Month: January 2021

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
Jean-Baptiste Moliere, writer, b. 1622.
Martin Luther King, Jr. b. 1929. Note: US markets are closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Day.
1943: Pentagon completed.

On Jan. 15, 1967, the first Super Bowl was played as the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League, 35-10. Go to article »

Astronomers find the brightest quasar on record, equivalent to 600 trillion suns. (h/t Ellen Kominers)
 
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
The Blackpool Tower breaks through the morning freezing fog. The iconic landmark on the Lancashire coast is seen infront of the morning sunrise as severe winter weather condition hit the seaside resort
CREDIT: KARL HOUGHTON/TRIANGLE NEWS
People receive their COVID 19 vaccines inside Lichfield Cathedral which had been turned into an emergency vaccination centre
CREDIT: REUTERS/CARL RECINE
Athletes shoot during the men’s 4×7.5km relay race at the Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof, Germany
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/MATTIAS SCHRADER
Nepalese women from the Tharu community dressed in traditional attire, rehearse before a program to celebrate Maghe Sankranti festival in Kathmandu, Nepal. Tharu people celebrate this day as their New Year and observe this festival as Maghi with much fanfare and gaiety
CREDIT: SKANDA GAUTAM/ZUMA WIRE
Market Closes for January 15^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	30814.26	-177.26
		-0.57%
S&P 500	3768.25	-27.29
		-0.72%
NASDAQ	12998.504	-114.134 -0.87%
TSX	17909.03	-49.06
		-0.27%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28519.18	-179.08
		-0.62%
HANG SENG	28573.86	+77.00
		+0.27%
SENSEX	49034.67	-579.49
		-1.11%
FTSE 100*	6735.71	-66.25 -0.97%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.808	0.855
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.439	1.481
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.0835	1.1275
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8331	1.8676

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78519	0.79100
US $	1.27358	1.26422
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.53814	0.65014
US $	1.20773	0.82800

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1841.75	1858.85
Oil
WTI Crude Future	52.36	53.57

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1987, the New York Stock Exchange racked up daily volume of over a quarter-of-a-billion shares for the first time.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell this week as gold and silver equities underperformed. Marijuana shares including Aphria Inc. advanced. The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 0.3% Friday to their lowest level since Jan. 6. Materials and energy fell while consumer staples rose the most among the 11 major sectors. Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.’s top executives are in Paris seeking to salvage a $20 billion bid for Carrefour SA as Canadian officials press the French government to relax its objections to the deal.
Oil slid by the most in three weeks as a stronger dollar and weak U.S. economic data stoked concerns over an economic rebound.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $10.65 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 1.1% to $1,826.56 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.8% to C$1.2735 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 4.6 basis points to 0.805%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.3 percent at 17,909.03 in Toronto. The index dropped to the lowest closing level since Jan. 6 after the previous session’s increase of 0.1 percent. Suncor Energy Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.8 percent. Ballard Power Systems Inc. had the largest drop, falling 10.1 percent. Today, 127 of 221 shares fell, while 92 rose; 5 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 0.7 percent
* The index advanced 2.8 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI
AC Americas Index gained 16 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.8 percent below its 52-week high on
Jan. 8, 2021 and 60.3 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
26.3 on a trailing basis and 17.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.77t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.23 percent compared with
8.17 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.02 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -49.3651| -2.1| 6/46
Energy | -38.9594| -1.8| 3/19
Consumer Discretionary | -6.5965| -0.9| 4/9
Industrials | -5.3011| -0.2| 14/14
Health Care | -1.7456| -0.7| 3/6
Real Estate | 2.4024| 0.4| 17/8
Information Technology | 4.5018| 0.2| 7/3
Utilities | 7.9772| 0.9| 10/6
Communication Services | 10.9245| 1.3| 6/1
Financials | 10.9940| 0.2| 15/11
Consumer Staples | 16.1085| 2.6| 7/4
US
By Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell by the most in more than a week after Wells Fargo & Co. dragged down the banking sector in the wake of disappointing fourth-quarter results. Crude oil declined from a 10-month high as the dollar strengthened. The energy and financial sectors led the S&P 500 into the red for a second day, with Exxon Mobil Corp. dropping 4.8% after a report said the company is being investigated for overvaluing assets. Utilities and real estate shares rose. Stocks were already lower in Europe and Asia as President-elect Joe Biden’s much-anticipated $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan came under scrutiny. Treasury yields declined. Optimism about the U.S. aid package had helped spur the so- called reflation trade, but the plan is far from a done deal.
Biden’s proposal could be watered down under congressional opposition, and there’s the possibility that some taxes could rise. “There’s just a realization that this is a starting point for negotiations — there’s a little bit of a reality that this isn’t going to be a smooth quick process,” said John Porter, head of equities at Mellon Investments Corp. Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” includes a wave of new spending, more direct payments to households, an expansion of jobless benefits and an enlargement of vaccinations and virus- testing programs as deaths reach record levels and local governments expand lockdowns. Attention is now turning to how much of the package will ultimately get passed by Congress, with the go-big price tag and the inclusion of proposals set to be opposed by many Republicans.
     As lawmakers wrangle over details, U.S. jobless claims published Thursday painted a dismal picture and the U.S. is leading all countries in virus deaths with New York state reporting more than 200 daily fatalities for the first time since May. “With a big number on the heels of a $9 billion package, it’s not going to be easy to get the next stimulus package passed,” said James Ragan, director of wealth management research at D.A. Davidson. “I think a combination of that and the weakening consumer data is causing the pause today. It was kind of inevitable, we’ve had a pretty strong run to start the year. Maybe a little more caution going into the long weekend.” U.S. financial markets are closed Monday for the observance of Martin Luther King holiday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index dipped 0.7% to 3,768.25 as of 4:02 p.m. New
* York time, the lowest in more than a week on the largest decrease in more than a week.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.9% to 12,998.50, the lowest in more than a week.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.6% to 30,814.26, the lowest in more than a week on the largest decrease in more than a week.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 1% to 407.85, the lowest in more than a week on the biggest tumble in more than three weeks.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index sank 0.9% to 655.71, the lowest in more than a week on the largest decrease in 11 weeks.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.6% to 1,126.29, the biggest rise in more than a week.
* The euro sank 0.6% to $1.2076, the weakest in more than six weeks on the largest decrease in more than two weeks.
* The Japanese yen weakened 0.1% to 103.89 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 1.09%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield increased one basis point to -0.54%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield decreased less than one basis point to 0.288%, the lowest in more than a week.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude sank 2.6% to $52.19 a barrel, the lowest in more than a week on the biggest tumble in more than three weeks.
* Gold depreciated 1.1% to $1,826.30 an ounce, the weakest in more than six weeks on the largest fall in a week.
–With assistance from Cecile Gutscher.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts.  Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day.  The content of your character is your choice.  Day by day, what you do is who you become. –Heraclitus, 535-475 BC.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1784- End of the American Revolution.

There’s a case of wine heading back to Earth from space.  Space wine? That’s a new status symbol, unlocked. 
 
There may be fewer galaxies in the universe than we thought.  It’s always nice to know our vast, unexplored universe is just slightly less populated than assumed. 

Sea shanties are back! 

The songs once created a sense of community among working sailors, and their rhythms could distract from chores or keep time for hauling in sails.

Over the last two weeks, a video made by a Scottish postman singing “Soon May the Wellerman Come” has been shared and duetted thousands of times: by professional musicians, maritime enthusiasts, memers, a Kermit the Frog puppet, and more.  Experts might cavil that is not a true shanty, but rather a whaling ballad — but the two share a form that is kind regarding musical ability.
“That’s one of the things I love about sea shanties,” said one folk musician. “The accessibility. You don’t have to be a trained singer to sing on it. You’re not supposed to sing pretty.” –NY Times.

From The Late Night Hosts:
“I feel like I just took down my decorations from the last impeachment.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

”Reportedly, McConnell has told associates in private that he believes the president committed impeachable offenses and is leaning toward convicting him. It will all be in his memoir, ‘Leaning Toward Courage.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A curious polar bear surprised a ship’s crew by trying to clamber aboard. Fascinated by the boat, the bear walked away from a walrus carcass he was eating to investigate.
Credit: FRANCO BANFI/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

A woman pulls a sledge on a footbridge above traffic gridlocked in the snow on Manchester Road, West Bowling, Bradford this morning as heavy snow affects northern and central parts of the UK
Credit: ASADOUR GUZELIAN

A woman is reflected in a window as she braves wind and rain while walking towards Tower Bridge in London
AP PHOTO/KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH
Market Closes for January 14^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	30991.52	-68.95
		-0.22%
S&P 500	3795.54	-14.30
		-0.38%
NASDAQ	13112.637	-16.314 -0.12%
TSX	17958.09	+23.35
		+0.13%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28698.26	+241.67
		+0.85%
HANG SENG	28496.86	+261.26
		+0.93%
SENSEX	49584.16	+91.84
		+0.19%
FTSE 100*	6801.96	+56.44 +0.84%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.855	0.812
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.481	1.442
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.1275	1.0917
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8676	1.8225

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79100	0.78736
US $	1.26422	1.27007
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.53652	0.65082
US $	1.21539	0.82278

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1858.85	1841.25
Oil
WTI Crude Future	53.57	52.91

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1982, in the depths of recession, Ford Motor said it would skip paying a quarterly dividend for the first time since the company went public in 1956, saving the car maker $36 million per quarter.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities managed to post a gain Thursday after a drop the previous day. The S&P/TSX Composite Index advanced 0.1%, led by health care stocks, while industrials dropped. Cannabis producers including Aphria Inc., Hexo Corp., and Aurora Cannabis Inc. all rallied.
     On the M&A front, Couche-Tard co-founder Alain Bouchard gave an update to investors four months ago about a hunt for a major acquisition. The convenience store chain was on the lookout for deals, he said, but not at any cost. He may not want a splash, but Bouchard’s company is making one with its $20 billion move for French grocer Carrefour SA. Canada’s three largest cities — Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver — saw a sharp jump in the number of citizens moving to suburbs, smaller towns and rural areas, according to Statistics Canada data released Thursday.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $10.80 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,848.39 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar gained 0.5% to C$1.2638 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 4.7 basis points to 0.856%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.1 percent at
17,958.09 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s
decrease of 0.3 percent.
Today, energy stocks led the market higher, as 5 of 11
sectors gained; 117 of 221 shares rose, while 99 fell.
Enbridge Inc. contributed the most to the index gain,
increasing 2.4 percent. BlackBerry Ltd. had the largest
increase, rising 21.3 percent.

Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 0.5 percent
* The index advanced 3.5 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI
AC Americas Index gained 17 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.6 percent below its 52-week high on
Jan. 8, 2021 and 60.7 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.4 percent in the past 5 days and rose 3.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
26.4 on a trailing basis and 17.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.77t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.17 percent compared with
8.30 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.15 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 47.1381| 2.2| 21/1
Financials | 24.3839| 0.5| 14/12
Health Care | 14.2634| 5.8| 8/1
Real Estate | 1.9601| 0.4| 16/10
Consumer Discretionary | 0.6564| 0.1| 8/4
Utilities | -0.5786| -0.1| 8/7
Communication Services | -1.8594| -0.2| 2/5
Materials | -2.5913| -0.1| 20/30
Consumer Staples | -8.2182| -1.3| 1/10
Information Technology | -21.9027| -1.2| 4/6
Industrials | -29.8882| -1.3| 15/13
US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for the first time in three days and Treasury yields climbed amid expectations President- elect Joe Biden plans Covid-19 relief of as much as $2 trillion. After approaching all-time highs most of Thursday, the S&P 500 turned negative late in the trading session. Technology, communication services and consumer discretionary sectors were the biggest losers, while energy shares rose with oil. Biden last week put the “entire package” at “trillions of dollars,” and many Democrats believe it will be as much as $2 trillion. Biden is expected to announce his economic support plans later in the day. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said policy makers won’t raise interest rates unless they see troubling signs of inflation. “With stock markets close to record highs, some investors may be concerned about signs of over-exuberance in equities,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management. “But support from vaccine rollouts, continued low interest rates, and the likelihood of further fiscal stimulus should drive rapid economic and earnings growth in 2021, which should support further upside for equities.”
     Investors betting on an economic recovery this year are tolerating stretched stock valuations, partly because they expect further U.S. fiscal spending and better control of the pandemic with vaccines. With Biden due to take office within days, the transfer of power promises more turbulence. On Wednesday the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time, though a Senate trial for Trump likely won’t get underway before his term ends on Jan. 20. “Investors are looking past that and really concentrating on the stimulus and what that’s going to mean further down the road, “said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank.
     After years of too-low inflation, the U.S. central bank approved new policy guidance in September, spelling out it would be appropriate to keep rates near zero until inflation has risen to its 2% target and was on track to moderately exceed that level. “Our eyes are wide open on this,” Powell said. “At the end of the day the public will need to see us allow inflation to move moderately above 2% for a time before the new framework will be seen as fully credible.” The time to raise rates “is no time soon,” Powell added.
     On the virus front, China recorded its first Covid-19 death since April as new clusters continued to expand. France said it will extend tighter curfew measures across the country in a bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Here are some key events coming up:
* JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. are among firms due to report earnings.
* U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans to lay out proposals for fiscal support on Thursday.
* U.S. retail sales, industrial production, business inventories and consumer sentiment figures are due Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index decreased 0.4% to 3,795.54 as of 4:03 p.m. New York time.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to 30,991.52.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.1% to 13,112.64.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index jumped 0.7% to 412, the highest in almost 11 months.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index increased 0.1% to 661.91.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3% to 1,119.64.
* The euro was little changed at $1.2161.
* The British pound climbed 0.4% to $1.3691, the strongest in almost three years.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.2% to 103.72 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose four basis points to 1.12%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to -0.55%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield dipped two basis points to 0.291%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 1.3% to $53.60 a barrel, the highest in almost a year.
* Silver strengthened 1.3% to $25.55 per ounce.
–With assistance from Kamaron Leach.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are. –JP Morgan, 1837-1913

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

I read this poem last weekend and I thought it was very beautiful; hope you do too:

WINTER SONG FOR ONE WHO SUFFERS
                                  -by Brenda Hillman

The stars stand up
behind the day. A known dove balances
on its claw
at the window. A cosmic incident
of darkness has begun
   & a mild excess of beauty
will be offered to the dead,
which they will eat. On a hill
the wise man serves the people,
your thought splits
in half when he speaks of the old
revolts, the return
of apocalypse, motive & advancement.
   A soul can crouch
a long time while the heart
expands to reach its edges.
What is missing past the glitter
of the harvest?
Friend, you chose
to live. How? You did. So many
choices, not just two, encrypted
behind the mystery of the sun,
then the hurt was set aside,
indeterminate chaos
called in by love.

Brenda Hillman, a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, teaches at Saint Mary’s College of California. Her latest poetry collection is “Extra Hidden Life, Among the Days.”.

January 13, 2000 – Microsoft chairman Bill Gates stepped aside as chief executive.  Go to article »

Netflix plans to release a new movie every week of 2021.  Now we don’t even need to expend energy deciding what to watch. Just take us away, Netflix!

Transparent TV screens are the cool new tech trend.  Living room, or Star Wars command center? Who knows! 

The Late Night Hosts weighed in:
“The president and Mike Pence reportedly spoke yesterday in the Oval Office for the first time since last week’s attack on the Capitol, which had to be pretty awkward. But don’t worry, Trump accepted Pence’s apology.” — SETH MEYERS

“And you’d think Pence would be into the idea, considering the whole ‘Hang him’ thing. But you would be dead wrong, because yesterday, after days of silence, ‘The president and Mike Pence spoke for the first time, meeting in the Oval Office, and agreed that those who broke the law and stormed the Capitol last week do not represent their policy of America first.’ Well, of course this mob violence wasn’t America first — it was in Germany first. So, apparently, it’s all water under the gallows now.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“When they heard Trump was coming to the border, Mexico was like, ‘Phew, thank God that wall is here.’” — JIMMY FALLON

“You know your presidency is off the rails when you have to distract from your attempted coup with your giant symbol of racism.” — JIMMY FALLON

“Well, that’s a wrap on a flawless administration.” — JAMES CORDEN

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man bathes in an ice hole in the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia. The temperature in St. Petersburg is -15C
Credit: AP/Dmitri Lovetsky
An Indian ten-inch-tall, three-and-a-half-year-old white-throated kingfisher flips a mouse in the air like a pancake before downing it in one. 
Credit: MEDIADRUMIMAGES/SOURAVDAS/@SOURA
The abbey which was built in 1132 was once England’s most powerful Cistercian monastery. Housing a 650-strong community at its peak in the 1160s under its most famous abbot, Aelred. The monastery was suppressed in 1538, but the spectacular abbey ruins became a popular subject for Romantic artists in the 18th and 19th centuries
Credit: DANNY LAWSON/PA WIRE
Market Closes for January 13^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	31060.47	-8.22
		-0.03%
S&P 500	3809.84	+8.65
		+0.23%
NASDAQ	13128.953	+56.519 +0.43%
TSX	17934.74	-51.06
		-0.28%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28456.59	+292.25
		+1.04%
HANG SENG	28235.60	-41.15
		-0.15%
SENSEX	49492.32	-24.79
		-0.05%
FTSE 100*	6745.52	-8.59 -0.13%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.812	0.844
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.442	1.470
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.0917	1.1308
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8225	1.8761

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78736	0.78274
US $	1.27007	1.27757
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.54417	0.64760
US $	1.21582	0.82249

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1841.25	1847.25
Oil
WTI Crude Future	52.91	53.21

