Month: December 2021

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
December 14, 1911: Amundsen reaches the South Pole.
On Dec. 14, 1981, Israel annexed the Golan Heights, seized from Syria in 1967. Go to article »
Sandy hook Elementary School shooting: Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, are killed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.

Nostradamus, astronomer, b.1503.

Time magazine names Elon Musk as Person of the Year.  Wait a minute! Are we positive he’s human?

An electric pickup wins MotorTrend Truck of the Year Award.  I’m shocked, shocked!

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
A small house and fields covered in snow in the Alps
CREDIT: Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images
The Royal Liver buildings appear surrounded by early morning fog
CREDIT: Peter Byrne/PA
A Roman coin hoard of copper-alloy nummi (coins), originally contained in three separate pots, (AD 300-400), found in Wickwar, Gloucestershire, is displayed at the British Museum
CREDIT: Yui Mok/PA

Market Closes for December 14^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35544.18	-106.77
		-0.30%
S&P 500	4634.09	-34.88
		-0.75%
NASDAQ	15237.64	-175.64 -1.14%
TSX	20648.57	-99.88
		-0.48%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28432.64	-207.85
		-0.73%
HANG SENG	23635.95	-318.63
		-1.33%
SENSEX	58117.09	-166.33
		-0.29%
FTSE 100*	7218.64	-12.80 -0.18%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.432	1.395
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.788	1.745
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.4411	1.4156
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8280	1.7998

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7775	0.7804
US $	1.2862	1.2813
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4481	0.6906
US $	1.1258	0.8882

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1787.80	1779.75
Oil
WTI Crude Future	70.73	71.29

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1900, German physicist Max Planck, in a lecture at the German Physical Society, introduced the theory of quantum mechanics. Today its principles of discontinuity and packets of emitted energy underlie an estimated 30% of the U.S. economy, including semiconductors, lasers and medical MRI devices.
Canada
By Geoffrey Morgan
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities dropped Tuesday as Ottawa announced the details of tax plans on real estate and large technology companies. The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the fifth straight day, dropping 0.5%, or 99.88 to 20,648.57 in Toronto. The index dropped to the lowest closing level since Dec. 3, led by information technology stocks. Shopify Inc., Canada’s largest tech company and largest firm by market value, contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.9%. Nuvei Corp. had the largest drop, falling almost 9%, as the company responded to a short-seller report. Today, 175 of 233 companies fell, while 56 rose; 9 of 11 sectors were lower, led by information technology, communications, materials and energy stocks.

Insights
* This year, the index rose 18 percent, poised for the best year since 2019
* This quarter, the index rose 2.9 percent
* The index advanced 19 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 24 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 5.3 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 19.4 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 2.4 percent in the past 5 days and fell 5.1 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.6 on a trailing basis and 15.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.29t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 14.18 percent compared with 14.22 percent in the previous session and the average of 11.76 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | -49.3402| -2.2| 2/13
* Energy | -21.5106| -0.8| 2/21
* Materials | -19.1415| -0.8| 7/48
* Communication Services | -8.1391| -0.8| 2/5
* Real Estate | -4.8104| -0.8| 4/20
* Consumer Discretionary | -3.5247| -0.5| 4/9
* Consumer Staples | -3.0430| -0.4| 6/6
* Financials | -1.4218| 0.0| 16/11
* Health Care | -1.2021| -0.7| 1/8
* Utilities | 1.7783| 0.2| 7/9
* Industrials | 10.4788| 0.4| 5/25
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -40.1600| -2.9| 4.6| 21.1
* Couche-Tard | -7.2820| -2.5| 289.5| 11.0
* CGI Inc | -4.3270| -2.6| -13.0| 6.7
* Canadian National | 3.1480| 0.5| 5.6| 15.5
* Constellation Software | 3.3810| 1.2| 43.7| 33.1
* Canadian Pacific | 20.9200| 3.6| -1.5| 5.9

US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — As the Federal Reserve gets ready to wrap up its final meeting of the year, another report showing inflation running hot sank some of the most-expensive pockets of the stock market. Revered by investors during the pandemic for their solid balance-sheets, technology giants dragged down equities on Tuesday. Sentiment soured on concern that a jump in both producer and consumer prices will put pressure on the Fed to act more aggressively. While officials have given no signals they would rush to tighten policy, a hasty shift is seen as the biggest downside risk for stocks in 2022, according to an informal Bloomberg News survey of fund managers. The S&P 500 dropped for a second day, with financial companies posting the only gain among 11 major industries. Treasury two-year yields topped 0.65%, while the U.S. dollar rose. Oil and gold retreated.

Comments:
* “Anytime there’s a risk of easy money being taken away, that will result in some of these very expensive areas of the market to pull back,” said Megan Horneman, director of portfolio strategy at Verdence Capital Advisors.
* “The pressure on the Fed to pick up the pace of tightening is only mounting. With higher prices permeating the marketplace, we could see a snowball effect when it comes to inflation challenges as more suppliers justify higher prices and more consumers begin to close their wallets,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*TRADE Financial.
* “The inflation trajectory remains worrisome. While we believe that price pressures will abate next year, the Fed is doing the prudent thing by tapering faster, so that it is well positioned to hike rates if needed,” said Win Thin, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman.

A Goldman Sachs Group Inc. basket of the 50 most-shorted stocks has plummeted back into a bear market for the first time since June, ringing up gains for traders who sell shares they’d borrowed in hopes of buying them back at lower prices. The renewed selloff in the more speculative corners of the market adds more evidence of a waning appetite to take risks as a new variant of the coronavirus spreads and the Fed zeroes in on fighting inflation.

Corporate highlights:
* Elon Musk made more headway toward his pledge to sell 10% of his Tesla Inc. stake, and it may have cost the carmaker its $1 trillion valuation.
* Boeing Co. received 109 gross orders for 737 Max airliners last month, bringing its sales tally for the narrow-body jets to 692 this year, according to the plane maker’s website.
* 3M Co. agreed to separate its food-safety business and join it with Neogen Corp. in a deal that would value the combined company at about $9.3 billion.

Here are some key events this week:
* China releases November industrial output, retail sales data, Wednesday.
* Fed rate decision, Wednesday.
* U.S. business inventories, retail sales, empire manufacturing, Wednesday.
* BOE rate decision, Thursday.
* ECB rate decision, Thursday.
* U.S. housing starts, initial jobless claims, industrial production, Thursday.
* BOJ monetary policy decision, Friday.
* S&P Dow Jones Indices quarterly rebalance effective after markets close, Friday.
* “Quadruple witching” day in the U.S. market, when options and futures on indexes and equities expire, Friday.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.8%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1256
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3227
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 113.74 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 1.44%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to -0.37%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 0.72%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.3% to $70.36 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.9% to $1,771.80 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Abigail Moses, Vildana Hajric, Peyton Forte, Emily Graffeo and Lu Wang.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Between two evils, choose neither; between two goods, choose both. –Tryon Edwards, 1809-1894.

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:
2000: Republican George W. Bush claimed the presidency 36 days after Election Day.  Go to article »

2003: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit, during Operation Red Dawn by US forces.

