July 23, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Here’s another study on how dark chocolate is good for your health.  Pass it on. –CNN.

Good News for Muppets Fans:
Miss Piggy hosts a beauty and lifestyle vlog. The Swedish Chef stars in a cooking competition. Dr. Honeydew and Beaker take you through high-octane science tests. These are among the sketches in “Muppets Now,” a new series on Disney+ parodying internet culture. –NY Times.

July 23, 1995: Comet Hale-Bopp is discovered and becomes visible to the naked eye nearly a year later.

On July 23, 1914, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia following the killing of Archduke Francis Ferdinand by a Serb assassin; the dispute led to World War I. Go to article »

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The comet Neowise is seen above the Joshua Tree National Park in Twentynine Palms, California.
CREDIT: RINGO CHIU/ZUMA WIRE

The Milky Way shines brightly in the clear night sky above Corfe Castle in Dorset.
CREDIT: GRAHAM HUNT/ALAMY LIVE NEWS

Surfers are seen catching a wave at Bronte beach in Sydney, Australia.
CREDIT: JENNY EVANS/GETTY IMAGES

Grey Reef Shark; Australia. A new landmark study has revealed sharks are absent on many of the world’s coral reefs, indicating they are too rare to fulfill their normal role in the ecosystem, and have become functionally extinct.
CREDIT: GLOBAL FINPRINT/SWNS

Market Closes for July 23rd , 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1996, just three days after telling the New York Times that the Dow Jones Industrial Average was heading for 6400, stock guru Elaine Garzarelli told her clients to get out of the market.  Her forecast that stocks would drop 15% to 25%, which would put the Dow at about 4300, helped send stocks plunging. But Ms. Garzarelli turned out to be off the mark: The Dow never again came within 1,000 points of 4300.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell Thursday as investors reassessed economic headwinds stemming from the coronavirus. The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 0.9%, the most since June 26. Ten of 11 sectors retreated. Ballard Power Systems Inc., the second-best performing stock in Canada this year, is a new short at Lakewood Capital, the firm said in its quarterly letter, calling it a “consistently loss-making and cash-burning Canadian company.”  Shares fell 10%. Two of Canada’s largest oil-sands producers plan to conserve cash until they have more confidence that a recovery from crude’s historic price crash has staying power.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $9.60 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.7% to ~$1,885 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was little changed at C$1.3416 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield edged lower to 0.504%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.9 percent at 16,018.65 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 1.7 percent on June 26 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.1 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.0 percent. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. had the largest drop, falling 16.2 percent. Today, 158 of 221 shares fell, while 62 rose; 10 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 0.7 percent
* This month, the index rose 3.2 percent
* The index declined 3.3 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 7.1 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 10.9 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 43.4 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 2.9 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20 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$2.46t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 13.42 percent compared with 18.64 percent in the previous session and the average of 19.33 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -45.0066| -1.8| 12/38
Information Technology | -30.9805| -1.9| 4/6
Energy | -28.0305| -1.4| 4/20
Financials | -21.9641| -0.5| 6/19
Industrials | -15.3937| -0.8| 6/22
Health Care | -5.6797| -3.4| 2/7
Consumer Discretionary | -3.7707| -0.7| 5/8
Communication Services | -2.7012| -0.3| 2/6
Real Estate | -2.1701| -0.4| 6/21
Utilities | -2.0847| -0.3| 7/8
Consumer Staples | 5.3630| 0.8| 8/3
US
By Vildana Hajric and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks tumbled to the lowest in a week after an unexpected rise in jobless claims rekindled concern the economic recovery has stalled. The dollar weakened and Treasuries rose. The S&P 500 Index slipped from a four-month high, led by losses in technology firms and companies that make non-essential consumer goods. The Nasdaq 100 Index dropped to a two-week low and turned lower for the week, erasing Monday’s rally that was the biggest since April. Twitter Inc. jumped after daily-user growth surged, but Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc and Apple Inc. each lost more than 3%. . Microsoft Corp. slumped after cloud growth slowed. Tesla Inc. slid even after results beat estimates. The first uptick in jobless claims since March comes as Congress negotiates a new relief package for millions of Americans who are set to lose enhanced benefits at the end of the month. Other worrying signs of economic slowing added to concern that the torrid growth in some areas will stall out. “The recovery is in place, but the labor market is really, really fragile,” said Gene Goldman, chief investment officer at Cetera Financial Group. “That’s going to weight on the markets and it’s going to weigh on consumers for a long time.” The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 0.58%, while Bloomberg’s dollar index weakened for a fifth straight day. Crude slumped, while precious metals continued their torrid run of gains that have taken gold and silver prices to multiyear highs.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index increased on gains in carmakers and consumer products, led by Unilever NV’s jump after sales fell less than expected. The yield on Italy’s benchmark bonds fell below 1% for the first time since March amid euphoria over the Europe Union’s pandemic recovery package. Positive signals emerging from an earnings season that is expected to be historically weak had been driving investors into risk assets. An increase in U.S.-China tensions and a resurgence in the virus across large swaths of America deadened some of that optimism. “Whenever the markets get to a point where there’s something just around the corner that they’re very focused on, that is when they sort of stop — whether they were trending higher or trending lower — they sort of start to trend sideways, but get choppy intra-day and start reacting more or less to headlines,” said Shawn Cruz, senior manager of trader strategy at TD Ameritrade Inc.
Here are some key events coming up:
* Quarterly earnings gather steam, with reports due from Intel and Mattel.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 Index fell 1.2% to 3,235 as of 4 p.m. New York time, the first retreat of the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3%.
The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 2.3%.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed up 0.1%.
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index lost 0.1%.
The euro gained 0.2% to $1.1593, reaching the strongest in more than 21 months on its fifth consecutive advance.
The Japanese yen added 0.3% to 106.84 per dollar.
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 0.58%, the lowest in three months.
Germany’s 10-year yield increased two basis points to -0.48%.
Britain’s 10-year yield was at 0.12%, the lowest on record.
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 1.6% to $41.24 a barrel.
Gold futures strengthened 1% to $1,882 an ounce, reaching the highest in about nine years on its fifth consecutive advance.
Copper climbed 0.3% to $2.94 a pound.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure –
these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering
that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something
to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
                                                                                                       -Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

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