August 10, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
The Perseid meteor shower began a couple of weeks ago and will continue through August 24^th, with the peak being August 11-13.  Discovered in 1862 by Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle, the shower originates from Earth entering the orbit of debris from the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which takes 133 years to orbit the sun.  What makes the event so stunning is the shower’s bright, long streaks of light and dazzling “fireballs”, which are large bursts that last longer than typical meteors, according to NASA.  The shower is more visible in the Northern Hemisphere.  But it does require staying up late as the showers are best seen around 2 am but can be visible as early as 9 pm.  It has been an incredible year to witness some of the solar system’s visually stunning phenomena, from the super flower blood moon in May, the ring of fire solar eclipse in early June and the strawberry supermoon late last month.  Now it’s time for the best of the year – the annual meteor shower.

August 10, 1945-Japan surrenders.
1846~Smithsonian Institution established.
1993 Ruth Bader Ginsburg was sworn in as the second female Supreme Court justice. Go to article »

This terrifying ‘dragon’ was Australia’s largest flying reptile.  Leave it to Australia to always have the scariest animals — even in prehistoric times. 

Animals can count. No word on whether they’ve started trading.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Two of the worlds most endangered lemurs have been born at a wildlife park. The male and the female white-belted ruffled lemurs were born at Port Lympne reserve in Kent to mum Ikala and dad Mino. Ikala, who arrived at Port Lympne last year from Zoo Basel in Switzerland, is a first-time mum, and is doing well. Keepers say she has been enormously attentive to the busy, wide-eyed youngsters. The white-belted ruffed lemur is one of the worlds most endangered primates. Found exclusively on the island of Madagascar in lowland and mid-altitude rainforests, they are highly social animals, living in female-dominated groups
CREDIT: PORT LYMPNE/TRIANDLE NEWS

A small dog is seen towering over the camera in this picture by British photographer Bridget Davey in the picture titles Cat Day. Judges choice in The International Pet Photographer of the Year awards. The Awards are presented by the Pet Photographers Club and are an annual celebration of the artistry and skill that goes into pet photography
CREDIT: BRIGET DAVEY/MEDIADRUMWORLD.C

Local youths and volunteers gather in an open field and wait to support firefighters during a wildfire next to the village of Kamatriades, near Istiaia, northern Evia (Euboea) island.  Firefighters tried to prevent fires from reaching key communities and a thick forest that could fuel an inferno that one official said has destroyed hundreds of homes in seven days on the Greek island of Evia.
CREDIT: ANGELOS TZORTZINIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Market Closes for August 10^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
      On this day in 1945, as Allied air raids reached a crescendo, Japan’s stock exchanges closed down. Trading would remain suspended until 1949.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose Tuesday as investors continued to weigh strong earnings against the risks of the spreading delta virus variant. The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.3%. Oil rose alongside broader equity gains with investors optimistic global economic growth will continue even amid Covid-19’s resurgence.Soaring crop prices and global demand for food encouraged farmers to pay up for inputs produced by Nutrien Ltd., the world’s largest fertilizer firm, boosting its profit. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. made a new, higher bid for Kansas City Southern, looking to derail the U.S. railroad’s pending merger with rival Canadian National Railway Co. ahead of an important shareholder vote less than two weeks away.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.35 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.1% to $1,728.95 an ounce
FX/Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.4% to C$1.2525 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 1.5 basis points to 1.269%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.3 percent at 20,495.74 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.2 percent. Nutrien Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 5.5 percent. Nuvei Corp. had the largest increase, rising 15.0 percent. Today, 117 of 229 shares rose, while 108 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 23 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 33 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.2 percent below its 52-week high on Aug. 10, 2021 and 32.9 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.6 percent in the past 5 days and rose 1.2 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20 on a trailing basis and 16.4 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$3.21t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.84 percent compared with 8.93 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.60 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 41.8959| 0.6| 18/10
* Energy | 38.4513| 1.6| 20/3
* Consumer Discretionary | 12.4315| 1.6| 13/0
* Materials | 3.6180| 0.2| 22/29
* Consumer Staples | 1.6666| 0.2| 5/8
* Communication Services | 1.3135| 0.1| 4/3
* Health Care | -1.0844| -0.5| 3/6
* Real Estate | -3.1895| -0.5| 4/20
* Utilities | -5.9604| -0.6| 3/12
* Industrials | -6.4959| -0.3| 20/10
* Information Technology | -24.3177| -1.0| 5/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Nutrien | 16.5300| 5.5| 138.2| 30.9
* TD Bank | 14.5900| 1.4| -24.9| 19.2
* Royal Bank of | | | |
* Canada | 10.0300| 0.8| -71.5| 24.6
* Canadian National | -7.2640| -1.1| -2.2| -3.9
* Barrick Gold | -12.1500| -3.8| 59.8| -13.8
* Shopify | -28.6600| -1.9| 43.4| 33.1