Italian bishop apologizes for telling children Santa doesn’t exist.  Looks like someone’s getting coal in his stocking

Lions get loose in a Chinese airport, hilarity ensues.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Visitors at the Christmas market
CREDIT: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A contestant rides a wave during the Tow Surfing Challenge at Praia do Norte. The area is famous for generating some of the largest waves in the world
CREDIT: Carlos Barroso/EPA
A waxing moon sets behind the dome of the Old College at the University of Edinburgh
CREDIT: Jane Barlow/PA

Market Closes for December 13^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35650.95	-320.04
		-0.89%
S&P 500	4668.97	-43.05
		-0.91%
NASDAQ	15413.28	-217.32 -1.39%
TSX	20748.45	-142.17
		-0.68%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28640.49	+202.72
		+0.71%
HANG SENG	23954.58	-41.14
		-0.17%
SENSEX	58283.42	-503.25
		-0.86%
FTSE 100*	7231.44	-60.34 -0.83%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.395	1.466
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.745	1.797
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.4156	1.4837
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.7998	1.8777

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7804	0.7861
US $	1.2813	1.2721
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4457	0.6919
US $	1.1283	0.8863

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1779.75	1776.15
Oil
WTI Crude Future	71.29	71.67

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1969, 13 securities salesmen, led by Loren Dunton, met at the O’Hare Inn near Chicago’s airport to analyze what was wrong with the way investments were sold to the American public. The result was the birth of a new profession called “financial planning.”
Canada
By Geoffrey Morgan
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities fell for a fourth straight day, as a drop in oil prices weighed down Canadian energy stocks. The S&P/TSX Composite declined 0.7 percent, or 142.17 to 20,748.45 in Toronto. The index dropped to the lowest closing level since Dec. 3. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.5 percent. Ener plus Corp. had the largest drop, falling 5.4 percent. Today, 142 of 233 shares fell, while 88 rose; 7 of 11 sectors were lower, led by information technology and energy stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 19 percent, poised for the best year since 2019
* This quarter, the index rose 3.4 percent
* The index advanced 18 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 25 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 4.8 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 19.9 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.5 percent in the past 5 days and fell 4.7 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.7 on a trailing basis and 15.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.31t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 14.22 percent compared with 14.12 percent in the previous session and the average of 11.65 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | -53.7831| -2.3| 2/13
* Energy | -34.9534| -1.3| 3/20
* Industrials | -34.3577| -1.4| 8/22
* Financials | -33.6398| -0.5| 3/25
* Consumer Discretionary | -6.6067| -0.9| 2/11
* Communication Services | -2.7799| -0.3| 1/6
* Health Care | -1.9953| -1.2| 0/8
* Consumer Staples | 0.5748| 0.1| 6/7
* Real Estate | 2.5978| 0.4| 18/5
* Utilities | 6.9025| 0.7| 12/4
* Materials | 15.8638| 0.7| 33/21
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -50.9700| -3.5| 63.1| 24.7
* Royal Bank of Canada | -16.8100| -1.3| 99.3| 22.8
* Canadian National | -16.2000| -2.3| 147.3| 15.0
* Agnico Eagle Mines | 3.1530| 3.1| 147.4| -30.2
* TC Energy | 3.8730| 1.0| 56.2| 13.4
* Franco-Nevada | 5.0260| 2.3| 77.5| 6.5

US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Markets around the globe prepared for a wave of central bank decisions, with traders weighing the potential impacts of less generous monetary settings amid coronavirus challenges and lofty equity valuations. The S&P 500 dropped from a record, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 underperformed major stock benchmarks. A gauge of megacap companies slumped, with electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc. down about 5%. Apple Inc. slipped after the iPhone maker approached a $3 trillion market value.
Travel shares such as airlines, cruise operators and hotels sank. Bonds and the dollar climbed. A selloff in Bitcoin pushed the world’s largest cryptocurrency closer to a key technical level. About 20 central banks are due to hold meetings this week, with the Federal Reserve seen winding down bond purchases and signaling an interest-rate liftoff in 2022 — heralding a historic pivot to counter the fastest inflation since the 1980s. The European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan are also set to announce their monetary policy decisions.

Comments:
* “U.S. stocks were under pressure as many investors began to fear a trading life without a Fed safety net. A wrath of central bank rate decisions this week will likely show stocks will have to move higher without the help of central bankers,” wrote Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda.
* “The Fed’s pivot to a more aggressive tapering schedule poses a larger risk for asset prices than most investors believe. Good news, supply is improving, but will it arrive at the wrong time?”, wrote Morgan Stanley strategists including Mike Wilson.
* “As long as the Fed doesn’t provide a materially hawkish surprise this Wednesday (something that’s possible, but unlikely), stocks can rally into year-end on momentum, even if valuations are again stretched,” wrote Tom Essaye, a former Merrill Lynch trader who founded “The Sevens Report” newsletter.

The ghost of the tech bubble could soon come back to haunt investors as hefty valuations may be threatened by the likely tightening of monetary policy. The S&P 500’s long-term price-to-earnings ratio — which compares the current price with the 10-year average real earnings per share — has reached 37, a level last seen in 2000. “Valuations are extremely high on almost any metric,” Deutsche Bank AG strategists said in a note. Inflation expectations among U.S. consumers rose to a new high of 6% for the coming year, according to the latest consumer survey of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  The study showed that Americans foresee faster price increases for items like rent and food, which take up a big chunk of household spending and can’t easily be substituted.
Corporate highlights:
* Losses for a basket of meme stocks are mounting, with traders shifting away from riskier assets. GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. have been the biggest drags on the group since mid-November.
* Pfizer Inc. agreed to buy Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a deal valued at about $6.7 billion that brings potential therapies targeting immuno-inflammatory diseases.
* Bristol Myers Squibb Co. climbed as the drugmaker said it will raise its dividend and buy back up to $15 billion in shares.
* Harley-Davidson Inc. jumped after saying it would list its electric-motorcycle unit publicly through a merger with a blank-check company.

Here are some key events this week:
* Euro zone industrial production, Tuesday.
* U.S. PPI, Tuesday.
* China releases November industrial output, retail sales data, Wednesday.
* Fed rate decision, Wednesday.
* U.S. business inventories, retail sales, empire manufacturing, Wednesday.
* BOE rate decision, Thursday.
* ECB rate decision, Thursday.
* U.S. housing starts, initial jobless claims, industrial production, Thursday.
* BOJ monetary policy decision, Friday.
* S&P Dow Jones Indices quarterly rebalance effective after markets close, Friday.
* “Quadruple witching” day in the U.S. market, when options and futures on indexes and equities expire, Friday.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.9% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.8%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%
* The euro fell 0.3% to $1.1284
* The British pound fell 0.5% to $1.3209
* The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 113.60 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined six basis points to 1.42%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to -0.38%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 0.70%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.7% to $71.18 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,788.10 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Abigail Moses, Vildana Hajric, Emily Graffeo and Michael Msika.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, and disciplined. -Harry Emerson Fosdick, 1878-1969.

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.
December 10, 1968: Japan’s biggest heist, the still unsolved “300 million yen robbery”, occurs in Tokyo.  A man posing as a police officer on a motorcycle stopped a truck transporting money for a bank, stealing over 294 million yen.

1998 Six astronauts opened the doors to the new international space station.  Go to article »
 
Alfred Nobel, d. 1896
Emily Dickinson, poet, b. 1830
Red Cloud, Lakota Chief, d.1909

There’s a certain
Slant of light,
Winter Afternoon,
That oppresses,
Like the Heft of Cathedral Tunes.
                  -Emily Dickinson

New eye drops could replace eyeglasses.

These meat-eating dinosaurs could sprint as fast as Usain Bolt.  You know, there’s a lot that’s wrong with the world, but at least we don’t have ultra-fast meat-eating dinosaurs running around anymore. 

Camels ejected from beauty contest over Botox use and other ‘tampering’.  Sorry, still trying to wrap my head around the phrase “camel beauty contest.” 

