July 26, 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
July 26, 2000:  A federal judge approved a $1.25 billion settlement between Swiss banks and more than a half million plaintiffs who alleged the banks had hoarded money deposited by Holocaust victims. Go to article »

On this day in 1895, the English poet, novelist and critic, Robert Graves, who wrote I Claudius, was born.
George Bernard Shaw, author, b. 1856.
Carl Jung, psychoanalyst, b.1875.
Aldous Huxley, author, b. 1894.
Mick Jagger, musician, b. 1943.
Sandra Bullock, actress, b.1965.

Adele announces new dates for her Las Vegas residency.  After postponing her shows due to Covid-19, our soul sister Adele is returning to Vegas! Who else is ready to belt out every single song in the audience?

R-rated movies have come to Disney+.  Disney+ just got a little more adult. The kid-centered approach has worked so far, but the streaming service is now delivering content for all ages to compete with Netflix and other rivals.

Pastor robbed at gunpoint of more than $1M in jewelry during sermon.  A pastor known for wearing designer outfits and jewelry was robbed during a livestreamed sermon. Watch the scary moment here. 

Loch Ness Monster:  Existence is ‘plausible’ after fossil discovery

Why does E=mc^2?  The famous equation E = mc^2, derived by Einstein, means that energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared.  Equivalently, it also means that any amount of mass is equal to energy divided by the speed of light squared. This little equation is central to the theory of special relativity, and also explains how nuclear fusion and fission can generate energy.  Full Story: Live Science (7/26) 

Tomb of ancient Egyptian mercenary commander found in Egypt:  Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a 2,600-year-old tomb belonging to a man of high status: a “commander of foreign mercenaries” named “Wahibre-mery-Neith.”  The tomb’s embalming cache, found in 2021, includes more than 370 pottery storage jars containing materials used in the commander’s mummification, making it the “largest embalming cache ever found in Egypt,” a team of Egyptian and Czech researchers said in a statement. The tomb is buried at Abusir (also spelled Abū Ṣīr), a few miles south of the giant necropolis at Saqqara.  Full Story: Live Science (7/26) 

A math nerd’s guide to grilling the quickest burger.

A Polish scientific institute says your house cat is an invasive alien species. (h/t Mike Nizza)

Bees might fear pain.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A woman visits the exhibition ‘Brain(s)‘ at the Centro de Cultura Contemporanea de Barcelona (CCCB) cultural centre. The exhibition is focused on the human brain, conscience and creativity
CREDIT: Enric Fontcuberta/EPA

Regional dancers perform at the Guelaguetza festival in Oaxaca state. The annual festival brings together music, dance, gastronomy and crafts from different ethnic groups and tribes from the state of Oaxaca
CREDIT: Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images

Children dressed as chess pieces perform during an event before the 44th Chess Olympiad
CREDIT: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

