inc. reported revenue that exceeded analysts’ expectations.
Microsoft Corp. fell on tepid sales growth, while Texas Instruments Inc. gave a lukewarm earnings forecast.
The S&P 500 hit its highest since April 2022 on Tuesday, while the Nasdaq 100 outperformed and the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw its 12th straight advance — the longest winning run on over six years. On the eve of the Federal Reserve decision, consumer confidence data bolstered the soft-landing narrative, while suggesting policymakers aren’t done with their inflation fight yet.
With the S&P 500 just about 5% away from its all-time high, elevated bullish positioning and indicators pointing to overbought levels, many investors are counting on earnings to make a decision on where to go from here.

That’s especially true when it comes to big tech, with the Nasdaq 100 continuing to push higher even after an over $5 trillion rally that has spurred concerns about overstretched valuations.
“The next couple of weeks will be when the proverbial rubber hits the road for the Nasdaq 100,” said Matthew Weller, global head of research at Forex.com and City Index. “With the index still hovering near bull-market highs and up more than 40% on the year, investor expectations are clearly elevated — leaving little room for error.”
Treasury two-year yields, which are more sensitive to imminent Fed moves, dropped four basis points to 4.88%.

The dollar halted a five-day advance.
Rates on swap contracts continued to price in a quarter percentage-point Fed hike on Wednesday, with an additional 12.5 basis point increase factored in by year-end.
That indicates a 50% likelihood of another quarter-point move.
In other corporate news, Banc of California climbed on a news report it’s in advanced talks to buy PacWest Bancorp, which fell.

General Electric Co. and 3M Co. climbed after reporting earnings that blew past Wall Street’s expectations.
iRobot Corp. dropped after Amazon.com Inc. said it’s paying less to acquire the Roomba maker.
There are so many bulls in the US stock market that any disappointment on the economy or earnings poses a risk to the rally, according to Citigroup Inc. strategists.

Investor exposure to the S&P 500 remains extended and one-sided, even after bullish momentum has waned in recent weeks, a team including Chris Montagu said.
Given that Wall Street had set a low bar coming into the reporting season, roughly 80% of the companies have thus far beaten profit estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“We are about to enter the height of earnings season,” said Brad Bernstein, managing director at UBS Wealth Management. “As long as earnings continue to exceed expectations, the market can continue to move higher.”
For traders who closely follow Fibonacci analysis, the S&P 500 Index this month crossed above 4,505 to reach the 76.4% retracement of its peak-to-trough decline from its January 2022 high and its subsequent October low.
Since 1929, when the benchmark equities gauge suffered a bear market decline of at least 20% or more, this retracement level proved to be the start of a new uptrend, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.

So the index finishing above that level implies a bottom has definitely been set.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.3% 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 0.5%

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro was little changed at $1.1053
* The British pound rose 0.6% to $1.2900
* The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 140.88 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.2% to $29,193.95
* Ether rose 0.3% to $1,856.89

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 3.88%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.43%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 4.27%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.1% to $79.59 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.2% to $2,005.20 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Jason Scott, Tassia Sipahutar, Sujata Rao and Isabelle Lee.

Have  a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power. –George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950.

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

July 24, 2023 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Monday.

July 24, 1911: American explorer Hiram Bingham discovers Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas.
Beginning of Mata Hari’s trial
Dutch-born dancer and courtesan Mata Hari, whose name became a synonym for the seductive female spy, went on trial this day in 1917, accused of spying for Germany, and was subsequently found guilty and shot by a firing squad. Go to article >>

Amelia Eargart, aviatrix, b. 1898.
Alexandre Dumas, writer, b. 1802.
Jennifer Lopez,b.1970.
‘Barbie’ breaks box-office recordsThe movie raked in a stunning $155 million during its opening weekend, but not everyone is seeing it through rose-colored glasses. Read why some voices on the right are urging a boycott of the film.

A ‘gravity hole’ in the Indian Ocean has remained a mystery — until now.  Humans often think about Earth as a perfect sphere, but that’s far from the truth. Some spots on the planet — like this one — have a weaker gravitational pull, making Earth look more like a lumpy potato, according to scientists.

Jonas Vingegaard seals his second consecutive Tour de France victory.  With a wide smile, the Dane secured another victory on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Clearest-ever seafloor maps show deep-sea ‘Grand Canyon’ off US coast in stunning detail
A massive deep-sea ravine in the Pacific Ocean has been mapped out in greater detail than any other part of the world’s seafloor. Read More.

Scientists just made the largest quasicrystal ever – because one of them bet it couldn’t be done
The quasicrystal, a type of non-repeating crystal once deemed impossible, was made by jiggling thousands of metal balls in a tray for over a week. Read More.

