Month: January 2022

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
2005: A European space probe sent back the first detailed pictures of the frozen surface of Saturn’s moon, Titan.  Above is a view of Titan’s surface as the Probe was on approach.  Go to article » 

1963: “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath based on the author’s own struggles with mental illness is published by Heinemann in the UK.  The novel ends with the protagonist entering a conference with her doctors, who will decide whether she can leave the hospital and return to school.  The author commits suicide a month later.

1784:  End of the American Revolution.

Coachella 2022 lineup announced.  You can tell how fast you are aging by how many artists you can’t recognize on major festival lineups. 

‘Exquisite’ 2,000-year-old Roman figure found during railway excavation.  Archaeology is cool, but so is leaving-cursed-objects-in-the-ground-where-you-found-them-ology! Let’s practice some of that! 
 
‘Baby Shark’ becomes the first YouTube video to hit 10 billion views.  That’s one view for every time it’s looped through your brain against your will

Homo sapiens may be even older than we thought.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Welsh mountain ponies graze in the mist and rain on the salt marsh near Crofty.
CREDIT: Joann Randles/Cover Images

A beluga whale hunts schools of fish under the frozen surface of Amur Bay, near the Tokarevskiy lighthouse, Russia
CREDIT: Yuri Smityuk/Tass

Migratory birds on a tree in a lake in front of one of the palaces of Iraq’s late deposed president Saddam Hussein, near Baghdad airport, as flocks of birds fly over Iraq in winter searching for warmer territories
CREDIT: Sabah Arar/AFP/Getty Images

Monkeys sit on a roadside in Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, India
CREDIT: Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

A fox is seen in a wintry forest, Kyiv region, central Ukraine
CREDIT: Future Publishing/Getty Images

Market Closes for January 14^th, 2022

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	35911.81	-201.81
		-0.56%
S&P 500	4662.85	+3.82
		+0.08%
NASDAQ	14893.75	+86.94 +0.59%
TSX	21357.56	+64.60
		+0.30%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28124.28	-364.85
		-1.28%
HANG SENG	24383.32	-46.45
		-0.19%
SENSEX	61223.03	-12.27
		-0.02%
FTSE 100*	7542.95	-20.90 -0.28%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.773	1.704
CND. 30 Year Bond	2.021	1.962
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7841	1.7041
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.1219	2.0427

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7965	0.7992
US $	1.2556	1.2513
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4329	0.6979
US $	1.1411	0.8763

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1820.35	1821.40
Oil
WTI Crude Future	83.82	82.12

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 it went public in 1956. The move would save Ford $36 million per quarter. 
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.3 percent at 21,357.56 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.5 percent.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.7 percent.
MEG Energy Corp. had the largest increase, rising 6.5 percent.
Today, 88 of 241 shares rose, while 150 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 1.3 percent
* The index advanced 19 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 20 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 23.5 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.3 on a trailing basis and 15 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$3.41t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 11.88 percent compared with 12.31 percent in the previous session and the average of 14.69 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Energy | 40.8851| 1.3| 26/4
* Information Technology | 37.4381| 2.0| 9/7
* Financials | 19.7318| 0.3| 14/14
* Communication Services | 3.5254| 0.3| 6/1
* Health Care | 0.7523| 0.5| 3/5
* Industrials | -3.7108| -0.1| 9/21
* Utilities | -4.5656| -0.5| 2/14
* Consumer Discretionary | -4.6393| -0.6| 5/9
* Consumer Staples | -5.3850| -0.7| 1/10
* Real Estate | -7.4284| -1.2| 2/22
* Materials | -12.0114| -0.5| 11/43
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 38.2000| 3.7| 4.2| -20.6
* Royal Bank of Canada | 18.4700| 1.3| 132.9| 9.7
* Canadian Natural Resources | 18.3400| 3.6| 23.2| 21.9
* Intact Financial | -4.2870| -2.2| 72.5| -2.3
* TC Energy | -5.3060| -1.2| -50.2| 6.7
* Brookfield Asset Management | -13.0200| -1.8| -10.6| -6.2

US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Technology companies led a rebound in stocks at the end of a very volatile week, with investors recalibrating their strategies amid growing calls from prominent voices for higher interest rates.
The S&P 500 erased losses in the final few minutes of trading, while the Nasdaq 100 rose as dip buyers resurfaced after the tech-heavy gauge dropped to its lowest since October.
Disappointing trading results from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. weighed on banks, though Wells Fargo & Co. rallied on a bullish forecast for a measure of lending.
Treasury yields climbed alongside the dollar.
JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon said the Federal Reserve could lift rates as many as seven times, warning that tightening won’t necessarily be as “sweet and gentle” as some might expect.
He didn’t specify how quickly that might happen.
Fed Bank of New York President John Williams noted that given the signs of a strong labor market, the central bank is approaching a decision to begin gradually hiking.
His Philadelphia peer Patrick Harker said “three and possibly four increases this year of 25 basis points” are “appropriate.”
“It’s clear the ground is shifting under investors’ feet,” wrote Callie Cox, U.S. investment analyst at eToro. “After all, the Fed’s expectation went from no hikes in 2022 to four in a matter of a few months. This could be a big change in how investors view the risk and reward of different markets. And change can be uncomfortable.”
U.S. retail sales stumbled at the end of 2021, factory output weakened and consumer sentiment deteriorated at the start of the new year, illustrating a loss of traction that many analysts view as temporary. The economy will take an early hit in 2022 from the omicron variant of coronavirus — but the damage shouldn’t last beyond the first quarter, according to Bloomberg’s latest monthly survey of forecasters.
Equities offer the best opportunity to outperform inflation, Goldman Sachs Asset Management said in an Investment Ideas 2022 report.
Cyclical shares — like financials, energy and resources companies — are especially well-suited to benefit from rising prices, it said.
These firms typically excel when the economy is doing well or recovering from a crisis.
Traders also monitored geopolitical news, with the U.S. warning Russian actors are preparing potential sabotage operations against their own forces and fabricating provocations in social media to justify an invasion into Ukraine if diplomacy fails.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.4% to $1.1414
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3679
* The Japanese yen was unchanged at 114.20 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced eight basis points to 1.78%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to -0.05%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 1.15%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.7% to $84.30 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,816.40 an ounce

–With assistance from Emily Graffeo.
Have a great weekend.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

We all know that Art is not truth.  Art is a lie that makes us realize truth. –Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973.

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: Happy Thursday.

2000:  Microsoft chairman Bill Gates stepped aside as chief executive.   Go to article »

1993: The chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is signed and becomes effective on 29 April 1997.  It prohibits the large-scale use, development, production, stockpiling and transfer of chemical weapons and their precursors, except for very limited purposes (research, medical, pharmaceutical or protective.)  As of March 2021, 193 states have become parties to the CWC and accept its obligations.  Israel has signed but not ratified the agreement, while three other UN member states (Egypt, North Korea and South Sudan) have neither signed nor acceded to the treaty.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards, honoring the year’s best TV and film performances, announced their nominees yesterday. Check out the surprises and snubs.

San Francisco’s ‘leaning’ skyscraper tilted up to 3 inches last year.  It’s the Leaning Tower of California! The cost to stabilize the sinking building is an estimated $100 million. 

Prince Charles exhibits dozens of his watercolors, saying painting ‘refreshes the soul’.  I agree, Your Royal Highness. A therapeutic painting session is quite refreshing.

Study finds rationality declined years ago. 

New map of the universe just dropped.

NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS:
Woodie Guthrie, in his 1942 “New year Rulin’s;”  the 33-part list also includes writing a song each day, loving “mama” and “papa” and helping win the war to beat fascism:
“Work more and better…Wash teeth if any…Bank all extra money…Have company but don’t waste time…Dance better…Love everybody.”

