October 24, 2024, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Carolann is away from the office for a conference, I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

October 24, 1861: First US transcontinental telegram is sent (from San Francisco to Washington, D.C.)
October 24, 1901: First woman to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel (Anna Taylor)

How old is planet Earth?
Our planet’s age is known from a variety of sources, from rocks on our own planet to ones from the moon. Read more.

Scientists build the smallest quantum computer in the world — it works at room temperature and you can fit it on your desk
The smallest machine of its kind in the world uses a single photon as its qubit and it can perform calculations without needing the cumbersome equipment to cool it down to near absolute zero.

Watch huge fireball blaze over Lake Erie in stunning videos
A fiery meteor shot across the sky above the Great Lakes just after sunset, stunning witnesses from Michigan to New York, Kentucky and North Carolina.

4 large asteroids, including a skyscraper-size ‘city killer,’ will zoom past Earth in a 12-hour span today (Oct. 24)
Four “potentially hazardous” space rocks, which are between 100 and 580 feet across, will all make their closest approaches to Earth within less than 12 hours of one another on Thursday (Oct. 24). Two of them were only discovered earlier this month. Read more.

What is the largest known prime number?
There are infinitely many prime numbers, but the biggest one we know of goes by the name M136279841 and contains more than 41 million digits. Read more.

PICTURES OF THE DAY

Brasília, Brazil
An Indigenous person leaves after the signing ceremony for a decree demarcating new lands, in front of the ministry of justice. The Brazilian government signed a directive to delimit seven new Indigenous lands of the Guarani in the industrialised state of São Paulo, which together add up to an area of nearly 20,000 hectares
Photograph: André Borges/EPA

Panama City, Panama
The minister of culture of Panama, Maruja Herrera (R), appears in the ballet Giselle. Herrera returned to the stage as a dancer, performing in the classic ballet as part of two special galas of the National Ballet of Panama to raise funds for charity
Photograph: Bienvenido Velasco/EPA

County Wicklow, Ireland
‘Autumn leaves signal the end of the summer season at Mount Usher Gardens.’
Photograph: Ann Egan
Market Closes for October 24^th, 2024

