Dear Friends,
Tangents: Happy Tuesday.
November 18, 1883 The United States and Canada adopted a system of standard time zones. Go to article.
November 18, 1963: The first push-button telephone is introduced by Bell System, revolutionizing how we dial and communicate.
November 18, 1978: Jonestown massacre; more than 900 followers committed mass suicide.
Mickey Mouse, b. 1928.
Margaret Atwood, writer, b.1939.
Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year 2025
Hint: The word describes an unhealthy modern phenomenon.
Meat cleaver gets past airport security
The TSA is investigating how someone was able to bring a meat cleaver on a Delta Air Lines plane in Portland, Oregon.
‘SNL’ books Cher as musical guest for the first time in nearly 40 years
Soon, there will be no need to turn back time, as Cher is set to return to the "Saturday Night Live" stage.
Justin Trudeau’s ex-wife breaks her silence
Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ex-wife Sophie Grégoire shared her thoughts about his apparent romance with pop star Katy Perry.
Met Museum unveils 2026 Met Gala theme
No red carpet carries more influence — or anticipation — than the Met Gala. In this video, CNN’s Rachel Tashjian breaks down the gala’s 2026 theme and what it signals for fashion’s biggest night.
| Quantum computing will make cryptography obsolete. But computer scientists are working to make them unhackable. |
When quantum computers become commonplace, current cryptographic systems will become obsolete. Scientists are racing to get ahead of the problem and keep our data secure. Read More.
| Three more Chinese astronauts are now stranded in space following successful rescue of their colleagues |
The Shenzhou-21 crew has been marooned on China’s Tiangong space station after three of their colleagues were brought back to Earth in the wrong spacecraft. For now, the astronauts have no safe way of returning home. Read More.
| High-fiber diet may ‘rejuvenate’ immune cells that fight cancer, study finds |
A laboratory study reveals an interaction between dietary fiber and the gut microbiome that may be helpful for fighting cancer. Read More.
| The more that people use AI, the more likely they are to overestimate their own abilities |
Researchers found that AI flattens the bell curve of a common principle in human psychology, known as the Dunning-Kruger effect, giving us all the illusion of competence. Read More.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
St Margrethenberg, Switzerland
A village wakes up to the first snowfall of the season
Photograph: Gian Ehrenzeller/EPA
Carrshield, UK
The first snow of the season in Northumberland
Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
Surrey, UK
‘Coco enjoying the last bit of autumn sunshine from her vantage point up on the fence.
’Photograph: Helena Gardiner
Market Closes for November 18th, 2025
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| Dow Jones |
46091.74 | -498.50 |
| -1.07% | ||
| S&P 500 | 6617.32 | -55.09 |
| -0.83% | ||
| NASDAQ | 22432.85 | -275.22 |
| -1.21% | ||
| TSX | 30036.46 | -39.75 |
| -0.13% |
International Markets
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| NIKKEI | 48521.71 | -181.27 |
| -0.37% | ||
| HANG SENG |
25930.03 | -454.25 |
| -1.72% | ||
| SENSEX | 84673.02 | -277.93 |
| -0.33% | ||
| FTSE 100* | 9552.30 | -123.13 |
| -1.27% |
Bonds
| Bonds | % Yield | Previous % Yield |
| CND. 10 Year Bond |
3.251 | 3.233 |
| CND. 30 Year Bond |
3.700 | 3.672 |
| U.S. 10 Year Bond |
4.1096 | 4.1308 |
| U.S. 30 Year Bond |
4.7309 | 4.7348 |
| BOC Close | Today | Previous |
| Canadian $ | 0.7148 | 0.7115 |
| US $ |
1.3989 | 1.4050 |
| Euro Rate 1 Euro= |
Inverse | |
| Canadian $ | 1.6204 | 0.6171 |
| US $ |
1.1583 | 0.8632 |
Commodities
| Gold | Close | Previous |
| London Gold Fix |
4072.50 | 4071.10 |
| Oil | ||
| WTI Crude Future | 60.74 | 59.91 |
Market Commentary:
On this day in 1883, the U.S. divided itself into four simple time zones for the first time, replacing the old system in which each state had dozens of mini-zones differing by a few minutes from the next. The move was spurred by the American Railway Association, whose members were frustrated at their inability to calculate standardized arrival and departure times across the country.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.1%, or 39.75 to 30,036.46 in Toronto.
The index dropped to the lowest closing level since Nov. 7.