Susan Sontag in a 1972 diary entry; the writer, teacher, documentarian, and political activist opened this entry with three simple words: 
“Kindness, kindness, kindness.”

People have  been making promises since as far back as ancient Mesopotamia that the new year would bring better behavior.  Resolutions may come as simple goals or poignant prayers, but all reflect a universal desire for progress – whether they are kept or not.  Commentary in the January 2, 1904, issue of The Penny Illustrated Paper in London:
“The sum of human experience seems to be that a very large percentage of New Year’s resolutions are quickly broken…A good resolution kept for a time is better than nothing at all.”

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Children wear masks as they watch a carnival procession from a window. The carnival is held to celebrate the New Year according to the Julian calendar. The festivity is held on 13 and 14 January every year. People in Vevcanci believe that with their masks they banish evil spirits from their lives
CREDIT: Georgi Licovski/EPA

Children play during a heavy snowstorm on Sakhalin Island. Weather reports indicate the year’s first snowstorm has brought 44mm of snow, which is close to the monthly average for January
CREDIT: Sergei Krasnoukhov/Tass

A rare snowy owl sits on the Christopher Columbus memorial fountain near Union Station
CREDIT: Stefani Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

Market Closes for January 13^th, 2022

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	36113.62	-176.70
		-0.49%
S&P 500	4659.03	-67.32
		-1.42%
NASDAQ	14806.81	-381.58 -2.51%
TSX	21292.96	-102.04
		-0.48%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28489.13	-276.53
		-0.96%
HANG SENG	24429.77	+27.60
		+0.11%
SENSEX	61235.30	+85.26
		+0.14%
FTSE 100*	7563.85	+12.13 +0.16%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.704	1.731
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.962	1.991
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7041	1.7428
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.0427	2.0861

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7992	0.7997
US $	1.2513	1.2505
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4336	0.6975
US $	1.1457	0.8728

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1821.40	1806.80
Oil
WTI Crude Future	82.12	82.64

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1937, the first shipment of gold was received at the Fort Knox Bullion Depository, the official gold vault of the U.S.
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell as companies in the technology sector sunk to their lowest point in nearly eight months as pressure rises on the U.S. Federal Reserve to tamper inflation.
The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.5% at 21,292.96 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 0.9% on Jan. 5 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.6.
Today, information technology stocks led the market lower, as 6 of 11 sectors lost; 134 of 241 shares fell, while 102 rose.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 8.8% to its lowest point since May 2021.
Energy Fuels Inc/Canada had the largest drop, falling 10.2%.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 1%
* The index advanced 19% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 19% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.3% below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 23.1% above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1% in the past 5 days and rose 2.6% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.2 on a trailing basis and 15.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.42t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 12.31% compared with 14.24% in the previous session and the average of 14.80% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology| -109.0132| -5.5| 4/12
* Materials | -31.3941| -1.3| 12/43
* Energy | -8.2994| -0.3| 6/25
* Health Care | -4.3444| -2.7| 0/8
* Consumer Staples | -2.9476| -0.4| 3/8
* Utilities | -1.2063| -0.1| 6/10
* Real Estate | 1.2855| 0.2| 17/6
* Communication Services| 5.2101| 0.5| 6/1
* Industrials | 6.3572| 0.3| 19/10
* Consumer Discretionary| 14.7818| 1.9| 10/4
* Financials | 27.5306| 0.4| 19/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
| Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -100.4000| -8.8| 28.9| -23.5
* Brookfield Asset Management | -7.1090| -1.0| -39.7| -4.5
* Nutrien | -5.9540| -1.7| -52.7| -6.5
* CIBC | 7.9680| 1.6| -23.1| 11.0
* Canadian Natural Resources | 9.6950| 1.9| 15.2| 17.7
* Canadian Pacific | 10.9600| 1.8| -63.4| 6.0

US
By Rita Nazareth, Peyton Forte and Emily Graffeo
(Bloomberg) — Technology companies led stock losses amid widespread calls from Federal Reserve officials to raise rates to prevent inflation from taking root in the U.S. economy.
Traders also assessed news that a divided Supreme Court blocked the centerpiece of President Joe Biden’s push to get more people vaccinated, rejecting a rule that would have required 80 million workers to get shots or periodic tests.
The Nasdaq 100 sank more than 2.5%, led by losses in Microsoft Corp. and Tesla Inc.
Chipmakers erased gains that were earlier driven by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s growth projections.
Boeing Co. rallied as Bloomberg News reported the 737 Max is set to resume commercial flights in China as soon as this month.
Fed Governor Lael Brainard said officials could boost rates as early as March to ensure that generation-high price pressures are brought under control.
Fed Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker favors a March liftoff and three or four hikes for 2022.
His Chicago counterpart Charles Evans — who sees a similar number of increases this year — said he couldn’t judge the likelihood of the first raise taking place in two months’ time.
Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said officials will be in a position to start normalizing rates at their March meeting should circumstances support that.
“We are in a position where much that has been positive for equities is maybe moving to neutral or negative, and while there are still few alternatives, it makes the equity market ripe for more fluctuations over the next few months as we see how the data shake out and how the Fed reacts,” said Sarah Hunt, portfolio manager at Alpine Woods Capital Investors.
Rising rates — an upshot of strong economic growth –could drive investors toward value stocks, which tend to be more cyclical and offer near-term cash flows.
That leaves growth shares wanting for buyers.
The long-term earnings potential of
the relatively expensive technology companies could become less appealing amid elevated inflation.
“Tech is the classic example of an area where stocks have really benefited from the decline in rates,” said Kara Murphy, chief investment officer of Kestra Investment Management. “As expectations rise for rates going forward, then it makes sense that would be the area that would get hurt more.”
Prices paid to U.S. producers decelerated in December as two key drivers of inflation in 2021 — food and energy — declined from a month earlier, representing a respite in the recent trend of sizable increases. At the same time, producers continued to face a variety of materials shortages, limited labor supply and transportation bottlenecks that sent prices soaring last year.

Morgan Stanley clients expect financial stocks to outperform this year, according to a survey at its annual conference this week.
The poll shows that 45% of respondents bet the industry will be the best performer in 2022.
That’s the highest share of the votes for the sector since 2015, the firm said in a note Thursday.
Here are some key events this week:
* Bank of Korea policy decision and briefing on Friday.
* Wells Fargo, Citigroup, JPMorgan due to report earnings on Friday.
* U.S. business inventories, industrial production, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, retail sales on Friday.
* New York Fed President John Williams speaks Friday.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 1.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 2.6%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%
* The MSCI World index fell 1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.1452
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3705
* The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 114.14 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 1.70%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to -0.09%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 1.11%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.4% to $81.46 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,821.20 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Cecile Gutscher, Nikos Chrysoloras and Vildana Hajric.
Have a  lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

To be amiable in society, one must allow oneself to be told what one already knows. –Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince of Benevento, 1754-1838.

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:
1948: The first Supermarket in the UK opens, the London Co-operative Society.  While Americans had been helping themselves since the 1930s, self-service didn’t come to Britain until after the Second World War. (although the London Co-op ran a trial in 1942).

1969: Led Zeppelin’s self-titled first album was released. Go to article »

1755:  Tsarina Elizabeth establishes first Russian University.

Oreo is celebrating its 110th birthday with a first-ever flavor.  Name a better duo than Oreos and milk. I’ll wait.

Mark Wahlberg launched a tequila. He plans to make it No. 1.  The A-list actor is the latest mega-celebrity getting into the booze business.

Residential cruise ship offering an all-inclusive life at sea.  Now, that sounds like a really suite life… minus the motion sickness.

