Author: Carolann

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy new month of September!

September 3, 1783: Treaty of Paris, ended the American Revolution.
September 3, 1971: Qatar gains independence after 55 years of British rule.
On Sept. 3, 1976, the unmanned U.S. spacecraft Viking 2 landed on Mars to take the first close-up, color photographs of the planet’s surface.   Go to article >>

Charlie Sheen, b. 1965

New Titanic photos reveal intact statue:  Much of the art that decorated the halls and rooms of the Titanic decomposed in the decades since the ship’s demise in 1912. However, this bronze statue of the goddess Diana remains beautifully intact.

It really is necessary to wash fruits and vegetables before eating them
A few unwashed strawberries can’t do much harm, right? Well, many health experts would argue otherwise. Each year, 1 in 10 people get sick by eating unsafe food — and about 46% of these cases of foodborne illness come from eating vegetables and fruit.

Can humans grow new islands in the world’s lowest-lying country?
The Maldives is eroding. See how an MIT lab is harnessing the ocean’s natural forces to protect beaches — and maybe one day to grow islands.

Earthquakes can trigger quartz into forming giant gold nuggets, study finds
Geologists have known for decades that gold forms in quartz with the help of earthquakes, but now they have worked out exactly how the setting and seismic waves combine to form large nuggets. Read More.

Early galaxies weren’t mystifyingly massive after all, James Webb Space Telescope finds
‘The bottom line is, there is no crisis in terms of the standard model of cosmology.’ Read More.

World’s biggest battery coming to Maine — and it could store 130 million times more energy than your laptop
The battery storage system will be able to store 8,500 megawatt-hours of energy — which is 130 million times the capacity of the best laptops today. Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Spectrum – Vestrahorn, Iceland
“The full spectrum of the northern lights over the iconic Vestrahorn location in Iceland. What a dreamlike experience! A G3 strong geomagnetic storm hit the earth on 31 October and produced these wonderful colours”
Photograph: Stefan Liebermann

New York, US
A reveller marches during the West Indian Day parade in Brooklyn
Photograph: Andrés Kudacki/AP

​​​​​​​Balcombe, UK
‘Ouse Valley viaduct. Taken while on my way to wild camp near Chichester with my buddy, who is in the photograph.’
Photograph: Simon Arthrell
Market Closes for September 3^rd, 2024

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1929: The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a high of 381.17, up 27% for the year, a peak that wasn’t reached again for 25 years. Markets cratered the next month in the Great Crash
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 1.3% at 23,042.45 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 2.2% on Aug.
2 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.5%.
Today, materials stocks led the market lower, as 9 of 11 sectors lost; 171 of 226 shares fell, while 52 rose.
Brookfield Corp. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.2%.
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 13.8%.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss eight times. The next day, it declined five times for an average 0.8% and advanced three times for an average 0.8%
* This year, the index rose 9.9%, heading for the best year since 2021
* This quarter, the index rose 5.3%
* The index advanced 12% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 22% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.6% below its 52-week high on Aug. 26, 2024 and 23.3% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.3% in the past 5 days and rose 3.7% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.5 on a trailing basis and 15.8 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$3.71t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 14.33% compared with 13.89% in the previous session and the average of 14.32% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -117.2358| -4.1| 1/51
Energy | -78.2093| -1.9| 3/38
Information Technology| -52.1179| -2.7| 3/7
Financials | -31.3315| -0.4| 11/16
Consumer Discretionary| -14.5075| -1.8| 1/11
Consumer Staples | -9.5515| -1.0| 6/4
Industrials | -5.8419| -0.2| 6/22
Utilities | -3.0458| -0.3| 5/10
Real Estate | -0.8411| -0.2| 11/8
Health Care | 0.3095| 0.5| 2/2
Communication Services| 8.6418| 1.2| 3/2
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Brookfield Corp | -28.6500| -4.2| 14.0| 22.2
Shopify | -27.3000| -3.2| -25.2| -6.4
Canadian Natural Resources | -24.7200| -3.4| 29.4| 8.6
Bank of Nova Scotia| 4.5540| 0.8| 3.9| 5.1
Canadian Pacific Kansas | 7.2350| 1.0| 49.7| 7.8
RBC | 7.6120| 0.5| -26.1| 22.2
US
By Rob Verdonck
(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Asia were poised for losses after US benchmarks posted their worst day since the Aug. 5 market meltdown, as concerns about growth and monetary policy combined to torch risky assets.
Equity futures were down across Australia, Hong Kong and Japan, pointing to losses of 3% in the Tokyo bourse.
US contracts edged lower in early trading after the S&P 500 fell more than 2%, with Nvidia Corp. driving a plunge in tech stocks.
Meanwhile, the yen jumped, a closely watched manufacturing gauge again missed forecasts, and oil sank on concern about tepid global demand.
Wall Street’s “fear gauge” – the VIX – soared.
Treasury yields tumbled, with traders keeping their bets on an unusually large half-point Federal Reserve rate cut this year.
A dollar gauge rose for a fifth session, its longest winning streak since April.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 saw their worst starts to a September since 2015 and 2002, respectively.
With inflation expectations anchored, attention has shifted to the health of the economy as signs of weakness could speed up policy easing.
While rate cuts tend to bode well for equities, that’s not usually the case when the Fed is rushing to prevent a recession.
Traders are anticipating the Fed will reduce rates by more than two full percentage points over the next 12 months — the steepest drop outside of a downturn since the 1980s.
The trepidation after the latest rise in unemployment will leave traders “on edge” until Friday’s payrolls data, said Ian Lyngen and Vail Hartman at BMO Capital Markets.
“This week’s jobs report, while not the sole determinant, will likely be a key factor in the Fed’s decision between a 25 or 50 basis-point cut,” said Jason Pride and Michael Reynolds at Glenmede. “Even modest signals in this week’s jobs report could be a key decision point as to whether the Fed takes a more cautious or aggressive approach.”
The S&P 500 dropped to around 5,530 while the Nasdaq 100 lost over 3% as Nvidia tumbled 9.5% — erasing $279 billion in a record one-day wipeout for a US stock.
The US Justice Department sent subpoenas to Nvidia and other companies as it seeks evidence that the chipmaker violated antitrust laws.
US 10-year yields fell seven basis points to 3.83%.
A record number of blue-chip firms tapped the corporate-bond market, taking advantage of cheaper borrowing.
The yen climbed as Bank of Japan’s Kazuo Ueda reiterated the central bank will continue to raise rates if the economy and prices perform as expected.
Marking the start of a busy week for economic data, a report showed US manufacturing activity shrank in August for a fifth month.
The Morgan Stanley strategist who foresaw last month’s market correction says firms that have lagged the rally in US stocks could get a boost if Friday’s jobs data provide evidence of a resilient economy.
A stronger-than-expected payrolls number would likely give investors “greater confidence that growth risks have subsided,” Michael Wilson wrote.
The August jobs report is expected to show payrolls in the world’s largest economy increased by about 165,000, based on the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
While above the modest 114,000 gain in July, average payrolls growth over the most recent three months would ease to a little more than 150,000 — the smallest since the start of 2021.
The jobless rate probably edged down in August, to 4.2% from 4.3%.
While the Fed is finally coming around to cutting rates, it does not feel like stringing out a bunch of 25 basis-point rate cuts will do the job, said Neil Dutta at Renaissance Macro Research.
Under that scenario, it will take a long time to return the funds rate to neutral and in the process, you’ll keep policy restrictive, keeping open downside risks to growth.
“That muddling through scenario will probably risk further increases in the unemployment rate,” he said. “So, if they aren’t going 50 in September, they are going to need to go 50 at some point later this year.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Boeing Co. slumped as Wells Fargo & Co. lowered the planemaker to a sell-equivalent recommendation, saying it’s hard to see any upside in the shares.
* Vice President Kamala Harris joined President Joe Biden in declaring that United States Steel Corp. should remain domestically owned and operated, the latest headwind to the proposed sale of the company to Japan-based Nippon Steel Corp.
* Deutsche Bank AG cut the recommendation on JPMorgan Chase & Co. to hold from buy, while upgrading Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. on changing preferences within the banks sector.
* The German government plans to cut its stake in Commerzbank AG as it seizes on a recent share rally to initiate an exit from the lender it rescued over a decade ago.
* Illumina Inc.’s blocked $7 billion takeover of cancer- detection provider Grail Inc. should never have been probed by the European Union, according to a top court ruling that undermines the EU’s attempt to vet more global deals.
* Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.’s inspection of its Airbus SE A350 fleet is focused on deformed or degraded fuel lines in the engines of the widebody aircraft, after the discovery of the issue caused multiple flight cancellations as engineers switch out parts.

Key events this week:
* China Caixin services PMI, Wednesday
* Eurozone HCOB services PMI, PPI, Wednesday
* Canada rate decision, Wednesday
* US job openings, factory orders, Beige Book, Wednesday
* Eurozone retail sales, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, ADP employment, ISM services index, Thursday
* Eurozone GDP, Friday
* US nonfarm payrolls, Friday
* Fed’s John Williams speaks, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% as at 7:29 a.m. in Tokyo; the S&P 500 fell 2.1%
* Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1%; the Nasdaq 100 fell 3.1%
* Nikkei 225 futures fell 3%
* Hang Seng futures fell 0.6%
* S&P/ASX 200 futures fell 1.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%
* The euro was little changed at $1.1042
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 145.54 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 0.3% to $58,028.73
* Ether was little changed at $2,464.58
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined seven basis points to 3.83%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed
* Spot gold was little changed

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Rita Nazareth.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence. –James N. Watkins, b. 1952.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday!
Happy 94^th birthday Warren Buffett!

August 30, 1918: Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin is shot twice in an unsuccessful assassination attempt.

August 30, 1962: The second level of the George Washington Bridge opens, becoming the world’s only fourteen-lane bridge.

Fossil reveals details of sea cow’s death 15 million years ago
By analyzing the rare fossil, unearthed in Venezuela, researchers were able to piece together how the manatee-like marine mammal was killed by a crocodile and a tiger shark. Talk about an unlucky day.

Officer’s bodycam captures his gator-wrangling skills 
The Fulshear Police Department near Houston, Texas, shared video online of the officer fearlessly removing an alligator from a resident’s doorstep. Watch how he did it.

Plane struggles to land in typhoon
Strong winds from Typhoon Shanshan prevented the plane from landing on Japan’s southernmost main island Kyushu.                  `        “

‘Everything we found shattered our expectations’: Archaeologists discover 1st astronomical observatory from ancient Egypt
This first ancient Egyptian observatory discovered in modern times showcases advanced knowledge of astronomy and its profound link to the Egyptians’ spiritual and ritualistic practices. Read More.

Ancient people in Taiwan yanked healthy teeth from their mouths for ‘aesthetic expression’ and ‘tests of courage,’ study finds
For thousands of years, people in Taiwan pulled out healthy teeth. Now we know why they underwent this painful procedure. Read More.