Master copy of the Voyager Golden Record, designed as an audio postcard for intelligent aliens, is up for auction
Carl Sagan’s personal copy of the Voyager Golden Record contains 27 pieces of music and 22 minutes of sound meant to capture the beauty of life on Earth. Read More

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Tynemouth, UK
The bad weather continues in some parts of the UK as waves crash over the pier at Tynemouth
Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Mendoza, Argentina
A group of people, including relatives of passengers of a Uruguayan air force plane that crashed in the remote Andes mountains in the Argentine province of Mendoza, on the border with Chile, on 13 October 1972, with 45 people onboard including members of a rugby team, ride on horseback to the site of the accident
Photograph: Mariana Suárez/AFP/Getty Images

Rhodes, Greece
Smoke billows in the background of Kiotari village. Tens of thousands of people have fled blazes on the island of Rhodes, with many tourists scrambling to get home
Photograph: Spyros Bakalis/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for July 24th, 2023

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
35411.24 +183.55
+0.52%
S&P 500 4554.64 +18.30
+0.40%
NASDAQ  14058.87 +26.06
+0.19%
TSX 20582.12 +34.61
+0.17%

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 32700.94 +396.69
+1.23%
HANG
SENG
18668.15 -407.11
-2.13%
SENSEX 66384.78 -299.48
-0.45%
FTSE 100* 7678.59 +14.86
+0.19%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
3.498 3.412
CND.
30 Year
Bond
3.335 3.262
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
3.8725 3.8349
U.S.
30 Year Bond
3.9242 3.8992

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.7592 0.7563
US
$
1.3172 1.3222

 

Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse   
Canadian $ 1.4573 0.6862
US
$
1.1064 0.9038

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix 
1960.60 1976.10
Oil
WTI Crude Future  78.89 77.17

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1987, ZZZZ Best’s assets were sold at a bankruptcy auction for $62,000. Just months earlier, Barry Minkow’s carpet-cleaning company had a market value of roughly $300 million. But ZZZZ Best had virtually no customers, revenues or assets. Minkow, who had set up an elaborate system of phantom offices and phony account records, served five years in federal prison.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.2%, or 34.61 to 20,582.12 in Toronto. The index advanced to the highest closing level since May 9.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.1%. Cenovus Energy Inc. had the largest increase, rising 2.7%.
Today, 111 of 228 shares rose, while 115 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.1%
* The index advanced 8.4% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 15% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.3% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 15.2% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.8% in the past 5 days and rose 6% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.5 on a trailing basis and 14.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.25t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 10.05% compared with 10.04% in the previous session and the average of 10.86% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 29.0805| 0.8| 32/7
Financials | 6.8921| 0.1| 9/20
Information Technology | 2.9411| 0.2| 5/6
Real Estate | 2.5629| 0.5| 16/5
Materials | 0.3995| 0.0| 13/36
Health Care | 0.0835| 0.1| 2/2
Industrials | -0.0800| 0.0| 8/18
Utilities | -1.1968| -0.1| 7/9
Consumer Staples | -1.8604| -0.2| 7/4
Consumer Discretionary | -1.9001| -0.2| 9/6
Communication Services | -2.3263| -0.3| 3/2
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | | Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Natural Resources | 12.2000| 2.1| -15.7| 4.6
RBC | 10.0200| 0.8| -39.8| 3.7
Nutrien | 7.8780| 2.7| 42.8| -11.8
Couche-Tard | -2.5370| -0.7| -40.8| 12.9
Restaurant Brands | -3.2220| -1.4| -31.9| 15.6
TC Energy | -9.5870| -2.6| 45.1| -5.7

Related News headlines:
* Stocks Kick Off Busy Earnings Week With Mild Gains: Markets Wrap
* Canadian Stocks Gain, Led by Information Technology
* Alberta Oil Output Recover in June Post Maintenance, Fires: AER
* Nutrien Shares Rise As Wells Fargo Sees Growth Opportunity (1)
* Bayer FY Adjusted Ebitda Forecast Misses Estimates
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A pivotal week for markets started with small gains in stocks as traders braced for rate decisions from major central banks and a deluge of corporate earnings.
In the run-up to the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank’s gatherings, investors got a reminder about the side- effects of aggressive policy tightening. Disappointing data from both the US andeuro-area added to bets officials are close to ending their hiking cycles to prevent a recession. Aside from the economic picture, global companies with a combined $27 trillion in value were set to report results, including giants Microsoft Corp., LVMH and Samsung Electronics Co.
“This week will offer plenty of opportunity to test the stock-market rally that began on Oct. 12,” said John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer Asset Management.
“Traders will be seeking to gain further insight into the direction the markets are likely to take from here.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose for an 11th straight day — its longest winning run since 2017. The S&P 500 traded near 4,550, while the Nasdaq 100 underperformed after a “special rebalance” that took effect Monday. Two-year US bond rates climbed as an auction drew the highest yield since 2007. The dollar was little changed. Bitcoin briefly fell below $29,000.
West Texas Intermediate crude topped $78 a barrel. Wheat and corn gained as Russia attacked one of Ukraine’s biggest Danube river ports.
Among the corporate highlights, Tesla Inc. advanced after disclosing strong sales outside the US and China. Apple Inc. gained as Bloomberg News reported the company is keeping its iPhone shipments steady despite the 2023 turmoil. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. climbed as a surprise court ruling Friday scuttled a stock conversion plan the cinema chain has now revised. Chevron Corp. rose on solid earnings.
The delayed impact of aggressive interest-rate hikes by global central banks, dwindling consumer savings and a “deeply troubling” geopolitical backdrop are poised to spur fresh market declines and renewed volatility, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategist Marko Kolanovic. Kolanovic also noted that the stock-price reaction to earnings reports is expected to be muted as the market was strong coming into the second-quarter reporting season.
Investors have mostly shrugged off positive earnings surprises from companies that reported results so far, according to strategists at Bank of America Corp. Moves were on average 1.3 percentage points larger than implied by the options market, but the direction was skewed to the downside.
“This suggests increased positioning risk and good news having been priced in,” BofA strategists led by Savita Subramanian added.
To Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley, tech may “hold the key” to the continuation of the near-term bullish enthusiasm of stock traders as big names get ready to report their quarterly numbers.
Indeed, the stakes are high for heavyweight technology firms, which have fueled an advance of over 40% for the Nasdaq 100 this year. The “big seven” — Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Nvidia Corp., Meta Platforms Inc., Alphabet Inc., Tesla and Microsoft — now trade at a record premium to the bottom 493 stocks in the S&P 500, according to BofA’s Subramanian.
“We expect big tech earnings to be mixed and the real test will be for companies that have significant exposure to artificial intelligence as investors are eager to see if these companies can report strong enough results to support their significantly elevated share prices in recent months,” said James Demmert, chief investment officer at Main Street Research.
The S&P 500’s high valuation is reasonable and could rise further this year as laggards of the index join the surge in winners from artificial intelligence, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists.
While the base-case scenario is for the S&P 500’s price-to- earnings ratio to shrink slightly to 19 times from the current level of about 20 by the end of 2023, the risks to valuations are now skewed to the upside, strategists led by David J Kostin said.
Meantime, Glenmede’s Global Expected Returns Model shows valuations on US large-cap equities currently sit at the 77th percentile — which implies 22% downside if valuations were to revert to fair value.
“Recession beginning later this year or early next remains the base case, a likelihood which is not reflected in equity valuations,” said Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy and research at Glenmede.
The outlook for the world’s largest economy will likely hinge on the Fed’s willingness to tolerate inflation markedly higher than it would prefer. After taking a break from tightening last month, Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues look locked in to raising interest rates by a quarter percentage point on Wednesday.
The big question facing policymakers and financial markets at this stage is what comes next.
“The market is pretty well signaling another 25-basis point rate hike is in the cards,” said George Mateyo, chief investment officer at Key Private Bank. “People are probably looking past the announcement itself and then trying to glean some read in terms of what happens later this year.”
Whether the Fed gives investors a reason to sell or there’s a big earnings disappointment this week, the market is ripe for a decline into the fall, according to Paul Nolte at Murphy & Sylvest Wealth Management.
“For now, that decline is not something to upset the longer-term trajectory of the market,” he noted.

