July 9, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.

Nikola Tesla, inventor, b. 1856.
Otto Respighi, composer, b. 1879.
1893~First successful open heart surgery.
Tom Hanks, actor, b. 1956.
1997~ Boxer Mike Tyson was banned from the ring and fined $3 million for biting opponent Evander Holyfield’s ear.  Go to article »

Flossing your teeth may protect against cognitive decline, research shows.  Will this be the news that finally gets someone to adopt the habit (and stop lying to their dentist about it)?

Wisconsinites are debating a possible state cheese.  Legislators are pushing hard for Colby, but what of the mozzarella? The Limburger? The CURDS?

An enormous 1,174-carat diamond has been unearthed in Botswana.  It’s unofficially the world’s third-largest diamond, and ooh, it’s pretty. 

Area wave looks just like Neptune (or Poseidon). (h/t Scott Kominers)

Birds are deliberately setting forest fires.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A Red-tailed Hawk holds an open-mouthed chipmunk in its yellow talons, the rodent’s head and front paws peeking out from a snowy perch. The Images won a Professional Honorable Mention in the 2021 Audubon Photography Awards.
CREDIT: STEVE JESSMORE.AUDUBON PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS/ TNG

Luke Jerram’s ‘Bridges, Not Walls’ patchwork panel covers Llangollen Bridge in Wales, commissioned by Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod
CREDIT: CHRISTONPER FURLONG/GERRTY IMAGES

Westminster Abbey Choristers take a break from school lessons to play football in the Cloisters of the famous London cathedral today ahead of England’s Euro 2020 final against Italy on Sunday
CREDIT: STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA

Market Closes for July 9^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1875, the Bombay Stock Exchange was founded in the Indian city that is now known as Mumbai.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks climbed on Friday, as investors returned to buying after Thursday’s selloff. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose about 1% in Toronto, after falling most in four months on July 8.  Materials were the best performing stocks, followed by tech, while utilities were the only sector that was in the red on Friday. Meanwhile, Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, announced that residents could see the vast majority of Covid-19 restrictions lifted in August, allowing them to finish the summer in near pre-pandemic conditions.
Commodities:
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $12.80 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,808.77 an ounce FX/ Bonds:
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.7% to C$1.2448 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose about 6 basis points to 1.327%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 1 percent at 20,257.95 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 1.2 percent on June 1 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 1.1 percent. Today, financials stocks led the market higher, as 10 of 11 sectors gained; 190 of 231 shares rose, while 37 fell. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.4 percent. SunOpta Inc. had the largest increase, rising 7.8 percent.
Insights
* So far this week, the index was little changed
* The index advanced 30 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 40 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.6 percent below its 52-week high on July 7, 2021 and 31.6 percent above its low on July 9, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.3 on a trailing basis and 16.8 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$3.15t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 7.81 percent compared with 7.36 percent in the previous session and the average of 7.83 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 61.7778| 1.0| 24/4
* Materials | 37.1680| 1.6| 44/7
* Information Technology | 28.9859| 1.3| 11/1
* Industrials | 25.1953| 1.1| 26/4
* Energy | 20.9983| 0.8| 22/1
* Consumer Discretionary | 8.7292| 1.1| 13/0
* Real Estate | 8.1460| 1.2| 22/3
* Consumer Staples | 4.2799| 0.6| 10/3
* Communication Services | 2.2431| 0.2| 4/2
* Health Care | 1.1735| 0.4| 7/3
* Utilities | -1.9545| -0.2| 7/9
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 19.5800| 1.4| -38.5| 29.6
* TD Bank | 12.0300| 1.1| 19.1| 17.8
* Canadian National | 8.2340| 1.3| -37.4| -4.4
* Tilray | -0.5900| -1.0| -48.6|n/a
* Saputo | -0.6820| -1.1| -27.4| 3.8
* Fortis | -0.9140| -0.5| 2.5| 6.9

US
By Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks registered more fresh record highs amid a broad-based rebound and Treasuries snapped an eight-day rally fueled by concerns  about global growth amid the spread of Covid-19 variants. The benchmark S&P 500 rose 1.1%, rebounding from the biggest one-day drop in about three weeks on Thursday.  The Dow Jones Industrial, Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq 100 indexes also finished at all-time highs on the same day with the S&P for a second time this month.  Financial shares led the gains with rising yields increasing the outlook for profits.  The dollar weakened against a basket of major currencies and oil gained for a second day. “The market is still on a positive trajectory and obviously there are going to be bumps along the way,” said Leslie Thompson, managing member of Spectrum Management Group. JPMorgan Asset Management, BlackRock Inc. and Morgan Stanley Wealth Management — which together account for some $12 trillion in assets — are among money managers betting  Global growth is still on track, with second-quarter earnings season starting next week set to bolster confidence.  China’s central bank cut the amount of cash most banks must hold in reserve, while the European Central Bank on Thursday indicated it will tolerate an inflation overshoot,  implying an even longer period of loose policy. “It shows how schizophrenic the market can be,” said Norm Conley, chief executive officer of JAG Capital Management.  “Only 60 days ago the narrative was that not only was the economy recovering, it was recovering too fast — here we are now.”
The 10-year Treasury yield still posted a second consecutive weekly decline. The 30-year yield broke below 1.90% on Thursday for the first time since February. Meanwhile, tension between the U.S. and China continues to bubble. Washington added 34 Chinese entities to its economic blacklist over alleged human rights abuses and high-tech surveillance in Xinjiang. Elsewhere, Biogen shares fell after the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said she is seeking a federal investigation of the approval of the Alzheimer’s disease drug Aduhelm, a highly unusual step that will increase scrutiny of a heavily criticized clearance. Oil registered its first weekly loss since May after being whipsawed by the OPEC+ dispute. Bitcoin trended higher after trading most of the week in a narrow range, emblematic of a reduced ardor for speculative investments like cryptocurrencies and meme stocks. On the virus front, Pfizer Inc. plans to request U.S. emergency authorization in August for a third booster dose of its Covid-19 vaccine and said it’s confident  it will be effective against the more-virulent delta variant. South Korea will raise curbs on social distancing to the highest level in Seoul for two weeks starting Monday.
These are some of the main moves in financial markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.1% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3%
* The MSCI World index rose 1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%
* The euro rose 0.3% to $1.1880
* The British pound rose 0.8% to $1.3893
* The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 110.13 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced seven basis points to 1.36%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to -0.29%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 0.66%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.3% to $74.61 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,809 an ounce
–With assistance from Kamaron Leach.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it. Do not count on them. Leave them alone. ― Ayn Rand, 1905-1982.

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