James Webb telescope spots 6 enormous ‘rogue planets’ tumbling through space without a star
The James Webb Space Telescope has uncovered six “rogue planets” careening through space without a star. The objects are believed to have formed directly from gas collapse, blurring the lines between planets and stars.
Read More.

China’s upgraded light-powered ‘AGI chip’ is now a million times more efficient than before, researchers say
The Taichi-II chiplet, which could one day power super-intelligent AI models, ups the ante in light-based processing. Read More.

RIP
The king of New Zealand’s indigenous Māori people, Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, died peacefully earlier today, according to a statement from his representatives. He was 69. The king had been in the hospital recovering from heart surgery just days after celebrating the 18th anniversary of his coronation, the statement added. He had experienced poor health in recent years, including cancer and diabetes, according to CNN affiliate RNZ.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Paris, France
Paralympic torchbearers Charles-Antoine Kouakou, Nantenin Keita, Fabien Lamirault, Alexis Hanquinquant and Elodie Lorandi watch as the Paris Paralympic Games 2024 cauldron lifts off during the opening ceremony at the Jardin des Tuileries. The 17th Paralympic Games began under blue skies then lit up the night as Paris made a powerful start in extending to disability sport the same energy and joy that has characterised its summer.
Photograph: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images

Obergoms, Switzerland
Glaciologist Matthias Huss enters an ice cave at the tongue of the Rhone glacier.
Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

​​​​​​​The migration of the northern bald ibis, or the waldrapp, is watched on and supported by foster parents of the birds in a microlight aircraft across central Europe
Photograph: AP
Market Closes for August 30^th, 2024

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.5%, or 118.69 to 23,346.18 in Toronto.
Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.4%.
Capstone Copper Corp. had the largest increase, rising 4.3%.
Today, 146 of 226 shares rose, while 75 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 1%
* So far this week, the index rose 0.3%
* The index advanced 15% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 24% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.3% below its 52-week high on Aug. 26, 2024 and 24.9% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* 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$3.69t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 13.89% compared with 13.85% in the previous session and the average of 13.87% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 69.6848| 1.0| 23/4
Information Technology | 26.3854| 1.4| 9/1
Industrials | 15.6413| 0.5| 20/7
Consumer Discretionary | 8.8098| 1.1| 12/1
Real Estate | 3.4457| 0.7| 17/3
Communication Services | 2.4500| 0.3| 4/1
Materials | 2.1756| 0.1| 25/25
Utilities | 1.8732| 0.2| 10/5
Health Care | 0.3554| 0.6| 3/0
Consumer Staples | -2.3665| -0.2| 5/6
Energy | -9.7688| -0.2| 18/22
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
RBC | 22.0400| 1.4| -11.6| 21.6
Constellation Software | 14.6100| 2.5| 37.7| 34.0
Enbridge | 12.7800| 1.6| -4.9| 13.7
Cenovus Energy | -5.2520| -2.2| -1.3| 13.7
Suncor | -5.4810| -1.1| 72.0| 28.8
Canadian Natural Resources | -15.1300| -2.0| 48.1| 12.4
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed in the final stretch of a wild August, with traders bracing for what’s historically known as the worst month for equities.
For all the whiplash in global markets just a few weeks ago, the S&P 500 closed within a whisker of its all-time highs.
Equities spiked in the last 10 minutes of Wall Street trading, with the S&P 500 up 1% and all of its major groups on the rise.
The gauge notched its fourth straight monthly gain amid data showing the economy is holding up, while leaving the door open for the Federal Reserve to cut rates in September.
Whether a jumbo-sized reduction remains on the table, next week’s jobs report might bring some clues.
“As August comes to a close, sentiment has calmed down significantly compared to the beginning of the month,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide. “Many of the larger concerns in the overall economy have decreased. September may bring some seasonal challenges, but if investors can navigate through them, these challenges can turn into advantages in the fourth quarter.”
Since 1950, the S&P 500 has generated an average loss 0.7% in September and finished higher only 43% of the time, making it the worst month for stocks on an average return and positivity-rate basis, according to Adam Turnquist LPL Financial.
The last four Septembers have also been notably weak, with the index posting respective declines of 4.9%, 9.3%, 4.8%, and 3.9%.
“During the month, the index tends to trade sideways during the first half, with losses beginning to accumulate into month end,” he said. “For this year, the midway point also happens to line up closely with the September Fed meeting.”
The S&P 500 rose to around 5,650.
Volume was thin ahead of Monday’s US holiday.
The Nasdaq 100 added 1.3%.
The Russell 2000 of small firms gained 0.7%.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is planning to cut more than 1,300 employees from its global workforce, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Dell Technologies Inc. rallied on solid results.
Wall Street’s “fear gauge” — the VIX — dropped to around 15.
That’s after an unprecedented spike that took the index above 65 during the Aug. 5 market selloff.
An options trader or traders bought call spreads on the VIX — expiring in September, spending upwards of $9 million to protect against a spike in the gauge of S&P 500 volatility past 22.
Treasury 10-year yields climbed five basis points to 3.91%.
The dollar rose at the end of its worst month this year.
Oil sank.
Data from Bespoke Investment Group found that over the past 100 years, September also has by far been the worst month of the year for the Dow Jones Industrial Average with an average decline of 1.24%.
A Citigroup Inc. analysis of data since 1928 suggests S&P 500’s average realized volatility for September has historically been 1.5 points above August, while October has been an additional 2.5 points higher.
There are a few theories for why September tends to be a weaker month for stocks.
For one thing, investors returning from summer vacations tend to reassess portfolio positioning defensively.
Companies prepare their budgets for the coming year and debate belt tightening. And mutual funds often engage in “window dressing” by selling positions at a loss to reduce the size of their capital-gains distributions.
“Additionally, companies entering a blackout period for share repurchases at the end of the third quarter can have their ability to support their share price impacted if the price drops,” Hackett said.
While seasonality can be reason enough for some jitters, 2024 is also an election year, Bespoke remarked.
With that added potential cause for concern, September’s performance in election years has again, leaned negative, the firm said.
For all post-World War II presidential election years, the Dow has averaged a 0.58% decline during September.
Albeit negative, that compares with September of non-election years when it has averaged an even larger 1.37%.
“In other words, seasonality has tended to be rough regardless of whether or not it’s an election year,” the Bespoke strategists noted.
For now, many traders are pinning their hopes on more data that will show the economy isn’t falling off a cliff, while inflation keeps marching toward the Fed’s 2% goal.
A report Friday showed US consumer sentiment improved for the first time in five months as slower inflation and prospects for Fed cuts helped lift expectations about personal finances.
The Fed’s preferred measure of underlying US inflation — the core personal consumption expenditures price index — rose at a mild pace.
“This week’s numbers dispel worries about a recession and inflation,” said David Russell at TradeStation.
“Goldilocks could be here as Jerome Powell prepares to turn the page.”  Powell said last week the time has come for the central bank to cut its key policy rate, affirming expectations that officials will begin lowering borrowing costs next month and making clear his intention to prevent further jobs cooling.
Like the Fed, investors’ focus seems to be shifting from inflation to the labor market, and soon all eyes will be on next Friday’s monthly jobs report, said Bret Kenwell at eToro.
“Last month’s jobs report was a big miss, causing widespread worry that the Fed was too late to cut rates,” he noted. “Another big miss could increase speculation of a 50 basis-point cut vs. the current expectation of a 25 basis-point cut.”
Stock markets are likely to benefit again from good economic data, which is needed for the rally to broaden out further beyond the tech sector, according to Barclays Plc strategists.
The team led by Emmanuel Cau says the monthly US jobs data next week will be the bellwether for confirming or refuting recession worries.
“If it is a bad print, no doubt equities would react badly given their level after the rebound,” they wrote. On the other hand, a better-than-expected figure would “help assuage those recession fears in the short run, and likely be good for equities.”
Cash funds recorded inflows of about $24.5 billion in the week through Aug. 28, a fourth straight week of additions, according to a note from Bank of America Corp., citing EPFR Global data.
About $20.7 billion entered bond funds, while $13.7 billion flowed into stocks, the data showed.
US equities saw a ninth straight week of additions at $5.8 billion.

Corporate Highlights:
* Tesla Inc. aims to unveil its highly anticipated robotaxi at an event at Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.’s movie studio in the Los Angeles area, people familiar with the matter said. The electric vehicle company is targeting a reveal of the purpose- built robotaxi on Oct. 10 at the Burbank, California, facility, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
* Intel Corp. is working with investment bankers to help navigate the most difficult period in its 56-year history, according to people familiar with the matter.
** The company is discussing various scenarios, including a split of its product-design and manufacturing businesses, as well as which factory projects might potentially be scrapped, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.
* Lululemon Athletica Inc. lowered its sales and profit outlook for the year as increased competition and relentless inflation curb demand for its pricey yoga pants.
* Ulta Beauty Inc. trimmed its sales forecast as more US consumers cut back on makeup and cosmetics in the face of higher prices and elevated borrowing costs.
* Autodesk Inc. raised its full-year earnings outlook following pressure on the software maker from activist investor Starboard Value LP.
* Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s trial of its drug to treat a deadly form of heart disease fell short of investors’ expectations.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.8%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 1.6%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.7%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1055
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3133
* The Japanese yen fell 0.8% to 146.15 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 1.3% to $58,785.55
* Ether fell 1.3% to $2,507.87
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 3.91%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.30%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.02%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3% to $73.62 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.7% to $2,503 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
No person who is enthusiastic about his work has anything to fear from life. –Samuel Goldwyn, 1882-1974.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.

August 29, 1831: Michale Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction, which enabled technologies like electric generators and transformers.  He also discovered Benzene and electrolysis.
August 29, 1966: Allen Ginsberg reads his poetry to a crowd in Washington Square.
On Aug. 29, 1991, the Supreme Soviet, the parliament of the U.S.S.R., suspended all activities of the Communist Party, bringing an end to the institution. Go to article >>

1839: Amistad seized.
Michale Jackson, entertainer, b. 1958.
John Locke, philosopher, b.1632.
Ingrid Bergman, actress, b. 1915.
Charlie “Bird” Parker, musician, b.1920.

New invention harvests ambient Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals to power small devices
Wasted radio signals can be converted into electricity using a new kind of antenna rooted in how electrons behave at a quantum level. Read More.

Large patch of the Atlantic Ocean near the equator has been cooling at record speeds — and scientists can’t figure out why
Scientists are trying to decipher what drove the recent dramatic cooling of the tropical Atlantic, but so far few clues have emerged. “We are still scratching our heads as to what’s actually happening,” the researchers said. Read More.

Gravitational waves hint at a ‘supercool’ secret about the Big Bang
Scientists might be on track to revealing new facets of physics. Read More.

This city is developing the world’s tallest timber tower, again
Another wooden skyscraper could be added to this bustling city’s skyline.

Stunning images from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition
Sleepy seals, a “dancing” stoat and a caiman’s fatal encounter with a jaguar are among the highly commended images in this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

Signed Dalí prints ‘forgotten’ for 50 years found in garage
Ten signed Salvador Dalí lithographs have been discovered in a garage in London, where they have been stashed for half a century.

