Month: September 2025

Tangents: Happy Tuesday.

September 9, 490 BC: Battle of Marathon.
September 9, 1562:  The 1562 map of the Americas, created by Spanish cartographer Diego Gutiérrez, which applied the name California for the first time.
September 9, 1850 California became the 31st state of the union. Go to article. 
September 9, 1947: The first recorded computer bug is logged when a moth is found in  Harvard’s Mark II relay, giving birth to the term still used in computing.

Leo Tolstoy, writer, b. 1828.
Hugh Grant, actor, b. 1960.
Adam Sandler, actor, b. 1966.
Rachel Hunter, actress, b. 1966.

William the Conqueror, d. 1087.

Photos: Blood moon captivates skywatchers
Photographers recently captured the splendor of a total lunar eclipse, which turned the full moon a reddish hue. View CNN’s photo gallery here.

Video: Man attempts to break beer-carrying record
It wasn’t what he hoped for, but still impressive. Ale’s well that ends well.

China’s Labubus are the must-have toy of the year. So are the fakes
Chinese authorities have removed more than 1.8 million counterfeit Labubu dolls from the market. Yet the dolls and their fakes continue to be sold in large quantities both domestically and overseas.

New photos of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS reveal its tail growing before our eyes

New images reveal interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS beginning to grow a signature tail as it zooms closer to the sun ahead of a close encounter with Earth this fall. Read More.

‘Extraordinary’ Roman helmet from war-ending battle found in the sea off Sicily

Archaeologists recovered the “Montefortino”-style helmet in an underwater excavation in the Aegadian Islands off the coast of Sicily. Read More.

‘Blood moon’ gallery: Stunning snaps from last night’s total lunar eclipse

A “blood moon” hovered above parts of the globe last night. And while North America missed out, we’ve rounded up some of the best photographs of September 2025’s total lunar eclipse. Read More.

Do you think we should stop the progress of AI before it becomes a threat to our species?

Many believe that the risks of an evolving artificial intelligence far outweigh the benefits. Do you think we should halt development in case it’s too dangerous for humanity to handle? Read More.

A scalding hot ‘sand battery’ is now heating a small Finnish town

Engineers created a sand battery that they say will slash the carbon emissions in Pornainen, Finland, by 70% — it uses renewables to heat the sand to more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Read More.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

New Banksy Museum opens in Madrid
A museum dedicated to the British urban artist Banksy has opened in Madrid, Spain, featuring 170 life-sized reproductions of his works
Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images

Top 10 most-sighted butterflies in 2025’s Big Butterfly Count
Gatekeepers took the number one spot in the count last year. While the number of Gatekeepers spotted this year has remained similar to last year, the population has suffered a decline of around a quarter over the past 15 years. Gatekeepers are so named as they are often spotted around gates and hedgerows where there is an abundance of flowers.
Photograph: William Cave/Guardian Community

Anglesey, Wales
‘As part of Amlwch Viking festival, about 200 re-enactors paraded down the hill with fire lanterns, calling out to Odin as 1,000 spectators cheered them on from the other side of the harbour.’
Photograph: Ian ‘Yan’ Rees
Market Closes for September 9^th, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	45711.34	+196.39
		+0.43%
S&P 500	6512.61	+17.46
		+0.27%
NASDAQ	21879.49	+80.79
		+0.37%
TSX	29063.01	+35.28
		+0.12%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	43459.29	-184.52
		-0.42%
HANG SENG	25938.13	+304.22
		+1.19%
SENSEX	81101.32	+314.02
		+0.39%
FTSE 100*	9242.53	+21.09
		+0.23%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.229	3.209
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.677	3.660
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.0875	4.0398
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.7311	4.6922

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7222	0.7246
US $	1.3846	1.3800

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.6212	0.6168
US $	1.1709	0.8540

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	3632.65	3594.55
Oil
WTI Crude Future	62.63	62.26

Market Commentary:
All the good things of life are available to us in the spiritual garden which is our own thoughts.  Whatever we plant and encourage will grow and manifest
itself in our lives. –Sir John Temopleton, July 1984.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.1% at 29,063.01 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.1%.
Teck Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain and had the largest move, increasing 11.5%.
Today, 99 of 210 shares rose, while 107 fell; 4 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.

Insights
* This year, the index rose 18%, heading for the best year since 2024
* This quarter, the index rose 8.2%
* The index advanced 26% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 20% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 30.8% above its low on April 7, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.6% in the past 5 days and rose 4.7% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.6 on a trailing basis and 18.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.5% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$4.64t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.71% compared with 9.83% in the previous session and the average of 9.80% over the past month

Index Points
Energy | 45.0160| 1.0| 31/9
Financials | 33.2243| 0.4| 16/8
Materials | 3.2766| 0.1| 13/34
Utilities | 1.9218| 0.2| 10/3
Health Care | -0.2392| -0.3| 1/2
Consumer Discretionary | -1.2739| -0.1| 4/5
Communication Services | -1.5330| -0.2| 0/4
Real Estate | -1.7000| -0.3| 6/13
Consumer Staples | -2.8148| -0.3| 4/5
Industrials | -15.1000| -0.4| 10/18
Information Technology | -25.4791| -0.8| 4/6
Teck Resources | 17.2700| 11.5| 461.1| -7.2
TD Bank | 14.5900| 1.2| 21.1| 36.5
Canadian Natural |Resources | 14.0700| 2.3| 147.5| -3.5
Canadian National | -8.9800| -1.8| 49.1| -11.5
Canadian Pacific | Kansas | -9.7650| -1.4| 5.4| -0.5
Shopify | -26.1700| -1.5| -6.3| 30.0
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks hit all-time highs on hopes the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates to curb a jobs downturn, with traders gearing up for inflation data that will test the market’s conviction.
While most shares in the S&P 500 fell, the gauge rose amid gains in all big techs but Apple Inc. – which sank 1.5% after introducing its iPhone 17, including an already expected skinnier model.
In late hours, Oracle Corp. surged after posting a huge jump in bookings.
A slide in bonds halted a four-day rally.
Oil climbed after an Israeli attack in Qatar revived fears of an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
In the wake of more data showing labor-market cooling, investors geared up forkey inflation figures due in the next couple of days.
The reports will help set the tone for next week’s Fed meeting as well as the scope of easing through the end of 2025.
And that will certainly determine whether Wall Street can extend this month’s gains.
With money markets almost fully projecting three Fed cuts this year, the bar is high for both the producer and the consumer price indexes.
A worse-than-expected inflation increase would complicate policy decisions at a time when pressure is mounting to provide economic relief through lower rates, according to Stephen Kates at Bankrate.
“It is clear the economy is caught between a rock and a hard place – or more accurately, between a labor shock and a hot pace,” he said.
To Chris Zaccarelli at Northlight Asset Management, while a deteriorating jobs picture should make it easier for the Fed to cut rates, it could also throw some cold water on the recent market rally.
“Worse still, if the CPI shows a worsening trend of higher inflation on Thursday, then the market will begin worrying about ‘stagflation’.”
The most relevant question now becomes the extent to which the August inflation data will reshape the market’s expectations for the Fed’s decision next week, according to Ian Lyngen and Vail Hartman at BMO Capital Markets.
“The Fed is cutting 25 basis points – barring a far more dramatic downshift in the trajectory of realized inflation, in which case a half-point cut could be on the table,” they said.
“We’re solidly in the quarter-point camp and view the August inflation update as more meaningful for the conversations about where the Fed cutting cycle ends, not how it begins.”
In the run-up to the inflation reports, government data showed US job growth was far less robust in the year through March than previously reported.
The number of workers o payrolls will likely be revised down by a record 911,000, or 0.6%, according to the preliminary benchmark revision out Tuesday.
The final figures are due early next year.
US INSIGHT: Jobs Revised Down by 911,000 — In One Chart Jamie Dimon said the record revision to US payrolls data is further proof that the US economy is battling a slowdown.
“The economy is weakening,” the JPMorgan Chase & Co. chief executive officer said in an interview with CNBC Tuesday.
“Whether that is on the way to recession or just weakening, I don’t know.”
A deteriorating labor market will allow the Fed to highlight the need to ease rates, said Jeff Roach at LPL Financial, who says investors should expect the Fed to officially resume its rate-cutting campaign at the next meeting.
“For now, we assume a modest net dovish impact: firming some the likelihood of three successive cuts in September, October and December without making this anything close to a lock,” said Krishna Guha at Evercore.
To Gary Schlossberg at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, weakening job growth, underscored by Tuesday’s report, should be viewed against support from ample market liquidity, the rally in stocks and the Fed’s prospective rate cuts in pointing toward an
economic “soft patch” rather than a sustained economic slowdown.
“The shallow growth slowdown that we are anticipating is fully consistent with our recommended tilt toward more liquid, large-cap stocks and other higher-quality sectors of the financial market, as the economy navigates a period of slowing growth ahead of a forecasted recovery in 2026,” he said.
A quarter-point interest-rate cut by the Fed next week would be the most-favorable scenario for financial assets, with a deeper reduction running the risk of alarming investors, according to Charles Schwab Corp.’s Omar Aguilar.
If policymakers keep borrowing costs unchanged, Wall Street will likely react “fairly negatively” given a rate reduction is all but priced in, the CEO and CIO of Schwab Asset Management said at the Future Proof conference in Huntington Beach, California.
If the Fed goes big — cutting interest rates by 50 basis points — investors could perceive that as a sign the economy is in trouble.
US PREVIEW: PPI to Show Accelerating Airfares, Stock Rally The government will release its latest consumer price index ahead of the Fed’s Sept. 16-17 policy meeting.
Core CPI, a measure of underlying inflation excluding food and fuel, probably rose 0.3% in August for a second month, according to the Bloomberg survey median estimate.
Economists will parse the extent to which higher US import duties are filtering through to consumers.
So far, many companies have made an effort to refrain from hiking prices in order to maintain sales.
Options traders are betting the S&P 500 will post a modest swing on Thursday following the CPI report, with a projected move of nearly 0.6% in either direction, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
That’s well below an average realized move of 1% over the past year.
“Given the recent softness in the labor market data, even if we were to see elevated inflation data this week, we still think the Fed would cut rates next week,” said Chris Kampitsis at Barnum Financial Group.
The Fed is likely more focused on the employment market rather than inflation at this time.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Nvidia Corp., whose chips and systems are at the heart of the artificial intelligence computing boom, said it plans to offer a new product designed to handle demanding tasks such as video generation and software creation.
* Alphabet Inc.’s Google cloud computing division has up to $106 billion in commitments from existing customer contracts that it has yet to fulfill, according to the division’s Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Kurian.
* JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s third-quarter trading revenue could climb by a percentage in the “high teens” from a year earlier, well ahead of the 8.2% jump analysts currently expect.
* Boeing Co. delivered 57 commercial aircraft in August, its best performance for the month since 2018, in the latest sign of steadying factory operations as the US plane maker targets faster production rates.
* United Airlines Holdings Inc. said corporate travel has bounced back from a dip earlier in the year, with signs that the trend will continue through the rest of 2025.
* UnitedHealth Group Inc. said it expects most of its Medicare Advantage members to be in highly rated plans that earn bonus payments next year, a boon for its health insurance business.
* Humana Inc. shares dropped after reports suggested that criteria for Medicare health plans to earn bonus payments appeared to get more challenging.
* Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. said it’s suspending store remodels as the restaurant chain continues to walk back planned changes such as a new logo that hurt the shares.
* Goldman Sachs Group Inc. won a $40 billion mandate from Shell Plc to oversee pension assets for the energy company, in one of the biggest outsourced deals of its kind.
* Nebius Group NV shares soared on Tuesday after signing an artificial intelligence infrastructure deal worth as much as $19.4 billion with Microsoft Corp.
* Anglo American Plc has agreed to acquire Canada’s Teck Resources Ltd., creating a more than $50 billion company in one of the biggest mining deals in over a decade.
* American Express Co. grew its global merchant acceptance rate by more than 16% in the 12 months through June as it continues to invest in the domestic and international network of places that accept its credit cards.
* Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. are bullish on China’s future appetite for liquefied natural gas even if Russia succeeds in adding another pipeline to the Asian nation.
* Lazard Inc. is aiming to station half a dozen bankers in its newly opened office in Abu Dhabi as part of Chief Executive Officer Peter Orszag’s yearslong plan to double the firm’s revenue.
* Airbus SE can achieve its aircraft delivery target for the year, though handing over 820 planes depends on receiving engines that remain difficult to source, Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury said.
* Novartis AG agreed to buy Tourmaline Bio Inc. in a deal valued at about $1.4 billion as the Swiss drugmaker continues to pursue bolt-on deals to boost its drug pipeline.
* Kering SA’s incoming chief executive officer vowed to slash debt and cut costs in a bid to revive the struggling luxury mowner of Gucci.
What Bloomberg Strategists say…
“While equities have held steady on rising hopes for rate cuts, such support can only go so far in obscuring the deteriorating underlying reality.
This time, rate cuts have the whiff of unease rather than relief.”
—Tatiana Darie, Macro Strategist, Markets Live

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 0.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.2%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 0.8%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 0.5%
* Apple fell 1.5%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.5% to $1.1707
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3519
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 147.45 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 0.6% to $111,325.45
* Ether was little changed at $4,294.59
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 4.08%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.66%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.62%
* The yield on 2-year Treasuries advanced six basis points to 3.55%
* The yield on 30-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 4.72%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.6% to $62.65 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.2% to $3,629.94 an ounce
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
If knowledge is treasure, wisdom is the treasurer.  He that hath too much knowledge without judgement is made more for another man’s use
than his own. –William Penn, 1644-1718.

