August 10, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1675~ King Charles II and John Flamsteed lay the foundation stone of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.
1846~Smithsonian Institution established.
1945~Japan surrenders.
1962 – Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man made his debut in issue 15 of “Amazing Fantasy.”  Go to article »

If the universe is a simulation, can we crash it? -Bloomberg.

“Real Genius” turns 35. (h/t Scott Kominers) –Bloomberg.

Do You Know the Difference Between Being Rich and Being Wealthy?:  To one man, money was a plaything. To another, it was a possibility. Guess which one came out ahead in the end? -WSJ.

And finally, if you drink Fresca or Squirt, you’re now also swallowing the latest mosquito repellent.  Nootkatone, an oil found in cedar trees and grapefruits, won approval today from the Environmental Protection Agency as an insect repellent. It is so safe that it is used as a flavor and fragrance by the food and perfume industries.
The chemical is not oily, lasts for hours and has a grapefruit-like scent. And it repels mosquitoes, ticks, bedbugs and fleas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Bonus: It may also be effective against lice, sandflies, midges and other pests. –The New York Times.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Aeronaut teams take part in a hot air balloon competition near the White Rock, also known as AqQaya, in Crimea.
CREDIT:ALEXEY PAVLISHAK/REUTERS

The scene is Keswick where the mountain recovery team carried out a dramatic rescue after a 60yo climber plunged 40ft down a crag and miraculously survived.
CREDIT: KESWICK MOUNTAIN RESCUE/SWNS

Meet the amateur gardener who fills more than 100 hanging baskets and pots in his small suburban garden with nearly 1,000 stunning plants every year. Shaun Schroeder, 57, spends up to three hours a day planting, tending, dead-heading and watering his stunning collection of petunias and other assorted flowers. He spends four months growing them out in May, during a mammoth week-long planting session. The sprawl across 120 hanging baskets and tubs that cover every inch of his modest 4m wide garden at the back of his semi detached home in Whitchurch, on the outskirts of Bristol
CREDIT: TOM WREN/SWNS