The 2022 Mercedes-Benz SL is nothing like its predecessors.

A new large-scale study found that being physically active halves the risk of developing clinical anxiety over time.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A pedestrian walks through the mist in a park in east London
CREDIT: Akira Suemori/REX/Shutterstock

A worker prepares bundles of incense sticks ahead of lunar new year celebrations
CREDIT: Nhac Nguyen/AFP/Getty Images

A woman takes her children for a walk during a heavy snowstorm
CREDIT: Nikolai Mikhalchenko/TASS/Getty Images

Market Closes for January 12^th, 2022

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	36290.32	+38.30
		+0.11%
S&P 500	4726.35	+13.28
		+0.28%
NASDAQ	15188.39	+34.94 +0.23%
TSX	21395.00	+120.19
		+0.56%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28765.66	+543.18
		+1.92%
HANG SENG	24402.17	+663.11
		+2.79%
SENSEX	61150.04	+533.15
		+0.88%
FTSE 100*	7551.72	+60.35 +0.81%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.731	1.710
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.991	1.958
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7428	1.7374
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.0861	2.0672

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7997	0.7953
US $	1.2505	1.2575
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4308	0.6989
US $	1.1442	0.8740

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1806.80	1794.20
Oil
WTI Crude Future	82.64	81.22

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1914, Henry Ford said he would share Ford Motor’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 own workers would be able to afford to buy their own Fords. Within two years, Ford went on to produce its 1,000,000th car.
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities climbed as the materials sector soared to its highest point in more than a month and energy rose.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained for the second day, climbing 0.6% or 120.19 points to 21,395.00 in Toronto.
The index advanced to the highest closing level since Nov. 25.
First Quantum Minerals Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain and had the largest move, increasing 9.6%.
Today, 142 of 241 shares rose, while 95 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* 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 1.8 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 23.7 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.7 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.4 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.3 on a trailing basis and 15.2 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$3.4t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 14.24 percent compared with 14.15 percent in the previous session and the average of 14.93 cent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Materials | 54.9076| 2.3| 47/7
* Financials | 34.0473| 0.5| 19/9
* Energy | 29.2774| 1.0| 24/8
* Information Technology | 4.5973| 0.2| 9/6
* Consumer Staples | 4.2870| 0.6| 5/6
* Industrials | 3.7219| 0.1| 15/15
* Utilities | -0.3993| 0.0| 10/6
* Communication Services | -1.8750| -0.2| 3/4
* Real Estate | -2.1238| -0.3| 5/18
* Consumer Discretionary | -2.4254| -0.3| 5/8
* Health Care | -3.8154| -2.3| 0/8
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* First Quantum Minerals | 12.0200| 9.6| 142.9| 19.5
* Royal Bank of Canada | 11.7300| 0.8| 35.1| 8.0
* TD Bank | 9.7510| 0.8| 21.9| 4.6
* Brookfield Renewable Partners | -1.4430| -2.4| 91.9| -6.6
* Descartes Systems | -1.6020| -2.9| -36.6| -12.5
* Restaurant Brands | -4.1060| -2.5| -28.7| -4.9

US
By Rita Nazareth and Cecile Gutscher
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rose as a report showing the fastest inflation in about four decades was roughly in line with market expectations, with traders keeping their bets on a rate hike in March.
Commodity and retail companies led gains in the S&P 500.
Electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc. and Google’s parent Alphabet Inc. paced a rally in mega-caps.
Financial shares underperformed, with major banks set to report their results Friday.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley tumbled, while Jefferies Financial Group Inc. slid after saying fixed-income trading revenue plunged 50% from a year earlier.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index had its worst session since May.
The bond market reaction to the inflation data was fairly muted in part because yields have already surged since the start of the year, with traders bracing for the Federal Reserve to begin raising rates.
Ahead of the report, positioning in the broad Treasury market was the most net-bearish since late 2017, according to the latest survey by JPMorgan Chase & Co.
The U.S. economy grew at a modest pace in the final weeks of last year, but businesses’ expectations for growth over the next several months have cooled in some places, the Fed said in its Beige Book survey. During a Wall Street Journal Live event streamed on Twitter, Fed Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said “the case is very compelling that we remove accommodation.”
Comments:
* “Wall Street was worried that a much hotter inflation report could have not only cemented four Fed rate hikes this year, but potentially made the May FOMC meeting a possibility for when the balance-sheet runoff could start,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, referring to the Federal Open Market Committee.
* “Fears about higher and persistent inflation have been well telegraphed in recent months. Today’s rise in the rate of inflation falls within investors’ expectations,” said Richard Flynn, managing director at Charles Schwab U.K.
* “Bond markets are currently pricing in about a 90% probability that the Fed delivers four rate hikes in 2022, and today’s inflation data should not dissuade the central bank from delivering the first of those hikes in March,” said Jai Malhi, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
Here are some key events this week:
* U.S. initial jobless claims, PPI on Thursday.
* U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing for Lael Brainard, nominated as Fed vice-chair on Thursday.
* Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker,
* Chicago Fed President Charles Evans speak on Thursday.
* Bank of Korea policy decision and briefing on Friday.
* Wells Fargo, Citigroup, JPMorgan due to report earnings on Friday.
* U.S. business inventories, industrial production, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, retail sales on Friday.
* New York Fed President John Williams speaks 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 rose 0.1%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.9%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.6%
* The euro rose 0.7% to $1.1450
* The British pound rose 0.6% to $1.3711
* The Japanese yen rose 0.7% to 114.55 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.74%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to -0.06%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 1.14%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.8% to $82.71 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,827.10 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Vildana Hajric, Emily Graffeo and Payne Lubbers.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The basic experience of everyone is the experience of human limitation. -Flannery O’Connor, 1925-1964.

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:
1569: First recorded lottery in England is drawn in St. Paul’s Cathedral.  Every ticket was guaranteed a prize, and that made for lot of waiting around – until May 6^th, to be precise.  Prizes ranged from silver plate and tapestries to a £5000 jackpot.

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

1964: Cigarettes declared hazardous.

Theodosius, emperor, b. 347.
Alexander Hamilton, statesman, b. 1755.
William James, philosopher, b. 1842.

Maya Angelou becomes first Black woman to appear on US quarter.  Distribution of the coin showcasing the legendary poet and activist began yesterday. 

Giant ‘sea dragon’ fossil found in UK reservoir.  Oh, nature… how can you be so remarkable and yet so terrifying at the same time?

Rolls-Royce and Bentley post record sales in 2021.  More money, less problems. The pandemic didn’t faze these ultra-luxury car brands.

2022 is the year of modern space travel.  Add “hitch a ride on a rocket” to your bucket list! Orbital tourism is a top priority for the space industry this year. 

