August 16, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Aug. 16, 1977, singer Elvis Presley died at Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tenn., at age 42. Go to article »

Madonna, singer, b. 1958.
Babe Ruth, baseball player, d. 1948.

Why your old video games may be worth millions.  And to think, they used to say video games were a waste of time! 

Watch how CNN covered the birth of cell phones in 1982 
Then, they were clunky and weighed as much as a small dog. Now, you’re reading a newsletter on them.

It turns out Alexander Hamilton was Jewish. — Justin Fox 

These are the U.K.’s 100 best restaurants.

“I don’t know anything about music.  In my line you don’t have to.” -Elvis Presley, 1935-1977.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Pigs do fly.. a sea eagles swooped down and carried away a small pig over a lake in Queensland Australia
CREDIT: MEDIADRUMIMAGES/CLARKEESPIE

Choo choo.. a steam train crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct in the Scottish Highlands
CREDIT: CHARLOTTE GRAHAM

In the pink.. photographer Nicolas leto captured this imaged of Hutt Lagoon, Port Gregory, Western Australia. This stunning natural body of water has a high salt concentration, paired with a special type of algae and bacteria, which produce the magnificent pink hue
CREDIT: NICOLAS LETOUBLON / CATERS NEWS

Perfect symmetry.. sunset over Central Pier in Blackpool 
CREDIT: GREGG WOLSTENHOLME/BAV MEDIA

So cute.. An eleven-day-old baby male Bornean orangutan is held by his mother Suli at Bioparc Fuengirola in Fuengirola, southern Spain
CREDIT: REUTERS/JON NAZCA

Market Closes for August 16^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1982, The Wall Street Journal reported that Richard I. Sichel, a respected portfolio manager at New Jersey National Bank, was keeping 30% of his equity funds in cash and considered high-grade bonds “the best investment.” Mr. Sichel warned, “There’s still room for disappointment on corporate earnings and the [Dow Jones] industrial average might hit the low 700s.” The Dow closed the day at 792.43, never came near the low 700s again, and finished the year at 1046.54.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equity markets fell on Monday, after cannabis and materials sectors declined. The S&P/TSX Composite index dropped 0.2% in Toronto. Health care was the worst performing sector, led by a decline in pot stocks, while communication services stocks were the best performers. Canada’s housing market posted its fourth month of sales declines as the number of people looking to sell their homes saw a precipitous decline despite prices near record levels.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $12.85 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.4% to $1,787.24 an ounce
FX/Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.5% to C$1.2574 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 2 basis points to 1.162%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the third day, dropping 0.2 percent, or 34.65 to 20,483.42 in Toronto. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.0 percent. Organigram Holdings Inc. had the largest drop, falling 13.9 percent. Today, 141 of 229 shares fell, while 81 rose; 6 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 24 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 34 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 2.5 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.8 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$3.23t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 8.85 percent compared with 8.86 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.95 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Materials | -20.1713| -0.9| 9/42
* Energy | -17.9761| -0.7| 2/20
* Real Estate | -2.9520| -0.5| 3/20
* Industrials | -2.8334| -0.1| 14/16
* Health Care | -2.2182| -1.0| 4/5
* Information Technology | -1.1983| -0.1| 6/6
* Consumer Discretionary | 1.2481| 0.2| 6/7
* Financials | 1.2661| 0.0| 15/11
* Consumer Staples | 2.2446| 0.3| 9/4
* Utilities | 3.8107| 0.4| 9/7
* Communication Services | 4.1215| 0.4| 4/3
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Canadian Natural | | | |
* Resources | -6.6950| -2.0| -35.9| 32.4
* Nutrien | -5.4450| -1.7| -26.8| 27.8
* Canadian Pacific | -4.9250| -1.2| 18.3| 1.6
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 2.7330| 0.4| -37.4| 36.4
* BCE | 2.9000| 0.7| 22.8| 18.4
* Enbridge | 3.2470| 0.5| 43.7| 21.1

US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — The stock market wiped out earlier losses, with the S&P 500 extending its surge from a March 2020 low to 100%.Treasuries climbed. The benchmark gauge of American shares closed at another record — its 49th since the end of last year — led by health-care and utility companies. Apple Inc. also climbed to an all-time high. Equities fell in the first few hours of trading on Monday after softer economic data from the world’s two biggest economies. Tesla Inc. sank as the U.S. opened an investigation on the electric-vehicle firm’s Autopilot system. Traders awaited signals from the Federal Reserve, with a town hall by Chair Jerome Powell Tuesday potentially acting as a precursor to the Jackson Hole symposium in late August. The market has viewed the event as a venue for the Fed to lay out the timing and contours of its expected move to taper the bond-buying program.
“The big question that’s hovering over the market is about the Fed — when the Fed is going to move, when the Fed is going to taper,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior financial markets analyst at City Index. “What we do know is that the recovery is going to be bumpy — it’s not going to be in a straight line.” Halfway through August, the S&P 500 is on track for one of the calmest months ever. Under the surface, however, there’s still a degree of anxiety about what’s coming. A measure of implied volatility in VIX options has advanced for five out of seven weeks — even as the Cboe Volatility Index kept falling. Citigroup Inc.’s Tobias Levkovich warned that investors should be bracing for more volatility as Fed tapering, the possibility of higher taxes, margin pressures and persistent inflation become forces “that the bond market has to respond to.” “We’re a bit more cautious,” Citigroup’s chief U.S. equity strategist said in an interview on Bloomberg TV, adding that these four potential issues “could cascade onto each other around September” as valuation is extended.

Here are some events to watch this week:
* U.S. Fed Chair Powell hosts a town hall discussion with educators Tuesday
* China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, begins a four-day meeting in Beijing Tuesday
* U.S. retail sales are due Tuesday
* Reserve Bank of Australia minutes are scheduled to be released Tuesday
* Reserve Bank of New Zealand policy decision and briefing by Governor Adrian Orr Wednesday
* FOMC minutes released Wednesday
* Bank Indonesia rate decision and Governor Perry Warjiyo briefing Thursday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 was little changed
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1776
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3836
* The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 109.25 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 1.26%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.47%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.57%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.5% to $67.42 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.6% to $1,788.90 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Srinivasan Sivabalan, Sophie Caronello and Nancy Moran.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Who dares nothing, need hope for nothing. -Friedrich Von Schiller, 1759-1805.

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