This mining billionaire is taking aim at work-from-home culture.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

London, England
Dancers at a dress rehearsal for the State Ballet of Georgia production of Swan Lake at London Coliseum
Photograph: Katja Ogrin/Redferns

In the Spotlight by Shreyovi Mehta from India, capturing two Indian peafowl at Keoladeo national park, Rajasthan, was runner-up in the 10 and under section
Photograph: Shreyovi Mehta/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/PA

​​​​​​​Pyrénées Ariègeoises, France

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 2000: In a sign of just how bullish the global market had become, OM Group of Sweden launched the world’s first hostile takeover bid for a stock exchange, offering to buy the London Stock Exchange for about $1.1 billion
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.4% at 23,227.49 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.6%.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 5.5%.
Kinaxis Inc. had the largest increase, rising 7.2%.
Today, 141 of 226 shares rose, while 81 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 0.5%
* So far this week, the index fell 0.3%
* The index advanced 14% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 24% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.8% below its 52-week high on Aug. 26, 2024 and 24.3% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.8% in the past 5 days and rose 2% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.7 on a trailing basis and 16 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$3.68t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 13.85% compared with 13.93% in the previous session and the average of 13.72% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 47.1191| 0.7| 17/10
Energy | 27.1202| 0.7| 34/6
Materials | 24.5993| 0.9| 43/9
Information Technology | 17.9215| 0.9| 9/1
Utilities | 0.2729| 0.0| 8/6
Health Care | -0.2862| -0.4| 2/2
Industrials | -0.7563| 0.0| 19/9
Communication Services | -2.3708| -0.3| 0/5
Real Estate | -3.2485| -0.6| 2/18
Consumer Discretionary | -4.7061| -0.6| 3/10
Consumer Staples | -5.1557| -0.5| 4/5
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
CIBC | 26.5400| 5.5| 160.2| 21.6
Shopify | 9.5490| 1.2| -30.7| -4.1
Canadian Natural Resources | 8.5400| 1.2| 138.7| 14.7
Dollarama | -4.5400| -1.7| -18.3| 40.4
Couche-Tard | -6.1470| -1.5| 95.2| -0.3
National Bank of Canada | -6.9110| -2.3| 147.2| 22.8
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A rally in the S&P 500 lost traction as Nvidia Corp. extended its selloff to more than 6%.
The good news: most stocks in the US advanced.
Buoyed by data showing the economy is holding up and a host of market observers reassuring investors that Nvidia’s growth prospects remain intact, the vast majority of groups in the American equity benchmark rose.
While tech was dragged down by the giant chipmaker, five companies in the “Magnificent Seven” group of mega caps gained.
The Russell 2000 of small firms climbed almost 1%.
In late hours, Dell Technologies Inc. jumped after its results.
“As long as the tech sector can avoid getting hit hard, it could/should keep the ‘rotation’ scenario in play,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak + Co. “Since the big-cap tech names are so highly weighted in the indices, a significant decline for the group will cause the market to move lower.
But, as long as they can hold up, it could allow for the recent ‘rotation’ move to continue — and help the stock market move higher over the coming weeks.”
To Steve Sosnick at Interactive Brokers, some investors might be questioning: if Nvidia is down so much, how would that be a relief for markets? After all, the S&P 500 came within a whisker of an all-time high earlier Thursday.
“Although the company didn’t meet the most optimistic ‘whisper numbers,’ they also didn’t say anything that would invalidate investors’ love for mega cap tech and all things regarding artificial intelligence,” he noted.
The S&P 500 hovered near 5,590. Treasuries held losses after a $44 billion sale of seven-year notes was a bit soft.
The yield on 10-year bonds advanced three basis points to 3.86%.
Swap traders slightly trimmed bets on Fed easing, while still expecting around 100 basis points of cuts for 2024.
The dollar rose.
Brent oil jumped to around $80.
Nvidia’s earnings report needed to be perfect for a stock that’s added nearly $2 trillion in market value in the past year.
In the end, a broad beat still sparked a selloff.
“The slide in Nvidia’s shares after the release of its latest consensus-beating results bolsters the argument that it was priced for perfection,” said John Higgins at Capital Economics. “But that doesn’t mean its party is over, or that the AI bubble is bursting.”
To James Demmert at Main Street Research, Nvidia’s post- earnings pullback was largely driven by investor confusion and a fear that Nvidia’s stock has run too fast since the early August low, but the strength in Nvidia’s quarter showed that its valuation is justified.
“The pullback in Nvidia’s stock is an invitation for investors to buy the stock,” he said.
In the bond market, the rise in yields left a closely watched spread just shy of regaining a normal, positive slope.
The margin by which US two-year yields exceed 10-year yields dwindled to around three basis points.
A year ago the two-year was around 80 basis points higher than the 10-year, reflecting expectations that Fed rate hikes above 5% would tame inflation and possibly cause a recession.
The US economy grew at a slightly stronger pace in the second quarter than initially reported, reflecting an upward revision to consumer spending that more than offset weaker activity in other categories.
“The message of this morning’s data is ‘steady as she goes’,” said Chris Larkin at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley. “The economy doesn’t appear to be falling off a cliff, and in the current market, good news is good. There was nothing here to make the Fed rethink its plan to cut rates next month.”
To Bret Kenwell at eToro, the latest data helped reassure investors that the economy is “not teetering on an economic cliff.”
“While we’re not necessarily out of the woods, the US economy is more resilient than many realize,” Kenwell says.
“Today’s report should give investors confidence that the Fed can still orchestrate a soft landing.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Gap Inc. beat sales expectations in the second quarter, suggesting that an overhaul by new Chief Executive Officer Richard Dickson is working.
* Best Buy Co. raised its earnings guidance for the year, a sign that its turnaround efforts are starting to bear fruit as consumers begin upgrading Covid-era purchases with new products incorporating innovations like artificial intelligence.
* CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. reported second-quarter sales that topped analysts’ estimates, indicating that a global IT outage it caused last month didn’t have an immediate impact on results.
* United Airlines Holdings Inc. has raised concerns with the Biden administration over how the pending $1.9 billion merger of Alaska Air Group Inc. and Hawaiian Holdings Inc. could affect its business relationships with Hawaiian.
* Brookfield Asset Management is in talks with several investment funds to join its bid to acquire Spanish blood-plasma company Grifols SA, according to people familiar with the matter.
* The Netherlands plans to limit ASML Holding NV’s ability to repair and maintain its semiconductor equipment in China, a potentially painful blow to Beijing’s efforts to develop a world-class chip industry.
* Nokia Oyj’s mobile networks assets are drawing preliminary interest from suitors including Samsung Electronics Co. amid increasing pressure to find new growth in the troubled telecom equipment sector, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Key events this week:
* 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 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%
* The MSCI World Index was little changed
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 0.7%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.7%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.4% to $1.1077
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3168
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 144.93 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin was little changed at $59,350.13
* Ether was little changed at $2,535.75
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 3.87%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 2.27%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.02%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2% to $75.99 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.7% to $2,522 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous. –Albert Einstein, 1879-1955.

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

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

August 27, 1945: American troops began landing in Japan following the surrender of the Japanese government in World War II. Go to article >>.
August 27, 2008: Democratic politician Barack Obama becomes the first African American to be nominated for the presidency by either major party.

1979: Lord Mountbatten assassinated.
Georg Hegel, philosopher, b.1770.
Mother Teresa, b.1910
PeeWee Heman, actor, b.1952

How countries rewarded their Olympic champions
As the Paralympics get underway this week, CNN takes a look at some of the eye-popping rewards athletes earn for winning Olympic glory.

Video: French bulldog ignites kitchen fire
A family is trying to stay paw-sitive after their dog started a large kitchen fire. See the home camera footage.

Travelers score cheap first-class flights due to Qantas glitch
For a short period, first-class round-trip airline tickets from Australia to the US, which normally cost up to 28,000 Australian dollars (about $19,000!), were available from Qantas for a whopping 85% off

Bison Licking Insect Bite: A 14,000-year-old lifelike figure carved from a weapon
The small carving was made 14,000 years ago by a group of hunters. Read More.

Why do we shrink as we age?
Height loss could be an early sign of a more serious health condition. Read More.

Virus that causes COVID-19 uses a secret ‘back door’ to infect the brain
A mutation on the spike protein of the virus that causes COVID-19 could help it infect the brain by forcing it to use a cellular “back door.” Read More.

Boeing Starliner astronauts will spend at least 240 days stuck in space — is that a new record?
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams will spend at least eight consecutive months aboard the International Space Station as their Boeing Starliner spacecraft returns to Earth empty. Is their extended spaceflight record-setting? Read More.

‘Unbreakable’ quantum communication closer to reality thanks to new, exceptionally bright photons
Scientists build a new light source for quantum communications by combining existing technologies together to create a stronger and more robust quantum signal. Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Worcestershire, UK
A couple have their picture taken next to sunflowers at Becketts Farm in Wythall
Photograph: Jacob King/PA

Frankfurt, Germany
A man runs over rails to reach a train at Wehrheim station
Photograph: Michael Probst/AP

​​​​​​​Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex
Families have loved the handsome resort since it was first developed in the 1820s
Market Closes for August 27^th, 2024

