September 15, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Greenpeace founded, September 15^th, 1971
September 15, 1928 Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin while studying influenzas.
1940- Battle of Britain Day.

7-foot-tall robots are stacking store shelves in Tokyo.  They’re friendly … they’re friendly …” you quietly whisper to yourself as you tiptoe around their wide, metal backs. –CNN

Vinyl records are once again outselling CDs. -Bloomberg.

The universe may be too thin. – Ellen Kominers, Bloomberg.
 
On Sept. 15, 1963, four black girls were killed when a bomb went off during Sunday services at a Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, in the deadliest act of the civil rights era.Go to article »

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Colorful umbrellas hang above a street in Bad Mergentheim, Germany. The so-called ‘Umbrella Road’ stretches the city above the Gaensmarkt (Goose Market) to advertise a new traffic concept in the city center until the end of October. 
CREDIT: RONALD WITTEK/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Incredible drone images capture colourful water lilies being harvested in An Giang Province, Vietnam, Southeast Asia. Water lilies are an iconic symbol in the Mekong Delta and the flowers are immediately sent to market before landing on meal tables. Their stalks are edible and can be eaten raw with either fermented paste or braised sauce, or dunked into sour soup or hotpot.
CREDIT: NGUYEN SANH QUOC HUY/TRIANGE NEWS

Sunrise over the fields of stemmy grassland in Burscough, Lancashire, UK with wrapped bales of hay prepared for silage, haylage for animal winter feed. Silage is fodder made from green foliage crops, which are then after fermentation called ensilage, ensiling or silaging. 
CREDIT: MEDIAWORLDIMAGES/ALAMYLIVENEWS

Grayson Perry stands in front of Very large, Very Expensive Abstract Painting, the centerpiece of his new exhibition The MOST Specialest Relationship, a the Victoria Miro gallery in London. It was inspired by a US road trip. 
CREDIT: HEALTHCLIFF O’MALLEY FOR THE TELEGRAPH

Market Closes for September 15th, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1890, Baring Brothers, one of England’s leading investment banks, disclosed that its loans to what we would now call “emerging markets,” like Argentina and Chile, had gone bad and that the firm would go bust unless the Bank of England came to its aid. The BOE stepped in, rounding up a rescue syndicate of other investment banks and assuming £28.5 million worth of Barings’ liabilities.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 0.4 percent, or 71.13 to 16,431.27 in Toronto. The index advanced to the highest closing level since Sept. 3. Today, industrials stocks led the market higher, as 10 of 11 sectors gained; 146 of 221 shares rose, while 71 fell. Canadian National Railway Co. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.3 percent. Ballard Power Systems Inc. had the largest increase, rising 5.6 percent.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 5.9 percent
* This year, the index fell 3.7 percent, heading for the worst year since 2018
* The index declined 1.5 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 13 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 8.6 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 47.1 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.1 percent in the past 5 days and fell 0.5 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.1 on a trailing basis and 23.8 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$2.49t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 12.54 percent compared with 13.00 percent in the previous session and the average of 11.03 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Industrials | 17.2638| 0.9| 19/9
Utilities | 13.4876| 1.7| 16/0
Communication Services | 10.7179| 1.3| 7/1
Real Estate | 8.9068| 1.8| 25/1
Consumer Discretionary | 7.2294| 1.3| 10/3
Materials | 6.0820| 0.2| 25/24
Financials | 5.9267| 0.1| 9/16
Health Care | 1.1272| 0.7| 5/3
Information Technology | 1.0670| 0.1| 7/3
Consumer Staples | 0.8356| 0.1| 9/2
Energy | -1.5203| -0.1| 14/9
US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks closed higher as gains in technology shares helped offset a late slide in financials. Crude oil pushed higher, while the dollar was little changed. The S&P 500 rose for a third consecutive trading session, led by communication services, real estate and consumer discretionary shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. pushed financials into the red. “The market’s trying to figure out what to do next, and in those times you always see volatility,” said Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer of First American Trust in Santa Ana, California, which has around $2 billion in assets under management. “We’ve been trying to figure out if this tech run is here to stay.”
In Europe, Hennes & Mauritz AB led a rally among fashion retailers after beating profit estimates. Investors in Germany unexpectedly raised their expectations for the country’s economy. The offshore yuan climbed to the highest level in a year and stocks in Shanghai advanced on evidence that China is accelerating out of the virus slump. Investors are awaiting the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting Wednesday to gauge the outlook for markets following a slide of about 2% in global stocks this month. The Fed is expected to maintain its dovish stance after earlier saying it will shift to a more relaxed approach on inflation. Central bank largesse is shoring up sentiment in the face of risks from the pandemic, the U.S. presidential election and the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.
Here are some key events coming up:
* Wednesday sees the FOMC policy decision and news conference from Chair Jerome Powell.
* Bank of Japan, Bank Indonesia and Bank of England policy decisions come Thursday.
* Friday sees quadruple witching — the quarterly expiration of futures and options on indexes and stocks — in U.S. markets

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 Index increased 0.5% to 3,401.13 as of 4:02 p.m. New York time, the highest in more than a week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed at 27,994.42, the highest in more than a week.
The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.2% to 11,190.32, the highest in more than a week.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.7% to 370.96, the highest in almost two weeks.
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed at 1,165.42, the lowest in more than a week.
The euro dipped 0.2% to $1.1845, the first retreat in a week.
The Japanese yen appreciated 0.3% to 105.46 per dollar, the strongest in more than two weeks.
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased one basis point to 0.68%.
Germany’s 10-year yield climbed less than one basis point to -0.48%.
Britain’s 10-year yield gained two basis points to 0.217%.
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.8% to $38.29 a barrel, the highest in more than a week.
Gold weakened 0.2% to $1,953.71 an ounce.
Copper dipped 0.3% to $3.06 a pound.
–With assistance from David Wilson.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather
becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.
                                                         -Leonardo da Vinci, 142-1519

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