Dear Friends,
Tangents:
September 24, 1734: Schwenkfelder Thanksgiving, Pennsylvania-Dutch.
September 24, 1852: Henri Giffard pilots the first powered and steerable airship, filled with hydrogen and driven by a 3-horspower steam engine, flying 27 kilometers from Paris to Trappes.
September 24, 1869: Financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk tried to corner the gold market, sending Wall Street into a panic and leaving thousands of investors in financial ruin. Go to article.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, writer, b. 1896.
Jim Henson, muppet creator, b. 1936.
Phil Hartman, comic actor, b. 1948.
Nia Vardalos, actress, b. 1962.
| We could nuke ‘city killer’ asteroid 2024 YR4 before it hits the moon — if we act fast, new study warns |
The potential ‘city killer’ asteroid 2024 YR4 has a small chance of hitting the moon in 2032. In a new paper, scientists probe the logistics of destroying it — possibly with nuclear weapons — before it comes too close. Read More.
| 7-year-old Maya child had green jade ‘tooth gem,’ new study finds |
Archaeologists already knew that adult Maya had tooth inlays, but this is some of the first evidence that children also had tooth bling. Read More.
| Gigantic dinosaur with ‘claws like hedge trimmers’ found with croc leg still in its jaws in Argentina |
Speedy mega raptor Joaquinraptor casali had big arms and claws like hedge trimmers that would have made T. rex’s forelimbs look puny. Read More.
| Rare blue-and-green hybrid jay spotted in Texas is offspring of birds whose lineages split 7 million years ago |
The hybrid bird is the product of two species whose habitat ranges began to overlap a few decades ago, potentially due to climate change, researchers said. Read More.
Fired before the fireworks
The group planning the United States’ 250th birthday celebrations has fired its White House-appointed executive director.
MLB player David Fry hit in the face with a fastball
Cleveland Guardians hitter David Fry was taken to the hospital on Tuesday after being struck in the face by a 99 mph pitch.
Italian city imposes a tourist tax on dogs
Dog owners visiting the Italian city of Bolzano will be hounded for taxes to offset the cost of street cleaning and to fund new parks.
Don’t forget to wash your fruits and vegetables
A new study says that eating more pesticide-laced produce exposes Americans to dozens of potential toxins.
China’s internet censors have a new target: pessimists
China’s powerful internet censors have long been known for erasing political dissent. Now, they’re being unleashed on a new scourge — negativity.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
With a powerful sweep of its pectoral fins, a stingray vanishes into the blue, leaving behind a swirling cloud of sand. “This dramatic burst isn’t just beautiful – it’s a survival tactic,” says Coll
Ben Thouard, Portugal – Ocean adventure, winner
A rough Nazaré day. “The wind came from the north which made the surf tricky,” says Thouard. “Not many surfers went out and it was hard to shoot anything because of the big sets but eventually, this moment occurred”
Bradford, England
A work by Zadie Xa is displayed at the press preview for the Turner prize 2025 at the Cartwright Hall art gallery
Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA
Market Closes for September 24th, 2025
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| Dow Jones |
46121.28 | -171.50 |
| -0.37% | ||
| S&P 500 | 6637.97 | -18.95 |
| -0.28% | ||
| NASDAQ | 22497.86 | -75.61 |
| -0.34% | ||
| TSX | 29756.95 | -58.68 |
| -0.20% |
International Markets
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| NIKKEI | 45630.31 | +136.65 |
| +0.30% | ||
| HANG SENG |
26518.65 | +359.53 |
| +1.37% | ||
| SENSEX | 81715.63 | -386.47 |
| -0.47% | ||
| FTSE 100* | 9250.43 | +27.11 |
| +0.29% |
Bonds
| Bonds | % Yield | Previous % Yield |
| CND. 10 Year Bond |
3.204 | 3.188 |
| CND. 30 Year Bond |
3.674 | 3.658 |
| U.S. 10 Year Bond |
4.1466 | 4.1061 |
| U.S. 30 Year Bond |
4.7507 | 4.7193 |
Currencies
| BOC Close | Today | Previous |
| Canadian $ | 0.7196 | 0.7228 |
| US $ |
1.3896 | 1.3835 |
| Euro Rate 1 Euro= |
Inverse | |
| Canadian $ | 1.6321 | 0.6127 |
| US $ |
1.1745 | 0.8514 |
Commodities
| Gold | Close | Previous |
| London Gold Fix |
3783.80 | 3719.70 |
| Oil | ||
| WTI Crude Future | 65.49 | 63.81 |
Market Commentary:
When the well is dry, we know the worth of water. -Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.2%, or 58.68 to 29,756.95 in Toronto.
