Category: Newsletters

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
July 26, 1963: Sitcom 2, the world’s first geosynchronous communications satellite is launched.  Part of NASA’s Sitcom program, it was responsible for transmitting the first TV signal from a geosynchronous satellite, a manmade satellite whose orbital period around the Earth matches the Earth’s rotation.

July 26, 1964: Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa and six others were convicted of fraud and conspiracy in the handling of a union pension fund.  Go to article >>

Mick Jagger, musician, b. 1943.  OMG! Mick Jagger turns 80 years old today.
Aldous Huxley, writer, b. 1894
Carl Jung, psychoanalyst, b. 1875.
George Bernard Shaw, writer,  b. 1856.

The surprising list of actors who were up to play Ken in ‘Barbie’.  Ryan Gosling delivered all the “energy” one could ask for. But just for kicks, here are the other actors who might have gotten the role.

Gulf Stream current could collapse in 2025, plunging Earth into climate chaos: ‘We were actually bewildered’
Researchers have predicted the collapse of the AMOC could happen any time between 2025 and 2095 — far sooner than previous predictions, although not all scientists are convinced. Read More
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

London, UK
People visit Luke Jerram’s sculpture, Mars: War & Peace, a Model of the Red Planet, at the Kensington and Chelsea festival
Photograph: Raşid Necati Aslım/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Berlin, Germany
People visit the Devouring Lovers installation by the Spanish artist Eva Fàbregas at Hamburger Bahnhof National Gallery
Photograph: David Gannon/AFP/Getty Images

Albany, Australia
Volunteers try to help pilot whales after more than 50 died in a stranding on Cheynes Beach
Photograph: Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for July 26^th, 2023

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35520.12	+82.05
		+0.23%
S&P 500	4566.75	-0.71
		-0.02%
NASDAQ	14127.28	-14.28
		-0.12%
TSX	20561.64	+10.11
		+0.05%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	32668.34	-14.17
		-0.04%
HANG SENG	19365.14	-69.29
		-0.36%
SENSEX	66707.20	+351.49
		+0.53%
FTSE 100*	7676.89	-14.91
		-0.19%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.475	3.515
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.314	3.340
U.S.    10 Year Bond	3.8668	3.8845
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.9344	3.9288

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7571	0.7591
US $	1.3208	1.3173

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4644	0.6829
US $	1.1087	0.9020

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1958.70	1960.00
Oil
WTI Crude Future	78.78	80.03

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1786, the earliest known U.S. stock and bond tables were published in the Massachusetts Centinel.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 20,561.64 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.1%.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.7%.
Tilray Brands Inc. had the largest increase, rising 15.9%.
Today, 123 of 228 shares rose, while 99 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2%
* The index advanced 8.4% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 16% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.4% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 15% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.3% in the past 5 days and rose 5% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.4 on a trailing basis and 14.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.25t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 10.05% compared with 10.05% in the previous session and the average of 10.78% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 21.0089| 0.3| 22/7
Industrials | 17.8979| 0.6| 18/8
Energy | 6.7520| 0.2| 24/14
Consumer Discretionary | 3.5857| 0.4| 10/3
Health Care | 1.7360| 3.0| 2/2
Real Estate | 1.4882| 0.3| 16/5
Utilities | -0.8851| -0.1| 7/9
Communication Services | -1.5697| -0.2| 1/4
Consumer Staples | -7.5346| -0.9| 3/8
Materials | -10.9977| -0.4| 19/29
Information Technology | -21.3762| -1.3| 1/10
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD| Index | | 20D AVG | Change Top Contributors |Points Move|% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Pacific Kansas | 11.7200| 1.7| 55.6| 9.8
TD Bank | 9.8610| 0.9| -46.5| -1.9
Rogers Communications | 4.3400| 2.8| 72.5| -4.0
Teck Resources | -5.8390| -3.2| 56.7| 9.9
Constellation Software| -6.4540| -1.7| 6.5| 33.7
CGI Inc | -8.9360| -4.5| 196.6| 10.8
================================================================
| | Index |Volume VS | YTD| | Points | 20D AVG | Change Biggest Gainers | % Change | Move | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Tilray Brands | 15.9| 1.5590| 335.9| -30.5
MAG Silver | 10.5| 0.9990| 149.7| -22.6
TFI International | 4.3| 3.8500| 85.5| 25.0
================================================================
| |Index Points| Volume VS |YTD Change Biggest Losers | % Change | Move |20D AVG (%)| (%)
================================================================
CGI Inc | -4.5| -8.9360| 196.6| 10.8
Teck Resources | -3.2| -5.8390| 56.7| 9.9
George Weston | -2.7| -1.8710| 44.7| -9.2
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — There was something for every Wall Street bull and bear in Jerome Powell’s remarks Wednesday, but the market finished the day betting the Federal Reserve’s next move will possibly be a skip.
Two-year US yields dropped alongside the dollar.
Stocks rebounded from session lows, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average notching its 13th straight advance — the longest winning run since 1987.
In late trading, Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. climbed after projecting revenue that beat estimates while eBay Inc. fell on a disappointing profit outlook.
The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points to the highest level in 22 years, and Powell said further hikes will be “data dependent” as officials fine-tune their effort to further quell inflation.
Swaps referencing future decisions priced in slightly lower odds of another increase this year, which ebbed to 47%.
Comments:
Rajeev Sharma, managing director of fixed income at Key Private Bank:
“In our opinion, the rate hiking cycle is done and the Fed will now pause for the rest of the year. The latest market reaction also supports this thesis with yields dipping slightly across the front end of the yield curve.”
Frances Donald, global chief economist at Manulife Investment Management:
“We now believe that the Fed is on a prolonged ‘hawkish hold’. In our base case, their next move will likely be a cut but it will take until 2024 until we see it. That said, Powell will have no choice but to keep the threat of hikes alive, lest he encourage markets to prematurely price in cuts and reignite inflation expectations.”
Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance:
“Bears can point to Powell’s insistence that all meetings are live and that core inflation is ‘pretty elevated,’ and bulls can point to Powell’s insistence that they could easily skip the next meeting and keep rates unchanged in September.”
Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management:
“While the statement is a yawner, the broad signal is of a Fed that considers each monetary policy meeting as ‘live’. Data dependence remains the buzzword and, given the confusing signals of waning inflation but a tight labor market, keeping all options on the table seems to be a sensible approach.”
Edward Moya, senior market analyst for the Americas at Oanda:
“The Fed is keeping optionality for future rate increases, but it probably won’t need them. The disinflation process will remain as the economy is weakening, and the corporate world should start feeling the impact of tighter credit conditions.”
Preston Caldwell, chief US economist at Morningstar:
“We expect today’s meeting to be the Fed’s final rate hike.  Even with economic growth showing no signs yet of slowing to the below-trend growth rate usually needed to cause broad-based disinflationary pressure in the economy, inflation is nevertheless showing signs of abating due to relaxing of supply side constraints. As such, we expect the Fed to pause on rate hikes in its final three meetings of 2023.”
Jon Maier, chief investment officer at Global X:
“Now, it looks like the Fed might be closing in on the end of its current cycle of rate hikes. But they’re not painting themselves into a corner – they’re keeping an option open for another possible rate increase later this year. It shows they’re staying flexible and ready to respond to any economic twists and turns that might come up.”
David Russell, vice president of Market Intelligence at TradeStation:
“The Fed is in wait-and-see mode. They’re going to get two more months of employment and inflation data before the September meeting, so there’s no reason to make any changes now.  Investors can now put this behind them and get back to earnings.”
Another driver of trading Wednesday was the large batch of earnings reports, with results from big tech being highly scrutinized after the shares notched a historic advance in the first six months of the year.
Google parent Alphabet Inc. climbed to a 15-month high as revenue beat expectations, while Microsoft Corp. fell the most since January on a tepid sales growth and Texas Instruments Inc.’s lukewarm forecast weighed on chipmakers.
“Big tech earnings have been very Darwinian, and investors are only rewarding the companies that truly post strong results,” David Bahnsen, chief investment officer at the Bahnsen Group. “After extreme gains so far this year in big tech stocks, we have now moved to a phase where each company’s stock price is very non-correlated to one another.”

Corporate Highlights
* Boeing Co. rose after generating $2.58 billion in free cash flow in the second quarter, far exceeding expectations, amid a flurry of jet deliveries.
* Regional banks climbed as news that PacWest Bancorp is being bought by Banc of California bolstered confidence in the industry. Wells Fargo & Co. paced gains in larger lenders on plans to repurchase as much as $30 billion of its shares.
* Rail giant Union Pacific Corp. advanced after appointing Jim Vena as its new chief executive officer. Retailer Gap Inc. gained after naming Mattel Inc.’s Richard Dickson as its next CEO.
* Coca-Cola Co. rose after raising its full-year guidance after second-quarter results show continued momentum and consumer willingness to pay higher prices to quench their thirst with the company’s sugary sodas, fruit juices and sports drinks.
* AT&T Inc. advanced on profit and free cash flow that topped analysts’ estimates, offering a brighter picture as the phone giant faces a challenging restructuring effort, a heavy debt load and the potentially high costs of cleaning lead out of its old copper phone network.
* Visa Inc. posted card-spending growth that was more robust than Wall Street expected as consumer demand for travel and dining out remained strong last quarter.
* Snap Inc. fell after projecting revenue at the lower end of analysts’ estimates for this quarter, signaling that improvements to the digital advertising business are taking

Key events this week:
* China industrial profits, Thursday
* ECB rate decision, Thursday
* US GDP, durable goods orders, initial jobless claims, wholesale inventories, Thursday
* Japan Tokyo CPI, Friday
* BOJ rate decision, Friday
* Eurozone economic confidence, consumer confidence, Friday
* US consumer income, employment cost index, University of Michigan 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 0.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%
* The MSCI World index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
* The euro rose 0.4% to $1.1095
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.2946
* The Japanese yen rose 0.5% to 140.25 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.6% to $29,411.02
* Ether rose 0.6% to $1,873.36
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 3.86%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced six basis points to 2.48%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 4.28%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.9% to $78.93 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.6% to $2,015.30 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Brett Miller, Tassia Sipahutar, Sujata Rao, Emily Graffeo, Isabelle Lee and Michael Mackenzie

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power. –George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950.

