Dear Friends,
Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.
June 25, 1950: Korean War begins.
June 25, 1951: The first commercial color telecast took place as CBS transmitted a one-hour special from New York to four other cities. Go to article.
June 25, 1962: Supreme Court bans school prayer.
Georg Orwell, writer, b. 1903.
Carly Simon, singer/songwriter, b. 1945
George Michael, singer, b.1963.
| Water might secretly be a mix of 2 different liquids, scientists say |
For decades, scientists suspected water secretly behaves like two different liquids. A new AI-powered study has finally caught it happening at the molecular level. Read more.
| Journey through the asteroid belt |
Avoid the asteroids, but keep your eyes open to take in the sights! 🧑🚀🚀Watch now.
| Why does it take our eyes so long to adjust to the dark? |
Here’s why it’s so hard to see when we enter a dark room. Read more.
| China’s Einstein Probe detected a mysterious cosmic explosion — and scientists have no idea what caused it |
The explosion, consisting of two mysterious double flares, matches no known space eruption. Read more
| Satellites reveal Earth has a surprising symmetry in the way it reflects light — and it might be tied to the El Niño cycle |
Even though the Eastern and Western halves of Earth are fairly different, they reflect the same amount of sunlight, a new study finds. Read more.
The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later thousandfold. -Aristotle.
Tea bags were invented by accident. Thomas Sullivan sent tea samples in tiny silk bags, and customers dunked the whole thing instead of opening them.
The wedding rumor that won’t go away
Would Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce really get married in New York City’s Madison Square Garden? The evidence is starting to look oddly compelling.
Nike’s ‘mind-altering’ shoes are flying off shelves
Nike’s Mind shoe range has rapidly sold out across worldwide releases, with buyers eager to get their hands on the "neuroscience-based footwear."
Is this Ben & Jerry’s most political pint?
A new Ben & Jerry’s flavor, called Milk & Honey, is stirring debate.
US awaits Christian Pulisic’s return
USA soccer star Christian Pulisic hopes to play against Turkey today in his team’s final World Cup group stage match.
Speaking of the beautiful game …
Watch this short video to learn the story behind the World Cup trophy.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Cumnock, Scotland
From left: Susie MacDonald, Emma Ledger and Charlotte Reader cool off in the hot weather at an open-air swimming pool in East Ayrshire
Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA
Mexico City, Mexico
People are sprayed with foam as thousands of fans gather at the Angel of Independence to celebrate Mexico’s victory over the Czech Republic in the 2026 World Cup
Photograph: Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Antalya, Turkiye
An aerial view of vegetable-dyed handwoven carpets and rugs spread across harvested wheat fields in Döşemealtı district. Brought from various regions across Anatolia, these handmade rugs undergo a process of washing, drying and restoration before being laid out
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty
Market Closes for June 25th, 2026
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| Dow Jones |
51920.62 | +71.72 |
| +0.14% | ||
| S&P 500 | 7357.49 | -0.73 |
| -0.01% | ||
| NASDAQ | 25358.61 | -118.02 |
| -0.46% | ||
| TSX | 34850.21 | +114.12
+0.33% |
International Markets
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| NIKKEI | 72366.34 | +3191.37 |
| +4.61% | ||
| HANG SENG |
23076.91 | -335.27 |
| -1.43% | ||
| SEN SEX | 77100.47 | +109.25 |
| +0.14% | ||
| FTSE 100* | 10529.89 | +68.26 |
| +0.65% |
Bonds
| Bonds | % Yield | Previous % Yield |
| CND. 10 Year Bond |
3.384 | 3.361 |
| CND. 30 Year Bond |
3.787 | 3.760 |
| U.S. 10 Year Bond |
4.3922 | 4.3922 |
| U.S. 30 Year Bond |
4.8611 | 4.8396 |
| BOC Close | Today | Previous |
| Canadian $ | 0.7042 | 0.7025 |
| US $ |
1.4199 | 1.4235 |
| Euro Rate 1 Euro= |
Inverse | |
| Canadian $ | 0.6196 | 1.6137 |
| US $ |
0.8799 | 1.1364 |
Commodities
| Gold | Close | Previous |
| London Gold Fix |
4024.45 | 4135.50 |
| Oil | ||
| WTI Crude Future | 72.61 | 71.05 |
Market Commentary:
On this day in 1974,, Texas Instruments and three of its key engineers received U.S. Patent No. 3,819,921 for their hand-held aluminum calculator. The gizmo was 1 3/4” thick and weighed 2 lbs., 13 oz. It could add, subtract, multiply, and divide. It sold for as much as $119.95.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.3% at 34,850.21 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.5%.
Canadian National Railway Co. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.5%.
BlackBerry Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 19.3%.
