Dear Friends,
Tangents:
September 30, 1452: Gutenberg Bible published.
September 30, 1929: The first public manned rocket-powered flight. Fritz von Opel straps rockets to a glider and roars nearly two miles above Frankfurt.
September 30, 1955: Actor James Dean was killed in a two-car collision near Cholame, Calif., at age 24. Go to article.
Truman Capote, writer, b. 1924.
Elie Wiesel, b.1928.
Our planet has had its annual health check, and the prognosis is pretty grim. Despite breached planetary boundaries, however, scientists argue that Earth can still have a safe and sustainable future.
Trump can’t stop America’s shift to clean energy. And we can accelerate it.
The cost of clean energy just keeps falling as the price of coal ramps up. Politicians promising affordability will follow those savings no matter who is in the White House. And in the meantime, there are ways to speed up the transition, says associate professor Leah Stokes.
Africa’s oldest known defensive wall outside Egypt discovered, and it’s 4,000 years old
An elaborate 4,000-year-old defensive wall was discovered in Morocco, and it once protected a thriving farming hub, archaeologists say.
This week is the best time to see Saturn all year — yes, even with the naked eye
Saturn will put on a show this week as it enters opposition and its famous rings return to looking their best.
How Barack Obama is shaping Democrats’ AI message
The former president is pushing 2028 Democratic hopefuls to develop specific plans for how to tackle AI — but some of them are wary of antagonizing the industry.
Britain’s prisons are full. The solution has sparked outrage
Britain’s overcrowded prisons have prompted the government to release some prisoners early.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Paris, France
A model on the Saint Laurent catwalk at Paris fashion week
Photograph: Teresa Suez/AP
Devon, UK
Albus Dumblebor, Light Pig McQueen, Post Maloin and Amy Swinehouse compete in a pig race at Pennywell farm. Pennywell miniatures take part in a daily
race as part of a pig enrichment programme at the farm
Photograph: William Dax/SWNS
The 2026 BirdLife Australia photography awards
Impasse – bird portrait, runner-up
Taken in Tasmania on the final (late) afternoon of a bird photography workshop. Here I captured two Australian black swans in some sort of graceful song and dance of disagreement. It seemed like a gentle warning to not approach too close to a partner and cygnets nearby. I’m not sure what was said between them, but a peaceful resolution was the result and the visitor retreated. The fabulous instructor was encouraging us to play and overexpose the images, and this was the result. In post-processing I enhanced the blacks a little to have the birds stand out as they were the stars of the image, I also increased the vibrance a touch just to bring those reds to life. I like the shape of the swans, that heart they make with their long necks, and the eye contact with the camera from the bird on the right.
Photograph: Reeni Martinez
Market Closes for September 30th, 2026
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| Dow Jones |
50906.05 | -443.87 |
| -0.86% | ||
| S&P 500 | 7651.54 | -19.30 |
| -0.25% | ||
| NASDAQ | 26861.06 | +63.52 |
| +0.24% | ||
| TSX | 35235.87 | -224.40 |
| -0.63% |
International Markets
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| NIKKEI | 66753.72 | +1272.45 |
| +1.94% | ||
| HANG SENG |
24613.27 | +89.70 |
| +0.37% | ||
| SEN SEX | 72480.29 | -242.65 |
| -0.33% | ||
| FTSE 100* | 10606.00 | -48.78 |
| -0.07% |
Bonds
| Bonds | % Yield | Previous % Yield |
| CND. 10 Year Bond |
Market Closed | 3.994 |
| CND. 30 Year Bond |
Market Closed | 4.300 |
| U.S. 10 Year Bond |
5.2849 | 5.2362 |
| U.S. 30 Year Bond |
5.6286 | 5.5658 |
| BOC Close | Today | Previous |
| Canadian $ | 0.7026 | 0.7046 |
| US $ |
1.4231 | 1.1491 |
| Euro Rate 1 Euro= |
Inverse | |
| Canadian $ | 0.6201 | 1.6125 |
| US $ |
0.8825 | 1.1331 |
Commodities
| Gold | Close | Previous |
| London Gold Fix |
4157.63 | 4180.55 |
| Oil | ||
| WTI Crude Future | 89.38 | 89.38 |
Market Commentary:
On this day in 1958, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index closed above 50 points for the first time.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the third day, dropping 0.6%, or 224.4 to 35,235.87 in Toronto.
The index dropped to the lowest closing level since July 31.
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline and had the largest move, decreasing 15.3%.
Today, 126 of 216 shares fell, while 81 rose; 7 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 11%, heading for the best year since 2025
* This quarter, the index rose 1.1%
* This month, the index fell 2.9%
* The index advanced 17% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 14% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 4.9% below its 52-week high on Aug. 26, 2026 and 19.3% above its low on Nov. 7, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.4% in the past 5 days and fell 2.9% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.7 on a trailing basis and 17.2 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$5.56t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 12.12% compared with 12.02% in the previous session and the average of 11.45% over the past month
Index Points
Financials | -129.4560| -1.1| 2/21
Materials | -106.5395| -1.6| 7/53
Industrials | -12.8477| -0.4| 16/13
Consumer Discretionary| -5.7345| -0.6| 1/7
Consumer Staples | -4.6093| -0.4| 3/7
Health Care | -1.0611| -0.9| 2/3
Real Estate | 0.0000| -0.3| 6/8
Utilities | 1.4087| 0.1| 6/6
Communication Services| 7.2878| 1.4| 4/1
Information Technology| 9.2591| 0.3| 8/1
Energy | 17.5553| 0.3| 26/6
First Quantum Minerals | -32.7500| -15.3| 423.9| 3.9
RBC | -32.5800| -1.2| -5.8| 19.6
Franco-Nevada | -18.0600| -3.8| 326.0| 19.1
Suncor | 5.5950| 0.7| -48.9| 58.4
Teck Resources | 5.8770| 1.9| 81.1| 42.6
Shopify | 7.4820| 0.4| 1.0| -4.6
MT Newswires:
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed lower on Wednesday, falling for a third day as declines in base metals, healthcare and financial stocks outweighed gains in telecom and energy.