Fifty-seven-year-old man is alive and well with a heart from a gene-edited pig.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The northern lights streak through the sky over forest tundra in the north-west Arctic
CREDIT: Lev Fedoseyev/Tass

The city is blanketed under fog in a photograph taken from the al-Hamra Tower
CREDIT: Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP/Getty Images

A Roman female deity scale weight uncovered during the HS2 archaeology excavation at Blackgrounds in Northamptonshire, one of the most significant sites on the project to date
CREDIT: HS2/PA

Market Closes for January 11^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	36252.02	+183.15
		+0.51%
S&P 500	4713.07	+42.78
		+0.92%
NASDAQ	15153.45	+210.62 +1.41%
TSX	21274.81	+202.49
		+0.96%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28222.48	-256.08
		-0.90%
HANG SENG	23739.06	-7.48
		-0.03%
SENSEX	60616.89	+221.26
		+0.37%
FTSE 100*	7491.37	+46.12 +0.62%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.710	1.713
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.958	1.954
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7374	1.7603
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.0672	2.0890

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7953	0.7887
US $	1.2575	1.2679
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4295	0.6996
US $	1.1368	0.8797

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1794.20	1792.60
Oil
WTI Crude Future	81.22	78.23

Market Commentary:
A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back again when it begins to rain. -Robert Frost.
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities climbed, led higher by gains in the energy and materials sectors, after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it will manage inflation as the economy rebounds.
The S&P/TSX Composite rose 1 percent at 21,274.81 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest advance since rising 1.9 percent on Dec. 21 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.1 percent.
Brookfield Asset Management Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.7 percent.
Lithium Americas Corp. had the largest increase, rising 13.0 percent.
Today, 191 of 241 shares rose, while 46 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain 19 times. The next day, it advanced 12 times for an average 0.6 percent and declined seven times for an average 0.6 percent
* The index advanced 19 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 21 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.4 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 23 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed 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 19.2 on a trailing basis and 15.1 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$3.37t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 14.15 percent compared with 15.43 percent in the previous session and the average of 14.97 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 81.0631| 1.2| 26/1
* Energy | 57.3216| 1.9| 30/2
* Materials | 36.9228| 1.6| 51/4
* Information Technology | 27.7262| 1.4| 14/2
* Health Care | 4.2366| 2.6| 6/1
* Real Estate | 4.1683| 0.7| 17/6
* Consumer Discretionary | 3.9363| 0.5| 11/3
* Communication Services | 1.8344| 0.2| 4/3
* Consumer Staples | -1.5532| -0.2| 4/7
* Utilities | -4.0496| -0.4| 5/11
* Industrials | -9.1049| -0.4| 23/6
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Brookfield Asset Management | 19.2200| 2.7| -34.4| -3.5
* Shopify | 17.8300| 1.6| -18.5| -16.4
* Suncor Energy | 14.6700| 4.4| 26.6| 11.2
* Gildan Activewear | -1.8890| -2.7| 8.7| -4.4
* Canadian National | -6.4640| -1.0| -19.1| -1.0
* Canadian Pacific | -12.8100| -2.1| -57.2| 3.4
US
By Rita Nazareth and Emily Graffeo
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed after Jerome Powell reassured investors that the Federal Reserve is going to tamp down inflation as the economy rebounds, while signaling the central bank will probably start shrinking its balance sheet in 2022.
The S&P 500 halted a five-day slide, the Nasdaq 100 outperformed major benchmarks and dollar fell. The Fed chief told the Senate Banking Committee that officials won’t hesitate to act if needed to contain price pressures.
“If we have to raise interest rates more over time, we will,” he noted.
Noting that the economy was in a much stronger position than the last time the central bank shrank its balance sheet, Powell said no decisions had been made, but it would be quicker this time around.
“I’ve referred to Powell before as Goldilocks in a suit, and to a certain extent, I think he played that role once again,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers. “While he made the right noises about constraining the balance sheet and fighting inflation, he was very careful to balance that out with a general tone that indicated ultimately, ‘Yes I’m concerned about the market reaction to all of these
plans that we have’.”
Powell’s remarks follow comments from other officials favoring a start to shrinking the Fed’s $8.77 trillion balance sheet fairly soon after they begin raising rates.
Past experience shows that how the Fed manages its balance sheet matters, although the U.S. central bank has also adapted and in July 2021 it created two standing repo facilities to help ease
money-market pressures at times of stress.
In corporate news, CVS Health Corp. said its full-year adjusted earnings for 2021 would be in a higher range than currently expected by analysts.
American Airlines Group Inc. will report higher revenue in the fourth quarter than analysts expected as the carrier’s main operations escaped the worst of winter holiday cancellations.
International Business Machines Corp. was downgraded to sell at UBS Group AG.
Unfazed by the stock market’s bumpy start to the year, strategists from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to UBS Global Wealth Management reiterated their bullish calls on bets that equities can weather higher rates and rising bond yields.
“The selloff in some long-duration, high-quality names might be overdone soon,” wrote Goldman strategists led by Cecilia Mariotti. With real yields not expected to move much higher, “valuations are unlikely to become a binding constraint for equities.”
Here are some key events this week:
* EIA crude oil inventory report on Wednesday.
* China PPI, CPI on Wednesday.
* U.S. CPI, Fed Beige Book on Wednesday.
* U.S. initial jobless claims, PPI on Thursday.
* U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing for Lael Brainard, nominated as Fed vice-chair on Thursday.
* Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker,
* Chicago Fed President Charles Evans speak on Thursday.
* Bank of Korea policy decision and briefing on Friday.
* Wells Fargo, Citigroup, JPMorgan due to report earnings on Friday.
* U.S. business inventories, industrial production, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, retail sales on Friday.
* New York Fed President John Williams speaks Friday.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.9% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.9%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
* The euro rose 0.4% to $1.1366
* The British pound rose 0.4% to $1.3630
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 115.30 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 1.74%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.03%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 1.17%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 4.2% to $81.48 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 1.3% to $1,822.40 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc and Cecile Gutscher.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Every moment is a fresh beginning. -T.S. Eliot, 1888-1965.

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: Coming of Age Day, Japan.
2000 America Online agreed to buy Time-Warner for $162 billion. (Time-Warner decided to spin off AOL in 2009.)  Go to article »

1920: League of Nations founded.

$8M tourist attraction to close after just six disappointing months.  A massive grass mound in the middle of the city wasn’t London’s cup of tea. 

Winners of the Golden Globes announced.  Netflix and HBO were the big winners. Too bad there was no audience or celebrities there to cheer them on.

The world’s best-performing airline has been revealed.  Hint: SkyMiles!

The Isle of Rum gets some fresh blood.

 

The remote island in the Scottish Hebrides has no doctors, one shop, and the nearest pub is 10 miles away by boat. It also has four new families who have stuck it out through torrential rain and biting flies, bringing its population to about 40.

Just a couple of years ago, this isolated outpost had fewer than two dozen residents. So the islanders, heavily outnumbered by deer, appealed for newcomers to apply to join them.

 

From around 400 applications judged to be serious, four couples were selected, most with young children. The new arrivals seem to have embraced Rum’s tranquillity but, with so few people, social interactions can be intense. “We always say that in some ways it’s not remote enough,” one new resident joked. -from The New York Times.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Women in kimonos leave a coming-of-age ceremony at Yokohama Arena. Coming of Age Day is a Japanese holiday held every January to celebrate those who have reached 20, the official age of adulthood in Japan
CREDIT: Carl Court/Getty Images

Momix Dance Theater performers at the Brown Theatre
CREDIT: Stephen J Cohen/Getty Images

Pope Francis delivers what has come to be known as his ‘state of the world’ address to diplomats from more than 180 countries
CREDIT: Vatican Media/Reuters

Market Closes for January 10^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	36068.87	-162.79
		-0.45%
S&P 500	4670.29	-6.74
		-0.14%
NASDAQ	14942.83	+6.93 +0.05%
TSX	21072.32	-12.13
		-0.06%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28478.56	-9.31
		-0.03%
HANG SENG	23746.54	+253.16
		+1.08%
SENSEX	60395.63	+650.98
		+1.09%
FTSE 100*	7445.25	-40.03 -0.53%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.713	1.720
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.954	1.969
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7603	1.7620
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.0890	2.1167

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7887	0.7909
US $	1.2679	1.2644
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4364	0.6962
US $	1.1329	0.8827

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1792.60	1789.35
Oil
WTI Crude Future	78.23	78.90