Pitchfork’s 50 best albums of 2021.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
A tornado in the sky over the ‘Eternal City’
CREDIT: Antonio Masiello/Getty Images
A sculpture by artist Fabio Viale during the exhibition In Between at Piazzetta Reale
CREDIT: Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images
The coffin of former senator Bob Dole lies in state at the end of the viewing day in the rotunda of the US Capitol
CREDIT: Andrew Harnik/AP

Market Closes for December 10^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35970.99	+216.30
		+0.61%
S&P 500	4712.02	+44.57
		+0.95%
NASDAQ	15630.60	+113.23 +0.73%
TSX	20890.62	-34.87
		-0.17%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28437.77	-287.70
		-1.00%
HANG SENG	23995.72	-259.14
		-1.07%
SENSEX	58786.67	-20.46
		-0.03%
FTSE 100*	7291.78	-29.48 -0.40%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.466	1.512
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.797	1.826
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.4837	1.4990
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8777	1.8763

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7861	0.7867
US $	1.2721	1.2711
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4398	0.6945
US $	1.1318	0.8836

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1776.15	1783.80
Oil
WTI Crude Future	71.67	70.94

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1984, Sandy Lerner and Leonard Bosack—two professors in different academic departments at Stanford who were frustrated by their difficulty in communicating by computer—founded Cisco Systems to make improved network switching equipment.
Canada
By Geoffrey Morgan
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the third straight session Friday, dragged down by companies in the health care, consumer staples and information technologies sectors. The S&P/TSX Composite closed down 0.2%, or 34.87 to 20,890.62 in Toronto. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.2 percent. Canopy Growth Corp. had the largest drop, falling 6.0 percent to C$12.18 per share, its lowest price since Oct. 2017. Today, 137 of 233 shares fell, while 91 rose; 6 of 11 sectors were lower, led by information technology stocks.

Insights
* This year, the index rose 20%, heading for the best year in at least 10 years
* This quarter, the index rose 4.1%
* So far this week, the index rose 1.2%
* The index advanced 19 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 26 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 4.2 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 20.8 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.8 on a trailing basis and 15.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.31t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 14.12 percent compared with 14.46 percent in the previous session and the average of 11.21 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | -32.2890| -1.4| 10/5
* Materials | -14.1965| -0.6| 13/40
* Consumer Staples | -12.5171| -1.6| 8/5
* Health Care | -4.4293| -2.6| 1/8
* Utilities | -1.8600| -0.2| 3/12
* Real Estate | -1.0983| -0.2| 5/19
* Consumer Discretionary | 0.2484| 0.0| 5/8
* Energy | 3.5278| 0.1| 14/7
* Industrials | 3.6918| 0.2| 11/19
* Communication Services | 5.8466| 0.6| 5/2
* Financials | 18.1990| 0.3| 16/12
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -32.8200| -2.2| -9.8| 29.2
* Couche-Tard | -14.3900| -4.7| 620.3| 14.9
* First Quantum Minerals | -4.7180| -4.1| 13.1| 24.6
* Royal Bank of Canada | 4.4500| 0.4| -30.5| 24.5
* Nutrien | 4.5140| 1.3| -11.2| 46.1
* Brookfield Asset Management | 6.3770| 0.9| -57.6| 42.2

US
By Jennifer Bissell-Linsk and Lu Wang
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose to a record Friday after in-line inflation data spurred bets the Federal Reserve won’t have to accelerate plans to tighten monetary policy. The S&P 500 gained 1% and Nasdaq 100 added 1.1% as the headline rate came in at 6.8%, as expected, which is the highest since 1982. Meanwhile, the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury fell to 1.49% as traders trimmed bets on the pace of Fed tightening. Investors had been looking forward to the inflation report and a meeting of the Federal Reserve next week for clues on the pace of tapering and interest rate increases, after Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank should consider withdrawing stimulus at a faster pace.
Gold jumped while the dollar dipped. The in-line reading “is good news, relative to fears going in. People thought it would be much worse,” said Dennis DeBusschere, founder of 22V Research. “It is still a high number to be sure, but should reduce some worries on the Fed having to crush growth.” The report comes as uncertainty from the omicron virus variant has also been weighing on markets.
The U.S. appears to be headed for a holiday crisis as virus cases and hospital admissions climb. Likewise, London firms have started telling thousands of staff to work from home. Still, U.S. consumer sentiment has been improving, with one gauge showing an increase in confidence from a decade-low in November. “We believe the stock market will continue to rise as consumer spending remains strong and corporate profits – for now — are continuing to grow, but increased volatility is likely over the next 6-12 months as inflation, interest rates and Fed policy are all going to be shifting much more rapidly than they have in the past,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance. “The most important thing investors can do is to remain diversified and not lean too heavily into any one area.”

Below is additional commentary from market watchers:
* “The inflation print from this morning will reinforce the Fed’s resolve to accelerate tapering. With the strength in the economic recovery, it is time to take the crutches away.” – Anu Gaggar, global investment strategist for Commonwealth Financial Network
* “The knee jerk reaction is one of relief that CPI didn’t print the 7%-handle. But the data are still strong, particularly the trend in core CPI, so a faster Fed taper will likely result.
Equities should therefore fail to hold these gains.” – Peter Chatwell, head of multi-asset strategy at Mizuho International
* “Stocks are likely rallying because this is exactly what was priced in … The messaging is yes, this is hot, yes, we knew this — and that’s why the market is now able to move onto the next thing that it frets about and that’s the message that we get from the Fed.” – Art Hogan, chief markets strategist at National Securities
* “The market doesn’t like uncertainty and this morning’s muted reaction or rally is likely the result of two things: (1) Thursday’s dip presented another buying opportunity, and (2) the news on inflation was fairly locked in and certain to be high, at or near that 6.7 expectation.” – Sylvia Jablonski, chief investment officer and co-founder of Defiance ETFs
* “Many have felt the effects of inflation in their day-to-day, so this likely isn’t a huge shocker to the market … Though with all systems go on the labor market front, and inflation running white-hot, the Fed is likely feeling the pressure to act.” – Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*Trade Financial

Among company moves, Oracle Corp. shares surged after the software firm’s sales beat estimates, while Moderna Inc. tumbled after results from its experimental seasonal flu shot appeared similar to another vaccine on the market. In Europe, Daimler AG’s trucks division gained in its first trading day as the storied German manufacturer completed a historic spinoff.  Separately, China Evergrande Group Chairman Hui Ka Yan was forced to sell pledged shares in the company, according to disclosures that came a day after the developer was officially labeled a defaulter for the first time.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1% as of 4:03 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1317
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.3267
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 113.44 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 1.49%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.35%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 0.74%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.5% to $72.01 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,782.90 an ounce
–With assistance from Vildana Hajric, Denitsa Tsekova, Natalia Kniazhevich, Cecile Gutscher and Abigail Moses.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one. –Bruce Lee, 1940-1973.

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 Dec. 9, 2000, the United States Supreme Court voted, 5 to 4, to stop the vote counting in Florida, ending Vice President Al Gore’s presidential hopes. Go to article »

2019: World Anti-Doping Agency bans Russia from all major sporting events – including 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 football World Cup om Qatar – for manipulating laboratory data.

Pantone unveils ‘Very Peri’ as its Color of the Year for 2022.   Let’s all have a mellow purple kind of year!

Real Christmas trees may be better for your mental health than fake ones.  Tell that to the millions of pine needles collecting on the floor. 
 
Or, hear me out, let’s try a different extreme sport! It’s called “standing on the ground and being very safe.”

Reviewed: the worst Michelin-starred restaurant ever. 

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
The International Space Station passes the crescent moon as seen from Washington DC
CREDIT: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako look at traditional crafts at the Imperial Palace before the empress’s 58th birthday
CREDIT: Reuters
The visual theatre troupe Mummenschanz, known as the Mumms, perform their stage show 50 Years at Theater 11
CREDIT: Michael Buholzer/EPA

Market Closes for December 9^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35754.69	-0.06
		–%
S&P 500	4667.45	-33.76
		-0.72%
NASDAQ	15517.37	-269.62 -1.71%
TSX	20925.49	-151.86
		-0.72%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28725.47	-135.15
		-0.47%
HANG SENG	24254.86	+257.99
		+1.08%
SENSEX	58807.13	+157.45
		+0.27%
FTSE 100*	7321.26	-15.79 -0.22%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.512	1.593
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.826	1.883
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.4990	1.5161
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8763	1.8887

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7867	0.7904
US $	1.2711	1.2651
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4355	0.6966
US $	1.1292	0.8855

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1783.80	1781.35
Oil
WTI Crude Future	70.94	72.36

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1906, Grace Murray Hopper (nee Grace Brewster Murray) was born in New York City. She later served in the U.S. Navy, rising to the rank of rear admiral, and invented the Cobol computer language, one of the first software programs enabling computers to be used by non-mathematicians. She also invented the term “bug” for a glitch when, in 1945, she opened a malfunctioning computer and captured a moth inside that had been causing electrical relays to fail.
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities slumped for the second day as global markets fell under the weight of potential omicron variant restrictions. The S&P/TSX Composite dropped 0.7 percent, or 151.86 to 20,925.49 in Toronto, the most in more than a week. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.2 percent. Kinross Gold Corp. had the largest drop, falling 10.2 percent after announcing plans to acquire gold and precious metals mining company Great Bear Resources Ltd. Today, 184 of 233 shares fell, while 45 rose; 10 of 11 sectors were lower, led by energy stocks.

