August 20, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

1942 – Plutonium first weighed.

1968 – During the night, 250,000 Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia in response to the Prague Spring.

1977 – The United States launched Voyager 2, an unmanned spacecraft carrying a 12-inch copper phonograph record containing greetings in dozens of languages,
samples of music and sounds of nature. Go to article

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Snapper Liz Gregg captured Elsa the Golden Retriever, Dolly the Cocker and Jeanie the Collie Poodle with pal Danielle Roughan, 27, both from Herne Bay, Kent.
CREDIT: LIZ CARR/TRIANGE NEWS

Water gushing out from the Three Gorges Dam in central China’s Hubei Province. The inflow of water at the Three Gorges reservoir reached 72,000 cubic meters per second at Wednesday noon.
CREDIT: XINHUA/SHUTTERSTOCK

Fishermen clean their nets after fishing at sunset in Banda Aceh.
CREDIT: CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Market Closes for August 20^th , 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1982, the stock market finished a week of shattering records right and left, as the Dow closed at a 869.26—up 81.24 points for the week, or a startling 10.3%. In the tumultuous week, four out of the five trading days were among the 10 busiest yet recorded on the New York Stock Exchange—and the Dow had its biggest and fourth-biggest daily point moves yet on record.
Most amazing of all: Just days earlier, most investors had thought a bull market was still months, even years, away.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities pared a drop earlier in Thursday’s session as information technology stocks advanced. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.2%, with six of 11 sectors higher. Lightspeed POS Inc. and Constellation Software Inc. were among technology gainers. Real estate also advanced. Spot gold closed with its third gain in four sessions as concerns over the path of the economic recovery and U.S.-China trade tensions bolstered demand for haven assets. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government plans to extend Canada’s emergency income support for another four weeks, and beef up the country’s employment insurance plan in an effort to keep stimulus flowing into the economy.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $11.75 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 1.2% to $1,952 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.3% to C$1.3176 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 2.3 basis points to 0.559%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.2 percent at 16,606.76 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.3 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.6 percent.  Cineplex Inc. had the largest increase, rising 10.8 percent. Today, 102 of 221 shares rose, while 117 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 0.6 percent
* This month, the index rose 2.7 percent
* The index advanced 2.4 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 16 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 0.5 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.6 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.3 on a trailing basis and 24.8 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$2.53t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 10.59 percent compared with 10.74 percent in the previous session and the average of 12.92 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | 40.1228| 2.4| 9/1
Materials | 24.8156| 1.0| 36/14
Real Estate | 7.3064| 1.4| 23/3
Consumer Staples | 0.7048| 0.1| 3/8
Communication Services | 0.2535| 0.0| 5/3
Consumer Discretionary | 0.1475| 0.0| 4/9
Health Care | -1.2428| -0.8| 2/7
Utilities | -1.7554| -0.2| 4/12
Industrials | -2.2223| -0.1| 10/18
Energy | -15.7453| -0.8| 2/21
Financials | -23.0131| -0.5| 4/21
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed as gains in giant technology companies drove the Nasdaq 100 to a record, tempering concern that a recovery from the pandemic-induced recession will need more time. Treasuries rose. The rally in heavyweights such as Apple Inc. and Tesla Inc. offset a slide for energy producers and banks amid light trading volume. Intel Corp. — the world’s largest chipmaker – jumped on news it’s entering into accelerated agreements to buy back $10 billion of shares. Zoom Video Communications Inc. surged after Morgan Stanley boosted its price target for the video- conferencing company. Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. climbed after being spared from having to rapidly convert their California drivers to employees.
Wall Street’s obsession with the fortress-like profit potential of internet and software companies seems to remain intact. Thanks to solid balance sheets and a suite of products that benefit from social distancing, tech has extended this year’s surge — the biggest among major S&P 500 groups. The industry has sustained momentum for the stock market, despite concern over lofty valuations and economic growth. “The love for technology stocks grew as the favorite pandemic plays,” wrote Ed Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda. “No one wants to short this market, so we are seeing investors just rotate back into technology stocks today.”
Earlier Thursday, equities slumped as applications for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased, with initial jobless claims climbing to more than 1.1 million. The report reinforces forecasts that improvement in the labor market will occur in fits and starts, with the latest uptick likely representing a pause in that recovery — rather than a substantial change in direction. On the trade front, China confirmed plans to talk with U.S. officials soon to review progress on their preliminary deal – a rare engagement between the world’s largest economies as relations deteriorate. Speaking in Arizona earlier this week, President Donald Trump said he canceled those plans because he’s unhappy with the Asian nation’s role in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Here are some key events coming up:
* Euro-area PMIs will be released on Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 1.1%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 1.4%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index lost 0.3%.
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1857.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.3% to 105.78 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped three basis points to 0.65%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield decreased two basis points to -0.50%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.225%.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index declined 0.8%.
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.8% to $42.58 a barrel.
* Gold strengthened 1.2% to $1,951.59 an ounce.

–With assistance from Joanna Ossinger, Todd White, Cecile Gutscher, Lynn Thomasson, Katherine Greifeld, Vildana Hajric and Claire Ballentine.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

You can preach a better sermon with your life, than with your lips.
                                               -Oliver Goldsmith , 1728-1774

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