July 28, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
July 28, 1914 – World War l begins.  Archduke Ferdinand killed.

On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. World War I began as declarations of war by other European nations quickly followed.  Go to article »

Jacqueline O. Kennedy, first lady, b. 1929
Marcel Duchamp, surrealist, b. 1887
Beatrix Potter, writer, b. 1866

How much do I need to sleep? It depends on your age.  The answer is usually “not enough as you’re getting.”

New York City restaurant unveils $200 French fries.  For that price they better be covered in … oh. They are covered in gold.

The most detailed 3-D map of the universe.

Einstein proven right as back of black hole finally seen  
Astronomers have managed to look behind a black hole for the first time and have proven Albert Einstein was right about how these mysterious celestial behemoths behave. An international team of researchers used high-powered X-ray telescopes to study a supermassive black hole 800 million light years away at the centre of a distant galaxy. As well as the usual hallmarks of a black hole, the researchers spotted light – in the form of X-rays – being emitted by its far side. Read how this proves what Einstein’s dogmatic theory of general relativity predicted in 1915.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Anything Goes.. Sutton Foster and cast at the Barbican
CREDIT: IAM WEST/PA WIRE

Actors perform in a dress rehearsal for a production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Kew Gardens
CREDIT:  ROB PINNEY/GETTY IMAGES

These are the first baby beavers born at a rewilding site on Bodmin Moor the first for hundreds of years
CREDIT: CAMERON GOODHEAD/TRIANGLE NEWS

Astronomers see the back of a black hole for the first time, confirming Einstein was right yet again. Very complex study, but researchers studied X-rays which are produced from a reaction inside the core of a black hole, and are spewed out
CREDIT: TELEGRAPH/PICTURE OF THE DAY

Market Closes for July 28^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1971, Wells Fargo launched the world’s first stock-index fund with $6 million from the pension fund of Samsonite. The trader executing the orders for the new fund immediately acquired the sarcastic nickname “Discount Diane.”
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities edged higher for a third session, led by a rally in cannabis producers following Tilray’s earnings. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.3%. Technology giant Shopify fell despite strong results. Inflation decelerated in Canada for the first time this year, but price pressures continue to run at some of the hottest levels in nearly a decade. Meanwhile, oil advanced to the highest level in two weeks after declining stockpiles of U.S. crude, gasoline and distillate signaled healthy demand during the nation’s summer driving season.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.25 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.5% to $1,808 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.6% to C$1.2525 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose to 1.169%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.3 percent, or 57.05 to 20,230.40 in Toronto.  The index advanced to the highest closing level since July 13. Today, materials stocks led the market higher, as 6 of 11 sectors gained; 141 of 230 shares rose, while 86 fell. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.5 percent. Tilray Inc. had the largest increase, rising 25.1 percent.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 0.3 percent
* The index advanced 25 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 38 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7 percent below its 52-week high on July 7, 2021 and 31.2 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.6 percent in the past 5 days and rose 0.4 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.9 on a trailing basis and 16.5 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 rose to 9.34 percent compared with 9.30 percent in the previous session and the average of 7.85 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Materials | 30.7457| 1.3| 48/5
* Financials | 24.3603| 0.4| 16/11
* Health Care | 23.1127| 9.8| 10/0
* Energy | 15.3450| 0.6| 19/4
* Utilities | 1.3435| 0.1| 12/4
* Consumer Staples | 0.2001| 0.0| 9/4
* Consumer Discretionary | -1.7932| -0.2| 5/8
* Real Estate | -2.0725| -0.3| 5/19
* Communication Services | -4.6593| -0.5| 2/5
* Industrials | -9.1320| -0.4| 9/20
* Information Technology | -20.3965| -0.9| 6/6
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 16.5900| 2.5| 97.8| 28.9
* Tilray | 11.8700| 25.1| 295.0|n/a
* Barrick Gold | 4.0870| 1.3| -27.8| -7.2
* Couche-Tard | -3.0450| -1.1| -43.5| 12.8
* CGI Inc | -4.9990| -2.8| 3.8| 11.7
* Shopify | -21.7300| -1.4| 51.5| 34.3
US
By Richard Richtmyer, Vildana Hajric and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities advanced and Treasury yields fell after the Federal Reserve held interest rates near zero and Chairman Jerome Powell said that despite the economy’s progress he was still “a ways away” from raising them. The Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 advanced following the announcement, with Alphabet Inc. giving the biggest boost to both indexes after it reported sales that beat estimates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell, with a drop in McDonald’s Corp. weighing heavily after its earnings release.  Ten-year Treasury yields fell 1 basis point to 1.23% after climbing to as high of 1.27%. While strong earnings have been bolstering confidence in the corporate recovery, investors have remained nervous about the threat to global growth from the Covid-19 delta variant and the potential for tighter monetary policy. The Fed, in its statement released after a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, kept the benchmark policy rate near zero and repeated language that inflation had run persistently below its long-run 2% goal. “While the economy appears to be inching closer, the Fed has not yet seen sufficiently outsized data to warrant a meaningful policy change,” said Greg Bassuk, chief executive officer at AXS Investments LLC. “As a result, we expect the markets to remain volatile in the near-term, driven largely by this season’s remaining corporate earnings announcements, key upcoming economic data reports and the pace of progress in curtailing the global pandemic.” News that a bipartisan Senate group had agreed on a broad infrastructure deal for spending on projects like roads and bridges lifted stocks like Caterpillar Inc.  and Vulcan Materials Co., which rose as much as 4%, the most since May.
Large-cap China stocks listed in the U.S. rebounded after Chinese state media attempted to reassure investors about the market’s stability. In Asia, the Hang Seng Index reversed losses after coming close to entering a bear market.  China’s securities regulator held a video conference with executives of major investment banks on Wednesday in an attempt to ease market fears. A five-day rally that pushed major U.S. equity indexes to all-time highs paused on Tuesday as Alphabet, Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. prepared to release their earnings.  While Alphabet gave the biggest lift to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 on Wednesday, Apple weighed it down the most after the iPhone maker warned that its sales growth could be slowing.  Microsoft was fluctuating between gains and losses after its report. Meanwhile, Facebook Inc. closed at a record high before its post market earnings release. “This is the time, as we get past the pandemic, get past all of the fiscal and monetary support, that really you need to know which companies that you’re investing in,” Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors, said on Bloomberg TV.  “Do they have very strong balance sheets? Do they have a strong customer base? And I think what we’re seeing with the big tech, they’re proving again this week is that’s exactly what they have.” Earnings also drove moves in other major U.S. stocks. Boeing Co. climbed after its posting its first profit since 2019. Starbucks Corp. dropped on slowing China growth.  Advanced Micro Devices Inc. climbed to an all-time high after the chipmaker raised its outlook for full-year revenue growth. McDonald’s fell for the first time in seven sessions on concern about its outlook for margins. So far, almost 90% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported second-quarter results have exceeded analysts’ earnings estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Here are some key events to watch this week:
* Facebook, Amazon report earnings this week
* U.S. GDP data are due Thursday

Here are the main moves in the markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 3:52 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1845
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3905
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 109.88 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 1.23%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.45%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 0.57%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.8% to $72.22 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,811.40 an ounce
–With assistance from Michael Msika and Jan-Patrick Barnert.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor. -Truman Capote, 1924-1984.

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