October 29, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1969: Internet created-between Stanford and UCLA.

2015: China announces the end of their one-child policy after 35 years.

Here are 16 new books to look for in November.-NYT.

Taiwan has gone 200 days without a local Covid case.

Juno mission observes ‘sprites’ dancing in Jupiter’s atmosphere.  Fun fact of the day: “Sprites” and “elves” are types of quick, bright flashes of light. They happen on Earth, too. -CNN.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Royal Academy of Dance final year ‘class bubble’ students: Nicole and Amy (L-R) practice in the early morning light over London wetlands ready for World Ballet Day 2020.
CREDIT: GUY CORBISHLEY/ALAMY LIVE NEWS

A cyclist, who gave his name as Lehboy, balances a basketball on his head while riding outside the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in New York.
CREDIT: BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS

Hetty the fox checks out a mouse in the stables A keen wildlife photographer has snapped a series of photos of wild animals in a spooky set-up ahead of Halloween.
CREDIT: RICHARD BOWLER/COVER IMAGES

Market Closes for October 29th, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1822, in the heat of the earliest frenzy for investing in emerging markets, the 6% bonds of the Kingdom of Poyais, near Nicaragua, traded at 81.5% of their par value on the London Stock Exchange, just behind Chile, at 84% of par. Unfortunately, Poyais is a fictitious country fabricated by a Scottish scamster, Gregor MacGregor, and the bonds soon turned out to be worthless.

Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equity markets bounced back from three-day selling pressure as utilities stocks outperform. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.5%, paring earlier loss of as much as 0.5%. Utilities and real estate sectors outperformed. Tech was the worst performer, after Shopify fell 5% even after beating revenue and profit estimates for the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Bank of Montreal is exploring options for its asset management operations, as the Canadian firm considers scaling back the business’s international footprint, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $10.10 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.4% to $1,869.8 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was flat at C$1.3317 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose to 0.630%
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.5 percent at 15,670.70 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 0.6 percent on Oct. 8 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 2.7 percent. Today, financials stocks led the market higher, as 8 of 11 sectors gained; 172 of 223 shares rose, while 50 fell. Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.9 percent. Alamos Gold Inc. had the largest increase, rising 12.5 percent.
Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 3.9 percent, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended March 20
* This month, the index fell 2.8 percent
* This year, the index fell 8.2 percent, heading for the worst year since 2018
* The index declined 4.6 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 9 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 12.8 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 40.3 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 3.7 percent in the past 5 days and fell 3.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.1 on a trailing basis and 22.3 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$2.39t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 15.47 percent compared with 15.34 percent in the previous session and the average of 14.88 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 58.0895| 1.3| 20/6
Materials | 35.6461| 1.5| 43/9
Utilities | 15.0369| 1.8| 15/1
Real Estate | 8.8518| 1.8| 24/2
Consumer Discretionary | 5.4016| 1.0| 8/5
Communication Services | 4.9141| 0.6| 7/0
Health Care | 2.6732| 1.6| 9/1
Industrials | 1.9614| 0.1| 19/9
Consumer Staples | -0.5703| -0.1| 5/6
Energy | -1.6284| -0.1| 15/8
Information Technology | -46.2345| -2.9| 7/3

US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks bounced back a day after their biggest rout in four months, with investors encouraged by better-than-forecast economic data even as they kept a wary eye on growing coronavirus infections. The S&P 500 Index 1.2%, the most since Oct. 12, after President Donald Trump said he plans “a very big package” of stimulus following the election. The dollar and Treasury yields rose after reports showed a decline in weekly jobless claims and a surge in third-quarter economic growth that reversed much of the pandemic collapse.
An exchange-traded fund that tracks the Nasdaq 100 edged lower after the close of regular trading following a flurry of earnings releases. Twitter Inc.’s new-user numbers disappointed, while revenue for Alphabet Inc. beat estimates. Amazon.com Inc. projected operating income that trailed estimates after reporting better-than-forecast sales. Even with Thursday’s gains, global equities are headed for the worst weekly decline since March amid new lockdown measures and U.S. politicians’ failure to agree to a stimulus plan before the Nov. 3 election. The Covid-19 surge in the Midwest rose to a record, led by single-day highs in Kansas, Iowa and South Dakota as the region’s outbreak spread toward both coasts. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease doctor, said the earliest a vaccine might be available is late December or early January.
“The market clearly has concerns about Covid and shutdowns but it would not surprise me at all if in a week or two there’s a completely different narrative,” said Evan Brown, head of multi-asset strategy at UBS Asset Management. “Ultimately we’re going to get a safe and effective vaccine.” In Europe, stocks edged lower. The euro extended its decline after the European Central Bank paved the way for a package of fresh easing in December to deal with a worsening economic outlook. Stocks slumped in Asia, with losses for the main indexes in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong.
Here are the main market moves:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 1.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index increased 1.9%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.1%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 0.2%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index increased 0.3%.
* The British pound declined 0.4% to $1.2936.
* The euro weakened 0.6% to $1.1678.
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 104.64 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose six basis points to 0.83%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.64%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 0.22%.
Commodities
* WTI crude declined 2.7% to $36.38 a barrel.
* Gold weakened 0.4% to $1,870.01 an ounce.
–With assistance from Adam Haigh, Todd White, Yakob Peterseil and Nancy Moran.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Originality and the feeling of one’s own dignity are achieved only through work and struggle.
                                                                                 -Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1821-1881

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
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