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1878, Thomas Alva Edison began experimenting with electric light at his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J., a key moment in his drive to create incandescent light.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.4% at 23,259.96 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest loss since Aug. 7 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.3%.
Bank of Montreal contributed the most to the index decline and had the largest move, decreasing 6.5%.
Today, 154 of 226 shares fell, while 69 rose; 9 of 11 sectors were lower, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 0.6%
* The index advanced 17% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 27% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7% below its 52-week high on Aug. 26, 2024 and 24.4% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1% in the past 5 days and rose 2% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.7 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$3.71t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 13.95% compared with 14.21% in the previous session and the average of 13.70% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | -55.6809| -1.3| 2/38
Materials | -19.3518| -0.7| 6/44
Information Technology | -10.0341| -0.5| 3/7
Industrials | -5.8834| -0.2| 6/22
Financials | -3.5851| 0.0| 17/10
Communication Services | -1.7507| -0.2| 1/4
Health Care | -1.1377| -1.7| 0/4
Utilities | -0.9606| -0.1| 8/7
Consumer Discretionary | -0.3646| 0.0| 3/10
Consumer Staples | 4.7758| 0.5| 5/6
Real Estate | 4.9598| 1.0| 18/2
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Bank of Montreal | -39.3900| -6.5| 105.4| -14.5
Suncor | -12.2200| -2.4| 37.2| 29.3
Canadian Natural Resources | -11.8400| -1.6| 145.0| 14.4
Couche-Tard | 5.3850| 1.4| -13.4| 1.8
TD Bank | 5.4480| 0.6| -45.8| -6.3
Bank of Nova Scotia| 13.9200| 2.5| 20.4| 4.2
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks hovered near all-time highs, with traders awaiting Nvidia Corp.’s results for clues on whether the artificial-intelligence euphoria that’s powered the bull market has more room to run.
Just a day ahead of the giant chipmaker’s earnings, investors are getting ready to see whether the AI darling will at least match Wall Street’s lofty estimates.
Given its massive influence on broader indexes, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s trading desk has once called Nvidia “the most important stock on planet
Earth.” A member of the “Magnificent Seven” group of mega caps, the company has been responsible for over a third of the Nasdaq 100’s gain this year.
Investors are gearing up for big swings in Nvidia’s shares after the $3.2 trillion company led by Jensen Huang reports earnings on Wednesday.
Trading in the options market implies a nearly 10% move in either direction on the day following the results.
The stock has rallied about 160% this year and 1,000% from its October 2022 bear-market low.
“Nvidia’s earnings report may actually have more impact on the overall market than Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech last week,” said Anthony Saglimbene at Ameriprise Financial. “Move over, Powell. It’s Jensen Huang’s turn to move markets.”
To Chris Senyek at Wolfe Research, Nvidia’s results will set the tone for markets before the key US payrolls report on Sept. 6. “We remain bullish, but risks are now skewed to the downside over the very near-term. From a seasonal perspective, we enter a weaker period that is even more amplified in election years,” Senyek said.
The S&P 500 edged up to around 5,625.
The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3%.
A closely watched gauge of chipmakers added 1.1%.
Nvidia climbed 1.5%.
Software firm Salesforce Inc., which also reports results on Wednesday, fell 0.4%.
Super Micro Computer Inc. slid 2.6% after Hindenburg Research said it’s short the maker of server equipment.
The Russell 2000 of small caps dropped 0.7%.
Treasury 10-year yields rose one basis point to 3.83%.
A $69 billion US sale of two-year notes was well-received.
Oil fell as technical measures signaled a three-day rally driven by the threat of a halt to Libyan supplies was overdone.
With questions swirling around Federal Reserve policy, the state of the economy and the US presidential race, at least one thing seems clear on Wall Street: spending on AI is still key.
Concerns about the returns of those investments recently contributed to a tech selloff, although that dip was readily bought.
AI hardware and chip companies have led the bounce in the Nasdaq 100 from its August low, with Nvidia up about 30%.
Nvidia accounts for more than 6% of the S&P 500’s market cap in terms of its index weight, so “it’s increasingly a bigger component of where the trend and momentum of the market goes,”
Matt Stucky of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management told Bloomberg Surveillance.
If the giant chipmaker fails to deliver, or even just meets expectations, “I think it’s more of a risk-off environment,” he said, “not necessarily fuel for rotation.”
Analysts, on average, are predicting that the giant chipmaker will project revenue growth of more than 70% for the current quarter. Some are estimating an even larger surge.
Nvidia’s results and forecast also will serve as a barometer for AI spending across much of the technology industry.
While there have been reports that some versions of Nvidia’s new Blackwell chip lineup are delayed, most analysts believe there’s sufficient demand for current products to make those snags immaterial.
The company hasn’t yet commented on the matter.
“Nvidia is likely to solidly beat consensus and raise third-quarter guidance, with sales surpassing estimates by a single-digit percentage,” said Kunjan Sobhani at Bloomberg Intelligence. “Yet concerns about the Blackwell chip delay could weigh on the upside to expectations for fiscal 2025, making management’s comments — especially a reassuring 2025 outlook — critical.”
Despite the potential for near-term volatility in tech, the AI growth story remains intact, according to Mark Haefele at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“Nvidia’s results this week as well as Apple’s upcoming iPhone launch will be key catalysts to watch. Without taking any single-name views, we maintain our positive outlook for quality AI beneficiaries in the semiconductor and software industries,” Haefele said.
It’s difficult to recall a period in the past where the earnings of one company have been so focused on by the market, but that is where we stand now on Nvidia and to a lesser extent Broadcom Inc., according to Ryan Grabinski at Strategas.
“Their respective earnings results will be a significant catalyst for the broader market in either direction,” he said. “A miss from Nvidia — which has an EPS contribution of 4.6% — could swing estimates materially. Broadcom, which reports next week, contributes 1.6%. A less material EPS contribution, but just as important for ‘AI enthusiasm’.”
Throughout its history, Nvidia has been in a 38% average drawdown, according to data compiled by Bespoke Investment Group strategists.
“Our goal here is not to suggest that Nvidia is doomed, but rather to temper expectations,” Bespoke said. “A repeat of the 1,000%+ gain already experienced by Nvidia is virtually impossible, and extreme pullbacks in a volatile stock like this can happen at any time.”
As the earnings season winds down, BI notes that AI mentions in second-quarter earnings appear to have slipped quarter over quarter — but that’s likely because companies Nvidia and Salesforce have yet to report.
“Recession references among S&P 500 companies’ management and in analyst questions ticked up quarter over quarter for the first time since 2Q22,” said the BI strategists led by Gina Martin Adams. “Still, macroeconomic topics have taken a back seat to AI and the consumer.”
On the economic front, data showed US consumer confidence rose to a six-month high in August as more upbeat views of the economy and inflation offset waning optimism about the labor market.
While the S&P 500 is now nearly back to its all-time high in the wake of Powell’s recent dovish message, underlying risk premia are still somewhat larger than before the July correction began and the previously all-conquering “AI” narrative still is yet to fully recover, according to Jonas Goltermann at Capital Economics.
“Provided that the US economy manages a soft landing, as we continue to anticipate, and enthusiasm around AI rebounds further, we forecast the S&P 500 will hit 6,000 by the end of the year,” he said.
Bank of America Corp. clients pulled money from US stocks for the first time in three weeks, paring their exposure in the asset class that continued to hover near a record.
The offloading was seen across seven of the 11 industry groups but was most prominent in technology stocks, which saw their first outflow in three weeks.
Though the recent rally in Treasuries helped bring the stock-bond relative value comparison back near the long-term average, equities still suffer limited appeal on yields, according to BI’s Adams.
The S&P 500 equity risk premium — the spread between the earnings yield on stocks and the yield on the 10-year Treasury — has edged back into positive territory, Adams noted.
However, right at its long-term average, it is still too low to support the notion of strong forward returns like it did in the 2010-19 bull market, she noted.
“Due to the combination of higher bond yields and stocks near all-time highs, the equity risk premium suggests merely average future returns for stocks — a far cry from the double- digit annualized returns that characterized the post-financial crisis era — but still positive nonetheless,” the strategist concluded.

Corporate Highlights:
* Exxon Mobil Corp. is looking to sell a package of conventional oil assets in the Permian Basin as the company focuses on growing shale production after buying Pioneer Natural Resources Co. earlier this year.
* Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg alleged that Facebook was “pressured” by the US government to censor content related to Covid-19 during the global pandemic and that he regrets the company’s decision to accede to the demands.
* JD.com Inc. plans to buy back as much as $5 billion of its shares, moving to appease investors worried about a potentially worsening Chinese consumer downturn.
* Cava Group Inc. tumbled after the Mediterranean restaurant chain’s largest individual shareholder and a group of executives filed to sell shares.
* Eli Lilly & Co. is now selling vials of its blockbuster weight-loss drug Zepbound to patients for as little as $399 a month as it works to overcome supply shortages of wildly popular shots.

Key events this week:
* Nvidia earnings, Wednesday
* Fed’s Raphael Bostic and Christopher Waller speak, Wednesday
* 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 rose 0.2% as of 3:59 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.2%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 0.3%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 0.7%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1184
* The British pound rose 0.6% to $1.3262
* The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 143.98 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 2.1% to $62,090.96
* Ether fell 3.9% to $2,584.56
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 3.83%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 2.29%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced nine basis points to 4.00%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.2% to $75.75 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,525.17 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Robert Brand and Toby Alder.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Beauty awakens the soul to act. –Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Monday
Tonight is the last 8PM sunset of the year.

August 26, 1883: Krakatoa erupts; 36000 killed.
August 26^th, 1936: The Anglo-Egyptian Treaty establishes Egypt as a sovereign state after 50 year of British occupation.
In 1972, the summer Olympics opened in Munich, West Germany.
August 26^th, 2003: Investigators concluded that NASA’s overconfident management and inattention to safety doomed the space shuttle Columbia as much as damage to the craft did. Go to article >>

Christopher Columbus, explorer, b. 1451.

This is the world’s best-connected airport right now
Take a guess! This airport operates the most nonstop flights to hundreds of destinations worldwide — and it was only built in 2018.

The classic Volkswagen Beetle is all but extinct globally
But in Mexico, it’s a different story. Read why Beetle-fever lives on throughout the country.

$24 million
That’s how much this iconic Babe Ruth jersey fetched at auction on Sunday — making it the world’s most valuable sports collectible.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

East Yorkshire, UK
A rider and horse during an English Civil War Society re-enactment event at Wressle Castle
Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

Nanning, China
Tree roots abut the ancient city wall
Photograph: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

Tokyo, Japan
People take in the view at Odaiba marine park
Photograph: Philip Fongphilip Fong/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for August 26^th, 2024

