August 21, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.

Mittens the cat could become New Zealander of the Year 
In a year when everything and everyone seems to be bad, let cats represent the best of us.-CNN.

Take a virtual tour of Harlem, one of New York’s most storied neighborhoods. –The NY Times.

The end of the universe could be a frigid, lifeless wasteland punctuated by “black dwarf” supernovae. -Mike Smedley, Bloomberg.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A person watches the Christie Mountain wildfire burn along Skaha Lake near Pentiction, British Columbia
CREDIT: JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS VIA AP

A view of the 2020 Formula Kite Individual European Championships in Puck, northern Poland
CREDIR: ADAM WARZAWA/EPA -EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Straw bales have been given ‘googly eyes’ to bring fun and cheer to people visiting a village in Spain. Youngsters in the village of Oronz in Salazar Valley have decorate the circular bales with eyes to create the fun characters in the recently harvested field. Eduardo Blanco who was visiting the valley and came across it by chance said “The straw bales are decorated by young people in the village”
CREIDT: EDUARDO BLANCO/NATUREPL/ SOLENT NEWS

A Brocken Spectre also known as Brocken Bow was captured by Iain Weir on his hike on Sgurr nan Gillean in the Cuillins, Skye.
CREDIT: IAIN WEIR/ SWNS.COM
Market Closes for August 21^st , 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1754, William Murdock was born in Bellow Mill, near Cumnock in Ayrshire, England. In 1792 he invented coal-gas lighting, enabling the streets of London—and, soon, most of the world’s major cities—to be illuminated at night. For the first time, sunset did not have to mean darkness, and human productivity and safety took a great leap forward.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian shares dropped Friday, ending the week little changed.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.5% Friday, with seven of eleven sectors lower. Materials fell while health care also lagged.
Up more than 5% this year, the S&P 500 Index hit a fresh record Friday. In Canada, meanwhile, the TSX still needs to rise another 545 points, or about 3.3%, just to break even for the year.
Gold prices slipped, heading for the first back-to-back weekly decline since June, as the dollar advanced and stronger- than-expected U.S. economic data eased concerns over the pace of recovery.
Oil also slipped as signs of stumbling recoveries in major economies from Europe to Asia threaten to delay a demand rebound.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at an $11.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.4% to $1,938.90 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was little changed at C$1.3188 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 2.2 basis points to 0.542%
By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.5 percent at 16,517.85 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 0.7 percent on Aug. 11 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.2 percent.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.7 percent. Crescent Point Energy Corp. had the largest drop, falling 6.7 percent.
Today, 145 of 221 shares fell, while 72 rose; 7 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index was unchanged
* This month, the index rose 2.2 percent
* The index advanced 1.3 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 16 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 8.1 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 47.8 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.1 on a trailing basis and 24.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.2 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.53t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 10.59 percent compared with 10.59 percent in the previous session and the average of 12.55 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -53.8399| -2.1| 2/47
Information Technology | -21.6184| -1.3| 1/9
Energy | -20.6605| -1.0| 2/22
Real Estate | -3.2286| -0.6| 3/23
Consumer Discretionary | -2.6081| -0.5| 5/8
Health Care | -2.3779| -1.5| 2/7
Consumer Staples | -2.1818| -0.3| 7/4
Financials | 0.0000| 0.0| 11/12
Communication Services | 4.5088| 0.5| 7/1
Industrials | 6.4703| 0.3| 18/10
Utilities | 6.6274| 0.8| 14/2
US
By Rita Nazareth, Sarah Ponczek and Lu Wang
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed, led by technology companies, after economic data bolstered optimism that a recovery from a pandemic-induced recession is on track. Treasuries and the dollar rose.
The S&P 500 notched its fourth straight weekly rally – the longest winning streak this year — to close at a fresh record. A sense of calm has prevailed amid light volume: It’s been 21 sessions since the gauge posted a drop of more than 1%. Apple Inc. jumped ahead of the record date of a 4-for-1 stock split on Monday. Deere & Co., the largest maker of agricultural machinery, surged after boosting its outlook. Homebuilders soared as data showed sales of previously owned homes rose the most on record in July.
Governments around the world are still walking a tightrope between easing coronavirus lockdowns to revive economic growth, and controlling any resurgence of Covid-19. Florida’s positive- test rate stabilized, cases and deaths fell in Arizona while and New York reported the fewest number of hospitalized patients since March 16.  
     Meanwhile, Europe is grappling with a spike of infections, with little appetite among top officials to resort to stringent restrictions that helped control the spread earlier this year. “We had a couple months where the virus was scary and confusing. And then we had our initial economic rebound,” said Lauren Goodwin, economist and multi-asset portfolio strategist at New York Life Investments. “Now investors are looking at the marketplace and saying, ‘What will the recovery look like?’”

     These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 advanced 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.2%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.8%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.3%.
* The euro dipped 0.5% to $1.1796.
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 105.84 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped two basis points to 0.63%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to -0.51%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield decreased two basis points to 0.206%.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index dipped 0.5%.
* West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 1.3% to $42.25 a barrel.
* Gold weakened 0.4% to $1,939.04 an ounce.
–With assistance from Adam Haigh, Todd White, Robert Brand, Vildana Hajric, Claire Ballentine and Sophie Caronello.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.
                                              -Anaïs Nin, 1903-1977

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