Today, industrials stocks led the market lower, as 7 of 11 sectors lost; 94 of 212 shares fell, while 116 rose.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.7%.
Capstone Copper Corp. had the largest drop, falling 6.7%.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 21%, heading for the best year since 2021
* The index advanced 20% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 13% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.7% below its 52-week high on Nov. 12, 2025 and 35.1% above its low on April 7, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.2% in the past 5 days and was little changed in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.2 on a trailing basis and 18.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.4% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$4.78t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 15.79% compared with 15.87% in the previous session and the average of 13.63% over the past month
Index Points
Industrials | -31.6395| -1.0| 13/15
Information Technology | -20.3631| -0.7| 1/8
Communication Services | -12.9256| -2.0| 1/4
Utilities | -6.8073| -0.6| 5/9
Consumer Discretionary | -6.7669| -0.7| 3/6
Consumer Staples | -6.1721| -0.6| 5/6
Financials | -5.4893| -0.1| 12/12
Real Estate | 0.0082| 0.0| 13/6
Health Care | 1.1746| 1.5| 3/1
Materials | 3.5827| 0.1| 28/22
Energy | 45.6525| 1.0| 32/5
CIBC | -13.4000| -1.7| 21.9| 32.0
Celestica | -12.2300| -3.5| -38.2| 216.0
Telus | -11.4400| -5.3| 202.9| -2.5
Barrick Mining | 9.3110| 1.5| -22.4| 136.7
Canadian Natural | Resources | 10.0900| 1.5| 100.5| 7.2
RBC | 14.2600| 0.7| -13.0| 20.2
MT Newswires:
The Toronto Stock Exchange succumbed to renewed selling pressure late Tuesday and closed lower for the third session in the last four as investors seek defensive positions amid concerns around potential corrections across North American stock markets, not least in the area of technology due to ultra-high valuations on artificial-intelligence companies.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 39.75 points, or near 0.1%, to 30,036.46.
The resources-heavy index was not helped by mixed commodity prices, and investor nerves ahead of Nvidia’s (NVDA) earnings in the United States on Wednesday when market watchers will look for signals about whether the artificial-intelligence boom is accelerating or slowing.
Most sectors were lower, led by Base Metals, down near 1.5%, and Telecom, down 1.25%.
In contrast, Energy was up near 1.9% and Health Care up near 0.8%.
In news related to the Financial sector, which was flat to slightly lower, Canadian credit unions are looking forward to Ottawa opening the doors for competition in the financial service sector so they can compete with the big banks, BNN Bloomberg is reporting today, noting the optimism comes as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s federal budget, which was narrowly passed on Monday, signaled it wants to boost competition in financial services, a much sought after move by credit unions.
If successful, this move could finally give the lending institutions a meaningful foothold in the national market dominated by a handful of players, Michael Hatch, vice president of government relations for the Canadian Credit Union Association told BNN Bloomberg on Tuesday.
"The budget bill that we saw last night is a first step in terms of starting that process, and we’re very encouraged by it," said Hatch.
Staying on financials, Scotiabank on Tuesday said it is shuffling its executive ranks, with Phil Thomas appointed group head and chief strategy and operating officer, with Anique Asher moved to executive vice-president of real estate secured lending.
Of commodities, gold prices were trading lower over a fourth-straight session late afternoon Tuesday, as the momentum buying that pushed it to a record high last month fades along with hopes for another cut to U.S. interest rates this year and weakening risk appetite.
Gold for December delivery was down US$3.90 to US$4,070.60 per ounce, remaining under the Oct. 20 record of US$4,359.40.
But West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed higher even as it sticks to a tight range amid concerns the market is over supplied despite solid demand for refined products.
WTI crude oil for December delivery closed up $0.83 to settle at US$60.74 per barrel, while January Brent oil was up US$1.02 to $64.92.
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A selloff in the world’s largest technology companies drove stocks to their longest slide since August, underscoring the American market’s narrow reliance on a handful of growth giants.
The S&P 500 lost almost 1%, falling for a fourth straight day.
In the run-up to Nvidia Corp.’s results, the shares sank 2.8%.
The bar is getting higher for the chipmaker to convince investors that the billions of dollars spent on artificial intelligence will pay off.
Its outlook could have significant implications due to the firm’s massive influence on major indexes.
Wall Street has grown increasingly concerned that AI isn’t yet generating enough revenue or profits to justify the massive spending on infrastructure.