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1910, Joyce C. Hall, a teenage boy from Norfolk, Neb., opened a new business, storing his inventory in a room at the YMCA in Kansas City.  He began selling illustrated postcards by mail-order, but soon hit on the idea of what he called “greeting cards.” He did $200 in business his first two months, and Hallmark was born—making prepackaged emotion and good wishes a part of American life.
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities fell slightly, weighed down by losses in industrials and real estate stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite declined 0.06% to 21,072.32 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s increase of 0.1 percent.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 0.9 percent.
Goeasy Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 4.7 percent.
Today, 149 of 241 shares fell, while 91 rose; 7 of 11 sectors were lower, led by industrials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 17 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 19 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.3 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 21.8 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.7 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 19.1 on a trailing basis and 15 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$3.38t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 15.43 percent compared with 15.47 percent in the previous session and the average of 14.96 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Industrials | -23.6705| -0.9| 4/26
* Financials | -17.7606| -0.3| 6/22
* Information Technology | -12.0154| -0.6| 3/13
* Real Estate | -4.1723| -0.7| 3/21
* Consumer Discretionary | -1.5903| -0.2| 5/9
* Utilities | -0.8420| -0.1| 3/13
* Communication Services | -0.7176| -0.1| 5/2
* Consumer Staples | 1.9682| 0.3| 3/8
* Health Care | 2.5966| 1.6| 4/4
* Energy | 8.0807| 0.3| 16/15
* Materials | 36.0038| 1.5| 39/16
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -9.5780| -0.9| 25.0| -17.7
* Brookfield Asset Management | -7.3090| -1.0| 29.1| -6.0
* TD Bank | -5.1250| -0.4| 42.4| 2.8
* Franco-Nevada | 7.5920| 3.6| -9.6| -4.7
* Royal Bank of Canada| 7.6230| 0.6| 40.1| 6.2
* Barrick Gold | 8.5380| 3.1| 49.1| -1.9

US
By Rita Nazareth and Katie Greifeld
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rebounded as dip buyers emerged to blunt a five-day selloff — the longest losing streak since September.
After sinking 2% earlier Monday, the S&P 500 almost wiped out its losses, buoyed by signs that the omicron coronavirus variant may be peaking in New York.
The Nasdaq 100 turned green after the gauge of giants like Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. dropped as much as 8.5% from its November record.
Investors have been on edge as the Federal Reserve prepares to raise rates and the resurgent virus threatens economic growth.
“There are some real risks around rate hikes and whatnot, but if you look at some of the major tech companies that are falling, these companies have a massive cash moat,” Sylvia Jablonski, chief investment officer for Defiance ETFs, said on Bloomberg’s “QuickTake Stock” streaming program. “We’re in a fairly good spot, and these are great buy-on-the-dip opportunities right now.”

The Fed will likely raise rates four times this year and will start its balance-sheet runoff process in July, if not earlier, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
A key measure of U.S. inflation — set to be released Wednesday — is anticipated to have increased further in December, putting additional pressure on the central bank to tighten policy.
In the past three decades, there have been four distinct periods of rate-hike cycles by the Fed.
On average, technology, which has been under pressure amid prospects of earlier and faster rate increases, is among the best-performing sectors during those cycles, according to Strategas Securities.
Here are some key events this week:
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s confirmation hearing in the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.
* Kansas City Fed President Esther George and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard speak on Tuesday.
* EIA crude oil inventory report on Wednesday.
* China PPI, CPI on Wednesday.
* U.S. CPI, Fed Beige Book on Wednesday.
* U.S. initial jobless claims, PPI on Thursday.
* U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing for Lael Brainard, nominated as Fed vice-chair on Thursday.
* Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker,
* Chicago Fed President Charles Evans speak on Thursday.
* Bank of Korea policy decision and briefing on Friday.
* Wells Fargo, Citigroup, JPMorgan due to report earnings on Friday.
* U.S. business inventories, industrial production, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, retail sales on Friday.
* New York Fed President John Williams speaks Friday.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%
* The euro fell 0.3% to $1.1329
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3577
* The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 115.23 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.76%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to -0.03%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 1.19%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.7% to $78.33 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,800.90 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Cecile Gutscher, Emily Graffeo and Vildana Hajric.
Have a nice evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

We sought the essential source of strength in every great historical figure – and discovered ten super-powers. 
Simplicity.  Humility.  Humor.  Creativity.  Courage.  Love.  Gratitude.  Fun.  Authenticity.  Optimism.  Throughout world history,
no great people were pessimists, no one who consumed himself with all the things that were wrong with the world
ever achieved anything of lasting value. -Eric Peters, Weekend Notes, December 296, 2021.

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.
1989: Japanese Emperor Hirohito died at age 87.  Go to article »

2015: Two gunmen commit mass murder at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, shooting twelve people execution style, and wounding eleven others.

A Los Angeles mega mansion could sell for $295 million.  The property has five swimming pools and a moat – because who doesn’t need a moat?

BMW introduces color-changing concept SUV.  It’s basically like picking an outfit every day, but for your car.

Omicron may be the beginning of the end of the pandemic.

Some Eurasian words point to common linguistic ancestors as old as the Ice Age.

Drop a raindrop anywhere in the world and see where it goes.

RIP, Sidney Poitier.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Kelvingrove Park under heavy snow amid a Met Office warning of snow stretching from the Highlands through to Glasgow and Edinburgh
CREDIT: Ewan Bootman/REX/Shutterstock

Handout picture released by the Galapagos National Park showing a fissure of the Wolf Volcano after it erupted for the second time in seven year
CREDIT: PARQUE NACIONAL GALAPAGOS/AFP/Getty Images

Surfer Will Santana from Brazil rides a wave during a session at Praia do Norte
CREDIT: Octavio Passos/Getty Images

Market Closes for January 7^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	36231.66	-4.81
		-0.01%
S&P 500	4677.03	-19.02
		-0.41%
NASDAQ	14935.90	-144.97 -0.96%
TSX	21084.45	+12.25
		+0.06%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28478.56	-9.31
		-0.03%
HANG SENG	23493.38	+420.52
		+1.82%
SENSEX	59744.65	+142.81
		+0.24%
FTSE 100*	7485.28	+34.91 +0.47%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.720	1.701
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.969	1.924
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7620	1.7211
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.1167	2.0758

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7909	0.7858
US $	0.2644	1.2726
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4365	0.6961
US $	1.1361	0.8802

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1789.35	1826.25
Oil
WTI Crude Future	78.90	79.46

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 Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 21,084.45 in Toronto.
Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.4 percent.
Energy Fuels Inc/Canada had the largest increase, rising 6.1 percent.
Today, 112 of 241 shares rose, while 125 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 0.7 percent
* The index advanced 17 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 20 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.3 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 21.9 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.1 on a trailing basis and 15 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$3.37t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 15.47 percent compared with 15.55 percent in the previous session and the average of 14.89 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Energy | 32.9464| 1.1| 22/10
* Financials | 30.6541| 0.4| 20/8
* Industrials | 6.3433| 0.3| 10/20
* Health Care | 1.2376| 0.8| 5/3
* Materials | 0.7123| 0.0| 23/28
* Communication Services | -0.7050| -0.1| 4/3
* Utilities | -2.8129| -0.3| 6/10
* Real Estate | -4.2718| -0.7| 11/13
* Consumer Discretionary | -5.1980| -0.7| 4/10
* Consumer Staples | -6.0761| -0.8| 3/8
* Information Technology | -40.5996| -2.0| 4/12
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Royal Bank of Canada | 18.9600| 1.4| -5.2| 5.6
* Canadian Pacific | 13.0000| 2.2| -52.4| 5.3
* Canadian Natural Resources | 12.6000| 2.7| -36.2| 11.8
* Waste Connections | -4.1810| -1.4| -36.4| -4.5
* Brookfield Asset Management | -6.7090| -0.9| -37.7| -5.0
* Shopify | -32.1800| -2.8| 32.3| -17.0

