December 22, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Giacomo Puccini, composer, b. 1858.
Diane Sawyer, journalist, b. 1946
Ralph Fiennes, actor, b. 1962

Lech Walesa sworn in as Poland’s 1^st popularly elected president , 1990.

American soldiers of the 117th Infantry Regiment, Tennessee National Guard, part of the 30th Infantry Division, move past a destroyed American M5A1 “Stuart” tank on their march to recapture the town of St. Vith during the Battle of the Bulge, January 1945.
1944 During the Battle of the Bulge, Germany demanded the surrender of American troops at Bastogne, Belgium; Brigadier Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe reportedly replied: “Nuts!” Go to article >>

From “Wind of Change” to “My Year in Mensa,” this list has the year’s best podcasts.

Loneliness can help grow parts of brain tied to imagination, study finds. –CNN.

With the help of Celine Dion music, comfort food like a savory tourtière and a virtual tour of a local gallery, you can pretend you’re in Quebec City.

Snowflakes are cool. (h/t Ellen Kominers)

Did Charles Dickens steal his ghost from the Romans?
A ghost in clanking chains is an image indelibly linked with A Christmas Carol. Now a historian claims Charles Dickens lifted the description of Jacob Marley’s ghost from classical writings produced 1,700 years earlier. Daisy Dunn explains how she was struck by the similarity between Dickens’ description of the ghost, and a passage by Pliny the Younger
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Senior druid King Arthur Pendragon performs the ceremony on the Winter Solstice at the closed Stonehenge 
CREIDT: FINNBARR WEBSTER/GETTY IMAGES

People ice skate around the Christmas tree in Kyiv, Ukraine
CREDIT: EFREM LUKATSKY/AP

