Month: March 2024

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.
March 28, 1910: The first seaplane in history takes off.  French inventor Henri Fabre’s Canard (Fabre Hydravion)was the first floatplane to take off from the water under its own power.  The first flight measured 457 meters.
On March 28, 1979, America’s worst commercial nuclear accident occurred inside the Unit Two reactor at the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Pa.   Go to article >>

Ötzi the Iceman used surprisingly modern technique for his tattoos 5,300 years ago, study suggests
The researchers compared Ötzi’s ancient tattoos with modern tattoos made using different techniques on the skin of one of the authors. Read More

Baltimore bridge collapse: an engineer explains what happened, and what needs to change
Why did the bridge collapse, and what can we do to make other bridges more safe against such collapse? Read More

1st detection of ‘hiccupping’ black hole leads to surprising discovery of 2nd black hole orbiting around it
Scientists found a monster black hole that “hiccups” every 8.5 days, and a smaller black hole that keeps punching through its accretion disk may be to blame. Read More.

Polar vortex is ‘spinning backwards’ above Arctic after major reversal event
Earlier this month, a sudden atmospheric warming event caused the Arctic’s polar vortex to reverse its trajectory. The swirling ring of cold air is now spinning in the wrong direction, which has triggered a record-breaking “ozone spike” and could impact global weather patterns. Read More.

Controversial ‘Titanic’ prop sells at auction
One of the most iconic and hotly-debated props in cinematic history — the floating wood panel from James Cameron’s 1997 movie “Titanic” — recently sold at auction for more than $700,000.

Tiger sharks wearing cameras reveal world’s largest seagrass ecosystem
Scientists fixed tags equipped with cameras onto tiger sharks so that they could view the ocean floor from a new perspective. See the footage here.

The way NFL games start is drastically changing
NFL kickoffs will look dramatically different next season after NFL owners approved new rules that are set to change the way special teams are played.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Les Sables d’Olonne, France
Waves crash against a lighthouse during Storm Nelson
Photograph: Stéphane Mahé/Reuters

Ankara, Turkey
Squirrels scramble up a tree branch at a park as temperatures rise with the arrival of spring
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

​​​​​​​London, UK
‘The Millennium Bridge on London’s South Bank looking towards St Paul’s Cathedral.’
Photograph: Nick Baldwin
Market Closes for March 28^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39807.37	+47.29
		+0.12%
S&P 500	5254.35	+5.86
		+0.11%
NASDAQ	16379.46	-20.06
		-0.12%
TSX	22167.03	+59.95
		+0.27%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	40168.07	-594.66
		-1.46%
HANG SENG	16541.42	+148.58
		+0.91%
SENSEX	73635.48	+639.17
		+0.88%
FTSE 100*	7952.62	+20.64
		+0.26%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.468	3.440
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.355	3.348
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.2003	4.1903
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.3427	4.3503

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7386	0.7360
US $	1.3539	1.3587

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4608	0.6846
US $	1.0790	0.9268

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2214.35	2192.70
Oil
WTI Crude Future	83.17	81.62

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1979, a minor malfunction occurred in a cooling mechanism at a nuclear-power plant called Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. One technical error followed another until the malfunction escalated into a “meltdown.”
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.3%, or 59.95 to 22,167.03 in Toronto.
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.9%.
Seabridge Gold Inc. had the largest increase, rising 9.2%.
Today, 130 of 224 shares rose, while 92 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 5.8%
* This month, the index rose 3.8%
* So far this week, the index rose 0.8%
* The index advanced 13% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 32% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 18.6% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.4% in the past 5 days and rose 4.3% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.5 on a trailing basis and 15.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.5t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 7.05% compared with 8.25% in the previous session and the average of 11.26% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 50.5873| 2.1| 40/10
Energy | 30.1264| 0.8| 32/8
Financials | 19.7774| 0.3| 14/12
Utilities | 6.6390| 0.8| 10/5
Health Care | 0.0866| 0.1| 3/1
Real Estate | -0.5205| -0.1| 12/9
Consumer Discretionary | -0.7643| -0.1| 7/6
Consumer Staples | -3.0437| -0.3| 3/8
Communication Services | -3.7062| -0.5| 1/4
Industrials | -15.6096| -0.5| 5/22
Information Technology | -23.6059| -1.2| 3/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Agnico Eagle Mines | 7.9340| 2.9| -4.5| 11.2
Teck Resources | 7.6650| 4.0| 45.7| 10.7
Bank of Montreal | 7.5050| 1.1| 12.6| 0.9
Canadian Pacific Kansas | -4.2360| -0.5| 72.7| 13.9
TD Bank | -6.4520| -0.6| 48.5| -4.5
Shopify | -18.5800| -2.1| -41.6| 1.3
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A stellar quarter for stocks ended on a positive note amid speculation the Federal Reserve will be able to achieve a soft landing that will keep powering Corporate America.
Wall Street traders sent the S&P 500 to its 22nd record this year after data showed the economy is in good shape, offsetting the latest Fedspeak that reinforced bets officials will be in no rush to cut rates. A $4 trillion surge in US equity values in just three months has startled doomsayers, while leaving a host of strategists scrambling to update their 2024 targets.
“We think the market’s view of where economic fundamentals are heading, rather than any one economist’s or strategist’s view, is what ultimately drives stock market pricing,” said Lori Calvasina at RBC Capital Markets.
Stocks edged up after spending most of the day struggling for direction, with investors digesting Fed Governor Christopher Waller’s remarks that he’d like to see “at least a couple months of better inflation data” before slashing rates. Traders also remained reluctant to make any big bets before the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge and Jerome Powell’s remarks Friday —when markets will be closed.
The S&P 500 topped 5,250, ending with a quarterly rally of over 10%.
The equity benchmark has only seen double-digit gains for two quarters in a row in five instances since 1950, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Two-year yields, which are more sensitive to imminent Fed moves, climbed five basis points to 4.62% in a shortened session ahead of the holiday.
The dollar extended its quarterly advance.
“Right or wrong, expectations for a June rate cut probably won’t shift unless inflation continues to rise and the labor market appears to be a major contributor to the increase,” said Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley.
In economic data, the government’s two main measures of activity — gross domestic product and consumer spending — posted strong advances at the end of last year.
Consumer sentiment rose markedly toward the end of March, supported by strong stock-market gains and expectations that inflation will continue to ease.
To Chris Zaccarelli at Independent Advisor Alliance, a solid economy — driven by a resilient consumer — sets the table for another strong earnings season.
“For those that are still holding onto the idea that the much-forecasted 2023 recession is right around the corner, they’ve missed an excellent 15 (if not 17) months in the stock market,” Zaccarelli noted.
The S&P 500 will end the year at 5,300 as the consensus real US GDP forecast has climbed in a positive sign for stocks, according to RBC Capital Markets’ Calvasina, who raised her target from 5,150.
The S&P 500 is blowing past milestones this year, even as the rally leads some to worry about the market running too hot.
But now a technical indicator that has an “undefeated” record suggests the momentum isn’t going to fade any time soon.
The relative strength index of the benchmark gauge — which measures price momentum — has closed above a value of 50 for 100 straight trading sessions as of Wednesday’s close, data compiled by SentimenTrader showed.
After a similar show of strength in its price momentum, the S&P 500 was higher every time over the ensuing two, three, six-, and twelve-months periods, the analysis found.
“For now, do not fight the trend — but continue to keep at least one eye on the exits as inflation remains stubborn, macro uncertainty remains elevated, and equity markets remain stretched (overbought) heading into a potentially volatile
election season,” said Dan Wantrobski at Janney Montgomery Scott.
Since World War II, two straight quarters of double-digit S&P 500 gains would be followed by some weakness in the following month — with the gauge climbing by an average of 12.27% one year later, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

* Apple Inc.’s overseas suppliers have ramped up production of the company’s long-anticipated new iPads and a launch is planned for early May, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
* Home Depot Inc. told investors it expects to take on $12.5 billion of debt to help fund its planned purchase of building-products distributor SRS Distribution Inc.
* Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. narrowed its fiscal 2024 guidance citing a challenging retail environment, including reduced consumer spending.
* B. Riley Financial Inc., the boutique investment bank facing questions about its dealings with a former business partner, gained extra time to supply missing financial data to its lenders.
* Palantir Technologies Inc. was cut to sell at Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co., which cited  “egregiously rich” valuation.
* Estee Lauder Cos. was raised to buy at Bank of America Corp., which said the company’s earnings have now bottomed.
* Country Garden Holdings Co., one of China’s biggest property developers, warned it will miss a deadline for reporting annual results, further complicating plans to restructure its debt following a default last year.

Key events this week:
* Good Friday. Exchanges closed in US and many other countries in observance of holiday. US federal government is open.
* US personal income and spending, PCE deflator, Friday
* San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly speaks, Friday
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%
* The MSCI World index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%
* The euro fell 0.4% to $1.0788
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.2621
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 151.39 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 2.9% to $70,872.76
* Ether rose 1.6% to $3,565.65
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 4.20%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.30%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.93%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2% to $82.99 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1.2% to $2,221.19 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Esha Dey, Jessica Menton and Farah Elbahrawy.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.  Happy Easter J!

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
You never realize how short a month is until you pay alimony. -John Barrymore, 1882-1942.

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:
March 27, 1513 Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sighted Florida.  Go to article >>
March 27, 1871: England and Scotland compete in the first international rugby match.

March 27, 1866: President Andrew Johnson vetoes a civil rights bill which later passes as the 14^th Amendment

William Roentgen, scientist, b. 845
Gloria Swanson, actress, b. 1899
Sarah Vaughan, singer, b. 1924
Mariah Carey, singer, b. 1970.

‘You could almost see and smell their world’: Remnants of ‘Britain’s Pompeii’ reveal details of life in Bronze Age village
Archaeologists are studying a Bronze Age village built on stilts to better understand the lifestyles of the people who lived there. Read More.

Single enormous object left 2 billion craters on Mars, scientists discover
An object that slammed into Mars roughly 2.3 million years ago created 2 billion smaller craters around the main Corinto impact crater, near the Red Planet’s equator. Read More.

Enormous explosions may be visible on the sun during the April 8 solar eclipse
When the moon fully covers the sun on April 8, viewers will have a rare view of the sun’s corona, and everything that explodes out of it.
Full Story: Live Science (3/26)

MIT scientists have just figured out how to make the most popular AI image generators 30 times faster
Scientists have built a framework that gives generative AI systems like DALL·E 3 and Stable Diffusion a major boost by condensing them into smaller models — without compromising their quality. Read More.

Men’s NCAA tournament Final Four is set
You probably weren’t expecting the brackets to look like this! Here are the teams headed to the Final Four following victories by San Diego and Miami.

Easy organization tweaks for your pantry
If you loathe the idea of putting pantry ingredients in clear containers, here’s why you should reconsider your current storage solutions.

‘Succession’ Season 4 opener sets the stage for battles to come
The two-time Emmy-winning HBO show kicked off its final flight of episodes, offering a glimpse into the intense drama ahead. (HBO, like CNN, is a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery.)

