September 16, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: 1620: Mayflower Day-Pilgrims deported from England.
1810: Mexican Independence Day
Lauren Bacall, actress, b. 1924
B.B. King, musician, b. 1925

On Sept. 16, 1974, President Ford announced a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam War deserters and draft evaders. Go to article »

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A Northern Lights display illuminates the sky in Rovaniemi, Finland.
CREDIT: ALEXANDER KUZNETSOV/ALL ABOUT LAPLAND

A person takes a photograph at dawn on Millennium Bridge in London.
CREDIT: HENRY NICHOLLS/REUTERS

A woman controls a ball, on the beach of Barra de Tijuca, Brazil.
CREDIT: ANTONIO LACERDA/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Market Closes for September 16th, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1920, slightly before noon, a massive charge of dynamite went off in a horse-drawn wagon parked in front of the Wall Street headquarters of J.P. Morgan & Co. Thirty people were killed immediately, another 10 were mortally wounded and hundreds were injured in a fierce hail of shrapnel and flying glass. “RED PLOT SEEN IN BLAST,” declared The New York Times, but no “Bolshevik” involvement was ever proven and the crime has never been solved. Several buildings along Wall Street are still scarred from the blast.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equity markets halted their three-day winning streak as tech stocks underperformed. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.8% in Toronto after rising for three consecutive sessions. Tech and consumer discretionary stocks were the worst performers, while health care and energy were the best. Air Canada rose 5.7% after Canada’s transportation minister said the government may loosen the country’s 14-day quarantine period for international travelers.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $7.85 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,958 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.1% to C$1.3172 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose 2 basis points to 0.573%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.8 percent at 16,295.66 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s increase of 0.4 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline and had the largest move, decreasing 4.9 percent. Today, 114 of 221 shares fell, while 100 rose; 8 of 11 sectors were lower, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 5 percent
* This year, the index fell 4.5 percent, heading for the worst year since 2018
* The index declined 2.7 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI  AC Americas Index gained 13 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 9.3 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 45.9 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.5 percent in the past 5 days and fell 1.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.9 on a trailing basis and 23.6 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$2.5t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 12.53 percent compared with 12.54 percent in the previous session and the average of 11.10 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | -56.1830| -3.6| 1/9
Financials | -31.2699| -0.7| 9/16
Industrials | -29.3136| -1.5| 11/17
Consumer Discretionary | -13.7072| -2.4| 4/9
Consumer Staples | -12.5440| -1.8| 1/10
Communication Services | -8.6178| -1.0| 1/7
Utilities | -6.4997| -0.8| 4/12
Materials | -1.5082| -0.1| 24/23
Health Care | 1.8717| 1.2| 6/1
Real Estate | 2.9076| 0.6| 19/7
Energy | 19.2505| 1.0| 20/3
US
By Rita Nazareth and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — Stocks fell amid a selloff in technology companies and after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks that he’s not sure if the faster-than expected economic recovery will continue. Earlier Wednesday, equities jumped to session highs after the Fed left rates near zero and signaled it would hold them there through at least 2023. Stocks wiped out gains amid a slide in giants such Adobe, Apple and Facebook. Treasuries fell after Powell stopped short of offering new specifics on the Fed’s approach to the monthly bond purchases that have buttressed markets, saying the program could be adjusted “to make it smaller, make it larger” or target different areas of the yield curve. Fed officials have stressed in recent weeks that the U.S. recovery is highly dependent on the nation’s ability to better control the coronavirus, and that further fiscal stimulus is likely needed to support jobs and incomes. “The recovery has progressed more quickly than generally expected,” Powell said, while cautioning that “the path ahead remains highly uncertain.”
It was the Federal Open Market Committee’s final scheduled meeting before the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 3. “The fact that he’s highlighting the negative potential economic consequences of a lack of Congressional action on fiscal stimulus definitely served to unnerve investors,” said Alec Young, chief investment officer at Tactical Alpha LLC, referring to Powell. The White House strongly signaled Wednesday that it is willing to increase its offer in talks with Democrats, and that Senate Republicans should go along in order to seal a stimulus deal in the next week to 10 days.
These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.6%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.5%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.
* The euro declined 0.4% to $1.18.
* The Japanese yen appreciated 0.4% to 104.99 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained one basis point to 0.69%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to -0.48%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield decreased one basis point to 0.211%.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index increased 0.7%.
* West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 5% to $40.18 a barrel.
* Gold strengthened 0.2% to $1,958.16 an ounce.

–With assistance from Joanna Ossinger, Andreea Papuc, Cecile Gutscher, Lynn Thomasson, Lu Wang, Constantine Courcoulas, Vildana Hajric, Kamaron Leach, Sarah Ponczek and Sophie Caronello.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent.
As ever,

Carolann

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed
ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.
                                                     -F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1896-1940

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