Jimmy Shuttlewood up on the Moors in North Yorkshire.
CREDIT: CHARLOTTE GRAHAM FOR THE TELEGRAPH
Market Closes for August 10^th , 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1897, looking for a remedy for his father’s rheumatism, a young German chemist named Felix Hoffman synthesized a stable form of acetylsalicylic acid in a laboratory in Berlin. The head of Bayer’s pharmacological institute, Heinrich Dreser, lambasted Hoffmann’s discovery as “typical Berlin hot air; the product is worthless.” Bayer soon named the product “aspirin,” and it became the best-selling drug of all time.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian shares rose to the highest level since March 4 on Monday, led by advancing energy and healthcare stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.4% in Toronto. Energy stocks gained after oil posted the biggest gain in a week in New York amid signs that the U.S. may move forward with another economic stimulus deal that could bolster consumption.
On the deals front, the board of Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. may prefer a deal involving its U.K. wealth management unit to a sale of the entire company, analysts say. Canaccord, Canada’s largest non-bank brokerage, is exploring strategic options including a sale of all or part of its business, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported Friday.
Mark Carney, the only person to run two major central banks, is helping Justin Trudeau the craft next steps in a plan to pull Canada out of a deep recession sparked by the coronavirus. Five months after stepping down as the Bank of England governor, Carney has become an informal adviser on policy matters to the Canadian prime minister.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $11.75 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.5% to ~$2,025.70 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.2% to C$1.3354 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose to 0.495%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.4 percent at 16,605.50 in Toronto. The index advanced to the highest closing level since March 4 after the previous session’s decrease of 0.2 percent.
Suncor Energy Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.5 percent. Brookfield Business Partners LP had the largest increase, rising 11.0 percent.
Today, 129 of 221 shares rose, while 90 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 1.6 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 14 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 7.6 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 48.6 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.7 percent in the past 5 days and rose 5.7 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 24 on a trailing basis and 24.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.1 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.53t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 10.85 percent compared with 12.37 percent in the previous session and the average of 15.74 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 58.1996| 1.3| 20/4
Energy | 43.7136| 2.1| 22/2
Industrials | 15.3572| 0.8| 17/11
Consumer Discretionary | 7.1601| 1.3| 7/5
Utilities | 6.7565| 0.8| 14/2
Real Estate | 4.7570| 0.9| 17/10
Health Care | 2.4756| 1.5| 5/4
Communication Services | 2.2673| 0.3| 7/1
Consumer Staples | -3.8394| -0.5| 3/8
Materials | -10.4705| -0.4| 16/34
Information Technology | -65.3554| -3.8| 1/9
US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks were mostly mixed as investors sold some of the high-flyers that drove the latest rally that almost pushed U.S. equities back to record highs. Crude oil rallied and the dollar touched a one-week high.
The S&P 500 approached its all-time high reached prior to the coronavirus pandemic, while the tech heavy Nasdaq 100 lost 0.5%. The energy and industrial sectors led gains. Chipmakers led declines amid renewed tensions with China. Media shares dropped on speculation over the cancellation of college football.
“Tech has been one of the few resilient sectors within this whole year, I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw a little bit of pullback in that areas just because it’s been one of the more resilient,” said Katy Kaminski, chief research strategist and a portfolio manager for AlphaSimplex Group’s managed futures strategy.
The S&P 500 Total Return Index, which includes reinvested dividends, rose to an all-time high, exceeding its February peak. The price-only version rose to less than 1% away from breaking out.
Oil gained the most in almost three weeks after Saudi Aramco said demand will continue to improve and traders bet on more U.S. stimulus. Turkey’s lira was weaker even as the banking regulator moved to slow lending in an attempt to stabilize the currency.
In Europe, stocks advanced led by financial companies.
Chinese equities climbed on the back of data showing the economy continuing to recover from the pandemic, with consumer inflation accelerating.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump signed four executive orders to maintain some assistance, including for unemployment benefits, a temporary payroll tax deferral, eviction protection and student-loan relief. Trump’s policy announcements come as Democrats and Republicans are still negotiating a broader additional virus relief package. The two sides are still trillions of dollars apart on overall spending and on key issues, including aid to state and local governments and the amount of supplementary unemployment benefits.
“We’re entering the week in a precarious position with the S&P 500 within earshot of an all-time high,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investment product at E*Trade Financial. “Whether it breaks through that psychologically important barrier depends on how the market is able to take looming trade tensions and Washington machinations in stride.”
Elsewhere, shares in Lebanese real-estate company Solidere closed slightly higher as they traded for the first time since the deadly blast in Beirut’s port that killed more than 150 people.

Here are some key events coming up:
* Earnings include SoftBank, Telstra, Deutsche Telekom, Carlsberg, Tencent and JD.com.
* New Zealand’s policy decision is due on Wednesday.
* China releases a slew of data for July on Friday, including industrial production and retail sales.
* U.S. retail sales are expected Friday, with a smaller increase forecast for July than in the prior two months.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index increased 0.3% to 3,360.59 as of 4:01 p.m. New York time, hitting the highest in almost six months with its seventh consecutive advance.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3% to 27,792.88, reaching the highest in more than five months on its seventh consecutive advance.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.4% to 10,968.36.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 0.1% to 563.83.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index increased 0.1% to 1,180.45, the highest in a week.
* The euro declined 0.4% to $1.1745, the weakest in almost two weeks.
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 105.95 per dollar, the weakest in more than two weeks.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased one basis point to 0.58%, the highest in almost two weeks.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to -0.53%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield decreased one basis point to 0.131%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2% to $42.05 a barrel, the largest advance in almost three weeks.
* Gold weakened 0.5% to $2,025.19 an ounce.
* Copper rose 2.7% to $2.87 a pound, the largest rise in more than two months.

–With assistance from Lu Wang and Kamaron Leach.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

By words the mind is winged.
      -Aristophanes, c.450 BCE-c.388 BCE

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