Market Commentary:
On this day in 2000, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, speaking to the Economic Club of New York, imagined an observer looking back from the year 2010. That future-dweller, he said, “might well conclude that a good deal of what we are currently experiencing was just one of the many euphoric speculative bubbles that have dotted human history.” The next day, the Nasdaq Composite—the bubble Greenspan probably had in mind—puffed up 2.7% fatter, to 4064.27.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities fell Wednesday as traders began to assess corporate earnings and global stimulus measures. The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 0.3%, with consumer staples and materials leading the declines. Health care shares advanced with Bausch Health Companies Inc. rising 10.3%. The French government is opposed to Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. buying France’s Carrefour SA, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said, casting doubt on prospects for a $20 billion trans-Atlantic retail deal. Couche-Tard shares fell 10.2% Wednesday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government criticized moves by Canada’s largest airlines to cut jobs and routes amid
tightening restrictions on travel to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $11.35 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,848 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar gained 0.1% to C$1.2693 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 3.0 basis points to 0.813%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.3 percent at 17,934.74 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s increase of 0.3 percent. Today, materials stocks led the market lower, as 6 of 11 sectors lost; 146 of 221 shares fell, while 74 rose. Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. contributed the most to the index decline and had the largest move, decreasing 10.2 percent.
Insights
* The index advanced 3.7 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI
AC Americas Index gained 17 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7 percent below its 52-week high on
Jan. 8, 2021 and 60.5 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.6 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.2 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
26.4 on a trailing basis and 17.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.78t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.30 percent compared with
9.14 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.20 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -38.5306| -1.6| 6/45
Consumer Staples | -27.5239| -4.1| 2/9
Financials | -8.8165| -0.2| 5/21
Consumer Discretionary | -3.6535| -0.5| 5/8
Industrials | -3.3419| -0.1| 10/19
Communication Services | -0.7680| -0.1| 2/5
Utilities | 1.5286| 0.2| 9/7
Real Estate | 1.7041| 0.3| 18/8
Energy | 3.4588| 0.2| 4/18
Information Technology | 11.7857| 0.6| 5/5
Health Care | 13.1030| 5.6| 8/1
US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rose and benchmark Treasury yields retreated for a second day amid optimism the economy will continue to benefit from government support. Technology shares led gains, with the Nasdaq 100 outperforming the benchmark S&P 500. Intel Corp. jumped 7% after the chipmaker named a new chief executive. Treasury received strong demand for a second consecutive day at a government debt sale, helping to send yields down from the highest levels since March.
“Investors continue to focus on growing expectations for increased fiscal spending and promising economic prospects as the vaccine rolls out later this year,” said Ryan Nauman, market strategist at Informa Financial Intelligence’s Zephyr. “It’s all about resiliency here right now and equity markets continue to overlook and not be phased by all the chaos that’s out there.” In Washington, the House of Representatives is voting to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time. A Senate trial for Trump won’t likely get under way before his term ends on Jan. 20. In Europe, European Central Bank council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said the ECB will keep an easy stance for as long as needed, and U.S. investors took comfort from remarks by two Federal Reserve officials that pushed back on the possibility of tapering bond purchases anytime soon. “Coordinated comments from Fed governors” are helping to deflate bond yields, said Deutsche Bank AG strategists including Jim Reid in a note to clients. “We’ve only had seven business days this year and we’ve already had a full 360-degree tapering debate played out by the Fed.” Europe’s Stoxx 600 was flat, with losses in banks and travel shares outweighing M&A announcements. Among the day’s  winners, French grocer Carrefour SA rallied after Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the convenience-store giant that owns the Circle K chain, said it’s exploring a transaction. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 outperformed, reaching a record in dollar terms. Equities also ticked up in South Korea, while Hong Kong shares were flat. Oil fell as a stronger dollar and rising refined products supplies offset shrinking U.S. crude supplies, capping the price under a key technical indicator.

Here are some key events coming up:
* JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. are among firms due to report earnings.
* U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans to lay out proposals for fiscal support on Thursday.
* Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell takes part in a webinar on Thursday.
* U.S. initial jobless claims data are due Thursday.
* U.S. retail sales, industrial production, business inventories and consumer sentiment figures are due Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index climbed 0.3% to 3,809.84 as of 4:02 p.m. New York time.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.1% to 31,060.47.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.5% to 13,128.95.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.1% to 409.07.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index rose 0.3% to 661.44.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.2% to 1,122.79.
* The euro decreased 0.4% to $1.2157.
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3634.
* The Japanese yen weakened 0.1% to 103.87 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped four basis points to 1.09%, the biggest decrease in five weeks.
* Germany’s 10-year yield decreased five basis points to -0.52%, the largest dip in seven months.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell five basis points to 0.307%, the first retreat in more than a week and the biggest drop in more than a month.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.6% to $52.88 a barrel, the first retreat in more than a week and the largest fall in a week.
* Silver weakened 1.5% to $25.25 per ounce.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Obstacles don’t have to stop you.  If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. 
Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. –Michael Jordan, b. 1963.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Jan. 12, 2010, a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti, killing over 200,000 people and destroying much of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Go to article »

Visit the pleasure garden of the Roman emperor Caligula, where frescoes and peacock bones tell extraordinary stories

The first human civilization lasted 20,000 years longer than first thought. (h/t Ellen Kominers)

39%:That’s the proportion of Americans who would be able to cover an unexpected $1,000 expense, according to a new report from Bankrate.com. That’s down from 41% in 2020. -CNN.

The [US] government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me.  They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office.  Their principal device to that end is to search out groups who pant and pine for something they can’t get and to promise to give it to them.  Nine times out of ten that promise is worth nothing.  The tenth time is made good by looting A to satisfy B.  In other words, government is  a  broker in pillage, and every election is sort of an advance auction sale of stolen goods.  –H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956.

Late Night:
“Some people are saying, ‘Why bother? He’s only got nine days left in office.’ To them I reply: He’s got nine days left in office! You can do a lot in nine days. That’s enough to create the universe, and then take a three-day weekend.” — STEPHEN COLBERT
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

No, you’re not going BAA-rmy, this poodle really does look just like a Sheep. Japanese canine Goma would pull the wool over anyone’s eyes into thinking he’s more about baas than barks. Owner Yoriko Hamachiyo said the unusual hairstyle came about not for cosmetic reasons, but to help stop Goma getting painful knots in his fur. Dog groomer Yoriko, 42, spends two hours a time keeping the seven-year-old sheep-shaped and admits some do think it’s a gimmick.
Credit: YORIKO HAMACHIYO/SPLITICS UK
Scarborough beach as the sun rises in Yorkshire.
Credit: DANNY LAWSON/PA
A starry sky above St Mary’s Lighthouse in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear. 
Credit: OWEN HUMPHREYS/PA

Market Closes for January 12^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	31068.69	+60.00
		+0.19%
S&P 500	3801.19	+1.58
		+0.04%
NASDAQ	13072.434	+36.003 +0.28%
TSX	17985.80	+51.34
		+0.29%

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28164.34	+25.31
		+0.09%
HANG SENG	28276.75	+368.53
		+1.32%
SENSEX	49517.11	+247.79
		+0.50%
FTSE 100*	6754.11	-44.37 -0.65%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.844	0.838
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.470	1.459
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.1308	1.1443
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8761	1.8818

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78657	0.78274
US $	1.27134	1.27757
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.55196	0.64435
US $	1.22073	0.81918

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1847.25	1862.90
Oil
WTI Crude Future	53.21	52.25

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1914, Henry Ford announced that he would share the Ford Motor Co.’s profits with its workers by raising wages from $2.34 for a nine-hour day to $5.00 for an eight-hour day. He hoped his workers would be able to afford to buy their own Fords. Within two years, Ford went on to produce its millionth car.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose Tuesday after falling Monday.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.3%, with energy,
financials and materials rising. Consumer staples fell.
     Oil rose to a fresh 10-month high with a weaker dollar
providing support to a market already boosted by expectations for tightening global supply.
     Justin Trudeau’s decision to shuffle his cabinet is the strongest sign yet that he could soon send Canadians to the
polls. Separately, Trudeau said his government has ordered another 20 million doses of the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE coronavirus vaccine.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $12.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.6% to $1,855 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.5% to C$1.2714 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield edged higher to 0.844%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.3 percent at 17,985.80 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.6 percent.
Nutrien Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 5.4 percent. Ballard Power Systems Inc. had the largest increase, rising 18.0 percent. Today, 102 of 221 shares rose, while 117 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 4.4 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 18 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.4 percent below its 52-week high on Jan. 8, 2021 and 61 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.7 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 26.4 on a trailing basis and 17.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.77t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 9.14 percent compared with 9.14 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.25 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 29.2245| 0.5| 19/7
Energy | 24.8184| 1.2| 18/4
Materials | 11.6335| 0.5| 21/30
Information Technology | 5.5880| 0.3| 3/7
Industrials | 1.9733| 0.1| 14/14
Health Care | -0.9481| -0.4| 4/5
Consumer Discretionary | -1.0566| -0.1| 3/10
Real Estate | -1.7528| -0.3| 10/16
Utilities | -2.9413| -0.3| 6/10
Communication Services | -7.0685| -0.8| 1/6
Consumer Staples | -8.1187| -1.2| 3/8
US
By Claire Ballentine and Kamaron Leach
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks edged higher and benchmark Treasury note yields lingered at 10-month highs as investors mulled the prospects of the economic recovery and vaccine rollout. The S&P 500 closed in the green after fluctuating between gains and losses most of the trading session, with the energy, materials and consumer discretionary sectors leading gainers. The Dow Jones Industrial and Nasdaq Composite rose more than the benchmark index. Crude oil approached a 11-month high as the dollar weakened following a three-day rally. Corn futures surged by the exchange limit to the highest level for a most-active contract since May 2014.
     The mood across markets remained mostly positive even as investors assessed how the rise in Treasury yields changes the financial landscape. While progress on a vaccine gives reason to be hopeful, there are lingering concerns over the speculative excess and froth that’s driven stock markets to all-time highs in the middle of a pandemic.
“What I think investors are most focused on is the digesting of what is shifting fiscal policy,” said David Bianco, chief investment officer of the Americas at DWS Group. “We’re beginning to lose the anchor on some long-term key benchmark interest rates.” Yields on Treasury 10-year notes pared an earlier rise after a government auction of $38 billion of the securities was met with solid demand. The spread between the rate on the two-and 10-year notes had risen every single day this year as investors bet on additional U.S. fiscal stimulus, spurring more bond issuance and higher yields on longer-maturity Treasuries.
     In Washington, the House is moving forward on an expected vote to impeach the President Donald Trump for the second time in little more than a year. “I wrap up the market’s concerns into an easy-to-remember acronym – EIEIO – which stands for EPS-Impeachment-Energy Prices-Interest Rates-Overvaluation,” said CFRA Research Chief
Investment Strategist Sam Stovall. “The market is vulnerable to a setback as many measures are at extremes, encouraged by the ‘Blue Ripple’s’ push for additional stimulus.”
     Elsewhere, Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index traded little changed. After Bitcoin suffered steep declines on Monday, the largest cryptocurrency continued its wide swings. In Asia, China’s CSI 300 Index rallied to a 13-year high, driven by a surge in financial and securities stocks. The yuan reached the highest since 2018 versus a basket of trading partners’ currencies on upbeat growth prospects. Malaysia’s stock benchmark slipped as much as 1.6% after the nation’s king declared a state of emergency until August.