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

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Monday. It’s International Literacy Day.
September 8, 1868: William Hinds registers a patent for the candlestick, a seemingly modest tool that nonetheless reshapes domestic lighting essentials.
September 8, 1565: A Spanish expedition established the first permanent European settlement in the United States at present-day St. Augustine, Fla. Go to article.
September 8, 1974: Nixon pardoned.

Confucius, philosopher, b. 551 BC.

Upcoming celestial events
Many sky-gazers around the world witnessed a total lunar eclipse over the weekend. Read about the next big celestial event: October’s Harvest moon.

Highlights from the US Open tennis championships
Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz won his second US Open title, defeating Italian rival Jannik Sinner in four thrilling sets. On the women’s side, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka secured her second consecutive US Open title over American Amanda Anisimova.

Judge locks up ‘mushroom murderer’ for life
A woman known as the “mushroom murderer” was given three life sentences for killing her lunch guests. Read about the poisoning case that has gripped much of the world’s attention.

Inside North Korea’s vast — and nearly empty — new resort
As North Korea touts a new beach destination on its east coast, Pyongyang is quietly embracing its own brand of consumer culture.

Biden to build presidential library in Delaware
Former President Joe Biden is set to start fundraising for his presidential library soon. Experts say it will be an expensive endeavor, likely costing hundreds of millions of dollars.

2,200-year-old gold coin depicting ancient Egyptian queen discovered in Jerusalem

Archaeologists in Jerusalem have discovered a 2,270-year-old gold coin with Queen Berenice II of Egypt and the inscription “of the Queen,” suggesting she was a powerful and
influential monarch. Read More.

The universe’s first magnetic fields were ‘comparable’ to the human brain — and still linger within the ‘cosmic web’

New computer simulations suggest the first magnetic fields that emerged after the Big Bang were much weaker than expected — containing the equivalent magnetic energy of a human brain. Read More.

Meet the Chinese supercar that just smashed the EV speed record

Chinese EV maker BYD has designed and tested a supercar with a top speed that rivals the best gasoline cars. Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
A circus group performs during the second Africa climate summit
Photograph: Tiksa Negeri/Reuters

Hong Kong, China
Pedestrians cross a road in the rain as Typhoon Tapah approaches as the city
Photograph: China News Service/Getty Images

Nablus, West Bank
The full moon sets behind Mount Gerizim.
Photograph: Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for September 8^th, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	45514.95	+114.09
		+0.25%
S&P 500	6495.15	+13.65
		+0.21%
NASDAQ	21798.70	+98.31
		+0.45%
TSX	29027.73	-22.90
		-0.08%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	43643.81	+625.06
		+1.45%
HANG SENG	25633.91	+215.93
		+0.85%
SENSEX	80787.30	+76.54
		+0.09%
FTSE 100*	9221.44	+13.23
		+0.14%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.209	3.269
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.660	3.741
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.0398	4.0742
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.6922	4.7587

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7246	0.7231
US $	1.3800	1.3829

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.6159	0.6236
US $	1.1766	0.8499

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	3594.55	3546.30
Oil
WTI Crude Future	62.26	61.87

Market Commentary:
I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells. –Dr. Seuss.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite declined slightly to 29,027.73 in Toronto, ending a 8-day gain.
The loss follows theprevious session’s increase of 0.5%.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 0.7%.
MDA Space Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 25.0%.
Today, 103 of 210 shares fell, while 106 rose; 7 of 11 sectors were lower, led by industrials stocks.

Insights
* This year, the index rose 17%, heading for the best year since 2024
* This quarter, the index rose 8.1%
* The index advanced 27% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 21% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.3% below its 52-week high on Sept. 5, 2025 and 30.6% above its low on April 7, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.6% in the past 5 days and rose 4.6% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.5 on a trailing basis and 18.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.5% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$4.65t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 9.83% compared with 9.83% in the previous session and the average of 9.80% over the past month

Index Points
Industrials | -38.6314| -1.1| 5/24
Information Technology | -15.0470| -0.5| 2/8
Consumer Staples | -13.9350| -1.3| 2/8
Communication Services | -7.1575| -1.1| 2/3
Financials | -7.0070| -0.1| 9/15
Utilities | -2.9569| -0.3| 6/8
Consumer Discretionary | -0.3216| 0.0| 8/1
Health Care | 0.4084| 0.6| 2/1
Real Estate | 0.7013| 0.1| 7/12
Energy | 3.2446| 0.1| 22/17
Materials | 57.8010| 1.3| 41/6
Shopify | -12.2800| -0.7| -8.2| 32.0
Couche-Tard | -10.3900| -2.5| 29.8| -6.8
MDA Space | -8.4210| -25.0| 449.1| 11.7
Wheaton Precious | Metals | 6.4150| 1.4| -6.0| 81.0
Barrick Mining | 8.4230| 1.8| 3.6| 79.8
Agnico Eagle Mines | Ltd | 8.8400| 1.2| 86.7| 89.3
(MT Newswires)
The Toronto Stock Exchange closed lower on Monday, failing for only the second time in the last 12 sessions to close at a record high, with today’s losses coming on some profit taking, but also as Rosenberg Research in its latest ‘Strategizer’, a monthly guidebook for active investors, said the Canadian equity model had hit a fresh four-year low.
Even with commodity prices higher, the resources heavy S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 22.90 points to 29,027.73, with sectors mixed.
Industrials was the only sector to lose more than 1%, while the Battery Metals Index was the only one to gain more than 1%.
Of commodities, gold traded at a fresh record high late afternoon on Monday as the dollar weakened and investors anticipate a cut to U.S. interest rates next week.
Gold for December delivery was last seen up $22.70 to US$3,676.00 per ounce, topping Friday’s record close of US$3,653.10.
Also, West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed higher, a day after OPEC+ announced a smaller than expected production hike for October.
WTI crude oil for October delivery closed up $0.39 to settle at US$62.26 per barrel, while November Brent oil was last seen up $0.43 to US$65.93.
On sectors, Rosenberg Research noted Strategizer’s Canadian equity model score fell for the fourth month in a row, down to 21.9 from 24.6 while shifting further into “underweight” territory as a result, and to a four-year low.
It said investors have pushed the TSX to new record heights thanks to momentum from the Gold Miners and Banks, accounting for a combined 63% of the benchmark’s year to date gains.
Both valuations (80th percentile) and technicals (90th percentile) are now “at extremes” as a result, it added.
“Such momentum can always continue in the near-term (Materials and Financials remain two of its model’s top sector picks), but long-term investors sitting on large gains may wish to consider taking some profits, rebalancing towards allocation targets as needed.”
At the sector level, Rosenberg Research said its Canadian equity model keeps Financials (#1) and Materials (#3) in the top rankings from last month, as well as Real Estate at #4.
The only change was the rise of Health Care to #2, replacing Energy, now #5, to round out the top sector picks.
Meanwhile, Strategizer’s commodity model ticked higher to 57.2 in August from 56.0 in July, remaining in the upper-half of “neutral” where it has been for the better part of the past year.
“As such,” the research said, “there is little in the way of new developments.
The outlook is caught between depressed fundamentals, as reflected in a loose supply-demand backdrop, that is mirrored (properly) by historically cheap valuations (especially compared to financial assets like stocks) and a lack of ownership in investor portfolios. Thus, there remains a risk of a “positive” surprise relative to expectations.”
In terms of individual commodities at the top of Strategizer’s rankings, aluminum (#1), RBOB gasoline (#2), wheat (#3), sugar (#4), and cotton (#5) round out the list.
WTI crude fell to the middle (#7 from #4), “reflective of a deteriorating backdrop with risks of oversupply in the second half of the year on the rise”.
Rosenberg Research said its gold model experienced a decline to 19.4 from 26.8, led by a jump in investor sentiment (contrarian negative) with prices breaking out to new record highs as August drew to a close.
“While long-term bullish on the yellow metal, our model is flagging the increasing need to actively manage position sizes, emphasizing risk-management for any pullbacks along the way (positioning is getting crowded on the long side).
Fair to say, however, that any meaningful dips that materialize shouldbe bought,” it added.
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders betting the Federal Reserve will cut rates drove stocks close to all-time highs amid hopes that policy easing at a time when the economy is bending, but not breaking will power Corporate America.
Following a slide in the aftermath of weak jobs figures, the S&P 500 bounced back.
While upcoming data is projected to show that progress on reducing inflation has stalled, traders braced for almost three Fed cuts this year starting in September.
Treasuries kept rising, with the two-year yield remaining at the lowest level since 2022.
The dollar retreated.
“After last week’s tepid jobs numbers, it will likely take a major upside surprise from this week’s inflation data to derail a Fed rate cut next week,” said Chris Larkin at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley.
Fed officials have signaled concerns are shifting from the inflation risks posed by tariffs to weakness in the job market.
Steady inflation expectations are an indication that tariffs could prove a one-time price shock.
That’s even if they take several months to work their way through the economy.
Ahead of next week’s Fed meeting, Thursday’s core consumer price index is projected to show a 0.3% increase in August for a second month.
Before that, figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday will likely unveil another US jobs markdown that will set the stage for a rate cut.
“While the Sept. 5 report showed job growth had slowed, it doesn’t appear to be signaling a recession,” according to Invesco Global Market Strategy Office.
“Slower growth, anchored inflation expectations, falling yields, and anticipated rate cuts point to an optimistic outlook for stocks.”
US INSIGHT: What 550k Fewer Jobs Means – Worst Is Probably Over
“Near-term payroll data may look soft, but with the Fed set to begin cutting rates — and markets historically performing best in rate-cutting cycles, typically with a 20% run rate — the broader backdrop tilts positive,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide.
This month could defy the usual seasonal weakness in equities.
While the S&P 500 has fallen 1% on average during Septembers going back to 1971, it has gained 1.2% in the month when the Fed was reducing rates and the economy was not contracting, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
Historically, in the two years following the start of a non-recessionary rate-cutting cycle, the median S&P 500 has climbed as much as 50%, said Jim Reid at Deutsche Bank AG.
By contrast, returns are more muted when cuts coincide with recessions.
“That helps explain why equities are generally welcoming the prospect of Fed easing after a nine-month pause,” he said.
“Recession probabilities are still relatively low, but the latest labor-market data injects a dose of caution given payroll growth has slowed to a crawl.”
The hope, Reid notes, is that these rate cuts will help pre-empt any downturn, keeping us on the soft-landing path.
Equity Insight
To Megan Horneman at Verdence Capital Advisors, this week’s inflation data probably won’t be enough to change the likelihood of a Fed reduction in September.
The biggest question for investors now is how many more rate cuts we will receive.
“After this week’s inflation data, we will get a better picture on what the Fed can do with rates,” Horneman said.
“However, we are not out of the woods with inflation, and the Fed may deliver a ‘hawkish cut’ while reminding investors of their dual mandate, especially if inflation continues to move further away from their target.”
Options traders are betting the S&P 500 will post a modest swing on Thursday following the CPI report, with a projected move of nearly 0.7% in either direction, according to data compiled by Piper Sandler.
That’s well below an average realized move of 1% over the past year.
Secondary indicators of inflation have shown some upward pressure, so the market is clearly more concerned with these indicators coming in hot.
How hot is the question? according to Bespoke Investment Group strategists.
“While a September cut next week is likely a done deal, the pace of cuts moving forward from there will hinge in large part on how ‘bad’ the inflation data is,” they said.
“Come Thursday morning, the market will either be only thinking about stagflation or three cuts between now and year-end.”
“Aggressive rate cuts are coming,” said Dennis DeBusschere at 22V Research.
“That might change if labor-market data firms over the coming quarters.
A series of rate cuts to end 2025 and persistently easy financial conditions should be expected.
The bar to change to rate cut expectations through year-end 2025 seems high.”
Assuming economic activity holds up, easy financial conditions are a support for markets, he said, adding that his S&P 500 fair value framework points to 7,000.
The index closed Monday at 6,495.15.
Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson expects further gains in US equities even if moves turn choppier in the near term.
He reiterated that the economy is transitioning to a so-called “early cycle” stage, which would support a “durable and broad” earnings recovery.
At Goldman Sachs Group Inc., strategists led by David Kostin said the rally in US stocks is set to extend as laggards including small caps play catch-up amid a resilient economic outlook.
A weaker-than-expected jobs report last week stirred worries among investors that the central bank has waited too long to reduce borrowing costs. RBC Capital Markets strategist
Lori Calvasina said the soft data was raising uncertainty in a stock market that’s “priced for perfection.”
To Mark Haefele at UBS Global Wealth Management, there’s little to prevent the Fed from cutting rates at this month’s meeting.
And that would likely kick-start a run of 100 basis points in reductions over the next four meetings, from September to January, he said.
“Against this backdrop, we continue to recommend high- quality fixed income, where investors can lock in yields above those available on cash and benefit from potential capital gains if policy becomes more accommodative,” he said.
To JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Andrew Tyler, the bull market feels “unstoppable,” but if the Fed follows through on a widely expected rate cut at its Sept. 17 meeting, that “could turn into a ‘Sell the News’ event.
The US yield curve has further to steepen should the Fed unleash aggressive rate cuts, DoubleLine Capital’s Bill Campbell said.
He expects easier monetary policy to encourage risk-taking in credit markets, at least in the short term, while doing little to shore up rising long-term yields.
“It potentially extends this runway for risk assets, credit assets to continue to trade at very rich valuations,” Campbell said.
“The clearest expression of these issues are likely a lower dollar and a steepening curve.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Dell Technologies Inc. said Chief Financial Officer Yvonne McGill is stepping down and will be replaced on an interim basis by David Kennedy, a senior vice president with the firm.
* SpaceX, the Elon Musk-backed company that owns the Starlink satellite internet network, agreed to acquire wireless spectrum from EchoStar Corp. for about $17 billion, allowing Charlie Ergen’s beleaguered telecommunications company to resolve an overhanging regulatory probe and pay down debt.
* Alphabet Inc.’s Google was sued by advertising exchange PubMatic Inc., which is seeking billions of dollars over its claim that the search giant has illegally monopolized the ad technology market.
* Amazon.com Inc. has taken a stake in the Colombian delivery company Rappi Inc., a strategic partnership that pairs the e- commerce giant’s retail and technology infrastructure with one of Latin America’s best-known last-mile delivery outfits.
* Investors expecting Apple Inc.’s biggest product event of the year to serve as the next catalyst for its recently revived stock might come away disappointed.
** Barring a surprise at Tuesday’s unveiling, Apple shares are seen to have little room for further gains after adding more than $450 billion in market value since the end of July
* Nasdaq Inc. is asking regulators to let investors trade tokenized versions of stocks on its exchange, a move that could mark the first big test of blockchain technology inside the core of America’s equity markets.
* Hasbro Inc., the company behind the Monopoly board game, is moving its headquarters to Boston from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, boosting the city’s struggling business district and Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s effort to lure investments.
* PNC Financial Services Group Inc. will fulfill its goals for expanding across Colorado with the planned takeover of FirstBank Holding Co., and the regional-banking giant will focus its branch-opening effort on other states instead, PNC Chief Executive Officer Bill Demchak said.
* Robinhood Markets Inc. has been added to the S&P 500, marking a new phase for the retail trading platform that helped define the pandemic-era boom in individual investing. The company will join the benchmark in the latest quarterly rebalance, S&P Dow Jones Indices said Friday.
** AppLovin Corp. and Emcor Group Inc. will also be added to the index. The three companies will replace MarketAxess Holdings Inc., Caesars Entertainment Inc. and Enphase Energy Inc. prior to the start of trading on Sept. 22.
* CVS Health Corp. shares dipped after executives during a private investor meeting provided no details about its upcoming quality ratings from the US government and offered no financial guidance.
* BYD Co. is reinforcing its European expansion with new models and showrooms amid a bruising price war at home in China.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.4%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index was little changed
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
* The euro rose 0.4% to $1.1762
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.3550
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 147.42 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.7% to $112,107.76
* Ether fell 0.2% to $4,292.26
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 4.04%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.64%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 4.61%
* The yield on 2-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 3.49%
* The yield on 30-year Treasuries declined seven basis points to 4.69%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.8% to $62.37 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1.4% to $3,636.94 an ounce
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want.  Everything else is secondary. –Steve Jobs, 1955-2011.

