July 15, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Rembrandt, painter, b. 1606.
Rembrandt was born in Leiden, the Netherlands on July 15, 1606 – his full name was Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn.  He was the son of a miller.  Despite the fact that he came from modest means, he was able to study art and, by age 22, took his first pupils.  He married Saskia van Uylenburgh, the cousin of a successful art dealer, in 1634.
  Rembrandt’s family life was marked by misfortune.  Between 1635 and 1641 Saskia gave birth to four children, but only the last, Titus, survived.  Saskia died in 1642, at the age of 30.  Hendrickje Stoffels, who became Rembrandt’s housekeeper in 1649, eventually  became his wife and was the model for many of his pictures.  Despite Rembrandt’s success as an artist, teacher, and art dealer, his flamboyant living forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1656.  His beloved Hendrickje died in 1663, and his son, Titus, in 1668 at only 27 years of age.  Eleven months later, on October 4, 1669, Rembrandt died in Amsterdam.

1997 Fashion designer Gianni Versace was shot to death outside his home in Miami; suspected gunman Andrew Phillip Cunanan was found dead eight days later. Go to article »

The next pandemic could be averted with artificial intelligence, big data and cellphone apps.

James Bond’s next car is a plug-in … (h/t Scott Kominers)

Netflix is developing animated series with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.  Move over, Disney princesses! 

Invasive, football-size goldfish found in a Minnesota lake.  You know when people exaggerate a little on the size of their catch? This one is definitely thaaat big! 

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man fishes on a boat at Lake Hamana in the sun set in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
CREDIT: REUTERS/KIM KYUNG-HOON

Workers tend to green onion plants in stunning terraced gardens. Hundreds of employees work year-round to plant, grow and harvest the onions on the beautiful tiered gardens which cover an area of nearly a thousand acres – or 756 football pitches
CREDIT: ANDIKA OKY ARISANDI/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

A male lion stood proudly atop a hill of carcass bones as he surveyed the landscape with the golden-hued sun rising behind him. This British photographer captured the epic moment a lion stood atop a hill of bones. In the incredible snap, a 500-pound male lion stood proudly atop a hill of carcass bones as he surveyed the landscape with the golden-hued sun rising behind him
CREDIT: MEDIADRUMWORLD.COM/SIMON NEEDHAM

Sir Nicholas Serota watches a short film about sea monsters as he opens a £7.6 million, 360 immersive dome at Devonport’s Market Hall in Plymouth, which is the first of its type to be built in Europe
CREDIT: BEN BIRCHALL/ PA WIRE

Market Closes for July 15^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1916, William Boeing, a Yale-educated aeronautical engineer, incorporated the Pacific Aero Products Co. in Seattle with $100,000 in capital; he kept 998 of the original 1,000 shares of stock for himself. In 1917 he renamed his firm the Boeing Airplane Co. Boeing later made jet travel an accepted part of everyday life.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks advanced Thursday with Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. leading the market higher following its investor day. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.2%, with consumer staples and materials leading. Health care and energy slipped. Telecom shares including Rogers Communications Inc. fell after a report that the country’s wireless spectrum auction may have raised about C$8 billion ($6.4 billion).
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.25 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.1% to $1,829.29 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.7% to C$1.2596 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 3.0 basis points to 1.263%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.2 percent at 20,183.72 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.6 percent. Today, materials stocks led the market higher, as 6 of 11 sectors gained; 114 of 231 shares rose, while 115 fell. Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. contributed the most to the index gain and had the largest move, increasing 5.8 percent.
Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 0.4 percent
* The index advanced 26 percent in the past 52 weeks.  The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 36 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1 percent below its 52-week high on July 7, 2021 and 30.9 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.6 percent in the past 5 days and was little changed in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.2 on a trailing basis and 16.7 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$3.17t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 6.94 percent compared with 6.95 percent in the previous session and the average of 7.50 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Materials | 20.9683| 0.9| 32/21
* Consumer Staples | 18.9406| 2.6| 11/2
* Industrials | 12.1306| 0.5| 13/17
* Financials | 11.7110| 0.2| 14/13
* Real Estate | 1.7354| 0.3| 20/6
* Utilities | 0.4507| 0.0| 7/9
* Consumer Discretionary | -0.6664| -0.1| 4/8
* Communication Services | -3.0813| -0.3| 1/6
* Health Care | -3.1658| -1.3| 3/7
* Information Technology | -9.9325| -0.4| 3/9
* Energy | -12.6134| -0.5| 6/17
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Couche-Tard | 15.3200| 5.8| 54.0| 13.1
* Franco-Nevada | 6.8550| 2.8| 40.4| 20.8
* Canadian Pacific | 6.1650| 1.5| -29.7| 3.4
* Suncor Energy | -4.3980| -1.5| -39.2| 27.8
* Canadian Natural | | | |
* Resources | -4.6180| -1.3| -56.3| 39.0
* Shopify | -11.9700| -0.8| -27.0| 26.3
US
By Claire Ballentine and Natalia Kniazhevich
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks declined and Treasury yields turned lower again as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s persistent dovishness raises concern about the sustainability of the economic recovery. Energy, consumer discretionary and technology shares weighed on the benchmark S&P 500.  Growth favorites that led the recent rally such as Amazon.com and Google parent Alphabet dropped from recent all-time highs, sending the Nasdaq 100 lower.  Biogen slumped as its Alzheimer’s drug faces resistance from some health plans.  Oil declined amid a stronger dollar and after OPEC+ signaled it may revive output soon. Powell reiterated that it was still too soon to scale back monetary support such as asset purchases even though inflation has risen faster than expected.  Earlier, a report showed China’s second-quarter growth slowed largely in line with expectations even as a pickup in consumer spending suggested a more balanced recovery. “It’s possible that we’ve reached peak growth, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the cycle is rolling over,” Giorgio Caputo, senior fund manager at J O Hambro Capital Management. “When you factor in those peak growth concerns, as well as what’s been going on with the delta variant and the way interest rates have been declining, it does seem like we’re having a little bit of a growth scare.”
The yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell for a second day after briefly climbing earlier in the session during Powell’s testimony before a Senate banking panel. “They’re not seriously considering tapering yet and the language they use is persistently dovish,” said Anna Han, an equity strategist at Wells Fargo Securities. The Fed’s potential timeline for tapering $120 billion in monthly bond purchases, and the spread of the delta Covid-19 variant, are among key variables bothering investors with global stocks near all-time highs. Another concern is the possibility that recoveries in economic growth and corporate earnings are peaking. “The earliest we think they will make any decisions on any framework around tapering will be at the Jackson Hole Symposium in late August,” said Jason England, global bonds portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investor. “Inflation has run higher and more persistent than forecasts, however full employment is still a long way from pre-Covid levels so until they make substantial further progress on the jobs front, the Fed will continue to be patient on removing any accommodation.” Europe’s Stoxx 600 gauge dropped for a second day, dragged down by energy shares. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index erased losses and rose for the third time in four days. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell on expanding U.S. fuel inventories and a potential OPEC+ agreement to increase supply.
Here are some events to watch this week:
* Bank of Japan interest rate decision Friday

These are some of the main moves in financial markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.7%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1812
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3823
* The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 109.79 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined five basis points to 1.30%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.33%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 0.66%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.2% to $71.55 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,829.70 an ounce
–With assistance from Kamaron Leach.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. -Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.

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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com