October 31, 2023, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Hallowe’en.  Samhain: Wiccan New Year.

October 31, 2011: The world’s official population reached 7 billion on approximately this day.  The United Nations Population Fund designated it as the Day of Seven Billion.

John Keats, poet, b. 1795.
Helmut Newton, photographer, b.1920
Harry Houdini, magician, b.1926.
Dan Rather, TV journalist, b. 1931

Heidi Klum’s most iconic Halloween costumes
Let’s take a look back at Heidi Klum’s best, most elaborate costumes over the years — the earthworm, the ogre, the clones, to name a few.

10 DIY last-minute Halloween costumes for kids and adults
If it seems that your dreams of extravagant costumes are long gone, think again. These last-minute Halloween costumes are easy to make at a moment’s notice.

Apple unveils its fastest iMac and MacBook Pro models yet
The company on Monday introduced a new generation of “scary fast” processors and along with it, a handful of new computers.

Scientists finally discover ‘lost continent’ thought to have vanished without a trace:  Scientists have pieced together the remnants of a continent that broke off from western Australia 155 million years ago and seemingly vanished as it drifted northward toward Southeast Asia. Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Sydney, Australia: Carnival Cruise Line’s resident redback, Fangelica, marks Halloween by floating across Sydney Harbour as Carnival Splendor arrives in the city.
Photograph: James D Morgan/Getty Images for Carnival Cruise Lines

Halloween Underground captures Seymour Licht’s 20-year long quest to photograph people dressed up in outlandish costumes against the backdrop of the drab, gritty New York transit system. Originally the project began as a way to document the famously flamboyant Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. But Licht followed his instincts and found himself drawn more to the isolated, solitary, disguised individuals below ground, waiting on the subway platform or inside a train car for their stop to arrive. Halloween Underground: New York Subway Portraits by Seymour Licht is out now

Some are comical or very elaborate and inventive – here we see a patient who lost her brain and the doctor who holds it on a platter
Market Closes for October 31^st, 2023