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:
July 25, 1885: Louis Pasteur successfully administers the firs rabies vaccine to a human, revolutionizing the field of immunization and paving the way for advancements in preventing infectious diseases.
July 25, 1978 The first baby conceived by in-vitro fertilization was born in Oldham, England.  Go to article >>

Pilgrimage of St. Anne d’Auray, France.
St. James the Great Day, Christian calendar.

Moviegoers have spotted a blooper in ‘Oppenheimer’.  Eagle-eyed fans noticed that some American flags used in the film bear the wrong number of stars.

The rise of gig workers is changing the face of the US economy.  Labor market experts say the number of gig workers is growing, and their alternative working arrangements are rippling through the economy.

Casey Phair becomes youngest player in World Cup history.  South Korea forward Casey Phair became the youngest player to appear at the World Cup — just a few weeks after celebrating her 16th birthday.

Twitter’s new logo ‘X’ is set to kill billions in brand value

Invisible barrier that runs through Indonesia finally explained by scientists
Researchers now understand why there is an uneven distribution of animal species on either side of the Wallace Line. Read More.

Bizarre ‘relic galaxy’ is missing a key component of the universe, and scientists are stumped
A massive galaxy far from Earth seems to be entirely devoid of dark matter, contrary to all accepted cosmological models. Read More.

AI is transforming every aspect of science. Here’s how.
In the future, research labs will embrace the transformative potential of artificial intelligence to speed up scientific discovery. Read More.

Grizzly bear believed to have killed woman on Buttermilk Trail near Yellowstone National Park
The suspected attack comes after officials warned that grizzly bears were moving into new areas in the state. Read More.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Gilgit, Pakistan: A view of K2, the world’s second tallest mountain, from Concordia camp in the Karakoram range of Gilgit-Baltistan.  Photograph: Joe Stenson/AFP/Getty Images

San Francisco, US: A worker removes letters from the Twitter sign that is posted on the exterior of Twitter headquarters in California. Workers began removing the letters from the sign outside Twitter headquarters less than 24 hours after the firm’s CEO, Elon Musk, officially rebranded Twitter as X and has changed its iconic bird logo, the biggest change he has made since taking over the social media platform. San Francisco police halted the sign removal shortly after it began.  Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Rhodes, Greece: A wildfire in Vati village. A third successive heatwave in Greece pushed temperatures back above 40C across parts of the country following more evacuations from fires.  Photograph: Petros Giannakouris/AP
Market Closes for July 25^th, 2023

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35438.07	+26.83
		+0.08%
S&P 500	4567.46	+12.82
		+0.28%
NASDAQ	14144.55	+85.68
		+0.61%
TSX	20551.53	-30.59
		-0.15%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	32682.51	-18.43
		-0.06%
HANG SENG	19434.40	+766.25
		+4.10%
SENSEX	66355.71	-29.07
		-0.04%
FTSE 100*	7691.80	+13.21
		+0.17%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.515	3.498
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.340	3.335
U.S.    10 Year Bond	3.8845	3.8725
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.9288	3.9242

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7591	0.7592
US $	1.3173	1.3172

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4561	0.6868
US $	1.1055	0.9046

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1960.00	1960.60
Oil
WTI Crude Future	80.03	78.89

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1893, nearly one-quarter of U.S. railroads were heading into bankruptcy. It was the low point of the Panic of 1893 and caused the New York Stock Exchange to nearly close down.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.1% at 20,551.53 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s increase of 0.2%.
TC Energy Corp. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.7%. ATS Corp. had the largest drop, falling 5.1%.
Today, 91 of 228 shares fell, while 133 rose; 6 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2%
* The index advanced 7.6% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 15% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.4% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 15% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.9% in the past 5 days and rose 5.8% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.4 on a trailing basis and 14.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3% on a trailing 12-month  basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.26t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 10.05% compared with 10.05% in the previous session and the average of 10.82% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | -49.5574| -0.8| 14/15
Information Technology | -8.9201| -0.6| 6/5
Energy | -8.3943| -0.2| 20/20
Communication Services | -6.6562| -0.8| 1/4
Consumer Staples | -2.5541| -0.3| 4/7
Health Care | -0.1660| -0.3| 2/2
Utilities | 0.4952| 0.1| 7/7
Consumer Discretionary | 1.0251| 0.1| 7/8
Industrials | 1.3005| 0.0| 14/12
Real Estate | 1.6351| 0.3| 14/6
Materials | 41.1867| 1.7| 44/5
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
TC Energy | -17.1000| -4.7| 16.6| -10.2
Bank of Nova Scotia| -14.6700| -2.6| 52.7| -1.5
TD Bank | -13.9600| -1.3| -50.6| -2.8
Canadian Pacific Kansas | 5.0140| 0.7| 24.8| 8.1
First Quantum Minerals | 5.6500| 4.2| 10.0| 27.7
Canadian Natural Resources | 6.7500| 1.1| -39.0| 5.7
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A rally in big tech drove stocks higher, with traders counting on the earnings season to see whether the enthusiasm around artificial intelligence will justify this year’s market advance.
In late trading, a $210 billion exchange-traded fund tracking the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) advanced as Google parent Alphabet Inc. reported revenue that exceeded analysts’ expectations.
Microsoft Corp. fell on tepid sales growth, while Texas Instruments Inc. gave a lukewarm earnings forecast.
The S&P 500 hit its highest since April 2022 on Tuesday, while the Nasdaq 100 outperformed and the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw its 12th straight advance — the longest winning run on over six years. On the eve of the Federal Reserve decision, consumer confidence data bolstered the soft-landing narrative, while suggesting policymakers aren’t done with their inflation fight yet.
With the S&P 500 just about 5% away from its all-time high, elevated bullish positioning and indicators pointing to overbought levels, many investors are counting on earnings to make a decision on where to go from here.
That’s especially true when it comes to big tech, with the Nasdaq 100 continuing to push higher even after an over $5 trillion rally that has spurred concerns about overstretched valuations.
“The next couple of weeks will be when the proverbial rubber hits the road for the Nasdaq 100,” said Matthew Weller, global head of research at Forex.com and City Index. “With the index still hovering near bull-market highs and up more than 40% on the year, investor expectations are clearly elevated — leaving little room for error.”
Treasury two-year yields, which are more sensitive to imminent Fed moves, dropped four basis points to 4.88%.
The dollar halted a five-day advance.
Rates on swap contracts continued to price in a quarter percentage-point Fed hike on Wednesday, with an additional 12.5 basis point increase factored in by year-end.
That indicates a 50% likelihood of another quarter-point move.
In other corporate news, Banc of California climbed on a news report it’s in advanced talks to buy PacWest Bancorp, which fell.
General Electric Co. and 3M Co. climbed after reporting earnings that blew past Wall Street’s expectations.
iRobot Corp. dropped after Amazon.com Inc. said it’s paying less to acquire the Roomba maker.
There are so many bulls in the US stock market that any disappointment on the economy or earnings poses a risk to the rally, according to Citigroup Inc. strategists.
Investor exposure to the S&P 500 remains extended and one-sided, even after bullish momentum has waned in recent weeks, a team including Chris Montagu said.
Given that Wall Street had set a low bar coming into the reporting season, roughly 80% of the companies have thus far beaten profit estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“We are about to enter the height of earnings season,” said Brad Bernstein, managing director at UBS Wealth Management. “As long as earnings continue to exceed expectations, the market can continue to move higher.”
For traders who closely follow Fibonacci analysis, the S&P 500 Index this month crossed above 4,505 to reach the 76.4% retracement of its peak-to-trough decline from its January 2022 high and its subsequent October low.
Since 1929, when the benchmark equities gauge suffered a bear market decline of at least 20% or more, this retracement level proved to be the start of a new uptrend, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.
So the index finishing above that level implies a bottom has definitely been set.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World index rose 0.5%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro was little changed at $1.1053
* The British pound rose 0.6% to $1.2900
* The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 140.88 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.2% to $29,193.95
* Ether rose 0.3% to $1,856.89
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 3.88%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.43%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 4.27%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.1% to $79.59 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.2% to $2,005.20 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Jason Scott, Tassia Sipahutar, Sujata Rao and Isabelle Lee.
Have  a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power. –George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950.

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.

July 24, 1911: American explorer Hiram Bingham discovers Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas.
Beginning of Mata Hari’s trial
Dutch-born dancer and courtesan Mata Hari, whose name became a synonym for the seductive female spy, went on trial this day in 1917, accused of spying for Germany, and was subsequently found guilty and shot by a firing squad. Go to article >>

Amelia Eargart, aviatrix, b. 1898.
Alexandre Dumas, writer, b. 1802.
Jennifer Lopez,b.1970.
‘Barbie’ breaks box-office records.  The movie raked in a stunning $155 million during its opening weekend, but not everyone is seeing it through rose-colored glasses. Read why some voices on the right are urging a boycott of the film.

A ‘gravity hole’ in the Indian Ocean has remained a mystery — until now.  Humans often think about Earth as a perfect sphere, but that’s far from the truth. Some spots on the planet — like this one — have a weaker gravitational pull, making Earth look more like a lumpy potato, according to scientists.

Jonas Vingegaard seals his second consecutive Tour de France victory.  With a wide smile, the Dane secured another victory on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Clearest-ever seafloor maps show deep-sea ‘Grand Canyon’ off US coast in stunning detail
A massive deep-sea ravine in the Pacific Ocean has been mapped out in greater detail than any other part of the world’s seafloor. Read More.

Scientists just made the largest quasicrystal ever – because one of them bet it couldn’t be done
The quasicrystal, a type of non-repeating crystal once deemed impossible, was made by jiggling thousands of metal balls in a tray for over a week. Read More.

