July 7, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Fiesta de San Fermin~ Running of the bulls, Pamplona, Spain.

1954~Elvis Presley made his radio debut when Memphis, Tenn., station WHBQ played his first recording for Sun Records, “That’s All Right.”  Go to article »

Ringo Starr, musician, b. 1940.
Robert A Heinlein, writer, b. 1907.
Gustav Mahler, composer, b. 1860.
Marc Chagall, painter, b. 1887.
Satchell Paige, baseball pitcher, b. 1906.

New Zealand’s crazy housing market is a warning for the whole world.
Subway is revamping its menu after years of declining sales.  The tuna, however, isn’t going anywhere.
Iceland tried a shorter work week and it was an ‘overwhelming success’.  “Dear [boss], I came across an article you might find interesting … “
A giant 3D cat has taken over one of Tokyo’s biggest billboards.  Because who doesn’t want a massive, lifelike kitty meowing at them on their way to work?

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A frog was left looking like Princess Leia from Star Wars after two garden snails climbed on top of its head. In one image, the one-pound dumpy frog sat patiently atop a rock as two garden snails climbed on top of one another and shifted themselves into a comfortable position on the unbothered amphibian. The snap was captured by photographer Yan Hidyat from West Sumatra, Indonesia
CREDIT: YAN HIDYAT / MEDIADRUMWORLD.COM

These super ants have been captured hauling fruit three times their weight back to the nest. In one image, a tiny weaver ant could be seen as it balanced a wild cherry on top of its head and used its arms and legs to keep balance whilst in between a torn leaf. The spectacular image was shot by Dzul Dzulfikri from Beksai, Indonesia, who captured the balancing ants in his back garden from just one-foot away. Captured using a Panasonic Lumix G9 camera with a 100-300mm lens. Weaver ants can reach up to one-inch at full adult size and are known for their large colonies which can reach up to 500,000 members. These ants can carry up to three-times their own body weight and are native to Australia and South East Asia.
CREDIT: DZUL DZULFIKRI / MEDIADRUMWORLD.COM

‘The Rise’ by Turkish photographer Siar Umut Yildirim. VARIOUS: THE WINNERS of the Moscow International Foto Awards 2021 have been announced. 
CREDIT: MEDIADRUMWORLD.COM/SIAR UMUT YIL.

Market Closes for July 7^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1993, Charles W. Knapp was found guilty on three counts of conspiracy after his savings & loan empire collapsed, costing the U.S. taxpayer $2 billion.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were mostly unchanged, paring earlier losses on Wednesday. The S&P/TSX Composite was flat in Toronto, paring earlier loss of as much as 0.3%. Industrials were the best performers, led by Waste Connections and GFL Environmental.  Meanwhile, health care sector was the worst performer, led by pot stocks. Meanwhile, rail cars carrying goods for export are finally starting to trickle back in toward Vancouver, after train movement to and from British Columbia’s west coast was largely halted in the past week amid wildfire damage on two main tracks.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.30 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose about 0.3% to $ 1,802.66 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar fell about 0.2% to C$1.2489 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell about to 1.297

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite declined slightly to 20,290.60 in Toronto.  The move follows the previous session’s increase of 0.1 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 0.9 percent.  Ballard Power Systems Inc. had the largest drop, falling 8.1 percent. Today, 139 of 231 shares fell, while 90 rose; 6 of 11 sectors were lower, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 30 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 40 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.4 percent below its 52-week high on July 7, 2021 and 31.8 percent above its low on July 9, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.6 percent in the past 5 days and rose 1.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.4 on a trailing basis and 16.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.19t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 6.38 percent compared with 6.83 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.00 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Energy | -22.0084| -0.8| 4/19
* Financials | -13.8876| -0.2| 5/23
* Information Technology | -13.6597| -0.6| 3/9
* Health Care | -5.4943| -2.0| 1/9
* Consumer Discretionary | -2.3562| -0.3| 4/9
* Real Estate | -1.6472| -0.2| 11/15
* Consumer Staples | 0.7705| 0.1| 7/6
* Utilities | 3.4073| 0.4| 11/4
* Communication Services | 4.7722| 0.5| 4/3
* Materials | 15.8071| 0.7| 25/27
* Industrials | 24.8588| 1.1| 15/15
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -13.8900| -0.9| 21.1| 32.1
* Suncor Energy | -7.0150| -2.3| -11.8| 35.6
* TD Bank | -3.9240| -0.4| 101.5| 20.9
* Waste Connections | 5.4570| 2.0| 19.4| 17.4
* Canadian Pacific | 7.8810| 1.8| 21.8| 9.6
* Canadian National | 12.0800| 1.9| -9.9| -5.5
US
By Claire Ballentine and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose to record highs and bonds gained as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting showed policy makers continued to see elevated uncertainty and debated the tapering of debt purchases used to fuel stimulate to the economy. Ten-year U.S. note yields fell for a second day, dropping briefly below 1.3% for the first time since February, as expectations for an inflationary economic recovery continued to fade.  The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each closed at all-time highs, with the benchmark S&P doing so for the eighth time in nine trading sessions. “Markets are still enjoying this Goldilocks period that we are in,” said Don Calcagni, chief investment officer of Mercer Advisors.  “The market is still riding high on that euphoria and that’s why you’re seeing the 10-year at 1.31%.” Fed officials expected to continue to make progress on reaching its threshold to scaling back their massive asset purchases, the record of their June gathering showed.
Various participants mentioned that they expected the conditions for beginning to reduce the pace of asset purchases to be met somewhat earlier than they had anticipated at previous meetings. The June meeting also marked a turn in the central bank’s comfort with inflation risks amid heightened price pressures as the economy reopens from the pandemic, buoyed by massive monetary  and fiscal-policy support. “They’re quite disconnected from the bond market,” said Max Gokhman, head of asset allocation at Pacific Life Fund Advisors. “If more Fed officials are worried about inflation and see us making strong economic progress to where asset purchases can be tapered earlier then yields should be going up, not down.” The dollar was little changed against a basket of major currencies. Oil fell amid the OPEC+ crisis, which has stymied efforts to raise production and buffeted prices.

Elsewhere, Bitcoin gained and gold advanced for a sixth day. Australian and New Zealand bonds rallied.
Asian stocks fell, with Chinese tech firms in Hong Kong retreating after Beijing’s cybersecurity probe of ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc.
Here are some events to watch this week:
* The Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers meet in Venice on Friday
* China PPI and CPI data released on Friday

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.3% to a record high as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2% to a record high
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%, climbing for the third straight day, the longest winning streak since July 1
* The euro fell 0.2% to the lowest since April 2
* The British pound was unchanged at $1.3800
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0%, rising for the fourth straight day, the longest winning streak since June 29
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to the lowest since Feb. 18
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to the lowest since April 9
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to the lowest since Feb. 17
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.2% to $71.77 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.6%, climbing for the fifth straight day, the longest winning streak since May 20
–With assistance from Natalia Kniazhevich.
Have a wonderful evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Always take the high road, it’s far less crowded. -Charlie Munger, b. 1924.

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