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1929: Stocks plunged in morning trading before a group of Wall Street bankers attempted to stem panic by buying stocks. The day became known as Black Thursday and marked the beginning of a multiday market crash that preceded the Great Depression.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite declined slightly to 24,551.55 in Toronto.
Teck Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline and had the largest move, decreasing 5.4%.
Today, 107 of 223 shares fell, while 114 rose; 7 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 17%, heading for the best year since 2021
* This month, the index rose 2.3%
* So far this week, the index fell 1.1%, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended Sept. 6
* The index advanced 29% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 36% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.5% below its 52-week high on Oct. 21, 2024 and 31.3% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.6% in the past 5 days and rose 2.5% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.5 on a trailing basis and 17 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.89t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 6.73% compared with 7.29% in the previous session and the average of 8.86% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -21.1981| -0.7| 27/25
Industrials | -15.8798| -0.5| 9/18
Consumer Staples | -10.4272| -1.1| 3/8
Communication Services | -7.2330| -1.0| 1/4
Utilities | -5.7472| -0.6| 2/13
Consumer Discretionary | -2.4292| -0.3| 5/6
Health Care | -0.2251| -0.3| 2/2
Real Estate | 3.7954| 0.7| 8/11
Financials | 5.6015| 0.1| 16/11
Energy | 12.8030| 0.3| 33/7
Information Technology | 18.8798| 0.9| 7/3
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Teck Resources | -12.0000| -5.4| 77.0| 16.7
Couche-Tard | -8.0570| -2.0| 31.5| -7.7
Barrick Gold | -7.5920| -2.2| 56.9| 17.6
Brookfield Corp | 4.5270| 0.6| -1.2| 41.6
Brookfield Asset Management | 6.9550| 3.8| 38.3| 36.7
Celestica | 12.0100| 18.3| 282.2| 142.2
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rose for the first time this week, with traders parsing a slew of corporate earnings for clues on the health of the world’s largest economy.
Treasuries rebounded after days of losses.
A gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” hit a three-month high, with Tesla Inc. up 22% in its biggest rally since May 2013.
Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle giant reported strong earnings and forecast as much as 30% growth in car sales next year.
United Parcel Service Inc. — an economic barometer — jumped 5.3% after returning to sales and profit growth.
International Business Machines Corp. and Honeywell International Inc.’s results failed to inspire.
“Despite the possibility of more volatility as we get deeper into earnings season and close in on the November election, the market’s longer-term outlook remains solid,” said Daniel Skelly at Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management Market Research & Strategy team.
The market barely budged after Thursday’s economic data, with new home sales beating estimates, initial jobless claims dropping and business activity expanding at a solid pace.
“Goldilocks data that’s in-line with expectations (so not too good or too bad) is the best outcome for a continued rebound in stocks and bonds,” said Tom Essaye at The Sevens Report.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, reclaiming its 5,800 mark.
The Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.8%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.3%, posting a fourth consecutive day of losses — the longest losing streak since June.
In late hours, Tapestry Inc. — the maker of Kate Spade handbags — rallied as a judge blocked the planned acquisition of rival Capri Holdings Ltd.
US 10-year yields fell four basis points to 4.20%.
A $24 billion five-year TIPS auction drew the lowest yield this year as inflation-protected Treasuries have outperformed since the Federal Reserve cut rates last month.
Oil dropped as oversupply concerns overshadowed the risks from Israel’s potential retaliatory strike on Iran.
“The market appears to be driven by the projected outcome of the earnings reporting period, the presidential election, and the bond market’s interpretation of future monetary actions by the Federal Reserve,” said Sam Stovall at CFRA. “Investors see the resiliency of the economy and employment forcing the Fed to be ‘slower to lower’ on rates.”
He still sees two 25 basis-point rate cuts in 2024.
Money markets are currently pricing about an 85% chance the Fed will cut rates by a quarter-point next month, and around 135 basis points of easing by the end of 2025.
While the equity market is still down for the week, the slide did little to dent the wall of bullish technical signals built up around the S&P 500.
The US stock benchmark continues to trade comfortably above its 200-day moving average, clocking more than 240 straight days above the closely watched long-term line.
In the prior 13 instances when the S&P 500 closed above its 200-day average for at least 242 consecutive days, with the index less than 3% below a record, the gauge proceeded to post a median gain of 7.2% in the next six months, advancing in all but two cases, SentimenTrader’s analysis found.
“Near term, pullbacks/profit-taking should be expected given the uncertainties around the upcoming US presidential election, geopolitical uncertainty, and the earnings parade,” said Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler.
“No change to our 2024 year end S&P 500 price objective of 6,100.”
“We see room for US stocks to move higher. We hold an attractive view on the IT sector, as well as the utilities, financials, consumer discretionary, and communication services sectors,” said Solita Marcelli at UBS Global Wealth Management.
Chris Senyek at Wolfe Research notes that market concentration is at the highest levels since the 1960’s “Nifty Fifty” era — with the top seven companies accounting for about 30% of the market weight and the top 25 companies at 48%.
During the 1960’s and 1970’s, these market darlings were characterized by their consistent earnings growth and highprice- to-earnings ratios similar in respects to the “Magnificent Seven”, he said.
Ultimately, what broke the trend was the inflationary environment of the 1970’s and the ensuing mid-70’s and early 80’s recessions.
“In a similar vein, we don’t see current trends breaking until the next recession and/or when AI enthusiasm substantially wanes,” Senyek added.
“With that said, we remain bullish on the market broadening out consistent with our call to own earlier cyclical stocks (FINs is our favorite).”

Corporate Highlights:
* Boeing Co. Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg’s quest to stabilize the struggling US planemaker suffered a stinging setback after factory workers rejected a new labor contract that would have increased their wages by 35% over four years.
* American Airlines Group Inc. boosted its full-year profit guidance, highlighting progress rebuilding from a failed sales strategy while it grapples with persistently high costs.
* Southwest Airlines Co. reported third-quarter profit more than double Wall Street’s estimates, a needed boost as the carrier tries to shore up financial results following a bruising fight with activist Elliott Investment Management that came to an end Thursday.
* ServiceNow Inc. reported strong third-quarter sales and bookings as the software company expands its suite of AI tools.
* Whirlpool Corp., the owner of Maytag, reported better than expected earnings, and reaffirming its full-year sales forecast.
* Harley-Davidson Inc.’s motorcycle shipments fell in the latest quarter on lower demand for its high-margin bikes, prompting a downward revision in its full-year forecast.
* Greenlight Capital founder David Einhorn said there’s “a lot to like” about fitness company Peloton Interactive Inc., despite the stock’s plunge over the past three years.

* US durable goods, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.3%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 3.2%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro rose 0.4% to $1.0829
* The British pound rose 0.4% to $1.2976
* The Japanese yen rose 0.6% to 151.84 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 2.5% to $68,258.43
* Ether rose 1% to $2,537.84
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.20%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 2.27%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 4.24%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.4% to $70.51 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.8% to $2,736.73 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shab
” Keep true to the dreams of your youth.”– Friedrich Von Schiller

Shab Mohammadpour
Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff
Queensbury Securities Inc.

340A – 730 View Street
Victoria BC  V8W 3Y7
Tel: 778-430-5851
Fax: 778-430-5828