October 20, 2023, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.

October 20, 1959: Construction of the Guggenheim Museum in New York City is completed, showcasing modern and contemporary  art.
1992: The host Toronto Blue Jays beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 in the first World Series game played outside the United States. Go to article >>

Christopher Wren, architect, b.1632.
Mickey Mantle, baseball player, b.1931.

Secrets of the ‘world’s best hotel’
Passalacqua, a luxury hotel on Lake Como, was voted the best hotel in the world at the inaugural World’s 50 Best Hotels awards. See inside.

Billions of crabs went missing around Alaska. Scientists now know what happened to them
Alaska’s snow crab harvest season has been canceled for the second year in a row due to warmer ocean temperatures.

LeBron James announces upcoming release of another children’s book
The picture book aims to “inspire the next generation of leaders to be all that they dream to be … and more,” the book’s executive editor said.

Fun Halloween recipes every kid will love
Here are some frightfully delicious snacks for your little ones this Halloween.

Oldest radio-wave explosion ever found could be used to weigh the universe, astronomers say
Astronomers traced a mysterious radio source to three merging galaxies 8 billion light-years away. Studying it could help uncover the universe’s missing matter. Read More.

Man digs up 1,000-year-old sword from Swedish Crusades in his yard in Finland
In addition to finding a Crusader sword, archaeologists in Finland have discovered a cemetery that could potentially contain hundreds of graves. Read More.

Mysterious signals from ‘hell planet’ 40 light-years from Earth could finally be solved by James Webb Space Telescope
The hellish super-Earth ’55 Cancri e’ may be constantly losing and re-growing its atmosphere, a new study of the planet’s strange transit signals suggests. Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

South Shields, UK
Waves crash against a damaged lighthouse as Storm Babet batters the country. Flood warnings are in place in Scotland, as well as parts of northern England and the Midlands.  Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Whitby, UK
English Heritage conduct a lighting test on the ruins of Whitby Abbey in North Yorkshire before its Illuminated Abbey event, during which the structure will be lit up between 6pm and 9pm, from 21 to 31 October.  Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

New York, US
Mick Jagger, right, and Keith Richards perform after the release of the Rolling Stones’ new album, Hackney Diamonds.  Photograph: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP.
Market Closes for October 20^th, 2023

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1803, the Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase Treaty, under which the U.S. paid France $15 million for the 828,000-square mile territory. The U.S. financed the deal by issuing $11.25 million in bonds with a 6% coupon.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the third day, dropping 1.2%, or 233.17 to 19,115.64 in Toronto.
The index dropped to the lowest closing level since Oct. 4.
Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.8%.
Dye & Durham Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 8.2%.
Today, 188 of 227 shares fell, while 38 rose; all sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss 18 times. The next day, it declined 13 times for an average 0.5% and advanced five times for an average 1%
* This year, the index fell 1.4%, heading for the worst year since 2022
* This month, the index fell 2.2%
* So far this week, the index fell 1.8%
* The index advanced 2.9% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 14% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 8.3% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 3.3% above its low on Oct. 21, 2022
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.5 on a trailing basis and 13.6 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.5% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.07t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 14.62% compared with 14.26% in the previous session and the average of 13.95% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | -116.5800| -2.0| 1/27
Energy | -49.0602| -1.3| 1/39
Information Technology| -17.2450| -1.2| 0/11
Communication Services| -13.4689| -1.8| 0/5
Utilities | -12.4464| -1.7| 1/14
Materials | -10.7201| -0.5| 19/32
Real Estate | -7.0524| -1.6| 2/19
Consumer Staples | -3.4094| -0.4| 1/10
Industrials | -1.3899| -0.1| 9/17
Consumer Discretionary| -1.0822| -0.2| 4/10
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
RBC | -19.7100| -1.8|n/a | -12.8
TD Bank | -15.5200| -1.5|n/a | -10.2
Bank of Nova Scotia | -12.9800| -2.7|n/a | -14.6
Franco-Nevada | 1.5030| 0.6|n/a | 3.2
Barrick Gold | 5.2740| 1.9|n/a | -0.2
Canadian National | 7.4630| 1.3|n/a | -9.3
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks fell around the world, while bonds climbed with gold on concern the Israel-Hamas war will escalate into a wider conflict in the Middle East.
Oil pulled back after hitting $90 a barrel.
The S&P 500 dropped over 1%, notching its worst week in a month.
The gauge breached the key 200-day moving average — a move seen by some chartists as a harbinger of more losses.
Mega-caps sold off, with Tesla Inc. seeing its biggest weekly slide since December.
American Express Co. tumbled more than 5% on disappointing volumes on its cards.
Regions Financial Corp. led losses in banks after warning of further declines in net interest income.
Traders continued to seek haven amid the latest geopolitical developments.
Treasury yields pared weekly increases that pushed the 10-year rate to almost 5%.
Gold edged closer to $2,000 an ounce.
“The ongoing situation in the Middle East has triggered a surge of volatility in the oil and stock markets, compelling investors to re-evaluate their strategies and shift their focus from riskier assets to ‘safer’ investments,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and Forex.com.
Hamas released two American citizens who had been held captive in Gaza.
Leaders from around the region are heading to Cairo for a Saturday summit on the crisis.
Israel’s military said it struck Hamas targets in Gaza overnight.
Israel also responded to fire from Lebanon by hitting Hezbollah assets, and evacuated residents near the border.
The Iran-backed militant group said it fired guided missiles at several Israeli sites.
Aside from the Middle East crisis, global markets have been whipped around in recent weeks by climbing Treasury yields and growing worries about interest rates staying elevated for longer.
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said the US central bank is close to wrapping up its tightening campaign if the economy evolves as expected.

Corporate Earnings
Traders also waded through a raft corporate earnings.
Of the 86 companies in S&P 500 that have announced results through Friday morning, 74% beat analysts’ profit estimates, compared with 78% for the whole season a year ago, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg.
Individual shares reacted to earnings announcements in the week or so since Corporate America started reporting results.
But conflict in the Middle East and elevated Treasury yields have taken precedence, causing S&P 500 constituents to increasingly move in unison as global events sway markets broadly.
In half the trading sessions since Oct. 13, when the reporting cycle kicked off, at least 400 members in the S&P 500 have moved in the same direction.
It’s a frequency that didn’t appear once in comparable weeks the past three earnings periods.
While the S&P 500’s declines this week have appeared largely orderly, the nearest futures contracts tied to the CBOE Volatility Index — also known as the VIX and a measure of expected swings in America’s benchmark equity gauge — closed Thursday in a pattern known as backwardation.
It’s a telltale sign of mounting distress, as traders anticipate more volatility in the near-term than further out in the future.
Corporate News
* SLB, the biggest oil-services provider, posted its first sequential dip in North American sales since the start of 2021.
* Solar stocks tumbled after SolarEdge Technologies Inc. warned that third-quarter revenue will be well below its guidance, citing “substantial” cancellations and delayed orders.
* Stellantis NV is raising its wage offer to 23%, matching General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. as negotiations with the United Auto Workers heat up, people familiar with the discussions said.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 1.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9%
* The MSCI World index fell 1.1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro rose 0.1% to $1.0593
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.2160
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 149.85 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 2.9% to $29,556.5
* Ether rose 2.5% to $1,606.36
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined eight basis points to 4.91%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 2.89%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.65%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.7% to $88.75 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.6% to $1,991.80 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Not a day passes over the earth but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words,
and suffer noble sorrow.  Of these obscure heroes, philosophers and martyrs
the greater part will never be known. – Charles Reade, 1814-1884.

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