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 2001, the U.S. Treasury announced it would stop issuing 30-year bonds, then the mainstay of the bond market. Short-term interest rates were lower than those for longer-term bonds. (The opposite is true today, a dynamic known as yield curve inversion.)
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 18,873.47 in Toronto.
Cameco Corp. contributed the most to the index gain and had the largest move, increasing 8.4%.
Today, 117 of 227 shares rose, while 105 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index fell 2.6%, heading for the worst year since 2022
* This month, the index fell 3.4%
* The index declined 2.8% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 7.6% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 9.5% below its 52-week high on Feb. 2, 2023 and 1% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.6% in the past 5 days and fell 3.4% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.3 on a trailing basis and 13.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.5% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.99t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 13.24% compared with 13.60% in the previous session and the average of 14.15% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 33.3358| 0.9| 33/6
Financials | 13.5262| 0.2| 16/12
Information Technology | 13.4158| 1.0| 8/3
Industrials | 4.7055| 0.2| 16/10
Consumer Staples | 4.2846| 0.5| 8/3
Consumer Discretionary | 1.5187| 0.2| 5/9
Health Care | 0.9357| 1.8| 4/0
Real Estate | 0.7835| 0.2| 12/8
Communication Services | 0.1188| 0.0| 1/2
Utilities | -6.4568| -0.9| 2/13
Materials | -49.4753| -2.2| 12/39
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Cameco | 13.2300| 8.4|n/a | 84.8
RBC | 6.2440| 0.6|n/a | -13.0
Enbridge | 5.9040| 0.9|n/a | -16.0
Franco-Nevada | -7.7430| -3.3|n/a | -8.6
Nutrien | -10.3300| -3.9|n/a | -24.7
First Quantum Minerals | -15.4200| -19.7|n/a | -43.2
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street’s jittery month ended, with the S&P 500 rising on Tuesday — but still notching its longest monthly slide since the onset of the pandemic.
The dollar climbed as the yen hit a 33-year low after the Bank of Japan made only minor changes to its policy settings.
On the eve of the Federal Reserve decision, traders took the latest economic data in stride.
The S&P 500 rebounded in the final day of October, while posting its third straight month of losses. JPMorgan Chase & Co. paced a rally in big banks.
Tesla Inc. bounced back, while Nvidia Corp. finished lower by almost 1%.
In late trading, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. fell on a bearish revenue outlook.
Treasury 10-year yields rose four basis points to 4.93%.
The dollar halted a two-day drop.
The Japanese currency weakened past 151.
The yen will possibly continue to weaken — and the BOJ will be forced to shift to a more “hawkish tone” in the coming weeks, according to Chris Senyek at Wolfe Research.
In economic news, US consumer confidence dropped to a five-month low in October while employment costs unexpectedly accelerated in the third quarter — underscoring a strong labor market that risks keeping inflation above the Fed’s target.
“The Fed is still wary of letting their guard down too early after missing their inflation target badly in the last few years,” said Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank.
“They are likely to signal tomorrow that they are prepared to raise interest rates again if inflation strays from its current downward trajectory.”
Aside from the highly anticipated Fed decision, bond dealers are expecting the US Treasury to unveil another round of increases this week to its note and bond auctions, though a sizable minority forecast the department will slow the pace of growth to avoid jolting yields higher.
“The main concern on parts of the bond market, particularly the traditional part, is really about the premium you’re getting — the term premium — to go out on the curve,” Russ Koesterich, global allocation fund portfolio manager at BlackRock, told Bloomberg Television. “And that is as much to do with the supply and changing demand dynamics as it does about inflation and the Fed. So you still want to be cautious on long-duration bonds.”
Billionaire investor Stan Druckenmiller said he’s bought “massive” bullish positions in two-year notes, as he’s become more worried about the economy.
Investors are also looking to guidance from the ongoing earnings season to assess the outlook for profits and how companies are able to withstand headwinds like higher rates.
US stocks have slumped this month, as disappointing showings from technology giants including Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. have weighed on sentiment.

Corporate Highlights:
* Caterpillar Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp. slipped as their results signaled slowing demand.
* Zillow Group Inc. and other real estate stocks plunged after a Missouri jury found the National Association of Realtors and other industry players guilty of colluding to maintain high brokerage commissions.
* Pfizer Inc.’s sales missed expectations for the quarter as its Covid-19 shot and pill continued to create instability for the drugmaker’s efforts to transition out of the pandemic.
* Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. and Roche Holding AG slumped after the partners’ trial of a gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy failed to meet the main goal of a study, raising doubts that the treatment will be expanded to older children.
* Pinterest Inc. jumped after the social-networking company reported third quarter results that beat expectations. Analysts are positive about the company’s revenue growth rate and  expanding margins.

Key events this week:
* China Caixin manufacturing PMI, Wednesday
* UK S&P Global / CIPS UK Manufacturing PMI, Wednesday
* US construction spending, ISM Manufacturing, job openings, light vehicle sales, Wednesday
* All Saints holiday in much of Europe, Wednesday
* Treasury quarterly refunding announcement, Wednesday
* Federal Reserve interest rate decision. Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds news conference, Wednesday
* Eurozone S&P Global Eurozone Manufacturing PMI, Thursday
* Bank of England interest rate decision. Governor Andrew Bailey holds news conference, Thursday
* US factory orders, initial jobless claims, productivity, Thursday
* Apple earnings, Thursday
* China Caixin services PMI, Friday
* Eurozone unemployment, Friday
* US unemployment, nonfarm payrolls, Friday
* Canada employment report, Friday
–With assistance from Emily Graffeo and Isabelle Lee.

Have a  lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
You are neither right nor wrong because the crowd disagrees with you.
You are right because your data and reasoning are right. –Benjamin Graham, 1894-1976.

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