Today, 141 of 220 shares rose, while 76 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 6.4%
* This month, the index was little changed
* So far this week, the index was little changed
* The index advanced 31% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 21% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.2% below its 52-week high on June 17, 2026 and 31.3% above its low on June 25, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.3% in the past 5 days and was little changed in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.6 on a trailing basis and 16.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.1% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$5.48t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 14.16% compared with 14.25% in the previous session and the average of 13.88% over the past month
Index Points
Materials | 64.9018| 1.2| 50/10
Financials | 43.2571| 0.3| 11/12
Industrials | 42.1682| 1.2| 19/10
Energy | 9.7158| 0.2| 25/12
Consumer Discretionary | 5.2953| 0.5| 5/3
Utilities | 3.0531| 0.2| 8/6
Health Care | 0.9383| 0.8| 3/2
Real Estate | 0.4286| 0.1| 11/6
Consumer Staples | -0.7933| -0.1| 6/4
Communication Services | -7.2569| -1.2| 1/4
Information Technology | -47.5627| -1.9| 2/7
Canadian National | 21.9500| 3.5| -16.1| 25.8
TD Bank | 18.8600| 1.0| -33.7| 32.1
Canadian Pacific Kansas | 18.1700| 2.4| 38.6| 22.4
Constellation Software | -14.6100| -3.7| -11.2| -16.3
Cameco | -14.9200| -3.2| -17.6| 16.8
Shopify | -35.9000| -2.6| -28.0| -28.3
MT Newswires:
The Toronto Stock Exchange surged on Thursday as investors weighed a rebound in oil prices, the outlook for Bank of Canada interest rates, and fresh signals on Canada’s labor market and trade negotiations with the United States.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 114.12 points, or 0.33%, to 34,850.21, with gains in healthcare, industrials and base metals stocks outweighing declines in technology, telecommunications and battery metals shares.
Industrials led gainers, up 1.16%, with Health Care, Utilities, Base Metals , Energy, and Financial, up 1.15%, 0.24%, 1.15%, 0.05%, and 0.35%, respectively.
Battery Metals Index led decliners, down 4.98%, while Telecom, down 1.23%, and Information and Technology, down 1.31%.
In commodities, gold moved up on Thursday as the dollar eased.
The precious metal for August delivery was last seen up 0.9% to US$4,046.40 per ounce after falling to the lowest since Nov. 6 a day earlier.
Meanwhile, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed higher on Thursday, rising off a four-month low after reports a cargo ship was attacked near Oman, raising safety worries that could again keep ships trapped in the Persian Gulf.
WTI crude oil for August delivery close up 2.3% to settle at US$71.92 per barrel after earlier touching US$68.90, while August Brent oil was last seen up 2.1% to US$72.28.
UK Maritime Trade Operations on Thursday said the International Maritime Organization is suspending traffic through the Strait of Hormuz following reports a cargo vessel in the Strait was attacked.
So far, there was no indication when the Strait will be reopened.
The pressure also extended to currency markets, where the Canadian dollar remained under strain.
The Canadian dollar is trading close to levels it last reached after the U.S. announced its "Liberation Day" tariffs in April 2025, Corpay Currency Research said Thursday.
It reflects a sharp widening in two-year US-Canada yield spreads since early May, driven by a more hawkish US policy repricing, ongoing trade tensions, weakness in Canada’s housing market, and expectations the Bank of Canada will look through energy-driven inflation, given subdued growth, said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay.
However, the decline looks stretched, added Schamotta.
From a technical perspective, the Canadian dollar is at extremely oversold levels last seen in 1985, suggesting the recent decline may have gone too far.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday said Canada is prepared to modernize the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement alongside its North American partners but will not agree to terms that do not serve the country’s interests, CTV News reported.
"We could sign a bad deal this afternoon. We could have signed a bad deal a year ago.
We’re not going to sign a bad deal, so it has to be a real deal," CTV quoted Carney as saying at a press conference in Ottawa.
Factors that have weighed on the Canadian dollar recently, including lower oil prices and shifting interest-rate expectations in the U.S. are exaggerated, even as upcoming trade talks and economic weakness weigh, Commerzbank said in a note.
As recently as late April, the outlook was for a stronger Canadian currency, with the U.S. dollar versus the loonie briefly dipping below $1.36 as higher oil prices and Canada’s position as a major energy exporter provided support amid Iran-war disruptions, Commerzbank wrote Thursday.
"These figures seem almost like something from another era when compared to the current ones," Commerzbank said.
The greenback versus the loonie has climbed more than $0.06 to above $1.42, its highest since early April 2025.
The move was driven by oil prices falling from their mid-April peak toward pre-Iran war levels, weakening Canada’s terms of trade.
On the monetary policy front, a new economic outlook pointed to a prolonged pause from the Bank of Canada.
The Bank of Canada is expected to keep its overnight rate unchanged at 2.25% through this year, with rate hikes likely postponed until 2027 as economic growth gradually regains momentum, Deloitte Canada said on Thursday.