Insights
* This year, the index rose 20 percent, heading for the best year in at least 10 years
* This quarter, the index rose 4.3 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 1.4 percent
* The index advanced 19 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 25 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 4 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 21 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.8 percent in the past 5 days and fell 3.1 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.9 on a trailing basis and 15.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.5 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.29t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 14.46 percent compared with 14.48 percent in the previous session and the average of 10.99 percent over the past month

================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Energy | -47.3104| -1.7| 2/21
* Materials | -40.8487| -1.7| 10/44
* Information Technology | -29.7716| -1.2| 1/14
* Industrials | -10.0650| -0.4| 9/21
* Communication Services | -9.4252| -0.9| 0/7
* Financials | -6.2308| -0.1| 4/23
* Health Care | -6.1149| -3.4| 2/7
* Utilities | -4.6445| -0.5| 2/14
* Consumer Discretionary | -3.6885| -0.5| 2/11
* Real Estate | -1.7742| -0.3| 6/16
* Consumer Staples | 8.0013| 1.0| 7/6
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -18.1500| -1.2| -37.8| 32.1
* Enbridge | -8.5750| -1.3| 4.1| 18.0
* Kinross Gold | -6.6550| -10.2| 237.4| -28.4
* Dollarama | 2.3770| 2.1| 54.6| 12.7
* Bank of Nova Scotia| 2.8670| 0.4| 10.8| 24.7
* Couche-Tard | 5.5780| 1.8| 532.6| 20.6

US
By Emily Graffeo and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell and bonds gained as the economic threat of restrictions to control the new omicron variant outweighed optimism about the efficacy of vaccines.  Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 retreated, ending a three-day rally, as losses in consumer discretionary and real estate stocks led the market lower.  Treasuries pared back a rally after a lackluster sale of 30-year bonds. Meanwhile, the Cboe Volatility Index inched higher toward 22. The cost to contain the omicron strain is being tallied up amid mounting concern it will crimp the economic rebound. New work-from-home guidance in the U.K., for instance, could cost the country’s economy £2 billion ($2.6 billion) a month, according to Bloomberg Economics. A study has found omicron is 4.2 times more transmissible than the delta variant in its early stages. “Ultimately the issue from a health perspective is that even if Omicron does prove to be less severe — which the initial indications so far have pointed to — a rise in transmissibility could offset that,” said a team of Deutsche Bank strategists including Jim Reid. That could mean that more people are in the hospital, “even if a lower proportion of them are severely affected.”
The global equity rally faces further potential road bumps ahead from U.S. consumer inflation numbers on Friday and a Federal Reserve meeting next week that may provide clues on the pace of tapering and interest rate increases. The dollar rose Thursday after a report showed applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits declined to the lowest level since 1969. However, economists flagged difficulties in seasonal adjustments to arrive at that figure. On an unadjusted basis, initial claims climbed. “With jobless claims hitting the lowest level in over five decades, this is a loud and clear sign that we’re making strides toward a full economic recovery despite some bumps along the way,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*TRADE Financial. “As full employment seemingly becomes a reality, the Fed will be forced to focus more on taming inflation, which has no doubt been an ongoing concern for investors.”
In Europe, stocks reversed earlier gains to trade slightly lower. Among individual moves, Electricite de France SA fell with the government considering a cap on regulated power tariffs to help curb soaring electricity prices. Meanwhile, UniCredit SpA rose after saying it will return at least 16 billion euros ($18.1 billion) to shareholders by 2024. In Asia, China Evergrande Group and Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. officially defaulted on their dollar debt, while the People’s Bank of China raised its foreign currency reserve requirement ratio for a second time this year after the yuan climbed to the highest since 2018. 

Here are some key events to watch this week:
* U.S. CPI Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World index fell 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro fell 0.4% to $1.1294
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3218
* The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 113.45 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 1.49%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to -0.35%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.76%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.6% to $70.47 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.5% to $1,775.90 an ounce
–With assistance from Abigail Moses and Andreea Papuc.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

One important key to success is self-confidence.  An important key to self-confidence is preparation. –Artur Ashe, 1943-1993.

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 Dec. 8, 1941, the United States entered World War II as Congress declared war against Japan one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
80 years ago today. Go to article »

December 8, 2020: The UK begins vaccinating for COVD-19 using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

Diego Rivera, painter, b. 1886
Mary, Queen of Scots, b.1542
Horace, b.65 BC.
Jim Morrison, singer, b. 1943.

A third Pfizer shot might take care of omicron.

Museum T. rex gets a nice Christmas sweater. (h/t Ellen Kominers) 

Camels kicked out of Saudi beauty contest for using Botox. (h/t Mike Smedley)

Gravitational waves should permanently scar space-time.

Here’s what people Googled in 2021.  Is there anything more intimate, more revealing than someone’s Google search history? Probably not. 

These are the words we mispronounced the most this year.  If you still have trouble with “Chipotle,” you’re not alone

These are the best bars in the world for 2021.  Every single one of these looks like something you’d see in a James Bond film.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Nasa spacewalker Kayla Barron is pictured during a six-hour and 32 minute spacewalk to replace a failed antenna system on the International Space Station’s Port-1 truss structure.
CREDIT: Mark Garcia/Nasa
People walk on white streets after the first snowfalls in Italy.
CREDIT: Tino Romano/EPA
Former German chancellor Angela Merkel and her replacement, Olaf Scholz, attend the official handing-over ceremony.
CREDIT: Clemens Bilan/EPA

Market Closes for December 8^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35754.75	+35.32
		+0.10%
S&P 500	4701.21	+14.46
		+0.31%
NASDAQ	15786.99	+100.07 +0.64%
TSX	21077.35	-85.30
		-0.40%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28860.62	+405.02
		+1.42%
HANG SENG	23996.87	+13.21
		+0.06%
SENSEX	58649.68	+1016.03
		+1.76%
FTSE 100*	7337.05	-2.85 -0.04%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.593	1.582
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.883	1.829
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.5161	1.4733
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8887	1.8025

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7904	0.7908
US $	1.2651	1.2646
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4350	0.6969
US $	1.1343	0.8816

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1781.35	1778.65
Oil
WTI Crude Future	72.36	72.05

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1941, as the news that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor filtered through the market, the S&P 500 dropped 4.37%, one of its worst-one day declines ever.
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell as companies in the technology sector tumbled. The Bank of Canada maintained its rate, but cautioned that the omicron variant could cause continued uncertainty amid rising inflation. The S&P TSX Composite Index dropped 0.4% at 21,077.35 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s increase of 1.4%. Nuvei Corp. contributed the most to the index decline and had the largest move, decreasing 40.4%, after a Spruce Point Capital short report said the shares could decline further from current levels. Today, 126 of 233 shares fell, while 100 rose; 7 of 11 sectors were lower, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 21%, heading for the best year in at least 10 years
* This quarter, the index rose 5%
* The index advanced 19% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 25% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.3% below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 21.9% above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 3% in the past 5 days and fell 2.2% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19 on a trailing basis and 16.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.5% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.34t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 14.48% compared with 14.84% in the previous session and the average of 10.80% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | -30.1544| -1.2| 3/12
* Industrials | -26.0351| -1.1| 10/20
* Energy | -18.4405| -0.7| 6/15
* Financials | -13.4751| -0.2| 7/20
* Communication Services | -6.5871| -0.7| 3/3
* Consumer Discretionary | -5.1060| -0.7| 0/13
* Utilities | -3.1230| -0.3| 6/10
* Real Estate | 0.7828| 0.1| 16/8
* Health Care | 2.2698| 1.3| 8/1
* Consumer Staples | 6.7374| 0.9| 6/7
* Materials | 7.8105| 0.3| 35/17
================================================================
| | | | YTD
|Index Points| | Volume VS | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change |20D AVG (%)| (%)
================================================================
* Nuvei | -21.4200| -40.4| 1,190.9| -6.0
* Brookfield Asset Management | -6.7850| -0.9| -56.3| 41.4
* Royal Bank of Canada | -6.7270| -0.5| -25.8| 24.0
* Nutrien | 2.2190| 0.6| -18.8| 46.0
* TD Bank | 6.9550| 0.6| -11.5| 32.7
* Couche-Tard | 10.6100| 3.8| 5,931.3| 18.4