Here are some key events coming up:
* JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co., as well as firms ranging from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to Infosys Ltd., are among those due to report earnings.
* EIA crude oil inventory report is due Wednesday.
* European Central Bank’s Christine Lagarde speaks at an online conference Wednesday.
* U.S. consumer-price inflation figures are due Wednesday.
* U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans to lay out proposals for fiscal support on Thursday.
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell takes part in a webinar on Thursday.
* U.S. initial jobless claims data are due Thursday.
* U.S. retail sales, industrial production, business inventories and consumer sentiment figures are due Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index was little changed at 3,801.19 as of 4:06 p.m. New York time.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 31,068.69.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.3% to 13,072.43.
*The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was little changed at 408.61.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index jumped 0.3% to 660.66.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index sank 0.6% to 1,120.16, the biggest dip in almost six weeks.
*The euro increased 0.5% to $1.2205, the largest increase in more than three weeks.
*The British pound jumped 1.1% to $1.3667, the strongest in more than a week on the biggest jump in more than two months.
*The Japanese yen strengthened 0.5% to 103.73 per dollar, the first advance in a week and the largest climb in more than five weeks.
Bonds
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped one basis point to 1.13%, the first retreat in more than a week.
*Germany’s 10-year yield gained three basis points to -0.47%, the highest in more than four months.
*Britain’s 10-year yield increased four basis points to 0.352%, reaching the highest in almost six weeks on its sixth straight advance and the biggest climb in almost three weeks.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude increased 1.7% to $53.15 a barrel, hitting the highest in almost a year with its sixth consecutive advance.
*Silver strengthened 2.7% to $25.57 per ounce, the first advance in a week.
–With assistance from Sophie Caronello.
Have a nice evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Breach of promise is no less an act of insolvency than a refusal to pay one’s debt.
                                                                      -Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948
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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1922- insulin first used on humans to treat diabetes, on Canadian Leonard Thompson, aged 14.

On Jan. 11, 1964, the United States surgeon general reported that cigarettes cause lung cancer. Go to article »

Humans wouldn’t be able to contain a superintelligence.
.
Bean plants show signs of intention. (h/t Ellen Kominers)

These five minutes will make you love the flute.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
A crescent moon rises before sunrise above lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in New York City as seen from Kearny, New Jersey.
CREDIT: GARY HERSHORN/GETTY IMAGES 

Traffic passing over a bridge above the frozen Han river in Seoul.
CREDIT: ED JONES/ AFP VIA GETTI IMAGES

Fishermen scoop up grey mullet which froze to death during a recent cold wave with nets at a farm in Muan, South Korea
CREDIT: YONHAP/REUTERS
Market Closes for January 11^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	31008.69	-89.28
		-0.29%
S&P 500	3799.61	-25.07
		-0.66%
NASDAQ	13036.430	-165.546 -1.25%
TSX	17934.45	-107.62
		-0.60%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28139.03	+648.90
		+2.36%
HANG SENG	27908.22	+30.00
		+0.11%
SENSEX	49269.32	+486.81
		+1.00%
FTSE 100*	6798.48	-74.78 -1.09%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.838	0.815
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.459	1.431
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.1443	1.1170
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8818	1.8754

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78274	0.78770
US $	1.27757	1.29653
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.55239	0.64417
US $	1.21511	0.82297

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1862.90	1920.10
Oil
WTI Crude Future	52.25	52.24

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1807, Ezra Cornell was born. While helping Samuel F. B. Morse lay the transmission lines for his new telegraph, Cornell made the key discoveries that the wires should be insulated and strung above ground. In 1855, Cornell co-founded Western Union, the greatest growth stock of the 19th Century, and in 1865 he founded Cornell University.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities snapped a five -day winning streak Monday, following U.S. equities lower.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.6%, the most since December 31. Health care was the only group that gained as marijuana shares continued to climb. Canada’s top banking regulator dashed hopes that the country’s lenders will be able to follow U.S. peers in resuming share buybacks soon, saying it won’t reverse its safeguards on the financial system as the Covid-19 pandemic rages.
Royal Bank of Canada Chief Executive Officer David McKay says Canada is in a race to vaccinate enough people in the next three months to safely reopen its economy. On the deals front, Quebecor CEO Pierre-Karl Péladeau’s C$6/share offer for Transat through his private investment firm may still fall short of Air Canada’s offer, Scotiabank said.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.35 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,845 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.6% to C$1.2781 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 2.2 basis points to 0.836%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.6 percent at 17,934.45 in Toronto. The move was the biggest loss since Dec. 31 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.1 percent.
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.8 percent. Trillium Therapeutics Inc. had the largest drop, falling 6.8 percent.
Today, 154 of 221 shares fell, while 64 rose; 10 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 4.1 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI  AC Americas Index gained 18 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7 percent below its 52-week high on Jan. 8, 2021 and 60.5 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.3 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.2 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.4 on a trailing basis and 17.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.78t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.14 percent compared with 8.87 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.35 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -42.7059| -1.7| 3/49
Industrials | -25.0746| -1.1| 13/16
Information Technology | -18.4962| -1.0| 3/7
Financials | -8.9275| -0.2| 8/17
Real Estate | -5.4252| -1.0| 6/18
Utilities | -4.8377| -0.5| 8/8
Consumer Discretionary | -3.2176| -0.5| 3/10
Energy | -3.1781| -0.2| 8/14
Consumer Staples | -2.8614| -0.4| 3/8
Communication Services | -0.5904| -0.1| 3/4
Health Care | 7.7189| 3.4| 6/3
US
By Vildana Hajric and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for the first time in five sessions as investors started the week in a cautious mood with equity prices near all-time highs.
The S&P 500 was led lower by the real estate and consumer discretionary sectors, while energy companies were the biggest gainers in the benchmark index. Eli Lilly & Co. lifted health- care shares. The dollar strengthened against all its major peers, with demand supported by elevated Treasury yields. Weighing on the minds of investors are worries that equities are running too hot and valuations are stretched at a time when major parts of the world are grappling with the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Keep in mind though, after big runs like we saw last week, it’s natural for the market to take a breather,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing product at E*TRADE Financial. “Traders looking for new opportunities may be wise to look beyond behemoth tech stocks.” Benchmark Treasury yields topped 1% last week on bets that Democratic lawmakers will enact big spending packages to drive the economic recovery out the pandemic. The move reset expectations for a range of asset classes and sparked debate over whether higher yields might jeopardize the current environment of easy financial conditions.
Ten-year U.S. yields climbed to almost 1.14% on Monday, the highest level since March. “Ultimately it goes back to the 10- year,” wrote KC Rajkumar and Jahanara Nissar of Lynx Equity Strategies. A higher yield “points to higher inflation down the road — which is negative for stocks. We are not there yet, but as the 10-year inches higher — the closer we get.” Twitter Inc. fell after the social media platform permanently banned President Donald Trump after a mob invaded the Capitol building last week. Mirabaud Securities analyst Neil Campling said the ban shows the company is making editorial decisions, and opens the door to more regulation of social media under the next administration. Shares of Facebook Inc., which also suspended Trump’s account, also declined. Meanwhile, House Democrats Monday introduced a resolution to impeach Trump for a second time, setting up a vote this week unless Vice President Mike Pence uses his constitutional authority to remove the president. Bitcoin tumbled, with prices sliding as much as 20% on Monday. Some investors have said the digital currency’s recent gains defy logic and the U.K.’s financial watchdog issued a statement that consumers in crypto should be prepared to lose all their money. The token traded down about 14% at $32,835.
Elsewhere in markets, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped. Commodities were broadly lower on the back of the stronger dollar, with West Texas Intermediate oil trading near $52 a barrel.