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

London, UK
Training sessions on the River Thames in Putney for the Oxford v Cambridge boat race
Photograph: Zac Goodwin/PA

Annemasse, France
‘Spring would not be complete without a picture of cherry blossoms.’
Photograph: Loveleen Saka Momin

​​​​​​​Lake Bohinj, Slovenia
‘We all love a blue sky, but the moody clouds lift this image of my son sitting on a jetty.’
Photograph: Bruce Carr
Market Closes for March 27^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39760.08	+477.75
		+1.22%
S&P 500	5248.49	+44.91
		+0.86%
NASDAQ	16399.52	+83.82
		+0.51%
TSX	22107.08	+194.56
		+0.89%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	40762.73	+364.70
		+0.90%
HANG SENG	16392.84	-225.48
		-1.36%
SENSEX	72996.31	+526.01
		+0.73%
FTSE 100*	7931.98	+1.02
		+0.01%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.440	3.489
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.348	3.409
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.1903	4.2316
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.3503	4.3971

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7360	0.7362
US $	1.3587	1.3583

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4688	0.6808
US $	1.0812	0.9249

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2192.70	2176.70
Oil
WTI Crude Future	81.62	81.62

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 2000: Technology stocks set a record for industry representation in the S&P 500, while Cisco Systems became the world’s most valuable corporation, worth $548 billion. Over the next year, tech stocks lost more than half their value, and Cisco shed over $425 billion.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.9% at 22,107.08 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest gain since March 7 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.1%.
Today, materials stocks led the market higher, as 10 of 11 sectors gained; 193 of 224 shares rose, while 30 fell.
Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.5%.
Mag Silver Corp. had the largest increase, rising 9.5%.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 5.5%
* This month, the index rose 3.5%
* The index advanced 13% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 32% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.4% below its 52-week high on March 21, 2024 and 18.3% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.3% in the past 5 days and rose 3.7% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.4 on a trailing basis and 15.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.47t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.25% compared with 8.87% in the previous session and the average of 11.50% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 64.6011| 2.8| 45/5
Financials | 53.0376| 0.8| 22/5
Industrials | 30.8382| 1.0| 25/2
Energy | 15.4347| 0.4| 37/4
Consumer Discretionary | 8.9174| 1.1| 11/2
Utilities | 7.0307| 0.9| 12/3
Communication Services | 5.9502| 0.8| 4/1
Real Estate | 5.4974| 1.1| 21/0
Health Care | 3.2512| 4.6| 4/0
Consumer Staples | 1.4801| 0.2| 7/3
Information Technology | -1.4727| -0.1| 5/5
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
TD Bank | 15.2600| 1.5| -10.7| -3.9
RBC | 14.8500| 1.1| -34.0| 1.7
Barrick Gold | 10.9200| 4.2| -35.0| -8.1
Open Text | -1.6160| -1.6| -38.0| -5.5
Fairfax Financial | -2.3320| -1.0| -25.3| 20.1
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders sent stocks higher in the final stretch of a quarter that saw the market surge almost 10%, with many institutional investors potentially rebalancing their portfolios.
In another volatile session, the S&P 500 closed at a record after almost erasing gains earlier Wednesday.
Apple Inc. and Tesla Inc. — this year’s laggards in the mega-cap space — climbed, while Nvidia Corp. fell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added over 1%.
The Nasdaq 100 underperformed.
Treasuries rose, with the market set to close at 2 p.m. New York time on Thursday before the holiday.
Every quarter-end, institutional investors check their market exposures to make sure they meet strict allocation limits between equities and bonds, as well as between domestic and international shares.
With stocks set to cap another strong quarter, pension funds are likely to sell an estimated $32 billion in equities to rebalance their positions, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
“At the end of almost every quarter, we hear chatter around Wall Street that there is going to have to be some big rebalancing play,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak + Co. “Maybe the quarterly rebalancing that everybody talks about each quarter, but rarely has much impact, just might create some more interesting moves before the week (and quarter) are over.”
The S&P 500 approached 5,250.
Merck & Co. rallied as a new drug for a rare form of high blood pressure got US approval.
Former President Donald Trump’s Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. powered higher after a stellar Nasdaq debut.
Treasury 10-year yields declined four basis points to 4.19%.
Traders also awaited Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller’s remarks at an event after the close.
To Thierry Wizman at Macquarie, Waller may offer a “rebuke of Jay Powell’s dovishness.”
“While not dismissing the prospect of a June cut, Waller may point to sturdy US aggregate demand and ‘sticky’ inflation in the January and February data to justify fewer rate cuts than the median ‘dots’ imply,” Wizman noted.
Gentle rate cuts could create a mildly supportive environment for risk assets — which could also be helped by a high level of cash on the sidelines, according to Kristina Hooper at Invesco.
“For those who believe that such cuts are already priced into stocks and fixed income, I would argue that there are other catalysts” Hooper said. “Keep in mind there is a high level of cash sitting on the sidelines, some of which could rotate into equities and fixed income, especially if rates begin to fall and/or more investors develop a fear of missing out.”
To illustrate, she cited the fact that money-market assets peaked in the fourth quarter of 2008 before dropping significantly.
“It seems no coincidence that cash started to move off the sidelines just as stocks began a strong and lengthy multi-year rally in March of 2009,” she concluded.
After the S&P 500 soared about 25% since late October, many have flagged concern that positioning is stretched and stocks are more vulnerable to short-term profit taking.
A blistering five-month rally in US equities has indeed seen valuations soar, but plenty of corners in the S&P 500 are still historically cheap.
At the sector level, eight of 11 groups trade at a discount compared to pre-pandemic levels — while only technology, materials, and industrials are trading at a premium, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data.
Meanwhile, nearly three fourths of the gauge trade below its capitalization-weighted price-to-book ratio — a measure that compares market capitalization to book value, used to find undervalued pockets of the market, BI’s analysis showed.
A similar share of companies, 71%, carry forward-price-to earnings multiples beneath the index level, with roughly half below their average before Covid.
“Multiples for the next year appear much loftier than they seem for the S&P 500 index, distorted by analysts’ conservative forecasts for an earnings recovery from the 2022-2023 profit recession,” said a BI team led by Gina Martin Adams.
Trailing 12-month S&P 500 earnings per share contracted 13% from the March 2022 high — well short of the median 25.8% peak-to-trough drop in economic contractions since the 1969-1970 recession, and 16.8% excluding the 2007-09 and 2020 extreme outliers, the BI strategists noted.
Only two recessions — 1980 and 1969-1970 — had shallower drops in earnings.
S&P 500 EPS on median jumped 15.6% in the first 12 months after each recessionary trough since 1969 (excluding 2007-09 and 2020), the analysis showed.
“Perhaps reflecting the smaller-than-usual drop that occurred in this cycle, consensus forecasts a mere 11.1% rise in earnings over the next year,” the strategists concluded.

Corporate Highlights:
* Amazon.com Inc. says it’s investing an additional $2.75 billion in Anthropic, completing a deal it made last year to back the artificial intelligence startup and expand a partnership between the companies.
* Robinhood Markets Inc., best known for offering commission-free trading, is rolling out a credit card to US consumers as it looks to become a broader financial-services company.
* Carnival Corp. slightly raised its outlook for 2024 amid record setting demand for cruises. However, the company also cited a negative impact related to the collapse of Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and is continuing to feel the effects of conflict in the Red Sea region.
* Fisker Inc. dramatically reduced the price of the Ocean sport utility vehicle — its only model — as the electric-car maker struggles to stay in business.

Key events this week:
* UK GDP revision, Thursday
* US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, initial jobless claims, GDP, Thursday
* Japan unemployment, Tokyo CPI, industrial production, retail sales, Friday
* US personal income and spending, PCE deflator, Friday
* Good Friday. Exchanges closed in US and many other countries in observance of holiday. US federal government is open.
* San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly speaks, Friday
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell 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 0.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.0827
* The British pound was little changed at $1.2638
* The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 151.33 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 1.5% to $68,745.2
* Ether fell 2.2% to $3,495.85
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.19%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined six basis points to 2.29%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 3.93%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed
* Spot gold rose 0.7% to $2,194 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Jan-Patrick Barnert, Michael Msika and Alexandra Semenova.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. –Edwin H. Chapin, 1814-1880.

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 March 26, 1979, the Camp David peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the White House.  Go to article >>
2000: Ex-KGB officer Vladimir Putin is elected President of Russia.

Beethoven, composer, d. 1827.
Robert Frost, poet, b. 1874.
Victor Frankl, psychiatrist, b. 1905.
Tennessee Williams, playwright, b. 1911.
Erica Jong, writer, b. 1942.
Diana Ross, singer, b. 1944.
Keira Knightly, actress, b. 19856,

Centuries-old Aztec texts detail history of their capital, conquests and fall to the Spanish
Three codices from the 16th and 17th century describe historical details about the Aztecs and the area that is now Mexico City. Read More.

The sea ‘began to boil’: Freak volcanic eruption of Santorini 1,300 years ago indicates huge blasts can occur during time of quiet
A giant layer of pumice and ash found buried underwater in the Santorini caldera indicates an eruption in A.D. 726 was much bigger than previously thought. Read More.

April 8 eclipse could bring uptick in fatal car crashes, scientists caution
An analysis of car crashes during the 2017 solar eclipse in the U.S. suggests the upcoming April eclipse could also come with an uptick in fatal accidents. Read More.

Earth hit by radiation from rare ‘double’ X-class solar flare, triggering most powerful geomagnetic storm in 6 years
A recent X-class flare, which was split into two simultaneous explosions, launched a coronal mass ejection that smashed into Earth, triggering the most powerful disruption to our planet’s magnetic field for more than six years.
Read More.

Colorful paintings of daily life uncovered in 4,300-year-old Egyptian tomb
Archaeologists have discovered paintings of daily life in ancient Egypt in a tomb dating back more than 4,300 years.

The must-have tool for soothing sore muscles
If your muscles are feeling a bit tight, this affordable tool can help relieve myofascial pain, ease tension and increase flexibility.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Edinburgh, Scotland
The first exhibition at the King’s Gallery in the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which showcases Georgian fashion with works by artists including Gainsborough, Zoffany and Hogarth
Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Bells Beach, Australia
Matthew McGillivray of South Africa surfs in his first heat of the 2024 Rip Curl Pro contest
Photograph: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images

​​​​​​​Hong Kong
Continuous, an installation by the Japanese art collective teamLab that features about 200 large ovoid objects that change colour to music, in Tamar Park
Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for March 26^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39282.33	-31.31
		-0.08%
S&P 500	5203.58	-14.61
		-0.28%
NASDAQ	16315.70	-68.77
		-0.42%
TSX	21912.52	-29.76
		-0.14%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	21912.52	-29.76
		-0.14%
HANG SENG	16618.32	+144.68
		+0.88%
SENSEX	72470.30	-361.64
		-0.50%
FTSE 100*	7930.96	+13.39
		+0.17%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.489	3.489
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.409	3.409
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.2316	4.2454
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.3971	4.4154

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7362	0.7361
US $	1.3583	1.3585

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4716	0.6795
US $	1.0833	0.9231

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2176.70	2171.60
Oil
WTI Crude Future	81.62	81.84

Market Commentary:
📈 At a meeting in Geneva that started on this day in 1979, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries declared that its members would raise the price of crude oil, igniting another round of global inflation
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the third day, dropping 0.1%, or 29.76 to 21,912.52 in Toronto.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 0.9%.
Canada Goose Holdings Inc. had the largest drop, falling 6.7%.
Today, 115 of 224 shares fell, while 105 rose; 8 of 11 sectors were lower, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 4.6%
* This month, the index rose 2.6%
* The index advanced 12% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 31% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.3% below its 52-week high on March 21, 2024 and 17.2% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 2.8% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.4 on a trailing basis and 15.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.1% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.47t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.87% compared with 11.64% in the previous session and the average of 11.69% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | -22.1959| -0.6| 11/29
Materials | -4.3134| -0.2| 18/30
Consumer Staples | -3.3844| -0.4| 6/5
Financials | -2.4593| 0.0| 17/10
Industrials | -1.2020| 0.0| 12/14
Real Estate | -0.9982| -0.2| 12/9
Communication Services | -0.8151| -0.1| 3/2
Utilities | -0.0420| 0.0| 6/9
Information Technology | 1.1577| 0.1| 9/1
Consumer Discretionary | 2.2216| 0.3| 8/5
Health Care | 2.2848| 3.3| 3/1
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Natural Resources | -6.8270| -0.9| -47.0| 17.5
Enbridge | -5.9440| -0.8| -50.8| 1.4
Brookfield Corp | -5.8990| -1.1| -2.9| 4.8
Intact Financial | 2.3440| 0.9| 70.7| 8.3
Nutrien | 2.3860| 1.0| -18.1| -3.4
Dollarama | 3.1070| 1.6| 16.2| 7.9
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — The stock market failed to hold on to earlier gains after a rally that’s already topped $4 trillion this year, with Nvidia Corp. leading losses in tech mega-caps.
Trading was largely driven by quarter-end positioning.
With the latest bout of equity outperformance, pensions may need to sell roughly $22 billion in global stocks and buy $17 billion of fixed income in order to return to prior asset allocation levels, according to an earlier estimate from Morgan Stanley.
As traders geared up for the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge on Friday — when markets will be closed — they parsed the latest economic readings.
US consumer confidence held steady, durable goods orders climbed while home-price growth accelerated at the fastest rate since 2022.
The S&P 500 hovered near 5,210, with Nvidia halting a six-day rally and dropping 2%.
United Parcel Service Inc. fell as investors saw its long-term sales target as hard to meet.
Former president Donald Trump’s startup Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. surged in its first session as a publicly traded company.
Treasuries rebounded from session lows after a $67 billion sale of five year-notes.
The S&P 500 is on track to notch five straight months of gains from November through March — a feat only accomplished one other time this century in 2013.
That set-up has historically underpinned a secular bull run in US stocks that extended at least a year, according to Jeffrey Hirsch, editor of the Stock Trader’s Almanac.
Since 1950, when the equities benchmark posted a consecutive monthly advance from November to March, the S&P 500 rose the remaining nine months of the year in all 11 instances, with an average gain of 12%, he added.
“Strong price momentum, like we have seen over the past five months, tends to occur in the midst of bull markets and is a sign of underlying strength,” said Lerner at Truist. “The rise has been aided by an economy that has exceeded expectations, forward corporate earnings estimates that have moved to record highs, technology leadership, and expectations that the Federal Reserve will start lowering short-term rates later this year.”
While markets appear to be getting stretched, similar past periods of strength have also tended to be a positive when looking out 12 months — with stocks up every time and showing an average gain of 14%, Lerner added.
“Stocks have moved higher in the first quarter in anticipation of the first rate cuts,” said Anthony Saglimbene at Ameriprise. “We have likely already entered a period where the Federal Reserve is now less likely to surprise the market from here on out.”
Overall, it’s likely that prices keep pushing up into late March given no evidence of technical deterioration, according to Mark Newton at Fundstrat Global Advisors.
“I continue to see the US stock market as being attractive, technically speaking, and do not feel sufficient risk is there to warrant a selloff at this time,” Newton said.
A rally in the S&P 500 to 5,350-5,400 is definitely possible into mid-April — before a consolidation gets underway, he concluded.
For stocks to warrant their multiple expansion in recent months, global central banks must ease monetary policy this year and companies have to deliver healthy earnings growth, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Marko Kolanovic.
“Overall, if central banks turn out to be more dovish than currently projected, but without this being accompanied by growth disappointments, present equity multiples could be defended,” he wrote this week.
If earnings disappoint and central banks are more restrictive, equity multiples would need to fall, he added.
Bank of America Corp.’s institutional, retail, and hedge fund clients were all net sellers of US equities in the week ended March 22, while corporations purchasing their own shares were the sole net buyers.
“As momentum slows and breadth diverges, we believe the S&P 500 could benefit from a healthy pullback of at least 5% toward its 50-day moving average — a level last tested in early November,” said Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler.
As the big debate unfolds on how concentrated or broad this year’s S&P 500 rally has been, there’s data to support both arguments.
After the year kicked off with gains focused on tech-heavy sectors, the rally has broadened out to other groups like commodities and industrials.
However, looking at the contribution to total returns, 60% of gains in the gauge have been driven by just six stocks: Nvidia Corp., Microsoft Corp., Meta Platforms Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Eli Lilly & Co. and Broadcom Inc.
The artificial intelligence furor gripping the stock market has chipmakers like Nvidia Corp. soaring, making them increasingly crucial to the broader S&P 500 rally.
But the stocks are no longer cheap, adding a new level risk to further gains in the equity benchmark.
The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index is priced around eight times sales, the highest in at least two decades, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The S&P 500, by contrast, is priced around 3 times sales.
Relative to the broader benchmark, the chip index is higher than it was during the dot-com peak in 2000.