US
By Emily Graffeo and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell, with the S&P 500 posting the worst start to a year since 2016, amid concern the Federal Reserve will be forced to raise rates faster than some investors had anticipated.
After a record close for the S&P 500 on Monday, declines in mega caps such as Tesla Inc., Nvidia Corp. and Alphabet Inc. on Friday left the benchmark ending the start of the new year down 1.9% on the week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 closed down more than 4% on the week.
A hawkish stance in minutes of Fed’s December meeting released mid-week fueled the selloff and a mixed hiring report did little to assuage concerns about a rate hike as early as March.
Overnight index swaps are pricing in about an 88% chance of an interest-rate hike that month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Overall, this print had mixed messaging,” said Anu Gaggar, global investment strategist for Commonwealth Financial Network.
But “the combination of the decline in unemployment rate to below Fed’s long-term equilibrium level and acceleration in wage growth brings the Fed’s March meeting in play for the first-rate hike of this cycle.”
The December jobs data showed employers added fewer staff than expected while wages rose more than forecast and unemployment dropped below 4%.
Treasury yields have climbed across the board, with the five-year rate rising to pre-pandemic levels, topping 1.50%.
The two-year rate pushed above 0.90%, heading for the biggest weekly spike since October 2019.
The benchmark 10-year yield surpassed the 2021 high, to just shy of 1.80%.

“If the 10-year breaks above 2% on a sustained basis, that to me is an indication that investors are really starting to get worried about sustained inflation,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network.
An overtly hawkish stance from the Fed has roiled financial markets at the start of a new year, with investors reassessing how to price assets in an environment of rising interest rates.
The removal of crisis-era accommodation marks a shift not seen in at least three years, a time that also saw a spike in volatility.
While high-growth techs took the brunt of the selloff this week, value stocks have benefited as hedge funds load up on these stocks and dump expensive names, helping fuel the sharpest
stock rotation since March.
“2022 has not seen its usual start of the year rally,” said Florian Ielpo, head of macro at Lombard Odier Asset Management.
“The first week of January is usually a week of positive equity performance: this time, equities declined and value took it all.”
Comments by regional Fed presidents provided some additional insight this week as traders attempted to predict a possible schedule for tightening.
San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said Friday she favored raising interest rates “gradually” and moving on to shrinking the Fed’s balance sheet more quickly than in the last tightening round.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, a more hawkish policy maker, said in a speech Thursday the central bank could raise its target interest rate as soon as March.
Europe’s equity benchmark ended lower Friday, to open the year with a down week.
Consumer prices in the euro area jumped 5% from a year earlier in December, adding pressure on the European Central Bank to join a growing legion of central banks from the Fed to the Bank of England in tightening monetary conditions.
The euro advanced against a broadly weaker dollar.
What to watch this week:
* ECB’s Schnabel speaks on a panel Saturday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.5%
* The euro rose 0.6% to $1.1360
* The British pound rose 0.5% to $1.3594
* The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 115.56 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 1.77%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to -0.04%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 1.18%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.5% to $79.09 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,794.40 an ounce
–With assistance from Srinivasan Sivabalan, Joanna Ossinger and Denitsa Tsekova.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Know, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed. –Count Axel Oxenstierna, 1583-1654.

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, Christian calendar.

2005: Former Ku Klux Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen was arrested 41 years after three civil rights workers were slain in Mississippi.
(Killen was later convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 60 years in prison.)  Go to article »

January 6, 2021: Supporters of US President Donald Trump attack the Unite States Capitol to disrupt certification of the 2020 presidential election, resulting in five deaths and evacuation of the US Congress.

Joan of Arc, Saint, b. 1412.
Kahil Gibran, poet, b.1833
Carl Sandburg, poet, b. 1878
Alan Watts, writer, b. 1916

Amazon’s Alexa is going to space on NASA’s Artemis moon mission.  Alexa, do aliens exist?

Lightning around the North Pole increased dramatically in 2021.  Arctic lightning sounds so cool… until you find out the climate crisis caused it.

Exciting art exhibitions around the world this year.  This lineup is so dreamy. Just picture yourself passing time in a classic gallery in Paris or Venice.

What is the Planck time? 

The U.S. has more hospital beds available than Canada does.

You might be able to think yourself to death.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Houses are almost completely submerged under a tide of lava after the Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted on the Canary Island of La Palma. More than 1,300 homes have been destroyed
CREDIT: Desiree Martin/AFP/Getty Images

A Greek Orthodox believer kisses a wooden crucifix thrown into the sea during Epiphany Day celebrations near Athens
CREDIT: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images

Visitors to the Consumer Electronics Show admire SK group’s Green Forest pavilion demonstrating the South Korean conglomerate’s efforts to reduce emissions
CREDIT: Yonhap/EPA

Market Closes for January 6^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	36236.47	-170.64
		-0.47%
S&P 500	4696.05	-4.53
		-0.10%
NASDAQ	15080.87	-19.30 -0.13%
TSX	21072.20	+32.54
		+0.15%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28487.87	-844.29
		-2.88%
HANG SENG	23072.86	+165.61
		+0.72%
SENSEX	59601.84	-621.31
		-1.03%
FTSE 100*	7450.37	-66.50 -0.88%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.701	1.640
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.924	1.857
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7211	1.7052
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.0758	2.0947

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7858	0.7838
US $	1.2726	1.2758
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4377	0.6956
US $	1.1297	0.8852

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1826.25	1811.40
Oil
WTI Crude Future	79.46	77.85

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1933, at least one good thing came out of the Great Crash. For the first time, the New York Stock Exchange began requiring listed companies to have their annual financial statements prepared by an independent auditor.
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose as gains in energy and financial stocks offset steep losses in materials and technology as investors weight the potential for rate hikes.
The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.2 percent at 21,072.20 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 0.5 percent on Dec. 29 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.9 percent.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 5.1 percent.
Primaris REIT had the largest increase, rising 9.8 percent.
Today, 116 of 241 shares rose, while 124 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 0.7 percent
* The index advanced 18 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 22 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.3 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 21.8 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.3 percent in the past 5 days and rose 1 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 15 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$3.37t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 15.55 percent compared with 15.55 percent in the previous session and the average of 14.84 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 58.0094| 0.8| 20/8
* Energy | 54.9145| 1.9| 26/6
* Industrials | 15.1183| 0.6| 19/11
* Consumer Staples | 6.4692| 0.8| 9/2
* Real Estate | 3.2853| 0.5| 17/6
* Consumer Discretionary | 0.7197| 0.1| 8/6
* Communication Services | -0.9241| -0.1| 2/5
* Health Care | -2.3687| -1.5| 2/6
* Utilities | -9.4054| -1.0| 3/13
* Information Technology | -29.1714| -1.4| 2/14
* Materials | -64.0943| -2.7| 8/47
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Canadian Natural Resources | 22.9400| 5.1| -37.9| 8.9
* Royal Bank of Canada | 14.5600| 1.1| 10.7| 4.1
* Canadian National | 10.4300| 1.6| -32.0| 0.3
* Franco-Nevada | -7.8280| -3.6| 1.8| -7.9
* Barrick Gold | -9.6360| -3.3| 14.1| -4.8
* Shopify | -20.2500| -1.7| 3.3| -14.6

