August 20th, 2025, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: St. Stephen’s Day, Hungary.

August 20, 1889: The jar screw cap is patented by William Painter, improving food preservation and storage.
August 20, 1942: Plutonium first weighted.
August 20, 1953: The Soviet Union publicly acknowledged it had tested a hydrogen bomb. Go to article.

Eliel Saarinen, architect, b.1873.
Jacquelien Susann, writer, b.1921.

Saturday’s new moon is a seasonal “black moon” — a rare phenomenon that occurs once every 33 months. Here’s what that means and why it’s a great night for stargazing. Read More.

Keratin extracted from sheep wool has been found to help protect human teeth. It could be coming to your dentist’s office soon. Read More.

Finalists in the Ocean Photographer of the Year 2025 competition capture beautiful images of animals and people oceans. Read More.

A new brain-computer interface can decode a person’s inner speech, which could help people with paralysis communicate. Read More.

Cambridge Dictionary adds 6,000 new words
The list includes popular slang like “broligarchy” and “dululu.”

Aubrey Plaza opens up about her ‘daily struggle’ with grief
Her husband, writer/director Jeff Baena, died in January at the age of 47.

Is the cassette making a comeback?
And will Taylor Swift’s new album, which will be available on cassette, turn the trend into a revival?

460 million: That’s how many metric tons of plastic are made each year.

Feeling nostalgic, Gen X?
It’s cool. The ‘80s are back.

Quotable:
“I represent every Palestinian woman and child whose strength the world needs to see. We are more than our suffering — we are resilience, hope, and the heartbeat of a homeland that lives on through us.”  — Nadeen Ayoub, who will become the first woman to represent the Palestinian people at the Miss Universe pageant.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tall ships take part in the 50th Sail Amsterdam festival
Photograph: Sem van der Wal/ANP/AFP/Getty

Artvin, Turkey
A villager prepares to take part in the Berobana dance, a 150-year-old tradition symbolising unity and solidarity
Photograph: Dilara Irem Sancar/Anadolu/Getty

​​​​​​​Zhangjiajie, China
A man competes in the Slackline King championship final more than 1,000 metres above the Huangshizhai gorge
Photograph: Deng Daoli/VCG/Getty
Market Closes for Aug 20^th, 2025

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
The stone age didn’t end for lack of stones, and the oil age will end long before the world runs out of oil. -Sheikh Ahmad Zaki Yamani, 1930-2021.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.2% at 27,878.76 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.4%.
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.5%. G.
Mining Ventures Corp. had the largest increase, rising 8.2%.
Today, 110 of 211 shares rose, while 98 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.

Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.3%
* The index advanced 21% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 15% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7% below its 52-week high on Aug. 13, 2025 and 25.4% above its low on April 7, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.4% in the past 5 days and rose 2.1% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20 on a trailing basis and 17.6 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$4.47t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 9.64% compared with 9.65% in the previous session and the average of 8.24% over the past month