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

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
September 5, 1885: the world’s first gasoline pump is patented by Sylvanus Bowser in Fort Wayne Indiana.
September 5, 1957: “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac, the defining novel of the Beat Generation, was published. Go to article.
September 5. 2002: Reopening ceremony for the World Financial Center Winter Garden, after extensive repairs following the September 11 terrorist attack.

Map of 600,000 brain cells rewrites the textbook on how the brain makes decisions

A new study shows that the brain activity behind decision-making is far more widespread across the organ than first thought. Read More.

Skull of bear held captive to fight Roman gladiators discovered near ancient amphitheater in Serbia

Archaeologists determined that the bear had an infected injury and had been held captive for a significant amount of time. Read More.

Chinese submersible explores previously unknown giant craters at the bottom of the Pacific — and they’re teeming with life

Scientists have discovered and explored a giant hydrothermal system at the bottom of the Pacific, which could provide a window into the origins of life on Earth. Read More.

James Webb telescope spots odd disk around star that could shatter planet formation theories

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a planet-forming disk that almost entirely lacks water, challenging prevailing theories. Read More.

Parental controls coming to ChatGPT 
The move follows allegations that it and other chatbots have contributed to self-harm or suicide among teens.

Stolen 17th-century painting recovered
The work by Italian artist Giuseppe Ghislandi was allegedly stolen by Nazis during World War II.

Civil rights activist Joseph McNeil dies at 83
McNeil was one of four North Carolina college students whose occupation of a racially segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in 1960 helped spark nonviolent sit-in protests across the South.

Farm Aid festival moves to Minneapolis
And the headliners for the 40th annual music and food event have been announced. CNN will broadcast Farm Aid 40 on September 20 from Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Cologne, Germany
People attend Gamescom, the world’s largest annual video-game trade fair
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Come on in, the water’s lovely … a woman considers a swim with a sea lion in the La Jolla neighbourhood of San Diego, California, US
Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters

​​​​​​​Pigs looking for food descend upon the coves in the Dilek Peninsula Büyük Menderes Delta national park, Turkey
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
 Market Closes for September 5^th, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	45400.86	-220.43
		-0.48%
S&P 500	6481.50	-20.58
		-0.32%
NASDAQ	21700.39	-7.30
		-0.03%
TSX	29050.63	+134.74
		+0.47%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	43018.75	+438.48
		+1.03%
HANG SENG	25417.98	+359.47
		+1.43%
SENSEX	80710.76	-7.25
		-0.01%
FTSE 100*	9208.21	-8.66
		-0.09%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.269	3.348
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.741	3.809
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.0742	4.1607
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.7587	4.8533

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7231	0.7236
US $	1.3829	1.3819

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.6169	0.6210
US $	1.1720	0.8532

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	3546.30	3556.20
Oil
WTI Crude Future	61.87	63.48

Market Commentary:
Big wheels keep on turning. -John Fogerty, b.1945.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the eighth day, climbing 0.5%, or 134.74 to 29,050.63 in Toronto.
Celestica Inc. contributed the most to the index gain and had the largest move, increasing 9.9%.
Today, 135 of 210 shares rose, while 73 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.

Insights
* This year, the index rose 17%, heading for the best year since 2024
* This quarter, the index rose 8.2%
* So far this week, the index rose 1.7%
* The index advanced 26% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 19% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 30.7% above its low on April 7, 2025
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.5 on a trailing basis and 18.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.5% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$4.63t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.83% compared with 9.85% in the previous session and the average of 9.79% over the past month

