July 23, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.

On July 23, 1914, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia following the killing of Archduke Francis Ferdinand by a Serb assassin; the dispute led to World War I.  Go to article »

Australian cockatoos teach each other to open trash cans.

New Cornell app helps you ID birds by sound.

Watch 1981 freak out about the rise of the Walkman.

There will probably be a shortage of back-to-school supplies.  Don’t get stuck clamoring over the last ugly backpack in the store. 

“Meanwhile, bad news from the Tokyo Games: Poland has sent six swimmers home from the Olympics after selecting too many by mistake. Turns out, upon closer review, what they thought was one swimmer was actually three swimmers in a trench coat.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“And finally, fact: the Games will have no spectators. Fiction: when they heard, badminton players were like, ‘Wait, you can have spectators?’
That’s fiction, they know that.” — JIMMY FALLON

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka poses after lighting the Olympic Cauldron with the Olympic flame
CREDIT: ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Carissa Moore of the United States in action during training at Tokyo Olympics
CREDIT: REUTERS/LISI NIESNER

Mont Saint Michel under Stars, Normandy, France
CREDIT: JEAN MARC LECLEIRE/PNA/CHASSEURS DE NUITS/TNG

Children interact with Mega Please Draw Freely by artist Ei Arakawa inside the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern in London, part of UNIQLO Tate Play the gallery’s new free programme of art-inspired activities for families
CREDIT: YOU MOK/PA WIRE

Brightly coloured fishing nets are repaired by workers. Holes in the nets need to be mended as they get snagged on rocks whilst being used for fishing in the ocean. The nets are also so big that local children in Vietnam often play in them. Photographer and musician David Lazar captured these pictures of the colourful nets
CREDIT: DAVID LAZAR/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

Market Closes for July 23^rd, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1996, stock guru Elaine Garzarelli told her clients to get out of the market. Her forecast that stocks would drop 15% to 25%, which would put the Dow at about 4300, helped send stocks plunging. But Ms. Garzarelli turned out to be off the mark: The Dow never again came within 1000 points of 4300.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks climbed on Friday to cap the biggest weekly increase in four after overcoming concerns about a peak in earnings and coronavirus resurgence. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.5% in Toronto, marking the best Monday through Friday gain since June 25.  Tech sector led the gains, as Shopify advanced 3.2% on Friday.
Meanwhile, health care sector was the worst performers, led by biotech companies. Meanwhile, Bridging Finance Inc., the private lender that was seized by Canadian regulators amid an investigation of its top executives, has drawn interest from a “broad range” Of potential bidders, according to the firm managing its affairs during the probe.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.15 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,801.83 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar was flat around C$1.2565 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose to 1.208%
By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.5 percent at 20,188.43 in Toronto.  The index advanced to the highest closing level since July 13 after the previous session’s decrease of 0.1 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.2 percent. Westshore Terminals Investment Corp. had the largest increase, rising 28.4 percent. Today, 134 of 231 shares rose, while 90 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index was little changed
* So far this week, the index rose 1 percent
* The index advanced 26 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 37 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.9 percent below its 52-week high on July 7, 2021 and 30.9 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.2 on a trailing basis and 16.6 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12- month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.16t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 9.36 percent compared with 9.36 percent in the previous session and the average of 7.61 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | 57.9382| 2.4| 11/1
* Industrials | 20.9959| 0.9| 21/8
* Financials | 7.7408| 0.1| 18/8
* Consumer Staples | 7.6750| 1.0| 12/1
* Communication Services | 3.0469| 0.3| 5/2
* Utilities | 2.9100| 0.3| 9/7
* Energy | 2.6237| 0.1| 11/11
* Real Estate | 2.4508| 0.4| 18/6
* Health Care | -2.1002| -0.9| 2/8
* Consumer Discretionary | -2.7201| -0.4| 8/5
* Materials | -9.6431| -0.4| 19/33
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 50.9800| 3.2| 18.7| 43.9
* Canadian Pacific | 6.2120| 1.5| -6.2| 5.1
* Canadian National | 6.0150| 0.9| 8.3| -5.0
* Nutrien | -2.1410| -0.7| -1.9| 21.3
* Franco-Nevada | -4.2380| -1.7| 34.4| 15.8
* Magna International | -10.0700| -4.9| 267.7| 12.9

US
By Rita Nazareth and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — Another raft of blockbuster corporate profits pushed stocks to a record at the end of a week that started with concern about a peak in earnings and a coronavirus   resurgence. About 87% of the S&P 500 companies reporting results so far this season have beaten Wall Street estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.  Twitter Inc. and Snap Inc. led a rally in social-media firms as sales blew past forecasts, while American Express Co. jumped after adding a record number of new customers  to its tony Platinum card in the second quarter. After this week’s gains in equities, the S&P 500 is now up 97% from the depths of the pandemic. Though the rapid spread of the delta variant has sown volatility, several investors are betting that a robust economic recovery will fuel corporate America — even with threat of higher inflation.  For Evercore ISI’s Chairman Ed Hyman, retailers have more power than ever to pass on higher prices to consumers, and that will spur earnings growth in the quarters ahead. “Earnings are reflecting an incredible snapback in economic activity,” said Jeffrey Kleintop, chief global investment strategist at Charles Schwab & Co.  “Concerns that stocks are overvalued are less potent here in terms of a threat to the market simply because earnings are rising at fast clip.” For Angelo Kourkafas, investment strategist at Edward Jones, the strong start of the second-quarter earnings season has allowed investors to look through the uncertainties.  The “buy-the-dip mentality is alive and well,” he added.

Other corporate highlights:
* Honeywell International Inc.’s profit topped estimates as its aerospace and energy businesses started to recover.
* Schlumberger, the world’s biggest oilfield services provider, reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue.
* Intel Corp. Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger struck a bullish tone about the chipmaker’s prospects for the rest of the year.
* Kimberly-Clark Corp. trimmed its annual forecast, saying inflation and slowing toilet paper demand are hurting results.

Some of the biggest Chinese firms listed in the U.S. slumped as concerns surrounding further regulatory scrutiny deepened.
The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index had its longest stretch of weekly losses since May 2019, while ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc. tumbled.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.1772
* The British pound fell 0.1% to $1.3750
* The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 110.55 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.28%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.42%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 0.58%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to $72.03 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,805.60 an ounce
–With assistance from Sunil Jagtiani and Robert Brand.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook. –William James, 1842-1910.

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