Master copy of the Voyager Golden Record, designed as an audio postcard for intelligent aliens, is up for auction
Carl Sagan’s personal copy of the Voyager Golden Record contains 27 pieces of music and 22 minutes of sound meant to capture the beauty of life on Earth. Read More

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Tynemouth, UK
The bad weather continues in some parts of the UK as waves crash over the pier at Tynemouth
Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Mendoza, Argentina
A group of people, including relatives of passengers of a Uruguayan air force plane that crashed in the remote Andes mountains in the Argentine province of Mendoza, on the border with Chile, on 13 October 1972, with 45 people onboard including members of a rugby team, ride on horseback to the site of the accident
Photograph: Mariana Suárez/AFP/Getty Images

Rhodes, Greece
Smoke billows in the background of Kiotari village. Tens of thousands of people have fled blazes on the island of Rhodes, with many tourists scrambling to get home
Photograph: Spyros Bakalis/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for July 24^th, 2023

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35411.24	+183.55
		+0.52%
S&P 500	4554.64	+18.30
		+0.40%
NASDAQ	14058.87	+26.06
		+0.19%
TSX	20582.12	+34.61
		+0.17%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	32700.94	+396.69
		+1.23%
HANG SENG	18668.15	-407.11
		-2.13%
SENSEX	66384.78	-299.48
		-0.45%
FTSE 100*	7678.59	+14.86
		+0.19%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.498	3.412
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.335	3.262
U.S.    10 Year Bond	3.8725	3.8349
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.9242	3.8992

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7592	0.7563
US $	1.3172	1.3222

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4573	0.6862
US $	1.1064	0.9038

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1960.60	1976.10
Oil
WTI Crude Future	78.89	77.17

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1987, ZZZZ Best’s assets were sold at a bankruptcy auction for $62,000. Just months earlier, Barry Minkow’s carpet-cleaning company had a market value of roughly $300 million. But ZZZZ Best had virtually no customers, revenues or assets. Minkow, who had set up an elaborate system of phantom offices and phony account records, served five years in federal prison.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.2%, or 34.61 to 20,582.12 in Toronto. The index advanced to the highest closing level since May 9.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.1%. Cenovus Energy Inc. had the largest increase, rising 2.7%.
Today, 111 of 228 shares rose, while 115 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.1%
* The index advanced 8.4% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 15% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.3% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 15.2% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.8% in the past 5 days and rose 6% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.5 on a trailing basis and 14.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.25t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 10.05% compared with 10.04% in the previous session and the average of 10.86% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 29.0805| 0.8| 32/7
Financials | 6.8921| 0.1| 9/20
Information Technology | 2.9411| 0.2| 5/6
Real Estate | 2.5629| 0.5| 16/5
Materials | 0.3995| 0.0| 13/36
Health Care | 0.0835| 0.1| 2/2
Industrials | -0.0800| 0.0| 8/18
Utilities | -1.1968| -0.1| 7/9
Consumer Staples | -1.8604| -0.2| 7/4
Consumer Discretionary | -1.9001| -0.2| 9/6
Communication Services | -2.3263| -0.3| 3/2
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | | Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Natural Resources | 12.2000| 2.1| -15.7| 4.6
RBC | 10.0200| 0.8| -39.8| 3.7
Nutrien | 7.8780| 2.7| 42.8| -11.8
Couche-Tard | -2.5370| -0.7| -40.8| 12.9
Restaurant Brands | -3.2220| -1.4| -31.9| 15.6
TC Energy | -9.5870| -2.6| 45.1| -5.7

Related News headlines:
* Stocks Kick Off Busy Earnings Week With Mild Gains: Markets Wrap
* Canadian Stocks Gain, Led by Information Technology
* Alberta Oil Output Recover in June Post Maintenance, Fires: AER
* Nutrien Shares Rise As Wells Fargo Sees Growth Opportunity (1)
* Bayer FY Adjusted Ebitda Forecast Misses Estimates
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A pivotal week for markets started with small gains in stocks as traders braced for rate decisions from major central banks and a deluge of corporate earnings.
In the run-up to the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank’s gatherings, investors got a reminder about the side- effects of aggressive policy tightening. Disappointing data from both the US andeuro-area added to bets officials are close to ending their hiking cycles to prevent a recession. Aside from the economic picture, global companies with a combined $27 trillion in value were set to report results, including giants Microsoft Corp., LVMH and Samsung Electronics Co.
“This week will offer plenty of opportunity to test the stock-market rally that began on Oct. 12,” said John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer Asset Management.
“Traders will be seeking to gain further insight into the direction the markets are likely to take from here.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose for an 11th straight day — its longest winning run since 2017. The S&P 500 traded near 4,550, while the Nasdaq 100 underperformed after a “special rebalance” that took effect Monday. Two-year US bond rates climbed as an auction drew the highest yield since 2007. The dollar was little changed. Bitcoin briefly fell below $29,000.
West Texas Intermediate crude topped $78 a barrel. Wheat and corn gained as Russia attacked one of Ukraine’s biggest Danube river ports.
Among the corporate highlights, Tesla Inc. advanced after disclosing strong sales outside the US and China. Apple Inc. gained as Bloomberg News reported the company is keeping its iPhone shipments steady despite the 2023 turmoil. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. climbed as a surprise court ruling Friday scuttled a stock conversion plan the cinema chain has now revised. Chevron Corp. rose on solid earnings.
The delayed impact of aggressive interest-rate hikes by global central banks, dwindling consumer savings and a “deeply troubling” geopolitical backdrop are poised to spur fresh market declines and renewed volatility, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategist Marko Kolanovic. Kolanovic also noted that the stock-price reaction to earnings reports is expected to be muted as the market was strong coming into the second-quarter reporting season.
Investors have mostly shrugged off positive earnings surprises from companies that reported results so far, according to strategists at Bank of America Corp. Moves were on average 1.3 percentage points larger than implied by the options market, but the direction was skewed to the downside.
“This suggests increased positioning risk and good news having been priced in,” BofA strategists led by Savita Subramanian added.
To Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley, tech may “hold the key” to the continuation of the near-term bullish enthusiasm of stock traders as big names get ready to report their quarterly numbers.
Indeed, the stakes are high for heavyweight technology firms, which have fueled an advance of over 40% for the Nasdaq 100 this year. The “big seven” — Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Nvidia Corp., Meta Platforms Inc., Alphabet Inc., Tesla and Microsoft — now trade at a record premium to the bottom 493 stocks in the S&P 500, according to BofA’s Subramanian.
“We expect big tech earnings to be mixed and the real test will be for companies that have significant exposure to artificial intelligence as investors are eager to see if these companies can report strong enough results to support their significantly elevated share prices in recent months,” said James Demmert, chief investment officer at Main Street Research.
The S&P 500’s high valuation is reasonable and could rise further this year as laggards of the index join the surge in winners from artificial intelligence, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists.
While the base-case scenario is for the S&P 500’s price-to- earnings ratio to shrink slightly to 19 times from the current level of about 20 by the end of 2023, the risks to valuations are now skewed to the upside, strategists led by David J Kostin said.
Meantime, Glenmede’s Global Expected Returns Model shows valuations on US large-cap equities currently sit at the 77^th percentile — which implies 22% downside if valuations were to revert to fair value.
“Recession beginning later this year or early next remains the base case, a likelihood which is not reflected in equity valuations,” said Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy and research at Glenmede.
The outlook for the world’s largest economy will likely hinge on the Fed’s willingness to tolerate inflation markedly higher than it would prefer. After taking a break from tightening last month, Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues look locked in to raising interest rates by a quarter percentage point on Wednesday.
The big question facing policymakers and financial markets at this stage is what comes next.
“The market is pretty well signaling another 25-basis point rate hike is in the cards,” said George Mateyo, chief investment officer at Key Private Bank. “People are probably looking past the announcement itself and then trying to glean some read in terms of what happens later this year.”
Whether the Fed gives investors a reason to sell or there’s a big earnings disappointment this week, the market is ripe for a decline into the fall, according to Paul Nolte at Murphy & Sylvest Wealth Management.
“For now, that decline is not something to upset the longer-term trajectory of the market,” he noted.

Key events this week:
* US Conf. Board consumer confidence, Tuesday
* US new home sales, Wednesday
* FOMC rate decision, Fed Chair Powell news conference, Wednesday
* China industrial profits, Thursday
* ECB rate decision, Thursday
* US GDP, durable goods orders, initial jobless claims, wholesale inventories, Thursday
* Japan Tokyo CPI, Friday
* BOJ rate decision, Friday
* Eurozone economic confidence, consumer confidence, Friday
* US consumer income, employment cost index, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, 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 0.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.6% to $1.1062
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.2817
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 141.52 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 3.4% to $29,121.49
* Ether fell 2.3% to $1,849.92
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 3.87%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 2.43%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.26%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.4% to $78.92 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.5% to $1,994.80 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Brett Miller, Tassia Sipahutar, Sujata Rao and Isabelle Lee.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
A loving person lives in a loving world.  A hostile person lives in a hostile world:
everyone you meet is your mirror. -Ken Keyes, 1921-1995.

