September 25, 2024, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
September 25, 1066: The Battle of Stamford Bridge:  King Harold II defeats the Norwegian invaders led by Harald Hardrada, but the victory weakens his army ahead of the Norman invasion.
September 25, 1513: Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama to reach the Pacific Ocean.  Go to article >>

Starting this Sunday (September 29^th, 2024), the Earth will temporarily gain a second moon for 57 days, in the form of an asteroid named “2024 PT5.”

September 25, 1676: Greenwich Mean Time established.

William Faulkner, b. 1897.
Dmitri Shostakovich, b. 1906.
Christopher Reeve, Superman actor, is born in New York City, 1952.
Will Smith, actor, b.1968.
Catherine Zeta-Jones, b.1969.

Finland zoo struggles to afford its giant pandas
Incredibly cute but un-bear-ably expensive … A zoo in Finland will return two giant pandas to China because it can no longer afford their upkeep.

Milan Fashion Week highlights
No iron? No problem. Apparently, creases and wrinkled clothes are trending in the luxury fashion world.

Artificial intelligence is detecting new archaeological sites in the desert
Researchers in Abu Dhabi say they have found a faster way to search desert areas for important archaeological sites buried beneath the sand.

Mysterious ‘horseman’ from lead coffin unearthed in Notre Dame Cathedral finally identified
The centuries-old remains at Notre Dame have been identified as Joachim du Bellay, a French Renaissance poet who died at age 37. Read More.

1st-ever observation of ‘spooky action’ between quarks is highest-energy quantum entanglement ever detected
The discovery of two entangled quarks at the large Hadron Collider is the highest-energy observation of entanglement ever made. Read More.

Monkey study reveals science behind ‘choking under pressure’
When a person (or monkey) is facing stakes that are too high, the stress can interfere with neurons, affecting how they direct the body to execute movements, a study suggests. Read More.

Weird ‘zebra rock’ on Mars is unlike anything seen before on Red Planet, NASA says
NASA’s Perseverance rover has sent home pictures of a mysterious black-and-white striped rock, the likes of which scientists have never seen before on Mars. Read More

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Northamptonshire, UK
‘A shot of just a few of the 1,300 origami cranes made by family and friends of the bride and groom to decorate a marquee in a garden in Steane, where the best wedding of the year was held. What a day!’
Photograph: Neil Braithwaite

Fogo Island, Canada
‘Sunrise at Joe Batt’s Arm, which is in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.’
Photograph: Kelley Butler

​​​​​​​London, UK
‘Dark clouds descend over Greenwich Park.’
Photograph: Jonathan Green
Market Closes for September 25^th, 2024