Brookfield Corp. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.2%.
Celestica Inc. had the largest drop, falling 6.2%.
Today, 106 of 213 shares fell, while 104 rose; 6 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 20%, heading for the best year since 2021
* This quarter, the index rose 11%, heading for the biggest advance since the second quarter of 2020
* This month, the index rose 4.2%
* The index advanced 24% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 17% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1% below its 52-week high on Sept. 23, 2025 and 33.9% above its low on April 7, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.5% in the past 5 days and rose 5% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.1 on a trailing basis and 18.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.4% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$4.78t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 7.16% compared with 7.05% in the previous session and the average of 8.80% over the past month
Index Points
Financials | -63.4936| -0.7| 6/18
Materials | -40.4575| -0.8| 17/34
Real Estate | -4.6906| -0.9| 3/14
Communication Services | -1.7441| -0.3| 1/4
Consumer Discretionary | -1.6446| -0.2| 5/4
Information Technology | -0.2330| 0.0| 5/4
Health Care | 0.3689| 0.5| 1/3
Consumer Staples | 2.1883| 0.2| 4/6
Utilities | 4.9826| 0.5| 13/1
Industrials | 8.4143| 0.3| 19/10
Energy | 37.6172| 0.8| 30/8
Brookfield Corp | -22.0900| -2.2| 55.4| 17.2
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd | -18.1900| -2.3| -29.1| 95.3
Celestica | -17.7100| -6.2| -6.6| 151.9
Nutrien | 13.7400| 5.2| 116.9| 27.6
Canadian Natural Resources | 16.1900| 2.5| 29.7| 2.6
Constellation Software | 19.1400| 3.4| 39.2| -6.9
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street’s torrid surge from April’s meltdown is showing signs of exhaustion as stock traders await fresh catalysts amid risks stemming from a labor-market slowdown to sticky inflation.
While the S&P 500 has defied September’s gloomy reputation as the worst month for equity returns, the gauge failed to gain traction on Wednesday.
The market ebullience saw the index notching almost 30 records in 2025, eclipsing the average year- end analyst forecast and spurring calls for consolidation.
At Bank of America Corp., Savita Subramanian noted that on 19 of 20 metrics, the US equity benchmark is trading at statistically expensive levels.
Bullish investors should keep hedging their portfolios as more and more people chase this year’s stock-market rally, according to Nomura Securities International Inc.’s Charlie McElligott.
Euphoria over AI has turned skeptics into equity buyers at higher levels.
This behavior alongside many players at or near maximum exposure has built up downside risk in stocks, he noted.
“Timeout called,” said Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler.
“The trend of strong gains isn’t over yet.
However, the short-term risk-reward profile is becoming more compressed as stocks extend higher while underlying momentum fades.”
The S&P 500 fell 0.3%.
Micron Technology Inc., which has almost doubled this year, sank despite an upbeat forecast.
Intel Corp. was said to seek an investment from Apple Inc. as part of a comeback bid.
Oracle Corp. sold $18 billion investment-grade bonds.
Treasury yields and the dollar rose.
Despite the lack of strength on Wednesday, the stock market is holding near its record on the view that the economy is not falling off a cliff and growth will be bolstered by improving corporate profits and the artificial-intelligence boom.
Subramanian at BofA notes that the S&P 500’s multiple may be warranted given better visibility/predictability.
“In theory, investors pay up for predictable assets and are compensated for uncertainty.
Perhaps we should anchor to today’s multiples as the ‘new normal’ rather than expecting mean reversion to a bygone era.”
At JPMorgan Chase & Co., Andrew Tyler said “several conversations yesterday focused on what could derail this bullish run.
My favorite response was an asteroid hitting the earth.”
Yet after a nearly 35% rally in the S&P 500 from April’s lows, even Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell noted this week that equity prices are “fairly highly valued.”
To Mark Hackett at Nationwide, that comment appeared “observational rather than cautionary.”
Nonetheless, we could see a period of “consolidation” in the near term.
“That said, sentiment and positioning indicators suggest the rally is underpinned by cautious optimism rather than speculative excess,” Hackett noted.
“This positioning and sentiment backdrop supports a constructive outlook for equities.”
The stock market’s sustained push during the traditionally weak seasonal period appears to be fueling “bubble” talk, especially in regard to tech, according to Daniel Skelly, head of Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management Market Research & Strategy Team.
“While even the strongest rallies inevitably experience retracements, and the market certainly faces ongoing policy and economic uncertainties, there are good reasons to believe this talk is misplaced,” he said.