US
By Kamaron Leach and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Slumping technology stocks stood in contrast to a broader gain in U.S. equities, exposing the lingering concerns about the ability of the economy  to weather less stimulus and rising Covid outbreaks. While the S&P 500 climbed to another all-time high, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 declined along with Amazon.com Inc.  Micron Technology Inc. led a decline in chip stocks, which slid for a fourth session. Energy shares rallied with oil. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index climbed for a seventh day. “The move lower in growth, especially the tech sector, may be two-fold,” said Dave Mazza, head of product at Direxion. “First, with the recent outperformance in the space, investors may be taking profits ahead of this week’s inflation data. Secondly, investors may be pricing in tapering by the Federal Reserve sooner than expected considering recent comments from officials.” Crude oil bounced back from a three-week low on bets that the global demand recovery will remain intact despite the fast-spreading delta virus variant.  Treasuries declined while the dollar was stronger against major peers. Remarks from Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic on Monday added to the mix of commentary and economic indicators traders are parsing for clues on the Federal Reserve’s next move. With stocks at or near records on the back of extraordinary stimulus measures, Bostic said that another strong month or two of employment gains should prompt the central bank to taper its asset purchases, and that the Fed should move faster than in past episodes. U.S. price data later this week will also be closely watched after Friday’s jobs report fanned expectations that unwinding will start soon.
At the same time, the spread of the highly contagious delta in corners of the world has raised concern the recovery from the pandemic will be derailed. New coronavirus cases in the U.S. surged to the highest weekly level since early February, while deaths increased the most since December. “While we may see an increase in market volatility due to the delta variant, we believe the S&P 500 is still likely to see more gains through the end of the year,” said Barry Gilbert, asset allocation strategist at LPL Financial. “Widespread vaccine distribution and distancing measures have helped limit the variant’s impact, but we could still see some drag on economic growth as some restrictions are reintroduced and consumers potentially become more cautious.” David Donabedian, chief investment officer of CIBC Private Wealth Management, said he also sees equities marching higher. “There’s clearly more focus and concern on the delta variant of Covid, but, to this point, markets have appraised that as a manageable risk and instead are leaning on a strong economy, a boom in corporate profits — not just currently reported but upwardly revised for the rest of this year and next year — and a belief that stocks still are the asset class to be,” Donabedian said. “The market is climbing the wall of worry.” Elsewhere, stocks rose in Japan, which reopened after a holiday, as well as in Hong Kong and China.

Here are some key events to watch out for this week:
* Kansas City Fed President Esther George among Fed speakers through the week
* The U.S. consumer price index on Wednesday is forecast to show prices increased again in July
* OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report due Thursday

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1719
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3835
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 110.58 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 1.35%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.46%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.59%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.9% to $68.44 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,730.20 an ounce
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

It is a painful thing to look at your own trouble and know that you yourself, and no one else, has made it. –Sophocles, c.496 BC-406 BC.

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