August 10, 2023 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.

August 10, 1675: King Charles II and John Flamsteed lay the foundation stone of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.
1846: Smithsonian Institution established.
1945: Japan surrenders.
2008: American swimmer Michael Phelps won the first of a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics by smashing his own world record in the 400-meter individual medley.  Go to article >>

Herbert Hoover, 31^st President, b. 1874.
Antonio Banderas, actor, b. 1960.

What’s happening at the Leaning Tower of Pisa?  Italy’s Tower of Pisa was once feared to be tilting on the brink of collapse. As it celebrates its 850th birthday, experts now say its future is “bright.”

This luxury tent resort has celestial credentials.   It can be challenging to stargaze in today’s artificial-light-filled world. Now, for the first time, there is lodging with official “dark sky” credentials.

Hidden underworld filled with never-before-seen creatures discovered beneath the seafloor
Beneath an undersea volcano, scientists have discovered a hidden world filled with bizarre creatures. Read More.

2nd nuclear fusion breakthrough brings us a (tiny) step closer to limitless clean energy
A nuclear fusion reaction that puts in more energy than it gives out has been demonstrated by U.S. scientists for a second time. Read More.

Eerie ‘fireball’ seen over Australia was actually a Russian rocket in disguise
A Russian rocket body fell back to Earth near southern Australia on Aug. 7, putting on quite a show for observers in the region. Read More.

Crocodiles are drawn to the wails of crying human babies and infant primates.  Crocodiles may be better at picking up on the level of distress in those cries than humans are.
Full Story: Live Science (8/9)

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Hilversum, the Netherlands
Morning mist covering the Westerheide heaths. The heaths are blooming earlier than usual this year.  Photograph: Jeffrey Groeneweg/EPA

New York City, US
A BA Concorde from the Intrepid Museum passes under the Brooklyn Bridge on the way for restoration.  Photograph: Guerin Charles/ABACA/Shutterstock

Qiannan Buyei and Miao, China
Tourists view a winding road in Qinglong county.  Photograph: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Market Closes for August 10^th, 2023

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1971, “socially responsible” investing took a step forward. Pax World Fund, the first broadly diversified mutual fund to invest in companies based on social and environmental criteria, was launched in Washington, D.C., by Luther Tyson and Jack Corbett.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.3%, or 67.61 to 20,342.88 in Toronto.
The index advanced to the highest closing level since Aug. 1.
Brookfield Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 5.1%.
Primo Water Corp. had the largest increase, rising 9.3%.
Today, 113 of 227 shares rose, while 108 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 0.5%
* The index advanced 2.3% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 5.4% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.4% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 13.8% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.6% in the past 5 days and rose 2.6% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.3 on a trailing basis and 14.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.4% 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 10.62% compared with 10.65% in the previous session and the average of 10.53% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 51.8243| 0.8| 22/7
Information Technology | 23.3096| 1.6| 7/4
Consumer Staples | 12.5378| 1.5| 7/3
Communication Services | 7.5721| 1.0| 5/0
Utilities | 3.2601| 0.4| 11/5
Real Estate | 0.7014| 0.1| 12/8
Health Care | -2.1150| -3.4| 1/3
Consumer Discretionary | -3.5022| -0.5| 4/10
Energy | -4.3126| -0.1| 11/27
Materials | -8.9078| -0.4| 20/28
Industrials | -12.7645| -0.5| 13/13
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Brookfield Corp | 22.3400| 5.1| 40.6| 9.0
Shopify | 15.2000| 2.4| -20.5| 61.5
TD Bank | 7.6880| 0.7| -36.2| -2.1
Nutrien | -4.1670| -1.3| -40.8| -9.0
Waste Connections | -5.8770| -1.7| 64.6| 4.8
Canadian National | -6.9690| -1.1| -6.0| -2.7
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks struggled for direction amid bets that even if the Federal Reserve pauses its rate hikes in September, policy will remain tight to prevent a flare-up in inflation.
Treasuries fell.
A renewed jump in longer-term US yields weighed on sentiment after a weak 30-year bond auction.
Wall Street’s risk-on bid also faded as Fed Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly told Yahoo! Finance the central bank still has “more work to do.”
That’s even after data showed the core consumer price index had the smallest back-to-back increase in more than two years.
“The case is building for the Fed to keep policy rates unchanged in September,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management. “While inflation is moving in the right direction, the
still-elevated level suggests that the Fed is some distance from cutting rates.”
The S&P 500 closed little changed after a gain that topped 1% earlier Thursday.
Nvidia Corp., which has more than tripled this year, extended a three-day slide.
General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. dropped on growing concern that demands from union leaders could send the automakers’ labor costs soaring.
Walt Disney Co. rallied after saying capital spending and outlays for movies and TV shows are coming in lower than projected.
Treasury 30-year yields climbed after a $23 billion auction was awarded the highest rate since 2011.
Two-year yields, which are more sensitive to imminent Fed moves, reversed an earlier slide.
Benchmark 10-year yields rose about 10 basis points tov4.1%.
The dollar gained.
Oil’s rally, driven by increasing signs of a tightening market, paused as technical barriers stalled further advances.
More on CPI:
* George Mateyo, chief investment officer at Key Private Bank:
“Today’s inflation report was reminiscent of the good old days. The Fed, therefore, might feel as if they’ve ‘stuck the landing’ and can pause as planned and not raise interest rates in September. That said, in our view, the economy continues to be carrying decent momentum, and as was reported last week, wage growth is still robust. So, while a pause is probable, a near-term pivot is not.”
* Greg Wilensky, head of US fixed income at Janus Henderson Investors:
“Overall, we expect to see the Fed keep policy rates unchanged in September, though there is still time and data to come ahead of the next meeting. If economic conditions continue as expected, we believe we have seen the last hike for this cycle. This makes us more constructive on adding interest-rate risk, particularly at the front of curve.”
* Michael Contopoulos, head of fixed income at Richard Bernstein Advisors:
“We still have another CPI print before the next Fed meeting, but I think today’s data in isolation would bolster the case for a skip. The other thing worth highlighting from today’s report is the jump in unemployment claims after a period of strength. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that inflation continues to moderate as the labor market continues to weaken (albeit at a snail’s pace).”
* Callie Cox, US investment analyst at eToro:
“We are far from the inflationary conditions of last year.  Now, the job clearly isn’t done yet. Stubbornly high inflation – even at 3 or 4% – can warp how we think about money. And the chance of a recession is still significant. The Fed has hiked rates aggressively, and we still don’t know what cracks are forming underneath the surface. In this environment, it’s important to stay defensive while respecting the bull market’s momentum.”
* Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate:
“While this report supports the notion of the Federal Reserve holding interest rates steady at their September meeting, we’ll need to see more evidence of easing inflation pressures before the Fed is comfortable moving to the sidelines and staying there.”
Key events this week:
* UK industrial production, GDP, Friday
* US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, PPI, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%
* The euro was little changed at $1.0980
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.2676
* The Japanese yen fell 0.7% to 144.80 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 0.3% to $29,405.98
* Ether fell 0.2% to $1,847.65
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced 10 basis points to 4.10%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 2.53%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.36%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.8% to $82.84 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,946.10 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Richard Henderson, Alex Nicholson, Cecile Gutscher, Emily Graffeo, Elena Popina, Vildana Hajric and Isabelle Lee.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much;
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more. –William Cowper, 1731-1800.

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