July 12, 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

July’s ‘Buck supermoon’ on Wednesday will be 2022’s biggest full moon:  July’s full moon — nicknamed the Buck Moon — will charge across Earth’s skies on Wednesday, July 13. The moon will reach its peak at about 2:38 p.m. EDT (18:38 UTC) on Wednesday, but the Buck doesn’t stop here; the moon will appear bright and full on Tuesday and Thursday night (July 12 and July 14), as well.

July 12^th, 100 B.C.: Julius Caesar was born in Rome.  Go to article »
2017: The world’s largest iceberg at the time (later christened A 68) breaks away from Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica, about 6,000 sq km in length.  As of 2021, the iceberg equal to a quarter of the size of Wales has now virtually gone, broken into countless small fragments.

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

‘Twas the night before CPI.

It’s not too late for you to witness Manhattanhenge.

Country roads, take me home to the place I belong: my childhood bedroom.

Ancient hoard of gold Roman coins discovered in plowed UK field: A cache of gold coins found buried on farmland in the United Kingdom has caught the attention of coin experts, who have linked the treasure trove to the Roman Empire.  So far, metal detectorists have discovered 11 coins on a remote stretch of cultivated field located in Norfolk, a rural county near England’s eastern coast, and experts remain hopeful that more could be unearthed in the future.  Full Story: Live Science (7/12) 

Mysterious ‘lord of the universe’ deity from ancient Palmyra finally identified:  The identity of an unknown god described in inscriptions from the ancient city of Palmyra, located in modern-day Syria, has long baffled scientists. But now, a researcher declares that she has cracked the case.  Palmyra existed for millennia and the city flourished around 2,000 years ago as a center of trade that connected the Roman Empire with trade routes in Asia, such as the Silk Road. The anonymous deity is mentioned in numerous Aramaic inscriptions at Palmyra and is referred to as “he whose name is blessed forever,” “lord of the universe” and “merciful,” according to Science in Poland, a news site run by the Polish government and independent journalists. Many of these inscriptions date back around 2,000 years.  Full Story: Live Science (7/11).

A tomb linked to King Arthur is being excavated for the first time.  Archaeologists are excavating this 5,000-year-old tomb named in honor of the mythical medieval king.

Elon Musk said “humanity will reach Mars in your lifetime”.  Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson had this clever response.

This is the deepest view of the universe ever captured.  Check out this ground-breaking image of distant galaxies captured by the James Webb Space Telescope.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

An image provided by Nasa shows the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, captured by the James Webb space telescope. The telescope is designed to peer back so far that scientists can get a glimpse of the dawn of the universe about 13.7bn years ago and zoom in on closer cosmic objects, even our own solar system, with sharper focus
CREDIT: Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach/AP

Reid Oftedahl of Raymond, Minnesota, rides the bull Blitz Kraig during the Calgary Stampede rodeo in Alberta
CREDIT: Todd Korol/Reuters

A couple embrace at Craigyhill loyalist bonfire in Co Antrim on Eleventh Night to usher in the Twelfth commemorations. More than 250 bonfires were built in loyalist neighbourhoods across Northern Ireland ahead of Monday night’s festivities
CREDIT: Liam McBurney/PA

Market Closes for July 12^th, 2022

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1773, Jonathan’s Coffee House, where brokers had met for decades to smoke, drink and trade stocks and bonds, was renamed the London Stock Exchange.
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canada’s stock market fell for a three-day to its lowest closing level since March 2021, with energy and materials shares leading losses.
The S&P/TSX Composite dropped 0.7%, or 138.15 to 18,678.64 in Toronto.
Suncor Energy Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.4%.
New Gold Inc. had the largest drop, falling 26.4%.
Today, 141 of 238 shares fell, while 95 rose; 5 of 11 sectors were lower, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* The index declined 7.7% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 15% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 15.9% below its 52-week high on April 5, 2022 and 0.9% above its low on July 5, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.8% in the past 5 days and fell 7.9% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.6 on a trailing basis and 11.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.2% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.01t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 19.60% compared with 19.64% in the previous session and the average of 19.99% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Energy | -79.9529| -2.4| 1/37
* Materials | -36.0659| -1.7| 11/38
* Industrials | -18.1268| -0.8| 15/14
* Financials | -11.2601| -0.2| 16/13
* Information Technology | -6.2317| -0.6| 4/10
* Consumer Discretionary | 0.6682| 0.1| 6/7
* Health Care | 1.6537| 2.2| 6/1
* Consumer Staples | 1.8551| 0.2| 8/3
* Real Estate | 2.7933| 0.5| 15/8
* Communication Services | 3.1838| 0.3| 5/2
* Utilities | 3.3313| 0.3| 8/8
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Suncor Energy | -17.6300| -4.4| -30.7| 25.5
* TD Bank | -12.6600| -1.2| 111.3| -16.7
* TC Energy | -12.2400| -2.7| -46.3| 11.0
* Rogers Communications| 3.7200| 2.6| 85.3| 0.0
* Magna International | 5.2650| 4.0| 22.9| -27.9
* Brookfield Asset Management | 6.4440| 1.1| -38.3| -23.5

