October 7, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Niels Bohr, mathematician, b. 1885
Desmond Tutu, b. 1931
Vladimir Putin, b. 1952
Yo-Yo Ma, b. 1955

On Oct. 7, 1985 Palestinian gunmen hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean with more than 400 people aboard. Go to article »

2001 – US invasion of Afghanistan starts with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.

Here’s how to watch the Draconid meteor shower tonight and tomorrow.  It seems like a good time to stare up into the night sky and contemplate just how cosmically small we are. –CNN.

French professor and researcher in microbiology, genetics and biochemistry Emmanuelle Charpentier and American biochemist Jennifer A. Doudna have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the development of a method for genome editing.

Take a break and listen to five minutes that will make you love Baroque music. –NYT.

A predecessor to this universe can still be observed today.-Bloomberg.

Grapefruit is a very weird fruit.
     
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The sun rises over Boscombe beach in Dorset.
CREDIT: ANDREW MATTHES/PA WIRE

An extreme closeup of pink lotus known primarily as blue lotus at a public garden in outskirts of New Delhi, India.
CREDIT: HARISH TYAGI/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

A family of Working Cocker Spaniels at Red Wharf Bay, Anglesey in Wales, who love to pose for a photo for their owner Kelly Roberts a vet during their daily walk.
CREDIT: KELLY ROBERTS/PICTUREEXCLUSIVE.COM
Market Closes for October 7^th, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1896, the Dow Jones Industrial Average began continuous daily publication. Its 12 members were the great industrial giants of the time: American Cotton Oil, American Sugar, American Tobacco, Chicago Gas, American Spirits Manufacturing, General Electric, Laclede Gas, National Lead, U.S. Cordage, Tennessee Coal & Iron, U.S. Leather, and U.S. Rubber.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equity markets climbed with broader markets on renewed optimism that U.S. lawmakers could still reach an agreement on additional stimulus.
The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 1.2% in Toronto. All eleven sectors rallied, led by health care and consumer discretionary stocks. Pot stock Canopy Growth was the best performing stock, while Maple Leaf Foods posted the biggest drop within the index.
Meanwhile, Barrick Gold Corp.’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said the gold industry needs more consolidation so it can increase exploration to boost depleting reserves, lure more generalist investors and improve efficiencies.
In real estate, Montreal, like Toronto, is seeing a flurry of condos being put up for sale, suggesting the city’s housing boom may be fading as the effects of the pandemic start to bite.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $9.90 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.5% to $1,887.07 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.3% to C$1.3267 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose 6 basis points to 0.625%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 1.2 percent at 16,428.30 in Toronto. The index advanced to the highest closing level since Sept. 15 after the previous session’s decrease of 1.1 percent.
Today, financials stocks led the market higher, as all sectors gained; 154 of 223 shares rose, while 66 fell.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.0 percent. Canopy Growth Corp. had the largest increase, rising 7.9 percent.
Insights
* This year, the index fell 3.7 percent, heading for the worst year since 2018
* The index was little changed in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 16 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 8.6 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 47 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.9 percent in the past 5 days and rose 1.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.2 on a trailing basis and 23.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.2 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.48t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 15.94 percent compared with 15.84 percent in the previous session and the average of 13.94 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 67.1254| 1.4| 23/2
Industrials | 36.2977| 1.8| 25/3
Information Technology | 35.7159| 2.1| 8/2
Energy | 22.2024| 1.3| 20/3
Consumer Discretionary | 14.5703| 2.5| 13/0
Health Care | 5.9747| 3.9| 8/2
Communication Services | 4.0206| 0.5| 4/3
Consumer Staples | 3.0274| 0.4| 4/7
Utilities | 2.3670| 0.3| 11/5
Materials | 0.6671| 0.0| 28/23
Real Estate | 0.2033| 0.0| 10/16
US
By Vildana Hajric and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed to a more than one-month high on renewed optimism that U.S. lawmakers could still reach an agreement on additional stimulus. Treasuries and the dollar fell.
The S&P 500 gained 1.7% after a barrage of overnight tweets from President Donald Trump advocating a piecemeal approach. Trump sent stocks tumbling late Tuesday by ending talks with Democrats. Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled openness to a standalone airline relief bill in a conversation with Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday. “The seesaw we’ve seen since yesterday’s plunge is just case and point for the volatility we may encounter as we close in on the election,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investment product at E*Trade Financial. “That said, with President Trump’s call for aid to airlines, an obviously hard-hit area of the market, traders may be eyeing bullish opportunities.”
Some investors who’ve watched Democratic challenger Joe Biden’s lead in the polls swell in recent days are now speculating that a victory by him would bring an increase of federal spending to boost the economy. Biden leads among likely voters Florida, Iowa and Pennsylvania, Quinnipiac University polls found. Tech stocks also mostly rose, even after a House panel’s proposal late Tuesday for stricter antitrust rules to curb the power of Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc., Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. The four tech giants account for more than 15% of the S&P 500. Eli Lilly & Co. gained after advances on its Covid-19 antibody drug. “People are now talking again about this blue wave,” or election sweep by Democrats in Congress and the presidency, said Marc Odo, client portfolio manager at Swan Global Investments. “The one thing we do need is a very clear cut result coming out of this election.” Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee’s Sept. 15-16 meeting released Wednesday showed some U.S. central bankers sought further debate on the future of the Federal Reserve’s asset purchase program when they met last month, signaling they’d be open to altering or increasing bond buying going forward.
Meanwhile, with Trump now out of the hospital, investors continue to monitor the virus’s impact on economic recoveries around the world. Signs are mounting the virus is returning to the New York area, with infections reaching three-month highs. “There is going to be heightened volatility,” said Bryce Doty, senior portfolio manager at Sit Investment Associates. “You have an extraordinary amount of uncertainty between timing of vaccine, when will this current uptick in cases top out.”
Oil fell after U.S. government data showed crude stockpiles increased.
The European Commission, meantime, is close to a deal to procure more of the Covid-19 treatment remdesivir from Gilead Sciences Inc.
Here are some key events coming up:
* The U.S. Vice Presidential debate takes place in Salt Lake City on Wednesday

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 1.7% to 3,419.45 as of 4:07 p.m. New York time, the highest in more than a month.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.9% to 28,303.46, the highest in five weeks on the biggest rise in 12 weeks.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 1.9% to 11,364.60, the highest in almost five weeks.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index climbed 1.9% to 11,503.20.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.1% to 365.45, the first retreat in a week and the largest fall in more than a week.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1% to 1,172.49.
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1763.
* The Japanese yen depreciated 0.3% to 105.99 per dollar, the weakest in almost four weeks.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased five basis points to 0.79%, the highest in almost four months.
* The yield on 30-year Treasuries increased five basis points to 1.59%, the highest in four months.
* Germany’s 10-year yield gained one basis point to -0.49%, the highest in almost three weeks.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose two basis points to 0.303%, the highest in more than five weeks.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude decreased 1.7% to $39.98 a barrel.
* Gold strengthened 0.5% to $1,887.65 an ounce.
* Copper climbed 2.1% to $3.03 a pound, the highest in a week.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

We can try to avoid making choices by doing nothing, but even that is a decision.
                                                                         -Gary Collins, 1938-2012

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