September 2, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
September  2, 1666~Great Fire of London.
1864~Sherman enters Atlanta.
On Sept. 2, 1945, Japan formally surrendered in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri, ending World War II. Go to article »

Nothing can prepare you for these rock formations. (h/t Alexandra Ivanoff)

Female octopuses throw things at harassing males, whereas female hummingbirds solve the problem by pretending to be males.

Deep-sea bacteria could kill cancer. 

A single neuron is more computationally complex than you might think.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Wildlife photographer Paul Goldstein captured these stunning murmurmations of wading birds in North Norfolk. He explains: From the Arctic and beyond, waders in their thousands are beginning to make their landfall at RSPB Snettisham on the Wash in North Norfolk
CREDIT: PAUL GOLDSTEIN/COVER-IMAGES.COM

Incredible jaws-eye-view camera angle shows a shark’s vision of a photographer taking its photo. The GoPro camera is visible just below the float. Here is the other view of the moment the shark takes the bait.
CREDIT: EUAN RANNACHAN/ MAHNUS NEWS

A woman in kimono walks past a falla during the Fallas festival in Valencia Spain.
CREDIT: JOSE JORDAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

National Trust conservator Samantha Taylor cleans a rare Elizabethan globe before it is moved into a new display case at Petworth House in West Sussex, that will allow visitors to view the detail up-close for the first time
CREDIT: ANDREW MATTHEWS/PA WIRE

People navigate heavy rains and flooded walkways at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center as the remnants of Hurricane Ida hit the area in Flushing Meadows, New York
CREDIT: JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Market Closes for September 2^nd, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1776, a committee led by Thomas Jefferson recommended to the Continental Congress that the U.S. create a basic unit of currency called the “dollar.” The U.S. dollar derived its name from a Spanish and Austrian coin originally called the “thaler,” named for Joachimsthal, a silver-mining town in Bohemia.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canada’s main stock exchange extended its gain into second day, after energy companies outperformed as oil prices gained. The S&P/TSX Composite index climbed 0.5% in Toronto, posting a two-day gain of 1%. Almost sectors were in the green, with energy and health care being the best performers and information technology the only loser. On the commercial real estate front, Oxford Properties Group and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board are exploring the sale of Toronto’s Royal Bank Plaza in a deal that could be worth more than $1 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the plans.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 19 percent, heading for the best year in at least 10 years
* This quarter, the index rose 3.1 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 0.7 percent
* The index advanced 25 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 28 percent in the same period * The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.1 percent below its 52 week high on Sept. 2, 2021 and 34.9 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.4 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.5 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.5 on a trailing basis and 16.6 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 5.79 percent compared with 5.69 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.20 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Energy | 46.6280| 1.9| 19/4
* Industrials | 27.0673| 1.1| 20/9
* Financials | 13.5857| 0.2| 15/12
* Consumer Discretionary | 5.7823| 0.8| 8/5
* Materials | 5.7005| 0.2| 17/35
* Consumer Staples | 4.7889| 0.6| 5/7
* Health Care | 3.3904| 1.4| 6/2
* Utilities | 2.2880| 0.2| 12/4
* Communication Services | 0.9959| 0.1| 5/1
* Real Estate | 0.8071| 0.1| 17/8
* Information Technology | -5.4948| -0.2| 5/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Canadian Natural | | | |
* Resources | 15.2900| 4.4| -32.4| 43.4
* Canadian National | 9.9320| 1.3| 45.7| 11.5
* Canadian Pacific | 9.2920| 2.2| 115.0| 5.5
* Nuvei | -3.4100| -5.7| 73.6| 95.1
* First Quantum | | | |
* Minerals | -3.5420| -3.6| -28.5| 9.5
* Shopify | -5.9870| -0.4| 6.1| 34.6

US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks advanced ahead of Friday’s jobs data that will shape bets on the path of interest rates and the Federal Reserve’s massive bond-buying program.
The dollar retreated.     The S&P 500 closed at a fresh record, with energy and industrial shares among the biggest gainers. Tech underperformed. The U.S. probably added 725,000 jobs in August –  a more moderate pace compared to each of the prior two months, but stronger than gains seen early this year. Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said “we’re going to let the economy continue to run until we see signs of inflation,” before stepping in on rates. Treasury yields have barely budged since Fed Chair Jerome Powell last week said the central bank could begin tapering its asset purchases this year. But that calm faces a test with the jobs data. The potential for volatility comes from the fact that when officials gather this month, they will release fresh projections for the fed funds rate. And with the labor market pivotal for policy now, Friday’s report is seen as laying the foundation for these forecasts. “Most market watchers aren’t expecting the U.S central bank to announce its taper plans until its November meeting at the earliest, a full three non-farm payroll (NFP) reports from now,” Matt Weller, global head of research at Forex.com and City Index, wrote in a note to clients.  “Nonetheless, traders will still key in on Friday’s big jobs report to see if the labor market is recovering as expected.” Investors’ concerns about economic growth are overdone, opening the way for potential gains in cyclical assets in the near future, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
While economically sensitive sectors dominated the leaderboard in the first half of 2021, they’ve lagged in recent months as the delta coronavirus variant prompted concerns about the pace of the recovery. “The market is worrying too much about global cyclical risks from Delta outbreaks and China’s slowdown, and our Fed forecast is still more dovish than the market’s,” Goldman strategists led by Zach Pandl said in a note. “So we think some further relief in cyclical assets — higher equities and higher bond yields — is likely over the near term.” Meantime, Bill Gross, who co-founded Pacific Investment Management Co. in the 1970s and retired in 2019, said longer-term Treasury yields are so low that the funds that buy them belong in the “investment garbage can.”  Ten-year yields are likely to climb to 2% over the next 12 months, he wrote.  The benchmark bond rate is currently around 1.3%. Some corporate highlights:

* After the close of regular trading, Broadcom Inc. — one of the world’s largest chipmakers — gave a bullish sales forecast. Meantime, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.’s lackluster outlook indicated its corporate and government customers aren’t spending on computer gear as soon as predicted.
* Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. slid as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration won’t allow the company to fly its space plane until an investigation is complete into whether a July 11 flight deviation threatened public safety.
* The U.S. Department of Energy has authorized Exxon Mobil Corp. to receive crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to kickstart the production of fuels while most oil production in the Gulf of Mexico remains shut. The shares rose.
* Netflix Inc. rallied after Citigroup Inc. raised its price target for the video-streaming company.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 was little changed
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
* The euro rose 0.3% to $1.1873
* The British pound rose 0.5% to $1.3834
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 109.94 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.29%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.38%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 0.68%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.6% to $69.69 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,812 an ounce
–With assistance from Sunil Jagtiani, Cecile Gutscher, Elena Popina, Thyagu Adinarayan, Vildana Hajric and Kamaron Leach.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

It ain’t what they call you, it’s what you answer to. -W.C. Fields, 1880-1946.

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