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.
July 21, 1937: Amelia Earhart, pioneering aviator, goes missing during her attempt to circumnavigate the globe, sparking an enduring mystery in the  history of aviation.
July 21, 1861: Battle of Bull Run
2002: Telecommunications giant WorldCom Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection after disclosing it had inflated profits by nearly $4 billion through deceptive accounting.  Go to article >>

Ernest Hemingway, writer, b. 1899.
Marshall McLuhan, writer, b.1911
Isaac Stern, musician, b. 1920

Philippines makes historic debut at the World Cup. The Southeast Asian country made its first-ever appearance at the Women’s World Cup today. View live scores from the tournament here

Ultrabright stellar object is shining beyond the ‘death line,’ and no one can explain it
A slowly rotating object 15,000 light-years from Earth defies every logical explanation that astronomers have thrown at it. Read More

Watch as crater collapses in Iceland’s new volcano, spewing rivers of lava
Iceland’s newest volcano, located in the Reykjanes peninsula, is throwing “spatter bombs” of molten lava. Read More

Woman who died in deadly Vasa warship’s wreck 400 years ago reconstructed in lifelike detail
Researchers initially thought the 17th-century shipwreck skeleton was male, but a new reconstruction reveals “G” as female. Read More

RIP TONY BENNETT
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Ankara, Turkey: A butterfly lands on lavender in a garden before the harvesting season.  Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Yangzhou, China: An aerial view shows tourists taking a boat ride through an aquatic forest at Luyang Lake wetland park.  Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

A peacock butterfly (Inachis io) competes with a bumblebee to feed on pollen on an echinacea daisy in Windsor, England. The charity Butterfly Conservation is calling on people across the UK to take part in this year’s Big Butterfly Count, which runs until 6 August, to help scientists understand the impact of climate change on butterflies.  Photograph: Maureen McLean/Shutterstock
Market Closes for July 21^st, 2023

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35227.69	+2.51
		+0.01%
S&P 500	4536.34	+1.47
		+0.03%
NASDAQ	14032.80	-30.51
		-0.22%
TSX	20547.51	+110.63
		+0.54%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	32304.25	-186.27
		-0.57%
HANG SENG	19075.26	+147.24
		+0.78%
SENSEX	66684.26	-887.64
		-1.31%
FTSE 100*	7663.73	+17.68
		+0.23%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.412	3.497
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.262	3.320
U.S.    10 Year Bond	3.8349	3.8503
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.8992	3.9066

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7563	0.7591
US $	1.3222	1.3173

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4714	0.6796
US $	1.1128	0.8986

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1976.10	1975.35
Oil
WTI Crude Future	77.17	75.63

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1933, as Wall Street began to digest the implications of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its ninth-worst daily percentage loss, dropping 7.8% (or 7.55 points) to close the day at a dismal 88.71.   (It’s 35,312.11 right now, lest you need any reminder of the enormous wealth creation $$$ attainable by investing in solid blue chip stocks for the long term. -cs)
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.5% at 20,547.51 in Toronto.
The index advanced to the highest closing level since May 9 after the previous session’s decrease of 0.3%.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.4%.
Mullen Group Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 6.0%.
Today, 139 of 228 shares rose, while 82 fell; all sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 1.9%
* So far this week, the index rose 1.4%
* The index advanced 7.8% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 13% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.4% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 15% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.4 on a trailing basis and 14.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.23t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.04% compared with 10.01% in the previous session and the average of 10.93% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 29.6363| 0.9| 23/15
Financials | 29.2853| 0.5| 20/8
Industrials | 23.0811| 0.8| 17/9
Communication Services | 9.4279| 1.2| 5/0
Consumer Staples | 7.3316| 0.9| 10/1
Materials | 3.9347| 0.2| 20/26
Consumer Discretionary | 3.6317| 0.5| 9/6
Utilities | 2.2265| 0.2| 11/5
Real Estate | 1.3473| 0.3| 15/6
Health Care | 0.7148| 1.2| 4/0
Information Technology | 0.0334| 0.0| 5/6
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Pacific
Kansas | 9.9630| 1.4| 15.2| 6.6
Canadian National | 7.0900| 1.1| -13.2| -2.6
TD Bank | 6.5310| 0.6| -15.8| -1.6
Bank of Montreal | -1.2970| -0.2| 262.9| 0.6
First Quantum Minerals | -2.0400| -1.5| -51.6| 23.2
CGI Inc | -6.8450| -3.4| 101.6| 15.5
US
By Jennifer Bissell-Linsk and John Viljoen
(Bloomberg) — Technology stocks continued a selloff on Friday as investors looked to earnings in the week ahead after a disappointing batch of results earlier this week.
The Nasdaq 100 shed 0.3%, deepening losses from Thursday when technology groups fell on the backs of lower-than-expected sales at Netflix Inc. and an adjusted earnings miss at Tesla Inc.
The yield on the 10-year note fell one basis point, bringing weekly gains to less than a point.
American Express Co. fell 3.5% after missing revenue forecasts.
The yen tumbled on speculation the Bank of Japan won’t make changes to its yield curve control program.
Meanwhile, Alphabet Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. gained while Meta Platforms Inc. fell ahead of the groups’ earnings expected next week.
“Next week we may need to see strength across line items and guidance lifts to maintain index-level momentum,” Citi’s Scott T Chronert wrote in a note. “NFLX and TSLA both beat on the bottom line this week, yet fell 8.4% and 9.7%, respectively, day over day. This may be telling as to how high the bar really is to support current valuations.”

Investors had been braced for a volatile session on Friday as a flood of options expired before an out-of-cycle rebalancing in the Nasdaq 100.
The index shuffle, which takes effect on Monday, is designed to reduce the dominance of mega-caps and boost the presence of smaller members.
In equities, the main focus continues to be whether the rally in a handful of mega-cap stocks and hype over artificial intelligence has staying power.
The S&P 500 has already surpassed most estimates for where it would end the year, confounding strategists convinced that 2023 would be another bad year for markets heading into recession.
“So where we are right now, we are resting after the massive move over the course of many weeks,” Ken Mahoney, CEO of Mahoney Asset Management, wrote in a note. “A lot of stocks were creating and still are creating bases to break out higher from.  No one could believe their eyes after being so conditioned to 2022’s nasty selling conditions when this market gained steam again.”

In commodities, wheat futures fell as much as 3.6% as Ukraine made preparations to continue a grain-export deal, which Russia exited this week.
Oil notched its fourth weekly gain amid tentative signs that global markets are tightening.
And gold slipped against a stronger dollar on Friday, paring gains made earlier in the week. 
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 0.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World index fell 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%
* The euro was little changed at $1.1126
* The British pound was little changed at $1.2857
* The Japanese yen fell 1.2% to 141.76 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.5% to $29,873.36
* Ether rose 0.3% to $1,893.84
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 3.84%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.47%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.28%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.7% to $76.90 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.3% to $2,003.20 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Lu Wang and Krystof Chamonikolas.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
The one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is unchangeable of certain. –John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1917-1963.

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:

July 19, 1903: the first Tour de France comes to an end.  Maurice Gariun became the first person to win the debut of the now annual bike race.
July 19, 1969: Apollo 11, with Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins on board, went into orbit around the moon.  Go to article >>

Charles Mayo, surgeon, b. 1865.
Edgar Degas, artist, b. 1834.

What it’s like to be an American living in Paris:  Sidewalk cafés. Cobblestone streets. Masterful art. Paris has an elegant splendor unlike anywhere else in the world.
Learn why more Americans are making the city their home.

880: That’s approximately how many wildfires are burning throughout Canada right now.  At least 580 of those wildfires are “out of control,” according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

Scientists discover ancient, underwater volcano is still active – and covered in up to a million giant eggs
Before the expedition, the team thought the volcano was extinct and the waters around it frigid. Read More.

Another major US city is sinking, and this time it’s due to ‘underground climate change’
The ground beneath Chicago is deforming as a result of heat leaking from underground structures. Read More.

Ancient ‘unknown’ script finally deciphered 70 years after first being discovered
Last year, researchers discovered Bactrian and Kushan inscriptions on a rock face near the Almosi Gorge in northwestern Tajikistan. Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Karbala, Iraq:  Shia Muslim devotees gather during the flag-changing ceremony at the shrines of Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas on the first night of the Muslim month of Muharram and the first day of the Islamic new year.  Photograph: Mohammed Sawaf/AFP/Getty Images

Irakl Khvedaguridze, 81, is the only licensed doctor across 386 sq miles of mountainous region, serving a dwindling community of Tush people. During the summer and early autumn, he gets to his patients on his white horse, Bichola. When the snow gets too deep, Khvedaguridze converts his shoes into skis using birch planks nailed with wide canvas. Once the snow rises above his knees, he can only travel on foot
Tomer Ifrah

Dunedin, New Zealand:  Little blue penguins, also known by their Māori name korora, exit the sea at the Royal Albatross Centre, a wildlife sanctuary in Harington Point,  Photograph: Alessandra Tarantino/AP
Market Closes for July 19^th, 2023

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35061.21	+109.28
		+0.31%
S&P 500	4565.72	+10.74
		+0.24%
NASDAQ	14358.02	+4.38
		+0.03%
TSX	20491.17	+114.60
		+0.56%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	32896.03	+402.14
		+1.24%
HANG SENG	18952.31	-63.41
		-0.33%
SENSEX	67097.44	+302.30
		+0.45%
FTSE 100*	7588.20	+134.51
		+1.80%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.356	3.376
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.206	3.251
U.S.    10 Year Bond	3.7463	3.7794
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.8388	3.8890

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7596	0.7593
US $	1.3165	1.3170

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4747	0.6781
US $	1.1202	0.8927

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1975.00	1949.60
Oil
WTI Crude Future	75.35	75.75