Key events this week:
* US Conf. Board consumer confidence, Tuesday
* US new home sales, Wednesday
* FOMC rate decision, Fed Chair Powell news conference, Wednesday
* China industrial profits, Thursday
* ECB rate decision, Thursday
* US GDP, durable goods orders, initial jobless claims, wholesale inventories, Thursday
* Japan Tokyo CPI, Friday
* BOJ rate decision, Friday
* Eurozone economic confidence, consumer confidence, Friday
* US consumer income, employment cost index, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.6% to $1.1062
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.2817
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 141.52 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 3.4% to $29,121.49
* Ether fell 2.3% to $1,849.92
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 3.87%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 2.43%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.26%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.4% to $78.92 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.5% to $1,994.80 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Brett Miller, Tassia Sipahutar, Sujata Rao and Isabelle Lee.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
A loving person lives in a loving world.  A hostile person lives in a hostile world:
everyone you meet is your mirror. -Ken Keyes, 1921-1995.

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

July 21, 2023, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
July 21, 1937: Amelia Earhart, pioneering aviator, goes missing during her attempt to circumnavigate the globe, sparking an enduring mystery in the  history of aviation.
July 21, 1861: Battle of Bull Run
2002: Telecommunications giant WorldCom Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection after disclosing it had inflated profits by nearly $4 billion through deceptive accounting.  Go to article >>

Ernest Hemingway, writer, b. 1899.
Marshall McLuhan, writer, b.1911
Isaac Stern, musician, b. 1920

Philippines makes historic debut at the World Cup. The Southeast Asian country made its first-ever appearance at the Women’s World Cup today. View live scores from the tournament here

Ultrabright stellar object is shining beyond the ‘death line,’ and no one can explain it
A slowly rotating object 15,000 light-years from Earth defies every logical explanation that astronomers have thrown at it. Read More

Watch as crater collapses in Iceland’s new volcano, spewing rivers of lava
Iceland’s newest volcano, located in the Reykjanes peninsula, is throwing “spatter bombs” of molten lava. Read More

Woman who died in deadly Vasa warship’s wreck 400 years ago reconstructed in lifelike detail
Researchers initially thought the 17th-century shipwreck skeleton was male, but a new reconstruction reveals “G” as female. Read More

RIP TONY BENNETT
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Ankara, Turkey: A butterfly lands on lavender in a garden before the harvesting season.  Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Yangzhou, China: An aerial view shows tourists taking a boat ride through an aquatic forest at Luyang Lake wetland park.  Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

A peacock butterfly (Inachis io) competes with a bumblebee to feed on pollen on an echinacea daisy in Windsor, England. The charity Butterfly Conservation is calling on people across the UK to take part in this year’s Big Butterfly Count, which runs until 6 August, to help scientists understand the impact of climate change on butterflies.  Photograph: Maureen McLean/Shutterstock
Market Closes for July 21st, 2023

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
35227.69 +2.51
+0.01%
S&P 500 4536.34 +1.47
+0.03%
NASDAQ  14032.80 -30.51
-0.22%
TSX 20547.51 +110.63
+0.54%