Index Points
Materials | 110.3727| 2.6| 41/6
Information Technology | 50.0344| 1.7| 8/2
Consumer Staples | 12.5529| 1.2| 7/3
Communication Services | 6.3341| 1.0| 4/1
Consumer Discretionary | 5.2241| 0.6| 8/1
Real Estate | 4.4380| 0.9| 17/1
Health Care | 1.2863| 1.8| 3/0
Utilities | -0.3171| 0.0| 8/5
Industrials | -10.7077| -0.3| 16/13
Financials | -18.6504| -0.2| 11/13
Energy | -25.8145| -0.6| 12/28
Celestica | 24.4100| 9.9| 53.3| 153.5
Shopify | 21.8200| 1.3| 12.4| 32.9
Barrick Mining | 20.5800| 4.5| 12.0| 76.6
CIBC | -6.5790| -0.9| 24.9| 19.2
RBC | -14.8500| -0.7| -12.8| 15.5
Canadian Natural Resources | -19.5000| -3.1| 73.4| -5.2
(MT Newswires)
The Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday posted its tenth record close in 11 sessions, today moving on weaker than expected August jobs data that now makes it likely that interest rates will be cut at least once before the end of the year, starting this month, even as National Bank seeks “more clarity” on trade relations with the United States ahead of an expected federal government budget update in October.
Despite mixed commodity prices, the resources heavy S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 134.74 points, or 0.5%, at 29,050.63.
To put recent gains in perspective, the first record close for the index over this 11-day period, on August 21, was 28,055,43.
The first record close last month was 27,570.88 on August 5.
Sectors were mixed, with Energy and the Battery Metals Index both down about 1.7%, while Info Tech was up 2.4%, Health Care up 1.8% and Base Metals up 1.6%.
Within Info Tech, Celestica (CLS.TO) shares rose 10% as BNN Bloomberg cited news of a contract with Bank of Montreal.
There was an Indeed, com report that said BMO Capital Markets had predicted the electronic component manufacturer will be “the key supplier for OpenAI’s custom XPU-based servers/racks.”
Of commodities, gold traded higher late afternoon on Friday, rising as the dollar and yields moved sharply lower after U.S. hiring stalled in July, firming expectations the Federal Reserve will move to lower interest rates beginning this month.
Gold for December delivery was up $34.90 to US$3,641.60 per ounce.
But the West Texas Intermediate oil price fell for a third straight session, dropping to a three-month low on signs of slowing demand and weak US economic data, while reports suggest OPEC+ may raise production to defend market share.
WTI oil for October delivery closed down $1.61 to settle at $61.87 per barrel, the lowest since May 30, while November Brent oil was last seen down $1.48 to $65.51.
On the economics front, Rosenberg Research noted Canadian employment plunged by 65,500 in August, sharply below the already weak consensus call for a +5.0k reading.
This follows the 40.8k drop in July and brings the six-month cumulative change in employment to minus 40k, the steepest downturn since August 2020.
The unemployment rate ticked up to 7.1% from 6.9% in July, even with the participation rate dipping to 65.1% from 65.2% in July.
If not for that, the jobless rate would have risen to 7.2%.
The research also noted wages showed “mixed signals”, the average wage rate increased by 3.2% year over year, but it said this should really be of little concern to the Bank of Canada (BoC) because the widening labor market slack will ensure that cost pressures will remain contained.
Of concern to Rosenberg Research, Governor Tiff Macklem and the BoC have hesitated to move on rates this year, citing tariff uncertainty.
“Yet,” it said, “uncertainty itself has become a significant headwind for growth without meaningfully affecting inflation expectations and is showing through in a sharp reduction in hiring activity.”
According to Rosenberg, today’s employment report should dispel any lingering doubts as to what the BoC should be doing at the coming policy meeting on September 17.
Indeed, it noted, in the immediate aftermath of the data, rate-cutting odds have climbed to 74% from 65% pre-release.
Ten-year yields fell to 3.27%, down more than 7 basis points, while the Loonie was little changed.
“But the fact that export-sensitive manufacturing (-19k) and transportation (-23k) were some of the weakest links from a sector perspective tells you that the Canadian dollar should be trading down on this piece of data.”
Rosenberg noted three items: over the past year, the level of unemployment has risen nearly 8.0%, but the comparable pace of job creation is but a fraction of that at 1.0%; just 65% of the folks who entered the labor market over the past 12 months have managed to land a job; and the unemployment rate has now risen 230 basis points above the cycle-low of 4.8% posted back in July 2022.
“Never before in the annals of recorded Canadian economic history has the economy managed to escape an official recession with such a dramatic move off the cycle low,” the research said, before adding: “Tiff, you know what to do.”
Elsewhere, Derek Holt, Head of Capital Markets Economics at Scotiabank, said a combination of factors, including falling inflation, growth risks in the United States, tariffs, and uncertainty around the Canadian federal government’s budget in October, probably merits additional easing by the BoC, but he added it is not without risks to how the BoC may look at things.
“One cut wouldn’t be worth Macklem getting out of bed to deliver as the effects would be scant and markets would pressure him to keep going. 50bps back to back and then we’ll see,” Holt added.
“All of which would be a pivot away from inflation risk, for now”, Holt said, before adding: “The interest sensitives are showing responsiveness to prior easing; witness Q2 consumption growth and final domestic demand plus some housing momentum.
Trend core inflation remains too warm in m/m SAAR terms, but we’ll see the next batch of readings the week after next.
Arguments for persistent cost pressures remain sound, such as supply chain turmoil, higher inventory holdings as a buffer, labour market wage and productivity pressures.
Easing as an insurance play now could well motivate regrets later, and with that some take back.”
Meanwhile, BMO Capital Markets’ chief economist Douglas Porter in his weekly ‘Talking Points’ note said BMO Economics is now looking for the BoC to cut rates in September, and it is sticking to it dovish lean that it will ultimately slice by 75 bps, taking the rate to 2.0% by early next year.
“While we and the market have been debating the timing and depth of potential cuts, an exceptionally weak Canadian jobs report barged into the discussion and left few doubts,” he added, noting that while many were pointing to the somewhat hawkish language in the July meeting and minutes, that event pre-dated the loss of more than 100,000 jobs and the removal of most of Canada’s reciprocal tariffs.
Macquarie Bank has pulled forward the timing for its first expected BoC rate cut to September and its second cut to October, previously December.
While this is its base case, uncertainty remains on the timing with the August CPI reading (due on Sept 16) being an important consideration for the BoC.
Beyond jobs and rates, National Bank still has its focus on trade uncertainty.
From the get-go of this year’s trade war, said National Bank’s Ethan Currie, it was clear that for Canada, USMCA was the “name of the tariff game”.
Currie noted carve outs awarded to traded goods registered under the agreement have proven to be the largest source of Canada’s “relatively favourable” tariff outlook.
Without such shelter, Currie said, the effective duty rate on U.S.-bound Canadian exports would reflect more egregious ‘headline’ figures imposed via the IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act).  For example, the 35% levy justified by border security concerns.
Instead, he added Canada is currently exposed to an average tariff rate of about 5% by National’s estimates, “a figure that is predominantly propped up by sector-specific levies (which has key regional implications that shouldn’t be neglected).”
Globally, Currie noted, the USMCA advantage is clear, with recently released U.S. customs data for July suggesting the effective tariff rate paid on imports from Canada was 3.0% (Mexico 4.7%), both well below the all-partner, trade-weighted average of near 10%.
Currie cited a chart showing USMCA compliance in Canada-U.S. trade reached a record high in July.
At 84%, this registration rate also saw the largest monthly (and yearly) jump on record, even after an initial surge in March.
Currie said: “Now consistent with the relatively muted tariff rate implied by customs data, a near-potential compliance rate continues to flag the importance of trade negotiations.
To us, it is imperative that more clarity on the USMCA renewal be soon provided to maximize the efficiency of fiscal deployment (to be previewed in the fall budget).”
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Strong evidence the US labor market is slowing rippled through Wall Street, driving stocks lower and bonds higher on concern the Federal Reserve will now have to rush to prevent further weakness.
The sharp cooling triggered fears about a more pronounced jobs slowdown, sparking a flight to Treasuries, with two-year yields hovering near the lowest since 2022.
The data also prompted a fast repricing in money markets, which now project almost three Fed cuts this year.
Those prospects were not enough to sustain gains in the S&P 500.
After hitting record highs, the gauge lost steam amid worries the Fed is behind the curve on preventing jobs weakening at a time when inflation continues to show signs of stickiness.
To Bret Kenwell at eToro, investors should tread carefully.
There’s a clear difference between a temporary cooling in the jobs market and a deeper downturn.
“Hoping for the former while ignoring the risks of the latter – just to usher in lower rates – is a slippery slope,” Kenwell said.
“Stocks have held up well amid high rates and a resilient economy, but that resilience could quickly fade if the labor market shows real cracks.”
Job growth has moderated materially in recent months and openings have declined, weighing on broader economic activity.
Nonfarm payrolls increased 22,000 in August, and revisions showed employment shrank in June for the first time since 2020.
The jobless rate ticked up to 4.3%.
“Today’s news probably raises more questions about the growth outlook than about the Fed outlook,” said Michael Feroli at JPMorgan Chase & Co., adding the data should remove the “last major hurdle” for the Fed to cut rates by 25 basis points this month.
“We also think today’s numbers buttress the case for sequential, rather than staggered, rate cuts after September,” Feroli added.
“Bad news for employment is good news for investors wanting lower rates,” said David Russell at TradeStation.
“A September cut is a near certainty and October is increasingly in play.
The punch bowl could be ready to go as job growth grinds to a halt.”
While today’s report is not yet inviting renewed concerns around recession, worries about the health of the economy are starting to creep in, said Seema Shah at Principal Asset Management.
“A further deterioration in the health of the labor market would soon tip the balance to ‘bad news is simply bad news’,” she noted.
“Equally a strong inflation print next week could strike new fears about a ‘stagflationary mix.’
The market is treading a very, very narrow path to continued gains.”
As the Fed prepares for its upcoming meeting, policymakers will likely focus on the weakness in the job market to defend their decision to cut rates, according to Jeff Roach at LPL Financial.
Economists at Bank of America Corp. now forecast two Fed cuts this year — in September and December — scrapping what had become an outlier call for no action until next year.
At Barclays Plc, economists said they now see three rate cuts in 2025 — one at each of the Fed’s remaining meetings — compared to the two reductions they previously expected.
To Tiffany Wilding at Pacific Investment Management Co., today’s data, along with other economic indicators, give the Fed room to begin cutting rates starting this month.
“We are not forecasting a recession and still expect a relatively gradual return to neutral as inflation normalizes,” she noted.
“That said, the accumulating evidence of labor-market weakness warrants a somewhat faster pace of easing than we had previously projected.”
Even prior to the latest jobs report, a substantial slowdown in payroll growth over the summer had prompted comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other policymakers that the balance of risks was shifting away from inflation and toward unemployment.
“Concerns about a weakening employment picture will dominate any lingering apprehensions around a de-anchoring of inflation expectations,” said Oscar Munoz and Gennadiy Goldberg at TD Securities, who expect three straight rate cuts starting this month.
“We remain buyers of rates on dips even as the move could prove a grind as markets are already penciling in a terminal rate below 3%,” they said.
To Krishna Guha at Evercore, the jobs data locks a 25 basis-point cut this month and will influence the way the Fed frames out the playbook post-September.
“The market has moved quickly to price an October cut as overwhelmingly likely following the report,” he said.
“We do not think October is close to a lock, and believe it will be genuinely data-dependent.”
On Tuesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its preliminary benchmark revision, an adjustment that could shave hundreds of thousands from reported payrolls in the year through March.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller recently estimated that monthly job creation will be reduced by an average of about 60,000 a month.
‘I’m Still Undecided’
Meantime, Fed Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said he’s still undecided on what course of action he will support at September meeting, pointing to inflation data due next week.
“I want to get more information. I’m still undecided as we’re going into this,” Goolsbee told Bloomberg Television.
“We’ve got to look at the inflation side too.”
Investors could prove somewhat cautious ahead of Thursday’s consumer price index, which could pour some cold water on expectations of rapid cuts if services inflation remains firmer than expected, according to TD Securities strategists.
Ian Lyngen at BMO Capital Markets says he’s worried about the risk of a repeat of July’s composition – soft goods inflation with sticky services pressure.
“If there is a broadening out of service sector reflation, one would be remiss not to assume it would have a limited impact on the extent to which the Committee will be willing to signal future rate cuts,” he noted.
At Glenmede, Jason Pride notes that while Friday’s jobs report is the “cherry on top of the argument for a rate cut” in September, beyond that, the odds of a one-and-done cut are falling.
“If the data continue to follow recent trends, the Fed may be heading toward a path that sees them cut rates at each of its meetings through year-end,” he said.
Weaker jobs data will increase the odds of a Fed cut, but could create shorter-term volatility, as a cooling labor market is not a sign of strength, said Larry Tentarelli at Blue Chip Daily Trend Report.
Investor Dilemma
There is clearly a dilemma in investors’ minds right now, which is why stocks initially rallied and then dropped, according to Fawad Razaqzada at City Index and Forex.com.
A weakening jobs market indicates the economy is cooling, which could ultimately be “bad news” for company profits, he said.
But this is countered by argument that lower rates should soften the blow and provide a positive backdrop for stocks.
“All told, today’s weaker jobs report should not significantly reduce the appetite for risk taking,” Razaqzada noted.
“Ultimately, the trend is bullish for markets and dip- buyers will use any excuse to buy any dips they can get their hands on.”
In fact, equities closed off session lows on Friday, and most shares in the S&P 500 actually gained.
Mark Hackett at Nationwide anticipates near-term volatility amid softer payroll data, seasonal factors, lofty expectations, and signs of fatigue within large-cap technology.
“That said, we see several important tailwinds building momentum,” Hackett notes.
“These include fiscal support from the recent budget deal, a near-term ‘sugar rush’ from trade-related purchase agreements, a weaker dollar, improving earnings expectations, and a more dovish Federal Reserve.”
Over the next six to 12 months, Hackett says these supports should cascade through the market and could be amplified by retail investors who remain confident in buying dips.
“While valuations are often cited as a concern, history shows they are a poor market-timing tool,” Hackett said.
“Outside of high-profile technology names, valuations are broadly reasonable — particularly if earnings continue to trend higher.”

Corporate Highlights:
* President Donald Trump said he would be imposing tariffs on semiconductor imports “very shortly,” but spare goods from companies that have pledged to boost their US investments.
* Nvidia Corp. shares fell on Friday, with the chipmaker at risk of losing its historic $4 trillion valuation on news. Broadcom Inc. is helping OpenAI design and produce an artificial intelligence accelerator from 2026.
* President Trump threatened a probe that could prompt fresh tariffs in response to the European Union fining Alphabet Inc.’s Google over findings the company abused its dominance by giving its own ad exchanges a competitive advantage.
* Tesla Inc. proposed a new compensation agreement for Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk potentially worth around $1 trillion, a massive package without precedent in corporate America.
* Apple Inc.’s annual sales in India hit a record of nearly $9 billion in the last fiscal year, signaling growing consumer demand for its flagship devices as the company ramps up its retail footprint in the world’s most populous country.
** Apple’s biggest product launch event of the year takes place on Tuesday, Sept. 9, when the company will introduce its next- generation iPhone lineup, new smartwatches and other peripherals.
* Lululemon Athletica Inc. slashed its outlook, disappointing investors for a third straight quarter as it struggles to meet high expectations and balance tariff expenses in a difficult consumer environment.
* Shares of Eli Lilly & Co. and Novo Nordisk A/S fell after US regulators established a “green list” of foreign manufacturers who produce raw materials that compounding pharmacies use to make copies of their blockbuster GLP-1 drugs.
* Roblox Corp. is testing a short-form video app similar to TikTok that will allow users to capture and share 30-second clips of their video-game play.
* BMW AG unveiled the first of a new range of electric vehicles meant to help the German carmaker push back against Chinese rivals and take back the lead in automotive engineering.
* BBVA SA is finally submitting its takeover bid for Banco Sabadell SA to the target’s shareholders, ushering in the final leg of a deal that could create a huge new Spanish bank.
* Orsted A/S shareholders voted to support a crucial 60 billion Danish kroner ($9.4 billion) rights offering, just after the company issued a fresh profit warning on Friday.
* Nvidia Corp.’s major server production partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. reported solid monthly sales growth, signaling demand for AI infrastructure remains intact in the US.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 was little changed
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%
* The MSCI World Index was little changed
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 0.3%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.5%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%
* The euro rose 0.6% to $1.1718
* The British pound rose 0.5% to $1.3504
* The Japanese yen rose 0.7% to 147.45 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 1.1% to $111,570.39
* Ether rose 0.6% to $4,330.83
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined seven basis points to 4.09%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined six basis points to 2.66%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined seven basis points to 4.65%
* The yield on 2-year Treasuries declined six basis points to 3.52%
* The yield on 30-year Treasuries declined nine basis points to 4.77%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.3% to $62.05 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1.4% to $3,593.89 an ounce

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
If it were not for hopes, the heart would break. –Thomas Fuller, 1608-1661.

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

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.

September 4, 1781: City of Los Angeles founded.
September 4, 1882: Thomas Edison begins commercial operations at his Pearl St. plant.
September 4, 1888: George Eastman is granted a patent for roll film and the Kodak camera, revolutionizing photography by making it affordable and portable.   
He registered his enterprise Kodak.  Go to article.
September 4, 2012: shares of Facebook (now Meta Platforms) hit a record-low close of $17.73, valuing the fledgling social-media company at less than $38 billion. It’s worth $1.9 trillion today.

Who will see the ‘blood moon’ total lunar eclipse this weekend?

The full moon on Sept. 7, 2025 will be a “blood moon” total lunar eclipse. Here’s who will see the longest total lunar eclipse since 2022. Read More.