Market Commentary
📈 On this day in 1990, Wall Street set a new record as six IPOs were issued in a single day. The companies—Command Security, In-Store Advertising, MECA Software, Modtech Holdings, O’Charley’s and Wisconsin Pharmacal—raised a total of $100.4 million.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.6%, or 114.6 to 20,491.17 in Toronto.
The index advanced to the highest closing level since May 15.
Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.2%.
Telus International CDA Inc. had the largest increase, rising 5.7%.
Today, 136 of 228 shares rose, while 87 fell; 10 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 8.2% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 16% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.7% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 14.6% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.1% in the past 5 days and rose 2.8% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.3 on a trailing basis and 14.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.22t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.99% compared with 9.97% in the previous session and the average of 11.02% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 46.4376| 0.7| 22/7
Information Technology | 13.8627| 0.9| 6/5
Industrials | 13.5127| 0.5| 15/11
Communication Services | 9.3496| 1.2| 4/1
Energy | 9.0936| 0.3| 20/17
Utilities | 8.3543| 0.9| 15/0
Materials | 6.1732| 0.2| 17/32
Real Estate | 5.8300| 1.2| 20/1
Consumer Discretionary | 4.1183| 0.5| 11/4
Health Care | 0.1148| 0.2| 2/2
Consumer Staples | -2.2485| -0.3| 4/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
TD Bank | 13.3200| 1.2| -48.2| -1.8
Shopify | 11.2400| 1.5| 2.6| 91.3
Brookfield Corp | 9.3700| 2.0| -4.4| 10.6
Imperial Oil | -1.2260| -1.5| 26.2| -3.1
Couche-Tard | -1.3210| -0.4| -50.2| 12.7
Suncor Energy | -1.4660| -0.4| -38.3| -10.7
US
By Emily Graffeo and Jennifer Bissell-Linsk
(Bloomberg) — US stocks rose on Wednesday as investors cheered cooling inflation in the UK and looked ahead to a kickoff in tech earnings due at the close of New York trading.
After hours, shares of Netflix Inc. fell after a third-quarter sales forecast missed estimates.
Tesla Inc. wavered after a second-quarter earnings beat.
And International Business Machines Corp. initially fell after missing sales estimates.
During the regular session, Apple Inc. had gained after a Bloomberg report on its efforts to build AI tools, while Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp. fell.
Elsewhere, a profit slump at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. stood in contrast to beats earlier in the week from peer investment firms.
In bonds, US Treasuries joined a worldwide rally as price pressures in the UK dropped to the lowest in 15 months.
The latest inflation report bolstered hopes central banks can go easier on raising interest rates.
However, shaky economic data have made clear the Federal Reserve is far from claiming victory.
The price of commodities, including wheat, spiked midday on Wednesday after a warning from Russia that any ships to Ukraine would be seen as carrying arms.
“The risk of recession has receded dramatically,” said Neil Dutta, head of economics at Renaissance Macro Research, on Bloomberg TV. “I think the markets are right to allocate a little bit more to the soft landing story, but I think you can make a good case that maybe we’re getting a little bit over our skis here and we should probably put some more potential on the resurgence of the inflationary-boom scenario.”
Carvana Co. gained 40% after the used-car retailer reached a deal to restructure its debt and filed to sell as much as $1 billion in stock.
AT&T Inc. rose 8.5% after the telecommunications company reassured investors by saying less than 10% of its nationwide copper-wire telecom network had lead-clad cables.
And Kering SA rose 7.0% in New York after it was said to be speaking to defense advisers as activist investors including Bluebell Capital Partners circle the French luxury group.
In Asia, shares in Hong Kong and mainland China fell while the offshore yuan slid to the weakest level in more than a week.

Investors see no easy fix to China’s economic slump, with fresh signs of financial stress among the nation’s dollar-bond issuers.
Meanwhile, Rio Tinto Group said second-quarter shipments of iron ore fell 1% from a year earlier, as China’s faltering economic recovery continued to weigh on demand.
Gold declined, the dollar strengthened and WTI crude fell after earlier gains. 
Key events this week:
* Eurozone CPI, Wednesday
* US housing starts, Wednesday
* China loan prime rates, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, existing home sales, Conf. Board leading index, Thursday
* Japan CPI, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 was little changed
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.5%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1204
* The British pound fell 0.8% to $1.2937
* The Japanese yen fell 0.6% to 139.69 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.9% to $30,049.52
* Ether rose 0.8% to $1,910.28
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 3.74%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 2.44%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined 12 basis points to 4.21%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.6% to $75.27 a barrel
* Gold futures were little changed
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
The secret of getting ahead is getting started. –Mark Twain, 1835-1910.

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:
1936: Spanish Civil War begins.

1999:  David Cone of the New York Yankees pitched the 14th perfect game in modern major league baseball history in a game against the Montreal Expos.  Go to article >>

Nelson Mandela, South African leader, b.1918.
Hunter S. Thompson, writer, b. 19396.

1964: Nelson Mandela, antiapartheid revolutionary and future President of South Africa, is sentenced to life imprisonment, becoming a symbol of resistance and later a global icon of peace.

These people will be aboard Virgin Galactic’s first space tourism flight: The first Olympian and the first mother-daughter duo to venture to space will be aboard Virgin Galactic’s private astronaut mission in August.

The world’s new largest office building is bigger than the Pentagon.  With 7 million square feet of floor space, it may be easy to get lost in this mammoth building in India.

‘Building blocks of life’ discovered on Mars in 10 different rock samples
NASA’s Perseverance rover has found an intriguing menagerie of organic molecules in a Martian crater, but their source remains unclear. Read More

What happens if you get struck by lightning… and survive? Lightning is terrifying, but it’s not always deadly. Here’s what it does to the human body. Read More Dolphins and orcas have passed the evolutionary point of no return to live on land again The chances of aquatic mammals — like orcas, dolphins and whales — ever evolving to live on land again are almost nonexistent. Read More

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Agra, India: The flooded banks of the Yamuna River beside the Taj Mahal.  Photograph: Pawan Sharma/AFP/Getty Images

Istanbul, Turkey:  The TQ Samsun bulk carrier transits the Bosphorus strait during the early hours. It is the last grain ship, carrying corn and rapeseed, to leave Ukraine under the Black Sea grain initiative. Russia notified the UN that it would not extend the Turkey/UN-brokered deal.  Photograph: Chris McGrath/Getty Images.

Washington DC, US:  A dragonfly sits on a lotus flower during the Lotus and Water Lily festival at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens. The festival occurs every year when the flowers are at peak bloom. The flowers tend to close as the sun grows more intense and the temperature rises.  Photograph: Stefani Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images.
Market Closes for July 18^th, 2023

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34951.93	+366.58
		+1.06%
S&P 500	4554.98	+32.19
		+0.71%
NASDAQ	14353.64	+108.69
		+0.93%
TSX	20376.57	+149.78
		+0.74%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	32493.89	+102.63
		+0.32%
HANG SENG	19015.72	-398.06
		-2.05%
SENSEX	66795.14	+205.21
		+0.31%
FTSE 100*	7453.69	+47.27
		+0.64%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.376	3.400
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.251	3.270
U.S.    10 Year Bond	3.7794	3.8068
U.S. 30 Year Bond	3.8890	3.9287

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7593	0.7577
US $	1.3170	1.3197

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4789	0.6762
US $	1.1229	0.8905

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1949.60	1953.70
Oil
WTI Crude Future	75.75	74.15

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1968: Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, engineering refugees from Fairchild Semiconductor, established N.M. Electronics to miniaturize electronic circuitry onto silicon chips.  N.M., which generated $2,672 of revenue in its first year, soon changed its name to Intel.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.7% at 20,376.57 in Toronto.
The index advanced to the highest closing level since May 15 after the previous session’s decrease of 0.2%.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.9%. Endeavour Silver Corp. had the largest increase, rising 7.0%.
Today, 164 of 229 shares rose, while 60 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 9.6% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 19% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.2% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 14% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.5% 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 13.3 on a trailing basis and 14.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.4% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.2t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.97% compared with 9.90% in the previous session and the average of 11.06% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 58.2929| 1.8| 39/1
Financials | 48.7600| 0.8| 22/6
Materials | 44.9385| 1.8| 44/5
Industrials | 7.9489| 0.3| 16/10
Consumer Discretionary | 6.7860| 0.9| 12/3
Health Care | -0.0897| -0.2| 1/3
Communication Services | -0.6059| -0.1| 3/2
Real Estate | -1.5195| -0.3| 9/11
Utilities | -2.7002| -0.3| 7/9
Consumer Staples | -2.8503| -0.3| 3/7
Information Technology | -9.1710| -0.6| 8/3
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Natural Resources | 16.5700| 2.9| 0.4| 0.9
Nutrien | 10.6500| 3.8| 46.2| -16.0
Brookfield Corp | 10.2700| 2.3| -16.2| 8.4
BCE | -2.5520| -0.7| 61.2| -3.8
Waste Connections | -3.9630| -1.2| 155.4| 2.7
Shopify | -17.2800| -2.3| 98.1| 88.4
US
By Isabelle Lee
(Bloomberg) — US equities rose Tuesday as results from Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley bolstered bank shares, and a rally in stocks linked to artificial intelligence resumed.
Bank of America delivered a surprise gain from its core Wall Street businesses.
Morgan Stanley executives pointed to an improved outlook.
And in technology, Microsoft Corp. set an expensive price tag on new AI products, buoying the sector.
The S&P 500 gained 0.7% while Treasury yields pared earlier losses as the corporate updates were coupled with disappointing economic data.
Figures on industrial production and retail sales missed estimates, and traders are now fully pricing in a quarter-point hike at the Federal Reserve’s meeting next week.
Signs of slowing inflation and an improving economic picture have led traders to dial back wagers on how high the US overnight benchmark rate will go.
However, quarterly forecasts from policy makers have shown a median expectation of two more quarter-point increases this year in order to bring the rate of inflation in line with the Fed’s target.
“The current picture on the consumer is a bit blurry. It seems that excess savings buoyed retail activity in recent months but consumers are quickly depleting those excess reserves and starting to use credit to support spending habits,” Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, said.
His comments were echoed by Rubeela Farooqi, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics, who said consumers continue to face constraints from higher borrowing costs and elevated prices.
“However, a still-strong labor market, positive real disposable incomes and a gradual easing in price pressures appears to be supporting consumption for now.”
In Europe, stocks and bonds were also higher after ECB council member Klaas Knot said monetary tightening beyond next week’s European Central Bank meeting was anything but guaranteed — suggesting officials could soon pause their campaign of interest-rate hikes.
The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.6% while the yield on 10-year German securities fell nearly 10 basis points to 2.4%, touching a roughly two-week low.
“It’s clear that it’s the receding inflation narrative which is driving everything,” said Gilles Guibout, a portfolio manager at Axa Investment Managers in Paris. “Investors are feeding on hope: hope that US rates will get down sooner and hope that China will launch a stimulus package to beef up consumption.”
The wild card is China, where a stuttering recovery is leading to disquiet among investors considering the knock-on effects from a slowdown in the world’s growth engine.
Equities in mainland China and Hong Kong fell Tuesday.
Elsewhere, gold rose, oil gained and the dollar was little changed. 
Key events this week:
* Eurozone, UK CPI, Wednesday
* US housing starts, Wednesday
* China loan prime rates, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, existing home sales, Conf. Board leading index, Thursday
* Japan CPI, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.7% as of 4:08 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.1230
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3040
* The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 138.89 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 0.6% to $29,743.3
* Ether rose 0.2% to $1,893.89
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 3.79%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined nine basis points to 2.39%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined 10 basis points to 4.33%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.1% to $75.71 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 1.3% to $1,981.40 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Cecile Gutscher, Tassia Sipahutar, Joe Easton and Julien Ponthus.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do. –Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826.