Here are some key events coming up:
* JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co., as well as firms ranging from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to Infosys Ltd., are among those due to report earnings.
* EIA crude oil inventory report is due Wednesday.
* European Central Bank’s Christine Lagarde speaks at an online conference Wednesday.
* U.S. consumer-price inflation figures are due Wednesday.
* Biden plans to lay out proposals for fiscal support on Thursday.
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell takes part in a webinar on Thursday.
* U.S. initial jobless claims data are due Thursday.
* U.S. retail sales, industrial production, business inventories and consumer sentiment figures are due Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index declined 0.7% to 3,799.61 as of 4:00 p.m. New York time, the first retreat in a week.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.3% to 31,008.69, the first retreat in a week.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1.3% to 13,036.43, the largest drop in a week.
*The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 0.7% to 408.41, the biggest dip in three weeks.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index sank 0.7% to 658.67, the first retreat in a week and the largest decrease in three weeks.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.5% to 1,126.98, the highest in two weeks.
*The euro sank 0.5% to $1.2156, the weakest in almost four weeks on the largest decrease in more than a week.
*The British pound declined 0.3% to $1.3521, the weakest in almost two weeks.
*The Japanese yen depreciated 0.2% to 104.17 per dollar, the weakest in more than a month.
Bonds
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained two basis points to 1.13%, reaching the highest in about 10 months on its seventh straight advance.
*Germany’s 10-year yield gained two basis points to -0.50%, the highest in two months.
*Britain’s 10-year yield gained 31 basis points to 0.309%, its fifth straight advance and the biggest advance on record.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 0.3% to $52.10 a barrel, the first retreat in a week.
*Copper declined 3% to $3.56 a pound, the lowest in a week.
–With assistance from Claire Ballentine.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Life’s not about expecting, hoping and wishing, it’s about doing, being and becoming.
                                                                                       -Mike Dooley, b.1961

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
.

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Happy Friday.

On January 8,1987 The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 2,000 for the first time, ending the day at 2,002.25. Go to article »
1835-US national debt is $0 for the first and only time in history.
1851-Earth’s rotation proven.
Elvis Presley, b. 1935.
Stephen Hawking, physicist, b. 1942
David Bowie, musician, b. 1947

Neil Sheehan, who in 1971 obtained the Pentagon Papers, telling the secret government history of the Vietnam War, has died at 84. Sheehan, who covered the war for The Times, never explained how he got the documents — until a few years ago, when he agreed to an interview on the condition that it not be published until his death

A different “52 Places to Go”:

 

The Times usually publishes its annual travel feature right about now, a visually rich list of worthy destinations for the coming year. But, of course, the pandemic has changed that. This year’s list hits closer to home: We’re calling it “52 Places to Love.” Instead of turning to reporters and photographers, The Times asked readers to tell us about their favorite places — near or far — and share photos. Their responses included Huanchaco, Peru; a town in Wales called Mumbles; Montana’s “Golden Triangle”; and Hokkaido, Japan, which has an entire weather forecast devoted to the changing leaves.-The New York Times.

L’Heure exquise:
The first time I heard this work by Reynaldo Hahn, sung here by Susan Graham, I was moved to tears. Here’s hoping it brings you some peace after a difficult week. (Click here to view.) -CNN.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A three minute time exposure shows the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Launch Complex 40 in Floridda, USA. The rocket is carrying the Turksat 5A satellite for Turkey
CREDIT: MALCOLM DENENARK/FLORIDA TODAY VIA AP

Lights twinkle in a valley, seen from high in the Malvern Hills
CREDIT:@JACKBOSKETT

Trees are covered in snow on the Nordhelle mountain near Meinerzhagen, western Germany
CREDIT: INA FASSBENDER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for January 8^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	31097.97	+56.84
		+0.18%
S&P 500	3824.68	+20.89
		+0.55%
NASDAQ	13201.977	+134.498 +1.03%
TSX	18042.07	+14.50
		+0.08%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28139.03	+648.90
		+2.36%
HANG SENG	27878.22	+329.70
		+1.20%
SENSEX	48782.51	+689.19
		+1.43%
FTSE 100*	6873.26	+16.30 +0.24%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.815	0.792
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.431	1.403
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.1170	1.0778
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8754	1.8555

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78770	0.78843
US $	1.29653	1.26834
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.55095	0.64477
US $	1.22168	0.81855

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1920.10	1931.95
Oil
WTI Crude Future	52.24	50.83

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1829, the market was open but it was one of the quietest days in Wall Street history, as not a single share of stock changed hands
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian shares pared early losses on Friday, as U.S. stocks rallied after President-elect Joe Biden said he’ll lay out the details of trillions of dollars in further stimulus.
The S&P/TSX Composite index was mostly unchanged in Toronto, paring an earlier decline of as much as 0.5%. The index
hit an all-time high on Thursday and rose about 3.5% this week, its best week since Nov. 6.
Tech and industrial stocks were the best performers, while materials and energy fared the worst. Miners tumbled after gold dropped below $1,900 an ounce as technical selling took over following a recovery in the dollar and higher Treasury yields.
Silver also fell the most since September.
Meanwhile, WestJet Airlines Ltd. said it would reduce capacity by a further 30% in February and March, affecting the jobs or pay of roughly 1,000 employees and bringing the number of domestic and international flights it operates down to levels not seen in almost 20 years. The cuts come after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government forced travelers to present a recent negative Covid-19 test before being allowed to board flights into Canada. The new rules took effect Thursday.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.70 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 3.4% to $1,848.88 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell slightly to C$1.2699 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose to 0.794%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 18,042.07 in Toronto.
Today, information technology stocks led the market higher, as 9 of 11 sectors gained; 118 of 221 shares rose, while 99 fell.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.1 percent. BlackBerry Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 6.4 percent.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 3.5 percent, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended Nov. 6
* The index advanced 5.1 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 19 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.1 percent below its 52-week high on Jan. 8, 2021 and 61.5 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.5 on a trailing basis and 17.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.78t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 8.87 percent compared with 8.87 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.60 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | 46.9046| 2.6| 9/0
Industrials | 34.4984| 1.5| 23/6
Utilities | 13.0200| 1.4| 13/3
Consumer Discretionary | 8.6885| 1.2| 11/2
Communication Services | 6.3442| 0.7| 7/0
Consumer Staples | 4.2555| 0.6| 10/1
Real Estate | 3.7343| 0.7| 19/6
Financials | 2.8296| 0.1| 11/15
Health Care | 0.7609| 0.3| 5/3
Energy | -19.4449| -0.9| 5/16
Materials | -87.1013| -3.4| 5/47
US
By Rita Nazareth and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed to all-time highs after President-elect Joe Biden said he’ll lay out the details of trillions of dollars in further aid to revive the world’s largest economy.
The S&P 500 notched its fourth straight day of gains, led by retailers and real-estate companies. The Nasdaq 100 outperformed, with Tesla Inc. surging for an 11th consecutive session. Meanwhile, the KBW Bank Index halted a rally that drove the gauge up more than 10% in three days. Miners joined a selloff in gold and silver.
In a week marked by a siege of the U.S. Capitol and Democratic sweep of Congress, all major equity benchmarks notched records as investors focused on the prospect for more fiscal aid. Biden made the call for new assistance – including $2,000 stimulus checks — after a dismal December jobs report.
The 140,000 slump in payrolls highlighted how surging coronavirus infections are taking a greater toll on parts of the economy. “Biden was talking about more stimulus,” said Jonathan Boyar, managing director at BoyarValue. “The sooner we see both parties acting together in a constructive manner, the better.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the nation’s top military officer assured her safeguards are in place in case President Donald Trump seeks to initiate a nuclear strike — something he has the sole authority to do. Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer are calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to have the cabinet remove Trump from office over his encouragement of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida said he doesn’t expect the central bank to begin tapering its asset purchases this year despite an expected strengthening of the economy as the pandemic fades. A few policy makers, including Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and Atlanta’s Raphael Bostic, said this week they might support reducing the pace of buying by year-end if the economy bounces back strongly enough.

     These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 gained about 0.5% at 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.7%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 2%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.1%.
* The euro decreased 0.4% to $1.2225.
* The Japanese yen depreciated 0.1% to 103.95 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed four basis points to 1.12%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose less than one basis point to -0.52%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose less than one basis point to 0.288%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 3.5% to $52.60 a barrel.
* Gold fell 3.5% to $1,847.89 an ounce.
–With assistance from Sunil Jagtiani, Cormac Mullen, Yakob Peterseil, Robert Brand, Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength.
Give thanks for your food and the joy of living.  If you see no reason for giving thanks,
the fault lies in yourself. -Tecumseh, 1768-1813

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Jan. 7, 1979, Vietnamese forces captured the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge government. Go to article »

Tomorrow’s radical architecture, today.

Why “Peanuts” endures.

In the past, we’ve asked artists and notable figures to choose the five minutes they would play to make their friends fall in love with classical music, the piano, Mozart and more. Now we want those friends to fall for an instrument based on the most fundamental sign of life: breath.
“No matter the style of the music or the cultural context it sings from, it’s the flute’s ability to pierce the heart that moves me most,” says the flutist and composer Nicole Mitchell. Her pick: “The Price of Everything” by James Newton.

