August 23, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
2011 Judges in New York put an end to the sensational sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, setting him free after prosecutors questioned the credibility of the hotel housekeeper who’d accused the French diplomat.  Go to article »

Information does, in fact, escape black holes.

Within months of the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, the man who financed its excavation — George Herbert, the fifth Earl of Carnarvon in England — became ill and dropped dead. It didn’t take long for people to question whether a “mummy’s curse” had doomed the earl.  “Pharaoh’s 3,000 year-old Curse is Seen in Illness of Carnarvons” read the headline on the front page of the March 21, 1923, edition of “The Courier Journal,” a newspaper published in Louisville, Kentucky. Is there any evidence supporting the concept of a mummy’s curse?
Full Story: LiveScience (8/23) 

Astronomers have discovered an enormous new filament of gas and dust hanging at the outer edge of our galaxy. Nicknamed “Cattail,” the feature is not yet fully mapped, and the team who found it believe it could be a previously unknown arm of our Milky Way galaxy.
The Milky way is a giant spiral galaxy, which has a central bulge surrounded by coiling arms containing stars, gas and dust. Our home galaxy has four known spiral arms — two major arms named Scutum-Centaurus and Perseus, and two minor arms squished between them named Norma and Sagittarius, according to NASA. Earth is on a branch of the Sagittarius arm named the Orion Spur.
Full Story: LiveScience (8/23)

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Two giant eagles became embroiled in a bout of ‘air-rage’ – locking talons and appearing to ‘shout’ at each as they tussled in a mid-air scrap. Stunning snaps captured by dad-of-one Gary Jones  above a loch on the Isle of Mull in the Scottish Hebrides
CREDIT: KENNEDY NEWS/GARY JONES

A firefighter works as the Caldor Fire burns in Grizzly Flats, California
CREDIT: FRED GREAVES/REUTERS

The Coldstream Guards arrive at Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard, the first time the ceremony has taken place in 18 months
CREDIT: JEFF GILBERT FOR THE TELEGRAPH

Market Closes for August 23^rd, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1976, Vanguard launched First Index Investment Trust, the first retail index fund, to howls of derision. As Fidelity Chairman Edward C. Johnson III said that day, “The name of the game is to do the best and I can’t conceive of investment managers not even trying to do better than average.” Today known as Vanguard 500 Index Fund, it is now the largest mutual fund in the world.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks surged Monday, staging their  biggest rally since July 21 after last week’s volatility. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.7%. Healthcare led as Trillium Therapeutics surged the most on record, following Pfizer’s purchase of the cancer drugmaker. Materials and energy also gained along with higher commodity prices. Gold rose to the highest in more than two weeks as the dollar weakened amid speculation that the Federal Reserve may delay scaling back its asset-purchase program. Canadian banks are slated to report earnings this week as seven of the eight largest firms release quarterly results starting Tuesday.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $12.90 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 1.3% to $1,804.26 an ounce
FX/Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar rose 1.3% to C$1.2653 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 2.3 basis points to 1.165%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.7 percent, or 138.24 to 20,477.26 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 0.8 percent on July 21. Today, materials stocks led the market higher, as 7 of 11 sectors gained; 161 of 229 shares rose, while 64 fell. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 0.8 percent. Trillium Therapeutics Inc. had the largest increase, rising 184.5 percent.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 0.9 percent
* The index advanced 24 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 32 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.4 percent below its 52-week high on Aug. 13, 2021 and 32.8 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 1.4 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.9 on a trailing basis and 16.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.5 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 8.40 percent compared with 8.18 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.93 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Materials | 64.1246| 2.9| 49/3
* Energy | 46.8844| 2.0| 23/0
* Information Technology | 19.0633| 0.8| 10/2
* Health Care | 11.7865| 5.3| 8/1
* Financials | 5.3928| 0.1| 17/10
* Consumer Discretionary | 0.3048| 0.0| 10/3
* Industrials | 0.0403| 0.0| 21/9
* Real Estate | -1.9135| -0.3| 8/15
* Communication Services | -2.1649| -0.2| 3/4
* Utilities | -2.6144| -0.3| 5/11
* Consumer Staples | -2.6334| -0.3| 7/6
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 11.3000| 0.8| -59.7| 30.5
* Barrick Gold | 10.6600| 3.5| 42.2| -11.6
* Canadian Natural | | | |
* Resources | 9.9170| 3.0| 41.5| 33.0
* Intact Financial | -2.7020| -1.4| 1.2| 15.9
* Waste Connections | -5.7040| -1.9| 84.1| 23.3
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | -5.7680| -0.8| -24.1| 35.6

US
By Jennifer Bissell-Linsk and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities rose Monday as the Covid-19 immunization drive was bolstered by U.S. regulators granting full approval for the vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 rebounded from lows last week as the approval could lead to more vaccine mandates amid a surge in delta variant cases that has threatened the momentum of the global economic recovery. Mixed U.S. data Monday showed July home sales coming in higher than expected while growth at U.S. services and factories slowed to an eight-month low. Energy shares led the gains as oil rose above $65 a barrel in New York on improving sentiment. Treasuries were little changed and the dollar was weaker as investors also looked ahead to the Jackson Hole symposium Thursday, which may offer insights into how and when the Federal Reserve plans to taper its asset-purchase program. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed at a record. “Amid another record high last Monday it’s remarkable that we’re looking to start the week yet again on the upside,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading at E*TRADE Financial. “The gains last week couldn’t make up for the losses following the Fed confirming its intentions to taper its purchasing program.
All eyes will remain on the Fed as investors will be looking for more guidance on the taper from Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole.” If the delta strain persists, Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said he’s open to adjusting his view that the Fed should start tapering sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen endorsed Jerome Powell for a second term as Fed chair, a move that could reduce uncertainty about the path for monetary policy. “Solid economic and corporate profit growth, in conjunction with a still accommodative Fed, means that the environment for stocks remains favorable,” said David Lefkowitz, head of equities Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management. “As a result of our higher EPS estimates, we raise our targets for the S&P 500 for December 2021 by 100 points to 4,600 and June 2022 by 150 points to 4,800.” Aside from Fed comments, traders will be looking for the latest U.S. data on manufacturing, gross domestic product and jobs this week. The U.S. House of Representatives will also be holding key votes related to President Joe Biden’s $4.1 trillion economic agenda. In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 index increased for a second day.  In Asia, equities in China and Japan also gained.
China has once again brought local Covid-19 cases down to zero.

Here are some events to watch this week:
* U.S. Markit manufacturing PMI and existing home sales Monday
* Bank of Korea policy decision; briefing by Governor Lee Ju-yeol Thursday
* Fed officials attend the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium from Thursday through Saturday
* U.S. GDP, initial jobless claims Thursday
* July U.S. personal income and spending data Friday. Investors will scrutinize the personal consumption expenditures price index, an inflation measure closely watched by the Fed.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.9% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%
* The MSCI World index rose 1.1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.5%
* The euro rose 0.4% to $1.1748
* The British pound rose 0.8% to $1.3731
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 109.67 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.25%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to -0.48%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 0.53%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 5.3% to $65.44 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 1.3% to $1,807.40 an ounce
–With assistance from Robert Brand, Nancy Moran and Andreea Papuc.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Better a little which is well done, than a great deal imperfectly. -Plato, c.428 BCE-c.348 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