July 10, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.

If you miss travel, don’t read this. But read it anyway. 

On July 10, 1940, during World War II, the 114-day Battle of Britain began as Nazi forces began attacking southern England and shipping convoys in the English Channel by air. By late October, Britain managed to repel the Luftwaffe, which suffered heavy losses. Go to article »

1834~James M. whistler, painter, b.
1871~ Marcel Proust, writer, b.
1943~ Arthur Ashe, tennis player, b.
1985~ Rainbow Warrior sunk, Greenpeace.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A pier is lit in the sunrise in Timmendorfer Strand at the Baltic Sea, northern Germany.
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/MICHAEL PROBST

The Neowise comet seen above noctilucent clouds taken from the Hochfeiler mountain in the South Tyrol alps in Italy. A fiery comet streaks across a silvery sky in this stunning image which captures two rare astronomical phenomena at the same time. The blazing three-mile-wide fireball is the Neowise comet which is currently passing 64 millions away from the earth in a once in a lifetime spectacle. The comet is captured streaking across a sky-layered with beautiful Noctilucent – or ‘night-shining’ clouds.
CREDIT: MARTIN RIETZE/SWNS.COM

A mother swallow feeds its young an insect at Rising Sun Country Park in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear.
CREDIT: GREN SOWERBY/SWNS.COM

Artist Anish Kapoor looks into his sculpture ‘Sky Mirror’ at Houghton Hall, King’s Lynn, UK, ahead of the opening of his largest UK exhibition of outdoor sculptures. The exhibition opens to the public on Sunday July 12 and runs until November 1 2020.
CREDIT: JOE GIDDENS/PA WIRE

Market Closes for July 10th , 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Gold futures again crossed $1,800 this week, hovering at levels last seen in 2011. They traded as high as $1,829 Wednesday, putting their all-time high of $1,888.70 within reach.
Gold’s appeal is as a hedge against two things: inflation and, well, apocalypse (i.e. “flight to safety”).  Gold’s peaks tend to coincide with red-letter Bad Times. It’s important, though, to look at what happened after those peaks. In January 1980, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 876. One decade and an economic boom later, it was at 2700. In September 2011 it was around 10900. One decade and a long economic expansion later, and it closed at 25706 on Thursday. -WSJ.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.9 percent at 15,713.82 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 1.3 percent on June 29 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.4 percent. Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.0 percent. Enerplus Corp. had the largest increase, rising 8.9 percent. Today, 149 of 221 shares rose, while 71 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 0.8 percent
* The index declined 5.1 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 5.7 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 12.6 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 40.6 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.7 on a trailing basis and 24.7 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 rose to 19.67 percent compared with 19.58 percent in the previous session and the average of 20.07 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 84.6553| 1.9| 22/3
Energy | 26.6990| 1.4| 21/3
Industrials | 14.1620| 0.8| 16/12
Communication Services | 8.8850| 1.1| 7/1
Consumer Discretionary | 8.7970| 1.7| 12/1
Utilities | 8.6887| 1.1| 13/3
Consumer Staples | 4.4883| 0.7| 7/3
Health Care | 3.6454| 2.3| 7/2
Real Estate | 2.9314| 0.6| 21/6
Materials | -4.8874| -0.2| 21/29
Information Technology | -12.8717| -0.8| 2/8
US
By Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks gained as signs that the world could be closer to an effective treatment for Covid-19 blunted concerns that a rising number of cases will curb the global economic recovery. Banks led the S&P 500 Index higher as the gauge extended its weekly gain to 1.8%. The broader index outperformed the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 on Friday for the first time in almost two weeks. Gilead Sciences Inc. advanced after reporting its Remdesivir treatment cut Covid-19 mortality risk by 62%, helping to ease concern about spreading infections. Oil rallied past $40 a barrel. European shares advanced. Treasuries reversed a gain that had pushed the five-year yield to a record low. With record deaths across America, as well as fears of a second wave in Asia, the spotlight is back on the outlook for the coronavirus as investors head into the weekend. Fiscal and monetary stimulus has buoyed markets thus far, but investors are looking for signals on what additional support may be in the works. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan, speaking on Fox Business, said he sees the need for more fiscal outlays. “The equity rally can continue,” said Ben Kirby, co-head of investments and portfolio manager at Thornburg Investment Management, which has about $40 billion in assets under management. “We have too much liquidity in the system, and more in the pipeline.” Elsewhere, China shares dropped as selling by state-backed funds signaled authorities wanted to slow the pace of gains following the Shanghai Composite’s eight-day winning run.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 1% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.9%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dipped 1.1%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index sank 0.9%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.
* The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1301.
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.2629.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.3% to 106.93 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose two basis points to 0.64%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.47%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 0.15%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.3% to $40.53 a barrel.
* Gold fell 0.2% to $1,799.72 an ounce.
–With assistance from Gregor Stuart Hunter, Adam Haigh, David
Wilson, Ravil Shirodkar, Yakob Peterseil and Robert Brand

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Four things come not back:
the spoken word, the spent arrow,
the past, the neglected opportunity.
        -Omar Ibn Al-Halif, 584-644

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