Iconic winged lion statue in Venice may actually be from China’s Tang dynasty, study finds

A new study of the trace amounts of lead in Venice’s famous winged lion statue suggests that its metal originated in China — and Marco Polo’s family may have brought it over. Read More.

James Webb telescope discovers ‘exceptionally rare’ 5-galaxy crash in the early universe

Near-infrared images from the James Webb Space Telescope revealed five early universe galaxies merging within a large halo. Read More.

‘We completely freaked out’: Orcas are attacking boats in Europe again

Iberian orcas have damaged several boats off the coast of Spain in recent weeks, leaving authorities scrambling to rescue stranded crews. Read More.

Scientists taught an AI-powered ‘robot dog’ how to play badminton against humans — and it’s actually really good

Scientists have trained the ANYmal quadruped robot to play badminton, and it’s good enough to complete in a 10-shot rally with a human opponent. Read More.

Cyclist Chris Froome suffers life-threatening injury in crash
The four-time Tour de France winner is on the mend, but his wife said “it’s going to be a long recovery process.”

Sen. Cory Booker is engaged
The Democrat from New Jersey popped the question to his girlfriend while vacationing in Hawaii.
New ‘Dancing with the Stars’ contestants announced
Comedian Andy Richter, former child star Corey Feldman and actress Danielle Fishel will join other celebs in the battle of the ballroom.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Dharamshala, India
Clouds envelop the Himalayan township of McLeodganj
Photograph: Ashwini Bhatia/AP

Hong Kong, China
Preparations for the city’s inaugural international hot-air balloon festival
Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

Chennai, India
Students perform a traditional dance during Onam, the annual harvest festival
Photograph: R Satish Babu/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for September 4^th, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	45621.29	+350.06
		+0.77%
S&P 500	6502.08	+53.82
		+0.83%
NASDAQ	21707.69	+209.96
		+0.98%
TSX	28915.89	+164.52
		+0.57%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	42580.27	+641.38
		+1.53%
HANG SENG	25058.51	-284.92
		-1.12%
SENSEX	80718.01	+150.30
		+0.19%
FTSE 100*	9216.87	+38.88
		+0.42%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.348	3.386
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.809	3.843
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.1607	4.2168
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.8533	4.8968

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7236	0.7249
US $	1.3819	1.3795

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.6105	0.6209
US $	1.1653	0.8581

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	3556.20	3490.00
Oil
WTI Crude Future	63.48	63.97

Market Commentary:
The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining. -John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1917-1963.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the seventh day, climbing 0.6%, or 164.52 to 28,915.89 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest gain since Aug. 26. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.8%.
Bird Construction Inc. had the largest increase, rising 13.2%.
Today, 141 of 210 shares rose, while 69 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.

Insights
* This year, the index rose 17%, heading for the best year since 2024
* This quarter, the index rose 7.7%
* So far this week, the index rose 1.2%
* The index advanced 25% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 19% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 30.1% above its low on April 7, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.7% in the past 5 days and rose 7% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.4 on a trailing basis and 18 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.5% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$4.61t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.85% compared with 9.78% in the previous session and the average of 9.79% over the past month

Index Points
Information Technology | 79.3668| 2.7| 8/2
Financials | 67.4776| 0.7| 17/7
Industrials | 19.4496| 0.6| 22/7
Consumer Discretionary | 8.6187| 0.9| 8/1
Real Estate | 5.4373| 1.1| 16/3
Utilities | 3.3984| 0.3| 11/3
Communication Services | 0.9831| 0.2| 2/3
Consumer Staples | 0.7242| 0.1| 6/4
Health Care | 0.2273| 0.3| 2/1
Energy | -6.9239| -0.2| 28/12
Materials | -14.2138| -0.3| 21/26
Shopify | 62.1500| 3.8| -19.9| 31.2
Brookfield Corp | 19.0700| 2.1| -22.5| 11.4
Bank of Montreal | 13.3800| 1.6| -10.8| 24.1
First Quantum | |Minerals | -3.6410| -3.1| 8.9| 31.1
Teck Resources | -4.0770| -2.8| 162.6| -22.3
TC Energy | -5.8930| -1.1| 42.3| 6.1
(MT Newswires):
The Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday posted its ninth record close in the last 10 sessions, boosted by commentary on the Canadian economy from the likes of CIBC, which said that “overall, it looks like net trade will be a positive for GDP in the third quarter”, though it did add growth will be “fairly tepid” over the second half of 2025 due to tariffs uncertainty.
Even with commodity prices lower, the resources heavy TSX was up 164.53 points or 0.55% at 28,915.89, with most sectors higher.
Among sectors, the Battery Metals Index was up 3.1% and Info Tech up 2.1%.
Base Metals were down 1%, and Health Care modestly lower.
Of commodities, the front month Comex gold for September delivery settled down US$27.40 per troy ounce, or 0.76%, at US$3,565.80.
Also, Bloomberg noted, oil declined on concerns that OPEC+ will once again bolster supply at a meeting on Sunday, compounding fears of higher volumes later in the year.
It noted West Texas Intermediate futures fell 0.8% to settle near US$64.50 a barrel, building on an earlier decline after softer than expected US jobs data added to concerns demand may wane.
Prices slumped Wednesday following a report that OPEC and its allies would consider fresh increases at a weekend policy meeting.
On the economy, Statistics Canada early Thursday said this nation’s merchandise trade deficit with the world had narrowed, and trade surplus with the United States widened in July.
Statistics Canada noted the global deficit narrowed to $4.9 billion in July from $6.0 billion in June as merchandise exports rose 0.9%, while imports were down 0.7% month over month.
July’s trade deficit was slightly lower than the $5.2 billion consensus deficit provided by MUFG.
Canada’s trade surplus with the U.S. widened to $6.7 billion in July, from $3.7 billion in June, marking the largest surplus since March 2025, added StatsCan.
Exports to the U.S. increased 5.0% month over month in July, in part because of higher exports of crude oil and passenger cars.
Imports from the U.S. fell 2.2% in July 2025, a fourth decrease in five months.
“Overall,” CIBC said, “it looks like net trade will be a positive for GDP in the third quarter, but that doesn’t mean that the negatives from this year’s tariff shock are behind us.
Exports in the second quarter were likely below the underlying trend, due to earlier tariff front-running, and so the recent improvement is simply returning us to a new, lower, trend level.
While CUSMA exemptions are helping stabilize exports in many areas, sectors exposed to specific tariffs (notably steel and aluminum) continue to suffer.
Moreover, the negative impact of trade uncertainty on business investment, hiring and, by extension, consumer spending, will persist for longer and likely keep overall GDP growth fairly tepid during the second half of the year.”
Elsewhere, TD Economics said the combination of rising exports and falling imports on the month should allow net trade to bounce back after an “exceptionally weak” showing in the second quarter, providing a positive tailwind to total GDP growth.
It noted there is still “considerable uncertainty” on the trade front for the quarter ahead.
but added: “On the plus side, the Canadian government recently removed counter-tariffs on U.S. imports, which should aid in more positive discussions with the U.S. administration around the state of trade. On the other hand, Canadian export rotation into non-U.S. markets may not be having the same staying-power as exports abruptly shifted back to the U.S. in July.
Looking ahead, we still expect Section 232 and IEEPA tariffs on Canadian exports to remain in place over the coming quarters with the USMCA renegotiations looming next year.”
Meanwhile, Canadian officials said they would begin over the next few days to roll out financial support packages for domestic producers hit hardest by the Trump administration’s sectoral tariffs, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
Among the areas to receive help are steel and aluminum, which face a 50% U.S. tariff, and Canadian-assembled automobiles, which face a 25% tariff, the report said.
“We’re really working on supporting these sectors and there’s more news to come,” Industry Minister Melanie Joly said, adding that measures would emerge in the coming days.
Finance Minister Francois Philippe Champagne was widely reported Thursday as saying that “adjustments” are coming to the public service in Canada as the federal government looks to trim its spending in the fall budget.
Price: 28915.89, Change: +164.53, Percent Change: +0.55
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders gearing up for Friday’s jobs report got a trio of data that reinforced the view of a cooling labor market, keeping bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts alive while driving stocks and bonds higher.
The latest readings on hiring and unemployment claims came on the eve of data that’s expected to extend the weakest stretch of US job growth since the pandemic.
Treasury two-year yields hovered near the lowest levels in about a year.
Money markets almost fully priced in a Fed cut this month and see at least two by year-end.
The S&P 500 hit a record high.
In late hours, Broadcom Inc.’s upbeat forecast failed to impress some investors.
Employers in the US showed little enthusiasm to take on workers during August, and the unemployment rate probably ticked up to an almost four-year high — adding to evidence of a more subdued labor market.
After lowering rates by a full percentage point last fall, Fed policymakers have held them steady this year out of concern that tariffs could reignite price pressures.
But as risks to the jobs market become more apparent, officials are widely expected to slash borrowing costs in about two weeks from now.
Bearing in mind the Fed’s dual mandate, there’s reason to believe Friday’s jobs report is the “single most important” set of data that we’ll receive, according to Steve Sosnick at Interactive Brokers.
“Many investors are clearly hoping for rate cuts, but it is important to remember to be careful what we wish for,” he said.
“Data that show a gently decelerating, but not dire labor market would suit that goal.
Plunging data might bias the Fed to further cuts but could also raise concerns that the central bank is too far behind the curve.”
The former extends the “Goldilocks” narrative, Sosnick said, while the latter raises concerns about “stagnation” or “stagflation.”
As traders positioned for the key jobs reading, President Donald Trump’s pick to fill a vacant seat on the Fed’s Board of Governors reiterated his commitment to central bank independence.
Stephen Miran also added that a central bank’s most-important job is preventing depressions and hyperinflation.
In the run-up to the payrolls report, data showed US jobless claims rose to the highest since June.
Private-sector payrolls increased by 54,000, according to ADP Research data, missing estimates.
Hiring plans fell to the weakest level for any August on record, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
“Even the most easing-skeptical officials should concede increasing risks of labor market weakness,” said Will Compernolle at FHN Financial.
“If this momentum continues into upcoming months, firms would soon be shedding workers faster than hiring them to the point of negative job growth.”
Nonfarm payrolls probably grew 75,000 in August, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists, which would mark a fourth straight month of job growth below 100,000.
The unemployment rate is seen rising to 4.3% — the highest level since 2021.
“The Federal Reserve’s free pass on the labor market has ended,” said Jamie Cox at Harris Financial Group.
“You can expect the Fed to tilt its balance of risks to cut rates in September.”
Tomorrow’s jobs report will be the deciding factor, but so far this week, the data is confirming a slowdown in the labor market, according to Chris Larkin at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley.
“In the short term, markets may embrace that data because it should increase the odds of Fed rate cuts,” he said.
“But if the numbers deteriorate too much, it could raise concerns about the health of the economy.”
The silver-lining is the weaker the jobs data the more cover there is for stimulative interest rate cuts that are on the horizon, according to Eric Teal at Comerica Wealth Management.
“The boost in the latter half of this year should come from easier monetary policy and stimulative fiscal policies to avoid further economic deterioration,” he said.
A survey conducted by 22V Research showed that investor focus has dramatically shifted to payrolls after the weak number and large revisions last month.
According to the tally, 36% of respondents think the reaction to Friday’s data will be “risk-off,” 35% said “mixed/negligible” and 29% “risk-on.”
“The most relevant question for the August payrolls report is: did June see the bottoming for job creation or is there still further downside yet to be realized?” said Vail Hartman at BMO Capital Markets.
He also noted this won’t be the deciding factor behind whether the Fed cuts by 25 basis points in September, but it will influence the degree to which the Fed’s economic projections lay the groundwork for cuts over the balance of 2025.
“In the event that Friday’s data shows an improvement from the recent lull in hiring, then the Fed would have grounds for a patient approach to rate cuts over the balance of the year,” he said.
The Fed has kept rates unchanged in 2025, largely due to concerns tariffs could stoke inflation.
But lackluster employment figures have prompted greater concern, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell recently signaled a cut could be warranted amid a “shifting balance of risks.”
Fed Governor Christopher Waller said in a speech last week that the data support the view that “labor demand may be on the edge of a sharp decline,” a trend he argued monetary policy should address.
Waller has been one of the most vocal Fed governors favoring interest-rate cuts to guard against an outright deterioration in the job market.
Earlier Wednesday, Waller suggested the possibility of multiple reductions in borrowing costs by the end of the year.
Separate data Thursday showed activity at US service providers expanded in August at the fastest pace in six months on the sharpest acceleration in orders in nearly a year.
The solid advance in those demand indicators suggests the largest part of the economy is gaining some traction after five straight months of sluggishness.
Twelve services industries expanded last month, led by information, wholesale trade and arts and entertainment.
Activity contracted in four industries.
“Overall, the data showed a solid rebound in business activity among service providers despite there being some pockets of weakness within the details of the report,” said Hartman at BMO.
“From here, the path has been cleared to set up for tomorrow’s payrolls report.”
‘Over Time’
Fed Bank of New York President John Williams said his forecast is that it will “become appropriate” to cut interest rates “over time,” without clarifying the timing or pace of such moves.
Meantime, the US Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into whether Fed Governor Lisa Cook committed mortgage fraud — ratcheting up pressure in Trump’s bid to oust her from the central bank.
Federal prosecutors have issued subpoenas seeking information related to allegations that Cook misrepresented information on mortgage applications, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing the ongoing probe. 