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1919, the Coca-Cola Co. successfully sold shares to outsiders for the first time, as a syndicate of banks and brokers from around the country bought 417,000 shares to resell to retail investors at an initial offering price of $40. An earlier attempt at a stock offering in 1892 had failed.
Canada:
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.3%, or 62.89 to 23,348.97 in Toronto.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.5%.
Ces Energy Solutions Corp. had the largest increase, rising 4.5%.
Today, 149 of 226 shares rose, while 68 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 1%
* The index advanced 18% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 27% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 24.9% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1% in the past 5 days and rose 2.3% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.7 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 little changed to 14.21% compared with 14.22% in the previous session and the average of 13.53% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 46.1267| 1.1| 35/5
Financials | 7.3209| 0.1| 15/10
Industrials | 6.4572| 0.2| 17/11
Materials | 4.5023| 0.2| 27/22
Consumer Discretionary | 4.4746| 0.6| 10/3
Utilities | 2.7870| 0.3| 11/4
Communication Services | 2.4448| 0.3| 4/1
Real Estate | 2.4191| 0.5| 15/3
Consumer Staples | 1.5206| 0.2| 8/3
Health Care | -0.1952| -0.3| 2/2
Information Technology | -14.9613| -0.8| 5/4
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Natural Resources | 18.2800| 2.5| 182.5| 16.3
Suncor | 9.7030| 2.0| 48.0| 32.5
Canadian Pacific Kansas | 3.7150| 0.5| -26.6| 6.3
Agnico Eagle Mines Limited/Limitee | -2.7220| -0.7| -49.1| 52.9
TD Bank | -4.5820| -0.5| -59.4| -6.8
Shopify | -15.2100| -1.8| -22.1| -2.0
US:
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — The world’s largest technology companies dragged down stocks after a rally that put the market on the brink of its all-time highs, with Nvidia Corp.’s earnings due in just a few days.
A gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” mega caps slid 1.2%.
An equal-weighted version of the S&P 500 — one that gives Target Corp. as much clout as Microsoft Corp. — briefly hit record highs on hopes the bull market will broaden out of big tech after Jerome Powell signaled Friday the Fed will cut rates soon.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average of blue chips closed at a peak.
“Powell sealed the deal for a September cut at Jackson Hole — leaving intact our thesis for continued broadening/rotation,” said Ohsung Kwon at Bank of America Corp. “But don’t sleep on Nvidia earnings, a consistent driver of S&P returns and still a risk to markets if they disappoint.”
Strong flows from corporate buybacks, systematic funds and retail investors are expected to push stocks higher in the coming weeks, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Scott Rubner.
He estimates there will be $17 billion of “unemotional demand between robots and corporates every day this week.”
Rubner also sees a so-called “green sweep” for commodity trading advisers, or CTAs, over the coming week, which means those funds will likely be buying stocks however the market trades.
Traders continued to keep a close eye on US policymakers, with Fed Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly telling Bloomberg Television she believes it’s appropriate to begin cutting rates.
Her Richmond counterpart Thomas Barkin says he still sees upside risks for inflation, though he supports “dialing down” rates in the face of a cooling labor market.
The S&P 500 fell to around 5,615 amid thin trading volume.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell 1%. The Russell 2000 of smaller firms closed little changed.
Treasury 10-year yields rose two basis points to 3.82%.
Oil advanced after Libya’s eastern government said it will halt exports, building on tensions in the Middle East after Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
“The dovish commentary from Powell supports the narrative that inflation is trending lower, and the Fed would soon be cutting rates, underpinning ‘SMID-cap’ (small-mid) stocks,” said Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler.
The market has been on a healthier track over the past few weeks, moving away from the overly strong reliance on a few big tech names that we saw in the first seven months this year, according to Mark Hackett at Nationwide.
With that said, we are currently in what can best be described as a “market pause,” he noted.
“September is historically the worst month on the calendar, so investors should expect some volatility, especially if key indicators like the PCE inflation data, Nvidia earnings, or upcoming payroll disappoint, he said.
To Chris Larkin at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley, in order to push to fresh highs this week, stocks may need to avoid any major surprises from earnings — especially Nvidia — “which has been driving a good deal of the sentiment in the tech sector.”
Expectations heading into the giant chipmaker’s earnings on Wednesday are high, with analysts anticipating another strong consensus beat that could prompt the chipmaker to raise its profit guidance.
Trading in the options market suggest investors see potential for a 9% move in either direction on the day following the report, Citigroup Inc.’s Vishal Vivek said last week.
“Move over, Powell. It’s Jensen Huang’s turn to move markets,” said Anthony Saglimbene at Ameriprise, referring to Nvidia’s chief. “In our view, Nvidia’s earnings report this week may actually have more impact on the overall market than
Powell’s Jackson Hole speech last week.”
Its report this week will wrap up results for the “Magnificent Seven,” which combined are on track to post 34% year-over-year growth in earnings for the second quarter — compared to 6% for the rest of the S&P 500, according to Jason
Pride and Michael Reynolds at Glenmede.
This comes after a nearly year-long period in which the cohort of mega caps posted earnings growth of more than 40% — while the rest of the index saw outright declines.
“The back half of this year is likely to be the beginning of a process that gives way to broader fundamental improvement,” they said. “Broader earnings growth participation should favor small caps and investment processes that avoid the pitfalls of market concentration.”
“At current valuations, stocks are expensive and any further upside will depend on improving earnings,” said Richard Saperstein at Treasury Partners. “Abundant liquidity coupled with declining inflation and an accommodative central bank will provide the backdrop for higher stock prices.”
S&P 500 returns following the initial Fed rate cut tend to be positive — unless the economy falls into recession, according to Keith Lerner at Truist Advisory Services, who also notes that’s not his base-case scenario.
“Small caps are likely to do better in the near term — but longer term we still prefer large caps,” Lerner said. “Small caps are a greater beneficiary of lower short-term rates, and valuations are cheap.
However, historical trends after first Fed rate cut are mixed, earnings trends are still weak, and a cooling economy is historically a headwind for the asset class.”
“Growth stocks are losing bullish momentum right now in both outright price and relative strength to the S&P 500 while the opposite is true for value stocks which hit fresh all-time highs last week and are stabilizing relative to the S&P 500,”
said Tom Essaye at The Sevens Report.
“More evidence is needed but a value-over-growth trade is emerging.”
While it’s hard to stand in front of a market trending higher that is about to get rate cuts, we continue to think equities will show some consolidation around the area of prior highs, said Jonathan Krinsky at BTIG.
“No rush to push all your chips in right here, especially as we enter one of the worst seasonal stretches of the year,” Krinsky noted. “Small caps remain above their key breakout level, but we are more interested in the potential turn in the
relative trend. Rate cuts should help this trade, assuming the eco data holds up.”
US inflation figures in the coming week will reinforce that long-awaited interest-rate cuts are coming soon, while a reading on consumer spending is seen indicating that the central bank has been successful at keeping the expansion intact.
Economists see the personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy — the Fed’s preferred measure of underlying inflation — rising 0.2% in July for a second month.
That would pull the three-month annualized rate of so-called core inflation down to 2.1%, a smidgen above the central bank’s 2% goal.

Corporate Highlights:
* Elliott Investment Management has increased its equity stake in Southwest Airlines Co. to 9.7%, nearing the amount needed to call a special shareholder meeting at which the activist hopes to replace most of the carrier’s board.
* Apple Inc. has sent out invitations for a product launch event at its headquarters on Sept. 9, when it’s set to announce details of the iPhone 16 and other new devices.
* Applied Materials Inc. said the US Department of Justice has requested information on its applications for federal grants, adding another layer to government investigations into its operations.
* Paramount Global is moving ahead with asset disposals to raise cash, people familiar with the matter said, amid the ongoing takeover saga involving the media company.
* McKesson Corp. agreed to buy a controlling stake in an arm of Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, a privately held operator of clinics.
* PDD Holdings Inc.’s shares tumbled after Temu’s owner warned that revenue growth will inevitably dwindle, highlighting the challenges of sustaining its pace of expansion against aggressive rivals like ByteDance Ltd.

Key events this week:
* China industrial profits, Tuesday
* Germany GDP, Tuesday
* US Conference Board consumer confidence, Tuesday
* Nvidia earnings, Wednesday
* Fed’s Raphael Bostic and Christopher Waller speak, Wednesday
* 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 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.3%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 1.2%
* The Russell 2000 Index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro fell 0.3% to $1.1160
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3185
* The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 144.58 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 1.4% to $63,359.76
* Ether fell 3.2% to $2,681.56
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 3.82%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.25%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 3.91%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3% to $77.09 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,518.29 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
A truly great man is known by three signs…generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success. –Otto von Bismarck, 1815-1898.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
August 23, 1775: Britain’s King George III proclaimed the American colonies in a state of open rebellion.  Go to article >>.

August 23, 1966: NASA’s Lunar Orbiter 1 captures Earth’s first photos from the Moon, a pivotal moment in space exploration and our view of Earth’s place in the universe.

1927: Sacco and Vanzetti executed.
Keith Moon, drummer, b.1946.
1977: First human-powered flight.

Ultra-thin solar ‘coating’ can turn phone cases and EVs into mini power generators
Cheap and flexible perovskite solar cells could revolutionize solar power, making it easier than ever to power the world with sunlight. Read More.

Remains of 14th-century gauntlet discovered in Oslo’s medieval harbor
Archaeologists excavating Oslo’s medieval harbor have unearthed the remnants of a 14th-century gauntlet. Read More.

Rare ‘doomsday fish’ said to bring earthquakes spotted in California days before LA quake
Beachgoers found a rare oarfish off California two days before an earthquake, mirroring folklore that says the deep-sea creatures are “doomsday fish.” Read More.

Some black holes have a ‘heartbeat’ — and astronomers may finally know why
A tiny fraction of known black holes emit X-ray signals that resemble a human “heartbeat.” Now, new research may finally explain the strange phenomenon. Read More.

Weird mystery waves that baffle scientists may be ‘everywhere’ inside Earth’s mantle
Structures that scatter seismic waves deep in Earth’s mantle seem to be everywhere researchers look. Read More.

How an indigenous community is using apps to protect the Amazon
Matsés communities in the Amazon rainforest are embracing digital technology to help protect their traditional way of life. Watch the video here

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A young Icelander releases a puffling from a cliff in Vestmannaeyjar, an archipelago to the south of Iceland. Thousands of pufflings are rescued by locals in an annual tradition as they become misguided by city lights during their first flight
Photograph: Micah Garen/Getty Images

Fish explore a coral reef in a “rahui” or restricted area in Tahiti, French Polynesia
Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters

​​​​​​​Hai ‘an, China
Villagers row buckets to pick water chestnuts in eastern China’s Jiangsu province
Photograph: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock
Market Closes for August 23^rd, 2024

