August 18, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
August 18, 1991~ Soviet hard-liners launched a coup aimed at toppling President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who was vacationing in the Crimea.  Go to article »
1872~ First mail-order catalogue published.
1960~First birth control pills sold.

1920: Women’s right to vote; 19^th Amendment ratified.
Robert Redford, actor, b.1937.
Rosalynn Carter, 1^st lady, b. 1927.

Scientists put human genes in plants to make them bigger.

San Francisco has an LSD museum. (h/t Scott Kominers)

Scientists make “mini brains” in petri dishes grow “eyes.” The mouths to scream will come later.

1800s astronomical drawings vs. NASA images.

from The Late Night Hosts:
“Yep, Biden will be making the booster shot announcement as part of his Operation: Change the Subject.” — JIMMY FALLON

“The first people to get boosters will likely be nursing home residents and health care workers, who could get the jab as early as mid-September. So these are autumn shots. The options will be Moderna, Pfizer or pumpkin spice.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“We’re going to get a third shot, OK? So, somehow, they’re going to have to make the vaccination card even bigger. It fits in most midsize sedans.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“Honestly, they should just send booster shots to your house like a cheese of the month club like, ‘Oh, honey, look — this month it is AstraZeneca. How exotic!’” — JIMMY FALLON

“America can’t even agree on the first shots. We’re like a giant family dinner where half the table wants pizza and the other half wants to die of Covid.” — JULIE BOWEN, guest host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live”

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Riot of colour.. Horticulturalist Georgia Palmer tends to the stunning Mixed Borders which have burst into bloom at RHS Garden Wisley this morning
CREDIT: OLIVER DIXON

Embers fly from burning trees as the Caldor Fire grows on Mormom Emigrant Trail in California, USA
CREDIT: ETHAN SWOPE/AP

The peleton passes through a sunflower field in Molina de Aragon during the 76th Tour of Spain 
CREDIT: GONZALO ARROYO MORENO/GETTY IMAHES

Ticket to ride.. surprising moment a crow took a ride on the back of a hawk during a strategic attack in Valrico Florida
CREDIT: MEDIADRUMWORLD.COM/@RKOTINSKY

Market Closes for August 18^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1982, as a bull market suddenly materialized out of nowhere, daily trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange exceeded 100 million shares for the first time, with 132,681,120 shares changing hands.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian shares fell on Wednesday as the nation’s inflation picked up speed last month to the highest level in almost 20 years and U.S. Federal Reserve officials agreed they could start reducing the pace of their bond-buying purchases.  The S&P/TSX Composite index extended its decline into fifth day, falling 0.3% in Toronto, posting longest losing streak since Feb. 2020. Materials and energy stocks were the worst performers as prices for most metals and oil were down. Health care and tech stocks were the best performers on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Manulife Financial said it will expand operations in China as the Canadian insurer seeks to capture increasing demand from the world’s second-largest economy as it
prepares for virus restrictions to ease.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $12.80 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold was flat around $1,786.86 an ounce FX/Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.2% to C$1.2648 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield was mostly flat around 1.162%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the fifth day, dropping 0.3 percent, or 61.48 to 20,302.11 in Toronto. The index dropped to the lowest closing level since July 30. Franco-Nevada Corp. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.4 percent. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 3.8 percent.
Today, 138 of 229 shares fell, while 89 rose; 7 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 22 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 30 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.3 percent below its 52-week high on Aug. 13, 2021 and 31.7 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.2 percent in the past 5 days and rose 1.6 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.7 on a trailing basis and 16.2 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$3.2t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.09 percent compared with 9.04 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.03 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Materials | -39.9025| -1.7| 11/42
* Energy | -35.7807| -1.5| 4/18
* Utilities | -5.5931| -0.6| 3/13
* Communication Services | -3.0365| -0.3| 3/4
* Consumer Staples | -1.8849| -0.2| 2/11
* Real Estate | -1.1501| -0.2| 11/14
* Industrials | -0.9586| 0.0| 20/10
* Consumer Discretionary | 0.4790| 0.1| 7/6
* Health Care | 2.4560| 1.1| 4/4
* Financials | 7.9756| 0.1| 15/13
* Information Technology | 15.9210| 0.7| 9/3
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Franco-Nevada | -8.7040| -3.4| 65.4| 16.3
* Barrick Gold | -7.4350| -2.4| 49.7| -14.7
* Enbridge | -7.3390| -1.1| -33.3| 18.7
* Canadian National | 3.6060| 0.6| -10.3| -3.9
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 7.5880| 1.1| -39.2| 35.1
* Shopify | 12.5100| 0.9| -42.5| 31.3

US
By Rita Nazareth and Lu Wang
(Bloomberg) — Stocks fell after the Federal Reserve signaled that a decision on a reduction of its massive bond-buying program could happen in 2021. Treasuries and the dollar were little changed. The S&P 500 extended losses into a second day after minutes of the Fed’s July gathering showed that most officials agreed they could start tapering this year as they had hit their inflation goal and were closer to reaching their standard for progress on reducing unemployment. “The minutes reflect a Fed that is prepared to accelerate its taper timeline to perhaps the next few months,” said Sean Bandazian, an investment analyst at Cornerstone Wealth. “There is still reason to believe we will see volatility throughout areas of the market with high sensitivity to interest rates.”
Earlier Wednesday, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said he would like to see the tapering of the asset-purchase program done by the first quarter of 2022. Several other officials, including Robert Kaplan of Dallas and Esther George of Kansas City, have urged the central bank to begin removing stimulus as soon as the September meeting. Chair Jerome Powell and Vice Chairman Richard Clarida have suggested they would like to see further progress before considering a move to taper. Among the corporate highlights, Target Corp. slipped after the retailer’s sales growth slowed in the second quarter, hinting that the heightened consumer demand ushered in by the pandemic may be waning. Lowe’s Cos. jumped as the home-improvement giant raised its full-year forecast. Elsewhere, oil dropped below $65 a barrel for the first time since May 24 as new waves of Covid-19 threatened fuel demand.

More comments:
* “Fed tapering is clearly in training camp mode, with Jackson Hole likely being a preseason game, and either the September or most likely the November FOMC meeting being the time to announce how they will pullback stimulus,” wrote Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.
* “It’s clear from the minutes that the Fed isn’t ready to start tapering yet, but they are leaning towards making an announcement by the end of the year at the latest,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance.
* “While the Fed minutes reveal more conviction in terms of starting to taper this year, they made the bold point that there’s no connection between tapering and rate hikes,” wrote Mike Loewengart,  managing director of investment strategy at E*Trade Financial.

Here are some events to watch this week:
* Bank Indonesia rate decision and Governor Perry Warjiyo briefing Thursday
* U.S. initial jobless claims, leading index Thursday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 1.1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.1713
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3758
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 109.78 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 1.27%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.48%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.57%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.5% to $64.90 a barrel
* Gold futures were little changed
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Srinivasan Sivabalan, Jan-Patrick Barnert, Vildana Hajric, Kamaron Leach and Elaine Chen.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow. –Aesop, c. 620 BCE-564 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
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com