August 4, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Aug. 4, 1914, Britain declared war on Germany while the United States proclaimed its neutrality. Go to article »
1962~Nelson Mandela arrested.
Louis Armstrong, b. 1900.

Percy Bysshe Shelley, b. August 4, 1792.  Percy Bysshe Shelley was a radical, championing the likes of Tom Paine and getting expelled from Oxford in 1811 for The Necessity of Atheism, his tract against compulsory Christianity.  His short life seemed like a mad dash against the conventions of the day – both political and social – as he took up the causes of working-class education, free love, non-violent protests, vegetarianism, and electoral reform.  Among his most well known works are To the West Wind, Queen Mab, To a Skylark, and Adonais, an elegy for Keats.  In 1822, Shelley was lost at sea in Italy, where he had moved with his family and his friends, Leigh Hunt and Lord Byron.  His body washed ashore and was burned on the beach in the presence of his companions.  His remains were later buried in Rome.

Archaeological ‘treasures’ include (really) old fruit.  If you thought eating an overripe banana was bad, you might want to steer clear of this 2,400-year-old discovery. 

Machu Picchu is older than previously thought.  The Inca citadel wasn’t built in 1450, for your information. It was actually decades earlier, according to a new study. 

Fishless fish are coming.

Applied geometry found on 3,700-year-old tablet

Longer days may have fostered complex life on Earth.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Cloudbursting…Hot air balloons pass by colourful cloud irisation, an optical phenomenon that appears in clouds, resembling the rainbow colours seen in soap bubbles or oil on a water surface, during ‘Fiesta Fortnight’ in Bristol
CREDIT: BEN BIRCHALL/PA WIRE

I’m not going any faster…Sheep are shephered to fresh grazing at Mindrum Mill, just inside the English border in Northumberland
CREDIT: CHRIS STRICKLAND / ALAMY LIVE NEWS

Hanging around…Kyra Condie of the USA in action in the new Olympic event Sport Climbing
CREDIT: TSUYOSHI UEDA – POOL/POOL

Sky’s the limit… 13 year old skateboarder Sky Brown becomes Britain’s youngest medal winner aged 13 winning a bronze 
CREDIT: PAUL GROVER  FOR THE TELEGRAPH

Market Closes for August 4^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1790, Congress enacted Alexander Hamilton’s plan to fund the public debt, ending years of turmoil and haggling over the junk bonds issued by the federal and state governments during the Revolution. The shift made government spending possible, and gave birth to the American securities markets.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks pared their earlier gains to end the session in the red after the health-care sector underperformed. The S&P/TSX Composite index fell 0.2% in Toronto, after rising as much as 0.3% earlier. Health care, energy and materials stocks underperformed, while tech and financials were the only sector that were in the green. Meanwhile, Canadian exchange-traded funds generated net inflows of C$2.3 billion ($1.8 billion) in July, a nine-month low, as a BlackRock Inc. bond fund appeared to suffer a large withdrawal by an institutional investor, according to National Bank of Canada.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.40 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold was flat around $1,812 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar was unchanged around C$1.2550 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose slightly to 1.131%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.2 percent at 20,329.73 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 1.3 percent on July 19 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.4 percent. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.0 percent.  Enerplus Corp. had the largest drop, falling 7.6 percent. Today, 156 of 229 shares fell, while 68 rose; 9 of 11 sectors were lower, led by energy 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 0.5 percent below its 52-week high on Aug. 4, 2021 and 31.9 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.8 percent in the past 5 days and rose 0.5 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.2 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$3.2t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 8.82 percent compared with 8.82 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.20 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Energy | -47.4695| -1.9| 1/22
* Materials | -24.3392| -1.0| 12/40
* Health Care | -6.8412| -3.0| 1/8
* Communication Services | -4.3286| -0.4| 1/6
* Consumer Staples | -3.7865| -0.5| 2/10
* Consumer Discretionary | -2.9090| -0.4| 6/7
* Utilities | -2.4506| -0.3| 5/10
* Industrials | -2.1151| -0.1| 12/18
* Real Estate | -0.5135| -0.1| 6/17
* Financials | 23.8852| 0.4| 15/13
* Information Technology | 34.7467| 1.5| 7/5
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Canadian Natural | | | |
* Resources | -10.5000| -3.0| -38.9| 32.3
* Suncor Energy | -8.7100| -3.4| -12.4| 12.0
* Nutrien | -6.5580| -2.2| -13.1| 18.3
* Royal Bank of | | | |
* Canada | 9.1350| 0.7| -66.5| 21.6
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 9.3110| 1.4| 63.6| 32.4
* Shopify | 33.2200| 2.2| -43.8| 35.8

US
By Kamaron Leach and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities slumped after the vice-chair of the Federal Reserve suggested rates could rise by 2023 and mixed economic data for July  showed U.S. companies adding far fewer jobs than expected. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 1.17%, gold pared back a more than 1% increase, and the dollar was stronger after initial weakness. The Fed’s Richard Clarida said the central bank was on track to begin interest rates hikes in 2023 with a possible taper announcement later this year.  The comments came after hints the U.S. Treasury may cut bond sales this fall, and an ADP employment report was at odds with record ISM services index growth, indicating persistent hiring obstacles despite improvements in the economy. The S&P 500 fell as General Motors Co. and CVS Health Corp. declined after earnings, while the Nasdaq 100 gained as technology stocks outperformed. “After losing 19.6 million jobs in March and April last year, we’ve since added back 13.1 million,” Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer for Bleakley Advisory Group, wrote in a note ahead of Friday’s U.S. jobs report.  “I really don’t like to use the word ‘stagflation’ but we have a form of it now, unfortunately, which will make the job of the Federal Reserve even that much more difficult.” Earlier in the day, the Stoxx Europe 600 index hit a fresh record, with technology stocks leading the advance.
The travel and leisure sector also outperformed as shares of online gaming companies recovered after Chinese state media toned down their criticism of the industry. The day’s rotation calls the reopening trade into question, Cate Faddis, Grace Capital president and chief investment officer, said in an interview.  “The market’s signaling we’re not out of the woods yet. On the other hand, we’ve had a very strong year. It’s rational for the market to take a deep breath.”  With stocks in Europe and the U.S. at or around record highs, equities have weathered concerns about the spread of delta virus variant as expectations for continued stimulus and solid earnings have propelled shares higher. However, risks still remain. “Volatility has been high really over the course of the past 18 months and I think that reflects just continued uncertainty,” Wes Crill of Dimensional Fund Advisors said by phone. “Now you have the variant strain. Now you have concern over vaccination rates not being as high as maybe some would like to see. And that’s continuing to, in some ways,
fuel market volatility, because that just increases the uncertainty.” Oil fell to around $68 a barrel. Bitcoin rose to above $39,000.

Here are some key events to watch this week:
* Bank of England is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate and its bond-buying target unchanged Thursday
* Reserve Bank of India monetary policy decision, briefing Friday
* The U.S. jobs report is expected to show another robust month of hiring Friday

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1838
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3888
* The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 109.47 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.17%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to -0.50%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.51%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.7% to $67.94 a barrel
* Gold futures were little changed
–With assistance from Natalia Kniazhevich.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. –Confucius, 551 BC-479 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