November 11, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Nov. 11, 1918, fighting in World War I came to an end with the signing of an armistice between the Allies and Germany. Go to article »

Dazzling fireballs are about to light up the night sky.  Grab a lawn chair, and gaze at the stars — the Northern Taurid meteor shower peaks today and tomorrow.

Archaeologists in Norway discover a rare Viking burial site with a feast hall, cult house and ship.  And they found it without digging into the earth.

Under the Sea: The clicks of bickering dolphins; the burbling of a hydrothermal vent. Scientists have long listened to the sounds of the oceans, but only recently
have they turned to the deepest parts of the sea.

One of the biggest ever diamonds has been found in Botswana.

From  The New York Times:

Falling for sopranos:

We’ve asked some of our favorite artists to choose five minutes or so they would play to make their friends love classical music, the piano, Baroque music and more. Now we’ve collected recordings to inspire love for the soaring soprano voice. You’ll want to turn your volume up for this one.
The novelist Ann Patchett suggests turning first to Renée Fleming, “who makes the most impossible repertoire seem effortless.” Ms. Fleming herself recommends going directly to the recordings of Leontyne Price, who makes “rapturous music unforgettable.” And for Kira Thurman, a historian, the sheer power of Jessye Norman’s voice “is enough to make your eyes water.”

What Is Luxury? A Major New Exhibition Offers an Answer

Qilin, around 1736-96
“It arrived in the museum’s collection in the early 20th century,” Gabet says. “It’s a good example of cloisonné [a technique to decorate metalwork] in China.”  This qilin, Gabet says, is “representative of the taste of the great court of China in the 18th century and also the taste of collectors in Europe in the mid 19th century.”
SOURCE: Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris / Christophe Dellière

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People admire the view from the Penshaw Monument in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, which has been illuminated red ahead of Armistice Day.
CREDIT: OWEN HUMPHREYS/PA

The Angel of The North in Gateshead is decorated with a poppy ahead of Armistice Day.
CREDIT: LEE SMITH/REUTERS

Rays of misty autumn sunshine cast pools of light over the Eildon Hills and surrounding fields near Melrose, Scottish Borders.
CREDIT: PHIL WILKINSON/ALAMY LIVE NEWS

Indonesian photographer @jjnmatt won the Animals2020 photo contest by Agora with this colourful photo of an iguana that gathered the highest number of votes on the free-to-use mobile app Agora and won the top prize of $1,000.
CREDIT: @jjnmatt/AGORA

Market Closes for November 11^th, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1993, The Wall Street Journal published a survey of ten market pundits, asking them when the bull market, then 1,127 days old, would end. Nearly every one predicted a 10% decline by mid-1994, and famed market forecaster Joe Granville declared that the Dow would drop to about 2900 by the spring of 1994. By March 1994, the Dow was at 3800.

Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — The Canadian equity market advanced on Wednesday, hitting its highest level since August after tech stocks outperformed. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose about 1% in Toronto, bringing its three-day increase to 3%. The gauge is just shy of erasing its yearly losses. The tech index rose 5.3% on Wednesday, the most since Sept. 1, driven by Shopify Inc. Materials were the worst performers as gold miners fell. Meanwhile, Canada is struggling to contain rising Covid-19 infection rates as a second wave engulfs the nation, threatening to stifle an economic rebound that began in summer. Ontario, where nearly 40% of the country’s population lives, reported a record 1,388 new cases Tuesday. The province’s capital, Toronto, said it’s forcing casinos, meeting centers, indoor bars and restaurants to stay closed into December.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $9.80 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.7% to $1,864.75 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.3% to C$1.3065 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose 3 basis points to 0.776%

US
By Rita Nazareth and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed as giant tech companies rallied in a shift back to the safety trade that has powered this year’s gains amid speculation the economic recovery will be slow with a virus resurgence. The S&P 500 rose to the highest since Sept. 2, while the Nasdaq 100 jumped more than 2%. Heavyweights Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. surged alongside some stay-at-home shares that were hit hard by this week’s selloff such as Zoom Video Communications Inc. The Dow Jones Industrial Average underperformed, and banks slumped. The Russell 2000 Index of smaller stocks halted a two-day rally which was driven by expectations that a return to normal would be on the horizon after positive vaccine developments. Treasury futures were little changed, with the cash market closed for a U.S. holiday. The dollar advanced.
With fears of further economic pain growing amid the threat of tougher measures to contain the virus, traders piled back into companies with solid balance sheets and a suite of products that benefit from social distancing. New York City’s average of people testing positive for Covid-19 is approaching the safety threshold that would force a shutdown of schools, with the mayor citing one “last chance” to halt a second wave. The pandemic has killed more than 1.2 million people around the world since late January and sent the economy into the worst recession in living memory. “We are still going to be in for a slower economic growth environment,” said Leo Grohowski, chief investment officer at BNY Mellon Wealth Management. “We could see some reopening rollback as the Covid case counts continue to climb.”
While the recent rotation into cheaper value stocks slowed down on Wednesday, JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists said the shift into those companies can endure much longer after years of lagging behind growth shares. There’s still room for further normalization as a large part of the initial rally was driven by the short-covering of short-momentum strategies — which buy the past year’s winners and sell its losers, according to them. “Our equity strategy team believes that we are on the cusp of a sustained rally in value comparable to what we saw in 2016-2017,” said strategists including Davide Silvestrini and Marko Kolanovic. “This rotation has room to continue much further given the material underperformance we have witnessed in recent years.”
Elsewhere, talks between OPEC and its allies are zeroing in on a delay to next year’s planned oil-output increase of three to six months, according to several delegates. Saudi Arabia and Russia, leaders of the 23-nation coalition, have already indicated publicly that they are thinking twice about easing production cuts in January as the resurgent pandemic hits fuel demand.
These are some key events coming up:
* European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, Governor Andrew Bailey and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell are among the speakers Thursday at an online ECB Forum entitled
“Central Banks in a Shifting World.”
* U.S. CPI data for October is due on Thursday.
* Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 hold an extraordinary meeting Friday to discuss bolder action to help poor nations struggling to repay their debts.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 advanced 0.8% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 1.1%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.7%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index advanced 0.2%.
* The euro decreased 0.3% to $1.1781.
* The Japanese yen depreciated 0.1% to 105.41 per dollar.
Bonds
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to -0.51%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 0.413%.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index gained 0.1%.
* West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 0.3% to $41.49 a barrel.
* Gold fell 0.7% to $1,864.28 an ounce.
–With assistance from Adam Haigh, Michael Msika, Todd White, Cecile Gutscher, Lynn Thomasson, Ye Xie, Ksenia Galouchko, Vildana Hajric, Sophie Caronello and Nancy Moran.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Do what thy manhood bids thee do, from none but self expect applause.
He noblest lives and noblest dies who makes and keeps his self-made laws.
         -Sir Richard Burton, 1821-1890, The Kasidah: Of Haji Abdu El-Yezdi

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