“Remind me: Are we great again yet?” — STEPHEN COLBERT
“The America that so many aspire to will be back,” he said. “It’s just been hijacked by a lunatic.”  –JAMES CORDEN

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A car drives through a field of solar panels at a solar energy power plant (GES) in Edremit district of Van, Turkey
CREDIT: OZKAN BILGIN/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES

St Michael’s Tower, a Grade I listed building, is surrounded by freezing fog at Glastonbury Tor in Somerset
CREDIT: SPLASHNEWS.COM

People enjoy the snow  in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
CREDIT: REY SOTOLONGO/EUROPA PRESS VIA GETTY IMAGES

Market Closes for January 7^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	31041.13	+211.73
		+0.69%
S&P 500	3803.79	+55.65
		+1.48%
NASDAQ	13067.480	+326.686 +2.56%
TSX	18027.57	+199.46
		+1.12%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27490.13	+434.19
		+1.60%
HANG SENG	27548.52	-143.78
		-0.52%
SENSEX	48093.32	-80.74
		-0.17%
FTSE 100*	6856.96	+15.10 +0.22%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.792	0.754
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.403	1.364
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.0778	1.0372
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8555	1.8099

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78843	0.78880
US $	1.26834	1.26775
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.55682	0.64234
US $	1.22744	0.81470

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1931.95	1940.35
Oil
WTI Crude Future	50.83	50.63

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1825, the nation’s first great nonfinancial IPO was sold, as the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. went public at $100 per share. The stock hit $112 that May, slid to $71 over the next three years, then went on to be a stable growth stock for decades.

Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rallied to an all-time high along with shares in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world as investors focused on the prospect for increased government spending to stimulate the economy once Joe Biden is inaugurated president in less than two weeks. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 1.1% to record high of 18,027.57. The index was driven by tech and energy shares, while communication services underperformed. Meanwhile, Canada’s largest pension plan is expanding its holdings of hard assets, plowing around $850 million into property, wind farms and logistics facilities to kick off the year.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $15.10 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,914.50 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was little changed at C$1.2675 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 4 basis points to 0.792%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the fourth day, climbing 1.1 percent, or 199.46 to 18,027.57 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 1.3 percent on Nov. 16. Today, information technology stocks led the market higher, as 9 of 11 sectors gained; 153 of 221 shares rose, while 68 fell. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 6.9 percent. Ballard Power Systems Inc. had the largest increase, rising 15.7 percent.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 3.4 percent, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended Nov. 6
* The index advanced 5 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 19 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.1 percent below its 52-week high on Jan. 7, 2021 and 61.4 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.7 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 26.5 on a trailing basis and 17.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.75t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.87 percent compared with 8.81 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.87 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | 77.9142| 4.5| 8/2
Energy | 42.1166| 2.0| 21/1
Industrials | 36.6312| 1.7| 24/5
Financials | 21.6940| 0.4| 22/4
Materials | 10.2129| 0.4| 29/23
Consumer Discretionary | 8.2831| 1.2| 10/3
Utilities | 6.2684| 0.7| 11/5
Health Care | 3.4896| 1.6| 6/3
Real Estate | 1.3230| 0.2| 18/8
Consumer Staples | -2.2509| -0.3| 2/9
Communication Services | -6.2349| -0.7| 2/5

US
By Rita Nazareth and Lu Wang
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rallied a day after violence rocked the U.S. Capitol, with investors firmly focused on the prospect for more stimulus and the likelihood that calm will prevail as Joe Biden takes the presidency. All major U.S. equity benchmarks notched all-time highs, with about 70% of the companies in the S&P 500 in the green and the Nasdaq 100 jumping 2.5%. The Dow Jones Transportation Average — a proxy for economic activity — also hit a record, while the Russell 2000 Index of small caps extended a three-day advance to almost 8%. Tesla Inc. surged after RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock, noting it was “completely wrong” with a previous bearish view. Another notable call came from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which said banks have “moved back into vogue” due to optimism about fiscal aid and rising rates. Bitcoin pared gains after topping $40,000.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer demanded that President Donald Trump’s cabinet immediately remove him from office and threatened a new drive to impeach him if they don’t act. Democrats, who already have a majority in the House, are set to take control of the Senate and presidency, paving the way for Biden to bring his legislative agenda to life and reshape the economy. While campaigning in Georgia before the runoff elections, he vowed that $2,000 stimulus checks would be sent out “immediately” if his party won the state. “Markets (rightly, in our view) see the U.S. government as ultimately a stable-enough set of institutions even if things occasionally go pear-shaped,” Nick Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research, wrote in a note to clients. “Politics play second fiddle to economic and corporate fundamentals when it comes to setting asset prices. The country’s economic future coming out of the pandemic remains promising.”
Data Thursday showed that growth at U.S. service providers unexpectedly accelerated as gains in business activity and new orders helped offset a decline in a measure of employment. Friday’s jobs report is forecast to show a sharp slowdown in hiring. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan said officials shouldn’t intervene to slow rising bond yields because that’s expected to happen as the economy recovers.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 increased 1.5% at 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.5%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.8%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index jumped 0.6%.
* The euro declined 0.5% to $1.2266.
* The Japanese yen depreciated 0.8% to 103.82 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose four basis points to 1.08%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined less than one basis point to -0.52%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield climbed four basis points to 0.284%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.6% to $50.95 a barrel.
* Gold lost 0.2% to $1,914.70 an ounce.
–With assistance from Gregor Stuart Hunter, Andreea Papuc, Anchalee Worrachate, Claire Ballentine, Katherine Greifeld, Nancy Moran and Sophie Caronello.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Because of his compassion, a man can become courageous.
Because of his economy, a man may become generous.  Because of his humility,
a man can become a leader.   -Lao Tzu, 6^th c. BC.

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Epiphany or Twelfth Day, Three Kings Day

Joan of Arc, saint b. 1412
Carl Sandburg poet, b. 1878
Kahlil Gibran, b. 1883
Alan Watts, writer, b. 1916Break out the king cakes! It’s Epiphany, also known as Twelfth Night or Three Kings’ Day, which marks the start of Carnival season.

2001 With the vanquished Vice President Al Gore presiding, Congress certified Republican George W. Bush the winner of the close and bitterly contested 2000 presidential election. Go to article »

1941: US President Franklin Roosevelt makes hi “Four Freedoms” speech (freedom of speech and worship; freedom frow want and fear) during his US State of Union  address.

Astronomers agree: Universe is nearly 14 billion years old

A black hole is missing. 

The Late Night Hosts:
“[Imitating Trump] ‘Hello, is this the secretary of state of Arizona? Are you happy with your internet service? What if I told you you could combine Wi-Fi and cable for the price of only 11,000 votes?” — SETH MEYERS

“If this were an after-school special, this is the part where we would tell Mike Pence that if the president says he won’t like you unless you give him what he wants, then he doesn’t really care about you. He should like you for who you are — although we understand why he wouldn’t, because who you are is Mike Pence.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“Poor Mike Pence. He hasn’t been this stressed out since the time he saw a woman in short sleeves.” — JIMMY KIMMEL
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Despite warning issued by health authorities, Bulgarian men perform the traditional Horo dance in the city winter waters of the Tundzha river. Traditionally, an Eastern Orthodox priest throws a cross in the river.
CREDIT: NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

A young boy holds the cross as believers stand in the icy Tundzha River, some waving national flags to recover a crucifix cast by a priest in an old ritual marking the feast of Epiphany, Wednesday, Jan 6, 2021. The legend goes that the person retrieves the wooden cross will be freed evil spirits and will be healthy throughout the year.
CREDIT:VALENTIA PETROVA/AP

Les Peebles dives into the River Ribble near Stainforth in North Yorkshire. Mr Peebles is swimming in the wild every day in January to raise money for the homelessness charity Crisis
CREDIT: DANNY LAWSON/PA
Market Closes for January 6^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	30829.40	+437.80
		+1.44%
S&P 500	3748.14	+21.28
		+0.57%
NASDAQ	12740.793	-78.167 -0.61%
TSX	17828.11	+145.60
		+0.82%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27055.94	-102.69
		-0.38%
HANG SENG	27692.30	+42.44
		+0.15%
SENSEX	48174.06	-263.72
		-0.54%
FTSE 100*	6841.86	+229.61 +3.47%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.754	0.713
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.364	1.289
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.0372	0.9549
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8099	1.7081

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78880	0.78922
US $	1.26775	1.26707
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.56287	0.63985
US $	1.23280	0.81116

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1940.35	1943.20
Oil
WTI Crude Future	50.63	49.93