US
By Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks drifted lower after swinging between gains and losses as investors reassessed valuations following the Federal Reserve’s latest signal that it will move
aggressively if prices remain elevated.
The S&P 500 edged downward in late trading after attempting to rebound from a 1.9% drop sparked by Fed meeting minutes that suggested the central bank is ready to raise rates sooner and
higher than previously expected.
The hawkish stance hammered the riskiest of assets, from high-priced software stocks to newly-public companies with limited earnings track records.
Treasuries continued a selloff, although the velocity of the downdraft eased with the 10-year rate near 1.73%.
The dollar was slightly stronger.
The Fed’s overtly hawkish stance has roiled financial markets to start the year, with investors recalibrating how to price assets in an environment of expected high economic growth and rising interest rates.
The removal of crisis-era accommodation marks a shift not seen in at least three years, a time that also saw a spike in volatility and ultimately a major stock rout.
While rising rates makes capital more expensive and can threaten earnings power, they also come into an economy that continues to expand rapidly.
“We knew coming into 2022 that the Fed was going to be a creator of volatility within the market and we’re seeing that right out of the gate at the start of the year,” Lindsey Bell, chief markets and money strategist at Ally, said by phone. “The good news is that today things seem to be stabilizing a little bit after yesterday’s knee-jerk reaction.”
Comments by regional Fed presidents provided some additional insight Thursday as trader attempted to predict a possible schedule for tightening.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, a more hawkish policy maker, said in a speech the central bank could raise its target interest rate as soon as March.
Meanwhile, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said at a virtual event that trimming the Fed balance sheet would come after normalizing the Fed funds rate.
Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research, urged investors to tread “very carefully” the next few days.
“Markets are concerned that we’ve never seen the Federal Reserve both lift interest rates off zero and reduce the size of its balance sheet at the same time.
There was a two-year gap between those two events in the last cycle, so it is a valid concern,” Colas wrote. “We’re not predicting a meltdown, but we get why the market swooned.”
U.S. jobless claims ahead of Friday’s payrolls report did little to change the market mood.
The claims rose to 207,000 last week, the release showed, but stayed within the range of forecasts by 30 economists.
“Labor market strength, coupled with early indications of strong holiday spending, suggests that economic activity has held up reasonably well despite the very rapid spread of the omicron variant,”
Solita Marcelli, UBS chief investment officer for the Americas, said. “The Fed minutes don’t alter our base case expectation that equities will continue to move higher, and for the more cyclical markets to be the relative beneficiaries of above-trend U.S. and global growth.”
Treasuries extended their losses, with the rates between the two-year and 10-year tenors adding at least two basis points each.
Other government bonds also declined.
German 10-year borrowing costs jumped to the highest since May 2019, while their Italian counterparts surged to a June 2020 high.
Likewise, Japan’s benchmark yield climbed to the highest since April and the U.K.’s 10-year yield jumped to an October high.
In Europe, stocks fell, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Tech Index pared back losses to trade higher.
Bitcoin tumbled to $43,200. Crude-oil futures extended gains.
Gold fell.

What to watch this week:
* Fed’s Daly discusses monetary policy on a panel Friday
* ECB’s Schnabel speaks on a panel Saturday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 was little changed
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1288
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.3528
* The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 115.92 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 1.73%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to -0.06%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced seven basis points to 1.16%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.1% to $79.49 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 2% to $1,788 an ounce
–With assistance from Emily Graffeo and Srinivasan Sivabalan.

Have a lovely  evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The more I see the less I know for sure. –John Lennon, 1940-1980.

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 »

Contrary to what many say, money — and managing it properly — is one of the most important conditions for happiness. — Teresa Ghilarducci.

Everything you need to know about “flurona.” 

I don’t even want to do laundry on Earth, but apparently people want to do it in space.

Area goldfish learns how to drive a smol car. (h/t Mike Smedley)

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
The head of 211kg bluefin tuna that was auctioned for about ¥16.9m ($145,290) is displayed at a sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the new year
CREDIT: Issei Kato/Reuters
A tree stands in flood water at the Ouse Washes in Norfolk
CREDIT: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Giovanni Bresadola of Italy competes during the qualification at the Four Hills tournament
CREDIT: Jasmin Walter/Getty Images

Market Closes for January 5^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	36407.11	-392.54
		-1.07%
S&P 500	4700.58	-92.96
		-1.94%
NASDAQ	15100.18	-522.54 -3.34%
TSX	21039.66	-196.86
		-0.93%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	29332.16	+30.37
		+0.10%
HANG SENG	22907.25	-382.59
		-1.64%
SENSEX	60223.15	+367.22
		+0.61%
FTSE 100*	7516.87	+11.72 +0.16%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.640	1.586
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.857	1.825
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.7052	1.6473
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.0947	2.0650

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7838	0.7870
US $	1.2758	1.2707
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4428	0.6930
US $	1.1311	0.8841

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1811.40	1805.85
Oil
WTI Crude Future	77.85	76.99

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1999, Amazon.com said fourth-quarter sales had totaled $250 million, more than triple the level of the same quarter a year earlier. Fixated on Amazon’s revenue growth (and ignoring its widening net losses), traders went wild. On volume of 31.4 million shares, it was the most active stock on Nasdaq.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.9 percent at 21,039.88 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 1 percent on Dec. 20 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.1 percent.
Today, information technology stocks led the market lower, as 9 of 11 sectors lost; 199 of 241 shares fell, while 38 rose.
Brookfield Asset Management Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.1 percent.
Docebo Inc. had the  largest drop, falling 12.7 percent.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss 14 times. The next day, it advanced 10 times for an average 1.2 percent and declined four times for an average 0.8 percent
* The index advanced 19 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 23 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.5 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 21.6 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.9 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19 on a trailing basis and 15.1 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$3.4t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 15.55 percent compared with 15.41 percent in the previous session and the average of 14.81 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | -66.4475| -3.1| 0/16
* Industrials | -38.3127| -1.5| 1/29
* Materials | -36.4526| -1.5| 9/45
* Financials | -22.0882| -0.3| 6/21
* Utilities | -14.1876| -1.5| 0/16
* Consumer Staples | -12.3797| -1.6| 0/11
* Real Estate | -12.1100| -1.9| 2/21
* Consumer Discretionary | -11.7619| -1.5| 2/12
* Health Care | -5.8943| -3.6| 0/8
* Communication Services | 2.1600| 0.2| 4/2
* Energy | 20.6099| 0.7| 14/18
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Brookfield Asset Management | -31.4400| -4.1| 4.7| -3.4
* Shopify | -30.2200| -2.5| 24.7| -13.1
* Constellation Software | -17.6100| -5.6| 15.6| -6.3
* TD Bank | 7.5000| 0.6| 223.6| 3.1
* Enbridge | 9.5860| 1.4| 44.5| 1.7
* Royal Bank of Canada | 14.4600| 1.1| 46.9| 3.0