Microsoft Corp. and Nvidia are committing to invest up to a combined $15 billion in Anthropic PBC, in a move that ties the AI developer closer to two of the biggest backers for its rival OpenAI.
“The question isn’t really whether we’re in a bubble,” said Sonu Varghese at Carson Group.
“The real question is how long the current trend in AI spending will last and how bad the fallout will be when it ends.”
Valuations in the booming industry are due for a reassessment, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Vice Chairman Daniel Pinto.
“There is probably a correction there,” Pinto said at the Bloomberg Africa Business Summit in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
“That correction will also create a correction in the rest of the segment, the S&P and in the industry.”
The S&P 500 closed below 6,620, the lowest in more than a month.
A gauge of tech mega caps lost 1.8%.
A closely watched index of stock volatility — the VIX — hovered near 25.
Bitcoin climbed after briefly dropping below $90,000.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries slid two basis points to 4.12%.
The dollar wavered.
Meantime, investors’ cash positions dropped below a critical threshold in a monthly Bank of America Corp. survey, triggering a so-called sell signal for equities.
With exposure to equities still the highest since February in the BofA tally, Michael Hartnett said the market would “correct further” without a rate reduction next month.
Positioning is now “a headwind, not tailwind for risk assets,” the strategist noted.
While the recent slide was technically overdue, Louis Navellier at Navellier & Associates says the leverage of the correction was amplified by the extreme weight of mega tech and the fear of an AI bubble.
“Fortunately, earnings are holding up very well; no one questions that AI holds the promise for huge gains in productivity,” noted the Wall Street veteran.
“The uncertainty is centered around the timing of when the productivity will ramp and where and how the profits will be made.”
The bull case for generative AI is no longer clear, and hyper scalers should be approached with caution, according to an analyst who downgraded two of Wall Street’s most-favored tech giants.
Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. saw their ratings cut to neutral from buy on Tuesday, as Rothschild & Co Redburn’s Alexander Haissl downgraded the stocks for the first time since initiating coverage in June 2022, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“We disagree with the AI bubble narrative, as most of the spending comes from deep-pocketed incumbents, not leveraged start-ups,” said Harriet Smith at HSBC.
Nvidia, on a standalone basis, has grown larger than the energy, materials, and real-estate sectors combined and depending on the day, it even exceeds the combined weight including the utilities sector, according to Ryan Grabinski at Strategas.
It’s also bigger than the entire industrials sector.
“So, calling tomorrow’s earnings report ‘important’ is almost an understatement,” Grabinski said.
“The outcome is likely to send ripple effects through both US and international markets.
Although expectations for AI more broadly have cooled in recent weeks, this report has the potential to shift sentiment back to optimism.
That said, the bar is undeniably high right now.”
Nvidia has been one of the biggest winners in the large-cap space from the boom in AI, but its recent reaction to earnings reports has been unexpectedly weak, according to data compiled by Bespoke Investment Group.
“Despite consistently strong results and eight triple plays in the last eleven reports, the stock has traded down from the open to close on its earnings reaction day eight times, including each of the last five,” Bespoke said.
“So, despite generally strong results, investors have been ringing the register.”
The fact that Nvidia’s stock has experienced a reset in recent days heading into its earnings report Wednesday means the stock now has a slightly lower bar to clear post-earnings, according to James Demmert at Main Street Research.
“We expect Nvidia to exceed estimates and provide future earnings and revenue guidance that is higher than investors expect,” he said.
“It’s unlikely that Nvidia has seen any slowdown in demand for its products, even with increased competition, given how early we are in the AI cycle.”
Nvidia’s earnings on Wednesday are particularly important given the rising skepticism regarding the longevity of the AI cycle and current AI stock valuations, Demmert noted.
Valuations, while expensive, still trade at discounts to earnings growth rates and overall, AI market sentiment is mildly bullish and not euphoric, he said.
“The stock market’s recent pullback is a natural reset for a market that had very little volatility in recent months,” he noted.
“While it’s unusual to see a market pullback in November, it’s setting us up nicely for a strong December and year-end. We are still very early in the business and AI cycle.”
While Nvidia remains a bellwether for chip demand, the other major AI hyperscale’s have already confirmed a powerful feedback loop between cloud revenues, free cash flow, and renewed capex intentions, noted Lauren Goodwin at New York Life Investments.
“While we continue to monitor the pace and scale of debt- funded AI capex against revenue and earnings growth, we maintain our positive view on AI’s structural growth story, which should drive further equity performance,” said Ulrike Hoffmann- Burchardi at UBS Global Wealth Management.