Market Closes for July 26^th, 2022

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1893, the Panic of 1893 reached its low point. With nearly one-quarter of the nation’s railroads heading into bankruptcy, the directors of the New York Stock Exchange nearly closed down the exchange.
Canada
By Ana Paula Barreto Pereira
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities tumbled on Tuesday as tech stocks sank on Shopify’s losses after the company announced it is going to cut nearly 1,000 employees.
The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.7% at 18,972.68 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since a 1.5% slide on July 14 and follows the previous session’s 0.6% gain.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline and had the largest percentage move, decreasing 13%, the biggest daily decline since early May.
Today, 155 of 238 shares fell, while 80 rose; 8 of 11 sectors were lower. 
Insights
* This month, the index rose 0.6%
* The index declined 5.9% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 13% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 14.6% below its 52-week high on April 5, 2022 and 4.4% above its low on July 14, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and fell 0.5% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.8 on a trailing basis and 11.6 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.1% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.06t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 18.69% compared with 18.80% in the previous session and the average of 19.65% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | -63.1378| -5.7| 0/14
* Financials | -49.5622| -0.8| 4/25
* Consumer Discretionary | -13.8752| -2.1| 2/11
* Energy | -11.2825| -0.3| 11/25
* Industrials | -10.9908| -0.5| 7/22
* Real Estate | -5.4156| -1.0| 3/20
* Health Care | -1.9803| -2.5| 0/7
* Communication Services | -1.8576| -0.2| 1/6
* Consumer Staples | 2.9351| 0.4| 9/2
* Utilities | 3.3700| 0.3| 11/5
* Materials | 20.0071| 1.0| 32/18
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -50.5300| -13.6| 85.1| -76.6
* TD Bank | -13.4100| -1.3| -32.0| -16.1
* Royal Bank of Canada | -12.2000| -1.0| 56.0| -9.2
* Nutrien | 3.9130| 1.0| -27.4| 11.9
* Agnico Eagle Mines | 4.9000| 3.2| 38.2| -24.3
* Barrick Gold | 6.8670| 2.9| -38.2| -18.1
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks slumped after paltry economic figures and a weaker outlook from the world’s largest retailer underscored the impacts of inflation pressures on consumer spending, with recession fears running rampant as the Federal Reserve gets ready to deliver another jumbo-sized hike.
Walmart Inc.’s rout engulfed industry peers, with Morgan Stanley saying its forecast is a “potential warning signal” for Amazon.com Inc.’s merchandise margins.
In late trading, a $166 billion exchange-traded fund tracking the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) rose as Google’s parent Alphabet Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. surged after earnings.
Microsoft Corp. fell amid its slowest sales growth since 2020.
Traders also braced for another 75-basis-point hike by Fed officials on Wednesday, with a combined increase of 150 basis points over June and July representing the steepest rise in rates since the early 1980s when then chairman Paul Volcker was battling sky-high inflation.
Dimming views on the economy sank US consumer confidence to the lowest level since February 2021, while a gauge of new home sales fell for the fifth time this year.
US officials are likely to stay hawkish for longer amid persistently high inflation, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists, the latest to enter the debate around a potential central bank pivot as growth slows.
They echoed the views from Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson, who noted Monday it’s too early to expect the Fed to stop hiking.
Meantime, JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists said bets that prices have peaked will lead to a Fed pivot and improve the picture for equities in the second half.
“A soft landing feels like a long shot from here,” wrote Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Global Investors. “In the last 11 tightening cycles, the Fed has only skirted recession three times (1965, 1984 and 1994). In each of those cycles, inflation was lower and the Fed funds rate was meaningfully higher at the point of liftoff, so Fed tightening didn’t need to be as dramatic as it does today.”

Other corporate highlights:
* United Parcel Service Inc. posted disappointing package deliveries.
* General Motors Co. reported weaker profit than analysts’ estimates as semiconductor shortages kept production volumes in check.
* 3M Co. plans to spin off its multibillion-dollar health-care operations.
* McDonald’s Corp. and Coca-Cola Co.’s sales exceeded expectations.
* General Electric Co. beat estimates for profit and reported surprise positive cash flow as sales at the key jet-engine division soared.
* Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. sees robust demand for food crops through at least the end of 2022 after posting its record profit.
* Coinbase Global Inc. is facing a US probe into whether it improperly let Americans trade digital assets that should have been registered as securities, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The annual summer lull combined with steadily deteriorating economic conditions and recession fears are also keeping junk-bond borrowers on the sidelines, with the month-to-date supply at $1.06 billion, the slowest July at least since 2006.

Here are some key events to watch this week:
* Apple, Amazon, Meta earnings due this week
* Fed policy decision, briefing, Wednesday
* Australia CPI, Wednesday
* US GDP, Thursday
* Euro-area CPI, Friday
* US PCE deflator, personal income, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 1.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.9%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%
* The euro fell 1% to $1.0117
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.2023
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 136.82 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 2.80%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined nine basis points to 0.92%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 1.92%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.8% to $94.96 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,733.70 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Abigail Moses, Vildana Hajric, Peyton Forte and Isabelle Lee.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

On the whole, my impression is that mercy bears richer fruits than any other attribute. -Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865.

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