Tangents:

March 12, 1755: First steam engine in US is installed, to pump water from a mine.
March 12, 1894: The first patent for a Coca-Cola bottling machine is issued, allowing for the mass production and distribution and paving the way for its global presence.
March 12, 2009: Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty in New York to pulling off perhaps the biggest swindle in Wall Street history.  Go to article

Jack Kerouac, writer, b. 1922.
James Taylor, musician, b. 1948.
Charlie “Bird” Parker, musician, d. 1953.

Nanoparticle breakthrough could bring ‘holy grail’ of solar power within reach
Perovskite cells are much cheaper and more flexible than their silicon alternatives, but they have major durability problems. A new breakthrough could be about to change that. Read More.

Scientists discover giant blobs deep inside Earth are ‘evolving by themselves’ — and we may finally know where they come from
Giant regions of the mantle where seismic waves slow down may have formed from subducted ocean crust, a new study finds. Read More.

China creates powerful spy satellite capable of seeing facial details from low orbit
New laser-based imaging technology is reportedly capable of capturing millimeter resolution from over 60 miles away. Read More.

East Asians who can digest lactose can thank Neanderthal genes
Unique versions of the lactase gene found in the genomes of East Asian people may have increased in prevalence within the population over time because they bolstered immune responses against pathogens, new data reveal. Read More.

TikToker jailed for blasphemy   
An Indonesian social media influencer was sentenced to more than two years in jail for telling Jesus to get a haircut. The court ruled that her comments could affect “public order” and “religious harmony.”

Man lives for 100 days with titanium heart 
An Australian man in his 40s received the implant last November, which kept him alive while he awaited a donor transplant this month. It’s the longest period to date that someone has lived with the technology.  

866: That’s how many previously unknown species were discovered as part of an ambitious effort to document marine life. The new species — found by divers, piloted submersibles and remotely operated vehicles during 10 ocean expeditions — include a guitar-shaped shark, a fan-like coral and a venomous deep-sea snail equipped with harpoon-like teeth.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Dartmoor, UK‘On what looked like the first day of spring, we took a drive across Dartmoor when this beautiful rainbow emerged. This pony was only too happy to pose with it.’
Photograph: Ruud Jansen Venneboer

Lianyungang, China
Residential buildings shrouded in fog in Jiangsu province
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Johnstone Strait, Canada‘A humpback whale, called Guardian by whale watchers, returns to the west coast of Canada each spring from Hawaii.’
Photograph: Albert Macfarlane
Market Closes for March 12^th, 2025

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Lack of money is the root of all evil. -George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.7% at 24,423.34 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.5%.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.6%. Transcontinental Inc. had the largest increase, rising 6.9%.
Today, 160 of 220 shares rose, while 57 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.

Insights
* This quarter, the index fell 1.2%
* The index advanced 12% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 7.7% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 5.6% below its 52-week high on Jan. 30, 2025 and 13.8% above its low on June 17, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.8% in the past 5 days and fell 4.5% 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 14.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.91t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 14.76% compared with 14.56% in the previous session and the average of 12.14% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 55.4000| 0.7| 22/3
Information Technology | 49.0733| 2.1| 6/4
Energy | 48.1439| 1.2| 41/2
Materials | 18.0378| 0.6| 32/16
Industrials | 17.2226| 0.6| 17/11
Consumer Staples | 2.6460| 0.3| 7/3
Utilities | 2.6094| 0.3| 11/2
Real Estate | 1.2591| 0.3| 14/6
Health Care | 0.1777| 0.3| 3/1
Consumer Discretionary | -9.2229| -1.1| 5/6
Communication Services | -10.2108| -1.6| 2/3

