September 14, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Sept. 14, 1959, the Soviet space probe Luna 2 became the first man-made object to reach the moon as it crashed onto the lunar surface.  Go to article »

The best fashion from the 2021 Met Gala.  There are some prime Halloween costume ideas in here. 

Native artifacts discovered in the belly of a 13-foot-5-inch alligator.  Alligators eat all sorts of things, but … an ancient dart point?!

Scientists want to resurrect the woolly mammoth. They just got $15 million to make it happen.  Hmmm. It seems like they made a movie like this, and it didn’t end well …

Scientists create matter from pure light.

The common cold fights Covid.

CityLab: What’s behind all these  immersive Van Gogh shows?

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Lightning strikes One World Trade Center in New York City during a thunderstorm
CREDT: GARY HERSHORN/GETTY IMAGES

The launch of The Blue Paradox, an immersive experience exploring the ocean plastic pollution crisis hosted by SC Johnson in partnership with Conservation International, at Exhibition London. The two-week educational event opens to the public on September 15 and features a 360-degree digital projection of the ocean’s surface to examine how businesses, governments and individuals can work together to create a more sustainable world
CREDIT: DAVID PARRY/PA WIRE

Visitors stand with umbrellas near the step pyramid of the third dynasty Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Djoser (27th century BC) at the Saqqara Necropolis south of Egypt’s capital Cairo
CREDIT: KHALED DESOUKI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Conservator James Preston uses a pointing spoon atop scaffold erected inside the stone circle at Stonehenge as specialist contractors from SSH Conservation repair defects from previous repairs, carried out the 1950’s, on a trilithon in the stone circle and carry out vital conservation work at Stonehenge
CREDIT: BEN BIRCHALL/PA WIRE

The moon is seen behind a mosque in the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan 
CREDIT: REUTERS/PAVEL MIKHEYEV

Market Closes for September 14^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1960, President Eisenhower signed into law the Real Estate Investment Trust Act. The act created REITs, enabling retail investors to buy shares in commercial real estate for the first time.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canada stocks fell on Tuesday, led by health-care companies. The S&P/TSX Composite index dropped 0.6% in Toronto, with most major groups moving lower. Consumer-discretionary shares advanced. Shopify contributed the most to the benchmark’s decline, decreasing 1.5%. Interfor Corp. had the largest drop, falling 5.3%. On the M&A front, Teck Resources is exploring options for its metallurgical coal business, including a sale or spinoff that could value the unit at as much as $8 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 18 percent, heading for the best year since 2019
* This quarter, the index rose 1.9 percent
* The index advanced 26 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 32 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.6 percent below its 52-week high on Sept. 7, 2021 and 33.3 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.2 percent 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 19.3 on a trailing basis and 16.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.5 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.25t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 6.07 percent compared with 5.88 percent in the previous session and the average of 7.14 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | -38.3223| -0.6| 10/18
* Energy | -23.4660| -0.9| 5/17
* Information Technology | -23.0314| -0.9| 4/8
* Industrials | -17.8695| -0.7| 5/23
* Communication Services | -14.6071| -1.4| 0/7
* Health Care | -4.0840| -1.8| 3/6
* Consumer Staples | -1.2148| -0.2| 4/8
* Real Estate | -0.2329| 0.0| 11/11
* Utilities | 0.1391| 0.0| 7/7
* Consumer Discretionary | 3.0116| 0.4| 8/5
* Materials | 6.5085| 0.3| 31/22
* ================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -21.8200| -1.5| 88.7| 27.9
* Canadian National | -10.5700| -1.5| -22.9| 4.1
* Royal Bank of Canada | -7.2490| -0.6| -0.9| 22.8
* Couche-Tard | 1.8400| 0.6| -9.7| 16.1
* Franco-Nevada | 2.3030| 1.0| 27.9| 12.4
* Nuvei | 2.9600| 5.1| 25.8| 110.4
================================================================
US
By Liz Capo McCormick and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Treasuries rallied and U.S. stocks declined after a less-than-forecast increase in inflation was seen as giving Federal Reserve officials more flexibility when it comes to pulling back on stimulus. The dollar fluctuated. Yields on benchmark 10-year notes fell 5 basis points to 1.26%, narrowing the yield gap between short- and longer-maturity U.S. debt. The financial, industrial and energy sectors led the S&P 500 lower even after the Labor Department reported that the consumer price index increased 0.3% from July. Economists called for a 0.4% gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was weighed down by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. “It appears that the continued rally in Treasuries is due to speculation that some people have that the CPI data pushes off the Fed” tapering, said Blake Gwinn, strategist at RBC Capital Markets. Gwinn said he doesn’t agree with that view, and continues to see the Fed’s announced the start of its reduction in asset purchases in November or December.
The CPI figures offer some validation of views among Fed officials and the Biden administration that high inflation will prove temporary. The report could also help blunt criticism from Republicans that President Joe Biden’s economic stimulus is spurring damaging inflation as he seeks to sell a $3.5 trillion long-term tax-and-spending package that’s also running into opposition from moderate Democrats. The focus was firmly on price pressures, with a gauge of commodities around a decade-high. The global stock-market rally is facing headwinds amid concerns about the delta virus strain and risks from elevated inflation, which is being stoked by Covid-19 related supply disruptions. “Today’s selloff in equities is simply a continuation of the weakness we saw last week,” said Adam Phillips, managing director of portfolio strategy at EP Wealth Advisors. “Although the August CPI report all but guarantees no taper announcement at next week’s FOMC meeting, the clear and present danger is around a slowing economy.”
Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed at the highest level since 1990. Hong Kong and China wavered as traders evaluated the troubles of indebted developer China Evergrande Group, Beijing’s regulatory curbs and a virus flareup. 

Here are some events to watch this week:
* China retail sales, property prices, industrial production, Wednesday
* Quadruple witching day for U.S. markets, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.6% as of 4:02 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.1804
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3806
* The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 109.67 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined five basis points to 1.27%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.34%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.74%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed
* Gold futures rose 0.7% to $1,807.20 an ounce
–With assistance from Kamaron Leach.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man
is that he wants to live humbly for one. -J.D. Salinger, 1919-2010, The Catcher in the Rye.

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