Corporate Highlights:
* Apple Inc. iPhone shipments in China fell about 33% in February from a year earlier, according to official data, extending a slump in demand for the flagship device in its most important overseas market.
* Dell Technologies Inc. cut 13,000 employees over the last fiscal year, a steeper reduction in headcount than initially announced.
* McDonald’s Corp. will bring Krispy Kreme Inc.’s doughnuts to its restaurants across the US, marking the burger chain’s latest effort to attract diners for breakfast and all-day snacking.
* Short sellers are still betting billions of dollars that the rally in cryptocurrency-linked stocks fueled by a surge in Bitcoin will eventually end.
** Total short interest, or the amount that contrarian traders have pledged against crypto stocks, has increased to nearly $11 billion this year, according to a report from S3 Partners LLC on Monday. More than 80% of total short interest in the sector are bets against MicroStrategy Inc. and Coinbase Global Inc.
* Michael Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. swung to a profit in the fourth quarter, bolstered by rising digital asset prices and increased trading volumes.
* Viking Therapeutics Inc. unveiled results from an early study of its experimental weight-loss pill, a product expected to  compete with popular obesity shots.
* Rite Aid Corp. is nearing a deal with key bondholders and other creditor groups that will allow the pharmacy chain to avoid a liquidation, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Key events this week:
* China industrial profits, Wednesday
* Bank of England issues financial policy committee minutes, Wednesday
* Eurozone economic confidence, consumer confidence, Wednesday
* Fed Governor Christopher Waller speaks, Wednesday
* UK GDP revision, Thursday
* US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, initial jobless claims, GDP, Thursday
* Japan unemployment, Tokyo CPI, industrial production, retail sales, Friday
* US personal income and spending, PCE deflator, Friday
* Good Friday. Exchanges closed in US and many other countries in observance of holiday. US federal government is open.
* San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly speaks, Friday
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World index fell 0.1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.0830
* The British pound was little changed at $1.2625
* The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 151.58 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 2% to $69,538.32
* Ether fell 1.9% to $3,561.06
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.23%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.35%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 3.97%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.6% to $81.49 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,177.89 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Jessica Menton, Jeran Wittenstein, Lu Wang and Tatiana Darie.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Never forget what a man says to you when he is angry. -Henry Ward Beecher, 1813-1887.

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.
Old New Year’s Day was on this date until 1751.
March 25, 2001 Apple Computer Inc.’s operating system Mac OS X went on sale.  Go to article >>
March 25, 1995: Ward Cunningham introduces the world’s first wiki, or user-editable website (WikiWikiWeb).  Today, Wikipedia is the world’s most well known and widely used wiki.

Elton John, b. 1947.
Aretha Franklin, b.1942.
Sarah Jessica Parker, b. 1965.

4,300-year-old Egyptian tomb with stunning wall paintings was burial place of priestess and royal official
The ancient Egyptian tomb has colorful wall paintings depicting what life was like 4,300 years ago. Read More

James Webb telescope to zoom in on Uranus and Saturn in study of mysterious auroras
Two projects using the James Webb Space Telescope will look at the auroras of Uranus and Saturn to discover what processes make them tick. Read More.

‘We don’t yet have the know-how to properly maintain a corpse brain’: Why cryonics is a non-starter in our quest for immortality
In a new book, renowned biologist Venki Ramakrishnan explores the reasons why we die, and discusses unproven ways people hope to cheat death, such as cryogenics. Read More.

‘White hat hackers’ carjacked a Tesla using cheap, legal hardware — exposing major security flaws in the vehicle
Security researchers used a $169 Flipper Zero device and a Wi-Fi development board to obtain a driver’s credentials, break into a Tesla Model 3 and drive away. Read More.

Paris waiters compete in race, trays in hand
Some 200 waiters raced through the streets of Paris to see who could be first to get a coffee and croissant across the capital! Watch this video to see their impressive balancing skills.

Record-breaking American teen wins first World Figure Skating title
At only 19 years old, Ilia Malinin landed a quadruple axel at the World Figure Skating Championship. This skill is often attempted — but never accomplished — by skating greats.
Carnival Cruise ship catches fire while at sea
Traveling can be a wonderful, relaxing experience … but it can also be unpredictable. See what happened after a Carnival cruise ship caught fire Saturday in the middle of its voyage.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Duhok, Iraq
Storks perch on their nest on the top of an electricity pylon
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Washington, US
The cherry tree nicknamed ‘Stumpy’ stands in high- tide water at the Tidal Basin. The National Park Service announced it would begin to cut down more than 140 cherry trees around the basin and West Potomac Park in anticipation of construction for an upgraded sea wall to guard against flooding
Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Singapore
A plane flies past the rising full moon, known as a worm moon
Photograph: Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for March 25^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39313.64	-162.26
		-0.41%
S&P 500	5218.19	-15.99
		-0.31%
NASDAQ	16384.47	-44.35
		-0.27%
TSX	21942.28	-41.80
		-0.19%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	40414.12	-474.31
		-1.16%
HANG SENG	16473.64	-25.83
		-0.16%
SENSEX	72831.94	+190.75
		+0.26%
FTSE 100*	7917.57	-13.35
		-0.17%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.489	3.438
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.409	3.364
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.2454	4.1981
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.4154	4.3779

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7361	0.7363
US $	1.3585	1.3582

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4722	0.6793
US $	1.0837	0.9228

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2171.60	2170.50
Oil
WTI Crude Future	81.84	81.04

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1809, the nation’s first notable bank failure was reported. The Farmers Exchange Bank of Glocester, R.I., went bust after issuing $800,000 in fraudulent loans against total capital of $45.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.2%, or 41.8 to 21,942.28 in Toronto.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.3%.
Tilray Brands Inc. had the largest drop, falling 7.3%.
Today, 131 of 224 shares fell, while 91 rose; 9 of 11 sectors were lower, led by industrials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 4.7%
* This month, the index rose 2.7%
* The index advanced 13% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 31% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.1% below its 52-week high on March 21, 2024 and 17.4% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.5% in the past 5 days and rose 2.5% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.5 on a trailing basis and 15.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.1% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.48t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 11.64% compared with 11.60% in the previous session and the average of 11.82% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Industrials | -40.3137| -1.3| 6/21
Financials | -14.6047| -0.2| 4/22
Information Technology | -12.1268| -0.6| 1/9
Utilities | -8.2004| -1.0| 3/12
Consumer Discretionary | -7.3294| -0.9| 2/11
Communication Services | -3.3500| -0.5| 2/3
Real Estate | -2.1144| -0.4| 7/13
Health Care | -1.6027| -2.3| 0/4
Consumer Staples | -0.1442| 0.0| 4/7
Materials | 0.2853| 0.0| 29/21
Energy | 47.6994| 1.2| 33/8
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Pacific Kansas | -18.2500| -2.3| 40.6| 13.2
Canadian National | -12.0800| -1.7| -33.5| 5.8
Brookfield Corp | -5.6990| -1.0| -57.8| 5.9
Enbridge | 8.4710| 1.2| -52.3| 2.3
Suncor Energy | 9.9240| 2.3| 22.1| 17.7
Canadian Natural Resources | 16.2000| 2.1| -41.2| 18.6
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stock traders decided to take some chips off the table at the start of a week that will bring the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure — on a day when markets will be closed.
Equities pulled back after a rally that drove the S&P 500 to multiple records, spurring speculation the market has gone too far, too fast.
Investors also took a cautious stance on bets the personal consumption expenditures price index — due on Good Friday — will show inflation probably remained uncomfortably high.
On that same day, Jerome Powell is due to speak.
A sense of prudence also prevailed as concern about a disconnect between earnings expectations and share prices have grown.
Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists were the latest to warn it’ll be hard to justify lofty valuations if profit acceleration fails to materialize.
“We continue to see sentiment as stretched and think a US equity market pullback is overdue,” said Lori Calvasina at RBC Capital Markets.
The S&P 500 fell below 5,220. Intel Corp. slipped on a news report China is limiting the use of foreign chips.
Boeing Co. climbed after announcing that its chief will step down.
Treasury 10-year yields rose five basis points to 4.25%. Bitcoin topped $70,000.
In a sign of how overheated the stock market has been, the S&P 500 finished last week 14% above its 200-day moving average.
“That’s quite stretched historically,” said Jonathan Krinsky at BTIG.
“The big question is: do we get a correction through time, or price. The latter has been elusive for the last five months, but we do think there is a window here for some modest price weakness.”
Last week also saw the most amount of S&P 500’s 52-week highs in nearly three years, according to Krinsky.
“While this rarely marks a final high, the near-term returns are much more mixed than you might imagine, with similar surges happening prior to large drawdowns in ‘18 and ‘20, while also amidst strong uptrends during ‘17, ‘20, and ‘21,” Krinsky noted.
Concerns about a near-term overbought market have surfaced at a time when consensus earnings estimates have been revised lower.
Analysts currently expect earnings-per-share to grow about 9% this year versus 11% at the start of November, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.
“The stock market faces its next test in a few weeks when earnings season begins in mid-April,” said Clark Bellin at Bellwether Wealth. “Stock prices and valuations are elevated heading into this next earnings season, which leaves little room for disappointment if companies fail to deliver strong earnings.”
Investors looking to put new money to work in the market should wait for a pullback, Bellin added.
“The market already had a few minor pullbacks so far this year,” Bellin also noted. “They were shallow and quick, but they proved to be good buying opportunities.”
The combination of healthy US economic data, expectations the Fed will cut rates and optimism about artificial intelligence have all driven the S&P 500 up almost 10% this year — leaving many year-end forecasts in the dust.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists are sticking with their year-end prediction of 5,200 — but have a scenario in which tech mega-caps lead the index up to 6,000.
“Although AI optimism appears high, long-term growth expectations and valuations for the largest TMT stocks are still far from ‘bubble’ territory,” the strategists led by David Kostin wrote.
The pro-risk mood among equity investors is likely to spread beyond the mega-cap technology names that have comprised much of the stock market’s returns into other sectors, according to strategists at BlackRock’s Investment Institute.
Strong corporate earnings, economic resilience in the face of higher interest rates and “prospects for innovation” have prompted Oppenheimer Asset Management’s John Stoltzfus to raise his year-end target on the S&P 500 to 5,500 — joining Société Generale for the highest forecast on Wall Street.
“The big surprise this year has not been so much the resilience of the economy, but rather the substantial capitulation among the bears and bearish community,” Stoltzfus said. Profit taking, particularly in Big Tech, is expected and
normal — and any near-term volatility is opportunity to “catch babies that get thrown out with the bath water,” he noted.