US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks dropped ahead of June’s inflation report, with the Treasury curve inversion deepening to levels last seen in 2007 amid fears that rate hikes will sink the economy into a recession.
The S&P 500 extended losses into a third day as mega cap tech sold off and energy shares joined a plunge in oil.
The yield on the 10-year US note dropped as much as 12 basis points below the two-year rate.
So-called inversions of the curve are a potential harbinger of an economic contraction.
Economists say inflation continued to heat up in June, hitting a pandemic peak that will keep the Federal Reserve geared for another big hike.
The consumer price index due Wednesday likely rose 8.8% from a year earlier — the largest jump since 1981, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey.
“The market is showing nervousness as to what this is going to look like,” said Patrick Kaser, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global. “There’s been talk about commodity prices coming down, but we’re not really seeing that flow through yet.  We’re still expecting this number to come in pretty high.”
Traders also kept a close eye on the dollar, which fluctuated after hitting the highest since the Covid-19 panic of March 2020.
For now, a wall of derivatives bets is keeping the euro from reaching parity with the greenback for the first time in two decades.
The impacts of the US currency surge will also be highly scrutinized during the earnings season.
PepsiCo Inc., one of the first major industry players to report second-quarter results, said demand remained robust despite inflation — but highlighted foreign-exchange translation headwinds.
“In the current environment, dollar strength is a sign of investors’ worries about a global recession since it signals a flight to the relative safety of the world’s reserve currency,” wrote Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research. “Until the dollar starts to weaken, it is difficult to believe the lows are in for US equities in 2022.”
In other corporate news, American Airlines Group Inc. surged as the carrier stuck with its expectation for a jump in second-quarter sales, highlighting the strength of travel demand.
Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Day sale is luring bargain hunters looking to stock up on pantry items and cheap electronics despite a dearth of deals.
Trading revenue at the five biggest Wall Street banks likely climbed 16% to $27.8 billion in the second quarter, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
That surge would come as a result of market swings spurred by recession fears, soaring inflation and global turmoil.
Sam Zell, the billionaire made famous by his real-estate deals, said that central bank actions to flood the market with money in recent years are coming back to bite the economy.
He urged Fed Chair Jerome Powell to raise rates by as much as 75 basis points and “break the inflation mentality.”
“The Fed and other central banks are still very focused on bringing back actual inflation, but every other indicator we have of inflation is showing that this should not be our primary concern anymore, and we should be more concerned about slowing growth,” said Brian Nick, chief investment strategist at Nuveen.
Elsewhere, Bitcoin fell back below $20,000, following last week’s rally.
What to watch this week:
* Earnings due from JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Wells Fargo
* New Zealand rate decision, Wednesday
* US CPI data, Wednesday
* Federal Reserve Beige Book, Wednesday
* US PPI, jobless claims, Thursday
* China GDP, Friday
* US business inventories, industrial production, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Empire manufacturing, retail sales, Friday
* G-20 finance ministers, central bankers meet in Bali, from Friday
* Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.9% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.8%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.0041
* The British pound was little changed at $1.1894
* The Japanese yen rose 0.5% to 136.80 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 2.96%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined 11 basis points to 1.13%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined 10 basis points to 2.07%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 8% to $95.80 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.4% to $1,724 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Robert Brand, Vildana Hajric, Isabelle Lee and Peyton Forte.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

For civilization is not something inborn or imperishable; it must be acquired anew by every generation,
and any serious interruption in its financing or its transmission may bring it to an end. –Will Durant, 1885-1981.

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