================================================================
| | |Volume VS || Index | | 20D AVG |YTD ChangeTop Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | 41.5000| 3.6| 31.3| -9.2
Bank of Montreal | 10.7400| 1.5| -32.2| -0.1
RBC | 9.8220| 0.6| -5.8| -7.7
Telus | -4.7060| -2.0| 55.5| 11.4
BCE | -4.7330| -2.1| 44.2| 5.2
Restaurant Brands | -4.9700| -2.2| -36.4| 2.3
US
By Rita Nazareth and Jan-Patrick Barnert
(Bloomberg) — Cooler-than-forecast February inflation pushed stocks higher after two days of heavy losses. A kneejerk rally in bonds quickly reversed and yields rose across the curve amid concerns over an escalating trade war.
Equities advanced after a selloff that put the S&P 500 on the verge of a technical correction. The bounce was led by tech mega caps, which got heavily hit during the recent market rout.
While the surprise slowdown in consumer prices brought a degree of relief to traders, several voices on Wall Street saw the data as the “calm before the storm” given the uncertainties around the potential impacts of tariffs on the economy.
In fact, all the anxiety around President Donald Trump’s trade war continued to influence sentiment, with the US equity benchmark briefly erasing a 1.3% rally before moving higher again.
“For the last three weeks, traders have felt like buying this market is like trying to catch a falling knife,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide. “But extreme oversold conditions and near-universal pessimism suggest a relief rally is likely.”
Despite the improvement provided by the latest consumer price index, uncertainty remains in the air as the outlook for inflation remains hazy due to trade policy developments, according to Oscar Munoz and Gennadiy Goldberg at TD Securities.
“In this context, the Fed is unlikely to change its policy guidance anytime soon,” they said. “The Committee’s inclination is to wait for the evolution of macro variables and for more clarity from the Trump administration’s trade policies, which remain in flux.”
The S&P 500 rose 0.5%. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 1.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2%. Tesla Inc. extended a two- day surge to 12% while Nvidia Corp. led chipmakers higher. In late hours, Intel Corp. named industry veteran Lip-Bu Tan as its next chief executive officer. Adobe Inc. gave a tepid revenue outlook.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 4.31%. A dollar gauge was little changed.
Today’s inflation release is unambiguously positive for risk assets as there is greater confidence that inflation is not re-accelerating like January’s data showed, which gives policymakers a bit of breathing room and should allow the Fed to loosen policy should signs of labor market weakness emerge, according to Jeff Schulze at ClearBridge Investments.
“However, the Fed will also need to see that inflation expectations are recovering from their recent rise before cutting rates, as a de-anchoring of inflation expectations is what keeps most central bankers up at night, given the challenge it represents to restoring price stability in the future,” he said.
To David Russell at TradeStation, a June Fed cut is still on the table because inflation continues to moderate, especially the key shelter category.
“The White House and the Fed are breathing a sigh of relief because tariffs didn’t filter through to consumer prices,” he said. “This is a positive for investors because a huge amount of negativity is priced into stocks. For the first time in several weeks, we might get a break in the streak of frightening news.
The other shoe didn’t drop, and that could be good news for Wall Street. Next week’s Fed meeting got a little less worrisome.”
Traders are still fully pricing in another quarter-point interest-rate cut in June, with about 70 basis points of easing seen for all of 2025.
The two-year yield, reflecting expectations for Fed monetary policy, declined as much as four basis points to a session low 3.90%, then rebounded to as high as 4%. The 10-year yield also whipsawed before rising as high as 4.33%.
As we entered 2025, investors’ main economic worry centered around reflation. But as the trade war continues to escalate and as economic policy uncertainty continues to rise, that worry has
shifted from inflation to the labor market and the economy as a whole, according to Bret Kenwell at eToro.
“In that respect, it will take more than a few reassuring inflation reports to ease investors’ worries,” he said. “Moving forward, the Fed will soon take center stage, but not just for its latest view on inflation. Investors will want to hear the committee’s stance on the economy and the labor market, while they’ll also be on the lookout for the Fed’s quarterly update to its economic projections.”

Key events this week:

* Eurozone industrial production, Thursday
* US PPI, initial jobless claims, Thursday
* US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets***:

Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.5%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 2.3%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.3% to $1.0890
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.2968
* The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 148.35 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.1% to $82,909.17
* Ether fell 3% to $1,878.14
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 4.31%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.88%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 4.72%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.2% to $67.68 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.5% to $2,931.36 an ounce

–With assistance from Isabelle Lee, Sujata Rao, John Viljoen
and Winnie Hsu.

Have a lovely evening!

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
Our greatest foes, and whom we must chiefly combat, are within. –Miguel de Cervantes, 1547-1616.

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

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

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