September 22, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Autumn Equinox today.
If you’ve patiently waited to break out the decorations and the pumpkin spice, now’s your time. It’s the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere!
The autumn equinox arrives today, and we’re in the stretch when the curtains of darkness are closing at their most rapid pace of the year. But take heart: As our days grow shorter, celestial delights are coming into sharp focus, and bird-watchers will find plenty to see, too.

On Sept. 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all slaves in rebel states should be free as of Jan. 1, 1863.  Go to article »

To fight a blue catfish invasion, fishermen are doing something shocking. (They’re shocking them.) (h/t Judy Lowery)

Humanity is early in the universe. So will we be the grabby aliens?
 
Number in the News:
11,013
Feet above sea level, the height of Mount Etna, Europe’s tallest volcano.  Just six months ago, the summit was 100 feet shorter, but 50 eruptions since February have increased the height of the Sicilian mountain. -Live Science.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Members of The Druid Order perform at ceremony to celebrate the autumn equinox on Primrose Hill in London
CREDIT: NEIL HALL/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

“Bamboo Basket Seller” The image recived a merit award in the AAP Magazine #20 TRAVELS photographic competition. The most well-known of Tat Vien village, Hung Yen province – the North of Vietnam, was the bamboo basket for fishing, it was a simple tool made by bamboo, rhombus and flexible so that the farmer could lay it under stream to catch the small fish
CREDIT: HOANG LONG LY

Incredible pictures show a snowy owl posing for the camera mid-flight. The owl can be seen majestically gliding over the snow with its piercing yellow eyes directly focused on the camera.These breath-taking snaps were taken in Ontario, Canada, by photographer and retired family physician, Gail Bisson, of Cape Breton, Canada. Gail said: “It took about 30 minutes to get to a respectful photographable distance from the owl
CREDIT: GAIL BISSON/CATERS NEWS
Market Closes for September 22^nd, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1985, finance ministers and central bankers of the U.S., France, Germany, Japan and the U.K. announced measures to reduce the value of the U.S. dollar, which was near all-time highs. The “Plaza Accord” worked, as the dollar began a decade-long decline, spurring U.S. exports and creating a windfall for U.S. investors in foreign stocks.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.8%, or 157.2 to 20,401.49 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest gain since July 21.
Gainers included cannabis, energy, and tech stocks.
Oil advanced after U.S. crude inventories slid to the lowest since October 2018 amid a global energy crunch expected to increase demand. 
Insights
* This year, the index rose 17 percent, heading for the best year since 2019
* This quarter, the index rose 1.2 percent
* This month, the index fell 0.9 percent, heading for the biggest decline since October 2020
* The index advanced 26 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 33 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.4 percent below its 52-week high on Sept. 7, 2021 and 32.3 percent above its low on Oct. 30, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.4 percent in the past 5 days and rose 0.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.4 on a trailing basis and 16.3 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$3.19t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.59 percent compared with 8.28 percent in the previous session and the average of 6.85 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 46.8183| 0.7| 24/4
Energy | 43.6348| 1.8| 21/2
Information Technology | 27.9016| 1.1| 11/4
Materials | 11.4377| 0.5| 29/20
Consumer Discretionary | 10.9137| 1.4| 13/0
Real Estate | 5.4236| 0.8| 20/5
Utilities | 4.5103| 0.5| 9/7
Industrials | 4.4177| 0.2| 21/8
Health Care | 3.8078| 1.8| 8/1
Communication Services | -0.3042| 0.0| 4/3
Consumer Staples | -1.3640| -0.2| 6/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | 22.4100| 1.6| -21.1| 30.2
Canadian Natural | | | |
Resources | 13.2500| 3.9| 10.2| 41.4
Brookfield Asset | | | |
Management | 12.6500| 1.8| -21.4| 35.9
Couche-Tard | -3.0040| -1.1| -53.0| 12.3
Canadian National | -3.8900| -0.6| -59.2| 4.8
Franco-Nevada | -5.8580| -2.5| -3.9| 8.2
US
By Elaine Chen and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Stocks closed higher and the Treasury yield curve flattened after Federal Reserve officials signaled they would probably begin tapering their bond-buying program soon.
The dollar strengthened versus its major peers, while oil gained.
The S&P 500 had jumped earlier, rising for the for the first time in five trading sessions, as concerns about China Evergrande Group’s debt woes eased.
The benchmark index rose 1%, the biggest-one day increase since July.
Shorter-maturity Treasury notes fell while longer-maturity debt edged higher, flattening the yield curve, after revisions to Fed’s dot-plot forecasts for fed funds target showed a 2022 median of 0.25%, up from 0.125% prior, while 2023 rate forecasts were also dragged higher.
“If you take a step back, the Fed’s stance is still accommodative and it’s reasonable for the Fed to want to return to a state of normalcy if the economy is as robust as the data suggests,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*TRADE Financial. “And given the recent volatility, it’s likely that investors are viewing the taper projection and potential 2022 rate hikes as a vote of confidence that the recovery is on track.”
If progress toward the Fed’s employment and inflation goals “continues broadly as expected, the committee judges that a moderation in the pace of asset purchases may soon be warranted,” the U.S. central bank’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said Wednesday in a statement following a two-day meeting.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during a press conference that tapering could end around mid-2022 and that most on the committee favor a gradual pace. That could mean the Fed makes an announcement in November, potentially creating an eight-month taper process.
Earlier, basic resources and energy were among the leading gainers in the Stoxx Europe 600 index as commodity prices steadied after Beijing moved to contain fears of a spiraling debt crisis at Evergrande that could ravage demand from the property sector.
China avoided a major selloff as trading resumed following a holiday, after the country’s central bank boosted its injection of short-term cash into the financial system.
The Fed’s timeline for tapering stimulus and any shifts in expectations for interest-rate increases are key for investors, who have grown used to central-bank stimulus supporting asset prices.
The revision follows a period of market volatility stoked by Evergrande’s woes.
China’s wider property-sector curbs are also feeding into concerns about a slowdown in the economic recovery from the pandemic.
“What markets are relieved by was that given the events of this week in terms of China, Evergrande, the debt ceiling dysfunction, some of the growth slowdown,” said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors’ U.S. SPDR business. “Some of what we’ve been seeing in markets, I think the risk was that the Fed would announce tapering and a timeline today. I think that would have been an unexpected surprise that would have created some volatility and some negative reaction by investors, and that didn’t happen, and so investors are happy.”
Elsewhere, Governing Council member Madis Muller said the European Central Bank may boost its regular asset purchases once the pandemic-era emergency stimulus comes to an end.
In Japan, the central bank left its main monetary policy settings unchanged.
Markets in South Korea and Hong Kong were closed for a holiday.    
Here are key events to watch this week:
* Bank of England rate decision, Thursday
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman and Vice Chairman Richard Clarida discuss pandemic recovery, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets: 
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.3% to $1.1694
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3620
* The Japanese yen fell 0.5% to 109.79 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 1.30%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.32%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.80%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.1% to $71.97 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.6% to $1,767.60 an ounce
–With assistance from Kamaron Leach.
Have a nice evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Don’t mind anything anyone tells you about anyone else.  Judge everyone and everything for yourself.  -Henry James, 1843-1916.

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