Participation in transformative trends is often essential for long-term wealth preservation and appreciation, and she believes under-allocated investors should add exposure.
To Kyle Rodda at Capital.com, the drop in equity prices is a function of positioning, risk aversion and momentum.
That is: de-risking ahead of US jobs data and Nvidia’s earnings, which will inform expectations about the outlook for US interest rates and the profitability of the Magnificent Seven, he said.
“We believe the door is now open for a deeper pull/correction, and the six-month winning streak in equities to end,” said Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler.
“Investors should remain cautious but be prepared to take advantage of a deeper pullback in coming months.”
Meantime, stock traders across Wall Street are set to turn in their best year for revenue in at least two decades after clients piled into booming AI stocks in recent months.
The industry’s fee pool is expected to reach $94 billion this year, according to data compiled by Crisil Coalition Greenwich.
That would be an 18% increase from 2024, the consultancy found.
The malaise sweeping financial markets globally is creeping into credit markets.
Risk premiums on everything from investment-grade corporates to junk bonds are hovering near their highest levels in weeks.
On Monday, investors withdrew about 40% of bond orders on several corporate bond offerings after seeing final pricing, an unusually high level of attrition.
A separate investment- grade bond sale was pulled from the market altogether last week, a rarity in that market.
In the leveraged loan market, banks have struggled to sell some debt tied to acquisitions.
“Concerns over the tech sector are weighing on stock prices, although investors are also having to price out the prospect of another rate cut from the Fed next month,” noted David Morrison at Trade Nation.
A faction of Federal Reserve policymakers has stepped up warnings that inflation progress could slow or stall, casting doubt over the prospects for another interest-rate cut in December and laying bare a deepening divide at the central bank.
Officials broadly agree the labor market has cooled but are split over whether the slowdown will intensify.
And while one group is sanguine about price pressures, others are warning interest rates at the current level are barely restraining the economy and see further cuts putting progress on inflation at risk.
“This has led many to favour no change in the Fed Funds rate after next month’s meeting, which means the removal of a strong tailwind for equity markets,” noted Morrison.
Fed Bank of Richmond President Tom Barkin offered an optimistic inflation outlook, while suggesting the labor market may be weaker than available data signal.
He didn’t offer any clues on whether he’ll support another rate cut when Fed officials next meet Dec. 9-10, saying there is a lot to learn between now and then.
On the economic front, US homebuilders’ confidence barely rose this month.
Jobless claims totaled 232,000 in the week ended Oct. 18, according to the Labor Department website showing historical data for claims.
Companies shed 2,500 jobs per week on average in the four weeks ended Nov. 1, according to ADP Research.
The ADP snapshot of the labor market has helped bridge the gap with official employment data delayed by the longest government shutdown in history.
While funding to official statistics agencies has been restored, it’s still unclear when October economic data will be issued.
Traders will soon focus on the September jobs report, scheduled to be released on Thursday after a lengthy delay.
“The stock market has started to doubt the Fed’s ability to cut rates in December, so should Thursday’s jobs report come in weaker than expected, it may clear the path for the Fed to cut in December and fuel the Santa Claus rally we anticipate, which could push the S&P 500 to 7,100 by year-end,” said Demmert at Main Street Research.
Looking ahead, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists expect new release dates for the October and November employment reports will be announced in the coming days, with the November employment report, originally due Dec. 5, more likely than not to be delayed by at least a week.
“While we do not expect the Bureau of Labor Statistics to produce an October unemployment rate, we estimate it likely would have increased, reflecting upward pressure from shutdown- related furloughs and increases in broader measures of labor market slack,” said Jan Hatzius at Goldman.
Corporate Highlights:
* Meta Platforms Inc. won a key lawsuit Tuesday after a federal judge ruled that the company’s acquisitions of the photo-sharing app Instagram and messaging service WhatsApp don’t violate US antitrust law.
** Meta Chief Revenue Officer John Hegeman is leaving the social networking leader, one of several leadership changes at a company under pressure to deliver on a costly AI strategy.
* Apple Inc.’s iPhone 17 series drove a 37% rise in its monthly smartphone sales in China, signaling strong momentum in a key market.
* Alphabet Inc.’s Google debuted an updated version of its artificial intelligence model, Gemini, that executives said represents a “massive jump” in reasoning and coding ability.
