August 26, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Krakatoa Erupts, 1883 – 36,000 killed.

Christopher Columbus, explorer, b. 1451.
2003: Investigators concluded that NASA’s overconfident management and inattention to safety doomed the space shuttle Columbia as much as damage to the craft did.  Go to article »

An extra artery shows humans are still evolving.

Why are hyperlinks blue?

The search for alien life should broaden its horizons a bit, a new study suggests.

Fossil confiscated in Brazilian police raid is one of the most complete pterosaur skeletons ever found.  This piece of news could send you down the fascinating rabbit hole of illegal (or at best, questionably legal) fossil trades.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

An aerial view shows a giant landart fresco by French-Swiss artist Saype next to the Moleson summit in Moleson-sur-Gruyeres, Switzerland
CREDIT: VALETIN FLAURUD/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

The Train to the Clouds, the third highest passenger railway in the world, travels through northwestern Argentina, reaching 4,186 meters above sea level on the viaduct ‘La Polvorilla’, near the foothills of the Andes
CREDIT: TRAIN OF THE CLOUDS/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Aliens from the planet Hanyana, stars of Fringe show WeCameToDance, explore the mirror maze at Camera Obscura & World of Illusions, Edinburgh during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
CREDIT: EUAN SHERRY/GERRY IMAGES

Tent city… thousands of people camping at the Reading Festival
CREDIT: VAGNER VIDAL/HYDE NEWS & PICTURE LTD

Bonhams are auctioning works of South African sculptor Stella Shawzin. Pictured is Sasha Thomas with Polo Pony listed at £3,000-5000
CREDIT: FIONA HANSON

Market Closes for August 26^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1919, the Coca-Cola Co. successfully sold shares to outsiders for the first time, as a syndicate of banks and brokers from around the country bought 417,000 shares to resell to retail investors at an initial offering price of $40. (An earlier attempt at a stock offering in 1892 failed miserably.)
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.4% at 20,504.15 in Toronto, ending a 4-day rally. The loss follows the previous session’s increase of 0.2%. Investors will be listening for any details at tomorrow’s Jackson Hole symposium for when and how the U.S. central bank will start to ease back its massive bond buying program. Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.4%. Lithium Americas Corp. had the largest drop, falling 5.3%. Today, 118 of 229 shares fell, while 108 rose; 6 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 1.1 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 0.8 percent
* The index advanced 22 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 29 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.5 percent below its 52-week high on Aug. 25, 2021 and 33 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.4 percent in the past 5 days and rose 1.7 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.6 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$3.24t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.31 percent compared with 8.20 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.83 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | -60.9712| -0.9| 6/22
* Information Technology | -28.8753| -1.2| 5/7
* Consumer Discretionary | -6.0444| -0.8| 2/11
* Health Care | -2.8152| -1.2| 2/6
* Consumer Staples | -2.4383| -0.3| 9/4
* Materials | -0.9676| 0.0| 28/23
* Energy | 0.0217| 0.0| 10/13
* Utilities | 1.9418| 0.2| 12/4
* Communication Services | 2.2689| 0.2| 5/2
* Real Estate | 2.5784| 0.4| 19/6
* Industrials | 12.1324| 0.5| 10/20
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* TD Bank | -26.0100| -2.4| 60.6| 16.4
* Shopify | -25.9600| -1.7| -52.7| 33.6
* Bank of Montreal | -13.7600| -2.3| -13.7| 31.9
* Waste Connections | 2.9430| 1.0| -35.9| 23.7
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 4.2500| 0.6| 2.3| 36.8
* Canadian National | 9.1900| 1.4| -12.3| -1.0

US
By Jennifer Bissell-Linsk and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities fell Thursday as markets turned cautious after explosions in Afghanistan and ahead of a Federal Reserve gathering that may provide more clues about its approach to paring stimulus. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 slid as U.S. and civilian casualties were reported from blasts outside the Kabul airport, escalating tensions as the U.S. evacuates the area. The decline came after non-voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee also made hawkish monetary comments, urging the Fed to start tapering its asset purchase program. Energy shares led the decline as crude oil fell. Treasuries were little changed and the dollar rose. Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at Jones Trading, said the quick drop in shares was likely a culmination of the morning news, including the uncertainty created by the explosions and the Fed commentary ahead of Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium. Views are split on whether the address Friday will provide a clearer guide on tapering emergency Fed support.  While the ongoing economic rebound and elevated inflation add to the case for starting policy normalization, the fast-spreading delta virus strain threatens a slower pace of recovery  than some had expected. “While news of bombings at the Kabul airport has resulted in some volatility this morning, it has become consensus that Jackson Hole will be more or less a non-event as investors are moving expectations for any major Fed taper announcement to later this year,” said Christopher Murphy, Susquehanna International Group co-head of derivatives strategy. If Powell fails to hint at when a taper announcement will happen, all eyes will next be on the August jobs report, said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance. The latest jobless claims and annualized gross domestic product data Thursday slightly missed estimates. “A strong jobs report on Sept. 3 will lead to increased speculation that the Fed will announce their taper plans at the September FOMC meeting,” he said. “However, any weakness or disappointment in that report will push consensus back to the next Fed meeting.” The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell, dragged lower by basic resources and travel, while MSCI Inc.’s Asia-Pacific gauge snapped a three-day rally.  WTI crude oil fell, paring back its weekly gain to about 9%. Bitcoin slid to about $47,000. Gold was slightly higher.

Here are some events to watch this week:
* Fed officials participate in the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium on Friday
* 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 fell 0.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.6%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.5%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1754
* The British pound fell 0.5% to $1.3698
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 110.03 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.34%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to -0.41%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.60%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.8% to $67.84 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,794.70 an ounce
–With assistance from Divya Balji, Vildana Hajric and Robert Brand.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong.  Because someday in your life you will have been all of these. –George Washington Carver, 1864-1943.

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