Tiger Woods of the United States and son Charlie Woods fist bump on the 18th hole during the final round of the PNC Championship at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club
CREDIT: MIKE EHRMANN/GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for December 22^nd, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1973, the oil ministers of OPEC’s six Persian Gulf member states said they would unilaterally raise the price of crude oil to $7 a barrel, and that prices would rise to $11.65 on Jan. 1, 1974. In two-and-a-half months, OPEC has raised the price of oil by 128%.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equity markets rebounded on Tuesday as tech stocks outperformed, led by Shopify.
The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.3% in Toronto after falling the last two sessions. The e-commerce company Shopify climbed 6.7%, gaining for a second day to hit a record.
Furthermore, another tech stock Lightspeed POS, climbed 11%, after getting a new outperform rating at Credit Suisse on its growth view. Energy and materials, on the other hand, were the two worst performing sectors as metals and oil prices fell.
Meanwhile, to Mark Machin — the CEO of one of the world’s largest pension funds, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board –  the exuberance in public markets is a signal to extend his fund’s already-huge bet on private assets. Machin sees a wave of cash chasing infrastructure and hard assets in 2021 and beyond, amid stretched valuations for stocks and bonds.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.47 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.8% to $1,861.16 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.4%. It was at C$1.2908 per U.S. dollar as of 4:14pm New York time.
* The 10-year Canada government bond yields fell 3 basis points to 0.700%.
By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.3 percent at 17,552.46 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.2 percent.
Today, information technology stocks led the market higher, as 5 of 11 sectors gained; 86 of 222 shares rose, while 134 fell. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 7.3 percent. Lightspeed POS Inc. had the largest increase, rising 11.5 percent.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.1 percent
* This quarter, the index rose 8.9 percent
* This year, the index rose 2.9 percent, poised for the best year since 2019
* The index advanced 2.5 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 16 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.3 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 57.1 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.3 percent in the past 5 days and rose 3.1 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.4 on a trailing basis and 23.6 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.7t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 9.61 percent compared with 9.89 percent in the previous session and the average of 12.87 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | 108.0621| 5.7| 9/1
Industrials | 15.6971| 0.7| 19/9
Utilities | 6.2288| 0.7| 11/4
Consumer Discretionary | 5.4998| 0.8| 6/7
Real Estate | 3.6757| 0.7| 17/9
Health Care | -0.7789| -0.4| 4/5
Communication Services | -1.2119| -0.1| 2/5
Consumer Staples | -1.8540| -0.3| 6/5
Financials | -7.9863| -0.2| 9/17
Energy | -24.6726| -1.2| 0/23
Materials | -51.0725| -2.1| 3/49
US
By Kamaron Leach and Cecile Gutscher
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for a third day as optimism over a Covid-19 relief bill was tempered by the emergence of a new variant of the virus and a slew of lockdowns and travel curbs to contain it. The dollar advanced and Treasuries gained.
The benchmark S&P 500 fluctuated between gains and losses before closing lower, with consumer services and energy the biggest sector decliners. The Nasdaq Composite and Russell 2000 set record highs in what is a holiday shortened week. U.S. lawmakers cleared a $2.3 trillion year-end spending bill and stimulus package. President-elect Joe Biden warned the “darkest days” of the pandemic were still to come and called on Congress to be ready early next year to produce another stimulus package.
“Sometimes you get exaggerated moves in stocks due to lack of liquidity,” said Jonathan Boyar, managing director at BoyarValue Group. Amgen Inc. was among the biggest losers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, falling after a study showed an experimental drug failed to cut asthma patients’ dependence on steroids. Apple Inc. paced the gain in the Nasdaq after a report said the company is planning to make a battery-powered self-driving car as soon as 2024. Tesla Inc. fell for a second day.
In Europe, stocks rebounded from their steepest slump in almost two months Monday, with all industry groups in the green. British Airways owner IAG SA surged more than 5% as travel shares bounced back. Crude oil edged lower for a second day.
The global stock rally is looking increasingly fragile after equities touched a record high last week, as lockdowns and rising virus cases threaten to overshadow U.S. pandemic relief and the initial rollout of vaccines. The bill passed by Congress on Monday represents the second-biggest economic rescue package in American history.
“The agreed fiscal relief package will undoubtedly help mitigate some of the negatives but unfortunately, it won’t be able to fully offset the effects of people staying at home as many businesses face tighter restrictions or are even forced to close,” according to James Knightley, chief international economist at ING Groep.
In the U.K., where the virus variant has taken hold, a full lockdown came into force in London and southeast England. Europe and regions from Canada to Hong Kong have suspended travel links to the island nation, piling pressure onto the government as it tries to salvage a free-trade agreement with the European Union. The bloc rebuffed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s latest concessions on fishing rights, keeping the pound lower.

Here are some key events coming up:
* EIA crude oil inventory report is due Wednesday.
* U.S. jobless claims, durables, personal income data comes Wednesday.
* U.S. bond and stock trading and markets in other parts of the  world will shut early on Thursday for the Christmas holidays. Most global markets are shut Friday.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index decreased 0.2% to 3,687.27 as of 4:02 p.m. New York time, the lowest in more than a week.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 0.7% to 30,015.51, the lowest in more than a week on the biggest dip in more than three weeks.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 0.5% to 12,807.92, the highest on record.
*The Stoxx Europe 600 Index surged 1.2% to 391.25, the biggest jump in five weeks.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index jumped 0.6% to 1,132.18, the highest in more than a week on the largest climb in almost eight weeks.
*The euro sank 0.7% to $1.2162, the weakest in a week on the biggest dip in more than four months.
*The British pound fell 0.7% to $1.3368, the weakest in more than a week on the largest drop in more than a week.
*The Japanese yen depreciated 0.3% to 103.66 per dollar, the weakest in a week on the biggest dip in more than two weeks.
Bonds
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 0.92%, the largest drop in more than a week.
*Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to -0.60%, the lowest in a week on the biggest fall in more than a week.
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.183%, the lowest in more than a week.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 2.1% to $46.94 a barrel, the lowest in more than a week.
*Gold depreciated 0.9% to $1,860.77 an ounce, the weakest in a week on the largest dip in almost two weeks.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love  has always won. 
There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end,
they always fall – think of it, always.
                                                  -Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

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