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1933, the New York Stock Exchange for the first time began requiring listed companies to have their annual financial statements prepared by an independent auditor.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose on Wednesday, closing shy of record highs, amid chaos in the U.S. Capitol.
The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.8%, giving back some of its earlier gains of as much as 1.4% as pro-Trump mobs stormed the legislature.
Pot stocks outperformed as Democrats, seen as more positive for the cannabis industry, edged closer to control of the U.S. Senate. After the markets closed, it was announced that Democrats won both seats in the Georgia runoff elections.
Canada’s economy and financial markets are moving in opposite directions as investors drive up asset prices in response to cheap-money policies. That trend will continue in the months ahead, according to Manulife’s Frances Donald.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $15.30 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 1.6% to $1,919.23 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was little changed at C$1.2672 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 4 basis points to 0.749%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 0.8 percent, or 145.6 to 17,828.11 in Toronto. The index advanced to the highest closing level since Feb. 21.
Today, financials stocks led the market higher, as 9 of 11 sectors gained; 137 of 221 shares rose, while 81 fell. Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index
gain, increasing 2.8 percent. Cronos Group Inc. had the largest increase, rising 14.2 percent. Insights
* The index advanced 4.2 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI  AC Americas Index gained 17 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.8 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 59.6 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.6 percent in the past 5 days and rose 1.8 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.9 on a trailing basis and 17.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.73t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.81 percent compared with 8.61 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.92 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 101.4456| 1.9| 22/4
Industrials | 25.9231| 1.2| 17/12
Materials | 16.6714| 0.7| 28/23
Consumer Discretionary | 14.0085| 2.1| 11/2
Health Care | 12.4456| 5.9| 6/3
Utilities | 9.9204| 1.1| 13/3
Communication Services | 3.8571| 0.4| 3/4
Real Estate | 1.9443| 0.4| 15/11
Energy | 0.0995| 0.0| 14/7
Consumer Staples | -2.3721| -0.4| 6/4
Information Technology | -38.3431| -2.2| 2/8
US
By Rita Nazareth and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks stabilized in the green, though remained well off session highs after protesters surged into the U.S. Capitol, forcing a lockdown that interrupted certification of the presidential election.
The S&P 500 trimmed its advance to 0.6% at the close of trading in New York, after rallying as much as 1.5% earlier Wednesday. Equities had been on track for a record, buoyed by speculation that a Democratic control of Congress could unleash a torrent of spending to revive growth. That sparked a reflation trade, with investors pouring into small caps and banks, companies that benefit from an economic rebound. Tech shares lagged behind.
Democrats will take control of the U.S. Senate for the first time in six years, NBC and CBS said late in the day. Investors’ buoyant mood was pierced, but not sunk, when Vice President Mike Pence left the floor of Congress as hundreds of protesters swarmed past barricades surrounding the building where lawmakers were debating Joe Biden’s victory in the Electoral College.
     “Apparently, elevated investor sentiment knows no bounds,” said Adam Phillips, director of portfolio strategy at EP Wealth Advisors. “Obviously, the reflation trade stemming from last night’s election results is driving the markets, but it takes a special set of blinders to ignore what we are seeing in real-time.” Democrats claimed one of the two Senate seats contested in Georgia and led in the other tight race. Two wins would give Biden’s party control of Congress and smooth the path for some of his spending policies. That’s fueled bets that increased stimulus will boost the economy and spark inflation. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed past 1% for the first time since March.
“The growth-into-value rotation may be reinforced after the results of the Georgia Senate election amid the prospect of a higher fiscal stimulus bill and steeper yield curve, which would benefit banks and other non-tech companies,” David Bahnsen, chief investment officer of the Bahnsen Group in Newport Beach, California, wrote in a note to clients.
Congress passed at year’s end a $900 billion spending deal to bolster an economy showing signs of slowing as the raging virus prompts stricter lockdowns across the country. The number of employees at U.S. businesses unexpectedly declined in December for the first time since April, underscoring the ongoing labor-market fallout from the pandemic. The figures preceded the monthly jobs report on Friday, which is projected to show weaker payroll growth. U.S. 10-year breakeven — a market gauge of inflation expectations over the next decade — topped 2% this week for the first time since 2018, having gained in each of the last three months. While the pandemic is still raging with the rollout of vaccines in the early stages, the risk is that further signs of inflationary pressure could start prompting bets on Fed rate hikes.
For Matt Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management, the ball will be in the Fed’s court next and how policy makers will react to this evolving political backdrop.
“They have been wanting more fiscal support, well now they have it, and it is coming with a cost — higher interest rates based on Treasury yields rising,” Miskin noted. “We will see what the Fed’s pain threshold is for higher Treasury yields in the first half of 2021. The tug-of-war between monetary and fiscal policy will be key to markets. While the fiscal side is looking more promising based on the results today, monetary policy may take a step back.”

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index jumped 1.4%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.4%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.
* The euro advanced 0.2% to $1.2324.
* The Japanese yen weakened 0.3% to 103.04 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose eight basis points to 1.03%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield jumped six basis points to -0.52%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose three basis points to 0.243%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 0.9% to $50.39 a barrel.
* Gold lost 1.6% to $1,918.97 an ounce.
–With assistance from Ksenia Galouchko, Andreea Papuc, Anchalee Worrachate, Lynn Thomasson and Kamaron Leach.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.
                             –Publilius Syrus, 85-43BC

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Jan. 5, 1914, Henry Ford, head of the Ford Motor Company, introduced a minimum wage scale of $5 per day.  Go to article »
January 5, 1919: German Workers’ Party forms, precursor to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi).

The Milky Way gets a new origin story.

The galaxy is probably full of dead civilizations.

Massive “Superhenge” found buried just two miles from Stonehenge.

For our former 52 Places traveler Sebastian Modak, Cartagena’s waters were “bluer than anything I’ve seen since.” We may not be able to go swimming, but he suggests a few ways to channel the magic of the city at home. –The New York Times.

Late Night Show hosts are back after the holidays:
“He had another perfect call over the weekend.” — JIMMY KIMMEL

“Trump asked him to somehow find enough votes to flip Georgia, so that he would win the state by one vote. One vote. Trump was like, ‘Because if we’re going to do this,
we can’t make it obvious.’” — JIMMY FALLON

“Now, now, buckle up everybody, because this call is like if Watergate and the Ukraine scandal had a baby that they made on the ‘Access Hollywood’ bus,” Stephen Colbert said. “When you’re a star, they let you do it.”

“He tried everything. He bragged, he challenged, he threatened. He told the secretary of state he would come to Georgia and eat all their peaches — nothing.” — JIMMY KIMMEL
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

An Antony Gormley statue on a building in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, appears to balance the moon and a pigeon
CREDIT: PAUL MARRIOTT

Lovebirds perch on a branch at at Antalya Zoo in Turkey
CREIDT: MUSTAFA CIFTCI/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES

The American Kennel Club has announced that the tiny, chipper Biewer – pronounced like “beaver” – has become its 197^th recognized breed. That makes the toy dogs eligible to compete for best in show at many U.S. events, including the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club show, which will be held in June this year instead of its usual February date.
CREDIT: BIWER TERRIER CLUB OF AMERICA AND AMERICAN KENNEK CLUB VIA AP
Market Closes for January 5^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	30391.60	+167.71
		+0.55%
S&P 500	3726.86	+26.21
		+0.71%
NASDAQ	12818.961	+120.514 +0.95%
TSX	17682.51	+154.74
		+0.88%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27158.63	-99.75
		-0.37%
HANG SENG	27649.86	+177.05
		+0.64%
SENSEX	48437.78	+260.98
		+0.54%
FTSE 100*	6612.25	+40.37 +0.61%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.713	0.677
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.289	1.224
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.9549	0.9132
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.7081	1.6542

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78922	0.78247
US $	1.26707	1.27801
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.55792	0.64188
US $	1.22955	0.81331

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1943.20	1887.60
Oil
WTI Crude Future	49.93	47.62

Market Commentary:
Twenty-year mortgages are going for 0% in Denmark.

