July 6, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: 2003 Former ambassador Joseph Wilson, in a New York Times op-ed, disputed President George W. Bush’s statement that Iraq had sought uranium in Africa, saying he had found no evidence to support the claim when the CIA asked him to investigate.  Go to article »

Climate change threatens the future of Napa Valley wine country. — Frank Wilkinson 

Brain implant detects, kills pain automatically.

There’s trouble in doomsday prepper paradise.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Kristjan Karlsson, 57, took this stunning shot capturing a volcanic eruption and the Northern Lights in one image at Geldingadalir, in the southwest of Iceland near the capital Reykjavik
CREDIT: KRISTJAN KARLSSON/ MAGNUS NEWS

A bus is driven through an alley as the sun rises over fog covered field on the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany
CREDIT: MICHAEL PROBST/AP

People gather at the receding edge of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, USA, to watch the sunset. The Lake has been shrinking for years, and a drought gripping the American west could make this year the worst yet.
CREDIT: RICK BOWMER/AP

Bonny the French bulldog puppy pulls faces during a modelling shoot to show the ‘beauty’ of his breed
CREDIT: SVETLANA PISAREVA/ SPLITPICS UK

Market Closes for July 6^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1785, Congress declared “the money unit of the United States of America be one dollar.”
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks pared earlier losses and ended the session in the green, after tech sectors outperformed. The S&P/TSX Composite index was up slightly in Toronto. Tech stocks were the best performers, led by Shopify’s 5.6% gain. Consumer staples and energy were the worst performing stocks. Oil fell the most since late May as a stronger dollar spurred a broad sell-off across the commodities complex while uncertainty over OPEC’s next move loomed large in the markets.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose about 0.3% to $ 1,796.68 an ounce
FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar fell about 1% to C$1.2463 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell about 8 basis points to 1.322%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 20,300.03 in Toronto. Today, information technology stocks led the market higher, as 4 of 11 sectors gained; 91 of 231 shares rose, while 136 fell. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain and had the largest move, increasing 5.6 percent.
Insights
* The index advanced 30 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 38 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.2 percent below its 52-week high on July 2, 2021 and 31.9 percent above its low on July 9, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.8 percent in the past 5 days and rose 1.4 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.4 on a trailing basis and 17 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$3.19t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 6.83 percent compared with 6.83 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.08 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | 79.5416| 3.5| 5/7
* Real Estate | 9.8171| 1.5| 22/3
* Utilities | 4.5169| 0.5| 13/3
* Communication Services | 1.0239| 0.1| 3/4
* Industrials | -0.9083| 0.0| 14/16
* Materials | -1.2434| -0.1| 18/32
* Health Care | -3.1428| -1.2| 3/7
* Consumer Discretionary | -3.7700| -0.5| 5/8
* Consumer Staples | -9.9347| -1.4| 1/12
* Financials | -21.4641| -0.3| 5/23
* Energy | -35.8846| -1.4| 2/21
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 80.2100| 5.6| 28.4| 33.3
* Barrick Gold | 8.9040| 2.8| 51.7| -7.9
* Waste Connections | 5.8560| 2.2| 9.6| 15.1
* Bank of Nova Scotia| -6.9200| -1.0| 78.6| 15.3
* Suncor Energy | -7.0150| -2.2| 26.6| 38.7
* Canadian Natural | | | |
* Resources | -9.0720| -2.4| -16.9| 46.3

US
By Claire Ballentine and Lu Wang
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, snapping a streak of seven consecutive closing record highs, as a plunge in Treasury yields to the lowest since February weighed on banks and small caps.  A gauge of the dollar strengthened and crude oil dropped from a six-year high. The benchmark S&P 500 was led lower by the energy and financial sectors.  Amazon.com pushed the Nasdaq 100 to another all-time high.  Ride-hailing firm Didi Global Inc. plunged after a Chinese regulator ordered the removal of its platform from app stores, days after its U.S. listing.  Yields dropped earlier as a gauge of service-sector activity faltered. The benchmark 10-year yield fell as much as 7.4 basis points to just under 1.35%, the lowest level since Feb. 24.  The 30-year bond’s yield slid 5 basis points to 1.99%, testing its 200-day moving average and its first time below 2% since June 21.  The session lows were reached shortly after the ISM Services Index for June fell more than expected from May’s record high. “People start to get nervous when the 10-year gets below 1.45%,” said Sarah Hunt, a money manager at Alpine Woods. ”People are worried that it signals that you’re going to have an economic slowdown.” West Texas Intermediate futures for August fell as much as 3% in New York.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose, making commodities priced in the dollar less attractive to investors. Oil prices earlier surged to a six-year high after a bitter fight between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates plunged OPEC+ into crisis and blocked a supply increase.  Investors are assessing the risk of the conflict escalating into a price war that could hamper the global economic recovery and add to inflationary pressures.  That, in turn, may strengthen the Federal Reserve’s case for tightening policy. “There’s still concerns about what happens with the Fed tapering and there’s lack of traction on the fiscal stimulus side,” said Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at Truist Advisory Services.  “Those uncertainties are just injecting some volatility and then you throw in concerns about peak economic growth.
     That just feeds into the concerns about — is the best growth behind us?” Minutes due Wednesday from the Fed’s latest meeting may provide further context on the central bank’s hawkish pivot last month. The Chinese crackdown has knocked about $42 billion off the market value of firms listed on the Nasdaq’s Golden Dragon China Index, which tracks Chinese ADRs,  since the government derailed the planned IPO of giant Ant Group Co. in November.  Further moves included a record $2.8 billion fine on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. after an antitrust probe found it had abused its market dominance, sparking concern about the future of the sector.

Here are some events to watch this week:
* FOMC minutes Wednesday
* The Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers meet in Venice on Friday
* China PPI and CPI data released on Friday

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.2% at 4 p.m. New York time, the most since June 18
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.4% to a record high
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%, more than any closing loss since June 18
* The MSCI World index fell 0.3%, more than any closing loss since June 18
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%, more than any closing gain since June 17
* The euro slipped 0.3%, more than any closing loss since June 18
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3802
* The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 110.64 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined seven basis points, more than any closing loss since June 17
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined six basis points, more than any closing loss since March 1
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined eight basis points, more than any closing loss in more than 15 months
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.8%, the most since June 28
* Gold futures rose 0.8%, climbing for the fourth straight day, the longest winning streak since May 20

–With assistance from Liz Capo McCormick and Natalia Kniazhevich.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

There is neither happiness nor unhappiness in this world; there is only the comparison of one state with another.  Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss. 
It is necessary to have wished for death in order to know how good it is to live…the sum of all human wisdom will be contained in these two words:
Wait and Hope. –Alexandre Dumas, 1802-1870.

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