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 32304.25 -186.27
-0.57%
HANG
SENG
19075.26 +147.24
+0.78%
SENSEX 66684.26 -887.64
-1.31%
FTSE 100* 7663.73 +17.68
+0.23%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
3.412 3.497
CND.
30 Year
Bond
3.262 3.320
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
3.8349 3.8503
U.S.
30 Year Bond
3.8992 3.9066

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.7563 0.7591
US
$
1.3222 1.3173

 

Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse   
Canadian $ 1.4714 0.6796
US
$
1.1128 0.8986

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix 
1976.10 1975.35
Oil
WTI Crude Future  77.17 75.63

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1933, as Wall Street began to digest the implications of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” 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.   (It’s 35,312.11 right now, lest you need any reminder of the enormous wealth creation $$$ attainable by investing in solid blue chip stocks for the long term. -cs)
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.5% at 20,547.51 in Toronto.

The index advanced to the highest closing level since May 9 after the previous session’s decrease of 0.3%.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.4%.

Mullen Group Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 6.0%.
Today, 139 of 228 shares rose, while 82 fell; all sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.

Insights
* This month, the index rose 1.9%
* So far this week, the index rose 1.4%
* The index advanced 7.8% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 13% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.4% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 15% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.4 on a trailing basis and 14.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.23t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.04% compared with 10.01% in the previous session and the average of 10.93% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 29.6363| 0.9| 23/15
Financials | 29.2853| 0.5| 20/8
Industrials | 23.0811| 0.8| 17/9
Communication Services | 9.4279| 1.2| 5/0
Consumer Staples | 7.3316| 0.9| 10/1
Materials | 3.9347| 0.2| 20/26
Consumer Discretionary | 3.6317| 0.5| 9/6
Utilities | 2.2265| 0.2| 11/5
Real Estate | 1.3473| 0.3| 15/6
Health Care | 0.7148| 1.2| 4/0
Information Technology | 0.0334| 0.0| 5/6
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Pacific
Kansas | 9.9630| 1.4| 15.2| 6.6
Canadian National | 7.0900| 1.1| -13.2| -2.6
TD Bank | 6.5310| 0.6| -15.8| -1.6
Bank of Montreal | -1.2970| -0.2| 262.9| 0.6
First Quantum Minerals | -2.0400| -1.5| -51.6| 23.2
CGI Inc | -6.8450| -3.4| 101.6| 15.5

US
By Jennifer Bissell-Linsk and John Viljoen
(Bloomberg) — Technology stocks continued a selloff on Friday as investors looked to earnings in the week ahead after a disappointing batch of results earlier this week.
The Nasdaq 100 shed 0.3%, deepening losses from Thursday when technology groups fell on the backs of lower-than-expected sales at Netflix Inc. and an adjusted earnings miss at Tesla Inc.
The yield on the 10-year note fell one basis point, bringing weekly gains to less than a point.

American Express Co. fell 3.5% after missing revenue forecasts.
The yen tumbled on speculation the Bank of Japan won’t make changes to its yield curve control program.
Meanwhile, Alphabet Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. gained while Meta Platforms Inc. fell ahead of the groups’ earnings expected next week.
“Next week we may need to see strength across line items and guidance lifts to maintain index-level momentum,” Citi’s Scott T Chronert wrote in a note. “NFLX and TSLA both beat on the bottom line this week, yet fell 8.4% and 9.7%, respectively, day over day. This may be telling as to how high the bar really is to support current valuations.”

Investors had been braced for a volatile session on Friday as a flood of options expired before an out-of-cycle rebalancing in the Nasdaq 100.
The index shuffle, which takes effect on Monday, is designed to reduce the dominance of mega-caps and boost the presence of smaller members.
In equities, the main focus continues to be whether the rally in a handful of mega-cap stocks and hype over artificial intelligence has staying power.

The S&P 500 has already surpassed most estimates for where it would end the year, confounding strategists convinced that 2023 would be another bad year for markets heading into recession.
“So where we are right now, we are resting after the massive move over the course of many weeks,” Ken Mahoney, CEO of Mahoney Asset Management, wrote in a note. “A lot of stocks were creating and still are creating bases to break out higher from.  No one could believe their eyes after being so conditioned to 2022’s nasty selling conditions when this market gained steam again.”

In commodities, wheat futures fell as much as 3.6% as Ukraine made preparations to continue a grain-export deal, which Russia exited this week.
Oil notched its fourth weekly gain amid tentative signs that global markets are tightening.
And gold slipped against a stronger dollar on Friday, paring gains made earlier in the week. 
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World index fell 0.6%

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%
* The euro was little changed at $1.1126
* The British pound was little changed at $1.2857
* The Japanese yen fell 1.2% to 141.76 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.5% to $29,873.36
* Ether rose 0.3% to $1,893.84

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 3.84%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.47%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.28%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.7% to $76.90 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.3% to $2,003.20 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Lu Wang and Krystof Chamonikolas.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
The one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is unchangeable of certain. –John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1917-1963.

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

July 20, 2023 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.  It’s Moon Day today.

July 20th, 1969: Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to set foot on the moon, proclaiming, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.  Go to article >>

Sir Edmund Hilary, explorer, b. 1919
Carlos Santana, guitarist, b. 1947

Disneyland-sized theme park planned along Route 66:  An “Americana-themed” amusement park is set to be a $2 billion destination in northeast Oklahoma, according to new plans for the development.