BoC policymakers continue to balance opposing pressures as weak economic growth and excess capacity are helping to restrain inflation, while higher energy prices stemming from Middle East tensions present an upside risk, Deloitte wrote in its Summer Edition Economic Outlook note.
At its June 10 policy meeting, the central bank said April’s annual inflation increase to 2.8% was largely energy-driven, with limited signs of broader price pressures.
With growth weak but not recessionary, the current policy rate remains appropriate, stated Deloitte.
Besides, a new report released by the country’s statistical agency on Thursday showed payroll employment in Canada rose 0.1% month over month, or by 22,000 jobs, in April, after little change in March, leaving year-over-year growth at 0.4%.
Job gains were led by health care and social assistance, public administration and administrative support services, while losses in professional services, manufacturing and construction partly offset the increase, noted Statistics Canada.
However, labor demand stayed weak, with April’s job vacancies flat on the month at around 490,500 and down 3.4% year over year.
The job vacancy rate, which measures vacant positions as a share of total labor demand, stood at 2.7% in April, down from 2.8% in each month from December 2025 to March 2026, added StatsCan.
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A renewed wave of tech volatility gripped Wall Street, with a selloff in mega caps tempering optimism in other corners of the stock market that were buoyed by signs the economy is in good shape.
All Magnificent Seven firms fell, with Apple Inc. leading the way after boosting prices of Macs and iPads.
The drop in the S&P 500’s most-influential group sent the index wavering.
That’s even as a blowout outlook from Micron Technology Inc.
boosted chipmakers.
In a sign of rotation, the equity benchmark’s equal- weighted version — which strips out market-value biases — climbed.
Thursday’s session was a lesson in the “concentration risk” some analysts see as latent in a market whose upside has owed disproportionately to a narrow group of massive gainers.
Tech behemoths had powered the bull run for much of the past few years, but investors have been questioning whether they should be diversifying away from longtime winners.
That degree of anxiety was on full display earlier this week when a selloff in chipmakers rattled trading around the globe on concerns over whether the billions of dollars spent on artificial intelligence will be justified.
While those worries eased after Micron’s results, volatility in the tech industry remained elevated.
“We remain constructive and believe investors should stay invested, while keeping diversification at the center of portfolio construction,” said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Chief Investment Office.
“The past few months have shown how quickly narratives can shift, how costly excess cash can become when markets move higher, and how single-stock selection represents both an opportunity and a risk.”
“A few cracks have developed in the tech sector recently,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak.
“Therefore, we believe it will be extremely important to watch how these hyper scalers trade going forward because if they continue to decline, it’s going to make it very tough for the rest of the market to advance.”
Earlier in the day, sentiment was buoyed by data showing US consumer spending accelerated in May even as prices rose at the fastest pace in more than three years, suggesting Americans are powering through the fallout from the Iran war.
A separate report showed the economy grew at an annualized 2.1% pace in the first quarter, faster than previously estimated.
While those figures will likely leave the Federal Reserve under pressure to keep interest rates elevated, the recent pullback in energy costs could help ease inflationary pressures in the months ahead.
Those bets drove short-term Treasury yields lower.
“The worst of inflation and consumer angst may be mostly behind us,” said Brian Jacobsen at Annex Wealth Management.
“As long as gasoline prices trend lower, inflation expectations will likely follow suit.”
Still, after four days of declines, West Texas Intermediate crude rose.
A ship was hit by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, just hours after several freighters turned around while attempting to cross the vital waterway, developments that may undermine what had been a rapid reopening of the energy chokepoint.
Corporate Highlights:
* Microsoft Corp. announced a third substantial price increase for the company’s current-generation Xbox video-game consoles in a glaring example of the component shortage crisis that has universally driven up the cost of consumer tech products.
* Qualcomm Inc. jumped after the chipmaker forecast annual sales of more than $15 billion from artificial intelligence components in data centers by fiscal 2029.
* Jefferies Financial Group Inc. posted second-quarter earnings that missed analysts’ estimates as fees declined from a business overseen by its asset-management unit, which bet on theembattled auto-parts supplier First Brands Group.
* Darden Restaurants Inc. posted a cautious overall profit outlook as same-store sales at Olive Garden trailed expectations, raising questions about demand that overshadowed better-than-expected earnings
* Spices and seasonings maker McCormick & Co. reported second- quarter profit that beat estimates, buoyed by higher prices and a tariff refund, and reaffirmed its full-year guidance.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1374
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.3201
* The Japanese yen was unchanged at 161.78 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 2.4% to $59,445.24
* Ether fell 3.1% to $1,562.12
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.39%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.86%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.70%
* The yield on 2-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.13%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.6% to $72.15 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.8% to $4,029.56 an ounce
Have a lovely evening.
Be magnificent!
As ever,
Carolann
When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer,
never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. –Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811-1896.
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 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828