Corporate Highlights:
* Broadcom Inc., a chip supplier to companies like Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc., delivered a revenue forecast for the current period that failed to impress some investors, a sign they were anticipating a bigger payoff from the AI boom.
* Lululemon Athletica Inc. slashed its outlook, exacerbating investor concerns that the yoga wear retailer is struggling to pull out of a sales slump after years of rapid growth.
* Boeing Co. plans to start hiring permanent replacements for some of the 3,200 hourly workers on strike at its St. Louis defense hub, escalating tensions with no break in sight for the one-month-old labor impasse.
* CVS Caremark is facing multiple federal lawsuits by patients challenging its decision to remove weight-loss drug Zepbound from its list of preferred medications after signing a rebate agreement with Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk A/S.
* The Trump administration is taking steps to make it easier for automakers to deploy-self driving cars by removing some requirements designed specifically for human drivers — like windshield wipers.
* Tesla Inc. said it has opened its robotaxi app to the general public, suggesting the company will soon roll out the service beyond a select group of early access users in Austin, Texas.
* General Motors Co. will start the launch of the Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle in December with one shift at its plant in Kansas, less than the two shifts initially planned for the plug- in compact due to uncertain EV demand, the company said.
* Microsoft Corp. is set to avoid a potentially hefty antitrust fine after the European Union got positive feedback on the US software giant’s offer to settle a probe into the allegedly illegal bundling of its Teams video-conferencing app.
* Salesforce Inc. projected lackluster quarterly sales growth, suggesting its artificial intelligence product isn’t yet paying off as quickly as hoped in the face of competition from emerging AI companies.
* Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. Chief Executive Officer Antonio Neri said the company expects to weather a slimming of profit margins as it enters a new era of artificial intelligence-driven demand.
* Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will invest as much as $1 billion in T. Rowe Price Group Inc. and team up with the asset manager to sell private-market products to retail investors.
* American Eagle Outfitters Inc. skyrocketed on higher-than- expected quarterly sales, weeks after the jeans-maker found itself embroiled in a social media firestorm over its controversial Sydney Sweeney ad campaign.
* Paramount Skydance Corp. signed a three-year agreement to distribute Legendary Entertainment’s upcoming films in cinemas, the latest in a flurry of deals for the studio since new management took over weeks ago.
* OpenAI plans to launch a new AI-powered jobs platform next year to help match employers with candidates who have artificial intelligence skills in a bid to accelerate the technology’s deployment across businesses and government agencies.
* C3 AI Inc. named Stephen Ehikian as its new chief executive officer, replacing founder Tom Siebel, who will remain executive chairman.
** Separately, the company reported that subscription revenue slipped 18% in the fiscal first quarter. Siebel called the financial performance “completely unacceptable.”
* Figma Inc., a design software company, gave an annual revenue outlook that failed to impress investors in its first report as a public company.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.8% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.9%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.8%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 1.3%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 1.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%
* The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1650
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3435
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 148.49 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 2.2% to $109,838.51
* Ether fell 4.2% to $4,277.74
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined five basis points to 4.16%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.72%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 4.72%
* The yield on 2-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 3.59%
* The yield on 30-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.86%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1% to $63.35 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $3,550.16 an ounce

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labour does the body. –Seneca, 4 BCE-65 CE.

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

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
September 3, 1783: The Treaty of Paris is signed, formally ending the American Revolutionary War and recognizing US independence.
September 3, 1929: The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 381.17, its pre-crash high. Go to article.

Charlie Sheen, actor, b.1965.

Newly discovered bus-size asteroid will zoom close past Earth today — and will not return for exactly 100 years

Asteroid 2025 QV5, which was first spotted in late August, will make a close approach to Earth on Wednesday (Sept. 3). It will not get this near to us again until Sept. 4, 2125. Read More.

1,000-year-old ‘king’ game piece with a distinctive hairstyle is ‘as close as we will ever get to a portrait of a Viking’

A unique game piece from Norway that was crafted during the time of Harald Bluetooth may depict a Viking king. Read More.

See what would happen to Tokyo if Mount Fuji erupted ‘without any warning’ in new AI-generated video

Japanese government officials have released an AI video to show just how devastating an eruption at Mount Fuji could be. But don’t worry,
the dormant volcano is currently not at risk of blowing. Read More.

Dozens of mysterious blobs discovered inside Mars may be the remnants of ‘failed planets’

“Marsquake” data collected by NASA’s InSight lander have revealed dozens of mysterious blobs within the Red Planet’s mantle. The structures may have been left by powerful impacts up to 4.5 billion years ago. Read More.

‘Extremely alarming’: ChatGPT and Gemini respond to high-risk questions about suicide — including details around methods

Researchers have found that OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude can give direct responses to “high-risk” questions about suicide. In Live Science’s testing, ChatGPT and Gemini responded to even more extreme questions. Read More.

Life imitates art, with a twist
Actress Candice Bergen once played Vogue’s top editor on “Sex and the City.” Now, her daughter Chloe Malle will tackle the highly sought-after job in reality.

TikTokers tapped for ‘SNL’
After a string of departures, the long-running sketch show is adding five new people to the cast, including three who boast robust followings on the social media site.

Oscar-winning actor doesn’t watch movies anymore
“I’m just being honest with you. I don’t watch movies, man. I don’t go to the movies,” he said.

Taco Bell taps into Y2K nostalgia
Your favorite menu items from the 2000s may be making a comeback.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Gennep, the Netherlands
The peloton during the 124.5km second stage of the Simac Ladies Tour
Photograph: Luc Claessen/Getty Images

Büttelborn, Germany
Storks take off from a field in the suburb outside Darmstadt
Photograph: Michael Probst/AP

Anfeh, Lebanon
Sea salt production in Anfeh. Sea water is drawn into shallow, concrete-lined basins, where it evaporates over several months, leaving behind salt crystals that are harvested
Photograph: Wael Hamzeh/EPA
Market Closes for September 3^rd, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	45271.23	-24.58
		-0.05%
S&P 500	6448.26	+32.72
		+0.51%
NASDAQ	21497.73	+218.10
		+1.02%
TSX	28751.36	+135.74
		+0.47%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	41938.89	-371.60
		-0.88%
HANG SENG	25343.43	-153.12
		-0.60%
SENSEX	80567.71	+409.83
		+0.51%
FTSE 100*	9177.99	+61.30
		+0.67%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.386	3.444
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.843	3.897
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.2168	4.2614
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.8968	4.9614

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7249	0.7254
US $	1.3795	1.3785

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.6084	0.6217
US $	1.1660	0.8546

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	3490.00	3474.90
Oil
WTI Crude Future	63.97	65.59

Market Commentary:
There is no substitute for hard work. -Thomas A. Edison, 1847-1931.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the sixth day, climbing 0.5%, or 135.74 to 28,751.36 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 0.6% on Aug. 26.
Today, financials stocks led the market higher, as 8 of 11 sectors gained; 129 of 211 shares rose, while 82 fell.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. contributed the most to the index gain and had the largest move, increasing 6.3%.

Insights
* This year, the index rose 16%, heading for the best year since 2024
* This quarter, the index rose 7.1%
* The index advanced 25% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 17% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 29.3% above its low on April 7, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.5% in the past 5 days and rose 6.4% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.4 on a trailing basis and 18 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.5% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$4.59t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.78% compared with 9.73% in the previous session and the average of 9.79% over the past month