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1976, Vanguard launched First Index Investment Trust, the first retail index fund, to howls of derision. As Fidelity Chairman Edward C. Johnson III said that day, “The name of the game is to do the best and I can’t conceive of investment managers not even trying to do better than average.” Now known as the Vanguard 500 Index Fund, it today ranks among the largest mutual funds in the world.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 1.1% at 23,286.08 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 1.2% on Aug. 15 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.4%.
Today, financials stocks led the market higher, as 10 of 11 sectors gained; 198 of 226 shares rose, while 24 fell.
Brookfield Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.4%.
Denison Mines Corp. had the largest increase, rising 12.8%.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain 17 times. The next day, it advanced 14 times for an average 0.7% and declined three times for an average 0.9%
* This month, the index rose 0.8%
* So far this week, the index rose 1%
* The index advanced 17% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 26% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 24.6% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.7 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$3.66t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 14.22% compared with 13.98% in the previous session and the average of 13.12% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 87.7638| 1.2| 23/4
Energy | 48.8929| 1.2| 41/0
Materials | 35.3055| 1.2| 43/7
Industrials | 29.0726| 0.9| 24/4
Information Technology | 22.7261| 1.2| 8/1
Real Estate | 8.4052| 1.7| 19/1
Utilities | 6.4854| 0.7| 13/2
Consumer Discretionary | 5.1992| 0.6| 11/1
Communication Services | 4.1470| 0.6| 4/1
Health Care | 1.0435| 1.6| 4/0
Consumer Staples | -0.4087| 0.0| 8/3
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Brookfield Corp | 21.8600| 3.4| -31.9| 24.8
RBC | 17.7000| 1.2| -30.7| 16.5
Shopify | 14.6200| 1.7| 16.8| -0.3
Intact Financial | -1.1220| -0.4| -20.5| 23.9
Couche-Tard | -3.3020| -0.8| -5.7| 0.3
Restaurant Brands | -4.4880| -2.1| 12.7| -8.2
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rallied across the board and bond yields tumbled, with Jerome Powell giving its clearest signal yet that the Federal Reserve will start cutting rates in September.
While Wall Street had already priced in the start of policy easing next month, Powell’s comments that the “time has come” validated those views.
Now there are plenty of other aspects in his Jackson Hole speech that shouldn’t be overlooked.
For one, the Fed chief acknowledged recent progress on inflation.
Then there’s the fact the he sees the economy growing at a “solid pace” — which provides reassurance after the recent growth scare.
But it was actually his emphasis on the “cooling labor market” that got the attention of many market observers.
Basically, it was seen as an indication the Fed will do whatever it can to avoid a pronounced slowdown.
“The market should be happy with this speech because it wasn’t hawkish in any way, gave the green light for 25 basis-point rate cuts — and left the door open for even larger cuts if that becomes necessary,” said Chris Zaccarelli at Independent Advisor Alliance.
To be sure, bigger cuts could also be a warning sign for equities as they could indicate a rush prevent an economic contraction.
“It is important at this time to take a balanced approach to investing and neither plan for an imminent recession, nor chase risk and get complacent just because the Fed will be lowering rates in less than a month,” Zaccarelli noted.
Absent from Powell’s speech was any specific discussion of the destination for the federal funds rate at the end of this easing cycle or the pace of rate cuts along the way, noted Richard Clarida at Pacific Investment Management Co.
“The details are yet to come into focus, but for the Fed, the direction of travel seems clear,” said Clarida, also a former Fed vice chair.
The August jobs report will likely be significant in the “25 versus 50” discussion, he said.
The S&P 500 rose over 1%, with every major group gaining.
Treasuries climbed across the curve, and the two-year yield broke below 4%.
The dollar lost 1%. Swap traders are now pricing over 100 basis points of easing this year, which implies a reduction at every remaining policy meeting through December, including one jumbo 50-basis-point cut.
“Here comes the punchbowl,” said David Russell at TradeStation.  Jerome Powell came out swinging today with a litany of dovish signals.  He drove the point home with a clear call for adjusting policy.  This keeps a tailwind at the market’s back into year-end, making it harder to expect a retest of this month’s lows.”
To Krishna Guha at Evercore, while Powell did not explicitly reference the “size” of cuts, “pace” incorporates the possibility of moving faster than 25 basis points per meeting.
“Powell has rung the bell for the start of the cutting cycle,” said Seema Shah at Principal Asset Management. “Powell has not pre-committed to a 50 basis-point cut. But make no mistake, if the labor market shows signs of further cooling, the Fed will cut with conviction.”
Neil Dutta at Renaissance Macro Research noted that the word “gradual” was missing from his speech. Unlike some of the recent Fed speakers, Powell is not removing the optionality of doing large moves as policy adjusts, he said.
“The strike price on the fabled ‘Powell Put’ is now rising,” Dutta added.
A labor market softening more so than previously thought should spur faster and steeper interest-rate cuts by the Fed, according to the latest Bloomberg monthly survey of economists.
That should leave the federal funds rate 75 basis points lower by the end of this year from its current level — the July survey only saw 50 basis points of easing — followed by a quicker pace of reductions into 2026.
While many had their eyes peeled on Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium, to Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson, the jobs data in early September will be of even bigger importance.
“It’s about the labor data, period — that’s what’s going to dictate what the Fed does, they’ve said that,” Wilson, the bank’s chief US equity strategist, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “And that’s what the market is going to trade off of.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Apple Inc. is planning to hold its biggest product launch event of the year on Sept. 10, when the company will unveil the latest iPhones, watches and AirPods, according to people familiar with the situation.
* McKesson Corp. is in advanced talks to buy a controlling stake in Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, a privately-held operator of oncology clinics, according to people familiar with the matter.
* Slowing sales at Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp.’s namesake driving ranges and a hefty debt load that threatens to frighten off buyers spurred Raymond James to slash the company’s rating.
* Workday Inc. surged after executives said the software company would sharply increase profitability over the next three years.
* Cava Group Inc. soared after raising its full-year outlook after posting second-quarter results that beat expectations, the latest indicator that diners see good value in fast-casual restaurants.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.15% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1%
* The MSCI World Index rose 1.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 1%
* The euro rose 0.7% to $1.1190
* The British pound rose 0.9% to $1.3208
* The Japanese yen rose 1.4% to 144.29 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 4.8% to $63,612.73
* Ether rose 4.7% to $2,747.76
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined five basis points to 3.80%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.22%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 3.91%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.6% to $74.91 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1% to $2,510.04 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Alex Nicholson, Robert Brand and Lynn Thomasson.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
We can either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong.  The amount of work is the same. -Carlos Castaneda, 1925-1998.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.
August 22, 1851: The first America’s Cup was won by the American yacht “America” in  a race around the Isle of Wight.

August 22: In 1989, Black Panthers co-founder Huey P. Newton was shot dead

August 22, 2005 The last Jewish settlers left the Gaza Strip, ending decades of Israel’s turbulent occupation. Go to article >>

Pink to perform at DNC today
The global pop icon has been tapped for a closing night performance at the Democratic National Convention.

Tourists scaling the Great Wall of China can get food delivered by drone
Hungry tourists hiking on the Great Wall of China can now get their lunch delivered — from the air.

Grand Stade Hassan II: Design revealed for one of the world’s largest stadiums ahead of 2030 World Cup
The 115,000-capacity soccer stadium in Morocco will have a big role to play in the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

Starbucks brings back Pumpkin Spice Latte earlier than ever
The wait is over — what a sweet re-leaf. Beginning today, Starbucks’ beloved “PSL” returns to US menus with other fall-themed drinks and snacks.

1,000-year-old remains of ‘elite woman’ in silk cloak found in abandoned fortress in Mongolia
The burial site was hidden inside an abandoned fortress in Mongolia and contained the remains of a prestigious woman. Read More.

‘Stunning’ Bronze Age burial chamber discovered on the English moor
The stone-lined tomb could provide an unprecedented look at life in Bronze Age England. Read More.

See the moment the blue supermoon ‘gobbled up’ Saturn in epic astrophotography image
Overnight on Aug. 20-21, the full ‘Sturgeon Supermoon’ briefly occulted, or passed in front of, Saturn, snuffing the ringed planet’s light from the sky. An epic new astrophotography image captures the entire spectacle from start to finish. Read More.

Heaviest antimatter particle ever discovered could hold secrets to our universe’s origins
The newly found antiparticle, called antihyperhydrogen-4, could have a potential imbalance with its matter counterpart that may help scientists understand how our universe came to be. Read More.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Çanakkale, Turkey
Kalpli Göl (heart-shaped lake) located near the village of Dalyan. The phytoplankton Dunaliella salina gives the lake its unique pink colour
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Berlin, Germany
A young giraffe named Emily interacts with her mother in their enclosure during a name-giving event at the Tierpark zoo
Photograph: Ralf Hirschberger/AFP/Getty Images

​​​​​​​Taipei, Taiwan
Taipei Performing Arts Center, designed by architects Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten
Photograph: Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for August 22^nd, 2024

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1787, John Fitch launched the first successful steamboat run in U.S. waters, on the Delaware River. He never got costs under control so Robert Fulton is remembered as the father of the steamboat.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.4% at 23,037.47 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest loss since Aug. 7 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.4%.
Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.1%.
Denison Mines Corp. had the largest drop, falling 5.6%.
Today, 141 of 226 shares fell, while 79 rose; 8 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index fell 0.3%
* So far this week, the index was little changed
* The index advanced 17% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 26% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7% below its 52-week high on July 31, 2024 and 23.2% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 0.7% 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 15.7 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$3.67t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 13.98% compared with 14.11% in the previous session and the average of 12.97% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -47.3907| -1.6| 3/48
Information Technology | -32.3560| -1.6| 0/10
Financials | -7.9056| -0.1| 15/11
Consumer Staples | -6.4362| -0.7| 5/6
Consumer Discretionary | -4.6308| -0.6| 3/10
Utilities | -0.6897| -0.1| 8/7
Health Care | -0.2795| -0.4| 1/3
Communication Services | -0.0216| 0.0| 3/2
Real Estate | 1.2961| 0.3| 10/9
Energy | 6.0139| 0.1| 17/21
Industrials | 8.1385| 0.3| 14/14
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
TD Bank | -21.0500| -2.1| 58.3| -7.0
Shopify | -20.0300| -2.3| -53.2| -1.9
Couche-Tard | -7.6710| -1.9| 13.7| 1.1
TC Energy | 3.6250| 0.8| 31.9| 16.9
Canadian Pacific Kansas | 5.9310| 0.8| -33.9| 4.4
RBC | 7.3150| 0.5| -30.8| 15.1
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Bond yields climbed and stocks struggled, with traders betting Jerome Powell will throw cold water on market expectations for aggressive interest-rate cuts this year.
In the run-up to Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole, Treasuries tumbled, with the move led by shorter maturities.
The dollar gained.
The S&P 500 lost steam after getting close to its all-time high.
Tech mega caps sold off.
The swap market has cemented wagers the Federal Reserve will ease policy by one percentage point this year, starting in September with the likelihood of a 25- or even 50-basis-point cut.
“Will Powell allude to a slow walk down the monetary policy stairs or a speedy elevator ride down to the basement?” said Jose Torres at Interactive Brokers. “Powell is likely to choose the stairwell rather than the elevator.”
Wall Street traders waded through a raft of remarks from US policymakers, with Fed Bank of Kansas City President Jeffrey Schmid saying he wants to see more data before supporting cuts.
His Boston counterpart Susan Collins says “a gradual, methodical pace” is likely to be appropriate.
Her comments were echoed by Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker in a CNBC interview.
“The script is clear — the Fed is going to ease in September, but no one is portraying a desire to ease 50 basis points at this time,” said Andrew Brenner at NatAlliance Securities.
Traders are overplaying the prospects of an aggressive series of Fed cuts before the end of the year, according to Mohamed El-Erian.
“It is problematic in my mind that the market is pricing in so many rate cuts right now,” El-Erian, the president of Queens’ College, Cambridge, told Bloomberg Television on Thursday. “The market is overdoing it.”
Treasury 10-year yields advanced six basis points to 3.86%.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.9%.
The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.7%, with Nvidia Corp. leading losses in big tech.
Intel Corp. tumbled 6.1%.
Banks climbed and energy shares joined oil higher.
Peloton Interactive Inc. surged 35% after the fitness company reported earnings that beat estimates.
“We are now once again not debating if they will cut, but by how much they will cut and how many times they will cut before year end,” said Kenny Polcari at SlateStone Wealth. “I am in the 25 basis-point and three-times camp. The US economy is
not circling the drain – so there is no need to suggest that it is.”
Chris Senyek at Wolfe Research says his sense is that Powell will signal an easing cycle starting in September.
However, contrary to what the market is pricing in for the remainder of 2024, he doesn’t believe the Fed Chair will signal a cut larger than 25 basis points.
Sam Stovall at CFRA also bets the next Fed-easing cycle will be initiated in a “more measured fashion” with a 25 basis-point cut.
“This ‘slower to lower’ approach will likely be intended to signal that the Fed is not behind the curve, but will allow it to ensure that the embers of inflation have been fully extinguished before concluding that its mission has been completed,” he noted.
On the economic front, the latest figures were more of a “mixed bag.” Data showed jobless claims data showed the labor market is cooling only gradually — rather than rapidly slowing.
US manufacturing activity shrank at the fastest pace this year on further weakness in production, orders and factory employment. And existing-home sales increased for the first time in five months.
“The US economy overall has, thus far, been robust enough to take an extended Fed rate pause,” said Don Rissmiller at Strategas. “But there’s a clear case for rate cuts soon.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Snowflake Inc. gave a sales outlook that failed to reassure investors that the company will gain ground in the market for artificial intelligence software tools. The shares fell in extended traded.
* Urban Outfitters Inc., the Anthropologie and Free People brands, posted quarterly sales growth that came in below Wall Street’s expectations.
* Carlyle Group Inc. is acquiring Advance Auto Parts Inc.’s Worldpac unit for $1.5 billion, striking the first major industrial investment for the firm in more than two years.
* Zoom Video Communications Inc. gave a sales forecast for the current quarter that beat analysts’ estimates, suggesting its expanded suite of products is making gains with business customers.
* Starboard Value LP urged Autodesk Inc.’s board to evaluate whether Chief Executive Officer Andrew Anagnost is the right person to lead the company following recent accounting issues.