US
By Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities rose Wednesday with the S&P 500 securing its biggest three-day rally of the year. The benchmark index gained 0.3% and the Nasdaq 100 added 0.4% as fears over the omicron virus variant eased after Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE said early lab studies showed a third dose of their Covid-19 vaccine neutralizes the variant. “Risk assets are recovering this week after a bout of turbulence sparked by the emergence of the new virus variant,” said Art Hogan, chief markets strategist at National Securities. “Early studies showed vaccines provide a partial shield against the new variant. So far, omicron cases haven’t overwhelmed hospitals and vaccine developments are encouraging.” Travel shares gained with airlines including American Airlines Group Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc. higher.
However, losses in consumer staples and financials weighed on the market as technology shares struggled for direction. Wall Street analysts expect the market to remain volatile until there is more clarity on the omicron variant’s threat to the economy, which if low, should allow the market’s focus to return to the  Federal Reserve.  “If omicron concerns continue to fade, attention will shift back to the Fed and the outlook for growth,” Dennis DeBusschere of 22V Research wrote in a note to clients.  “We’re really in a new regime here,” Alicia Levine, head of equities and capital markets advisory at BNY Mellon Wealth Management, said of the Fed’s hawkish tilt on Bloomberg TV.  “And with that comes implications for asset classes.”
Treasury yields advanced, with the 10 year rising to 1.52%. The dollar dipped and crude oil gained. Meanwhile, in Europe, stocks fell 0.6% with market sentiment hurt by reports that the U.K. is close to announcing new curbs, including vaccine passports for large venues and an order to work from home. “All of this whipsawing around, I don’t think you have an easy time pointing to one particular news item each day over the last several days that’s caused it,” said Tim Courtney, chief investment officer at Exencial Wealth Advisors. “We’ve gone 20 months and still have not had a correction, and I think that is fueling some volatility.”

Here are some key events to watch this week:
* Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari speaks Thursday
* Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe speaks Thursday
* China CPI, PPI, money supply, new yuan loans, aggregate financing Thursday
* U.S. CPI Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World index rose 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
* The euro rose 0.7% to $1.1348
* The British pound fell 0.1% to $1.3230
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 113.67 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 1.52%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced six basis points to -0.31%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 0.78%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.8% to $72.60 a barrel
* Gold futures were little changed
–With assistance from Peyton Forte, Emily Graffeo and Cecile Gutscher.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

A man can stand a lot as long as he can stand himself.  -Axel Munthe, 1857-1949.

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 Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese warplanes attacked the home base of the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, drawing the United States into World War II.
More than 2,300 Americans were killed. Go to article »

2020~ Coca-Cola named the world’s No. 1 plastic polluter in annual brand audit by Break Free from Plastic
Over 90% of the global ocean’s plastic waste comes from just 10 rivers, 8 of which are in Asia and 2 of which are in Africa.543

“Face with tears of joy” is 2021’s most used emoji.

Instagram will now tell users when to take a break from using the app.  It could be a helpful reminder, or people could just keep scrolling anyway — just a  little guiltier afterward. 

The United Arab Emirates has rescheduled the weekend.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Snow blankets the roofs of the historic old town in North Rhine-Westphalia
CREDIT: Federico Gambarini/AP
Eliza Homer (right), four, enjoys the Winter Glow outdoor light trail at Three Counties showground in Malvern, UK
CREDIT: Jacob King/PA
A boy fishes at sunset at Bang Tao beach, on Phuket’s west coast
CREDIT: Jorge Silva/Reuters

Market Closes for December 7^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35719.43	+492.40
		+1.40%
S&P 500	4686.75	+95.08
		+2.07%
NASDAQ	15686.92	+461.77 +3.03%
TSX	21162.65	+301.55
		+1.45%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28455.60	+528.23
		+1.89%
HANG SENG	23983.66	+634.28
		+2.72%
SENSEX	57633.65	+886.51
		+1.56%
FTSE 100*	7339.90	+107.62 +1.49%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.582	1.525
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.829	1.798
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.4733	1.4342
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8025	1.7704

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7908	0.7838
US $	1.2646	1.2758
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4250	0.7017
US $	1.1268	0.8875

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1778.65	1767.55
Oil
WTI Crude Future	72.05	69.49

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1880, Ferdinand de Lesseps’ Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoceanique, organized to finance construction of the Panama Canal, went public in Paris at 500 francs, equivalent to around $100, a share. De Lesseps bribed the French press with more than $300,000 in slush money, so the newspapers were enthusiastic—and the public went wild, as more than 100,000 people bought into the IPO. Within eight years the company collapsed and the shares became worthless.
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks jumped to the highest in more than a week as companies in the information technology and energy sectors climbed amid waning omicron fears.  The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 1.4 percent, or 301.55 to 21,162.65 in Toronto. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 5.5 percent. Real Matters Inc. had the largest increase, rising 15.9 percent. Today, 198 of 233 shares rose, while 32 fell; all sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain three times. The next day, it advanced twice for an average 0.6 percent and declined 0.6 percent once
* This year, the index rose 21 percent, heading for the best year in at least 10 years
* This quarter, the index rose 5.4 percent
* The index advanced 20 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 25 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.9 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 22.3 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.4 percent in the past 5 days and fell 1.4 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.1 on a trailing basis and 16.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.5 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.29t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 14.84 percent compared with 14.52 percent in the previous session and the average of 10.63 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | 94.5938| 4.1| 13/2
* Energy | 60.3528| 2.2| 22/1
* Financials | 57.7508| 0.9| 28/0
* Materials | 26.8066| 1.1| 47/7
* Industrials | 23.3252| 0.9| 25/5
* Consumer Discretionary | 16.4542| 2.2| 12/1
* Consumer Staples | 6.7580| 0.9| 11/2
* Utilities | 6.6018| 0.7| 12/3
* Health Care | 5.0975| 3.0| 9/0
* Real Estate | 3.4538| 0.5| 17/7
* Communication Services | 0.3523| 0.0| 2/4
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 79.1000| 5.5| 33.2| 33.9
* Brookfield Asset
* Management | 14.2800| 1.9| -30.4| 42.7
* Royal Bank of Canada | 12.4700| 1.0| -29.4| 24.6
* CGI Inc | -0.8210| -0.5| -25.8| 8.5
* Barrick Gold | -1.1110| -0.4| 29.7| -17.4
* Waste Connections | -2.2250| -0.7| 22.9| 31.1