US
By Jennifer Bissell-Linsk and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities deepened losses after minutes from the Federal Reserve flagged the chance of earlier and faster interest rate hikes.
The S&P 500 fell 1.9%, led by losses in real estate, while the Nasdaq 100 shed 3.1% as traders increased conviction the U.S. central bank will increase rates at least three times this year.
The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 1.71% the highest since April.
The dollar was little changed.
“Powell was as explicit as a Fed chair can be at the conclusion of the last meeting,” John Lynch, chief investment officer for Comerica Wealth Management, said. “Statement and presser were a big shift with an accelerated taper and plans for three hikes in 2022.”
Technology stocks plunged for a second day as rising Treasury yields added to growth concerns.
Earlier in the session, the tech rout spread to Asia, with a gauge of Chinese names listed in Hong Kong at a six-year low.
However, Europe was mostly spared, with the Stoxx Europe 600 drifting to a record.
“At first blush the December FOMC minutes read hawkish, and the market reaction supports this,” said Cliff Hodge, chief investment officer for Cornerstone Wealth. “The fact that FOMC participants are discussing faster and more aggressive rate hikes, alongside a faster pace of balance sheet normalization than the last hiking, indicate that the Fed put for the stock market has been repriced lower.”
Markets have largely turned their attention to tightening monetary policy, however, concerns persist about the omicron variant’s threat to global growth.
Hong Kong reimposed social curbs and halted flights from eight countries.
Meanwhile, U.S.  school closings are accelerating as case counts soar.
“Keep in mind the timing of the [FOMC] meeting — even a few weeks ago we were in a very different place than we are now when it comes to omicron spreading. And while most predict a somewhat limited effect on the economy, it remains to be seen if the virus will overshadow the drive to curb inflation,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*TRADE Financial.
So far, data suggest the U.S. economy is maintaining its resiliency in the face of the variant.
Ahead of Friday’s U.S. payrolls, a private jobs report Wednesday showed U.S. companies in December added the most jobs in seven months, indicating employers were able to fill a near-record number of open
positions.
Bitcoin tumbled 4.5% to $44,100, the lowest since its early-December weekend flash crash.
Gold was weaker and oil in New York pared back gains. 
What to watch this week:
* Fed’s Bullard discusses the U.S. economy and monetary policy in an event on Thursday
* Fed’s Daly discusses monetary policy on a panel Friday
* ECB’s Schnabel speaks on a panel Saturday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 1.9% as of 4:03 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 3.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1%
* The MSCI World index fell 1.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1310
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3549
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 116.12 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 1.70%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to -0.08%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 1.09%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed
* Gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,809.70 an ounce
–With assistance from Emily Graffeo, Srinivasan Sivabalan, Michael MacKenzie and Andreea Papuc.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. –Anne Frank, 1929-1945.

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!

1974 President Richard Nixon refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.  Go to article »

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

RIP, your BlackBerry. (h/t Ellen Kominers)

Mercedes unveils new electric car concept with parts made of sustainable materials like mushroom fibers, ground up cacti and food scraps.  Finally, a car with a flavor profile!

Sweetgreen, a fancy salad chain, is selling a salad subscription.  Fancy salads are an important part of the “new year, new me” fantasy, so the timing here is impeccable. 

RBG’s private library is coming to auction.

Germany enlists sheep, goats to pitch vaccines.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Snow covers houses in Corbridge, near Hexham in Northumberland, after weather forecasters warned that parts of the UK will face localised blizzard conditions and up to 80mph winds as the mild seasonal highs of the past few days are replaced by a cold front
CREDIT: Owen Humphreys/PA
People visit Kanda Myojin Shrine to offer new year prayers on the first business day of the year
CREDIT: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
Participants recover at the finish line during the women’s mass start free 10km event at the Tour de Ski in Val di Fiemme
CREDIT: Giovanni Auletta/AP

Market Closes for January 4^th, 2021

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	36799.65	+214.59
		+0.59%
S&P 500	4793.54	-3.02
		-0.06%
NASDAQ	15622.72	-210.08 -1.33%
TSX	21236.52	+13.68
		+0.06%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	29301.79	+510.08
		+1.77%
HANG SENG	23289.84	+15.09
		+0.06%
SENSEX	59855.93	+672.71
		+1.14%
FTSE 100*	7505.15	+120.61 +1.63%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	1.586	1.428
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.825	1.679
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.6473	1.5101
U.S. 30 Year Bond	2.0650	1.9032

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7870	0.7912
US $	1.2707	1.2639
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4341	0.6973
US $	1.1287	0.8860

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1805.85	1805.85
Oil
WTI Crude Future	76.99	76.99

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 advanced slightly to 21,236.52 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.3 percent.
Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.4 percent.
Lithium Americas Corp. had the largest increase, rising 16.4 percent.
Today, 118 of 240 shares rose, while 121 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 22 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 27 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.6 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 22.8 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 2.9 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.2 on a trailing basis and 15.2 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$3.4t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 15.41 percent compared with 15.44 percent in the previous session and the average of 14.77 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 122.6369| 1.8| 22/6
* Energy | 67.3657| 2.4| 31/1
* Industrials | 12.2938| 0.5| 17/13
* Consumer Discretionary| 10.7664| 1.4| 10/4
* Health Care | 3.2652| 2.0| 8/0
* Communication Services| 1.1476| 0.1| 3/4
* Utilities | -6.9595| -0.7| 2/14
* Consumer Staples | -6.9780| -0.9| 3/8
* Real Estate | -9.6576| -1.5| 3/19
* Materials | -22.6257| -0.9| 15/40
* Information Technology| -157.5661| -6.9| 4/12
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
| Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* TD Bank | 29.6300| 2.4| 376.4| 2.4
* Royal Bank of Canada | 25.3100| 1.9| 42.2| 1.9
* Bank of Montreal | 21.6900| 3.6| 128.5| 3.6
* Couche-Tard | -5.1870| -1.7| 41.5| -1.7
* Nutrien | -15.0000| -4.0| 120.9| -4.0
* Shopify | -147.7000| -10.9| 101.9| -10.9
US
By Vildana Hajric and Peyton Forte
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slipped from an all-time high after worries over rising interest rates sparked a selloff in tech shares.
Treasuries fell and the yen dropped to the lowest since 2017.
The S&P 500 was little changed Tuesday as data showed mixed signs on U.S. inflation ahead of three expected rate hikes from the Federal Reserve this year.
Prices paid by manufacturers in December came in sharply lower than expected, adding to signs inflationary pressure may have peaked in some areas.
However, data showing a record U.S. job quit rate added to concerns over wage inflation.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell 1.3% with Tesla Inc. shedding 4.2%.
Cathie Wood’s flagship ARK Innovation ETF plunged 4.4% and a fund tracking newly public companies dropped 4.0%.
The losses came as a rout in U.S. bonds continued Tuesday with the 10-year Treasury yield up two basis points to 1.65% after surging 12 basis points on Monday.
“The 10-year Treasury yield is on fire and that could be weighing on sentiment for growth stocks, especially expensive ones, such as tech and semis,” Mike Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partners, said.
Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co, added the slide seemed like a delayed response to the rise in long-term interest rates.
“Yesterday’s big bounce in the 10-year yield did not seem to have a definitive catalyst, so some investors thought it might not hold,” he said. “Since the rise is holding today, even extending, stock investors are finally reacting to it.”
Markets anticipate an uptick in volatility as they navigate through the omicron variant, supply-chain disruptions and more central banks winding back pandemic stimulus.
More than one million people in the U.S. were diagnosed with Covid-19 on Monday, a new global daily record.
“With bond yields moving higher the market is adjusting tech lower,” Luke Hickmore, investment director at Standard Life Investments said. “Tech is suffering from the long duration nature of these assets — i.e. it is generally a long time until the current valuation is supported by earnings in a normal multiple.”
Traders expect tightening from the Fed to boost yields and reset equity valuations.
Meanwhile, this week’s U.S. December payroll data and minutes from the Fed’s meeting last month may throw more light on the pace of such a shift.
Bitcoin rose to about $46,200. Gold climbed.
The dollar was little changed.
And crude oil in New York gained after OPEC+ agreed to revive more oil supplies.
What to watch this week:
* FOMC meeting minutes scheduled for release Wednesday
* Fed’s Bullard discusses the U.S. economy and monetary policy in an event on Thursday
* Fed’s Daly discusses monetary policy on a panel Friday
* ECB’s Schnabel speaks on a panel Saturday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4:02 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.1286
* The British pound rose 0.4% to $1.3531
* The Japanese yen fell 0.7% to 116.11 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 1.65%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.12%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced 11 basis points to 1.08%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.2% to $76.97 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.9% to $1,815.50 an ounce
–With assistance from Denitsa Tsekova and Emily Graffeo.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As always,

Carolann

Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure. –George Edward Woodberry, 1855-1930.

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