August 28, 2024, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Feast of St. Augustine.
August 28, 476: The fall of the Roman Empire was completed as Emperor Augustulus was deposed by the German warrior Odoacer.

On Aug. 28, 1963, 200,000 people participated in a peaceful civil rights rally in Washington, D.C., where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Go to article >>

Johann W. von Goethe, b. 1749.
Shania Twain, b. 1965.

Kelce brothers sign $100 million podcast deal
Brothers and NFL stars Jason and Travis Kelce signed a lucrative deal with Amazon’s podcast studio Wondery. The announcement is just the latest in a line of blockbuster podcasting deals.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces backlash over dead whale incident
An environmental group is calling for RFK Jr. to be investigated over a bizarre incident described by his daughter in which he beheaded a whale carcass.

4-year-old accidentally shatters Bronze Age jar at museum
A 4-year-old boy shattered a Bronze Age artifact that was on display, without protective glass, at an archeological museum in Haifa, Israel.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Frankfurt, Germany
A bee covered in pollen flies towards a sunflower in a field
Photograph: Michael Probst/AP

Illinois, US
Lightning strikes after a severe storm passed over Chicago on Tuesday
Photograph: Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/AP

​​​​​​​California, US
An aerial view shows fog surrounding the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
Photograph: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images
Market Closes for August 28^th, 2024

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 2000, the New York Stock Exchange began pricing stocks in decimals, ending the two-century-old practice of using increments of eighths of a dollar.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.6%, or 132.98 to 23,126.98 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 1.1% on Aug. 6.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.4%. Kinaxis Inc. had the largest drop, falling 14.5%.
Today, 180 of 226 shares fell, while 40 rose; 10 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index was little changed
* The index advanced 15% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 25% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.2% below its 52-week high on Aug. 26, 2024 and 23.7% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 1.4% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.6 on a trailing basis and 15.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.7t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 13.93% compared with 13.95% in the previous session and the average of 13.71% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -60.2136| -2.1| 0/51
Information Technology | -32.9708| -1.7| 0/9
Energy | -24.9040| -0.6| 7/32
Industrials | -13.1235| -0.4| 6/22
Consumer Discretionary | -6.0388| -0.7| 1/12
Consumer Staples | -3.9512| -0.4| 3/8
Utilities | -3.2955| -0.4| 6/9
Real Estate | -3.1708| -0.6| 5/14
Communication Services | -1.6048| -0.2| 1/4
Health Care | -0.5678| -0.9| 1/3
Financials | 16.8873| 0.2| 10/16
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | -20.7000| -2.4| -5.6| -5.2
Bank of Nova Scotia| -11.0000| -1.9| -9.2| 2.2
Bank of Montreal | -8.5100| -1.5| 65.9| -15.8
Canadian Western Bank | 1.5180| 4.5| 252.4| 69.8
National Bank of Canada | 16.6700| 5.9| 165.1| 25.7
RBC | 33.7100| 2.2| -22.2| 19.4
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Big tech fell in late trading as Nvidia Corp.’s sales forecast disappointed some investors hoping for more from the chipmaker at the forefront of the artificial- intelligence revolution that has powered the bull market in stocks.
A $286 billion exchange-traded fund tracking the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) lost 0.6% after the close of regular trading.
Nvidia dropped 4% after saying third-quarter revenue will be about $32.5 billion.
While analysts had predicted $31.9 billion on average, estimates ranged as high as $37.9 billion.
The company also signaled that it was working through production snags with its highly anticipated new Blackwell chip.
“Here’s the issue: the size of the beat this time was much smaller than we’ve been seeing,” said Ryan Detrick at Carson Group. “Even future guidance was raised, but again not by the tune from previous quarters. This is a great company that is still growing revenue at 122%, but it appears the bar was just set a tad too high this earnings season.”
Last quarter’s topped Wall Street projections, and the Santa Clara, California-based company’s board approved an additional $50 billion in stock buybacks.
In the run-up to the results, a renewed bout of volatility gripped stocks.
The S&P 500 — at one point — headed toward its worst drop since the Aug. 5 meltdown.
The gauge pushed away from that threshold, closing down 0.6%.
The Nasdaq 100 slid 1.2%.
Wall Street’s favorite volatility gauge — the VIX — surged to around 17.
Treasury 10-year yields rose two basis points to 3.84%.
Bitcoin dipped below $60,000.
To Matt Maley at Miller Tabak, while it’s been a “pretty uneventful week” so far, the odds are good that we’ll see some significant movement one way or the other after Nvidia reports.
“The activity should at least pick up,” Maley said. Future gains in global tech stocks should be more gradual after the quick rebound over the past three weeks, with potential headwinds from US macroeconomic data and further news on semiconductor export controls likely contributing to rising volatility, according to Solita Marcelli at UBS Global Wealth Management, “However, we continue to hold a positive structural view on the broader AI theme, and see ways investors can manage their exposure to the technology that we think is set to drive growth in the years to come,” she noted.
The correlation between the S&P 500 and Nvidia has fallen as the stock’s effect on index earnings growth is fading, according to Bloomberg Intelligence’s strategists led by Gina Martin Adams.
“AI themes are still drawing significant attention, yet the dominance is likely to decrease as other sectors and themes attract mind and fundamental share,” they wrote.
The S&P 500 companies outside the “Magnificent Seven” cohort more than doubled growth expectations to 9.2% compared with the forecasted 4%, BI said. Three of the 11 sectors —including industrials, real estate and staples — saw growth instead of declines.
Energy was the only sector to fall short.

Corporate Highlights:
* Salesforce Inc. gave an earnings forecast for the fiscal year that topped analysts’ estimates, trying to satisfy investors who have concerns over slowing sales growth at the software giant.
* CrowdStrike Holdings Inc., a cybersecurity company, reported second-quarter sales that topped analysts’ estimates, assuaging concerns that a global IT outage it caused last month would have an immediate impact on results.
* OpenAI is getting closer to raising funding at a valuation of more than $100 billion in a round led by Thrive Capital, people with knowledge of the matter said.
* Super Micro Computer Inc. said it will delay filing its annual financial disclosures, sending the stock plunging.
* Kohl’s Corp. raised its full-year profit outlook as the retailer trims expenses and reduces inventory levels amid a pullback from consumers.
* Abercrombie & Fitch Co. beat analysts’ sales expectations for the sixth consecutive quarter, but it wasn’t enough to impress investors who have grown accustomed to the ’90s fashion comeback.
* Foot Locker Inc.’s sales surpassed analysts’ expectations as turnaround efforts and a rekindled relationship with key partner Nike Inc. begin to pay off, but investors remain unimpressed by the progress.

Key events this week:
* Eurozone consumer confidence, Thursday
* US GDP, initial jobless claims, Thursday
* Fed’s Raphael Bostic speaks, Thursday
* Japan unemployment, Tokyo CPI, industrial production, retail sales, Friday
* Eurozone CPI, unemployment, Friday
* US personal income, spending, PCE; consumer sentiment, Friday

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 1.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.5%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 1.2%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 0.7%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro fell 0.6% to $1.1113
* The British pound fell 0.6% to $1.3184
* The Japanese yen fell 0.5% to 144.72 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 4.7% to $58,959.11
* Ether fell 2.8% to $2,509.03
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 3.84%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.26%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.00%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1% to $74.74 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.7% to $2,507.78 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
The views of men of wise counsel are much the same. –Liu Bei, 161-223 AD.

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