On this day in 1999, Amazon said fourth-quarter sales totaled $250 million, more than triple the level of the same quarter a year earlier. Fixated on its revenue growth (and ignoring widening net losses), traders went wild. The stock surged on a trading volume of 31.4 million shares, making it the most active stock on the Nasdaq.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian shares climbed on Tuesday, extending Monday’s gains as energy stocks surged with oil prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.9% to 17,682.51, edging closer to its all-time high of 17,944.06 reached last Feb. 20.
Energy stocks were the main drivers as Saudi Arabia pledged to voluntarily cut oil output by an extra 1 million barrels a day from next month, while most of the OPEC+ alliance agreed to hold output steady.
Meanwhile, Canada’s vaccine rollout has been slower than expected and the laggardly pace could prompt a reassessment of how robust the country’s economic recovery will be, according to Bank of Montreal. Only 0.32% of the Canadian population had been inoculated as of Monday, making it a “relative underperformer” versus peers such as the U.S. and the U.K., which have both vaccinated 1.4%, Doug Porter, chief economist at the Toronto- based lender, said Tuesday in a report to investors.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $15.35 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,948.77 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.8% to C$1.2679 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 3 basis points to 0.707%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.9 percent, or 154.74 to 17,682.51 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 1.1 percent on Nov. 24.
Today, energy stocks led the market higher, as 8 of 11 sectors gained; 151 of 222 shares rose, while 71 fell. Enbridge Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.6 percent. Crescent Point Energy Corp. had the largest increase, rising 9.6 percent.
Insights
* The index advanced 3.6 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI  AC Americas Index gained 17 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.6 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 58.3 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.3 percent in the past 5 days and rose 0.9 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.7 on a trailing basis and 17.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.71t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.61 percent compared with 8.45 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.98 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 102.8507| 5.2| 23/0
Financials | 19.2157| 0.4| 21/5
Industrials | 17.9470| 0.8| 24/5
Information Technology | 16.3083| 0.9| 7/3
Communication Services | 9.7907| 1.1| 6/1
Consumer Discretionary | 7.6980| 1.1| 9/4
Real Estate | 3.8093| 0.7| 21/5
Health Care | 2.0097| 1.0| 5/4
Consumer Staples | -0.6318| -0.1| 5/6
Utilities | -1.7795| -0.2| 11/5
Materials | -22.4833| -0.9| 19/33
US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rose and bonds dropped amid key elections in Georgia that will decide which party controls the U.S. Senate for the next two years, setting the scope of President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda.
In a session marked by thin trading volume, the S&P 500 rebounded after suffering its worst start to a year since 2016. Energy shares surged as oil traded near $50 a barrel, while the Russell 2000 Index of smaller companies jumped 1.7%. With markets factoring in a greater chance of a Democratic sweep in Congress, some analysts see the potential for increased volatility. In anticipation to the outcome of the vote, which will likely be known on Wednesday, Treasury yields climbed — with a key curve measure reaching its steepest level in four years. The dollar slid to the lowest since February 2018. Whether or not Wall Street is getting more comfortable with the idea of Democrats taking control of both chambers of Congress, the scenario implies the possibility of a more generous stimulus package. That could also potentially lead to upward pressure on inflation and interest rates as well as higher taxes to pay for fiscal aid. Conversely, should either Republican incumbent win re-election, the party would have enough votes to block any Biden initiative. “We don’t view a Democrat Senate as a bearish game changer in the short term because there would still be a lot of positives in this market,” Tom Essaye, a former Merrill Lynch trader who founded “The Sevens Report” newsletter, wrote in a note to clients. “We’d look to buy on any material dip, but we should brace for more volatility going forward if that’s the outcome from today’s election.”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump failed again to invalidate his election loss in Georgia and allow the state’s Republican-led legislature to declare him the winner – his latest courtroom defeat in a quixotic effort to remain in office despite losing the Nov. 3 vote. Another news development that caught investors’ attention on Tuesday was the New York Stock Exchange’s surprise move to spare three major Chinese telecommunications companies from being delisted. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called NYSE Group Inc. President Stacey Cunningham to express his disapproval with the decision, according to two people familiar with the matter. Several U.S. officials said the move marks a temporary reprieve, not a sign that tensions between Washington and Beijing are easing.
Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia surprised the oil market with a large reduction in its output for February and March, carrying a greater burden of OPEC+ cuts while other producers hold steady or make small increases.
What to watch this week:
* U.S. Congress meets to count electoral votes and declare the winner of the 2020 Presidential election Wednesday.
* FOMC minutes out Wednesday.
* U.S. unemployment report for December is due Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.2%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1.1%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index sank 0.5%.
* The euro increased 0.4% to $1.2297.
* The Japanese yen appreciated 0.5% to 102.66 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose three basis points to 0.94%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield gained three basis points to -0.58%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield gained four basis points to 0.209%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude surged 4.9% to $49.93 a barrel.
* Gold strengthened 0.3% to $1,949.70 an ounce.
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Cecile Gutscher, Yakob Peterseil, David Wilson, Nancy Moran and Sophie Caronello.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

If the only prayer you say throughout your life is “Thank You,” then that will be enough.
                                                                                     -Elie Wiesel, 1928-2016

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Happy New Year.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
     -Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850

Isaac Newton, physicist, b. 1643.
Louis Braille, b. 1809
Jacob Grimm, writer, b. 1785

2007 Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., became the first female speaker of the House. Go to article »

A university that published its annual list of “banished” words and phrases has named the ones it’d like to see less of in 2021. Among them: “unprecedented” and “uncertain times.”

Where to go in 2021.

Ancient pharaohs rowed the Nile. Now Egyptians have rediscovered the practice, finding a new perspective on the river that shaped their country.  The Nile birthed Egyptian civilization thousands of years ago, and still sustains it. But few Cairenes have ever seen the body of water itself because restaurants, private clubs and cruises have hidden much of the Nile from all but those who can pay.  During a year with limited travel possibilities, our World Through a Lens series offered Times readers a weekly escape. Here are some of the highlights.

Our critics suggest these 9 new books and a quirky new comedy from the makers of “Bob’s Burgers”; they also rounded up 11 movies, TV shows, performances, music albums and exhibits they are looking forward to in 2021. –The NY Times.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Ondarreta Beach at dawn, in San Sebastian, Basque Country, northern Spain.
CREDIT: JAVIER ETXEZARRETA/EPA-EFE/REX

A leopard playing with a baby impala, just a few minutes before eventually killing it. A safari guide from Cape Town captured the moment at Greater Kruger National park.
CREDIT: KARL VAN DER WESTHUIZEN/CATERS NEWS

Prince George standing on foam blocks during a Royal Mail photoshoot for a stamp sheet to mark the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II.
CREDIT: RANALD MACKECHNIE

Market Closes for January 4^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	30223.89	-382.59
		-1.25%
S&P 500	3700.65	-55.42
		-1.48%
NASDAQ	12698.449	-189.833 -1.47%
TSX	17527.77	+94.41
		+0.54%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27258.38	-185.79
		-0.68%
HANG SENG	27472.81	+241.68
		+0.89%
SENSEX	48176.80	+307.82
		+0.64%
FTSE 100*	6571.88	+111.36 +1.72%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.677	0.677
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.224	1.212
U.S.    10 Year Bond	0.9132	0.9132
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.6542	1.6449

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78247	0.78565
US $	1.27801	1.27283
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.56569	0.63870
US $	1.22510	0.81626

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1887.60	1887.60
Oil
WTI Crude Future	47.62	48.52

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1865, the New York Stock Exchange opened its first permanent building at the corner of Broad and Wall Streets in Manhattan, after decades of shifting from one rented or borrowed space to another.

Canada
By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.5 percent at 17,527.77 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 0.7 percent on Dec. 15 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.6 percent. Today, materials stocks led the market higher, as 7 of 11 sectors gained; 108 of 222 shares rose, while 108 fell. Barrick Gold Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 8.6 percent. Brookfield Property Partners LP had the largest increase, rising 18.4 percent.
Insights
* The index advanced 2.7 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 16 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.5 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 56.9 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.4 percent in the past 5 days and rose 1.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.5 on a trailing basis and 17 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.69t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.45 percent compared with 8.35 percent in the previous session and the average of 10.29 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 155.3726| 6.5| 44/8
Energy | 15.8985| 0.8| 16/5
Communication Services | 9.4184| 1.1| 5/2
Health Care | 8.3112| 4.2| 5/4
Consumer Staples | 6.8639| 1.0| 10/0
Utilities | 3.8677| 0.4| 10/5
Real Estate | 0.0372| 0.0| 3/23
Consumer Discretionary | -8.2109| -1.2| 1/12
Industrials | -16.3523| -0.7| 3/25
Information Technology | -37.0390| -2.1| 3/6
Financials | -43.7397| -0.8| 8/18

US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Volatility gripped financial markets, spurring a stock selloff amid concern that a surge in global coronavirus cases could crimp the nascent economic recovery. Traders were also jittery ahead of Tuesday’s runoff elections in Georgia, which will determine whether Democrats have control of Congress to push President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda. While equities pared a slide that drove major U.S. benchmarks down more than 2% earlier Monday, the S&P 500 still had its worst day in almost 10 weeks. Giants Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. sank at least 2.1%, Boeing Co. weighed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average after an analyst downgrade, and Tesla Inc. climbed after coming close to meeting its vehicle- deliveries goal. The Cboe Volatility Index — a gauge of expected price swings for the S&P 500 known as the VIX – surged the most since October.
Global coronavirus infections topped 85 million, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposing a third lockdown across England and Japan considering another state of emergency for the Tokyo area. Daily cases in the U.S. soared to a record of nearly 300,000 following the New Year holiday, and an easier-to-spread variant detected for the first time last week could intensify the surge. Meanwhile, the political drama of 2020 is also bleeding into the first week of 2021 — with a pivotal election in Georgia, promises of protests in the streets and President Donald Trump’s dragged-out fight over the November vote threatening to tear apart the Republican Party.
“Equity markets will remain sensitive to developments tied to the pandemic that have held the U.S. and global economy hostage for nearly a year,” John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer, wrote in a note. “A nearer hurdle for the markets to consider will be the outcome of the runoff elections for two seats in the U.S. Senate taking place in Georgia. Should the Democrats win both seats, we expect the S&P 500 to become vulnerable to a downdraft in the neighborhood of 6% to 10%” from the end of 2020. For Stoltzfus, it appears that equities have priced in a Republican victory in at least one of the two contests. He added that “markets prefer that Washington’s Capitol Hill have enough checks and balances in place to keep political power out of just one party’s hands.”
Elsewhere, traders see U.S. inflation averaging at least 2% per year over the coming decade — the first time expectations have climbed that high since 2018. Bitcoin’s rally fizzled out as the famously volatile cryptocurrency sank as much as 17%. Oil dropped as OPEC+ talks were unexpectedly suspended after a majority of members, including Saudi Arabia, opposed Russia’s proposal for a February supply hike.
What to watch this week:
* On Tuesday, the state of Georgia holds a run-off election for two U.S. Senate seats that will decide control of the chamber.
* U.S. Congress meets to count electoral votes and declare the winner of the 2020 Presidential election Wednesday.
* FOMC minutes out Wednesday.
* U.S. unemployment report for December is due Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 decreased 1.5% at 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.7%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.5%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.1%.
* The euro increased 0.2% to $1.2244.
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 103.17 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed one basis point to 0.92%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to -0.60%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield decreased two basis points to 0.173%.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index advanced 0.7%.
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.5% to $47.31 a barrel.
* Gold rose 2.4% to $1,943.38 an ounce.
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Yakob Peterseil, Cecile Gutscher, Sarah Ponczek and Kamaron Leach.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
                                                             -C.C. Lewis, 1898-1963

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