Index Points
Financials | 54.6122| 0.6| 20/4
Materials | 35.4087| 0.8| 33/15
Information Technology | 33.8237| 1.2| 8/2
Consumer Staples | 27.8846| 2.8| 10/0
Communication Services | 4.2505| 0.7| 4/1
Real Estate | 3.9380| 0.8| 16/3
Industrials | 2.2517| 0.1| 17/12
Consumer Discretionary | 2.1487| 0.2| 6/3
Health Care | -0.6688| -1.0| 1/2
Utilities | -5.9156| -0.6| 5/9
Energy | -21.9790| -0.5| 9/31
Couche-Tard | 23.6100| 6.3| 111.0| -7.7
Shopify | 15.1700| 0.9| -31.5| 26.5
RBC | 14.2500| 0.7| -49.6| 16.0
Suncor | -7.0430| -1.4| 9.3| 9.4
Brookfield Corp | -12.8400| -1.4| -19.9| 9.1
Canadian Natural Resources | -15.1000| -2.3| 59.4| -2.9
(MT Newswires):
The Toronto Stock Exchange closed Wednesday at another record high for the eighth time in the last nine sessions, with markets given a fresh boost as the first update in days on how trade talk between Canada and the United States is progressing was largely positive.
Even with commodity prices mixed the resources heavy S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 135.74 points, or near 0.5%, to 28,751.36 today, having risen 51.17 points a day earlier.
Most sectors were higher Wednesday, with Base Metals up 1.9% and the Battery Metals Index up 1.5%, and Info Tech up near 1.4%.
Energy was down 1.7% and Health Care down 1.3%.
For some perspective on how the index has soared in a month, the TSX closed at a record high of 27,920.87 on the first Wednesday of August.
Indeed, it closed at a then record 27,570.88 the day before that, Tuesday, August 5, after the Civic Holiday weekend.
After a few days when trade talk didn’t dominate national news, at least in this country, it was again a top topic today after Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed to reporters that he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump “at length” on Monday evening and called it a “good” conversation.
“We spoke at length on a wide range of issues, including on trade, but geopolitical, other issues, labour issues, et cetera,” Carney said ahead of a meeting with his cabinet on Wednesday.
When asked when Canadians can expect to see results from trade talks with the U.S., Carney reiterated that Canada already has “the best trade deal of any country in the world,” because 85% of Canadian trade with the U.S. is tariff-free.
But Carney did hint at some possible relaxation in tariffs on strategic sectors such as steel, aluminum and autos, among others, although he did not provide a timeline on this.
“Don’t expect immediate white smoke on one of these strategic sectors, but that’s the type of conversation that we’re having, and we’ll continue to have as well.”
Of commodities, gold traded at a record high late afternoon Wednesday, topping US$3,600 an ounce for the first time as traders bet on a Federal Reserve rate cut and safe haven buying rises amid stagflation concerns.
Gold for December delivery was up $28.50 to US$3,620.70 per ounce, up from Tuesday’s record close of $3,592.20.
But West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed lower following a report that OPEC+ is considering another production increase next month, days after fully restoring 2.2-million barrels per day of supply cuts with a final 548,000 bpd hike.
WTI crude for October delivery closed down $1.62 to settle at US$6397per barrel, while November Brent oil was last seen down $1.60 to US$67.50.
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders kept piling into bets the Federal Reserve will cut rates in September as weak labor data lifted bonds.
Those wagers also propped up stocks, which halted a two-day rout amid a rally in big tech.
Just 48 hours ahead of the all-important US payrolls report, a drop in job openings to the lowest in 10 months saw traders almost fully pricing in a Fed cut this month and projecting at least two reductions in 2025.
Treasuries bounced after a slide that put the 30-year yield close to 5%.
The dollar fell.
While most S&P 500 shares slipped, Alphabet Inc. hit a record high as Google dodged a sale of Chrome.
Apple Inc. plans to launch an AI-powered web search tool for Siri.
In late hours, Salesforce Inc. forecast lackluster sales growth.
The drop in vacancies indicates companies are becoming more cautious and selective with their hiring as they attempt to gauge the impact of tariffs on the economy.
In addition to the openings data, the pace of hiring has slowed, and it is taking longer for unemployed people to find another position.
“This data point does confirm the slowing pace of hirings being seen in a variety of stats in the aggregate, but something we’re well aware of — and why the Fed is cutting rates by 25 basis points in two weeks,” said Peter Boockvar at The Boock Report.
Before that, Friday’s jobs data will be a crucial input for Fed officials.
Some are less concerned about the slowdown in payrolls growth because it’s being accompanied by a decline in the participation rate.
They’re also wary of reducing borrowing costs when inflation is gradually increasing.
Others, like Governor Christopher Waller say the central bank should begin lowering rates in September and make multiple cuts in coming months, adding that officials could debate the precise pace of reductions. He spoke on CNBC.
At Bankrate, Mark Hamrick says the broader labor trend aligns with what he’s been calling a “no fire, no hire” job market.
That means, many employers are reluctant to cut jobs, but also cautious about bringing on new workers.
To Krishna Guha at Evercore, the soft job-openings report hardens the already high likelihood of a September Fed cut, making it still more difficult for Friday’s jobs report to derail the move.
“As softening in labor demand has not been accompanied by a rise in layoffs or a pullback in spending, investors and policymakers should be wary of interpreting payrolls softness as an imminent recessionary signal,” said Seema Shah at Principal Asset Management.
The so-called JOLTS report may not be “flashing alarm bells”, but it’s the latest data point that reiterates a soft jobs market in the US, according to Bret Kenwell at eToro.
While the US economy may have the cushion to absorb a softer jobs market, investors want to be careful not to see it develop into a weak labor market, he said.
“Today’s report is the latest data point that helps tip the Fed’s scale toward a rate cut,” he said.
“But in the long-term, investors should not cheer for notable labor-market weakness for the sole benefit of lower rates.”
Economists project about 75,000 jobs were added in August, based on the median of a Bloomberg survey, while the jobless rate is seen at 4.3%.
Four straight months of sub-100,000 payrolls growth would mark the weakest such stretch since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
“A large downside surprise in labor market data could push rates sharply lower given the concern around the Fed’s labor mandate,” said TD Securities strategists including Oscar Munoz and Gennadiy Goldberg.
“We remain biased long on dips and expect rates to move lower throughout the year.”
They also said “risk-reward feels more balanced” heading into Friday’s payrolls.
‘Bar Is High’
“The bar is high to price out September and alternatively, a sharp tick higher in the unemployment rate is needed to price in some odds of a 50 basis-point cut and for it to weigh significantly on the dollar,” the TD strategists said.
Meantime, US rate strategists at Bank of America Corp. made trade recommendations based on the possibility that the Fed will ease policy prematurely.
“The market is likely to price a dovish Fed that over- weights softening employment vs inflation, which our US economists see as a policy mistake,” and “ongoing challenges to Fed independence also influence our core rates views,” BofA strategists including Mark Cabana and Meghan Swiber said.
“A Fed that may be biased to cut rates more aggressively near-term vs what we see justified by fundamentals creates scope for higher inflation risk and potential future hikes,” they wrote.
The Fed has kept rates unchanged in 2025, largely due to concerns tariffs could stoke inflation.
But lackluster employment figures have prompted greater concern, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell recently signaled a cut could be warranted amid a “shifting balance of risks.”
Absent a meaningful upside surprise in the jobs report this week, the Fed will cut 25 basis points in September — which is a “constructive backdrop for risk assets,” she said.
“But at this juncture, we’re still doubtful a September cut points to a prolonged interest rate cutting cycle,” Goodwin noted.
“Risks to inflation are real and coming from many angles (tariffs, corporate margin protection, a sharp falloff in labor market supply).
What’s more, financial conditions are very loose, making it difficult to justify a rapid rate-cutting cycle in our view.”
In the aftermath of the Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium, BofA clients shelled out roughly $1.5 billion for small-cap stocks, the second-largest allocation in the firm’s data history going back to 2008.
The clients were big net buyers of US equities in week ended Aug. 29, with inflows of $2.3 billion into single stocks and $2.1 billion into exchange-traded funds, strategists led by Jill Carey Hall said.
Stocks bounced Wednesday after having started September on a sour note amid lofty technology valuations and concerns about global fiscal outlooks.
“September began with a predictable wave of volatility, with tariff uncertainty and rumors driving behavior in a vacuum of tangible data,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide.
“Following the tremendous rally since April and given the elevated valuations/expectations and rumbling of macro concern, a period of consolidation is not unexpected or unhealthy.”
‘Dip Buying’
Investors should buy the dip in stocks as global growth is holding up better than expected and the Fed is likely to cut rates going forward, Barclays Plc strategists led by Emmanuel Cau said.
While positioning is higher, ample dry powder remains on the sidelines, they noted.
“If anything, add on weakness,” said Steve Chiavarone at Federated Hermes.
“If you cut away the noise and volatility, I’m not going to bet against the US market in an environment where earnings are growing, estimates are accelerating, economic data is good, and rates are going to come down.”
Meantime, HSBC strategists increased their year-end target for the S&P 500 for the second time in a month, citing a boost from better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
Nicole Inui now expects the benchmark to end the year at 6,500 points.
The gauge closed Wednesday at 6,448.26.
“We believe that as long as cracks don’t begin to form within AI spending expectations, stocks will continue to grind higher after the seasonally weaker September period,” said Chris Senyek at Wolfe Research.
“However, these lofty expectations can cut both ways as we see AI spending expectations as a key risk for 2026.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Alphabet Inc.’s Google avoided a breakup after a US judge ruled against the government’s most onerous proposals, including a forced sale of its Chrome browser.
** While it’s barred from exclusivity deals, Google will still be allowed to pay its partners — a key win for Apple Inc., which has received roughly $20 billion a year for making Google search the default on iPhones.
* Apple Inc. is planning to launch its own artificial intelligence-powered web search tool next year, stepping up competition with OpenAI and Perplexity AI Inc.
* Salesforce Inc. projected lackluster quarterly sales growth, fueling Wall Street’s fears that the software giant is losing out to competition from emerging artificial intelligence companies.
* Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. gave disappointing earnings forecast for the current period, renewing concerns about tightening margins in the server computer industry.
* American Eagle Outfitters Inc. posted higher-than-expected quarterly sales, weeks after the jeans-maker found itself embroiled in a social media firestorm over its controversial Sydney Sweeney ad campaign.
* Macy’s Inc. raised its annual outlook and reported its best comparable sales growth in three years, the latest signs that consumers are still spending despite concerns about inflation and tariffs.
* Pfizer Inc. defended the research supporting its Covid vaccine in statement on its website, in a direct response to a social media post by President Donald Trump over the weekend questioning whether drug companies were withholding information about the shots.
* ConocoPhillips, the largest independent US oil producer, plans to cut as much as a quarter of its global workforce amid lower crude prices and expectations of peaking shale output.
* WestJet, Canada’s second-largest airline, will purchase 67 Boeing Co. aircraft with an option for more, placing its biggest-ever order in a push for future growth even as trade tensions with the US persist.
* Tyson Foods Inc. said its supply chain chief left the company after violating internal rules, marking the second senior executive departure for improper behavior in just over a year.
* Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., which is splitting itself in two, could sell a 20% stake in its studio and streaming business before the planned separation next year.
* Dollar Tree Inc. said that profit for the current quarter would be little changed as the lift from price hikes to offset tariffs wanes.
* Campbell’s Co.’s earnings beat estimates as Milano cookies helped its snacks business outperform.
* ServiceNow Inc. is offering federal agencies discounts of as much as 70% on its software, a move aimed at spurring adoption as the Trump administration presses for faster government implementation of artificial intelligence tools.
* The Trump administration is moving to block the development of more offshore wind projects, the latest in a series of high- profile setbacks for an industry that’s caught the president’s ire.
* French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI is finalizing a €2 billion investment that values the company at €12 billion ($14 billion), including the new funding — solidifying its position as one of Europe’s most valuable tech startups.
* Michael Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Inc. is offering a version of its Nasdaq-listed shares that can be traded on the Solana blockchain, aiming to spur similar tokenization efforts.
* A year after losing its spot in Britain’s blue-chip benchmark, Burberry Group Plc is returning to the UK’s stock-market elite.
* Unilever Plc Chief Executive Officer Fernando Fernandez expects to replace a quarter of the group’s top 200 managers following a performance review, as he leads an overhaul of the maker of Dove soap.
“History has ample evidence that bonds will regain favor during times of economic turmoil.
Also, risk premiums look mor subdued now than back in July and May of this year, when long- dated yields broke above 5%.
And a September rate-cut is nearly locked in too. These conditions will cap how much higher yields can go.”
— Tatiana Darie, Macro Strategist, Markets Live.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.4%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 2.2%
* The Russell 2000 Index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1658
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.3439
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 148.14 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.7% to $112,223.79
* Ether rose 3.8% to $4,480.16
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.22%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 2.74%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 4.75%
* The yield on 2-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 3.62%
* The yield on 30-year Treasuries declined six basis points to 4.90%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.5% to $63.93 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.9% to $3,564.24 an ounce
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

One cannot be strong without love.  For love is not an irrelevant emotion; it is the blood of life,
the power of reunion of the separated. – Paul Tillich, The Eternal Now, 1886-1965.

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

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy September!
Carolann is away from the office today; I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

September 2, 1789: The U.S. Treasury Department was established. Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary of The Treasury and began serving on September 11, 1789. Go to article
September 2, 1935: Labor Day hurricane makes landfall in Florida, killing 423 people, the strongest and most intense hurricane ever to make landfall in the United States
September 2, 1941: Academy copyrights Oscar statuette
September 2, 1974 US President Gerald Ford signs Employee Retirement Income Security Act – sets minimum standards for pension plans

There are 32 different ways AI can go rogue, scientists say — from hallucinating answers to a complete misalignment with humanity

New research has created the first comprehensive effort to categorize all the ways AI can go wrong, with many of those behaviors resembling human psychiatric disorders.

‘Cannibal’ solar storm could paint auroras above 18 US states

Space weather experts warn that a “strong” geomagnetic storm will rock Earth on Sept. 1-2, potentially lighting the skies with vibrant auroras across large parts of North America. The disturbance is being triggered by a rare, cannibalistic ejection from the sun.

‘Strange’ tomb in Peru holds skeletons of people with ropes around their necks, hands tied behind their backs, archaeologists say

Human sacrifices dating back around 2,300 years have been found near an ancient temple in Peru.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Winner – landscape: The Beast
‘I love the raw power and beauty of storms. Watching this severe storm making its way to me, I was filled with excitement and anticipation. To capture the only CG (cloud-to-ground) bolt to come from this amazing shelf cloud was absolute bliss. Once again, thank you Mother Nature!’ Kabi Kabi country, Kings Beach, Queensland.
Photograph: Darren Wassell

Finalist – landscape: Enchanted Forest
‘On a camping trip with my son, we came across this amazing section of silver beech that were stunted and beautifully sculpted by the elements. After several attempts, I was finally present when it snowed. Not long after dawn, the clouds departed, and the low angled sun added a hint of warmth to the fairytale scene.’ Te Rua-o-te-Moko/Fiordland, New Zealand.
Photograph: William Patino

Finalist – monochrome: Transpiration
‘While driving home from a pre-dawn shoot in the Meander Valley, I stopped to admire the dawn breaking behind a young Blackwood tree. Its silhouette struck a beautiful contrast as the sun warmed its transpiring leaves, with the evaporating water droplets rising from the branches to mingle with the surrounding mist.’ Tommeginne country, Deloraine, Tasmania.
Photograph: Joy Kachina
Market Closes for September 2^nd, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	45295.81	-249.07
		-0.55%
S&P 500	6415.54	-44.72
		-0.69%
NASDAQ	21279.63	-175.92
		-0.82%
TSX	28615.62	+51.17
		+0.18%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	42310.49	+121.70
		+0.29%
HANG SENG	25496.55	-120.87
		-0.47%
SENSEX	80157.88	-206.61
		-0.26%
FTSE 100*	9116.69	-79.65
		-0.87%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.444	3.375
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.897	3.824
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.2614	4.2284
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.9614	4.9274

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7254	0.7274
US $	1.3785	1.3747

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.6038	0.6235
US $	1.1634	0.8595

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	3474.90	3407.65
Oil
WTI Crude Future	65.59	64.01

Market Commentary:
“The customer’s perception is your reality.” — Kathryn M Zabriskie “Kate”
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the fifth day, climbing 0.2%, or 51.17 to 28,615.62 in Toronto.
Brookfield Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.3%.
Torex Gold Resources Inc. had the largest increase, rising 11.0%.
Today, 92 of 211 shares rose, while 118 fell; 4 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.