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.

On July 17, 1918, Russia’s Czar Nicholas II, his wife and their five children were executed by the Bolsheviks.  Go to article >>
1955: Disneyland opened.

‘The night turned into day’: How Manhattan Project scientists reacted to the world’s first atomic bomb test
“All of a sudden, the night turned into day, and it was tremendously bright, the chill turned into warmth; the fireball gradually turned from white to yellow to red as it grew in size and climbed into the sky.”
Read More

Who was J. Robert Oppenheimer? Biographer Kai Bird delves into the physicist’s fascinating life and legacy
Kai Bird, co-author of “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” opens up on the physicist’s life and legacy. Read More

A nearby supernova nearly blew our solar system to bits 4 billion years ago, new research suggests
A supernova that erupted when a massive star died could have destroyed our infant solar system — if it weren’t protected by a cocoon of molecular gas. Read More

The 2023 Wimbledon champions
Carlos Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic, arguably the greatest tennis player in history. And on the women’s side, Markéta Vondroušová delivered a “painful loss” to fan favorite Ons Jabeur.

Cyclists fall ‘like skittles’ at the Tour de France competition
A number of bicycle riders fell after a fan apparently tried to take a picture. See the pileup here

in memoriam
Jane Birkin, the British singer and actress who found fame in France, has died. She was 76. While her relationship with French actor and singer Serge Gainsbourg made Birkin a household name, she became a fashion star in her own right. Notably, she was the inspiration for the famous Birkin bag by French luxury house Hermes.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

London, UK
A horse gets skittish and runs off riderless as the British army marks Queen Camilla’s birthday. The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired a 41-gun celebratory salute at 12 noon. It was the first formal birthday salute for Camilla since she became queen
Photograph: Guy Bell/Shutterstock

Golmud, China
Tourists visit the Qarhan salt lake in Qaidam prefecture
Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

Maryland, US
A participant in the annual penny-farthing race in Frederick county
Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Market Closes for July 17^th, 2023

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34585.35	+76.32
		+0.22%
S&P 500	4522.79	+17.37
		+0.39%
NASDAQ	14244.95	+131.25
		+0.93%
TSX	20226.79	-35.28
		-0.17%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	Market Closed	N.A.
HANG SENG	Market Closed	N.A.
SENSEX	66589.93	+529.03
		+0.80%
FTSE 100*	7406.42	-28.15
		-0.38%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		3.400		3.371
CND. 30 Year Bond		3.270		3.234
U.S.    10 Year Bond		3.8068		3.8263
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.9287		3.9269

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7577	0.7564
US $	1.3197	1.3221
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4834	0.6741
US  $	1.1240	0.8897

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1953.70	1958.05
Oil
WTI Crude Future	74.15	75.42

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1861, the first paper money payable on demand was issued by the U.S. government. The color of the bills gave the nickname “greenbacks” to  American money.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.2%, or 35.28 to 20,226.79 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 1.5% on July 6.
Today, energy stocks led the market lower, as 7 of 11 sectors lost; 123 of 229 shares fell, while 100 rose.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.6%. Parex Resources Inc. had the largest drop, falling 7.6%.
Insights
* The index advanced 10% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 17% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 13.2% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2% in the past 5 days and rose 1.3% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.2 on a trailing basis and 14.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.4% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.21t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.90% compared with 10.00% in the previous session and the average of 11.12% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | -35.1243| -1.0| 11/27
Communication Services | -12.8715| -1.6| 0/5
Industrials | -12.6526| -0.5| 14/12
Utilities | -8.5176| -0.9| 0/15
Materials | -4.2624| -0.2| 27/21
Consumer Discretionary | -2.3960| -0.3| 6/9
Real Estate | -1.5828| -0.3| 10/11
Consumer Staples | 1.2104| 0.1| 3/8
Health Care | 2.7774| 5.1| 4/0
Information Technology | 8.1201| 0.5| 7/4
Financials | 30.0309| 0.5| 18/11
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | YTD| Index | | 20D AVG | Change Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Natural Resources | -9.1270| -1.6| -0.9| -2.0
Canadian Pacific Kansas | -8.4650| -1.2| -46.4| 4.3
Enbridge | -7.2240| -1.1| 199.6| -9.1
Manulife Financial | 5.5520| 1.7| 13.7| 5.0
Constellation Software | 7.3650| 2.0| -24.9| 32.9
RBC | 9.2410| 0.7| 32.4| 1.4
US
By Emily Graffeo and Isabelle Lee
(Bloomberg) — US stocks resumed a rally as investors weighed bets the Federal Reserve is approaching the end of its interest-rate hikes against evidence pointing to a slowdown in China’s economy.
The S&P 500 gained 0.4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 0.8%, adding to last week’s historic gains amid optimism the Fed may soon be able to claim victory over inflation.
Activision Blizzard Inc. rose after Microsoft Corp. and British regulators held “productive” talks needed to clear the companies’ $69 billion tieup. Ford Motor Co. fell after cutting the price on the electric version of its F-150 truck. The dollar fluctuated, and equities in Europe and mainland China declined after gross domestic product in China grew at a slower-than- expected pace in the second quarter, increasing risks likely to hit the global economy.
“Many countries do depend on strong Chinese growth to promote growth in their own economies, particularly countries in Asia, and slow growth in China can have some negative spillovers for the United States,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Monday. “Growth has slowed, but our labor market continues to be quite strong. I don’t expect a recession.”
For a time, analysts believed Chinese shoppers coming out of Covid lockdowns would be able to carry the global economy — despite rising US and European interest rates. However, that narrative is looking increasingly shaky.
Yellen said she sees the US on a “good path” to bringing down inflation without a major weakening in the labor market.  Last week stocks and bonds rallied after data showed a slowdown in the rate of inflation.
“We’re in a place where inflation is becoming problem number two and problem number one is growth and people are starting to get comfortable that growth is going to be okay,” said Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments LLC. “Anytime you see small-caps outperforming large-caps and the Nasdaq, that’s people starting to get on board with the ‘growth in the US is going to be just fine’ standpoint.”
The next pressure point for markets will be earnings, with hundreds of companies reporting over the next few weeks. S&P 500 firms are expected to post a 9% drop in profits in the second quarter, making it the worst season since 2020, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence. In Europe, it may be even worse, with a projected 12% slump.
“Running bulls could be tripped up by cracks in the economy and corporate earnings,” Saira Malik, chief investment office of Nuveen, said. “Looking at S&P 500 corporate earnings as a gauge, analyst estimates continue to be revised lower for both the second quarter of 2023 and the full year.”
In commodities, crude futures dropped as traders weighed disappointing Chinese data and restarting Libyan supplies against signs of a tightening market. Wheat futures jumped after Russia terminated a grain-export deal, jeopardizing a key trade route from Ukraine. And gold was little changed.
Key events this week:
* US retail sales, industrial production, business inventories, cross-border investment, Tuesday
* Eurozone, UK CPI, Wednesday
* US housing starts, Wednesday
* China loan prime rates, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, existing home sales, Conf. Board leading index, Thursday
* Japan CPI, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.4% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.9%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%
* The MSCI World index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1241
* The British pound fell 0.1% to $1.3076
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 138.67 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 1.2% to $29,914.27
* Ether fell 2.2% to $1,887.57
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 3.80%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.48%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 4.43%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.7% to $74.11 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,958.90 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Cecile Gutscher, Denitsa Tsekova, John Viljoen and Ksenia Galouchko.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt. –William Shakespeare, 1564-1616.

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.

Obon: Feast of Lanterns, Japan.
July 13,1930: First World Cup soccer championship.

The ‘man in the moon’ may be hundreds of millions of years older than we thought
Much of the moon’s surface is much older than previously estimated, a new analysis suggests. Read More.

X-ray scans reveal ‘hidden mysteries’ in ancient Egyptian necropolis paintings
New scans reveal that Ancient Egyptian artists flubbed a tomb painting depicting royalty. Read More.

Earth’s newest ‘baby’ volcano is painting Iceland’s Fagradalsfjall region with incandescent lava
An eruption opened a 1.7-mile-long fissure in the ground on Monday (June 10). Read More.

These are the nominees for the 75th Emmy Awards.  *Drumroll please* These are the 2023 contenders for television’s top honor.

Incredible US national park campgrounds you can’t drive to.  Most national park campgrounds are easily accessible by vehicles, but these picturesque campsites can only be reached by foot or boat.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Dharamshala, India: Langurs groom each other. Photograph: Ashwini Bhatia/AP

Litli Hrútur, Iceland: Walkers watch as smoke billows from lava during an volcanic eruption south-west of Reykjavik that began on 10 July, the third time in two years that lava has gushed out in the area near the capital. Photograph: Jeremie Richard/AFP/Getty Images

Montreux, Switzerland: Skye Edwards of the British electronic band Morcheeba performs on the Auditorium Stravinski stage during the 57th Montreux Jazz Festival, which runs from 30 June to 15 July and features over 400 concerts. Photograph: Valentin Flauraud/EPA
Market Closes for July 13^th, 2023

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34395.14	+47.71
		+0.14%
S&P 500	4510.04	+37.88
		+0.85%
NASDAQ	14138.57	+219.61
		+1.58%
TSX	20277.64	+206.87
		+1.03%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	32419.33	+475.40
		+1.49%
HANG SENG	19350.62	+489.67
		+2.60%
SENSEX	65558.89	+164.99
		+0.25%
FTSE 100*	7440.21	+24.10
		+0.32%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		3.349		3.420
CND. 30 Year Bond		3.228		3.264
U.S.    10 Year Bond		3.7634		3.8633
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.9028		3.9519

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7624	0.7583
US $	1.3116	1.3187
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4718	0.6794
US  $	1.1221	0.8912

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1953.30	1933.95
Oil
WTI Crude Future	76.89	75.75