Stolen 15th-century letter from Christopher Columbus has been returned to ItalyThis letter, in which Columbus announced his discoveries on the American continent to Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, is back in Italy after being missing for decades.

Microsoft is giving out free cybersecurity tools.  The tech giant is offering free cybersecurity tools to some government and commercial customers in the wake of a major hack.

Thousands of medieval coins unearthed by metal detectorists in Romania
A literal pot of buried treasure was discovered deep within a forest in western Romania. Read More.

Hundreds of ‘ghost stars’ haunt the Milky Way’s center. Scientists may finally know why.
Ghostly nebulas created by exploding stars appear to align in the Milky Way’s bulging center. Read More

Genetic quirk could explain why not everyone shows symptoms of COVID-19
In a large cohort of people infected with SARS-CoV-2, a specific gene variant was more common in people who didn’t show symptoms. Read More

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Yogyakarta, Indonesia: Mount Merapi spews lava as it erupts in the Sleman district.  Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Asahikawa, Japan: Penguins gather around a block of ice at Asahiyama zoo in Hokkaido.  Photograph: AP

Frankfurt, Germany: A bird of prey in a field on the outskirts of the city.  Photograph: Michael Probst/AP
Market Closes for July 20th, 2023

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
35225.18 +163.97
+0.47%
S&P 500 4534.87 -30.85
-0.68%
NASDAQ  14063.31 -294.71
-2.05%
TSX 20436.87 -54.30
-0.26%

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 32490.52 -405.51
-1.23%
HANG
SENG
18928.02 -24.29
 -0.13%
SENSEX 67571.90 +474.46
+0.71%
FTSE 100* 7646.05 +57.85
+0.76%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
3.497 3.356
CND.
30 Year
Bond
3.320 3.206
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
3.8503 3.7463
U.S.
30 Year Bond
3.9066 3.8388

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.7591 0.7596
US
$
1.3173 1.3165

 

Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse   
Canadian $ 1.4665 0.6819
US
$
1.1133 0.8982

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix 
1975.35 1975.00
Oil
WTI Crude Future  75.63 75.35

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1992: Charles Schwab opened its “mutual fund supermarket,” allowing investors to choose from hundreds of different funds without paying transaction fees.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.3% at 20,436.87 in Toronto.

The move was the biggest since falling 1.5% on July 6 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.6%.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.1%.

Nuvei Corp. had the largest drop, falling 8.0%.
Today, 143 of 228 shares fell, while 80 rose; 5 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 1.4%
* So far this week, the index rose 0.9%
* The index advanced 7.4% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 14% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.9% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 14.3% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.8% in the past 5 days and rose 3.5% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.2 on a trailing basis and 14.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.4% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.24t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.01% compared with 9.99% in the previous session and the average of 10.98% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -41.4833| -1.7| 4/46
Information Technology | -40.6573| -2.5| 1/10
Real Estate | -1.9853| -0.4| 4/16
Consumer Discretionary | -1.9441| -0.2| 3/12
Health Care | -0.0244| 0.0| 1/3
Industrials | 0.9756| 0.0| 8/18
Financials | 1.2387| 0.0| 13/15
Communication Services | 1.3791| 0.2| 2/3
Consumer Staples | 3.0266| 0.4| 10/1
Utilities | 4.6250| 0.5| 12/3
Energy | 20.5325| 0.6| 22/16
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | -31.0500| -4.1| 61.6| 83.4
Agnico Eagle Mines | -7.5690| -3.1| -10.2| -2.8
Barrick Gold | -5.8940| -2.1| -25.6| -2.0
Waste Connections | 6.8460| 2.1| -42.6| 5.5
TC Energy | 7.8700| 2.2| -4.4| -3.9
Enbridge | 8.2160| 1.2| 1.4| -7.2

US
By Cecile Gutscher and Isabelle Lee
(Bloomberg) — US equities and Treasuries fell Thursday as investors digested a round of disappointing tech earnings and fresh signs of labor-market resiliency that could support another hike in interest rates this year.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell 2.3%, with Netflix Inc. notching its biggest decline of the year after a disappointing revenue forecast.

Tesla Inc. slid after profitability shrank in the second quarter.
And the yield on 10-year Treasuries rose 10 basis points as an unexpected drop in weekly initial jobless claims prompted traders to price in higher odds of a quarter-point rate hike beyond the Federal Reserve’s meeting next week.
The losses are hitting the pause button on this year’s blistering stock rally that’s seen the S&P 500 rise 18%, and the Nasdaq 100 gain 41%, against a shaky economic outlook during the Fed’s aggressive tightening campaign.
“In the last 24 hours alone there has been talk of a worsening of the conflict in Ukraine, a further slowdown in China and major US banks facing significant real estate losses,” Lewis Grant, senior portfolio manager at Federated Hermes, wrote in a note. “Each of these threats, along with uncountable unknowns, has the potential to halt the sentiment rebound in its tracks.”
On Wednesday, wheat prices had surged following an escalation of tensions between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. had reported a plunge in profits.
And early Thursday, China had stepped up its support for the yuan amid a ramp up in rhetoric to bolster business confidence.
Against such a backdrop, returns on the back of a handful of tech stocks are “overdone” and may be the precursor to a downturn, Aegon Asset Management strategist Cameron McCrimmon warned.
“The breadth of returns on the S&P 500 has become increasingly narrow, driven by a few mega-cap tech stocks on AI optimism, which is a classic sign of an ageing bull,” McCrimmon wrote in a note.
The sentiment was echoed by Louise Goudy Willmering, a partner at Crewe Advisors.
“To be just driven simply by a few names in technology is not great,” Goudy Willmering said by phone. “Earnings will definitely determine where we go from here as we look into the third and fourth quarters.”
In Europe, tech stocks including ASML Holding NV slumped after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. cut its outlook despite the boom in AI development.

