July 31, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
St. Ignatius Loyola Day; he died on this day in 1556 in Rome, Italy.

July 31^st, 1961~ Israel welcomes its one millionth immigrant.
1790~US Patent Office opens

Garth Brooks explains why he removed himself from the CMA Entertainer of the Year category
In short, let someone else have a chance! -CNN.

Here are 13 new books to check out in August.-The NY Times.

On July 31, 1964, the American space probe Ranger 7 transmitted pictures of the moon’s surface. Go to article »

Microsoft may buy TikTok, and Trump will order China’s ByteDance to sell the social network’s U.S. operations. -Bloomberg.

Forgiving someone else is really about you. -Bloomberg.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Heather Phillipson’s ‘THE END’ is unveiled as the latest artwork to take residency on The Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, London, England, UK.
CREDIT: JUSTIN NG/UPPA/AVALON

Magical images captured the six-foot-tall Kermode bear -of which experts predict there might only be one hundred left -as it walked through a rainforest and scoured a river for salmon. Other shots showed the mesmerising bear of unique pigmentation capture and devour a 30-pound fish in Canada.
CREDIT: MEDIADRUMWORLD.COM/SCOTTDERE/@TH

Bulging eyes, plant feasts and spiders ready to attach -These are incredible finalist entries from the ViewBug Macro Monsters competition capturing creepie -crawlies around the world.
CREDIT: LPEPZ/VIEWBUG/JAM PRESS
Market Closes for July 31st , 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1944, Robert C. Merton was born in New York City, son of Columbia sociology professor Robert K. Merton. With Fischer Black and Myron Scholes, he went on to develop the mathematics of options pricing. The mathematical model helped millions of Americans grow wealthy with stock options. But Merton and Scholes, as partners in the giant hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management, nearly capsized the global financial system with their leveraged trading in late 1998
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian shares fell Friday though ended the week higher with information technology index gaining 5%.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell about 0.8% Friday, with tech and health care among laggards. Materials advanced.
Air Canada escalated a fight with the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the country’s stringent travel rules, threatening to suspend more routes and cancel orders of locally made planes. Shares fell 6.1% Friday.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce’s new Toronto headquarters will play a role when the company returns employees to the office, but a majority will keep working from home into 2021.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $10.15 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.8% to ~$1,972 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.1% to C$1.3406 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose 2 basis points to 0.468%
By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.8 percent at 16,169.20 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 0.9 percent on July 23 and follows the previous session’s little change.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.1 percent. SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. had the largest drop, falling 9.0 percent.
Today, 151 of 221 shares fell, while 67 rose; 9 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 1.1 percent
* This month, the index rose 4.2 percent
* The index declined 1.4 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 9.2 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 10 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 44.7 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.5 on a trailing basis and 24.6 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.2 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.48t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 13.36 percent compared with 13.05 percent in the previous session and the average of 17.61 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | -77.5087| -1.7| 0/25
Information Technology | -34.0771| -2.0| 3/7
Energy | -28.0912| -1.4| 3/20
Industrials | -13.4014| -0.7| 5/23
Consumer Discretionary | -9.1860| -1.6| 1/12
Consumer Staples | -6.7853| -1.0| 3/7
Real Estate | -5.6199| -1.1| 6/21
Communication Services | -5.1423| -0.6| 3/5
Health Care | -3.3353| -2.0| 1/8
Utilities | 1.9859| 0.2| 8/8
Materials | 51.0760| 2.0| 34/15
US
By Rita Nazareth and Amena Saad
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks extended their July rally amid a surge in technology shares and on news the White House and Democrats are planning to meet Saturday to discuss the next virus-relief package.
Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said the administration is willing to compromise while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted Republicans didn’t have the votes to extend the $600 per week unemployment benefit that’s propped up incomes and spending. The Nasdaq 100 outperformed on solid earnings from giants such as Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. Microsoft Corp. erased declines on a news report it’s exploring an acquisition of TikTok’s operations in the U.S. Earlier Friday, equities slumped after Florida posted a fourth straight record in deaths by Covid-19, Arizona’s cases accelerated and New Jersey’s virus transmission rate jumped.

In a very volatile session, the S&P 500 notched its fourth consecutive monthly advance. However, signs the economic rebound is stalling might make it tougher for stocks to gain further momentum. U.S. consumer sentiment extended its slide in late July as the resurgent coronavirus led to renewed business closings andlayoffs. The extra federal unemployment benefits of $600 a week run dry as of Friday — leaving millions of out-of- work Americans without an additional safety net at a time when the jobs market is still depressed.
“With the impact of past stimulus measures fading and given some evidence that the global recovery has already stalled, it remains to be seen what will help keep global stock markets elevated in the coming months, especially U.S. stocks,” said Fawad Razaqzada, a market analyst at ThinkMarkets. “There is a risk we may see a correction in August, although it doesn’t have to be as severe as the one we saw in March, for things have since improved and monetary conditions are even more accommodative.”
Tech companies continued to lead the advance in 2020, and their solid results are a validation for bulls who have bet the industry would emerge from the pandemic stronger than the rest of the market.
Since the bottom in March, the Nasdaq 100 has added about $4 trillion in market value. It beat the benchmark gauge for a 10th straight month — the longest winning streak in 20 years. Despite the tech resilience, Michael Sheldon, chief investment officer at RDM Financial Group, said it’s very possible the market could enter a trading range over the next month or two because there’s still a lot of uncertainty.
“If you look ahead 12 to 18 months, the economy is likely to continue to recover from the deep  downturn caused by Covid-19,” he said. “However, it’s important for investors to know that the recovery in the economy is not likely to be in a straight line. There will likely be bumps around the way.”
Some other corporate highlights:
* Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. posted the worst losses in a generation after the pandemic and a global crude glut combined to batter almost every part of their businesses.
* Caterpillar Inc.’s cost cuts helped it make up for slowing sales, but concern of second waves of the coronavirus weighed on the prospects for the rest of the year.
* Gilead Sciences Inc.’s “remdesivir guidance is hard to believe,” a Raymond James analyst said after the biotech company raised its forecast.
* Pinterest Inc. said revenue in July jumped as advertisers and users returned to the social-sharing service.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.8% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 0.9%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 1.5%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index jumped 0.4%.
* The euro sank 0.6% to $1.1778.
* The Japanese yen depreciated 1.1% to 105.86 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 0.54%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose two basis points to -0.52%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose two basis points to 0.104%.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index rose 0.6%.
* West Texas Intermediate crude increased 1.3% to $40.42 abarrel.
* Gold strengthened 0.9% to $1,973.78 an ounce.

–With assistance from Adam Haigh, Cormac Mullen, Yakob Peterseil, Robert Brand, Lynn Thomasson, Sophie Caronello,
Nancy Moran, Claire Ballentine and Lu Wang.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The most difficult yet important question about the world into which we are headed is this: What will become of human consciousness if its own explanatory power is surpassed by AI, and societies are no longer able to  interpret the world they inhabit in terms that are meaningful to them?
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            –        Henry A. Kissinger, b. 1923
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   How the Enlightenment Ends
 
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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com