Key events this week:
* Japan CPI, Friday
* BOJ’s Kazuo Ueda to attend special session at Japan’s parliament to discuss July hike, Friday
* US new home sales, Friday
* Jerome Powell speaks in Jackson Hole, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.9% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.7%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.6%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 2.4%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 0.9%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%
* The euro fell 0.4% to $1.1108
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3085
* The Japanese yen fell 0.8% to 146.31 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 1.5% to $60,314.55
* Ether fell 0.9% to $2,607.87
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced six basis points to 3.86%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 2.24%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced seven basis points to 3.96%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.4% to $72.93 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 1.2% to $2,483.12 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
It’s not what happens to you, but how you react that matters. -Epictetus, c. 50 AD-c. 135 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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

August 21, 1878: The American Bar Association was founded in Saratoga, N.Y.  Go to article >>

Count Basie, bandleader, b. 1904.

Benigo Aquino, assassinated.
Wilt Chamberlain, basketball player, b. 1936.

Rare pre-Inca burials of 4 people found at ‘water cult’ temple in Peru
Archaeologists have found the skeletal remains of four people — two children, a teenager and an adult — at a site in Peru that predates the Incas. Read More.

Rare ‘moonbows’ light up night sky across US as blue supermoon rises — and you could still spot another one
At least two lunar rainbows, including a stunning “double moonbow,” have been spotted above the U.S. in the lead-up to the blue supermoon. And there is still a chance to see one of these elusive arches for yourself. Read More.

World’s oldest person, Maria Branyas Morera, dies at 117 years old
The supercentenarian, who was born in San Francisco in 1907, died “peacefully in her sleep” in Olot, Spain. Read More.

Huge 13,600-year-old mastodon skull and bones unearthed in Iowa
A team of archaeologists recently excavated the first well-preserved mastodon bones ever found in Iowa, including the prehistoric animal’s skull. Read More.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are divorcing after two years
“Bennifer” is calling it quits … again. Here’s what we know about their split.

Billions of crabs vanished around Alaska. Scientists have evidence it will happen again
The decline of the Alaskan snow crab signals a wider ecosystem change in the Arctic, as oceans warm and sea ice disappears

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

1st place Travel
Sahara Surfing, Erg Chebbi, Northern Sahara, Morocco
Photograph: Khalid Mahmood

China, Beijing
Humanoid robots on display at the World Robot Conference
Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

​​​​​​​Shanghai, China
A man walks inside a high-rise glass window shopping mall
Photograph: Ying Tang/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock
Market Closes for August 21^st, 2024

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day on August 21, 1754: William Murdock was born in Bellow Mill, near Cumnock in Ayrshire, Scotland. His invention of coal-gas lighting in 1792 marked a leap forward in human productivity and safety from lit buildings and streets.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.4% at 23,121.73 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.3%.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.5%.
Calibre Mining Corp. had the largest increase, rising 7.7%.
Today, 149 of 226 shares rose, while 74 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index was little changed
* The index advanced 17% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 27% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.4% below its 52-week high on July 31, 2024 and 23.7% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.6% in the past 5 days and rose 1.9% 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 15.7 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$3.66t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 14.11% compared with 14.60% in the previous session and the average of 12.93% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | 25.8219| 1.3| 9/1
Materials | 21.5136| 0.7| 39/12
Financials | 19.4843| 0.3| 19/8
Industrials | 15.8266| 0.5| 20/8
Real Estate | 5.9280| 1.2| 20/0
Consumer Discretionary | 4.1745| 0.5| 5/8
Communication Services | 0.9618| 0.1| 3/2
Health Care | 0.4825| 0.7| 3/0
Consumer Staples | 0.2906| 0.0| 8/2
Utilities | -0.5195| -0.1| 5/10
Energy | -9.6848| -0.2| 18/23
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | 13.1000| 1.5| -14.5| 0.4
Constellation Software | 10.3000| 1.8| -15.6| 30.9
TD Bank | 4.7050| 0.5| -31.1| -5.1
Canadian Natural Resources | -2.2470| -0.3| 94.8| 11.7
Enbridge | -3.2680| -0.4| -40.5| 11.2
TC Energy | -4.4220| -1.0| -27.2| 15.9
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed after dovish Federal Reserve minutes and a big downward revision of US payrolls reinforced bets policymakers will cut interest rates in September.
Almost every major group in the S&P 500 advanced, with the US benchmark gauge closing at a five-week high.
Shorter-term Treasuries outperformed, with two-year yields slumping almost 10 basis points before paring the move.
Traders are once again pricing in more than 1 percentage point worth of easing by the end of this year, starting next month.
In the run-up to Jerome Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole Friday, traders scoured minutes from the latest Fed policy meeting.
Several Fed officials acknowledged there was a plausible case for cutting rates at their July gathering before the central bank’s policy committee voted unanimously to keep them steady.
“The Fed minutes removed all doubt about a September rate cut,” said Jamie Cox at Harris Financial Group.
“The Fed’s communication strategy is to make its meetings less of a market moving event, and they are following the script to the letter.”
To Bret Kenwell at eToro, with a “vast majority” of Fed members viewing a September rate cut as appropriate before the disappointing monthly jobs report, it seems all but certain that the Fed will cut next month.
“The question isn’t whether the Fed will cut rates in September, but rather, how much will the Fed cut?” he said. “The market is currently pricing in greater odds of a 25 basis point cut rather than a 50 basis point cut, which seems like the more likely outcome at this point, provided the August jobs report isn’t a drastic disappointment.”
The S&P 500 rose to around 5,620. Target Corp. climbed 10% after ending a string of sales declines in the second quarter, citing improved discretionary spending.
Macy’s Inc. sank 13% on a bearish outlook.
Treasury 10-year yields fell one basis point to 3.79%.
Oil slumped as trend-following algorithmic sellers overlooked a bullish US stockpile report.
The Jackson Hole economic symposium kicks off Thursday — with Fed Chair Powell expected to speak on Friday morning.
And the S&P 500 is on pace to enter the event with the second strongest year-to-date performance since the year 2000, according to data compiled by Bespoke Investment Group.
While performance leading up to Jackson Hole has been positive this year, the index has risen only a third of the time during the symposium across these prior instances with an average decline of 1.37% over the few days it takes place, Bespoke said.
The index has also averaged declines the next day, week, and through the next Fed meeting.
That’s roughly a three-week period after the last day of the symposium.
With the Fed poised to cut rates from restrictive levels and still strong economic and earnings fundamentals, the environment remains supportive for stocks, according to Solita Marcelli at UBS Global Wealth Management.
Marcelli believes quality growth remains well placed to outperform.
Firms with competitive advantages and exposure to structural drivers should be better positioned to grow and reinvest earnings consistently, she noted.
While the annual revision to jobs growth wouldn’t usually impact trading, it got attention this time around due to the recent concern the labor market is cooling too much amid high rates.
The number of workers on payrolls will likely be revised down by 818,000 for the 12 months through March.
It was the largest downward revision since 2009.
“The main message from the revisions in my mind is reinforce just how ‘silly’ it is to let the next jobs number be the determinant in whether to go 25 or 50 in September,” said Neil Dutta at Renaissance Macro Research.
“What this revision data imply is that whatever the next jobs number is going to be, it’s probably lower in reality.”
Krishna Guha at Evercore says the big payroll revisions will reinforce the Fed’s assessment that the labor market has been softening under restrictive policy and that it will need to recalibrate rates in a timely manner to prevent this from extending further than desired.
All this favors a relatively “low bar” for 50 basis-point rate cuts.
The base case remains a string of 25 basis-point moves.
At Strategas, Don Rissmiller says the case for lower policy rates got stronger.
The Fed will need to validate this rate cut cycle – which likely means multiple cuts, he noted, pointing to Powell’s speech on Friday at Jackson Hole.
To Jennifer McKeown at Capital Economics, central bankers are unlikely to offer much forward guidance at the Jackson Hole symposium, preferring to stress their “data dependence.”
“Since most economies are expanding, inflation is easing back to target and financial markets have stabilized after the recession scare a few weeks ago, there is less pressure for them to steer markets than there has been around past events,” she noted. “But they risk keeping rates too high for too long.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Apple Inc.’s vice president in charge of the App Store is leaving as the company reorganizes to respond to changes in global regulations.
* Ford Motor Co. is recalibrating its electrification strategy yet again, canceling plans for a fully electric sport utility vehicle in a shift that may cost the carmaker around $1.9 billion.
* Walmart Inc. raised about $3.6 billion by selling its stake in Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com Inc., winding down an eight-year partnership that appears to be paying diminishing returns amid a challenging landscape for Chinese tech giants.
* US coal producer Arch Resources Inc. agreed to merge with rival Consol Energy Inc. in a $2.3 billion deal aimed at creating a North American mining heavyweight to deliver the fuel around the world.

Key events this week:
* Eurozone HCOB PMI, consumer confidence, Thursday
* ECB publishes account of July rate decision, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, existing home sales, S&P Global PMI, Thursday
* Japan CPI, Friday
* BOJ’s Kazuo Ueda to attend special session at Japan’s parliament to discuss July hike, Friday
* US new home sales, Friday
* Jerome Powell speaks in Jackson Hole, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.5%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1152
* The British pound rose 0.4% to $1.3090
* The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 145.03 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 4% to $61,664.01
* Ether rose 2.3% to $2,648.64
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 3.79%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.19%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 3.89%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.7% to $71.94 a barrel
* Spot gold was little changed

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
Pleasure is always derived from something outside you, whereas joy arises from within. -Eckhart Tolle, b.1948.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
August 20^th, 1953 The Soviet Union publicly acknowledged it had tested a hydrogen bomb. Go to article >>
August 20^th, 1977: Voyager 2 is launched by NASA to study the outer planets and beyond, becoming one of the most successful space missions.

1942: Plutonium first weighed.
Eliel Saarinen, architect, b. 1873.

In pictures: The rare super blue moon
A super blue moon lit up the sky on Monday, creating a stellar sight for millions worldwide. View photos from the rare event.