Corporate Highlights:
* Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Meta Platforms Inc. face the risk of potentially hefty fines as the European Union opened a full-blown investigation into the firms’ compliance with strict new laws reining in the power of Big Tech.
* Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.’s tumbled on fears of a possible delay to the much-anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI video game.
* US aviation authorities are considering drastic measures to curb growth at United Airlines Holdings Inc., including preventing the carrier from adding new routes, following a series of safety incidents.
* Lucid Group Inc. is getting a $1 billion cash injection from its biggest investor, an affiliate of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, providing the troubled electric carmaker with a needed lifeline.
* Manulife Financial Corp. has struck another deal to offload some of its less-profitable assets, agreeing to reinsure C$5.8 billion ($4.3 billion) of Canadian policies with RGA Life Reinsurance Co. of Canada.
* Match Group Inc., the owner of dating apps Tinder and Hinge, named two directors to its board following discussions with activist investor Elliott Investment Management.
* Novo Nordisk A/S agreed to buy Cardior Pharmaceuticals for up to €1 billion ($1.1 billion) as the Danish maker of weight-loss drugs continues to expand into treatments for cardiovascular disease.

Key events this week:
* ECB chief economist Philip Lane participates in event in Dublin, Tuesday
* US durable goods, Conference Board consumer confidence, Tuesday
* China industrial profits, Wednesday
* Bank of England issues financial policy committee minutes, Wednesday
* Eurozone economic confidence, consumer confidence, Wednesday
* Fed Governor Christopher Waller speaks, Wednesday
* UK GDP revision, Thursday
* US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, initial jobless claims, GDP, Thursday
* Japan unemployment, Tokyo CPI, industrial production, retail sales, Friday
* US personal income and spending, PCE deflator, Friday
* Good Friday. Exchanges closed in US and many other countries in observance of holiday. US federal government is open.
* San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly speaks, Friday
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro rose 0.3% to $1.0839
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.2638
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 151.45 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 7.4% to $71,058.63
* Ether rose 6.7% to $3,642.43
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 4.25%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 2.37%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced six basis points to 3.99%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.6% to $81.95 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,171.30 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Farah Elbahrawy and Isabelle Lee.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Perhaps someday it will be pleasant to remember even this. –Virgil, 70 BC-19 BC.

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
United Nations World Day for Water.
March 22, 1945: Arab League formed.
March 22, 1960: The laser is patented by Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow.
March 22, 1972: Congress sent the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution to the states for ratification.

George Benson, b.1943.

Pig kidney transplanted into human patient for 1st time ever
Doctors in Boston performed the first pig kidney transplant on a 62-year-old living patient in a medical milestone that could help address the critical shortage of human organs. Read More.

Iceland volcano: Gigantic plume of toxic gas from latest eruption is moving across Europe, satellite data shows
A massive column of sulfur dioxide that was pumped out by the erupting volcano on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula is currently traveling across northern Europe. Scientists are concerned it could impact
the ozone layer.  Read More.

Overlooked Apollo data from the 1970s reveals huge record of ‘hidden’ moonquakes
A reanalysis of 50-year-old Apollo mission data long abandoned by NASA has revealed 22,000 previously unrecognized moonquakes, almost tripling the known number of seismic lunar events. Read More.

Workout in a pill: Scientists move one step closer to an exercise-mimicking drug
Scientists are in the early days of creating a drug that can mimic cellular benefits of exercise for people unable to engage in physical activity. Read More.

Elusive form of carbon tougher than diamonds created in supercomputer simulation for 1st time ever
A simulated form of carbon called BC8, or ‘super-diamond’, could be 30% tougher than normal diamonds, but synthesizing it on Earth won’t be easy. Read More.

Warner Bros. Pictures releases ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ trailer
We now have the first look at the long-awaited sequel to the 1988 Tim Burton classic starring Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder. (Like CNN, Warner Bros. Pictures is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.)

No. 3 seed Kentucky stunned by No. 14 seed Oakland in men’s NCAA tournament
The Oakland Golden Grizzlies are advancing to the second round for the first time in history.

Emmanuel Macron shows off his boxing skills
Photos of French President Emmanuel Macron hitting a boxing bag have sparked mixed reactions.

Newly identified fossil named after Kermit the Frog could help solve evolutionary puzzle
Paleontologists have discovered a previously unknown ancient species: Kermitops — an amphibian that predates the dinosaurs and reveals the complexity of frog evolution.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Wild horses on the Eynif Plateau, which covers about 90,000 in Antalya, Turkey
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

A parakeet feeds on cherry blossom in Battersea Park in London, UK on the first offical day of spring
Photograph: Alister Gooding/pictureexclusive.com

​​​​​​​Teotihuacán, Mexico
Hot-air balloons fly over the pyramids during the spring equinox celebration
Photograph: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for March 22^nd, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39475.90	-305.47
		-0.77%
S&P 500	5234.18	-7.35
		-0.14%
NASDAQ	16428.82	+26.98
		+0.16%
TSX	21984.08	-103.18
		-0.47%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	40888.43	+72.77
		+0.18%
HANG SENG	16499.47	-363.63
		-2.16%
SENSEX	72831.94	+190.75
		+0.26%
FTSE 100*	7930.92	+48.37
		+0.61%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.438	3.516
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.364	3.431
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.1981	4.2669
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.3779	4.4347

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7363	0.7393
US $	1.3582	1.3526

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4753	0.6778
US $	1.0862	0.9206

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2170.50	2157.45
Oil
WTI Crude Future	81.04	81.54

Market Commentary:

📈 On this day in 1811, New York passed the world’s first law giving common stockholders limited liability. The measure shielded investors from losing more than their initial investment.

Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.5% at 21,984.08 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 0.6% on March 14 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.2%.
Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 0.9%.
Osisko Mining Inc. had the largest drop, falling 4.9%.
Today, 154 of 224 shares fell, while 66 rose; 7 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 4.9%
* This month, the index rose 2.9%
* So far this week, the index rose 0.6%
* The index advanced 13% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 32% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1% below its 52-week high on March 21, 2024 and 17.6% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.5 on a trailing basis and 15.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.1% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.49t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 11.60% compared with 11.46% in the previous session and the average of 11.88% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | -42.7707| -0.6| 5/22
Materials | -22.6521| -1.0| 10/38
Information Technology | -18.2996| -0.9| 2/8
Communication Services | -10.9908| -1.5| 0/5
Consumer Discretionary | -9.9422| -1.3| 1/12
Real Estate | -7.2571| -1.4| 1/20
Utilities | -0.7965| -0.1| 7/8
Consumer Staples | 1.7917| 0.2| 3/8
Industrials | 2.4275| 0.1| 17/10
Health Care | 2.6374| 3.9| 2/2
Energy | 2.6713| 0.1| 18/21
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
RBC | -12.4900| -0.9| -35.0| 0.9
Power of Canada | -7.0520| -4.6| 334.2| 0.2
Constellation Software | -6.2160| -1.2| -38.2| 14.2
Loblaw | 2.5410| 1.7| -6.1| 19.1
Tilray Brands | 2.7000| 19.8| 466.8| 2.9
Cameco | 3.3390| 1.9| -53.7| 2.9
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — The rally in stocks lost traction Friday, with the market still notching its best week in 2024 amid speculation the Federal Reserve will be able to cut interest rates as soon as June.
US equities wavered after a record-breaking run that drove the S&P 500 up about 10% this year.
In an almost broad-based weekly advance, the gauge climbed more than 2% in the span.
The market resilience has left strategists scrambling to update their targets, while spurring calls for a consolidation or a pullback.
“With some sentiment and positioning indicators looking elevated, we would not be surprised to see a modest pullback in the coming months,” said David Lefkowitz at UBS Global Wealth Management. “That could offer investors a better opportunity to add to equity positions.”
In the absence of economic data, traders kept an eye on Fed speak.
Jerome Powell’s remarks during a “Fed Listens” event didn’t include monetary policy.
Michael Barr, the Fed’s vice chair for supervision, said there will likely be significant changes to a proposal to force lenders to hold more capital.
The S&P 500 closed below 5,235. Nvidia Corp. extended gains into an 11th straight week. FedEx Corp. — an economic barometer — surged on solid earnings and a $5 billion buyback plan.
Nike Inc. and Lululemon Athletica Inc. dropped on weak outlooks.
Treasury 10-year yields slipped six basis points to 4.21%.
The dollar approached its highest level this year.
While a relative sense of calm prevailed at the end of the week, American stocks saw hefty outflows in the run-up the highly anticipated Fed policy meeting.
US equity funds suffered redemptions of about $22 billion in the week through Wednesday — the biggest since December 2022, according to a note from Bank of America Corp., citing EPFR Global data.
The trend was also a sharp turnaround from the previous week, when stocks had attracted record inflows.
Following the Fed decision, stocks were swept up in rally driven by the perception that the central bank wasn’t as hawkish as feared.
Policymakers kept their forecast for three rate cuts this year, and Chair Powell didn’t seem overly concerned about the recent uptick in inflation.
Yet examining Fed rate cycles since the 1970s has revealed that, in general, investors have more to fear from the first rate cut in a cycle than a pause, according to Ryan Grabinski at Strategas Securities.
On average, the S&P 500 is up more than 5% over 100 days between the last Fed tightening and the first rate cut, he noted.
However, the trough in the broader market exceeds a 23% drop over 200 days after the first rate cut in a series.
Despite still elevated rates, the recent round of housing, manufacturing and labor-market data pointed to a resilient economy.
“Six months ago, investors were largely pessimistic, with ‘good news being treated as bad news’ and ‘bad news treated as bad news’,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide. “The pendulum has shifted almost completely, with strong data being viewed as a sign of a ‘soft landing’ — while sluggish data reinforces the
belief that the Federal Reserve will cut rates.”
This has driven impressive momentum in the market, Hackett noted. The technicals underlying the recent stock rally were impressive — with more than three-quarters of the S&P 500 above the 200-day moving average — the best level since 2021, he noted.
One of few Wall Street forecasters who correctly predicted last year’s stock market rally finds himself in a contrarian position once again.
But this time, Brian Belski thinks equities are set up for a plunge — just as many of his peers are turning bullish.
A correction is imminent after stocks have run up too far, too fast on false optimism over how soon the Fed will dial back interest rates, the BMO Capital Markets chief investment strategist and long-time bull said in an interview.
Bill Gross, the one-time bond king, warned that investors are in for a bumpy ride as “excessive exuberance” sweeps financial markets.
“It tells me that fiscal deficit spending and AI enthusiasm have been overriding factors, and momentum and ‘irrational’ exuberance have dominated markets since 2022,” Gross, the co-founder and former chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., wrote in his latest investment outlook. “Buckle up for excessive exuberance.”
Meantime, HSBC strategists were the latest on Wall Street to say that equities aren’t in a bubble despite the sharp rally since last year.
The team led by Max Kettner raises its view on US stocks to “tactically overweight” from “neutral.”
“Re-accelerating inflation is a risk, but the key here is when central banks and markets will really start to care,” they said. “We’re still quite some way away from that.”
Equity valuations outside the US are relatively more attractive following a recent rally in technology mega-caps, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategist Peter Oppenheimer.
“We think technology is still going to be crucially important and do well, but as interest rates come down and we get this soft landing, the opportunity for broadening out into some more cyclical parts of the market is improving,”
Oppenheimer told Bloomberg Television.
“US equities remain in an uptrend, but still vulnerable to potential consolidation/correction ahead in our opinion,” according to Dan Wantrobski at Janney Montgomery Scott.
“Momentum is pushing several areas (not just mega-cap leadership) into overbought/extended territory on a short-term basis — which is what continues to concern us from a technical perspective.”
Still, overall market breadth continues to expand, he added, citing the fact that the cumulative advance-decline line for New York Stock Exchange shares is now close to breaking new all-time highs.
“This is an important metric to watch as it indicates the markets are no longer being carried by just a few names (like the Mag 7, for example), but are starting to fire on all cylinders across multiple market caps and sectors, Wantrobski said.

Corporate Highlights:
* Tesla Inc. has reduced production at its plant in China, according to people familiar with the matter, amid sluggish growth in electric-vehicle sales and intense competition in the world’s biggest auto market.
* Nike Inc. warned that sales will take a hit as it responds to a growing challenge from upstart running-shoe brands like On and Hoka that have exposed the US sporting-goods company’s reliance on classic basketball models such as the Air Force 1.
* FedEx Corp. topped Wall Street’s third-quarter profit expectations and announced a new $5 billion share buyback plan as the courier said it’s seeing results from a plan to cut costs and boost margins.
* Lululemon Athletica Inc. reported a slowdown in its US business and lower-than-expected outlooks for the first quarter and full year.
* Grifols SA sank as investors evaluated a regulatory review of the Spanish bio-science company’s financial reports, which found “relevant deficiencies” but no major accounting mistakes.