US
By Vildana Hajric and Emily Graffeo
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks staged the biggest rally in nine months, with major averages climbing at least 2% on optimism the omicron variant won’t derail global growth. Treasuries fell, sending two-year yields to the highest since March 2020. Technology shares that led last week’s decline paced the rebound. The Nasdaq 100 Index surged 3%, an ETF that tracks newly public companies jumped 5% and small caps climbed 2%. The S&P 500 erased all the losses suffered after Jerome Powell’s hawkish tilt a week ago and was just 0.3% below its last close before the omicron variant rocked markets. The Cboe Volatility Index plunged five points to 22.
The dollar dipped and crude rose above $71 a barrel in New York. Risk assets are recovering this week after initial data showed the surge in omicron cases hasn’t overwhelmed hospitals and as China moved to expand support for the economy. Among the riskiest assets, a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. basket of non-profitable tech firms jumped nearly 6% Tuesday, clawing back almost half of last week’s losses.  “The market mood has been notably more upbeat this week after several health experts across the globe, including the U.S.’s Dr. Anthony Fauci, have said omicron symptoms appear milder, so far,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior financial markets analyst at City Index. “Whilst it is still early days, the encouraging news sparked bargain hunters into action.
Who would want to miss out on the possibility that a milder variant could accelerate natural immunity to Covid?” On the data front, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed while third quarter productivity fell. Private consumption was the largest contributor to the euro area’s most recent economic expansion. U.K. house prices hit an all-time high. And China’s exports grew faster than expected to a record on external demand and an easing power crunch. Additionally, research showed that a Covid-19 vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Canada’s Medicago Inc. was effective against multiple variants of the disease. Congress also reached a deal to raise the nation’s debt ceiling. “This morning’s rally is being fueled by the belief that the omicron variant will not create many problems for the global economy and that China has pledged measures to support economic growth,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist for Miller Tabak + Co. “If those were the reasons why the market has seen such a big increase in volatility since Thanksgiving, we’d agree the worst is likely over and that investors should jump back into the market with both feet.”
However, equity markets could still be in for further turbulence amid new restrictions to stem the spread of omicron and resurfacing geopolitical tensions. The threat of sanctions still loom if Russia invades Ukraine, following a call between U.S. and Russian leaders Tuesday. China threatened the U.S. with retaliation against its decision to declare a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics. And Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that U.S. reliance on foreign supply chains has proved a vulnerability, boosting policies that may be considered protectionist. With possible headwinds ahead, George Pearkes, global macro strategist at Bespoke Investment Group, said the tech rally “feels really extreme.”  “Mostly this just feels like a counter-trend move after some big negative catalysts and sentiment challenges hit the market over the past couple of weeks, but I’m surprised it’s as large as it is,” he said.

Here are some key events to watch this week:
* Reserve Bank of India rate decision Wednesday
* Olaf Scholz set to replace Angela Merkel as chancellor Wednesday
* European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde speaks at a conference Wednesday
* Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari speaks Thursday
* Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe speaks Thursday
* China CPI, PPI, money supply, new yuan loans, aggregate financing Thursday
* U.S. CPI Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 2.1% as of 4:05 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4%
* The MSCI World index rose 2.1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1266
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3239
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 113.54 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 1.47%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to -0.38%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.73%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.1% to $71.65 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,785.80 an ounce
–With assistance from Abigail Moses, Andreea Papuc, Shen Hong and Katie Greifeld.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true.  I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light I have. -Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1965.

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 Monday.

December 6, 1897~London becomes the world’s first city to host licensed taxicabs.  The term “taxicab” was firs used in the late 1800s when the single horse-drawn Hansom cab invented in 1834 by architect Joseph Hansom was refined and redesigned by John Chapman to include a mechanized taximeter to measure journey fares.

1996~Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan questioned whether the stock market was overvalued due to investors’ “irrational exuberance.” 
The 25th Anniversary of “Irrational Exuberance”.  Go to article »
1865~13^th Amendment ratified.  Slavery abolished.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
The northern lights over Arabaar farm in southern Iceland
CREDIT: Owen Humphreys/PA
The Japanese-US surfer Kanoa Igarashi rides a wave on day 4 of the World Surf League Haleiwa Challenger
CREDIT: Brian Bielmann/AFP/Getty Images
Actors dressed as spies from the early 1900s visit Covent Garden during a tour of London landmarks to promote a new film, The King’s Man
CREDIT: Ben Queenborough/Rex/Shutterstock

Market Closes for December 6th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35227.03	+646.95
		+1.87%
S&P 500	4591.67	+53.24
		+1.17%
NASDAQ	15225.15	+139.68 +0.93%
TSX	20861.10	+227.83
		+1.10%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27927.37	-102.20
		-0.36%
HANG SENG	23349.38	-417.31
		-1.76%
SENSEX	56747.17	-949.32
		-1.65%
FTSE 100*	7232.28	+109.96 +1.54%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.525	1.439
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.798	1.732
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.4342	1.3430
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.7704	1.6727

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7838	0.7785
US $	1.2758	1.2846
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4397	0.6946
US $	1.1284	0.8862

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1767.55	1765.00
Oil
WTI Crude Future	69.49	66.26

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1994, Orange County, Calif., filed for bankruptcy protection after Robert Citron, its chief investment officer, lost billions of dollars speculating on derivatives and betting that interest rates would not rise. When asked (a year earlier) why this wasn’t risky, Mr. Citron said, “I am one of the largest investors in America. I know these things.”
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose as markets rebounded from last week’s selloff, led higher by financial and energy stocks. The S&P/TSX Composite climbed 1.1 percent to 20,861.10 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.6 percent. Today, financials stocks led the market higher, as all sectors gained; 211 of 233 shares rose, while 20 fell. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.7 percent. Dye & Durham Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 9.3 percent.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain 11 times. The next day, it advanced seven times for an average 0.4 percent and declined four times for an average 0.8 percent
* This year, the index rose 20 percent, heading for the best year in at least 10 years
* This quarter, the index rose 3.9 percent
* The index advanced 19 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 22 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 4.3 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 20.6 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.4 percent in the past 5 days and fell 2.8 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.8 on a trailing basis and 15.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.25t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 14.52 percent compared with 14.13 percent in the previous session and the average of 10.43 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 41.0299| 0.6| 25/3
* Energy | 40.4481| 1.5| 19/4
* Industrials | 36.3163| 1.5| 26/3
* Information Technology | 27.3919| 1.2| 15/0
* Materials | 25.8380| 1.1| 48/6
* Consumer Discretionary | 15.8987| 2.2| 13/0
* Consumer Staples | 12.5284| 1.7| 13/0
* Utilities | 9.6501| 1.0| 16/0
* Real Estate | 9.6040| 1.5| 22/2
* Communication Services | 5.9312| 0.6| 5/2
* Health Care | 3.1853| 1.9| 9/0
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Brookfield Asset Management | 19.6500| 2.7| -29.8| 40.0
* Canadian Natural Resources | 15.0700| 3.5| 250.4| 75.6
* Canadian Pacific | 14.7700| 3.6| 32.4| 3.7
* TC Energy | -0.8840| -0.2| 65.7| 13.8
* Tourmaline Oil | -1.3270| -1.5| -3.7| 139.4
* TD Bank | -14.4200| -1.2| -13.6| 31.3