The index fell by 224.40 points, or 0.6%, to 35,235.87 with mixed sectors.
Base metals and healthcare led decliners, down 1.3% each, followed by financial and industrials that closed down 1.1% and 0.4%, respectively.
Shares in telecom and energy closed up 1.4% and 0.6%, respectively.
The Battery Metals Index, which includes companies listed both on the TSX and TSX Venture Exchange, jumped 0.3%.
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude rose on Wednesday as stalled US-Iran peace talks kept supply risks in focus.
Gains came even as Gulf oil exports continued to recover and US crude inventories increased, with markets still focused on uncertainty surrounding Iranian sanctions and regional supply flows.
November WTI crude oil contract settled up $1.04, or 1.2%, at $90.42 per barrel, while November Brent oil was last up $0.94, or 0.9%, at $103.53 per barrel.
Meanwhile, December Comex gold futures rose 0.2%, or $7.70, to $4,187.40 per ounce at last look.
In currencies, the US dollar edged 0.3% higher against the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD at 1.4234 at last look.
UBS Global Research said it expects the Bank of Canada to raise its policy rate by 25 basis points in October and again in January 2027, from a previous estimate for the BoC to stand pat this year.
This reflects a shift in the BoC’s assessment of inflation risks rather than a material change in the bank’s economic outlook, said UBS in a note.
The BoC is slated to hold its next policy meeting on Oct. 28.
The BoC will have data to consider ahead of its policy decision, including the latest consumer price index report and BoC Business Outlook Survey, according to BMO Capital Markets in a note.
In banking news, the Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO, TD) said it intends to start a CA$10 billion new share buyback program, representing 3.74% of its1.63-billion shares issued and outstanding as of Aug. 31.
The buyback program is not to exceed 61-million shares and TD intends to complete the program by July 2027.
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A fresh bout of volatility gripped Wall Street in the last hour of trading, with stocks erasing gains that were earlier fueled by slower-than-anticipated inflation data.
The S&P 500 saw its worst month since June.
Short-dated Treasury yields barely budged while those on 30-year bonds remained at the highest since 2002.
Money markets now see a less than a 40% chance of a Federal Reserve rate hike in October.
The dollar wavered. Oil held near $100.
In late hours, Micron Technology Inc. gave solid outlook.
The equity market seems to be waiting for a new catalyst – neither selling off dramatically or rallying convincingly to new highs, according to Chris Zaccarelli at Northlight Asset Management.
“We believe a strong earnings season and getting past the midterm elections are what will break the market out of its trading range and see new highs by year-end,” he said.
Earlier Wednesday, stocks gained on data showing the Fed’s preferred measure of underlying inflation, the personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy, rose by a less-than-expected 0.2% in August.
The prior month was also revised lower.
“This is good news for investors worried about the recent surge in bond yields, and it bolsters the case for not hiking in October,” said David Russell at TradeStation.
However, it’s also relatively “old data” that doesn’t reflect this month’s surge in diesel prices, he added.
“The inflation battle is hardly over, but today’s numbers are a step in the right direction,” said Bret Kenwell at eToro.
“A meaningful retreat in oil prices would help ease inflationary pressure, but the immediate focus is on Treasury yields. This report may finally take some air out of that move.”
The latest inflation revisions will buy the Fed “some breathing room,” making an October hike unlikely, according to Krishna Guha at Evercore.
Still, strong growth data keeps open the debate as to how far the central bank might ultimately have to go, he noted.
US consumer spending rose in August at the fastest pace in over a year, helping to power the economy through persistent inflation.
Corporate Highlights:
* The Federal Trade Commission is scrutinizing OpenAI, Anthropic PBC and other artificial-intelligence companies about the safety of their products amid high-profile cybersecurity incidents, according to a person familiar with the matter.
* OpenAI accused its Chinese rival Moonshot AI of being responsible for a wide-scale effort to extract data from its GPT AI systems that could be used to reproduce the reasoning and capabilities of the company’s most advanced models.
* Apple Inc. is set to sell about 6 million units of the iPhone Duo this year, Counterpoint Research said, offering the first estimate for how the company’s inaugural foldable device will fare.
* Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. boosted its networking revenue forecast and announced a $1.2 billion order from cloud company Vultr, giving fresh signals that it’s benefiting from the AI build-out.
* Paramount Skydance Corp.’s David Ellison named former Mattel Inc. chief Ynon Kreiz to the new position of co-CEO, bringing in an established media executive and corporate leader as he looks to create a new entertainment giant with the $110 billion
acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.
* Kalshi Inc. is finalizing a new financing round that would value the prediction market platform at around $40 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
** The deal is expected to be the startup’s last round before an initial public offering, which is anticipated as soon as next year, the people said.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.25% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9%
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1326
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3261
* The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 157.46 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin was little changed at $83,537.7
* Ether fell 0.7% to $2,669.64
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced six basis points to 5.30%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 3.59%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 5.42%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.4% to $90.61 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.7% to $4,154.08 an ounce
Have a lovely evening.
Be magnificent!
As ever,
Carolann
The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves. -Victor Hugo, 1802-1885.
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