Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.

September 25, 1066: England crushes a Viking invasion at Stamford Bridge. King Harold defeats Harald Hardrada, just weeks before facing William the Conqueror at Hastings.
September 25, 1676: Greenwich Mean Time established.

September 25, 1956: The first trans-Atlantic telephone cable went into service. Go to article.

William Faulkner, writer, b. 1897.

Dmitri Shostakovich, composer, b. 1906.

Will Smith, actor, b. 1969.

Catherine Zeta-Jones, actress, b.1969

Archaeologists have discovered a massive Etruscan burial mound with a vast assortment of grave goods north of Rome.

Nikon’s 16th Small World in Motion competition winners have been announced! From jellyfish larvae to the movement of intricate hairs of a cell, watch the top five winning videos this year. Watch now.

Some children have blond hair that darkens as they grow up. What causes this change?

Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury. Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Paris, France

Notre Dame Cathedral decorated with Vatican flags as preparations continue ahead of Pope Leo’s visit
Photograph: Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters

London, UK

Stack by Nicole Eisenman, a monumental, 8-metre-tall totem sculpture has been installed in the Annenberg Courtyard at the Royal Academy of Arts
Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Frankfurt, Germany

A train travels through the foggy Taunus region
Photograph: Michael Probst/AP
Market Closes for September 25th, 2026

International Markets

Bonds

Commodities

Market Commentary:

On this day in 1972, the first issue of a new magazine appeared on newsstands. Its purpose was “to discuss each month in detail how to make, save, invest and spend money.” The inaugural October 1972 issue featured articles on prescription-drug prices, bond funds and the risks of investing in limited partnerships. The magazine was called, naturally enough, Money.

Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.3% at 35,800.89 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.1%.
Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.3%.
Snowline Gold Corp. had the largest increase, rising 5.7%.
Today, 126 of 216 shares rose, while 87 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 13%, heading for the best year since 2025
* This quarter, the index rose 2.7%
* This month, the index fell 1.3%
* So far this week, the index was unchanged
* The index advanced 20% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 17% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.4% below its 52-week high on Aug. 26, 2026 and 21.2% above its low on Nov. 7, 2025
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.9 on a trailing basis and 17.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.1% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$5.6t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 12.00% compared with 11.95% in the previous session and the average of 11.20% over the past month
Index Points
Financials | 132.8710| 1.1| 18/5
Materials | 31.7564| 0.5| 42/16
Consumer Discretionary | 21.0262| 2.1| 8/0
Industrials | 9.5768| 0.3| 22/8
Consumer Staples | 5.3905| 0.5| 7/3
Real Estate | 3.7099| 0.9| 16/1
Health Care | 0.7690| 0.7| 3/2
Utilities | -3.8642| -0.3| 3/10
Communication Services | -5.1400| -1.0| 0/5
Information Technology | -46.0299| -1.5| 2/7
Energy | -55.6163| -1.0| 5/30
RBC | 34.3400| 1.3| -12.9| 22.1
TD Bank | 23.5000| 1.2| -33.7| 31.9
CIBC | 20.9400| 2.1| -49.5| 29.2
Celestica | -9.9920| -2.1| -9.3| 27.3
Enbridge | -13.2200| -1.3| -29.3| 0.7
Shopify | -34.8700| -2.0| -30.7| -9.0
(MT Newswires)
The S&P/TSX Composite Index edged higher on Friday as gains in financials, base metals and health care outweighed weakness in technology and telecom, while investors assessed fresh Canadian fiscal and economic data alongside lower oil prices.
The index closed up 94.43 points, or 0.3%, at 35,800.89 with mixed sectors.
Financial led advancers, up 1.1%, followed by base metals and healthcare that closed up 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively.
Shares in information technology and telecom closed down 1.1% and 0.9%, respectively.
The Battery Metals Index, which includes companies listed both on the TSX and TSX Venture Exchange, dropped 0.8%.
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude fell on Friday as hopes for progress toward a US-Iran truce eased some concerns over Middle East supply disruptions, with negotiators exploring a possible path toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
November WTI crude oil contract settled down $2.20, or 2.3%, at $92.41 per barrel, while November Brent oil was last down $2.28, or 2.1%, at $104.32 per barrel.
Meanwhile, December Comex gold futures jumped 0.7%, or $29.10, to $4,327.10 per ounce at last look.
In currencies, the US dollar edged higher 0.04% against the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD at 1.4144 at last look.
The federal government posted a budgetary deficit of CA$5.1 billion for the April to July period of the 2026-27 fiscal year, compared to a deficit of CA$7.8 billion reported for the same period last year, according to monthly fiscal monitor report released by the Finance Department on Friday.
The deficit came as revenue stood at CA$175.5 billion for the period, up from CA$163.4 billion in the prior year period.
In economic news, Canada’s advance estimate for wholesale sales, excluding oil, oil products and other hydrocarbons, as well as oilseed and grain, declined 1.5% month over month in August, Statistics Canada said Friday.
The decline was mainly driven by weaker sales of agricultural supplies in the miscellaneous subsector, as well as lower sales of motor vehicles and parts and accessories, the agency wrote.
On the labor-market front, Canada’s July payrolls report points to continued improvement in employment, with little evidence of inflationary pressure, according to Rosenberg Research in a Friday note.
Payroll employment rose by 26,100 in July, marking a fifth consecutive monthly increase.
The figures suggest the labor market may be entering the early stages of a recovery, wrote Rosenberg Research in the note.
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough in the Iran war drove oil prices lower, fueling a rebound in stocks and easing the Treasury volatility that has roiled financial markets around the world.
Brent crude settled around $104 as the New York Times reported Iran has proposed a plan to end the conflict.
Under the offer, the Strait of Hormuz would reopen and nuclear talks would be revived.
Separately, President Donald Trump said he discussed the war in Iran with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, adding “I think we’re going to do great,” without elaborating.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5%.
A gauge of chipmakers saw its longest weekly advance since May.
Short-dated bonds outperformed.
While 30-year yields remained at a two-decade high, they edged only mildly up.
The yen climbed as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he discussed “the desirability” of a strong currency with Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama.
Fluctuations in oil prices are likely to remain a key driver for markets at a time when elevated energy costs are stoking inflationary pressures and underpinning the outlook for further rate increases.
Money markets reflect three Federal Reserve hikes over the next year, which could hold back risk appetite and keep yields high for some time.
“Ultimately, investors are swimming in three major cross currents: Solid demand and robust corporate profits, geopolitical risk and monetary policy uncertainty,” said Kyle Rodda at Capital.com.
“Corporate profitability is providing the floor supporting the market while geopolitical and policy uncertainty are creating a ceiling.”
Fed Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said long-term Treasury yields are being driven higher by a stronger growth outlook, concerns about government debt and expectations for additional rate increases from the US central bank.
“I think there are a number of things at play. One is I think that the growth numbers have come in in pretty solid way, and I think that it’s expectations of continued performance,” Hammack said Friday.
While recent comments from Fed officials have been hawkish, policy tightening is likely to be less aggressive than current market pricing suggests, according to Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi at UBS Chief Investment Office.
Her base case is for the Fed to raise rates in December before keeping them steady.
“Resilient growth and robust earnings should help markets withstand a measured tightening cycle, while higher bond yields provide opportunities to add portfolio income,” she said.
“We continue to recommend positioning for further equity gains while diversifying and managing concentration risk.”
On the economic front, data showed US consumer sentiment fell in September to a four-month low amid deepening worries about rising prices and the outlook for the economy.
Meantime, orders for business equipment increased in August by more than projected.

Corporate Highlights:
* Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates warned that AI is a “powerful enough” tool to kill off a substantial portion of humanity, joining a growing chorus of tech leaders and employees calling attention to existential risks.
** Microsoft is merging the consumer and workplace versions of its Copilot AI assistant into one product aimed at corporate customers, ceding the crowded market for personal chatbots to OpenAI, Alphabet Inc.’s Google and, now, Meta Platforms Inc.
* Anthropic PBC has signed an $11.6 billion, seven-year contract with Akamai Technologies Inc. for computing power, adding to the AI developer’s growing list of data center deals.
* Costco Wholesale Corp.’s quarterly profits surpassed Wall Street’s estimates after the company recorded a benefit related to tariff refunds.
* MGM Resorts International is discussing making a bid to purchase Barry Diller’s People Inc., which owns a roughly 27% stake in MGM, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
* Health and fitness ring-maker Oura Inc.’s initial public offering raising as much as $2.2 billion has drawn about four times as many orders as there are shares available, according to people familiar with the matter.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1394
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3247
* The Japanese yen rose 1% to 157.27 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 0.4% to $83,996.67
* Ether rose 0.2% to $2,691.77
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 5.16%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.60%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 5.37%
* The yield on 2-year Treasuries declined seven basis points to 4.86%
* The yield on 30-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 5.49%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2% to $92.69 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.4% to $4,290.10 an ounce

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Procrastination is the thief of time. –Edward Young, 1683-1765.

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