July 8, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Take a virtual tour of the Louvre in Paris. –The NY Times.

A new comet is now visible with the naked eye 
Now that 4th of July fireworks have subsided, how about gazing at space fireworks instead?  -CNN.

Hummingbirds can “count their way” to food. (h/t Scott Kominers), Bloomberg.

John D. Rockefeller, financier, b. 1839.
Anna Quindlen, writer, b. 1953
Anjelica Huston, actor, b. 1953

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Artwork created by long exposures and lights on a drone illuminates a windmill near Christer in West Sussex. The photograph is one of a set capturing landmarks on the south coast.
CREDIT: BEAR MARTIN/TRIANGLE NEWS

A view from the top of Russia’s Gorely Volcano, 1,829 metres above sea level.
CREDIT: ITAR-TASS NEWS AGENCY/ ALAMY LIVE NEWS

A Tenggerese woman worshipper carries a chicken as prepare to throw as offerings during the Yadnya Kasada Festival at crater of Mount Bromo in Probolinggo, East Java, Indonesia.
CREDIT: ULET IFANSASTI/ GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for July 8th , 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1889, the first issue of The Wall Street Journal was published by Charles Henry Dow, Edward Davis Jones and Charles M. Bergstresser.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose Wednesday as shares of gold and silver companies advanced.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.2%. S&P/TSX Composite Materials Sector GICS Level 1 Index rose 2.1% to its highest since January 2013. The group gained for a third straight session.
Gold’s allure in 2020 continues to strengthen, with spot prices surpassing $1,800 an ounce and inflows into bullion- backed ETFs already topping the record full-year total set in 2009.
Justin Trudeau’s government said it will run a budget deficit equivalent to nearly 16% of economic output, a level not seen since World War II, in a race to safeguard Canada from its deepest recession in almost a century.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $7.65 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.8% to $1,809 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.7% to C$1.3509 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose 6.4 basis points to 0.570%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.2 percent at 15,629.19 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.5 percent. Barrick Gold Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.0 percent. Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 10.5 percent.
Today, 101 of 221 shares rose, while 115 fell; 4 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* The index declined 5.1 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 5.8 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 13 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 39.9 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.7 percent in the past 5 days and fell 2.2 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.5 on a trailing basis and 24.6 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.37t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 19.53 percent compared with 19.65 percent in the previous session and the average of 20.10 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 47.9265| 2.1| 39/11
Industrials | 11.4354| 0.6| 17/10
Information Technology | 6.3637| 0.4| 7/2
Financials | 4.5835| 0.1| 17/8
Consumer Discretionary | -0.1181| 0.0| 5/8
Consumer Staples | -0.6946| -0.1| 1/10
Real Estate | -2.8617| -0.6| 6/19
Utilities | -3.8401| -0.5| 6/10
Health Care | -4.2675| -2.6| 2/7
Communication Services | -8.1139| -1.0| 1/7
Energy | -16.7236| -0.9| 0/23
US
By Vildana Hajric and Sarah Ponczek
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose as investors looked past tensions between Washington and Beijing and sought out tech companies thought to be insulated from rising coronavirus infections.
The S&P 500 Index climbed to a one-month high, while advances in high flying megacaps like Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. sent the Nasdaq Composite to a record. HSBC Holdings Plc slumped after a report that some of President Donald Trump’s advisers proposed a move to destabilize Hong Kong’s currency peg to punish China. Banks led European stocks lower.
Gold topped $1,800 an ounce, while Treasury yields inched higher and the dollar slumped. Analysts are debating what comes next for the U.S. economy as states allow businesses to re-open, but with much of the world stuck at home, investors have been bidding up tech shares.
That pattern appeared again Wednesday, with pandemic-sensitive sectors like airlines sinking even as online names held up.
“While the market largely reflects investor optimism, the Covid situation is seemingly evolving by the hour and we’ve also reintroduced trade tensions to the mix, so there’s a bunch to digest,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*Trade Financial.
Many Americans Plan to Spend Less Than Before the Virus Struck. Tensions between the U.S. and China have been growing after Beijing asserted broad new powers to rein in opposition in Hong Kong, pouring cold water over hopes the world’s largest economies will patch up relations soured by a lingering trade spat. Stocks in Shanghai powered ahead for a seventh day. Investors have been drawn to China’s markets amid efforts by regulators to boost the attractiveness of stocks and hopes for an economic recovery.
Signals pertaining to the coronavirus have been mixed in recent days and weeks. The number of confirmed cases in the U.S. surpassed 3 million Wednesday, with data showing a 2% increase in cases nationally. However, the fatality rate has remained low, a data point flagged by optimists.
“We’re sitting here kind of saying, ‘Well what comes next?’ And it’s not really clear,” said Kathy Jones, chief fixed-income strategist for the Schwab Center for Financial Research. “There’s a lot of question marks about how will this play out in the second half.”
Here are some key events coming up:
* All eyes will be on the U.S. weekly jobless claims report on Thursday.
* Singapore holds its general election on Friday.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.8% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.7%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipped 0.5%.
* The euro advanced 0.5% to $1.1329.
* The Japanese yen gained 0.3% to 107.24 per dollar.
* The British pound rose 0.6% to $1.2612.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose one basis point to 0.65%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.44%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.18%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.6% to $40.84 a barrel.
* Gold strengthened 0.8% to $1,809.32 an ounce.
–With assistance from Sophie Caronello, Constantine Courcoulas, Katherine Greifeld and Claire Ballentine.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.
                                                              –Bernard Baruch, 1870-1965.

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
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com