July 6 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1854:  Republican Party formed in the US.
George W. Busch, 43^rd President, b. 1946.
Janet Leigh, actor, b. 1927.
Frida Kahlo, artist, b. 1907.

What is it like dressing as 18th-century royalty for a week? –The New York Times.

The town of Henderson, Minn., made famous by a scene in the movie “Purple Rain,” has unveiled a life-size bronze statue of Prince. – from The NY Times.

A hot new album just dropped from the Dalai Lama, who turns 85 today. The recording features his teachings and mantras set to music.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A Super Marine Spitfire belonging to the Aircraft Restoration Company based at Imperial War Museum, Duxford flies over Cambridgeshire making the 72^nd anniversary of the NHS.
CREDIT: PIXEL8000

A San Diego lifeguard rescues a man at Windansea Beach in La Jolla as high surf pounded the Southern California coast.
CREDIT: K C ALFRED/ZUMA WIRE/SHUTTERSTOCK

People play footvolley at the beach in Tel Aviv, Isreal.
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/ODED BALILTY

Market Closes for July 6th , 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1785, Congress declared that “the money unit of the United States of America be one dollar,”  and adopted a decimal coinage.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian shares started the week on a positive note, led by health care and consumer discretionary stocks. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.5% in Toronto. U.S. stocks also jumped, with gains in tech shares pushing the Nasdaq Composite to a record high. Investors in Canada are piling back into exchange-traded funds at levels not seen since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Canadian ETFs attracted net flows of C$4 billion ($3 billion) in June, the most since February. Canadian business sentiment has fallen to its lowest level since the 2008-2009 recession as sales slow and uncertainty about future growth remains elevated, according to a survey of executives released Monday by the Bank of Canada. Meanwhile, hedge funds and health-care specialist money managers were among those that were the most burned by bets in small-cap Canadian drug developer Bellus Health Inc. when its most important drug — aimed at fighting chronic cough – failed a mid-stage study. The stock fell 72% on Monday.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $7.40 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.6% to $1,786.55 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was little changed at C$1.3539 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield edged lower to 0.549%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.5 percent at 15,669.67 in Toronto. The index advanced to the highest closing level since June 10 after the previous session’s decrease of 0.2 percent. Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.4 percent. Ballard Power Systems Inc. had the largest increase, rising 9.1 percent. Today, 164 of 221 shares rose, while 54 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* The index declined 5.3 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 5.5 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 12.8 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 40.2 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 3.2 percent in the past 5 days and fell 1.2 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.6 on a trailing basis and 24.6 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$2.37t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 19.60 percent compared with 19.78 percent in the previous session and the average of 20.15 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 47.2120| 1.1| 24/1
Materials | 36.9670| 1.6| 45/5
Industrials | 14.8853| 0.8| 21/7
Consumer Discretionary | 9.9413| 1.9| 11/2
Consumer Staples | 5.2615| 0.8| 11/0
Health Care | 5.2015| 3.2| 6/2
Utilities | 4.3635| 0.6| 12/3
Real Estate | 2.5314| 0.5| 13/13
Communication Services | -5.8946| -0.7| 0/8
Energy | -14.6813| -0.8| 12/12
Information Technology | -32.8744| -2.0| 9/1
US
By Vildana Hajric and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks jumped, with gains in tech shares pushing the Nasdaq Composite to a record high. The dollar fell for a fifth day and Treasuries dipped. The S&P 500 Index posted its fifth-straight increase, its longest winning streak since December, as Amazon.com Inc. shares rose past $3,000 for the first time. Tesla Inc. extended a five- day rally to more than 40%. The dollar slid to the weakest since June 10 as risk-on sentiment sapped demand for havens. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 1.6% while developing- nation stocks added 2.5% as a huge rally in Chinese markets pushed a global equity benchmark toward a one-month high. Stock markets started the week in an upbeat mood after a front-page editorial in China’s Securities Times on Monday said that fostering a “healthy” bull market after the pandemic is now more important to the economy than ever. The Shanghai Composite Index posted its biggest advance since 2015, fueling bullish spirits around the world, even as investors kept a wary eye on the coronavirus infections sweeping across parts of the U.S.

“Investors have recognized that as bad as the economy in the U.S. is, it’s not as bad as what people thought it would look like in March and April,” said Nancy Prial, the co-chief executive officer at Essex Investment Management. “The market has started to sense we might see better than anticipated results fairly broadly across a wide spread of companies.” The MSCI World Index is now at the highest level since early June, with investors putting their faith in an economic recovery powered by historic government stimulus. But of course there’s a long way to go before the economy gets back to normal. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut estimates for U.S. growth this quarter and said consumer spending appears likely to stall this month and next. Still, economists led by Jan Hatzius said other economies have proved it’s possible to resume activity and changes in behavior such as wearing masks will help too.
     Elsewhere, copper was on the cusp of erasing this year’s losses after virus-related disruptions tightened supplies. Precious metals advanced. Alicia Levine, chief strategist at BNY Mellon Investment Management, said she’s telling clients to stay in the stock market amid stimulus measures from the Federal Reserve and U.S. government. “That is still our message,” Levine said in an interview on Bloomberg TV and Radio. “It’s extraordinary. I think we’re all scratching our heads, but the market is telling me you’ve got to be in it.”
Here are some key events coming up:
* The EIA crude oil inventory report comes Wednesday.
* All eyes will be on the U.S. weekly jobless claims report on Thursday.
* Singapore holds its general election on Friday.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index increased 1.6% at the close of trading in New York.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 1.6%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 2.2%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index climbed 2.6%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.3%.
* The euro gained 0.5% to $1.1307.
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.2492.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 107.37 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose one basis points to 0.68%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.44%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 0.2%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.1% to $40.61 a barrel.
* Gold strengthened 0.6% to $1,786.44 an ounce.
* Copper rose 1.4% to $2.786 per pound.
–With assistance from Amanda Wang, Charlie Zhu, Adam Haigh and Sid Verma.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Habits change into character.
           -Ovid, 43 BC-18 AD

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