Insights
* This year, the index rose 16%, heading for the best year since 2024
* This quarter, the index rose 6.5%
* The index advanced 23% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 14% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 28.7% above its low on April 7, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.6% in the past 5 days and rose 5.9% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.1 on a trailing basis and 17.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.5% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$4.58t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.73% compared with 9.74% in the previous session and the average of 9.79% over the past month
Index Points
Materials | 73.6692| 1.7| 34/14
Energy | 11.6457| 0.3| 26/14
Financials | 8.9983| 0.1| 11/13
Health Care | 0.8002| 1.2| 2/1
Utilities | -2.2269| -0.2| 3/11
Industrials | -4.1826| -0.1| 8/20
Communication Services | -4.9572| -0.8| 1/4
Consumer Staples | -4.9653| -0.5| 1/9
Real Estate | -7.4949| -1.4| 1/18
Consumer Discretionary | -8.2810| -0.9| 2/7
Information Technology | -11.8392| -0.4| 3/7
Brookfield Corp | 11.7400| 1.3| -2.8| 10.7
Canadian Natural |Resources | 9.0870| 1.4| 11.9| -0.6
Bank of Montreal | 7.8530| 0.9| -28.6| 20.2
TD Bank | -4.4590| -0.4| -40.0| 34.3
Cameco | -6.9750| -2.2| -2.3| 40.6
Shopify | -19.3500| -1.2| -23.3| 25.3
(MT Newswires)
A late rally brought another record close Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday, its seventh over the last eight sessions, as higher commodity prices offset some profit taking on investors returned to action after the Labour Day holiday weekend.
The resources heavy S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 51.17 points to 28,615.62, recovering from 110 points lower around midday, with just about more sectors higher than not.
Among sectors, the Battery Metals Index was up 2.2%, Health Care up 1.4% and Energy up near 1%.
Base Metals was the biggest loser, but it was still down a modest 0.8%.
Of commodities, gold traded at a fresh record high late afternoon on Tuesday, boosted by expectations for a coming interest rate cut and safe haven buying even as the dollar was sharply higher.
Gold for December delivery was up US$81.30 to US$3,597.40 per ounce, climbing from Friday’s record close of US$3,516.10.
In individual gold stocks, Torex (TXG.,TO) was up 11% despite no fresh news since it moved last July to buy Prime (PRYM.TO).
BNN Bloomberg noted TXG is up 95% over one year.
Also, West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed higher on supply concerns even as OPEC+ a day earlier completed its return of 2.2-million barrels per day of production cuts with a final 548,000 bpd tranche of additional supply ahead of the group’s coming meeting to decide on future output.
WTI crude oil for October delivery closed up $1.58 to settle at US$65.59 per barrel, while November Brent oil was last seen up $1.00 to US$69.15.
Wells Fargo Investment Institute (WFII) released its latest Investment Strategy Report in which it said it expects “mixed performance” from commodities in the near term as concerns of economic weakness grow and its energy outlook softens.
Looking into 2026, WFII expects a modest rebound in performance, in line with the economic recovery that it anticipates.
But despite its neutral rating on commodities, WFII sees strengths in favorably rated sectors, Precious Metals and Industrial Metals.
Elsewhere, small crude and product draws are expected this week, according to a Macquarie strategist.
Energy strategist Walt Chancellor said Macquarie Group is forecasting U.S. crude inventories down 1.1-million barrels for the week ending August 29.
This follows a 2.4-million-barrel draw in the prior week, with the crude balance “realizing slightly tighter” than Macquarie’s expectations.
Chancellor added: “As we have previously noted, we believe persistently strong implied supply has been a key feature of the US crude oil balance across Q3 to date.
As such, with US oil production exiting Q2 at a record 13.6 MBD in June, we see potential for this figure to move higher as subsequent monthly data is reported.”
For this week’s balance, from refineries, Macquarie models a minimal reduction in crude runs.
Among net imports, it models a slight decrease, with exports (+0.3 MBD) and imports (+0.2 MBD) higher on a nominal basis.
Chancellor said timing of cargoes remains a source of potential volatility in this week’s crude balance.
From implied domestic supply (prod.+adj.+transfers), Macquarie again looks for an increase (+0.3 MBD) on a nominal basis this week.
Rounding out the picture, the bank anticipates a smaller increase (+0.5 MM BBL) in SPR stocks this week.
Among products, Macquarie looks for a “healthy” gasoline draw (-3.0 MM BBL) largely offset by builds in distillate (+1.4 MM BBL) and jet (+1.0 MM BBL).
The bank models implied demand for these three products at about 14.5 MBD for the week ending August 29.
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street kicked off September on a sour note, with stocks joining a slide in bonds amid heavy corporate- debt sales and developed-world budget worries.
The dollar rose.
Gold hit a record high.
US 30-year yields approached 5%, pressuring tech shares whose valuations have widened during a surge from April lows.
While the S&P 500 trimmed its losses, almost 400 of its shares fell.
All megacaps slipped, with Nvidia Corp. seeing its longest slump since March.
In late hours, Alphabet Inc. jumped as a federal judge ruled Google doesn’t have to sell its Chrome web browser.
Along with a slew of corporate sales, there’s been renewed concern about longer-dated global debt after years of issuance exacerbated budget deficits.
In the UK, the yield on long-dated bonds hit the highest since 1998 and the pound sank as pressure mounted on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to manage the budget.
“Wake me up when September ends!” said Thomas Tzitzouris at Strategas.
“We’ve been suspicious that September was going to be a volatile month, and day one is proving to be every bit as volatile as advertised.”
President Donald Trump said his administration would ask the Supreme Court for an expedited ruling in hopes of overturning a federal court decision that many of his tariffs were illegally imposed.
“The stock market’s down because the stock market needs the tariffs.
They want the tariffs,” he noted.
“Less tariff income means more US debt sales to cover spending deficit,” said Scott Wren at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
As traders come back to their desks from summer vacations, they’re facing a host of concerns ranging from key economic data to US tariffs, Federal Reserve independence, monetary policy as well as global fiscal prospects.
The events arrive with the stock market seemingly at a crossroads after the S&P 500 posted its smallest monthly gain since July 2024 just ahead of what’s historically known as the weakest month for equities.
“As if we all weren’t bummed enough about the end of summer, the markets gave us all a slap in the face today to get investors back into reality,” said Bespoke Investment Group strategists.
Of course, there are fundamental reasons to support the S&P 500’s rally from April lows, with the economy staying relatively resilient as Corporate America’s profit engine keeps roaring.
But with so much uncertainty, investors have become increasingly concerned that the market is overvalued.
The US benchmark trades at 22 times analysts’ average earnings forecast for the next 12 months.
Since 1990, the market was only more expensive at the height of dot-com bubble and the technology euphoria coming out of the depths of the Covid pandemic in 2020.
“Outside of a September surprise, investors face ongoing threats from trade and tariff unknowns as well as potential economic releases that might show weaker-than-expected trends that could ultimately challenge elevated stock valuations,” said Anthony Saglimbene at Ameriprise.
“That said, investors have been navigating those dynamics for months, and stocks have continued to grind higher.”
In Saglimbene’s view, investors should maintain a diversified portfolio, remain cautiously optimistic about the investment landscape, based on a solid foundation of growth, and look through potential September volatility, should it develop.
“Downturns in markets always feel bad, and there are always reasons to say ‘this time is different.’
But pulling back and looking through a longer-term lens, downturns tend to be shallow and quick,” said Chris Fasciano at Commonwealth Financial Network.
“Stay vigilant to headlines that might impact the economy, but pay attention to the fundamentals.
They drive long- term performance. Always.”
The S&P 500 closed out August near an all-time high, defying a narrative that, just weeks ago, may have appeared less favorable, according to Invesco Global Market Strategy Office.
“As we head into September and October, we’ll likely hear echoes of the same concerns, including seasonality, policy risks, and valuations,” Invesco said.
“But we see little evidence that the cycle is ending. Macro data and market signals continue to suggest otherwise.”
This year is just the sixth time since 1928 that the S&P 500 was up at least 1% in May, June, July, and August, according to Bespoke.
Following the five prior occurrences, the gauge was mixed in September — but traded higher in the last four months of the year all five times, the firm said.
Despite the potential for volatility and short-term pullbacks in September, UBS’s Chief Investment Office believes investors who are under-allocated to equities should consider phasing in and using market dips to add equity exposure.
The firm expects the S&P 500 to reach 6,800 by end-June 2026, supported by factors such as earnings momentum, Fed rate cuts and as the long-term artificial-intelligence trend remains intact.
“We recommend that investors who are under-allocated to equities consider phasing in and using market dips to add exposure to preferred areas,” said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“Alongside AI, power and resources, and longevity, we favor US technology, health care, utilities, and financials.”
US stocks will continue rallying after four months of gains as Fed rate cuts coincide with robust corporate earnings, according to Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson.
“We push back on the idea that rate cuts are already priced,” Wilson wrote in a note.
“We’re respectful of the upcoming weak seasonal window but remain buyers of dips should they come.”
Focus this week is on key labor market data for clues on economic growth and the Fed’s policy outlook.
Employers in the US showed little enthusiasm to take on workers during August, and the unemployment rate probably ticked up to an almost four- year high, adding to evidence of a more subdued jobs market.
The importance of this week’s economic data will ultimately drive where yields are by Friday’s close – even if there is a lot that could shift investors’ perception of the state of the labor market in the interim,” said Ian Lyngen and Vail Hartman at BMO Capital Markets.
“While technically it was a Tuesday, the Treasury market most certainly traded it like a late-summer Monday,” the BMO strategists said.
“The bearish tone in US rates suggests that the story is very much one of supply concern rather than the macro fundamentals.”
They also noted that the combination of the holiday- shortened week and the relevance of Friday’s jobs data does complicate the timing of bringing new deals to market, although with the deal count quickly mounting, it is difficult to ignore the upward pressure on yields associated with rate-lock selling.
US PREVIEW: July JOLTS to Show More Labor-Market Cooling On the economic front, US factory activity shrank in August for a sixth straight month, driven by a pullback in production that shows manufacturing remains bogged down by higher import duties.
“The ISM manufacturing report indicated that companies are largely managing headcount rather than actively hiring,” said Scott Helfstein at Global X.
“This may be a clue ahead of Friday’s jobs numbers. New jobs are likely slowing, but meaningful revisions to data over the prior months could mean that the report, good or bad, may not influence investors much.”
Helfstein says investors should pay close attention to wage growth in Friday’s job report.
“Wages have been outpacing inflation and that is usually a good sign for consumption. While defaults are going up slightly, most of the numbers on consumer behavior have remained robust,” he noted.
Swap markets are currently pricing in more than 20 basis points of Fed easing in September, with a bit more than two quarter-point reductions priced by the end of 2025.

Corporate Highlights:
* The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility.
* Deliveries from Tesla Inc.’s Shanghai factory extended their slump in August as new products launched by Chinese rivals win over customers and global trade uncertainties persist.
** Tesla’s long-awaited entry into India has delivered underwhelming results so far, with tepid bookings fueling fresh doubts about the company’s global growth outlook.
* Apple Inc.’s lead artificial-intelligence researcher for robotics has departed the company to join Meta Platforms Inc.’s competing effort, part of an exodus of AI talent from the iPhone maker.
* The European Union paused its immediate plans to punish Alphabet Inc.’s Google for abusing its dominance over advertising technology amid fears that US President Donald Trump could hit back by derailing a transatlantic trade deal.
* Kraft Heinz Co. said it plans to split into two separate companies, undoing a mega-deal ushered in a decade ago that turned the maker of Kraft Mac & Cheese into one of the largest packaged food sellers in the world.
** Warren Buffett said he’s disappointed in the planned split of Kraft Heinz, though he concedes the merger he orchestrated a decade ago wasn’t a brilliant idea.
* Target Corp. sank after the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest US teacher’s union, endorsed a boycott against the retailer’s decision to end some diversity programs amid pressure from conservative activists and the US government.
* Air Lease Corp., the aviation finance firm built by industry pioneer Steven Udvar-Hazy, agreed to a $7.4 billion sale to a group led by Sumitomo Corp., adding to consolidation in an sector that plays an increasingly important role in aircraft purchases.
* Klarna Group Plc and some of its shareholders are seeking to raise as much as $1.27 billion as thefinancial-technology company revives a New York initial public offering that wasdelayed earlier this year amid market volatility.
* Activist investor Elliott Investment Management has built a stake of about $4 billion in PepsiCo Inc., with plans to call for changes at the struggling beverage maker.
* Paramount Skydance Corp. has struck a deal with Microsoft Corp.’s Activision video-game unit to develop and produce a live-action film based on the Call of Duty franchise, the company said in a statement Tuesday.
* Signet Jewelers Ltd., the owner of the Zales and Jared chains, raised its full-year sales guidance as consumers continued to spend on jewelry despite signs of a slowdown for other discretionary goods.
* Constellation Brands Inc. cut its fiscal 2026 guidance, citing weak consumer demand, which will hurt inventory rebalancing at the distributor level.
* Apollo Global Management Inc. is poised to launch a $5 billion strategy to invest in sports deals, marking another major asset manager targeting the booming sector.
* OpenAI has agreed to buy product testing startup Statsig for $1.1 billion in an all-stock deal, the company said, marking one of the largest acquisitions in the ChatGPT maker’s history.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.9%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 1.1%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.5%
* The euro fell 0.6% to $1.1642
* The British pound fell 1.1% to $1.3392
* The Japanese yen fell 0.8% to 148.35 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 1.8% to $110,806
* Ether fell 0.4% to $4,274.05
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 4.27%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 2.79%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 4.80%
* The yield on 2-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 3.64%
* The yield on 30-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 4.96%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.5% to $65.62 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1.8% to $3,537.46 an ounce

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Shab
“The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers.”– Richard Wesley Hamming

Shab Mohammadpour
Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff
Queensbury Securities Inc.

340A – 730 View Street
Victoria BC  V8W 3Y7
Tel: 778-430-5851
Fax: 778-430-5828