US
By Peyton Forte and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities rebounded from Friday’s selloff as investors took comfort in reports that cases of the omicron variant have been relatively mild. The S&P 500 rose 1.2%, erasing last week’s losses, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 gained 0.9%. The mood across markets was calmer on Monday as investors pointed to good news from South Africa that showed hospitals haven’t been overwhelmed by the latest wave of Covid cases. However, the Cboe volatility index remained elevated. “Although we do expect this volatility to continue, it very well could be a buying opportunity,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at LPL Financial, in a note. “We’ve been living with Covid-19 for more than 20 months now. We’ve seen several variants and managed to move forward, and we expect a similar playbook to work once again.”
Oil rose after Saudi Arabia boosted crude prices, signaling confidence in the demand outlook. U.S. natural gas fell on forecasts for warmer weather, easing some previous inflationary pressures. And the 10-year Treasury yield advanced to 1.43%. Initial data from South Africa are “a bit encouraging regarding the severity,” Anthony Fauci, U.S. President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said on Sunday. Though, at the same time, he cautioned that it’s too early to be definitive. “Admittedly, we don’t know how effective current vaccines are against omicron, or how transmissible it is, but we do know that the appetite for another nationwide shutdown is quite low and that these questions should be answered over the coming weeks,” Detrick said. The VIX, or so-called fear gauge, fell roughly three points to 27 on Monday after it failed to initially match a high corresponding to when the S&P 500 dropped below its Sept. 20 low last week. “That marked the beginning of what turned out to be the strongest October rally since 2015,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading at E*TRADE Financial.
“While past is rarely prologue, it should give seasoned traders out there something to think about … This suggests reduced volatility concerns even though the market had fallen to fresh lows.” The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 1.3% while shares in Japan, China and Hong Kong fell on tech weakness. Evergrande’s dollar bonds declined sharply and shares plunged 20% to a record low after the firm moved closer to a debt restructuring. China also cut the amount of cash most banks must hold in reserve, acting to counter the economic slowdown in a move that puts its central bank on a different policy path than many of its peers. Later this week, attention will turn to U.S. consumer price index, which is expected to show the largest annual advance in decades, giving the Federal Reserve more leeway to deliver swifter policy tightening in its more hawkish tilt. “That’s a set up where stocks can continue to rally, although I think we all need to expect a more ‘normal’ 2022 from a return standpoint,” wrote Tom Essaye, a former Merrill Lynch trader who founded “The Sevens Report” newsletter. “Once the market accepts this new Fed paradigm, the reality will set in that the Fed is still very accommodative. QE is still ongoing and even if there are two rate increases in 2022, that still puts the Fed funds rate well below 1% at year-end.”

Here are some key events to watch this week:
* Reserve Bank of Australia policy decision Tuesday
* Euro area GDP Tuesday
* Reserve Bank of India rate decision Wednesday
* Olaf Scholz set to replace Angela Merkel as chancellor Wednesday
* European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde speaks at a conference Wednesday
* Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari speaks Thursday
* Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe speaks Thursday
* China CPI, PPI, money supply, new yuan loans, aggregate financing Thursday
* U.S. CPI Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.9%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.9%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.8%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.3% to $1.1283
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3257
* The Japanese yen fell 0.6% to 113.48 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced eight basis points to 1.43%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.39%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 0.74%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 5.3% to $69.80 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,780 an ounce
–With assistance from Emily Graffeo.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. –Albert Einstein, 1879-1955.

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 Dec. 3, 1984, more than 4,000 people died after a cloud of gas escaped from a pesticide plant operated by a Union Carbide subsidiary in Bhopal, India. Go to article »

Joseph Conrad, author, b. 1857.
Maria Callas, singer, b. 1923.
Julianne Moore, actress, b. 1961.

Hundreds of birds dropped dead in Spain. (h/t Scott Kominers) 

Lego has made a set that can’t be taken apart.

It’s December and it hasn’t snowed in Denver yet.  Denver has never entered December without measurable snow since it started keeping records back when Chester A. Arthur was President.

But there are blizzard warnings for Hawaii???  There could be up to a foot of snow and 100-mph wind gusts!

There’s a shortage of Santas this holiday season.  Yet another supply chain disruption caused by the pandemic.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
The chocolate box village of Prestbury, on the western edge of the Cotswolds and close to Cheltenham racecourse, is home, supposedly, to more than two dozen ghosts – including the Black Abbott in the churchyard and spectral shepherd on Swindon Lane. More comforting is 17th century thatched Shaw Green Cottage, tucked away down a lane with a garden on both sides. It is Grade II-listed with flagstone floors, timber beams and uprights, marble worktops and a deep butler sink. The inglenook fireplace is used as a wine store. £595,000. Knight Frank, 01242 246 951
CREDIT: Knight Frank
Anthony Van Dyck’s Portrait of Jacob De Witte and Portrait of Maria Nutius go on view at Sotheby’s before a sale on 8 December
CREDIT: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Sotheby’s
A tarantula is boxed at El Dorado international airport. Authorities seized 232 tarantulas, a scorpion with seven young, nine spider eggs and 67 cockroaches that were bound for Germany. The specimens were carried in a suitcase by two Germans who said the animals were wanted for academic and research purposes
CREDIT: Secretary for the Environment/EPA

Market Closes for December 3rd, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34580.08	-59.71
		-0.17%
S&P 500	4538.43	-38.67
		-0.84%
NASDAQ	15085.47	-295.85 -1.92%
TSX	20633.27	-128.76
		-0.62%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28029.57	+276.20
		+1.00%
HANG SENG	23766.69	-22.24
		-0.09%
SENSEX	57696.46	-764.83
		-1.31%
FTSE 100*	7122.32	-6.89 -0.10%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.439	1.507
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.732	1.814
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.3430	1.4443
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.6727	1.7625

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7785	0.7810
US $	1.2846	1.2804
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4533	0.6881
US $	1.1314	0.8839

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1765.00	1789.25
Oil
WTI Crude Future	66.26	66.50

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1998, shares in Temco Service Industries, a tiny building-maintenance firm, suddenly they went bonkers, leaping 126% in a few minutes on record volume. The reason: Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch went public under the ticker symbol TMCS, which some traders confused with Temco’s ticker symbol TMCO.
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities sank as markets whipsaw amid concerns over the omicron variant. The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.6 percent to 20,633.27 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s increase of 1.5 percent. Shopify contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.4 percent. Lithium Americas Corp. had the largest drop, falling 8.7 percent. Today, 157 of 233 shares fell, while 71 rose; 10 of 11 sectors were lower.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 18 percent, poised for the best year since 2019
* This quarter, the index rose 2.8 percent
* This week, the index fell 2.3 percent, the biggest decline since the week ended Jan. 29
* The index advanced 19 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 22 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 5.3 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 19.3 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.7 on a trailing basis and 15.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.28t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 14.13 percent compared with 14.09 percent in the previous session and the average of 10.22 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | -57.3564| -2.4| 1/14
* Industrials | -24.5109| -1.0| 2/27
* Financials | -21.2513| -0.3| 7/21
* Energy | -10.7991| -0.4| 11/10
* Consumer Discretionary | -6.5975| -0.9| 4/9
* Real Estate | -6.4946| -1.0| 3/21
* Health Care | -3.7515| -2.2| 2/7
* Materials | -0.5792| 0.0| 24/30
* Consumer Staples | -0.1087| 0.0| 5/8
* Utilities | -0.0677| 0.0| 7/8
* Communication Services | 2.7694| 0.3| 5/2
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -34.6600| -2.4| 36.0| 25.9
* Brookfield Asset Management | -20.5600| -2.8| -30.0| 36.3
* TD Bank | -11.5100| -0.9| 1.5| 32.9
* Royal Bank of Canada | 4.9470| 0.4| -22.8| 23.0
* CIBC | 8.8050| 2.1| 24.0| 28.9
* Bank of Montreal | 14.2600| 2.4| 58.9| 42.6

US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — In a week marked by vertiginous swings in financial markets, a sharp selloff in huge technology companies dragged down stocks on Friday. Traders just had a lot to digest over the past few days, from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish tilt to uncertainty about how the omicron coronavirus outbreak could affect the global reopening. A mixed U.S. jobs report did nothing to prevent another bout of intense volatility. The reason is: there’s a perception that the data wouldn’t be a game changer, with policy makers likely to follow through with faster tapering of asset purchases amid elevated inflation. Stocks extended their weekly slide. Electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc. sank about 6.5% and Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. approached a bear market after a 19.7% plunge from a recent peak. Apple Inc. slipped after news reports that phones of a number of U.S. State Department employees were hacked. China’s companies listed in the U.S. slid amid ride-hailing giant Didi Global Inc.’s preparations to leave American exchanges and regulators’ plans to force foreign firms to open their books or risk delisting. Haven assets like Treasuries, the Japanese yen, the Swiss franc and gold climbed.