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 0.8%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%
* The euro fell 0.5% to $1.0806
* The British pound fell 0.5% to $1.2594
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 151.44 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 2.4% to $63,888.13
* Ether fell 4.1% to $3,342.24
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined six basis points to 4.21%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined eight basis points to 2.32%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined seven basis points to 3.93%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $80.79 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.8% to $2,163.66 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Sagarika Jaisinghani, Ye Xie and Alexandra Semenova.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences. –Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894.

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: Happy Friday Eve.

March 21, 1965: Selma, Alabama civil rights march.
March 21, 2006: Jack Dorsey sends the world’s first Twitter tweet.

Johann Sebastian Bach, b. 1685.
Matthew Broderick, b.1962.
Rosie O’Donnell, b.1962.

AI-powered humanoid robot can serve you food, stack the dishes and have a conversation with you
Figure 01 learned how to make coffee by watching a human do it, and now it can speak to you like a person.  Read More

Obsidian blades with food traces reveal 1st settlers of Rapa Nui had regular contact with South Americans 1,000 years ago
The earliest settlers of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, appear to have had some sort of contact with people from South America as early as 1,000 years ago, a new plant study finds.  Read More.

Researchers gave AI an ‘inner monologue’ and it massively improved its performance
Scientists trained an AI system to think before speaking with a technique called QuietSTaR. The inner monologue improved common sense reasoning and doubled math performance. Read More.

Triassic ‘tank’ unearthed in Texas was a croc cousin that lived 215 million years ago
Fossil discovered in 1989 found to be new species of aetosaur, a massive armored crocodile cousin that lived during the late Triassic. Read More.

‘Little rascals:’ Group of boys in custody for Texas bank robbery
A group of suspected bank robbers the FBI referred to as the “little rascals” is now in custody — and one of them is only 11 years old.

India is a hiker’s dream destination
Take a look at some of the country’s most epic trails.
Reddit is finally going public
It has been years since a social media company debuted on the New York Stock Exchange. Read why Reddit is going public more than a decade after many of its peers.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

London, UK
Mia Babic poses during a photo call for the Sounds of Blossom festival at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. The festival runs from Saturday 23 March to Sunday 14 April
Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA

California, US
People take photos in a field of wildflowers in Anza-Borrego desert state park
Photograph: David Swanson/Reuters

​​​​​​​Grindavik, Iceland
Lava from a volcanic eruption flows near the town
Photograph: Marco di Marco/AP
Market Closes for March 21^st, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39781.37	+269.24
		+0.68%
S&P 500	5241.53	+16.91
		+0.32%
NASDAQ	16401.84	+32.43
		+0.20%
TSX	22087.26	+41.55
		+0.19%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	40815.66	+812.06
		+2.03%
HANG SENG	16863.10	+320.03
		+1.93%
SENSEX	72641.19	+539.50
		+0.75%
FTSE 100*	7882.55	+145.17
		+1.88%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.516	3.490
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.431	3.412
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.2669	4.2728
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.4347	4.4532

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7393	0.7421
US $	1.3526	1.3475

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4694	0.6805
US $	1.0862	0.9206

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2157.45	2154.90
Oil
WTI Crude Future	81.54	83.47

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1924, the Massachusetts Investors Trust, the first open-end mutual fund, was founded in Boston by a former cookware salesman and two investment bankers. The minimum initial purchase of five shares cost $262.50, or $2.50 less than a new Ford Model T runabout.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 0.2%, or 41.55 to 22,087.26 in Toronto.
Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 0.9%.
Celestica Inc. had the largest increase, rising 7.2%.
Today, 118 of 224 shares rose, while 103 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 5.4%
* This month, the index rose 3.4%
* So far this week, the index rose 1.1%, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended Feb. 16
* The index advanced 12% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 31% in the same period * The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 18.2% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.2% in the past 5 days and rose 4.3% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.5 on a trailing basis and 15.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.5t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 11.46% compared with 11.53% in the previous session and the average of 11.91% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 42.3748| 0.6| 20/7
Industrials | 18.5548| 0.6| 14/12
Energy | 12.4760| 0.3| 23/17
Utilities | 3.2600| 0.4| 10/5
Real Estate | 3.0245| 0.6| 15/6
Health Care | -0.2078| -0.3| 2/2
Consumer Discretionary | -0.7180| -0.1| 5/7
Materials | -1.7516| -0.1| 17/33
Communication Services | -4.7314| -0.7| 1/4
Information Technology | -13.4779| -0.7| 7/3
Consumer Staples | -17.2455| -1.9| 4/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
RBC | 11.5100| 0.9| 48.1| 1.9
Canadian National | 7.5940| 1.1| -14.2| 7.9
Canadian Natural Resources | 7.2020| 1.0| -56.0| 15.7
CGI Inc | -7.1710| -3.1| 88.6| 8.9
Shopify | -16.9700| -1.8| -20.3| 4.4
Couche-Tard | -17.5200| -4.2| 189.3| 0.1
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — The relentless rally in stocks powered ahead on optimism the Federal Reserve will be able to engineer a soft landing, which would bolster the outlook for corporate earnings.
A fresh bout of risk-taking drove the S&P 500 to its 20^th record this year, led by gains in industrials and banks.
Not even losses in a pair of mega-caps — Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc. — curbed the market momentum.
The Nasdaq 100 also hit an all-time high, buoyed by Micron Technology Inc.’s outlook.
Reddit Inc. soared in its debut.
The latest round of housing, manufacturing and labor-market data pointed to a resilient economy that, in theory, would scare policymakers trying to bring inflation back to target.
A day after the Fed signaled it’s on track to cut rates this year, traders decided to keep looking at the glass half full.
“For now, the soft-landing thesis is intact, with leading indicators showing nascent signs of trending more positively,” said Jim Baird at Plante Moran Financial Advisors.
The S&P 500 topped 5,240. Small caps extended this week’s gains. Treasury 10-year yields were little changed at 4.27%.
Across the Atlantic, the British pound fell after a pair of Bank of England’s hawks dropped their push for hikes.
And a surprise decision from the Swiss National Bank to cut rates also pushed the Swiss franc lower.
To Max Kettner at HSBC, it should not be surprising that risk assets continue to be on a tear.
“The rate-hike cycle of 2022 and 2023 has done little to impact the broader US economy negatively,” he noted.
As for the future trajectory of the Fed, he says it’s a binary question.
“Either they cut or they don’t,” he noted.
With Fed Chair Jerome Powell making it fairly clear that the next move will be down, “it seems more a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if.’  That seems to be good enough for risk assets.”
Looking at previous periods when the Fed was on hold, the current pause ranks second in terms of duration, according to an analysis from Ryan Grabinski at Strategas Securities, through March 20.
“The good news is that the longer they hold, the more the market has historically moved higher,” he noted.
In periods where the pause is greater than 100 days, the market is up on average 13%, Grabinski said.
The best performance occurred during the 2006-2007 pause — which was also the longest and resulted in the S&P 500 rising 22%.
The equity rally has also left forecasters scrambling to lift their end-2024 targets for the S&P 500 just three months into the year.
The gauge is already trading above the average estimate of strategists tracked by Bloomberg.
There’s no stopping to the rally in US stocks against a backdrop of improving outlook for corporate earnings and the frenzy around artificial intelligence, according to Societe Generale SA strategists.
The team led by Manish Kabra boosted its year-end target for the benchmark gauge to 5,500 from 4,750 — the highest forecast among strategists tracked by Bloomberg.
“US exceptionalism is going from strength to strength,” Kabra wrote. “Despite widespread market optimism, we view this as rational rather than excessive.”
The latest report from GMO Asset Allocation’s team shows the firm’s continued optimism despite the fact that equity indexes are sitting at all-time highs.
“We are extremely excited about the investing landscape,” it said. “An abundance of cheap assets underpins this enthusiasm from an absolute return standpoint, while appealing valuation spreads within asset classes present us with the best relative asset allocation opportunity we’ve seen in 35 years.”
Meantime, rally-chasing investors who rode US equities higher this year have flocked to an upward trend occurring outside of just the so-called Magnificent Seven that have dominated the market: the one taking place in quality stocks.
As traders have been enamored by artificial intelligence, they’ve also piled into stocks of companies across the broader market with high profitability and strong fundamentals, according to Piper Sandler & Co.’s Michael Kantrowitz.
“AI is a subset of what’s driving momentum, but the rest is good old quality fundamental,” Kantrowitz said.
With the stock market making new records, the odds are quickly rising that the “critical juncture” that we’ve been harping on will resolve itself with more upside movement, said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak + Co.
“We still believe that a short-term pullback could take place at any time,” Maley said. “However, if it doesn’t come quickly and sharply — the odds that it will become a full-blown correction will drop.”

Corporate Highlights:
* The US Justice Department and 16 attorneys general sued Apple Inc., accusing the iPhone maker of violating antitrust laws by blocking rivals from accessing hardware and software features on its popular devices.
* Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google are set to face full-blown European Union investigations into their compliance with a new law reining in the power of Big Tech, paving the way for potentially hefty fines.
* Boeing Co. directors plan to meet with top executives from some of their largest airline customers, who are growing increasingly frustrated about the plane-maker’s crisis tearing into their business.
* Nelson Peltz received the backing of an influential shareholder advisory firm and a group of business leaders in his bid to join the board of entertainment company Walt Disney Co.
* Darden Restaurants Inc. is seeing lower-income consumers pull back, Chief Executive Officer Rick Cardenas said, depriving some of the company’s major brands a key revenue stream.
* Gildan Activewear Inc.’s largest investor said the clothing maker’s shares are undervalued, signaling that potential acquirers circling the company may need to pay up to win shareholders’ support.

Key events this week:
* Japan CPI, Friday
* Germany IFO business climate, Friday
* Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks, Friday
* ECB’s Robert Holzmann and Philip Lane speak, 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 0.7%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%
* The euro fell 0.6% to $1.0857
* The British pound fell 1% to $1.2651
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 151.68 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 2.9% to $65,115.12
* Ether fell 0.7% to $3,437.56
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.27%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.41%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.00%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $81.04 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.2% to $2,181.34 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Jessica Menton, Alexandra Semenova and Sagarika Jaisinghani.
Have a lovely evening everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
One’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions. –Oliver Wendel Holmes, 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: It’s the UN International Day of Happiness today.

These are the world’s happiest countries in 2024
See which country has held onto its top ranking for seven years straight.

March 20, 1602: Dutch East India Company established.
1852: Uncle Tom’s Cabin published.
March 20, 1916: Albert Einstein presents his general theory of relativity.  The revolutionary theory describes the interdependency of matter on the one hand and space and time on the other.
On March 20, 1995, in Tokyo, 12 people were killed, more than 5,500 others sickened when packages containing the poisonous gas sarin leaked on five separate subway trains. Go to article >>
Ovid, b. 43 BC.
Henrik Ibsen, b. 1828.

2,000-year-old carvings of celestial bodies and animals discovered on rocky cliffs in Brazil
Archaeologists identified 16 sites with representations of human footprints, animals and celestial bodies. Read More.

Lavish, 800-year-old tombs in China may hold remains of Great Jin dynasty elites.  Three newfound brick tombs date to the Golden Khanate, a non-Chinese people who ruled in northern China centuries ago.
Full Story: Live Science (3/19)

‘This is a journey, not a destination’: Stunning map of the Milky Way’s center exposes new mysteries about our galaxy
A stunning new map of the magnetic fields at the Milky Way’s center charts never-before-seen features, and raises new questions about how our galaxy’s central engine works. Read More.

Brutal footage shows orca mom and son team up to drown another pod’s calf
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Rumors swirl about the next James Bond
Who will be the next 007? Well, it remains a mystery for now … but some tabloids are saying one actor already has a formal offer on the table.

1,800-year-old Roman statue discovered in a parking lot
Construction workers in the UK have uncovered a marble head that appears to be dated to the 1st century or 2nd century!