Index Points
Materials | 76.4391| 2.0| 33/14
Energy | 33.5748| 0.8| 28/11
Utilities | 3.6289| 0.3| 7/7
Communication Services | 2.5486| 0.4| 3/2
Consumer Staples | 2.4911| 0.2| 6/4
Health Care | -0.9111| -1.3| 0/3
Real Estate | -1.5007| -0.3| 9/9
Financials | -3.8065| 0.0| 13/11
Consumer Discretionary | -17.0038| -1.8| 0/9
Industrials | -18.9271| -0.6| 9/20
Information Technology | -21.6602| -0.8| 2/8
Agnico Eagle Mines |Ltd | 21.9800| 3.5| -10.4| 66.1
Enbridge | 18.3100| 1.8| -14.1| 9.2
Barrick Mining | 14.6800| 3.7| 78.3| 54.7
Restaurant Brands | -8.8290| -4.2| 83.5| -5.6
Cameco | -14.0500| -4.5| 14.4| 32.3
Shopify | -22.4200| -1.4| -29.1| 24.5
(MT Newswires):
The Toronto Stock Exchange closed higher again on Wednesday, as the up and down nature of recent trading continues amid a dearth of major market moving catalysts over the late summer period.
Buoyed by higher commodity prices, the S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 54.88 points to 27,878.76, but it lost more than 20 points over the final minutes of Wednesday’s session, leaving the index more than 100 points off the record close of 27,993.43 struck a week ago.
Sectors were mixed, with the Battery Metals Index down near 3% and Health Care down near 1.3%.
Energy was up about 0.7%.
Of commodities, gold prices were higher late afternoon Wednesday, moving higher following four losing sessions as the dollar and yields fell with the market awaiting the Friday start of the Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Wyoming.
Gold for December delivery was last seen up $32.90 to US$3.391.60 per ounce.
In relation to Jackson Hole, the minutes for the last meeting of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) on July 29-30 were released Wednesday afternoon and according to BMO Economics they “emphasized divergent views about the balance of risks to the economic outlook and, in turn, how soon the Fed should consider cutting policy rates.”
BMO said: “Utilizing an August 20 lens instead of a July 30 one, the Minutes read less hawkishly than they otherwise would. And it’s probably going to be up to Chair Powell in his Friday speech at the Jackson Hole confab to indicate how the balance of risks might have altered over the past three weeks.
We doubt it’s enough for an outright rate cut tilt on the scale, so Powell’s messaging is probably going to be subtle.”
Also, West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed higher as a report showed a larger than expected draw on U.S. oil inventories last week, while talks over ending Russia’s war on Ukraine continue.
WTI oil closed up $0.86 to settle at US$63.21 per barrel, while October Brent crude was up $1.03 to US$66.82 per barrel.
In relation to both equities and oil, Rosenberg Research has just made a minor change to the Rosie Macro Fund, shifting out of the Hamilton Utilities Yield Maximizer ETF (UMAX.TO) and swapping it for the Global X Equal Weight Canadian Pipelines ETF (PPLN).
“Our intent all along was to capture exposure to what we see as a bona fide growth and yield play in Canadian pipelines (benefiting from a renewed national interest in energy infrastructure investment).
The limited availability of pureplay Canadian pipeline ETFs made UMAX one of the only attractive options at the time, but, with PPLN now filling that gap in the market (while offering an attractive yield of 5%+ to boot), this is no longer the case, and we can fully align our original investment thesis via this ETF (pipelines only, with no diluted energy exposure),” Rosenberg noted.
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rebounded from session lows after a week-long tech tout, in the latest sign of febrile Wall Street trading ahead of Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech.
Following a rout that shed billions of dollars from US equity values, buyers emerged in the last stretch of Wall Street trading.
A renewed rout in big tech and signs inflation remains the predominant concern of Federal Reserve officials weighed on trading Wednesday.
Most major groups in the S&P 500 rose, with energy and defensive shares leading gains.
All mega caps fell, but they also bounced trimmed losses.
The Nasdaq 100 was down by 0.6% after earlier slumping almost 2%.
“Today feels like a test for the dip-buyers with data on PMIs on Thursday and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole may prove to be market movers/narrative changers,” Andrew Tyler at JPMorgan Chase & Co. wrote earlier Wednesday.
Treasuries pared earlier gains as minutes of last month’s Fed meeting cast doubt on how far and how fast the central bank will lower borrowing costs.
Two-year yields were little changed at 3.74%, compared to a fall of four basis points earlier.
Swaps showed traders continued to price in a high probability that the Fed will lower rates next month.
To Chris Zaccarelli at Northlight Asset Management, Chair Powell is likely to keep his cards close to his vest, emphasize that the Fed cares very much about their dual mandate and explain that they are data dependent.
“The minutes are consistent with Powell’s hawkish comments last meeting,” said David Russell at TradeStation.
“The bulls might get some cold water splashed in their faces at Jackson Hole.”
For some investors, profit-taking has taken precedence over continued risk-taking amid concerns about valuations, said Fawad Razaqzada at City Index and Forex.com. Yet he says the downside is likely to be limited even for tech names.
“We’re seeing a notable drop in leadership, with large-cap growth significantly lagging small caps and value this month,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide.
“Still, volatility and credit spreads remain calm, suggesting investors’ fears are modest.”
At BMO Private Wealth, Carol Schleif says stock valuations are full right now leaving little wiggle room for disappointment.
“The stock market is currently discounting a bright future ahead, and that assessment is largely justified thanks to earnings, which have been much stronger than originally expected and increasing clarity on trade and tax policy,” she said.

Corporate Highlights:
* Microsoft Corp. has curtailed Chinese companies’ access to advance notifications about cybersecurity vulnerabilities in its technology after investigating whether a leak led to a series of hacks exploiting flaws in its SharePoint software.
* Alphabet Inc.’s Google introduced a new slate of consumer gadgets on Wednesday, including several smartphones, a watch and new wireless earbuds, all meant to show off the company’s latest advances in artificial intelligence.
* Target Corp. named veteran Michael Fiddelke as its next chief executive officer, betting that the insider will revive the storied retailer struggling with weak sales.
* Off-price retailer TJX Cos. raised its full-year earnings per share outlook after better-than-expected results, a sign that shoppers wary of economic uncertainty are turning to discounters.
* Estée Lauder Cos. issued a weak profit outlook for its fiscal year, dragged down in part by tariff costs.
** The firm said it has hired external advisors to conduct a review of the brands it owns in a bid to accelerate a turnaround after years of sales declines.
* Lowe’s Cos. agreed to buy Foundation Building Materials for about $8.8 billion in cash, accelerating the home-improvement supplier’s push to serve more professional customers.
* Guess? Inc. will be taken private by Authentic Brands Group LLC in partnership with co-founders Maurice and Paul Marciano and Chief Executive Officer Carlos Alberini.
* Luxury builder Toll Brothers Inc. missed analysts’ estimates for quarterly orders as affordability challenges and economic uncertainty held back buyers.
* Thoma Bravo is in advanced talks to buy human resources software provider Dayforce Inc. in what would be one of the takeover firm’s largest-ever deals.
* Alaska Air Group Inc. debuted a new loyalty program that will let members choose from three options to earn award points, the first such offering in the US industry.
* Novo Nordisk A/S implemented a global hiring freeze as the Danish drugmaker seeks to cut costs and regain its footing in the competitive market for weight-loss treatments.
* Baidu Inc.’s revenue slipped slightly, hurt by an economic downturn that’s capping its ability to fight bigger rivals in AI and make inroads in new growth areas.
* SQM, the world’s biggest lithium producer by market value, boosted its sales guidance for this year and struck a note of optimism on prices after posting a 28% slump in second-quarter core earnings.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.6%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.2%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 1.1%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 0.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.1653
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3454
* The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 147.35 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.6% to $114,289.95
* Ether rose 4.6% to $4,348.16
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.28%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.72%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined seven basis points to 4.67%
* The yield on 2-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.74%
* The yield on 30-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.89%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.4% to $63.21 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1% to $3,348.66 an ounce

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Success is not the key to happiness.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. -Albert Schweitzer, 1875-1965.

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