Meanwhile, equities in Asia including Japan, Hong Kong and mainland China fell.
Elsewhere, the dollar reversed losses to trade stronger against major peers. Gold declined and the price of oil wavered.

Key events this week:
* Japan CPI, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.7% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 2.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.1%

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%
* The euro fell 0.6% to $1.1131
* The British pound fell 0.6% to $1.2864
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 140.09 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 0.7% to $29,754.13
* Ether fell 0.6% to $1,887.87

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced 10 basis points to 3.85%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 2.49%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced six basis points to 4.28%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.4% to $75.63 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.4% to $2,010.60 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Kurt Schussler, Tassia Sipahutar and Joel Leon.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.  -Bruce Lee, 1940-1973.

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

July 19, 2023, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

July 19, 1903: the first Tour de France comes to an end.  Maurice Gariun became the first person to win the debut of the now annual bike race.
July 19, 1969: Apollo 11, with Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins on board, went into orbit around the moon.  Go to article >>

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

What it’s like to be an American living in Paris:  Sidewalk cafés. Cobblestone streets. Masterful art. Paris has an elegant splendor unlike anywhere else in the world.
Learn why more Americans are making the city their home.

880: That’s approximately how many wildfires are burning throughout Canada right now.  At least 580 of those wildfires are “out of control,” according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

Scientists discover ancient, underwater volcano is still active – and covered in up to a million giant eggs
Before the expedition, the team thought the volcano was extinct and the waters around it frigid. Read More.

Another major US city is sinking, and this time it’s due to ‘underground climate change’
The ground beneath Chicago is deforming as a result of heat leaking from underground structures. Read More.

Ancient ‘unknown’ script finally deciphered 70 years after first being discovered
Last year, researchers discovered Bactrian and Kushan inscriptions on a rock face near the Almosi Gorge in northwestern Tajikistan. Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Karbala, Iraq:  Shia Muslim devotees gather during the flag-changing ceremony at the shrines of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas on the first night of the Muslim month of Muharram and the first day of the Islamic new year.  Photograph: Mohammed Sawaf/AFP/Getty Images

Irakl Khvedaguridze, 81, is the only licensed doctor across 386 sq miles of mountainous region, serving a dwindling community of Tush people. During the summer and early autumn, he gets to his patients on his white horse, Bichola. When the snow gets too deep, Khvedaguridze converts his shoes into skis using birch planks nailed with wide canvas. Once the snow rises above his knees, he can only travel on foot
Tomer Ifrah

Dunedin, New Zealand:  Little blue penguins, also known by their Māori name korora, exit the sea at the Royal Albatross Centre, a wildlife sanctuary in Harington Point,  Photograph: Alessandra Tarantino/AP
Market Closes for July 19th, 2023

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
35061.21 +109.28
+0.31%
S&P 500 4565.72 +10.74
+0.24%
NASDAQ  14358.02 +4.38
+0.03%
TSX 20491.17 +114.60
+0.56%

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 32896.03 +402.14
 +1.24%
HANG
SENG
18952.31 -63.41
 -0.33%
SENSEX 67097.44 +302.30
+0.45%
FTSE 100* 7588.20 +134.51
+1.80%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
3.356 3.376
CND.
30 Year
Bond
3.206 3.251
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
3.7463 3.7794
U.S.
30 Year Bond
3.8388 3.8890

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.7596 0.7593
US
$
1.3165 1.3170

 

Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse   
Canadian $ 1.4747 0.6781
US
$
1.1202 0.8927

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix 
1975.00 1949.60
Oil
WTI Crude Future  75.35 75.75

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.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.6%, or 114.6 to 20,491.17 in Toronto.

The index advanced to the highest closing level since May 15.
Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.2%.

Telus International CDA Inc. had the largest increase, rising 5.7%.
Today, 136 of 228 shares rose, while 87 fell; 10 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.

Insights
* The index advanced 8.2% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 16% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.7% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 14.6% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.1% in the past 5 days and rose 2.8% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.3 on a trailing basis and 14.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.22t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.99% compared with 9.97% in the previous session and the average of 11.02% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 46.4376| 0.7| 22/7
Information Technology | 13.8627| 0.9| 6/5
Industrials | 13.5127| 0.5| 15/11
Communication Services | 9.3496| 1.2| 4/1
Energy | 9.0936| 0.3| 20/17
Utilities | 8.3543| 0.9| 15/0
Materials | 6.1732| 0.2| 17/32
Real Estate | 5.8300| 1.2| 20/1
Consumer Discretionary | 4.1183| 0.5| 11/4
Health Care | 0.1148| 0.2| 2/2
Consumer Staples | -2.2485| -0.3| 4/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
TD Bank | 13.3200| 1.2| -48.2| -1.8
Shopify | 11.2400| 1.5| 2.6| 91.3
Brookfield Corp | 9.3700| 2.0| -4.4| 10.6
Imperial Oil | -1.2260| -1.5| 26.2| -3.1
Couche-Tard | -1.3210| -0.4| -50.2| 12.7
Suncor Energy | -1.4660| -0.4| -38.3| -10.7

US
By Emily Graffeo and Jennifer Bissell-Linsk
(Bloomberg) — US stocks rose on Wednesday as investors cheered cooling inflation in the UK and looked ahead to a kickoff in tech earnings due at the close of New York trading.
After hours, shares of Netflix Inc. fell after a third-quarter sales forecast missed estimates.