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

London, UK
A member of a painting crew abseils from the top of the London Eye. The attraction is getting a fresh coat of paint, with an estimated 5,000 litres needed to cover the 135-metre high wheel
Photograph: James Manning/PA Wire

Wellington, South Africa
Pro and amateur cyclists take part in stage 3 of the Absa Cape Epic MTB race. This year, 600 teams will tackle 617km with 16,500m of climbing over eight days
Photograph: Kim Ludbrook/EPA

Olathe, US
A motorist is silhouetted by the setting sun as they drive through an intersection on the first day of spring in the state of Kansas
Photograph: Charlie Riedel/AP
Market Closes for March 20^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39512.13	+401.37
		+1.03%
S&P 500	5224.62	+46.11
		+0.89%
NASDAQ	16369.41	+202.62
		+1.25%
TSX	22045.71	+185.13
		+0.85%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	40003.60	+263.16
		+0.66%
HANG SENG	16543.07	+13.59
		+0.08%
SENSEX	72101.69	+89.64
		+0.12%
FTSE 100*	7737.38	-0.92
		-0.01%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.490	3.523
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.412	3.420
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.2728	4.2925
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.4532	4.4415

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7421	0.7372
US $	1.3475	1.3565

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4736	0.6786
US $	1.0937	0.9143

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2154.90	2158.15
Oil
WTI Crude Future	83.47	82.72

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1602, the Western world’s first major publicly traded company was born, as the Dutch legislature granted a monopoly on trade to the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or Dutch East India Co., which dealt in booming consumer products like cloves, tea, black pepper and Chinese porcelain. In 1609, the company’s directors declared that investors couldn’t sell their shares back to the company, but only to other investors—giving birth to the modern stock market.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.8%, or 185.13 to 22,045.71 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 0.9% on March 7.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.3%.
Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. had the largest increase, rising 7.0%.
Today, 171 of 224 shares rose, while 50 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 5.2%
* This month, the index rose 3.2%
* The index advanced 13% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 32% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 17.9% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.3% in the past 5 days and rose 3.9% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.3 on a trailing basis and 15 times estimated earnings of its
members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.47t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 11.53% compared with 11.34% in the previous session and the average of 11.94% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 54.8490| 2.4| 49/1
Financials | 49.2503| 0.7| 24/3
Information Technology | 48.9783| 2.5| 10/0
Industrials | 18.9942| 0.6| 20/7
Utilities | 6.8947| 0.8| 15/0
Consumer Discretionary | 5.5664| 0.7| 11/2
Communication Services | 4.0219| 0.6| 3/2
Real Estate | 3.6432| 0.7| 14/6
Health Care | 0.2242| 0.3| 2/1
Energy | -3.0609| -0.1| 17/23
Consumer Staples | -4.2320| -0.5| 6/5
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | 38.0000| 4.3| -3.0| 6.3
RBC | 12.5900| 1.0| 1.1| 1.0
Canadian Pacific Kansas | 11.0800| 1.4| -46.8| 15.3
TC Energy | -4.4970| -1.1| 248.5| 4.4
Fairfax Financial | -4.5680| -1.9| -11.2| 24.3
Waste Connections | -6.5390| -1.6| -32.7| 16.2
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders sent stocks to fresh all-time highs as the Federal Reserve signaled it’s on track to cut interest rates for the first time since the onset of the pandemic.
In a historic move, the S&P 500 topped 5,200 on speculation that the end of the most-aggressive Fed hiking cycle in a generation will keep fueling Corporate America’s profits.
Gains in equities were almost broad-based, with areas that have been lagging this year — like small caps — rallying.
Short-term Treasuries outperformed, with traders now seeing higher odds of a first Fed move in June.
Fed officials maintained their outlook for three cuts this year and moved toward slowing the pace of reducing their bond holdings, suggesting they aren’t alarmed by a recent uptick in inflation. While Jerome Powell continued to highlight officials would like to see more evidence that prices are coming down, he also said it will be appropriate to start easing “at some point this year.”
“The sum total of this ‘no news is good news’ press conference is that markets continue to have a green light to run higher,” said Chris Zaccarelli at Independent Advisor Alliance.
“This Fed isn’t going to stand in the way of the bull market.”
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 1.2%, with Apple Inc. and Tesla Inc. pacing a rally in mega-caps.
In late hours, Micron Technology Inc. gave a strong revenue forecast, buoyed by demand for artificial intelligence hardware.
Two-year yields declined seven basis points to 4.6%.
The dollar retreated.

Wall Street’s Reaction to Fed:
* Krishna Guha at Evercore:  No whipsaw this time. Chair Powell’s March press conference maintained and extended the “bullish-dovish message” from the first set of Fed releases.
Big take-away: this is a Fed that wants to cut rates – not before it is responsible to do so — but as soon as it is responsible to do so.
* Peter Boockvar author of The Boock Report:  Jay Powell clearly leaned dovish today as even a strong labor market he said would not stop the beginning of rate cuts.  And this is why the short-end yield fell as it did.
* Sonu Varghese at Carson Group:  The details are quite dovish, because they’re leaving rate cuts on the table even while projecting slightly higher inflation and more economic growth.
* Neil Birrell at Premier Miton Investors:  They want that soft landing and are playing the game to achieve it.
* Seema Shah at Principal Asset Management:  This Summary of Economic Projections suggests that the Fed is willing to risk cutting rates before inflation is close to target and while GDP growth is above-trend. History teaches us
this is a risky path.
* Whitney Watson at Goldman Sachs Asset Management:  Despite recent bumps in the inflation road, major central banks remain on track for rate cuts in the coming months and high-quality fixed income bonds stand to benefit.
*  Michelle Cluver at Global X:  Overall, this was a highly encouraging set of data that fed into markets, increasing the probability that the Fed may lower interest rates as soon as the June FOMC meeting.
* Jason Pride at Glenmede:  Make no mistake about it, the Fed still has inflation firmly in its sights. Investors should expect rate cuts to come into focus once the Fed becomes more confident that inflation is in the neighborhood of its 2% target, which could happen in the back half of this year.
* Christian Hoffmann at Thornburg Investment Management:  Don’t take “data dependent” off of your Fed bingo card just yet. Fixed income will continue to grapple between expectations for lower rates which is good for bonds against more tolerance for inflation which is bad for bonds.”

Corporate Highlights:
* The US will award Intel Corp. $8.5 billion in grants and as much as $11 billion in loans to help fund an expansion of its semiconductor factories, marking the largest award from a program designed to reinvigorate the domestic chip industry.
* Boeing Co. predicted a massive cash drain for the first quarter as regulatory scrutiny and slower output of its 737 Max jetliner following a January mid-air accident take their toll on its finances.
* Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp. refuted an earlier report that said it was exploring a sale of its golf-equipment arm, saying it was unaware of any of talks to sell the business.
* Short seller Hindenburg Research targeted data center owner Equinix Inc. Wednesday, alleging that the company manipulates its accounting and is selling an “AI pipe dream.” A representative for Equinix said the firm is investigating the claims.
* Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.’s board proposed a 50-to-1 stock split to broaden the burrito chain’s investor base after a 13,000% run-up in the stock since its initial public offering.
* JPMorgan Chase & Co. unexpectedly lifted its dividend 9.5% in the wake of a record annual profit and as regulators signal they may rethink proposals for tightening capital rules.

Key events this week:
* Eurozone S&P Global Services PMI, S&P Global Manufacturing PMI, Thursday
* Bank of England rate decision, Thursday
* US Conference Board leading index, existing home sales, initial jobless claims, Thursday
* Nike, FedEx earnings, Thursday
* Japan CPI, Friday
* Germany IFO business climate, Friday
* Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks, Friday
* ECB’s Robert Holzmann and Philip Lane speak, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.9% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.8%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%
* The euro rose 0.5% to $1.0919
* The British pound rose 0.5% to $1.2781
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 151.24 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 3.1% to $65,714.01
* Ether rose 2.9% to $3,375.02
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.28%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.43%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 4.02%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.1% to $81.68 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1.2% to $2,183.50 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Before the rain stops we hear a bird.  Even under the heavy snow we see snowdrops and some new growth. –Shunryu Suzuki, 1904-1971.

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:  First day of Spring has arrived!

Limericks from today’s Seattle Times:
That morning when birdsong first woke us,
And the garden was blooming in crocus,
It was daylight saving
That gilded the paving
And brought the new season to focus.  — Griffith H. Williams

The days are increasingly bright,
Filling my heart with delight.
Good tidings they bring,
With robins that sing
Farewell to the long winter’s night. — Dave Taflin

There once was a sad looking tree
It looked like a goner to me
But then came spring
And it put forth its bling
And now I am dancing with glee! — Rhonda Bierma

Swallows return to San Juan Capistrano, yearly since 1776.
March 19, 1911: The first International Women’s Day is observed by over 1 million people in several European countries.
March 19, 1918 Congress approved daylight-saving time.  Go to article >>

Wyatt Earp, lawman, b.1848
Glenn Close, actress, b. 1947

Apple is getting serious about AI
Apple researchers say they’ve developed a complex AI system that can interpret and generate different types of data — such as text and images at the same time — called MM1.

4,000-year-old vial contains ancient red lipstick
This small stone vial contained a red cosmetic that was likely used as a lip coloring thousands of years ago, according to archaeologists.

These are the cities with the world’s worst air pollution
All but one of the 100 cities with the world’s worst air pollution last year were in Asia, according to a new report. View the top air pollution rankings for 2023.

‘Potentially hazardous’ asteroid Bennu contains the building blocks of life and minerals unseen on Earth, scientists reveal in 1st comprehensive analysis
Scientists shared the first comprehensive science results from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid-sampling mission at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, revealing the out-of-this-world makeup
of asteroid Bennu. Read More.

Computing ‘paradigm shift’ could see phones and laptops run twice as fast — without replacing a single component
By letting different processing units — like GPUs, NPUs and hardware accelerators — work in parallel, rather than in sequence, systems can be up to twice as fast and consume 50% less energy. Read More.

Iceland volcano: ‘Most powerful’ eruption yet narrowly misses Grindavik but could still trigger life-threatening toxic gas plume
The submerged volcano in Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula has erupted for the fourth time in four months. The resulting lava flow narrowly missed Grindavík but could still reach the sea and potentially unleash a toxic gas plume.
Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Xinjiang, China
Tourists enjoy the scenery on the bank of White Sand Lake on Pamir Plateau in Kizilsu Kyrgyz autonomous prefecture
Photograph: China News Service/Getty Images

Stetten, Germany
Fog drifts over a wind energy plant near Stetten, about 12 miles north of Kaiserslautern
Photograph: Michael Probst/AP

London, UK
Art handlers pose with the work Sunday Afternoon by LS Lowry at Christie’s auction house. The work has not been publicly displayed for 57 years
Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA
Market Closes for March 19^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	39110.76	+320.33
		+0.83%
S&P 500	5178.51	+29.09
		+0.56%
NASDAQ	16166.79	+63.34
		+0.39%
TSX	21860.58	+23.40
		+0.11%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	40003.60	+263.16
		+0.66%
HANG SENG	16529.48	-207.64
		-1.24%
SENSEX	72748.42	+104.99
		+0.14%
FTSE 100*	7738.30	+15.75
		+0.20%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.523	3.597
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.420	3.455
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.2925	4.3242
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.4415	4.4483

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7372	0.7387
US $	1.3565	1.3537

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4739	0.6785
US $	1.0866	0.9203

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2158.15	2163.45
Oil
WTI Crude Future	82.72	82.72