Over the past 50 years, there have been five bull markets that lasted more than two years, and the average length was eight years.
We’re not quite three years into this bull market, which dates back to October 2022, he noted.
This week, the S&P 500’s 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio touched a high of 22.9, a level that this century was exceeded in just two prior instances: the dotcom bust and the pandemic rally in the summer of 2020 when the Fed reduced interest rates to near zero.
Of course, risks abound, from sticky inflation to the expansion of the US job market moderating.
“The stagflation issue keeps popping its head up every few months,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak.
Whether Friday’s key price data adds to stagflation fears — or minimizes them — should be important for how the market acts as we move into the month of October, he said.
“We view the Fed’s easing cycle as broadly supportive for equities, quality bonds, and gold, and we continue to recommend a whole-of-portfolio approach when putting cash to work,” said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Global Wealth Management.
Ongoing US labor market softness should allow the Fed to cut rates further, she said, adding that her firm sees 25 basis points in cuts at each meeting through January 2026.
In her base case, the S&P 500 should trade near 6,800 by June 2026, with a bull case outcome closer to 7,500.
The gauge closed at 6,637.97 Wednesday.
“Even though a digestion of recent gains is always possible, history says (but does not guarantee) that it will be mild,” said Sam Stovall at CFRA.
Since World War II, no calendar year that started with a decline of more than 11% went on to have a second slump of greater than 10% within the same year.
“Volatility, on the other hand, should be expected in October, since its standard deviation of monthly returns was 33% higher than the average for the other 11 months of the year,” he said.
Corporate Highlights:
* Micron Technology Inc. fell after a generally upbeat forecast from the memory-chip maker failed to impress investors, underscoring Wall Street’s lofty expectations following an extraordinary rally this year.
* Microsoft Corp. will start using artificial intelligence models from Anthropic to help power its workplace AI assistant, adding a significant partner to a product that has so far been predominantly driven by OpenAI.
* Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. revealed plans to ramp up AI spending past an original $50 billion-plus target, joining tech leaders pledging ever-greater sums toward a global race for technological breakthroughs.
* Nexstar Media Group Inc., one of the largest owners of ABC TV stations, said it is engaged in “productive discussions” with Walt Disney Co. about the Jimmy Kimmel Live! program.
* US Health and Human Services resurfaced an old social media post from an account that appeared to be Tylenol’s that cautioned against its use by pregnant women after the Trump administration linked the over-the-counter medication to autism.
* Charles Schwab Corp. would like to give its retail investors more opportunities to take stakes in private companies as a growing number of firms become industry giants before going public, Chief Executive Officer Rick Wurster said.
* Lithium Americas Corp. soared after reports the Trump administration is pursuing a stake in the company.
* Freeport-McMoRan Inc. said force majeure was declared on contracted supplies from its giant Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the second-largest source of the metal.
* Utility Xcel Energy Inc. agreed to pay about $640 million to resolve claims that its power lines contributed to the 2021 ignition of the costliest wildfire in Colorado history, averting a jury trial with billions of dollars at stake.
* Medline is considering filing publicly for an IPO as soon as in late October, according to people familiar with the matter, in what could be the biggest US listing this year.
* Tether Holdings SA has weathered market meltdowns, regulatory troubles and an influx of new challengers. Now the crypto firm is chasing a roughly $500 billion valuation — a towering ambition, even in a private-market era awash with capital.
* SAP SE announced deals with OpenAI and Amazon Web Services to expand its “digital sovereignty” offerings to European governments.
* L’Oreal SA appointed Alexis Perakis-Valat as chief executive officer of its US and North America business, turning to a company veteran to drive growth in the largest cosmetics market.
* Iberdrola SA is doubling down on its multibillion-dollar bet that global power grids will drive growth as demand for electricity for artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and heavy industry increases.
* TotalEnergies SE said it will buy back fewer shares in the fourth quarter and into next year as it contends with mounting debts and a challenging oil-market outlook.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.4%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 0.2%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 0.9%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.5%
* The euro fell 0.6% to $1.1739
* The British pound fell 0.6% to $1.3448
* The Japanese yen fell 0.8% to 148.86 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 1.4% to $113,548.67
* Ether fell 0.3% to $4,164.62
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 4.14%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.75%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 4.67%
* The yield on 2-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 3.60%
* The yield on 30-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 4.75%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.2% to $64.82 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.9% to $3,730.44 an ounce
Have a lovely evening everyone.
Be magnificent!
As ever,
Carolann
Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give. –William A. Ward, 1921-1994.
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 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com