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1852, Wells, Fargo & Co. opened its first bank branches in San Francisco and Sacramento. The bank, a creature of the California Gold Rush, was set up to convert miners’ gold dust into cash.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 1%, or 206.87 to 20,277.64 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 1.2% on June 30.
Today, financials stocks led the market higher, as all sectors gained; 158 of 229 shares rose, while 67 fell.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain and had the largest move, increasing 6.1%.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 2.3%
* The index advanced 8.9% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 18% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.7% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 13.5% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.4% 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 13.2 on a trailing basis and 14 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.4% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.18t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 11.26% compared with 10.97% in the previous session and the average of 11.32% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 73.7644| 1.2| 24/5
Information Technology | 60.8029| 3.9| 10/1
Energy | 25.7904| 0.8| 32/8
Industrials | 12.0417| 0.4| 17/8
Materials | 10.4319| 0.4| 25/24
Utilities | 10.2605| 1.2| 15/1
Consumer Staples | 6.8962| 0.8| 10/1
Communication Services | 5.7624| 0.7| 3/1
Consumer Discretionary | 0.9268| 0.1| 7/8
Health Care | 0.1789| 0.3| 2/2
Real Estate | 0.0103| 0.0| 13/8
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | 44.7200| 6.1| 55.4| 96.2
Brookfield Corp | 17.4400| 4.0| -3.2| 6.5
TD Bank | 15.1100| 1.4| -20.7| -5.0
ARC Resources | -1.5820| -1.9| -4.4| 2.2
Intact Financial | -1.6550| -0.7| 72.3| -0.8
Fairfax Financial | -2.7340| -1.8| -7.5| 18.4
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street got an extra dose of encouragement to bid up stocks after another inflation report reinforced bets the Federal Reserve is approaching an interest-rate peak.
All of a sudden, disinflation becomes the buzzword across trading desks, with investors looking on the bright side of data showing a slowdown in prices — even though core inflation is still running above the central bank’s 2% target.
Equities gained further traction on news that Fed Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard — who called for aggressive hikes — has resigned.
Tech mega-caps led gains on Thursday, with the S&P 500 topping 4,500 and the Nasdaq 100 up over 1.5%.
Amazon.com Inc. hit a 10-month high after reporting record sales during its Prime Day sale.
Google’s parent Alphabet Inc. rallied about 4.5%.
Banks also gained ahead of results from JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co.
Two-year yields fell 11 basis points to 4.64%.
The dollar dropped for a fifth straight day.
The producer price index for final demand rose 0.1% in June from a year earlier, the smallest advance since 2020.
The figures came just a day after data showed consumer prices increased at the slowest pace since 2021.
“The disinflation narrative is in full effect,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance. “It does appear that inflation is coming down across the board, and although the Fed is still likely to raise rates again at the end of this month, there is a very strong possibility that they are done raising rates for the year.”
The recent economic figures have sent clear signals that the Fed’s policy is working, but it’s possibly too early to claim victory against inflation, according to Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index.
“If I had to choose a camp, I would probably go in the two rate hikes to come – July and possibly another one later in the year,” Cincotta added. “And I think that there will be a growing number of Fed officials who will be questioning whether more rate hikes are actually needed after July.”
Fed Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly told CNBC Thursday that it’s too soon for policymakers to say they have done enough to return US inflation to their target.
While the latest consumer-price report “is very positive,” the official said she’s in a “wait-and-see mode on that, because I remain resolute to bring inflation down to 2%.”
Aside from the economic debate, traders also awaited the unofficial start of the second-quarter earnings season Friday.
The focus is going to be mostly on the corporate outlooks given that beating profit expectations seems to be a low hurdle — even as some estimates have started to rise slowly.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists expect US companies to be able to meet the low bar set by consensus.
And Bloomberg Intelligence strategist Gina Martin Adams says “the S&P 500 earnings season will likely reveal more of the ‘less bad than feared’ trend that emerged in 1Q.”
“The thing I’m focusing on in the market, of course, is earnings, to see where the numbers come in, to try to get a gauge on how companies are doing, and really what they’re forecasting
going forward,” said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank.
In other corporate news, Delta Air Lines Inc. said it will make more money this quarter than Wall Street anticipated as it reported better-than-predicted results for the prior three months.
PepsiCo Inc. raised its sales and earnings estimates once again after a strong quarter.
Exxon Mobil Corp. agreed to buy Denbury Inc. for $4.9 billion, its biggest acquisition in six years.
Key events this week:
* US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday
* US banks kick off earnings, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.8% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.7%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%
* The MSCI World index rose 1.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.7%
* The euro rose 0.9% to $1.1226
* The British pound rose 1.1% to $1.3133
* The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 138.02 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 4.2% to $31,613.29
* Ether rose 6.6% to $1,996.36
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined 10 basis points to 3.76%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined nine basis points to 2.49%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined nine basis points to 4.42%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.1% to $77.31 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,964.70 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Brett Miller, Tassia Sipahutar, Robert Brand, Lynn Thomasson, Isabelle Lee and Vildana Hajric.
Have a lovely evening

Be magnificent!
As always,

Carolann
It is easier to perceive the error than to find the truth, for the former lies on the surface
and it is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth,
where few are willing to search for it.  –Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832.

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: July 12^th, 100 B.C. Julius Caesar was born in Rome. Go to article >>

July 12^th, 1920: Moscow Peace Treaty is signed.  Also known as the Soviet-Lithuanian Peace Treaty, the treaty was signed between Lithuania and the Soviet Union.  It recognized Lithuania sovereignty in exchange for its neutrality and for safe passage for Russian troops to Poland.

Buckminster Fuller, b. 1895.
Henry David Thoreau, b. 1817.

Multiple wills were found in Aretha Franklin’s Detroit home after her death in 2018, causing a family battle over the late singer’s estate. A jury this week decided a handwritten will found under her couch cushion should stand as the document of record.

Tensions build over controversial golf merger.  PGA Tour officials say they had no choice but to reach a deal with Saudi-funded LIV Golf to keep some measure of control over the sport in the US.

Mathematicians finally identify ‘seemingly impossible’ number after 32 years, thanks to supercomputers
Researchers have calculated the “ninth Dedekind number,” which was previously thought impossible to work out. Read More.

Humans were in South America at least 25,000 years ago, giant sloth bone pendants reveal
The date that humans arrived in South America has been pushed back, based on jewelry crafted from the bones of an extinct giant ground sloth. Read More.

Indian Ocean gravity hole was caused by extinct ancient sea, scientists say
Scientists may have identified the origins of a mysterious region in the Indian Ocean where gravitational pull is weaker than elsewhere on Earth. Read More.

Mirror-like exoplanet that ‘shouldn’t exist’ is the shiniest world ever discovered
The Neptune-size world acts like a giant mirror, reflecting light back toward its home star, which is positioned unusually close to the lustrous world.  Read More.

SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are leaking radiation that’s ‘photobombing’ our attempts to study the cosmos
The radiation could be interfering with astronomers’ attempts to pick up radio signals arriving from the farthest reaches of the cosmos, a new study shows. Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Sydney, Australia: Indigenous dancers perform as part of the pre-game entertainment during a match between the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons.  Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Vermont, US:  A person in a canoe paddles past cars submerged by flood waters from recent rain storms in Montpelier.  Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

​​​​​​​Castelluccio di Norcia, Italy: Tourists visit the flowering lentil fields in Umbria Photograph: Francesco Fotia/Shutterstock
Market Closes for July 12^th, 2023

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34347.43	+86.01
		+0.25%
S&P 500	4472.16	+32.90
		+0.74%
NASDAQ	13918.96	+158.26
		+1.15%
TSX	20070.77	+192.21
		+0.97%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	31943.93	-259.64
		-0.81%
HANG SENG	18860.95	+201.12
		+1.08%
SENSEX	65393.90	-223.94
		-0.34%
FTSE 100*	7416.11	+133.59
		+1.83%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		3.420		3.536
CND. 30 Year Bond		3.264		3.331
U.S.    10 Year Bond		3.8633		3.9720
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.9519		4.0092

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7583	0.7558
US $	1.3187	1.3231
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4679	0.6812
US  $	1.1132	0.8983

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1933.95	1922.80
Oil
WTI Crude Future	75.75	74.83

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1943, women were allowed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for the first time in its 151-year history. With so many men off serving in the military, the exchange allowed women to fill some jobs. They weren’t allowed to trade, but they did get to work as pages and reporters, shuttling other people’s orders around the floor of the exchange.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 1%, or 192.21 to 20,070.77 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 1.2% on June 30.
Today, materials stocks led the market higher, as 8 of 11 sectors gained; 173 of 229 shares rose, while 50 fell.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.0%. Laurentian Bank of Canada had the largest increase, rising 26.6%.
Insights
* The index advanced 7.5% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 17% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.7% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 12.3% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 0.8% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13 on a trailing basis and 13.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.4% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.15t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 10.97% compared with 10.97% in the previous session and the average of 11.36% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 70.7206| 3.0| 47/3
Financials | 42.0678| 0.7| 24/3
Information Technology | 26.5011| 1.7| 5/6
Utilities | 16.4542| 1.9| 15/0
Energy | 14.4179| 0.4| 26/12
Industrials | 14.2174| 0.5| 15/11
Real Estate | 8.3582| 1.7| 20/1
Communication Services | 0.4546| 0.1| 4/1
Consumer Staples | -0.2399| 0.0| 5/6
Health Care | -0.3469| -0.6| 2/2
Consumer Discretionary | -0.3960| -0.1| 10/5
================================================================
| | | | YTD
| Index | | Volume VS | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change |20D AVG (%)| (%)
================================================================
Shopify | 27.7700| 4.0| 38.5| 84.9
Agnico Eagle Mines | 11.6800| 5.1| 31.0| -1.3
Barrick Gold | 11.5400| 4.3| 18.1| -0.7
Cenovus Energy | -4.1270| -1.8| 69.7| -12.4
Nutrien | -4.8930| -1.8| 2.2| -20.8
Aritzia | -5.0700| -23.9| 1,227.8| -46.0
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Treasury yields fell and stocks rose as data showing a slowdown in inflation bolstered speculation the Federal Reserve is close to ending its rate hikes.
The S&P 500 finished at its highest since April 2022, while the Nasdaq 100 outperformed.
Two-year yields, which are more sensitive to imminent policy moves, slid 13 basis points to around 4.75%.
The dollar slipped to a 15-month low.
Brent crude climbed above $80 a barrel for the first time since May.
The consumer price index rose 3% in June from a year ago.
The core measure — which economists view as the better indicator of underlying inflation — advanced 4.8%, the lowest since 2021 — still well above the Fed’s target.
“It’s too early to pop the champagne, but it’s not too early to start chilling the bottle,” said Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard. “Better-than-expected data
increases the likelihood that a Fed rate increase on July 26 will be the last of this cycle.”
In corporate news, Meta Platforms Inc. and Nvidia Corp. led gains in mega-caps.
Domino’s Pizza Inc. jumped on a third-party ordering agreement with Uber Technologies Inc.
Microsoft Corp. is set for a second shot at winning UK approval for its takeover of Activision Blizzard Inc., but regulators warn that any antitrust fixes would trigger a new probe.
Key events this week:
* China trade, Thursday
* Eurozone industrial production, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, PPI, Thursday
* US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday
* US banks kick off earnings, Friday 
Some of the main move in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%
* The MSCI World index rose 1.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.9%
* The euro rose 1.2% to $1.1136
* The British pound rose 0.5% to $1.2992
* The Japanese yen rose 1.4% to 138.46 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 1% to $30,264.82
* Ether fell 0.3% to $1,868.45
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined 11 basis points to 3.86%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined seven basis points to 2.58%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined 15 basis points to 4.51%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.6% to $76.01 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 1.4% to $1,963.50 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Brett Miller, Tassia Sipahutar, Robert Brand, Emily Graffeo, Isabelle Lee, Ksenia Galouchko and Allegra Catelli.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. –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:

