July 14, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Bastille Day, France.

These stunning aerial photos of Vermont evoke transcendence and tranquillity.  -The NY Times.

A giant “wall” of galaxies has been found hiding behind the Milky Way. –Bloomberg.

Go to the moon — no, not that one. Did you know American astronauts trained in Idaho for their 1969 moon missions? A free online tour of the weird location is among our Weekly Wonder suggestions for kids and families. –The Seattle Times.

On July 14, 1965, the American space probe Mariner 4 flew by Mars, sending back photographs of the planet. Go to article »

Ingmar Bergman, director, b. 1918.
Woody Guthrie, singer, b. 1912.
Gerald Ford, 38^th president, b. 1913
1933- All non-Nazi parties are banned in Germany.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A puffin stuffs its beak full of fish and flies back to land. The bird can be seen transporting the freshly caught sand eel back from sea in Scotland. It managed to carry five fish back to breeding colonies at Dunnet Head, the most northerly point of mainland Britain, to feed young puffins.
CREDIT: IAM HEARD/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

A hare appears to break into a grin as it sniffs some long grass. The “smiling” brown hare was spotted in a field in Tysoe, Warwickshire by Events Manager Richard Ellis. Richard said, “ These guys really love fresh grass, she may have picked up the scent of other hares. While she smelt the grass it looked like it seems to make her smile. It almost felt like she was posing for me as she certainly knew I was there, I was only about eight feet away.”
CREDIT: RICHARD ELLIS/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

Deer are silhouetted as the sun rises near the village of Beeley in the Derbyshire Peak District.
CREDIT: VILLAGER JIM LTD/MERCURY PRESS
Market Closes for July 14th , 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1784, in the earliest known advertisement by an American broker, Joshua Eaton of Boston announced in the Massachusetts Centinel: “Public Securities of every denomination Negotiated: Business on Commission, transacted with attention and punctuality, and every favor gratefully acknowledged.”
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canada shares climbed on Tuesday, led by energy stocks as oil prices rebounded.
The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 1.7% in Toronto. Energy, materials and industrials were among the best-performing stocks, while real estate was the only group the negative.
Crude futures rose as initial signs that OPEC members intend to comply with promises to curtail production eclipsed fears that a resurgence in coronavirus cases would send demand back to the worst days of the pandemic.
Shopify Inc. garnered a new top bull, with National Bank Financial boosting their price target to a Street-high of $1,250. National Bank is opting for a longer-term view on
Canadian tech stock valuations, despite short-term questions about where shares are trading.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $6.80 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.4% to $1,810.20 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was flat at C$1.3614 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell slightly to 0.537%
By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 1.7 percent at 15,908.45 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 2.1 percent on June 5 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.5 percent.
Enbridge Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.3 percent. Seven Generations Energy Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 7.9 percent.
Today, 157 of 221 shares rose, while 64 fell; 10 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain 18 times. The next day, it declined 11 times for an average 3.6 percent and advanced seven times for an average 1.7 percent
* The index declined 3.5 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 5.4 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 11.5 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 42.4 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2 percent in the past 5 days and rose 4.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.9 on a trailing basis and 24.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.38t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 20.14 percent compared with 19.74 percent in the previous session and the average of 20.06 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 72.0049| 3.8| 24/0
Materials | 70.1301| 3.0| 44/6
Financials | 52.1709| 1.2| 19/6
Industrials | 33.7358| 1.9| 19/9
Utilities | 14.6424| 1.8| 15/1
Consumer Discretionary | 8.5308| 1.6| 8/5
Consumer Staples | 7.8792| 1.2| 10/1
Communication Services | 7.1628| 0.9| 6/2
Information Technology | 6.4306| 0.4| 5/5
Health Care | 0.1874| 0.1| 5/4
Real Estate | -3.8346| -0.8| 2/25
US
By Sarah Ponczek and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks posted their biggest gain in more than a week amid a late session surge, led by rallies in the energy, materials and industrial sectors. The dollar weakened to an almost five-week low and Treasuries were little changed.
The S&P 500 jumped 1.3% after swinging all day between gains and losses as investors weighed earnings season and the economic hit of rising virus cases. Megacap technology shares were initially headed for the first two-day slide since mid-May, with the Nasdaq 100 falling as much as 2%, before rallying late in the session. Banks were mixed after JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported strong trading results, while Wells Fargo & Co. tumbled after cutting its dividend and reporting its first quarterly loss since 2008.
“We may see this earnings season as one where companies speak honestly and send a slightly different message than, we’re never going to look back from the bottom,” said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab & Co. “I think it’s appropriate that companies are honest even if it’s deemed as throwing cold water on the v-shaped narrative.”
Volatility remained high. U.S. stocks finished in the red yesterday after the S&P 500 briefly touching the highest level since the coronavirus pandemic. Equities have largely treaded water over the past month as worries about new virus cases are offset by optimism over stimulus spending and the economic recovery.
Still as new outbreaks appear around the world, officials are putting stricter measures in place to control the spread.
Japan said a new state of emergency is possible and Hong Kong implemented its toughest social distancing measures yet. Florida reported a record number of coronavirus deaths among residents, while Arizona had the most new cases in 11 days.
”It’s this tug-of-war between the forward-looking assumption around a vaccine and treatment versus what is happening today as it relates to cases, the mortality rate and, more broadly, the spread,” said Matt Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management.
The U.K.’s two-year bonds yielded less than Japanese debt for the first time. Copper ended a six-day winning streak amid renewed tensions between Beijing and Washington.
In Asia, equities were broadly lower with Chinese and Hong Kong shares faring the worst. The Trump administration rejected China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, reversing a previous policy of not taking sides in such disputes.
U.S. Denounces China’s Claims to South China Sea as unlawful.
Here are some key events coming up:
* The EIA crude oil inventory report is due Wednesday.
* China releases second-quarter GDP on Thursday as well as key economic indicators for June.
* The European Central Bank meets to set monetary policy on Thursday, with President Christine Lagarde holding a virtual press conference afterward.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index advanced 1.3% to 3,197.52 as of 4:05 p.m. New York time, the highest in five weeks on the largest gain in more than a week.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 2.1% to 26,642.59, the highest in almost five weeks on the biggest increase in more than two weeks.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 0.9% to 10,488.58.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 0.5% to 543.54, the highest in five weeks.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipped 0.2% to 1,207.67, the lowest in almost five weeks.
*The euro gained 0.4% to $1.1391, the strongest in more than four months.
*The Japanese yen was little changed at 107.28 per dollar.
Bonds
*The yield on two-year Treasuries gained one basis point to 0.16%, the biggest climb in almost two weeks.
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed less than one basis point to 0.62%.
*Germany’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to -0.45%, the biggest drop in more than a week.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude increased 0.4% to $40.27 a barrel.
*Gold strengthened 0.4% to $1,810.03 an ounce, the highest in almost nine years.
*Copper sank 0.6% to $2.94 a pound, the first retreat in almost three weeks and the largest decrease in more than four weeks.
–With assistance from Vildana Hajric
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

All we really want in the end is to be connected once again
with the Truth of our being, to realize what it is that wears this mask of self.
                                                                        -Adyashanti, b. 1962

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