July 21, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On July 21, 1925, the ”monkey trial” ended in Dayton, Tenn., with John T. Scopes convicted of violating state law for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. (The conviction was later overturned.) Go to article »

Polar bears may become nearly extinct by the end of the century as a result of shrinking sea ice in the Arctic if global warming continues unabated, scientists said-NY Times

Stars aligned. Hundreds of astrophysicists from around the world teamed up to produce the largest 3D map of the universe that tracks its growth over 11 billion years and details more than 2 million galaxies and quasars. -Bloomberg.

A hungry caterpillar munching on ice cream, a smiling sun peeking over the horizon: Scroll through the sweet illustrations of the children’s author Eric Carle.-Bloomberg.
Four or 40 years old, inflatable pools are for everyone now.-Bloomberg.
The app of the summer is a random-number generator.-Bloomberg.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

This adorable images shows a trio of Raccoons poking their heads out of their den. The perfectly timed images was captured by Canadian photographer Kevin Biskaborn in the South Western region of Ontario. The three Raccoon cubs clamber over each other to get a peek.
CREDIT: KEVIN BISKABORN/ SWNS

Members of public watch the sun as it rises over the London skyline earlier this morning from Richmond Park, UK. The weather is set to be sunny in the capital city over the next few days.
CREDIT: RICK FINDLER

Tourists stroll through lavender fields at Farm Tomita in Nakafurano in Hokkaido, northern Japan.
CREDIT: NEWSCOM/ALAMY LIVE NEWS
Market Closes for July 21st , 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1933, as Wall Street began to digest the implications of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal”—including the Glass-Steagall Act, enacted just over one month earlier—the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 7.8% (or 7.55 points) to close the day at a dismal 88.71.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed lower Tuesday despite a strong start to the session, weighed down by technology
shares.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 0.1%, with Shopify Inc. dropping 6.4%, leading tech equities lower. Energy posted a strong session as oil rose to the highest level since early March in London.
Canadian retail sales have rebounded sharply after historic declines in March and April, with vendors making up almost all of their pandemic losses, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday.
On the virus front, Covid antibodies in patients with mild symptoms fade quickly, raising concerns that their immunity from a future infection may not last very long, researchers said in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $9.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 1.3% to ~$1,841 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.6% to C$1.3454 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield edged lower to 0.514%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.1 percent at 16,162.96 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s increase of 0.4 percent.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline and had the largest move, decreasing 6.4 percent.
Today, 123 of 221 shares fell, while 94 rose; 8 of 11 sectors were lower, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 4.2 percent
* The index declined 2 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 8.8 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 10.1 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 44.7 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.6 percent in the past 5 days and rose 4.5 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.1 on a trailing basis and 24.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.2 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.46t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 18.86 percent compared with 19.07 percent in the previous session and the average of 19.71 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | -77.9186| -4.6| 2/8
Industrials | -19.6215| -1.0| 7/21
Consumer Staples | -12.7391| -1.8| 1/10
Real Estate | -6.2930| -1.3| 3/24
Utilities | -4.9544| -0.6| 4/11
Communication Services | -3.9072| -0.5| 2/6
Consumer Discretionary | -3.1988| -0.6| 7/5
Health Care | -1.7040| -1.0| 3/5
Materials | 17.3081| 0.7| 28/21
Financials | 20.3239| 0.4| 14/11
Energy | 72.0108| 3.7| 23/1
US
By Todd White
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks eked out a third straight gain, though finished well off session highs after Senator Mitch McConnell cast doubt on reaching a fresh rescue bill before some current benefits expire.
The S&P 500 rode a rally in energy and financial stocks to a fresh four- month high. Its advance was checked when the Senate majority leader told Politico he doesn’t expect a bill to pass within two weeks. Stocks were higher for most of the session after European Union leaders clinched a rescue package. That also sent the euro to the highest since 2019.
“We are very likely getting a deal, but we should also expect dramatic headlines and the volatility associated with them,” said Dennis DeBusschere, a strategist at Evercore ISI.
Tech shares led declines a day after the biggest rally since April. Corporate earnings and positive vaccine news had boosted sentiment. Texas Instruments reported earnings after the close. Oil surged, lifting Exxon Mobil and Chevron in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
The Nasdaq 100 edged lower after closing at an all-time high, with investors awaiting a spate of mega cap tech earnings later this week. The gauge has surged 25% in 2020, in large part to a meteoric advance in Amazon.com Inc., which added $117 billion to its market value just on Monday.
Here are some key events coming up:
* Quarterly earnings gather steam, with reports due from Microsoft, Blackstone Group, Roche, Intel, Unilever, Canadian Pacific, Tokyo Steel, Daimler, Hyundai and Mattel.
* The EIA crude oil inventory report is due Wednesday.
* U.S. weekly jobless claims come on Thursday.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index fell 1.1%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.3%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index increased 2.1%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.7%.
* The euro rose 0.6% to $1.1521.
* The British pound gained 0.6% to $1.2732.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.4% to 106.80 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries slipped to 0.60%.
* The two-year rate fell to 0.139%
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose less than one basis point to -0.46%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield dipped less two basis points to 0.136%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude increased 2.8% to $41.96 a barrel.
* Silver strengthened 5.2% to $20.94 per ounce.
* Iron ore rose 1.9% to $108.02 per metric ton.
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent.
As ever,

Carolann

All great things are simple, and many can be expressed
in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.
                                 -Sir Winston Churchill, 1874-1965

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