Comments:
* “Today’s non-farm payroll report looks ‘messy’ to me. Best to wait for the revisions next month before sounding the stagflation alarm too loudly. And, if you think this report will push back the accelerated taper mentioned by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell this week, you would be mistaken,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner for Harris Financial Group.
* “The economy is strong, but the labor market is reaching its full potential, and inflationary forces are already elevated, which is why the Fed is feeling more urgency to complete their tapering early,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance.
* “This is a reminder of the uncertainty on the pace of the jobs recovery. It will give the Federal Reserve pause as it considers accelerating its monetary policy tightening. A slower pace would be welcomed by markets,” said Ben Laidler, global markets strategist at multi-asset investment platform eToro.  The U.S. Treasury again stopped short of labeling any foreign economies as manipulators of their exchange rates, while continuing to say that Taiwan and Vietnam met all three criteria for the designation. Switzerland dropped off the list, last published in April, of countries exceeding the three thresholds, with officials saying it violated two of the criteria while narrowly missing a third.
The Fed’s march toward higher rates presents greater risk for stock investors, and the likelihood of a correction in the S&P 500 next year is “elevated,” according to Bank of America’s Savita Subramanian.
“We are in an environment where the dividend yield on the S&P 500 is below where cash yields are likely to be in a year or two,” the strategist told Bloomberg TV.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.8% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.7%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.8%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.1310
* The British pound fell 0.5% to $1.3239
* The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 112.74 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined nine basis points to 1.36%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to -0.39%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined six basis points to 0.75%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.2% to $66.37 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 1.2% to $1,783.80 an ounce
–With assistance from Sunil Jagtiani, Robert Brand and Sophie Caronello.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

If you would take, you must first give, this is the beginning of intelligence. -Lao Tzu, 571 BCE-c. 5^th century BCE

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:
December 2, 1969~1969 The Boeing 747 jumbo jet debuted.  Go to article »

December 2, 2020~The UK licenses the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use.
1823~ Monroe Doctrine declared.
Britney Speares, singer, b. 1981.
George Seurat, painter, b. 1859.

Today’s date is a palindrome and an ambigram; you can read it upside down. (h/t Scott Kominers) 

Look back at the year 2021 in pictures.  You’ll gasp, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry … and then cry a little more …

Astronauts celebrate record-breaking chile harvest in space with taco night.  Space tacos! Space tacos!
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
The Rockettes perform at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony
CREDIT: NBC/Getty Images
A man fishes at North Lake in Irvine. Dense fog covered much of Orange County
CREDIT: Paul Bersebach/AP
People visit Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North after overnight snowfall
CREDIT: Lee Smith/Reuters

Market Closes for December 2^nd, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	34639.79	+617.75
		+1.82%
S&P 500	4577.10	+64.06
		+1.42%
NASDAQ	15381.32	+127.27 +0.83%
TSX	20762.03	+297.43
		+1.45%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27753.37	-182.25
		-0.65%
HANG SENG	23788.93	+130.01
		+0.55%
SENSEX	58461.29	+776.50
		+1.35%
FTSE 100*	7129.21	-39.47 -0.55%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.507	1.496
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.814	1.813
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.4443	1.4037
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.7625	1.7393

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7810	0.7801
US $	1.2804	1.2819
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4469	0.6911
US $	1.1301	0.8849

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1789.25	1804.40
Oil
WTI Crude Future	66.50	65.57

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1941, Theodore Benna, the future creator of the 401(k), was born in Manns Choice, Pa.
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities surged as investors bought the dip after a two-day plunge. S&P/TSX Composite rose 1.5 percent to 20,762.03 in Toronto. The move was the biggest gain since April 1 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.9 percent. Today, financial stocks led the market higher, as 10 of 11 sectors gained; 177 of 233 shares rose, while 55 fell. Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.9 percent. Bombardier Inc. had the largest increase, rising 8.4 percent.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain two times. The next day, it advanced after both occasions
* This year, the index rose 19 percent, poised for the best year since 2019
* This quarter, the index rose 3.4 percent
* So far this week, the index fell 1.7 percent
* The index advanced 20 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 23 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 4.7 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 20.6 percent above its low on Dec. 2, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 3.9 percent in the past 5 days and fell 1.9 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.7 on a trailing basis and 15.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.23t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 14.09 percent compared with 13.29 percent in the previous session and the average of 10.06 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 141.8309| 2.2| 25/3
* Industrials | 47.2973| 2.0| 27/3
* Energy | 32.8865| 1.2| 21/2
* Consumer Staples | 19.3130| 2.7| 13/0
* Consumer Discretionary | 18.9955| 2.6| 11/2
* Communication Services | 13.3037| 1.3| 7/0
* Real Estate | 12.1232| 1.9| 23/1
* Information Technology | 5.0505| 0.2| 12/3
* Health Care | 4.3114| 2.6| 9/0
* Utilities | 2.3527| 0.3| 9/6
* Materials | -0.0404| 0.0| 20/35
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* TD Bank | 57.1500| 4.9| 51.3| 34.2
* Royal Bank of Canada | 23.7400| 1.9| 48.8| 22.5
* Brookfield Asset | | | |
* Management | 21.2700| 3.0| -24.3| 40.2
* Franco-Nevada | -4.0730| -1.8| 11.9| 4.7
* CIBC | -12.4300| -2.8| 155.6| 26.3
* Shopify | -15.1600| -1.0| 12.4| 29.0

US
By Rita Nazareth and Peyton Forte
(Bloomberg) — Stocks notched their biggest advance since October as dip buyers scooped up some of the hardest-hit shares during a two-day selloff. Treasuries retreated. Companies that stand to benefit the most from economic growth drove gains in the S&P 500, with small caps and travel stocks surging.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed almost 2%, led by aerospace giant Boeing Co.  Tech shares underperformed. The U.S. is inching ahead on efforts to boot Chinese firms off stock exchanges for not complying with disclosure requirements. Volatility has gripped financial markets this week, stirred by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish tone and the spread of the omicron coronavirus strain. The turmoil may offer investors a chance to position for a trend reversal in reopening and commodity trades, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists.
While it’s likely that the variant is more transmissible, early reports suggest it may also be less deadly, they added. “What we’re seeing is the propensity to buy the dip,” said Aoifinn Devitt, chief investment officer at Moneta Group. “And why are we buying the dip? Because there’s just so much money sitting on the sidelines. Even though these short bouts of volatility are surprising and certainly have sent a chill through markets, we still have a significant bank of equity returns to enjoy year to date.” Applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits rose by less than forecast last week, suggesting additional progress in the job market. The figures came a day before the monthly employment report, which is projected to show payrolls increased by 550,000 in November. Fed Governor Randal Quarles, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and his San Francisco counterpart Mary Daly laid out the case for speeding up the removal of policy support amid higher inflation — adding their voices to the message delivered by Powell this week. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said sheunderstands the “reasoning” behind the central bank’s plans to reduce asset purchases.

Some other corporate highlights:
* Apple Inc. told its component suppliers that demand for the iPhone 13 lineup has weakened, people familiar with the matter said.
* U.S. antitrust officials sued to block Nvidia Corp.’s proposed $40 billion takeover of Arm Ltd., saying the deal would harm competition in the semiconductor market.
* Exxon Mobil Corp. will award U.S. employees below-inflation pay increases in early 2022. The oil giant will boost salaries by an average of 3.6% for those who performed with “merit,” according to a company document seen by Bloomberg.
* Grab Holdings Ltd., Southeast Asia’s biggest ride-hailing and delivery company, sank in its first day of trading after completing its merger with Altimeter Growth Corp., the largest deal yet for a special-purpose acquisition company.

Oil prices are primed for gains as Thursday’s decision by OPEC+ to proceed with planned production increases won’t derail an ongoing structural bull market, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The investment bank sees “very clear upside risks” to its forecast for Brent to average $85 a barrel in 2023.
Key events to watch this week:
* U.S. jobs report, factory orders, durable goods on Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.8%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.7%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 2.7%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1300
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3299
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 113.17 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 1.43%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to -0.37%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 0.81%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2% to $66.90 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.8% to $1,769.30 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Robert Brand, Vildana Hajric and Sophie Caronello.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Intuition is perception via the unconscious. –Carl Jung, 1875-1961.

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