Trump falsely suggests Taylor Swift endorsed him
Former President Donald Trump posted fake AI images of Taylor Swift and Swifties, falsely suggesting he has the singer’s support. 

A gold bar is now worth $1 million
Central banks — and investors — see the precious metal as a long-term, reliable store of value. Read why gold prices are soaring.

‘World’s most famous’ helipad on Burj al Arab turns 25
Beyond its basic function, this suspended helipad is better known as a location for legendary stunts and extravagant events

‘Spectacular silver treasure’ from Viking Age unearthed by college student on farm in Denmark
A metal detectorist found more than a half dozen pieces of silver jewelry while exploring farmland in Denmark. Read More.

‘Banana apocalypse’ could be averted thanks to genetic breakthrough
Fusarium wilt is threatening the global supply of bananas, but researchers might have found a way to control the disease. Read More.

Quantum data beamed alongside ‘classical data’ in the same fiber-optic connection for the 1st time
Scientists have transmitted quantum data and conventional internet data through the same fiber-optic channel for the first time. Read More.

What was the first animal on Earth?
Using fossil evidence and genetic dating, geneticists and paleontologists have backed strikingly different candidates for the world’s first animal. Read More.

‘Final parsec problem’ that makes supermassive black holes impossible to explain could finally have a solution
A new study helps solve the “final parsec problem” that has made supermassive black hole formation impossible to explain, pointing to a strange form of dark matter as the key.

PHOTOS OF THE DAYLiverpool, EnglandSenior paintings conservator Dave Crombie works on Echo and Narcissus by John William Waterhouse. Painted in 1903, it depicts the Roman myth in which Narcissus rejects the nymph Echo and falls in love with his own reflection
Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA
Erçek Lake, Turkiye
A pelican flies low over a flock of flamingoes
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
A deep red supermoon in the path of a spotlight on the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The supermoon will appear full in the sky for three days.
Photograph: Christian Hartmann/Reuters
Market Closes for August 20^th, 2024

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1932: Franklin Delano Roosevelt kicked off his presidential campaign with a nine-point plan for helping the economy climb out of the Great Depression. Among the proposals: reforms of Wall Street underwriting and trading, increased regulation of commercial banks, a more aggressive role for the Federal Reserve, and a crackdown on utility companies. 
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.3% at 23,037.44 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 0.4% on Aug. 7 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.3%.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.5%. Tilray Brands Inc. had the largest drop, falling 3.8%.
Today, 127 of 226 shares fell, while 94 rose; 9 of 11 sectors were lower, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index fell 0.3%
* The index advanced 16% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 27% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7% below its 52-week high on July 31, 2024 and 23.2% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.9% in the past 5 days and rose 1.5% 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 15.7 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$3.67t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 14.60% compared with 14.61% in the previous session and the average of 12.87% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | -58.0411| -1.4| 8/33
Financials | -7.8278| -0.1| 11/15
Information Technology | -6.5186| -0.3| 1/9
Consumer Discretionary | -4.7899| -0.6| 7/6
Consumer Staples | -4.5020| -0.5| 4/7
Industrials | -3.4618| -0.1| 13/15
Utilities | -3.4360| -0.4| 7/8
Communication Services | -1.7914| -0.3| 2/3
Health Care | -1.1197| -1.7| 1/3
Real Estate | 0.9579| 0.2| 11/8
Materials | 11.5680| 0.4| 29/20
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Natural Resources | -18.7300| -2.5| 150.7| 12.1
Suncor | -13.5700| -2.7| -7.5| 29.3
Cenovus Energy | -8.8460| -3.6| 32.0| 16.7
Wheaton Precious Metals | 4.6880| 1.8| -29.0| 28.5
Agnico Eagle Mines Limited/Limitee | 5.3040| 1.4| 6.8| 53.9
Fairfax Financial | 5.4100| 2.3| -24.8| 28.9
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks struggled to make headway, following a furious rally that put the market within a striking distance of its all-time highs.
A drop in equities interrupted what would have been the S&P 500’s longest winning streak in 20 years. In stark contrast to the “extreme negative momentum” during the panic selling of early August, “euphoria” has taken hold. In only eight days, the US equity benchmark added almost 8%, with positioning returning to extended levels. Just last week, nearly $16 billion in new long bets were added to S&P 500 futures, according to Citigroup Inc.
In another sign that bullishness has been in overdrive, Bank of America Corp. clients doled out $2.7 billion for US equities during the best week of the year for the S&P 500 Index, with inflows led by so-called smart money. And Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said so-called trend followers are “no longer a headwind” and are expected to be buyers of equities this week — no matter how markets move.
“The momentum guys are driving the bus,” said Kenny Polcari at SlateStone Wealth. “Now the volumes have been trending lower as we move into the end of the month. Moves will be and are exaggerated as a result. And I think the recent rally is proof
of that exaggeration.”
At Miller Tabak, Matt Maley said it would be “healthy” if the equity market took a breather for a day or two.
“No market moves in a straight line,” he noted. The S&P 500 fell below 5,600. Nvidia Corp. — which had rallied almost 25% in six days — led losses in mega caps. Bank of America Corp. slumped after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. sold more shares. Lowe’s Cos. cut its full-year guidance. Netflix Inc. hit a record high. Palo Alto Networks Inc. climbed on a bullish outlook and after boosting its buyback program.
Treasury 10-year yields declined six basis points to 3.81%.
The loonie trailed most of its major peers as inflation in Canada decelerated, cementing rate-cut wagers. Oil steadied, with traders monitoring developments in cease-fire talks for the war in Gaza.
Dan Wantrobski at Janney Montgomery Scott, says that he continues to anticipate ongoing stock-market strength on a near- term basis, but he remains on “high alert” for another, potentially bigger corrective wave moving through the August- October time frame.
“So what happens when everything and everyone is teed up to be bullish,” Wantrobski said. “From a timing perspective, we are headed into a window where there may be high probability for a liquidity event to occur — and the charts, trader positioning, and sentiment are all very vulnerable right now in our view. We smell a ‘bull trap’ ahead. But hope we’re wrong.” After the S&P 500 last closed at overbought levels on July 23, it quickly sold off and moved into “extreme” oversold territory in just 13 calendar days, according to Bespoke Investment Group. Just as fast as the S&P 500 moved into extreme oversold territory, though, it swung back to overbought levels nearly as fast.
“The market may usually take the stairs up and the elevator down, but in this case, it took the elevator both ways!” the Bespoke strategists said. Since World War II, there have only been 10 other periods when the S&P 500 moved from oversold levels down to extreme overbought levels and back to overbought levels in less than five weeks.
While the S&P 500’s consistency of positive returns was slightly better than normal, the magnitude of the returns relative to historical averages was mixed, Bespoke noted. Median one-, three-, and six-month returns were modestly better than
the long-term average, but the median one-year gain was well below the post-WWII average.
“While stocks have experienced breathtaking moves in the last month, we would caution against trying to read too much (good or bad) into the swiftness of the rebound,” the strategists concluded.
Momentum traders and a surge in corporate buybacks promise to drive a US stocks rally over the next four weeks, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Scott Rubner said in a note dated Monday. Rubner, who correctly predicted a late summer correction and advised in late June to trim exposure in US stocks after July 4, has turned tactically bullish saying current positioning and flows “will act as a tailwind as sellers are out of ammo.”
“Strong price momentum and sharp rapid reversals as witnessed over the past month are a feature of modern financial markets, not a bug,” said Jason Draho at UBS Global Wealth Management. “This stems from the outsized market influence of the Fed, macroeconomic uncertainty, investor herd behavior, and the growing use of index-linked products to manage positioning.”
Aside from flows and positioning, the recent rally was also fueled by bets the Federal Reserve will signal it’s getting closer to cutting rates. Just days ahead of Jerome Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole, key US payrolls revisions is poised to
capture Wall Street’s attention.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. economists expect the government’s preliminary benchmark revisions on Wednesday to show payrolls growth in the year through March was at least 600,000 weaker than currently estimated. While JPMorgan Chase & Co. forecasters see a decline of about 360,000, Goldman indicates it could be as large as a million.
“Our guess as to what is driving rates lower today/over the last week is the hyper focus on the payroll revisions,” said Dennis DeBusschere, founder of 22V Research. “People seem to be assuming a large downward revision would increase the odds of
more aggressive rate cuts signal at Jackson Hole. That seems fair. Also, it doesn’t mean recession odds go up.”
To Anthony Saglimbene at Ameriprise, continued progress on inflation, moderating but still healthy labor conditions, and economic updates that point to firm consumer trends likely allow the Fed to comfortably begin cutting its policy rate in September.
From a monetary policy perspective, whether it’s a 25 or 50-basis point cut next month isn’t really that important, he noted. What is important — and not lost on investors over the last week or so — is that updates on labor, services activity, inflation, and the consumer all point to a still healthy economic environment, but one that allows the Fed room to start easing monetary policy.
“This is how a soft landing starts, in our view. Of course, there is no guarantee the Fed will ultimately pull it off, but you need the conditions in place to start, and it looks like we finally have those conditions in place today, he said.

Corporate Highlights:
* Johnson & Johnson will pay as much $1.7 billion for V-Wave Ltd., bolstering its development efforts to treat heart failure as it goes deeper into medical technology.
* Kroger Co. is selling $10.5 billion of bonds on Tuesday to help fund its acquisition of fellow grocer Albertsons Cos. In what will be one of the biggest corporate bond deals of the year.
* Patients taking Eli Lilly & Co.’s blockbuster weight-loss shot were 94% less likely to develop diabetes in a three-year study that illuminates the long-term health benefits of treating obesity.
* Alaska Air Group Inc. and Hawaiian Holdings Inc. are one step closer to finalizing their $1.9 billion merger after the US Justice Department decided against challenging it.
* Boeing Co. has paused flight tests of its 777X jetliner while it inspects the four-aircraft fleet for cracking in a crucial structural component that connects the hulking General Electric Co. engines to the plane’s wings.
* Edgar Bronfman Jr. formally submitted a $4.3 billion bid to take control of Paramount Global and quash an existing offer from Skydance Media, according to a person familiar with the proposal.

Key events this week:
* US Fed minutes, BLS preliminary annual payrolls revision, Wednesday
* Eurozone HCOB PMI, consumer confidence, Thursday
* ECB publishes account of July rate decision, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, existing home sales, S&P Global PMI, Thursday
* Japan CPI, Friday
* Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda to attend special session at Japan’s parliament to discuss July 31 rate hike, Friday
* US new home sales, Friday
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks at Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%
* The MSCI World Index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro rose 0.4% to $1.1125
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.3033
* The Japanese yen rose 0.8% to 145.35 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.7% to $59,506.7
* Ether fell 0.5% to $2,602.83
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined six basis points to 3.81%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.22%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.92%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.4% to $74.04 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.4% to $2,515.22 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Isabelle Lee and Vildana Hajric.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
What you do when you don’t have to determines what you will be when you can no longer help it. -Rudyard Kipling, 1865-1907.

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

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