Tesla Inc. wavered after a second-quarter earnings beat.
And International Business Machines Corp. initially fell after missing sales estimates.
During the regular session, Apple Inc. had gained after a Bloomberg report on its efforts to build AI tools, while Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp. fell.

Elsewhere, a profit slump at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. stood in contrast to beats earlier in the week from peer investment firms.
In bonds, US Treasuries joined a worldwide rally as price pressures in the UK dropped to the lowest in 15 months.

The latest inflation report bolstered hopes central banks can go easier on raising interest rates.
However, shaky economic data have made clear the Federal Reserve is far from claiming victory.
The price of commodities, including wheat, spiked midday on Wednesday after a warning from Russia that any ships to Ukraine would be seen as carrying arms.
“The risk of recession has receded dramatically,” said Neil Dutta, head of economics at Renaissance Macro Research, on Bloomberg TV. “I think the markets are right to allocate a little bit more to the soft landing story, but I think you can make a good case that maybe we’re getting a little bit over our skis here and we should probably put some more potential on the resurgence of the inflationary-boom scenario.”
Carvana Co. gained 40% after the used-car retailer reached a deal to restructure its debt and filed to sell as much as $1 billion in stock.
AT&T Inc. rose 8.5% after the telecommunications company reassured investors by saying less than 10% of its nationwide copper-wire telecom network had lead-clad cables.
And Kering SA rose 7.0% in New York after it was said to be speaking to defense advisers as activist investors including Bluebell Capital Partners circle the French luxury group.
In Asia, shares in Hong Kong and mainland China fell while the offshore yuan slid to the weakest level in more than a week.

Investors see no easy fix to China’s economic slump, with fresh signs of financial stress among the nation’s dollar-bond issuers.
Meanwhile, Rio Tinto Group said second-quarter shipments of iron ore fell 1% from a year earlier, as China’s faltering economic recovery continued to weigh on demand.
Gold declined, the dollar strengthened and WTI crude fell after earlier gains. 

Key events this week:
* Eurozone CPI, Wednesday
* US housing starts, Wednesday
* China loan prime rates, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, existing home sales, Conf. Board leading index, Thursday
* Japan CPI, Friday

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 was little changed
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.5%

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1204
* The British pound fell 0.8% to $1.2937
* The Japanese yen fell 0.6% to 139.69 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.9% to $30,049.52
* Ether rose 0.8% to $1,910.28

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 3.74%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 2.44%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined 12 basis points to 4.21%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.6% to $75.27 a barrel
* Gold futures were little changed
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
The secret of getting ahead is getting started. –Mark Twain, 1835-1910.

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

July 18, 2023 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1936: Spanish Civil War begins.

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 >>

Nelson Mandela, South African leader, b.1918.
Hunter S. Thompson, writer, b. 19396.

1964: Nelson Mandela, antiapartheid revolutionary and future President of South Africa, is sentenced to life imprisonment, becoming a symbol of resistance and later a global icon of peace.

These people will be aboard Virgin Galactic’s first space tourism flight: The first Olympian and the first mother-daughter duo to venture to space will be aboard Virgin Galactic’s private astronaut mission in August.

The world’s new largest office building is bigger than the PentagonWith 7 million square feet of floor space, it may be easy to get lost in this mammoth building in India.

‘Building blocks of life’ discovered on Mars in 10 different rock samples
NASA’s Perseverance rover has found an intriguing menagerie of organic molecules in a Martian crater, but their source remains unclear. Read More

What happens if you get struck by lightning… and survive?
Lightning is terrifying, but it’s not always deadly. Here’s what it does to the human body. Read More

Dolphins and orcas have passed the evolutionary point of no return to live on land again
The chances of aquatic mammals — like orcas, dolphins and whales — ever evolving to live on land again are almost nonexistent. Read More

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Agra, India: The flooded banks of the Yamuna River beside the Taj Mahal.  Photograph: Pawan Sharma/AFP/Getty Images

Istanbul, Turkey:  The TQ Samsun bulk carrier transits the Bosphorus strait during the early hours. It is the last grain ship, carrying corn and rapeseed, to leave Ukraine under the Black Sea grain initiative. Russia notified the UN that it would not extend the Turkey/UN-brokered deal.  Photograph: Chris McGrath/Getty Images.