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1792, Wall Street crashed for the first time ever. On “Black Monday,” 6% Treasury bonds lost 10% of their value and shares in the Bank of the United States dropped 12%. Speculator William Duer, a friend of Alexander Hamilton, had borrowed too much money and was about to be thrown in debtors’ prison, spreading panic through the cobblestone streets of downtown Manhattan.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.1% at 21,860.58 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.1%.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.9%.
Gildan Activewear Inc. had the largest increase, rising 10.8%.
Today, 126 of 224 shares rose, while 96 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 4.3%
* The index advanced 13% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 32% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7% below its 52-week high on March 13, 2024 and 17% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 2.8% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.3 on a trailing basis and 15 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.1% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.46t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 11.34% compared with 11.37% in the previous session and the average of 11.96% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 18.0785| 0.3| 16/11
Energy | 15.3942| 0.4| 34/7
Consumer Discretionary | 11.4893| 1.5| 11/2
Information Technology | 9.4977| 0.5| 5/5
Consumer Staples | 7.9636| 0.9| 6/5
Real Estate | 1.0388| 0.2| 13/7
Health Care | 0.6759| 1.0| 3/1
Communication Services | -0.8032| -0.1| 2/3
Utilities | -1.1147| -0.1| 7/8
Industrials | -6.5415| -0.2| 18/9
Materials | -32.2975| -1.4| 11/38
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Couche-Tard | 7.6610| 1.9| -19.5| 5.5
Constellation Software | 6.7900| 1.3| -35.8| 13.6
TD Bank | 5.9560| 0.6| 6.7| -5.7
Canadian National | -4.0800| -0.6| -42.1| 5.1
Barrick Gold | -5.7690| -2.2| -47.5| -13.5
Canadian Pacific Kansas | -15.5100| -2.0| -18.5| 13.7
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders gearing up for the Federal Reserve decision sent stocks to fresh all-time highs amid gains in several big techs.
Equities erased losses after a rebound in the “Magnificent Seven” cohort of tech mega-caps — dubbed the “most-crowded trade” by Bank of America Corp.
Nvidia Corp. rose on bets its new chips will fuel a rally that’s already added $1 trillion to the company’s value this year.
Bonds also gained after a rout that saw traders pushing back their timetable for rate cuts.
Investors should buy the dip in stocks in the case of pullbacks amid a backdrop of good economic growth and inflation normalization, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists led by Christian Mueller-Glissmann.
“While equity momentum has somewhat supported broader risk appetite, we see limited implications of a continued reversal barring a material US rate shock,” they said.
The S&P 500 approached 5,180. Treasuries pushed higher, with a $13 billion sale of 20-year bonds drawing strong demand.
The yen slid as the Bank of Japan refrained from signaling any future hikes after scrapping the last negative interest rate regime.
Wall Street is so divided on whether the US stock market’s meteoric rise has gone too far, too fast that even Bank of America’s own strategists disagree.
There is little evidence that the frenzy for artificial-intelligence is pushing the market into bubble territory, according to BofA’s Savita Subramanian.
Her view runs counter to what the firm’s chief investment strategist Michael Hartnett said last week.
“There’s no broad spread euphoria,” Subramanian said in a joint interview with Jill Carey Hall, the firm’s head of small-and mid-cap strategy on Bloomberg Television. “The risks are sitting outside of the public market,” adding that private credit and private equity, along with regional banks are where credit risks are bubbling up.
The latest BofA fund manager survey showed that investors were split on whether or not artificial intelligence stocks are in a bubble — with 40% saying “yes” and 45% answering “no.”
Bullish positioning softened for US equities last week, according to Citigroup strategists led by Chris Montagu.
While S&P 500 and Nasdaq positioning remains net long — and moderately extended — the current setup leaves less positioning risks for both indexes, they noted.
A survey conducted by 22V Research showed that 56% of investors think the next 10% move in the S&P 500 will be higher.
In addition, the poll revealed that 37% expect a “risk-on” reaction to the Fed’s decision, 33% said “risk-off” and 31%, “negligible/mixed.”
With the Fed expected to hold rates steady for a fifth consecutive meeting on Wednesday, attention will shift to the central bank’s projections in the so-called dot plot.
The summary of economic projections will reveal whether still-robust data are giving officials cause to dial back intentions to cut rates — or whether their outlook for three reductions this year remains on track.
“Whether the rise in yields and the dollar can continue comes crucially down to whether the Fed validates the hawkish narrative or not,” said Win Thin and Elias Haddad at Brown Brothers Harriman. “If Jerome Powell can stick to the hawkish script, the message will remain consistent and market reaction will likely be limited. If he veers from the script and delivers a dovish tilt, then market reaction will likely be quite violent.”
Mark Cabana at BofA said that if the Fed’s dots show only two cuts in 2024, the two-year note will tumble 10 basis points, the dollar will rally and risk assets will “take it on the chin to some extent.”
Speaking in a Bloomberg Television interview Tuesday, Cabana said if the dots show three cuts — the base case for BofA economists — the two-year note will then rally five basis points, the dollar will weaken and risk will be on.
The Fed will also begin in-depth discussions about its balance sheet this week, including when and how to slow the pace at which the central bank drains excess cash from the financial system.
Since 2022, the Fed has been letting as much as $60 billion in Treasuries and as much as $35 billion in agency-backed mortgage debt mature each month and roll off its balance sheet, a process known as quantitative tightening.
“In our view, commentary around plans for the Fed’s balance sheet will be at least as important as remarks around the potential timing of rate cuts,” said Chris Senyek at Wolfe Research. “While we don’t expect an official QT tapering
announcement until the May meeting, we’re hoping for color around the potential timing and pace of the wind down.”
The Fed has expressed a preference for eventual return to a Treasury-only portfolio — so the MBS runoff pace is expected to continue, though the Fed might be more flexible to extend the timeline, slowing QT, according to Naomi Fink at Nikko Asset Management.
“There’s also a bias toward coupon securities, which means the Fed over time has to increase its T-bill holdings relative to its coupon holdings, which all else equal, argues for waning support for the long-end of the curve,” Fink noted.

Corporate Highlights:
* Cryptocurrency-linked stocks slipped as Bitcoin extended a retreat following a record daily outflow from the world’s biggest exchange-traded fund for the token.
* MicroStrategy Inc. made its second multi-million dollar purchase of Bitcoin in a little more than a week, raising the company’s holdings to more than 1% of all the cryptocurrency that will ever be issued.
* Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said his company is well placed to grab an outsized chunk of worldwide spending on data center equipment because of the variety of chips and software it’s producing.
* Michael Dell is unloading shares in his namesake computer company for the first time in almost three years as Dell Technologies Inc.’s stock soars on artificial-intelligence optimism.
* Macy’s Inc. has opened its books to Arkhouse Management Co. and Brigade Capital Management, the investment firms pushing to take over the famous US department store chain.
* Boeing Co. has been exploring the sale of at least two of its defense businesses, as the beleaguered aircraft manufacturer fights through its biggest crisis in years.
* Chevron Corp.’s discussions with Exxon Mobil Corp. and China’s Cnooc Ltd. over a prolific oil field off the shores of Guyana ended “abruptly” a few weeks ago, Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth said.
* Gildan Activewear Inc., the Canadian clothing manufacturer that owns the American Apparel brand, says it has “several” potential buyers interested in a friendly takeover.

Key events this week:
* Eurozone consumer confidence, Wednesday
* Fed rate decision; Chair Jerome Powell holds news conference, Wednesday
* Reddit’s IPO, Wednesday
* ECB’s Christine Lagarde speaks, Wednesday
* Eurozone S&P Global Services PMI, S&P Global Manufacturing PMI, Thursday
* Bank of England rate decision, Thursday
* US Conference Board leading index, existing home sales, initial jobless claims, Thursday
* Nike, FedEx earnings, Thursday
* Japan CPI, Friday
* Germany IFO business climate, Friday
* Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks, Friday
* ECB’s Robert Holzmann and Philip Lane speak, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro was little changed at $1.0865
* The British pound was little changed at $1.2721
* The Japanese yen fell 1.2% to 150.90 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 4.4% to $64,398.15
* Ether fell 5% to $3,334.02
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.30%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 2.45%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 4.06%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.9% to $83.44 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.1% to $2,157.63 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Farah Elbahrawy, Ye Xie, Michael Mackenzie, Alexandra Harris and Jessica Menton.

Have  a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
A good rule of thumb for many things in life holds that things take longer to happen than you thing they will, and then happen faster than you thought they could. –Larry Summers, b.1954.

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.
March 18, 1974: Most of the Arab oil-producing nations ended their embargo against the United States.  Go to article >>
March 18, 2020: US President Donald Trump & Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau closed the US-Canada border due to COVID-19.

1931: Electric razor debuted.

Sleeping subduction zone could awaken and form a new ‘Ring of Fire’ that swallows the Atlantic Ocean
A modeling study suggests a slumbering subduction zone below the Gibraltar Strait is active and could break into the Atlantic Ocean in 20 million years’ time, giving birth to an Atlantic “Ring of Fire.” Read More.

Have all 8 planets ever aligned?
The solar system’s eight planets will never truly be in a straight line, but they can get close to it. Read More.

Gargantuan volcano on Mars found hidden ‘in plain sight,’ and it could hold potential signs of life
A newly discovered volcano near Mars’ “Labyrinth of Night” could be a “prime” spot to search for life on the Red Planet, scientists say.
Full Story: Live Science (3/15)

Chicago dyed its river green in honor of St. Patrick’s Day
The celebration that took place Sunday is so renowned it even draws visitors from Ireland! Watch the video here.

Beyond the Las Vegas Strip, art is winning big
Most visitors love Las Vegas for the glamorous hotels along the Strip, but the most exciting neighborhood in the city right now is all about art.

Authorities seize 750-pound pet alligator in upstate New York
See you later, alligator!

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Galapagos biodiversity under threat – in pictures
The North Seymour island dive site.

Chapel Santa Maria degli Angeli, Switzerland.

London, UK
Crowds gather to view a new Banksy artwork – a stencil of a person and spray-painted tree foliage on a wall behind a leafless tree – near Finsbury Park in north London
Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for March 18^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	38790.43	+75.66
		+0.20%
S&P 500	5149.42	+32.33
		+0.63%
NASDAQ	16103.45	+130.28
		+0.82%
TSX	21837.18	-11.97
		-0.05%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39740.44	+1032.80
		+2.67%
HANG SENG	16737.12	+16.23
		+0.10%
SENSEX	72748.42	+104.99
		+0.14%
FTSE 100*	7722.55	-4.87
		-0.063%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.597	3.544
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.455	3.414
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.3242	4.3063
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.4483	4.4289

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7387	0.7395
US $	1.3537	1.3523

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4718	0.6794
US $	1.0873	0.9197

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2163.45	2160.80
Oil
WTI Crude Future	82.72	81.04

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1850, Henry Wells, William G. Fargo, and John Butterfield joined their separate companies into a single firm, American Express Co., with a monopoly over express shipping in the Northeast. AmEx at first specialized in shipping small valuables like bond certificates, currency, and financial contracts—plus live poultry, pianos, and firecrackers.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite declined slightly to 21,837.18 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s increase of 0.1%.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.4%.
BlackBerry Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 6.8%.
Today, 104 of 224 shares fell, while 116 rose; 6 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 4.2%
* The index advanced 13% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 31% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.8% below its 52-week high on March 13, 2024 and 16.8% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.3% in the past 5 days and rose 2.7% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.2 on a trailing basis and 15 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.1% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.46t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 11.37% compared with 11.89% in the previous session and the average of 11.99% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -17.1582| -0.7| 14/34
Consumer Staples | -14.5060| -1.6| 6/5
Financials | -6.8537| -0.1| 14/12
Information Technology | -6.5455| -0.3| 6/4
Utilities | -6.4156| -0.8| 4/10
Communication Services | -4.2235| -0.6| 1/4
Consumer Discretionary | 0.9946| 0.1| 1/12
Health Care | 2.1726| 3.3| 4/0
Real Estate | 4.0996| 0.8| 19/2
Industrials | 13.0609| 0.4| 15/12
Energy | 23.4134| 0.6| 32/9
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Couche-Tard | -14.6100| -3.4| 9.6| 3.6
TD Bank | -14.1500| -1.4| 20.9| -6.3
Constellation Software | -9.1530| -1.8| 36.5| 12.1
Restaurant Brands | 4.6320| 2.0| 80.5| 5.4
Canadian National | 7.1500| 1.0| 6.2| 5.7
Canadian Natural Resources | 8.1020| 1.1| 28.1| 14.5
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Tech giants led gains in stocks at the start of a week that will bring a raft of central-bank decisions from the US to England and Japan.
Equities rebounded from a recent pullback, with mega-caps outpacing the broader market.
Alphabet Inc. jumped as Bloomberg News reported Apple Inc. is in talks to build Google’s Gemini artificial-intelligence engine into the iPhone.
In late hours, Nvidia Corp.’s chief Jensen Huang showed off new chips aimed at extending his company’s dominance of AI computing.
“Investors shouldn’t lose sight of the areas that continue to drive the bulk of corporate profits,” said Anthony Saglimbene at Ameriprise. “In our view, the profit growth associated with  Big Tech today stands in stark contrast to the profitless companies that drove the tech wreck at the turn of the century.”
Wall Street is also gearing up for more insights on the Federal Reserve’s resolve to ease as central banks set policy for almost half the global economy.
The week features the world’s biggest agglomeration of decisions for 2024 to date, including judgments on the cost of borrowing for six of the 10 most-traded currencies.
The S&P 500 halted a three-day slide, the Nasdaq 100 rose 1% and a gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” tech mega-caps climbed twice as much.
US two-year yields hovered near 2024 highs as expectations for Fed cuts continued to erode.
The yen fluctuated after a news report the Bank of Japan is poised to end its policy of guiding government bond yields — known as yield curve control.
“It’s a jam-packed week of central bank meetings,” said Win Thin and Elias Haddad at Brown Brothers Harriman. “There are sure to be some surprises and so today’s calm is likely to give way to greater volatility ahead.”
Ahead of the Fed decision, Japan will face a monumental moment in its history — with the nation expected to end its negative interest rate regime — the world’s last.
Traders betting on the outcome of the BoJ’s decision have boosted their positions in yen futures to the highest since 2007.
Bank of America Corp. strategists said that an end to YCC would only have a limited impact on the appetite for US Treasuries.
Bond investors who were once convinced that the Fed would start cutting rates this week are painfully surrendering to a higher-for-longer reality.
Treasury yields have climbed as data continued to point to persistent inflation, causing traders to push back their timetable for US monetary easing.
Swaps are currently pricing in less than 50% odds of a June rate cut.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists led by Jan Hatzius changed their forecast to call for three quarter-point Fed cuts this year — instead of four.
The change, which brings the forecast in line with the median forecast policymakers made in December, is “mainly because of the slightly higher inflation path,” they said.
“After last week’s double-dose of hot inflation data, everyone will be wondering whether the Fed is rethinking a June cut,” said Chris Larkin at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley. “The market will need to like what it sees in the Fed’s statement on Wednesday, and get confirmation from Jerome Powell that two months of sticky inflation numbers won’t derail the Fed’s game plan.”
Investors will be keenly focused on the US central bank’s projections — the dot plot — to gauge how many rate cuts policymakers are expecting to deliver this year.
To Krishna Guha at Evercore, the Fed will firm up its tone following hotter inflation reports – but will continue to point to a market-friendly base case of three cuts this year starting June.
“We think he will say the Committee will be patient and take as long as needed to accumulate sufficient confidence – underlining June is not guaranteed and the Fed would delay to July/September if necessary, Guha noted.
Traders will also be interested to see whether the Fed changes its views for 2025-2026 and the “neutral rate” — the level seen as neither stoking growth or holding it back.
“The Fed has been quite reluctant to change their neutral rate estimate,” said Neil Dutta at Renaissance Macro Research.
“Raising neutral would be one way to signal to markets that a deep easing cycle is unlikely.”
Wall Street will listen carefully to any signs from Powell on the phase out of quantitative tightening, known as QT.
While a handful expect the Fed to announce or even begin slowing the unwind of its balance sheet as early as May, others don’t see a tapering starting until the second half of the year.
It looks like the Fed will begin to taper QT this year — and hints to that effect could be a positive for Treasury  markets — allowing yields to drift sideways or down, according to David Kelly at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
“For investors, this isn’t exactly a rallying cry to buy bonds,” Kelly noted. “However, it does suggest the potential for a relatively stable financial environment, allowing equities to continue to move higher and fixed income to play its traditional role of providing income and diversification to portfolios.”
US stocks will beat Treasuries over the next month, according to the latest MLIV Pulse survey.
That’s the fifth consecutive poll in which majority of respondents opted for equities, the longest streak of pro-stocks bias since the survey started asking the question in August of 2022.
Recent data has painted an ambiguous picture about the growth and inflation trends in the US economy, but it’s best not to over-analyze each data point and instead be clear-headed about the general direction of travel, said Jason Draho at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“It’s a fairly healthy US macro environment, and it should stay that way,” Draho said. “The Fed is likely to communicate the same message this week, and it seems inclined to do what it can to support that outlook. This is directionally positive for financial markets, and that’s not even accounting for the AI tailwind. Speed bumps, or turbulence, more aptly, aren’t enough to derail the soft-landing trajectory.”
In earnings this week, FedEx Corp.’s outlook on Thursday will provide hints on the state of the US economy after the bellwether previously forecast a slight revenue decline this fiscal year because of “volatile macroeconomic conditions.”
Nike Inc., Lululemon Athletica Inc., General Mills Inc., and Darden Restaurants Inc. results will show whether consumers are pulling back on spending or trading down, especially with inflation hanging around.

