August 9, 2023 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Aug. 9, 1945, the United States exploded a nuclear device over Nagasaki, Japan, instantly killing an estimated 39,000 people. The explosion came three days after the
atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Go to article >>
August 9, 1965: Singapore separates from the Federation of Malaysia and gains its independence.
1974: Nixon resigns.

Coco Chanel, b. 1883.

How to watch the Perseid meteor shower this weekend.  Meteors will streak across the sky this weekend in one of the year’s most anticipated celestial displays.

What did Cleopatra, Egypt’s last pharaoh, really look like?
“Cleopatra’s skin color has nothing to do with her accomplishments, which are immense.” Read More.

See stunning new photos and videos of the moon as India’s Chandrayaan-3 rover enters lunar orbit
India’s Chandrayaan-3 rover reached lunar orbit on Aug. 5, sharing new photos and videos of the moon ahead of its planned Aug. 23 landing. Read More.

Baby Moby Dick? Rare white humpback whale calf filmed off Australia
A pearly white baby humpback whale has been filmed off the coast of Australia, prompting speculation about whether it is an extraordinarily rare albino whale. Read More.

RIP Robbie Robertson.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Maasai Mara, Kenya
Maasai people perform a traditional dance during the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples at Sekenani camp.  Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Hangzhou, China
Tourists visit the 1,000-year-old Huantan Village, which has retained many of its buildings from the Qing dynasty.  Photograph: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

​​​​​​​Frankfurt, Germany
A flock of birds fly in front of the buildings of the banking district.  Photograph: Michael Probst/AP
Market Closes for August 9^th, 2023,

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1995, the internet stock sector was born with a bang as 16-month-old Netscape Communications went public on the Nasdaq after selling stock at $28 a share. Lead underwriter Morgan Stanley had to raise the stock’s opening price to $71 before trading could begin.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.3% at 20,275.27 in Toronto.
The index advanced to the highest closing level since Aug. 1 after the previous session’s decrease of 0.1%.
Enbridge Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.4%.
CAE Inc. had the largest increase, rising 8.0%.
Today, 116 of 227 shares rose, while 106 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 3.6% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 7.8% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.7% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 13.4% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.3% in the past 5 days and rose 2.2% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.2 on a trailing basis and 14.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.4% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.2t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 10.65% compared with 10.80% in the previous session and the average of 10.53% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 37.3842| 1.1| 26/14
Industrials | 24.7380| 0.9| 13/13
Materials | 12.7847| 0.5| 23/26
Communication Services | 10.6377| 1.4| 3/2
Utilities | 7.2152| 0.8| 13/3
Consumer Staples | 7.2121| 0.9| 10/1
Health Care | -1.8412| -2.9| 0/4
Real Estate | -1.9343| -0.4| 9/11
Information Technology | -5.3721| -0.4| 5/6
Consumer Discretionary | -7.9389| -1.0| 3/10
Financials | -13.5942| -0.2| 11/16
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Enbridge | 9.6380| 1.4| -51.2| -7.5
Suncor Energy | 7.9750| 2.1| 45.6| -0.8
Nutrien | 7.6390| 2.5| -46.6| -7.8
CIBC | -3.8310| -1.1| -22.4| 1.9
Nuvei | -7.1140| -39.4| 959.6| -29.4
Shopify | -10.2400| -1.6| -23.4| 57.6
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A slide in big tech and higher energy prices weighed on Wall Street sentiment ahead of inflation data that will help shape the outlook for the Federal Reserve’s next steps.
After briefly wiping out its losses, the S&P 500 finished near session lows.
The Nasdaq 100 dropped 1%.
Nvidia Corp., which has more than tripled this year amid the artificial-intelligence frenzy, slipped almost 5%.
Giants Tesla Inc., Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. were all down.
A 28% surge in European natural gas and an advance in oil to a nine-month high added to concern about further price pressures.
“Markets are vulnerable to a period of consolidation,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide. “This is not uncommon during the seasonally weak August and September period, though the fundamental strength in economic and earnings data supports higher markets once we emerge from the malaise.”
Thursday’s consumer price index will show a wave of disinflation, but with oil prices rising, headline figures are likely to increase sharply in August, according to Anna Wong at Bloomberg Economics.
Still, unless inflation expectations climb substantially, policymakers will remain focused on the core numbers — which should keep moderating as growth slows, she noted.
“Risk-on” expectations for Thursday’s consumer price index have cooled relative to the last couple of reports, according to a survey conducted by 22V Research.
Investors aren’t “risk-off,” but are more ambivalent following a string of good releases.
The strong wage data from Friday’s employment data has likely gotten attention, the firm noted.
Even if inflation overshoots expectations, the Fed will likely feel its policy is restrictive enough as manufacturing struggles and the jobs market shows signs of softening, according to Fawad Razaqzada, a market analyst at City Index and Forex.com.
That means a “small beat” wouldn’t matter too much, he noted.
“A goldilocks outlook in the US is what stock market investors on Wall Street have been enjoying this year – until the recent weakness,” Razaqzada added. “They will be looking for signs that the health and sentiment of the consumer remains positive, enough not increase the risks of a further Fed rate increase, and yet not too depressing to raise recession alarm bells.  Somewhere in between could support stocks.”
Meantime, bond investors wanted the newest Treasury 10-year notes badly enough that they were willing to settle for a yield of less than 4%.
The $38 billion auction was awarded at 3.999%, becoming the third straight 10-year new issue to pay a fixed rate of less than 4%.
Since the auction details were announced on Aug. 2, its bigger-than-anticipated size pushed the yield on the new 10-year in pre-sale trading up toward 4.19% on Friday.
Ultimately, investors decided they could live on less.

Corporate Highlights:
* Roblox Corp. fell after reporting that people were spending less time playing its games in the second quarter and missing Wall Street’s estimates.
* Lyft Inc. retreated after the company reported its slowest revenue growth in two years, overshadowing a better-than-expected outlook for earnings, as the company struggles to get its ridership back on track.
* Rivian Automotive Inc. dropped as it expects heavy losses to continue as it boosts production plans for the year and works to reestablish itself as a rising player in the increasingly crowded electric-vehicle market.
* WeWork Inc. declined after saying there’s “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue operating. The company cited sustained losses and canceled memberships to its office spaces.
* Penn Entertainment Inc. rose after Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN has signed a long-term exclusive agreement with the casino operator, licensing its brand for sports betting and deepening the media giant’s ties to the growing online gambling business.
** DraftKings Inc. and Flutter Entertainment Plc fell on concern the deal will increase competition in the sport-betting industry.
Key events this week:
* India rate decision, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, CPI, Thursday
* Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic pre-recorded remarks for employment webinar, Thursday
* UK industrial production, GDP, Friday
* US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, PPI, Friday

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 1.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.0975
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.2722
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 143.69 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 2% to $29,392.4
* Ether fell 0.9% to $1,847.15
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.00%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 2.50%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.36%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.7% to $84.30 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.6% to $1,949 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Brett Miller, Richard Henderson and Cecile Gutscher.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Never confuse a single failure with a final defeat. –F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1896-1940.

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

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

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