July 11, 1804: A duel between two leading American politicians claims the life of one.  United States Vice President Aaron Burr and former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton ended a life-long feud with a duel.  Hamilton was fatally wounded and died the next day.

On July 11, 1979, the abandoned United States space station Skylab made a spectacular return to Earth, burning up in the atmosphere and showering debris over the
Indian Ocean and Australia.  Go to article >>

John Constable, artist, b. 1776.
E.B. White, writer, b. 1899.

The tastiest hotels around the world.  These 20 hotels feature a Michelin-starred restaurant on their property. Yes, this means you can walk to your room after an epic culinary feast.

Satellite captures the shiniest exoplanet ever discovered.  Some astronomers say this exoplanet’s metallic clouds make it look like a large “mirror” in the universe.

Scientists discover huge, heat-emitting blob on the far side of the moon
The most likely cause of the warm blob is a rock that is very rare outside of Earth. Read More.

Metal detectorists find buried WWII aircraft in Ukraine while disarming wartime bomb
The aircraft were sent to the Soviet Union in 1941 to help the Allied war effort, but they were dumped to avoid payment. Read More

James Webb telescope discovers the oldest active black hole in the known universe
Astronomers have discovered a feeding supermassive black hole from when the universe was less than 600 million years old. Read More.

Harvard scientist claims ‘anomalous’ metal spheres pulled from the ocean could be alien technology. Others are not convinced.
Avi Loeb thinks that more than 50 tiny, metal spheres pulled from the Pacific Ocean might be the work of intelligent aliens. Read More.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Litli-Hrútur, Iceland:  People watch flowing lava during a volcanic eruption Photograph: Kristinn Magnusson/AFP/Getty Images

Yukon, Canada: The Little Blue River wildfire rages approximately 25 miles (40km) south of Yukon. The number of forest fires continues to rise in Canada, climbing on 7 July to more than 670 blazes, more than 380 of them out of control.  Photograph: BC Wildfire Service/AFP/Getty Images

Huddersfield, England: Aina the mother sheep, a 4.5-metre musical sculpture installed outside Huddersfield railway station as part of Artichoke’s latest project, Herd. She is one of 23 giant handcrafted musical sheep that will appear all over Kirklees this week before joining Aina for a grand finale in Huddersfield on 16 July.  Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian.
Market Closes for July 11^th, 2023

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34261.42	+317.02
		+0.93%
S&P 500	4439.26	+29.73
		+0.67%
NASDAQ	13760.70	+75.22
		+0.55%
TSX	19878.56	+56.11
		+0.28%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	32203.57	+13.84
		+0.04%
HANG SENG	18659.83	+180.11
		+0.97%
SENSEX	65617.84	+273.67
		+0.42%
FTSE 100*	7282.52	+8.73
		+0.12%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		3.536		3.517
CND. 30 Year Bond		3.331		3.315
U.S.    10 Year Bond		3.9720		4.0018
U.S. 30 Year Bond		4.0092		4.0387

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7558	0.7530
US $	1.3231	1.3280
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4566	0.6865
US  $	1.1009	0.9084

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1922.80	1922.30
Oil
WTI Crude Future	74.83	72.99

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1864, the U.S. dollar hit an all-time low. This happened as Confe
derate Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early defeated Union Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace and marched toward the outskirts of Washington, D.C. Alarmed at the bad news from the battlefield, traders in New York were willing to pay only 0.3509 gold dollars for a single greenback
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.3% at 19,878.56 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 1.2% on June 30 and follows the previous session’s little change.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.7%.
TransAlta Renewables Inc. had the largest increase, rising 18.5%.
Today, 138 of 229 shares rose, while 84 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 5.6% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 15% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 4.6% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 11.2% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.6% in the past 5 days and was little changed in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.9 on a trailing basis and 13.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.4% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.14t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 10.97% compared with 11.48% in the previous session and the average of 11.38% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 31.0033| 0.9| 33/5
Financials | 16.0279| 0.3| 22/5
Information Technology | 15.2259| 1.0| 10/1
Materials | 4.2866| 0.2| 19/29
Real Estate | 2.1617| 0.4| 15/6
Health Care | -0.0364| -0.1| 3/1
Communication Services | -1.0632| -0.1| 3/2
Utilities | -1.4540| -0.2| 7/9
Consumer Discretionary | -1.8119| -0.2| 8/7
Consumer Staples | -3.3034| -0.4| 2/9
Industrials | -4.9215| -0.2| 16/10
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | 11.8300| 1.7| -14.6| 77.8
Canadian Natural Resources | 7.9000| 1.4| 10.5| 0.3
RBC | 5.5450| 0.5| 91.9| -1.1
Dollarama | -3.2940| -1.9| -22.2| 8.1
Canadian National | -3.8370| -0.6| -30.3| -4.9
Intact Financial | -4.1310| -1.7| 91.3| -0.4
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — The stock market finished higher before a report that’s expected to show a slowdown in inflation, which will help shape the outlook for the Federal Reserve’s next steps.
In the run-up to the consumer price index, the S&P 500 extended its advance beyond the 4,400 mark while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added almost 1%.
Energy producers led gains as West Texas Intermediate oil topped its key 100-day moving average.
Activision Blizzard Inc. surged 10% as Microsoft Corp. won a US court’s OK to proceed with its $69 billion takeover deal.
A survey conducted by 22V Research shows that 65% of respondents believe the core CPI — which excludes volatile food and energy prices — will be lower than consensus.
In addition, 54% of the investors polled expect the report to be “risk-on.”
“If economic data keeps tilting towards a soft landing, the markets are increasingly likely to price in that outcome, with investors reallocating to risk assets,” said Jason Draho, head of asset allocation Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management.
A June CPI that’s in-line with expectations would be another step in that direction, he added.
Forecasters surveyed by Bloomberg expect the year-over-year rate of increase in core inflation moderating to 5%, according to the median estimate.
But the slowdown will possibly not be enough to prevent additional policy tightening, with Fed officials widely expected to resume interest-rate increases later this month.
“A quarter-point hike on July 26 is a forgone conclusion at this point, and Wednesday’s CPI release will be more relevant to the September/November debate,” said Ian Lyngen at BMO Capital Markets.
After surging by a four-decade high in June 2022, CPI has pulled back steadily in the face of the Fed’s monetary policy onslaught.
That slowdown has given support to the stock-market’s surge this year, and bulls have strong precedent for their enthusiasm.
Since the 1950s, inflation peaks have almost always been followed by double-digit equity gains, according to data compiled by the Leuthold Group.
The S&P 500 has gained more than 20% since it bottomed out in October, placing it up about 15% since the peak CPI data was released last year.
Following the inflation data, traders will shift gears to the second-quarter earnings season, with JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. reporting their numbers Friday.
In 2023, gains in the S&P 500 have been more concentrated among its largest stocks than in any six-month period since the turn of the millennium, resulting in expensive valuations for the index’s biggest names.
That means the earnings season, along with policy cues are poised to “make or break the case” for those premiums to hold, said Gina Martin Adams, chief equity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence.
Strong equity performance this year has created a dilemma for investors who are underweight equities, according to UBS’s Draho.
“They can stay cautiously positioned, which can be painful absent a recession,” Draho noted. “The alternative is to increase equity allocations, but at the risk of getting whipsawed if a recession has only been delayed not averted.”
Elsewhere, oil rose amid indications that Russian crude production is dropping, signaling the market’s supply glut may be coming to an end.
Adding to bullish sentiment is news that China will take more steps to revive its economy with additional stimulus.
Key events this week:
* Canada rate decision, Wednesday
* Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey speaks, Wednesday
* US CPI, Wednesday
* Federal Reserve issues Beige Book, Wednesday
* Fed speakers include Neel Kashkari, Loretta Mester, Raphael Bostic, Wednesday
* China trade, Thursday
* Eurozone industrial production, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, PPI, Thursday
* US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday
* US banks kick off earnings, Friday
​​​​​​​
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.9%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
* The euro was little changed at $1.1006
* The British pound rose 0.5% to $1.2931
* The Japanese yen rose 0.7% to 140.39 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 0.6% to $30,595.88
* Ether fell 0.9% to $1,875.46
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 3.98%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 2.65%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.66%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.6% to $74.88 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,937.50 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Jason Scott, Tassia Sipahutar, Robert Brand, Vildana Hajric, Carly Wanna and Isabelle Lee.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Genius is nothing but a great aptitude for patience. –George-Louis de Buffon, 1707-1788.

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