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1928, brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin incorporated the Galvin Manufacturing Corp., a company that would go on to popularize car radios. It was later renamed Motorola.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.2% at 23,905.88 in Toronto, ending a 4-day gain.
The loss follows the previous session’s increase of 0.2%.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.3%.
Magna International Inc. had the largest drop, falling 5.5%.
Today, 134 of 223 shares fell, while 86 rose; 8 of 11 sectors were lower, led by industrials stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 14%, heading for the best year since 2021
* This quarter, the index rose 9.3%, heading for the biggest advance since the second quarter of 2020
* This month, the index rose 2.4%
* The index advanced 21% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 31% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.4% below its 52-week high on Sept. 24, 2024 and 27.9% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.3% in the past 5 days and rose 2.7% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.1 on a trailing basis and 16.6 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.8t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 10.15% compared with 10.17% in the previous session and the average of 12.90% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Industrials | -19.4931| -0.6| 5/22
Energy | -18.1124| -0.4| 7/33
Information Technology | -12.3961| -0.6| 5/5
Consumer Discretionary | -7.9055| -1.0| 4/7
Communication Services | -3.4540| -0.5| 1/3
Real Estate | -2.4694| -0.5| 4/15
Consumer Staples | -0.5352| -0.1| 6/5
Health Care | -0.2418| -0.3| 0/4
Financials | 3.2678| 0.0| 16/11
Utilities | 4.8047| 0.5| 11/4
Materials | 10.2073| 0.3| 27/25
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Natural Resources | -15.7600| -2.3| -56.1| 4.7
TD Bank | -11.2300| -1.1| 48.2| -0.9
Canadian National | -9.2890| -1.5| -55.0| -6.3
Barrick Gold | 5.5110| 1.6| -13.8| 16.7
Enbridge | 7.9110| 1.0| -58.1| 16.2
TC Energy | 9.2060| 2.0| -23.2| 24.5
US
By Rheaa Rao and Isabelle Lee
(Bloomberg) — The S&P 500 fell on Wednesday — after wavering for most of the session — as investors pondered the Federal Reserve’s path of rate cuts and digested housing-market data.
The Nasdaq 100 closed modestly higher.
The 10-year US Treasury yield advanced to hover around 3.79%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose after a 0.5% drop on Tuesday.
Traders are now turning to earnings from Micron Technology Inc. and Jefferies Financial Group Inc., which posted results after the close.
Micron shares jumped more than 10% in post market trading after the largest US maker of computer memory chips gave a strong revenue prediction for the current period, aided by demand for AI gear.
Shares of Nvidia Corp. also climbed after the closing bell.
Investors parsed fresh data on Wednesday for clues on the economy and housing market.
Sales of new homes in the US fell last month while a separate set of data showed that mortgage rates have dropped for eight consecutive weeks, spurring demand for purchasing a home.
“One of the things we’re watching is buyers catching up to the idea that mortgage rates are lower and that the break we’ve recently gotten in mortgage rates might be a lot of what we are expecting to get,” Skylar Olsen, chief economist at Zillow, said on Bloomberg Television. “Mortgage rates are not expected to go too much lower from here because they moved early with that anticipation.”
Post-Rate-Cut Catalysts
Traders are still seeking fresh catalysts after last week’s half-point rate cut by the Fed and as growth concerns linger.
After China’s latest stimulus failed to ripple beyond Asian markets, investors are looking to a speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell and price data at the end of the week.
“The market has been overestimating Fed easing for the last three years and I think probably continues to do so,” said Michael Rosen, chief investment officer at Angeles Investments.
“But what’s changed a bit with the 50 basis point move was a willingness by the Fed to move faster, to be more accommodative, to be more receptive to economic conditions, as opposed to just focusing on inflation.”
On Wednesday, Fed Governor Adriana Kugler said she “strongly supported” the central bank’s decision last week, adding it will be appropriate to make additional rate cuts if inflation continues to ease as expected.
Going forward, the Fed’s level of success in guiding the US to a soft landing will be important in determining the outlook for other asset classes, said UBS Group AG’s Solita Marcelli.
Gargi Chaudhuri, chief investment and portfolio strategist for the Americas at BlackRock, says the base case is for US growth to gradually slow but stay positive.
“However, a cooling economy is more vulnerable to exogenous shocks, and we look ahead to potential volatility-inducing events, including the US election,” she said.
ECB Wagers
In Europe, the region’s darkening economic outlook has fueled bets the European Central Bank will reduce rates again next month, while economists at HSBC Holdings Plc predict policy makers will start cutting interest rates at every meeting between October and April.
“The worry has been that all the economic data is looking quite shaky,” said Anwiti Bahuguna, global asset allocation CIO at Northern Trust Asset Management. “At the beginning of the year we did think we would see a nice uptick, but it started to slow down way more than any of us anticipated.”
Meanwhile, the Czech Republic indicated it will maintain a cautious approach to further monetary easing after cutting borrowing costs to the lowest level in almost three years.

Key events this week:
* ECB President Christine Lagarde speaks, Thursday
* US jobless claims, durable goods, revised GDP, Thursday
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell gives pre-recorded remarks to the 10^th annual US Treasury Market Conference, Thursday
* China industrial profits, Friday
* Eurozone consumer confidence, Friday
* US PCE, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets: 
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.2% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7%
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.6%
* The euro fell 0.5% to $1.1126
* The British pound fell 0.7% to $1.3316
* The Japanese yen fell 1.1% to 144.77 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 1.6% to $63,226.86
* Ether fell 2.8% to $2,575.8
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced six basis points to 3.78%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 2.18%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 3.99%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.6% to $69.71 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.1% to $2,659.97 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Winnie Hsu, Sujata Rao, John Viljoen, Margaryta Kirakosian, Alex Nicholson and Cristin Flanagan

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for. –Harper Lee, 1926-2016.

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

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

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