** Alphabet was upgraded to buy from hold at Loop Capital, the latest example of how Wall Street is turning even more positive on the Google parent.
* Intuit Inc. will spend more than $100 million on a multiyear contract with OpenAI to further weave the ChatGPT maker’s artificial intelligence models into financial apps like TurboTax.
* A major outage on the network of cybersecurity firm Cloudflare Inc. was resolved after disrupting websites ranging from X to ChatGPT around the globe for several hours on Tuesday.
* Paramount Skydance Corp. said a report that it’s working with a consortium of Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds on a $71 billion offer for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is inaccurate.
* Pfizer Inc. is set to raise $6 billion through a US dollar corporate bond offering that will help fund its acquisition of Metsera Inc.
* Home Depot Inc. cut its full-year earnings guidance, warning that some unsteady consumers are hitting the pause button on big-ticket home purchases.
* Kroger Co. said it would close some e-commerce fulfillment centers and expand partnerships with delivery companies, a shift in its digital strategy.
* Billionaire Bill Ackman said now isn’t the right time for the Treasury to sell its shares of the government-sponsored mortgage giants known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
* Two heavyweights in the US residential real estate market, Compass Inc. and Zillow Inc., are facing off in a New York courtroom in a legal battle that could reshape the future of how homes are marketed and sold in the country.
* Klarna Group Plc reported record revenue that beat estimates for its third quarter, while setting aside more provisions for credit losses, in its first set of earnings since going public.
** Klarna has agreed to sell as much as $6.5 billion of its longer-term loans to funds controlled by Elliott Investment Management as part of the fintech’s push to free up capital in order to expand further in the US.
* Exxon Mobil Corp. plans to close its Mosmorran chemicals plant in south Scotland, citing a UK economic and policy environment that makes the operation uncompetitive.
* Freeport-McMoRan Inc. laid out a restart schedule for its sprawling Indonesian copper mine after a deadly mudslide in September, delivering greater clarity to investors on it most lucrative asset.
* Activist investor Elliott Investment Management LP has taken a large stake in Barrick Mining Corp., according to people familiar with the matter, after operational problems and cost blowouts left the gold producer trailing its peers while bullion prices surged
* Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp. has agreed to sell a 60% stake in its Topgolf and Toptracer business to private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners LP in a deal that values the business at about $1.1 billion.
* Airbus SE managed a comeback on the second day of the Dubai Air Show, reeling in deals with local carriers Etihad Airways and Flydubai and an accord for its A350 widebody model from Air Europa.
* Akzo Nobel NV agreed to acquire smaller rival paint maker Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. in a deal that will create a US- listed leader with combined annual sales of almost $17 billion.
* Rheinmetall AG is aiming for annual sales of about €50 billion by 2030, towards the higher end of previous projections, Chief Executive Officer Armin Papperger told analysts in a capital markets day call on Tuesday.
* Ocado Group Plc’s shares slumped after its biggest customer, US grocer Kroger Co., said its automated warehouse network is falling short of financial expectations and announced the closure of three sites.
* Toyota Motor Corp. detailed plans to invest $912 million to increase output of hybrid components and vehicles across five states, part of a broader $10 billion commitment in the US over the next five years.
* Baidu Inc. posted its biggest quarterly revenue slide on record, highlighting a weakening advertising business while it tries to keep up in the artificial intelligence race.
* PDD Holdings Inc. warned of a slowdown in an intensively competitive Chinese consumption environment, reflecting an escalating battle in online commerce with sector leaders such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
* Xiaomi Corp. expects a shortfall in memory chips to push up mobile device prices next year, joining a growing number of companies in warning of a potential supply crunch of the critical component in 2026.
What Bloomberg Strategists say…
“The slide coincides with Nvidia’s decline toward $180, which has served as a floor for the stock since September. Given the tech giant’s hold over the broader market, it’s no surprise that it has become a make-or-break type of stock for US equities.”
—Kristine Aquino, Macro Strategist, Markets Live.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.8% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1%
* The MSCI World Index fell 1.1%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 1.8%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.3%
* Nvidia fell 2.8%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1580
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3146
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 155.53 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 1.1% to $92,799.46
* Ether rose 3.9% to $3,121.86
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.12%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.71%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.55%
* The yield on 2-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 3.57%
* The yield on 30-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.74%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.4% to $60.77 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.6% to $4,070.40 an ounce
Have a lovely evening.
Be magnificent!
As ever,
Carolann
One should never forbid what one lacks the power to prevent. –Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821.
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