Washington DC, US:  A dragonfly sits on a lotus flower during the Lotus and Water Lily festival at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens. The festival occurs every year when the flowers are at peak bloom. The flowers tend to close as the sun grows more intense and the temperature rises.  Photograph: Stefani Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images.
Market Closes for July 18th, 2023

Market
Index
Close Change
Dow
Jones
34951.93 +366.58
+1.06%
S&P 500 4554.98 +32.19
+0.71%
NASDAQ  14353.64 +108.69
+0.93%
TSX 20376.57 +149.78
+0.74%

International Markets

Market
Index
Close Change
NIKKEI 32493.89 +102.63
 +0.32%
HANG
SENG
19015.72 -398.06
 -2.05%
SENSEX 66795.14 +205.21
+0.31%
FTSE 100* 7453.69 +47.27
+0.64%

Bonds

Bonds % Yield Previous % Yield
CND.
10 Year Bond
3.376 3.400
CND.
30 Year
Bond
3.251 3.270
U.S.   
10 Year Bond
3.7794 3.8068
U.S.
30 Year Bond
3.8890 3.9287

Currencies

BOC Close Today Previous  
Canadian $ 0.7593 0.7577
US
$
1.3170 1.3197

 

Euro Rate
1 Euro=
Inverse   
Canadian $ 1.4789 0.6762
US
$
1.1229 0.8905

Commodities

Gold Close Previous
London Gold
Fix 
1949.60 1953.70
Oil
WTI Crude Future  75.75 74.15

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1968: Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, engineering refugees from Fairchild Semiconductor, established N.M. Electronics to miniaturize electronic circuitry onto silicon chips.  N.M., which generated $2,672 of revenue in its first year, soon changed its name to Intel.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.7% at 20,376.57 in Toronto.

The index advanced to the highest closing level since May 15 after the previous session’s decrease of 0.2%.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.9%. Endeavour Silver Corp. had the largest increase, rising 7.0%.
Today, 164 of 229 shares rose, while 60 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.

Insights
* The index advanced 9.6% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 19% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.2% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 14% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.5% in the past 5 days and rose 2% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.3 on a trailing basis and 14.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.4% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.2t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.97% compared with 9.90% in the previous session and the average of 11.06% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 58.2929| 1.8| 39/1
Financials | 48.7600| 0.8| 22/6
Materials | 44.9385| 1.8| 44/5
Industrials | 7.9489| 0.3| 16/10
Consumer Discretionary | 6.7860| 0.9| 12/3
Health Care | -0.0897| -0.2| 1/3
Communication Services | -0.6059| -0.1| 3/2
Real Estate | -1.5195| -0.3| 9/11
Utilities | -2.7002| -0.3| 7/9
Consumer Staples | -2.8503| -0.3| 3/7
Information Technology | -9.1710| -0.6| 8/3
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Natural Resources | 16.5700| 2.9| 0.4| 0.9
Nutrien | 10.6500| 3.8| 46.2| -16.0
Brookfield Corp | 10.2700| 2.3| -16.2| 8.4
BCE | -2.5520| -0.7| 61.2| -3.8
Waste Connections | -3.9630| -1.2| 155.4| 2.7
Shopify | -17.2800| -2.3| 98.1| 88.4

US
By Isabelle Lee
(Bloomberg) — US equities rose Tuesday as results from Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley bolstered bank shares, and a rally in stocks linked to artificial intelligence resumed.
Bank of America delivered a surprise gain from its core Wall Street businesses.

Morgan Stanley executives pointed to an improved outlook.
And in technology, Microsoft Corp. set an expensive price tag on new AI products, buoying the sector.
The S&P 500 gained 0.7% while Treasury yields pared earlier losses as the corporate updates were coupled with disappointing economic data.

Figures on industrial production and retail sales missed estimates, and traders are now fully pricing in a quarter-point hike at the Federal Reserve’s meeting next week.
Signs of slowing inflation and an improving economic picture have led traders to dial back wagers on how high the US overnight benchmark rate will go.

However, quarterly forecasts from policy makers have shown a median expectation of two more quarter-point increases this year in order to bring the rate of inflation in line with the Fed’s target.
“The current picture on the consumer is a bit blurry. It seems that excess savings buoyed retail activity in recent months but consumers are quickly depleting those excess reserves and starting to use credit to support spending habits,” Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, said.
His comments were echoed by Rubeela Farooqi, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics, who said consumers continue to face constraints from higher borrowing costs and elevated prices.

“However, a still-strong labor market, positive real disposable incomes and a gradual easing in price pressures appears to be supporting consumption for now.”
In Europe, stocks and bonds were also higher after ECB council member Klaas Knot said monetary tightening beyond next week’s European Central Bank meeting was anything but guaranteed — suggesting officials could soon pause their campaign of interest-rate hikes.
The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.6% while the yield on 10-year German securities fell nearly 10 basis points to 2.4%, touching a roughly two-week low.
“It’s clear that it’s the receding inflation narrative which is driving everything,” said Gilles Guibout, a portfolio manager at Axa Investment Managers in Paris. “Investors are feeding on hope: hope that US rates will get down sooner and hope that China will launch a stimulus package to beef up consumption.”
The wild card is China, where a stuttering recovery is leading to disquiet among investors considering the knock-on effects from a slowdown in the world’s growth engine.

Equities in mainland China and Hong Kong fell Tuesday.
Elsewhere, gold rose, oil gained and the dollar was little changed. 
Key events this week:
* Eurozone, UK CPI, Wednesday
* US housing starts, Wednesday
* China loan prime rates, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, existing home sales, Conf. Board leading index, Thursday
* Japan CPI, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.7% as of 4:08 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.1%

Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.1230
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3040
* The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 138.89 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 0.6% to $29,743.3
* Ether rose 0.2% to $1,893.89

Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 3.79%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined nine basis points to 2.39%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined 10 basis points to 4.33%

Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.1% to $75.71 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 1.3% to $1,981.40 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Cecile Gutscher, Tassia Sipahutar, Joe Easton and Julien Ponthus.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do. –Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826.

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
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Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
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