July 24, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
Cave discoveries suggest humans reached the Americas much earlier than we thought. -Bloomberg.

The Pentagon’s UFO unit will make some findings public.-Bloomberg.

What a good friend: A Wisconsin man will share his $22 million lottery jackpot with a long-time friend because of a promise he made nearly three decades ago. The friend’s response is the best part of this story. –The Seattle Times.

On July 24, 1959, during a visit to the Soviet Union, Vice President Richard M. Nixon got into a discussion at a U.S. exhibition with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that was dubbed the
”kitchen debate.”  Go to article »
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A group of mountaineers walk roped on the ice of the Swiss Aletsch glacier, the longest glacier in Europe. With his project “Giants in motion”, the Swiss photographer, filmmaker and adventurer David Carlier photographed for several years, on foot, by paraglider and in his small Ecolight plane, the biggest ice flow and the first Unesco World Heritage Site of the Alps to shows the evolution of the Aletsch Glacier, a river of ice that stretches over 23 km from its formation in the Jungfrau region (at 4000 m) down to the Massa Gorge in Valais, around 2500m below.
CREDIT: LAURENT GILLIERON/KEYSTONE VIA AP

A young visitor imitates the march of a guardsman from the Queen’s Royal Hussars at Windsor Castle which has reopened to the public after the lifting of further coronavirus lockdown restrictions in England.
CREDIT: JONATHAN BRADY/PA WIRE

Visitors walk by Chesterton Windmill in Chesterton, Warwickshire, UK.
CREDTI: JACOB KING/PA WIRE
Market Closes for July 24th , 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1987, the corporate assets of ZZZZ Best Co. were sold at bankruptcy auction in Los Angeles for $62,000. Less than four months earlier, the carpet-cleaning company run by 21-year-old whiz kid Barry Minkow had a stock-market value of roughly $300 million, and the stock had more than quadrupled since its IPO in 1986. But ZZZZ Best (pronounced “ze best”) had virtually no customers, revenues or assets, and Minkow had set up an elaborate system of phantom offices and phony account records. Minkow served five years in federal prison.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian shares fell Friday on concern over rising Chinese-American tensions and worries the recovery in the world’s largest economy has stalled.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.1% on Friday, its third decline in four days. Material stocks rose the most, climbing 2.1%, led by gold’s rally. Spot gold topped $1,900 an ounce for the first time since 2011 and edged closer to an all-time high with flaring geopolitical tensions and concern over global growth driving demand for haven assets.
As economies struggle to recover from the pandemic, investors piling into precious metals may be overlooking another potential haven: wood. Lumber futures have doubled since early April and are the top-performing major raw material this year. Surprisingly, wood is even outshining gold and silver, traditionally the go-to haven commodities.
Cenovus Energy Inc. is taking advantage of a plunge in the price for credits that allow the oil-sands company to produce more than limits imposed by Alberta.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $9.60 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.8% to ~$1,902.03 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell slightly to C$1.3417 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield edged lower to 0.501%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.1 percent, or 21.59 to 15,997.06 in Toronto. The index dropped to the lowest closing level since July 14.
Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.5 percent. Ecn Capital Corp. had the largest drop, falling 4.6 percent.
Today, 146 of 221 shares fell, while 72 rose; 10 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 0.8 percent
* This month, the index rose 3.1 percent
* The index declined 3.7 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 5.8 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 11 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 43.2 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.8 on a trailing basis and 24.5 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$2.44t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 12.98 percent compared with 13.42 percent in the previous session and the average of 19.01 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | -43.6180| -1.0| 1/24
Utilities | -8.4433| -1.0| 0/16
Consumer Staples | -4.5554| -0.7| 1/10
Information Technology | -4.1767| -0.3| 2/8
Energy | -3.1649| -0.2| 10/12
Consumer Discretionary | -2.3523| -0.4| 3/10
Industrials | -2.1662| -0.1| 6/22
Communication Services | -1.4213| -0.2| 2/6
Real Estate | -1.2796| -0.3| 7/20
Health Care | -0.8217| -0.5| 3/5
Materials | 50.4309| 2.0| 37/13
US
By Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for a second day as investors grew anxious about rising tensions with China and a potential stalling of the economic recovery. Spot gold topped $1,900 an ounce for the first time since 2011.
The S&P 500 ended the week lower and the Nasdaq 100 notched its first back-to-back losses in 49 days. Intel Corp. plunged on a warning of a production delay. Rival chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. gained. Verizon Communications Inc. gained after topping sales estimates, somewhat offsetting Intel’s drag on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
China ordered the U.S. to shut a consulate in a tit-for-tat retaliation, sending equities lower in Asia and Europe. The dollar extended this week’s slide to the weakest level since January, and the offshore yuan dipped. Core European bonds fell after U.S. Treasuries turned lower. Five-year Treasury yields touched an all-time low before bouncing back. Oil held above $41 a barrel in New York.
Beijing’s latest move further strains the increasingly fraught relationship with the U.S., which forced China to leave its mission in Houston earlier this week. The two superpowers have also recently clashed on trade and early handling of the coronavirus, raising fears of a protracted conflict.
“We won’t be surprised if there is some sell-off because investors are shifting focus back to this geo-political tension,” Janet Mui, an investment director at Brewin Dolphin, said on Bloomberg TV.
Also hitting sentiment was the first uptick in U.S. jobless claims since March on Thursday. A reading on the services sector Friday added to concern, though housing data was strong. While European manufacturing data for July showed a return to growth, firms cut jobs for a fifth straight month. Earnings beats keep rolling in, though they’re coming against low expectations.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index dipped 0.6% to 3,202.73 as of 4 p.m. New York time, the lowest in more than a week.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 0.7% to 26,469.55.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.9% to the lowest in almost three weeks.
*The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 1.7% to 367.29, the lowest in more than a week on the biggest drop in four weeks.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipped 0.6% to 1,186.88, the lowest in more than six months.
*The euro climbed 0.4% to $1.1643, reaching the strongest in about 22 months on its sixth consecutive advance.
*The Japanese yen appreciated 0.8% to 105.97 per dollar, the strongest in almost 19 weeks on the largest increase in more than six weeks.
Bonds
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries was edged up to 0.58%.
*Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to -0.45%, the largest gain in more than a week.
*Britain’s 10-year yield increased two basis points to 0.144%.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.3% to $41.21 a barrel.
*Gold futures strengthened 0.5% to $1,899.6 an ounce, .
*Copper dipped 1.7% to $2.89 a pound, the lowest in a week on the largest decrease in almost six weeks.
–With assistance from Mark Gilbert and Yakob Peterseil.
Have a  wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

In summer, the song sings itself.  -William Carlos Williams, 1883-1963.

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