Corporate Highlights:
* Nasdaq Inc. said it has resolved a technology glitch that disrupted premarket trading for almost three hours.
* The boss of Exxon Mobil Corp. said Monday that it has no interest in buying Hess Corp. outright, despite taking Chevron Corp. to arbitration over its proposed $52 billion merger with the other company.
* Fisker Inc. is pausing production for the next six weeks as the electric-vehicle maker looks to rein in inventory and avoid possibly having to file for bankruptcy.
* B. Riley Financial Inc., the boutique investment bank under attack from short sellers about its dealings with a former business partner, failed to file its audited results after an extension period ended.
* PNC Financial Services Group Inc. announced Monday that it’s launched a national advertising campaign to persuade customers that its bank is “brilliantly boring.”
* The head of United Airlines Holdings Inc. told customers that the carrier is reviewing a series of recent mishaps involving its planes, promising any lessons learned would “inform our safety training and procedures” across the company.
* Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., the education technology company and publisher of books including the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is seeking a valuation of about $1 billion its initial public offering, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Key events this week:
* Bank of Japan rate decision, Tuesday
* Germany ZEW survey expectations, Tuesday
* European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos speaks, Tuesday
* US housing starts, Tuesday
* Eurozone consumer confidence, Wednesday
* Fed rate decision; Chair Jerome Powell holds news conference, Wednesday
* Reddit’s IPO, Wednesday
* ECB’s Christine Lagarde speaks, Wednesday
* Eurozone S&P Global Services PMI, S&P Global Manufacturing PMI, Thursday
* Bank of England rate decision, Thursday
* US Conference Board leading index, existing home sales, initial jobless claims, Thursday
* Nike, FedEx earnings, Thursday
* Japan CPI, Friday
* Germany IFO business climate, Friday
* Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks, Friday
* ECB’s Robert Holzmann and Philip Lane speak, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.5%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.0869
* The British pound was little changed at $1.2727
* The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 149.19 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 1.9% to $66,996.2
* Ether fell 4.2% to $3,481.26
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 4.33%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.46%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 4.09%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.3% to $82.93 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,160.04 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Michael Mackenzie, Alexandra Harris, Jan-Patrick Barnert, Michael Msika, Craig Stirling, Felice Maranz, Kasia Klimasinska, Robert Fullem, Carter Johnson and Ye Xie.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. –Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919.

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, the Ides of March.

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PHOTOS OF THE DAY

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A ladybird on a stalk of wheat
Photograph: Himanshu Sharma/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

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​​​​​​​Badakhshan, Afghanistan
Boys fly kites on a hilltop
Photograph: Omer Abrar/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for March 15^th, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	38714.77	-190.89
		-0.49%
S&P 500	5117.09	-33.39
		-0.65%
NASDAQ	15973.18	-155.35
		-0.96%
TSX	21849.15	+19.29
		+0.09%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38707.64	-99.74
		-0.26%
HANG SENG	16720.89	-240.77
		-1.42%
SENSEX	72643.43	-453.85
		-0.62%
FTSE 100*	7727.42	-15.73
		-0.20%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.544	3.530
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.414	3.408
U.S.    10 Year Bond	4.3063	4.2903
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.4289	4.4337

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7395	0.7386
US $	1.3523	1.3539

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4737	0.6786
US $	1.0898	0.9176

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2160.80	2168.40
Oil
WTI Crude Future	81.04	81.26

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1817, the New York Stock Exchange prohibited the “fictitious sales,” or wash sales, that had enabled speculators to manipulate individual stocks without even owning them. Nevertheless, the practice continued unabated for decades more.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 21,849.15 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.6%.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.4%.
NorthWest Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust had the largest increase, rising 8.6%.
Today, 128 of 225 shares rose, while 91 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 4.2%
* So far this week, the index rose 0.5%
* The index advanced 13% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 31% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7% below its 52-week high on March 13, 2024 and 16.9% above its low on Oct. 27, 2023
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.3 on a trailing basis and 15 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.1% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.46t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 11.89% compared with 11.92% in the previous session and the average of 12.06% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 23.9407| 1.0| 39/13
Industrials | 9.6422| 0.3| 17/9
Utilities | 5.5749| 0.7| 11/3
Consumer Staples | 5.1659| 0.6| 5/6
Communication Services | 4.3342| 0.6| 4/1
Health Care | 1.0749| 1.7| 3/1
Real Estate | -0.5929| -0.1| 8/12
Financials | -1.7467| 0.0| 12/15
Energy | -3.1129| -0.1| 23/14
Consumer Discretionary | -6.6215| -0.8| 5/8
Information Technology | -18.3668| -0.9| 1/9
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Couche-Tard | 6.0880| 1.4| 368.6| 7.3
Cameco | 4.7880| 2.9| 436.6| -2.6
First Quantum Minerals | 4.7010| 6.8| 109.4| 38.3
Restaurant Brands | -7.4320| -3.1| 418.3| 3.3
Canadian Natural Resources | -10.0600| -1.3| 117.8| 13.2
Shopify | -13.3800| -1.5| 316.3| 1.3
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks fell at the end of a jittery week as tech sold off and a pile of options expiring Friday amplified market swings.
Wall Street faced a quarterly episode ominously known as triple witching — in which derivatives contracts tied to stocks, index options and futures matured — compelling traders en masse to roll over their existing positions or to start new ones.
About $5.3 trillion were set to expire, according to Rocky Fishman, founder of derivatives analytical firm Asym 500.
“It’s a day in which the direction of the market is very, very difficult to predict,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak.
“The ‘internals’ get so skewed by the expiration that they don’t tell us anything. It will be important that investors don’t use today’s action when trying to decipher what is going to happen in the marketplace next week and beyond.”
The options event came at a critical juncture for markets positioning for next week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting. A
recent pickup in inflation has intensified the debate around the degree of easing officials will signal for 2024.
The S&P 500 dropped to around 5,115, with trading volume that was well above the average of the past month.
The Nasdaq 100 fell over 1%.
Adobe Inc. sank on a weak sales outlook.
Nvidia Corp. saw a 10th straight weekly gain — with its artificial intelligence conference just days away.
Treasury 10-year bonds saw their worst week this year.
“This week has been remarkably confusing on multiple fronts,” said Florian Ielpo at Lombard Odier Asset Management.
“The macroeconomic news flow has made it clear that the US economy is unexpectedly slowing down, while inflation is decelerating at a slower pace. Instead of focusing on the economic slowdown, markets have fully embraced the inflation narrative.”
Traders in interest-rate swaps pushed bets on the timing of the full first, quarter-point Fed cut to the central bank’s July meeting.
Fed officials last released quarterly forecasts in December, anticipating three quarter-point cuts in 2024, and they’re set to release an update of those projections — known as the dot plot — on March 20.
Economists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. changed their forecast for the Fed’s monetary-policy rate cuts over the course of all of 2024 to 75 basis points. Previously they expected a total of 125 basis points.
The glide path to the Fed’s 2% inflation target is anything but smooth and the final mile to the finish line is likely to take some time and a lot more data to gauge its progress, according to Carol Schleif at BMO Family Office.
“The earliest possible cut could be June, though we wouldn’t be shocked to see that delayed to later in the year if the data continues to come in hot as recent data has,” she noted. “Our base case is for three total rate cuts in 2024,
though it’s possible that the Fed cuts rates even fewer times if the economic data surprises to the upside.”
The rally in equity markets could falter if sticky inflation prompts the Fed to turn more hawkish next week and signal fewer-than-expected rate cuts, according to Barclays Plc strategists led by Emmanuel Cau.
“With the Fed so far endorsing current market pricing of three cuts starting in June, investors continue to see the glass half full on the soft landing narrative,” they wrote.
Investors are dismissing the risk of stagflation, sending record flows into US equities, according to Bank of America Corp.
US equity funds got $56 billion in the week through March 13, strategist Michael Hartnett wrote in a note, citing EPFR Global.
Technology stocks had the largest inflow among sectors, at $6.8 billion, rebounding from a record outflow.
Hartnett said a “new bout of stagflation means outperformance of gold, commodities, crypto, cash, a big steepening of the yield curve, and a very contrarian equity barbell of resources & defensives.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Nippon Steel Corp. said it’s determined to complete its $14.1 billion acquisition of United States Steel Corp., even after President Joe Biden stated the company should stay in US hands.
* JD.com Inc. said it will not make an offer for British electronics retailer Currys Plc, just days after US buyout firm Elliott Investment Management also walked away.
* Binance Holdings Ltd. has tightened requirements for listing new digital tokens, stepping up efforts to bolster investor protections on its platform.
* Boeing Co. has sent a so-called multi-operator message to operators of the 787 jetliner following an in-flight incident involving the long-distance jet a few days ago, in which the plane briefly and rapidly lost altitude, injuring multiple
people on board.
* United Airlines Holdings Inc. is close to securing three dozen or more Airbus A321neo jets from aircraft lessors as it looks to replace Boeing Co. 737 Max 10 orders that are at least five years behind schedule, according to people familiar with the matter.
* Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s drug Rezdiffra gained the first US approval to treat a potentially deadly liver disease that affects millions worldwide, succeeding in an area where some bigger rivals have failed.
* Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc plunged after a jury awarded an Illinois woman $60 million in damages, saying the company’s Enfamil baby formula led to the death of her premature baby.

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 1.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.7%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro was little changed at $1.0889
* The British pound fell 0.1% to $1.2738
* The Japanese yen fell 0.5% to 149.06 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 2.9% to $68,640.2
* Ether fell 4.4% to $3,672.6
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 4.31%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.44%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 4.10%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $80.99 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.2% to $2,157.30 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Lu Wang, Carter Johnson and Farah Elbahrawy.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.  Because almost everything – all external expectation, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. – Steve Jobs, 1955-2011.

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