January 11, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1922- insulin first used on humans to treat diabetes, on Canadian Leonard Thompson, aged 14.

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

Humans wouldn’t be able to contain a superintelligence.
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Bean plants show signs of intention. (h/t Ellen Kominers)

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
A crescent moon rises before sunrise above lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in New York City as seen from Kearny, New Jersey.
CREDIT: GARY HERSHORN/GETTY IMAGES 

Traffic passing over a bridge above the frozen Han river in Seoul.
CREDIT: ED JONES/ AFP VIA GETTI IMAGES

Fishermen scoop up grey mullet which froze to death during a recent cold wave with nets at a farm in Muan, South Korea
CREDIT: YONHAP/REUTERS
Market Closes for January 11^th, 2021 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1807, Ezra Cornell was born. While helping Samuel F. B. Morse lay the transmission lines for his new telegraph, Cornell made the key discoveries that the wires should be insulated and strung above ground. In 1855, Cornell co-founded Western Union, the greatest growth stock of the 19th Century, and in 1865 he founded Cornell University.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities snapped a five -day winning streak Monday, following U.S. equities lower.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.6%, the most since December 31. Health care was the only group that gained as marijuana shares continued to climb. Canada’s top banking regulator dashed hopes that the country’s lenders will be able to follow U.S. peers in resuming share buybacks soon, saying it won’t reverse its safeguards on the financial system as the Covid-19 pandemic rages.
Royal Bank of Canada Chief Executive Officer David McKay says Canada is in a race to vaccinate enough people in the next three months to safely reopen its economy. On the deals front, Quebecor CEO Pierre-Karl Péladeau’s C$6/share offer for Transat through his private investment firm may still fall short of Air Canada’s offer, Scotiabank said.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.35 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,845 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.6% to C$1.2781 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 2.2 basis points to 0.836%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.6 percent at 17,934.45 in Toronto. The move was the biggest loss since Dec. 31 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.1 percent.
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.8 percent. Trillium Therapeutics Inc. had the largest drop, falling 6.8 percent.
Today, 154 of 221 shares fell, while 64 rose; 10 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 4.1 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI  AC Americas Index gained 18 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7 percent below its 52-week high on Jan. 8, 2021 and 60.5 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.3 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.2 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 17.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.78t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.14 percent compared with 8.87 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.35 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -42.7059| -1.7| 3/49
Industrials | -25.0746| -1.1| 13/16
Information Technology | -18.4962| -1.0| 3/7
Financials | -8.9275| -0.2| 8/17
Real Estate | -5.4252| -1.0| 6/18
Utilities | -4.8377| -0.5| 8/8
Consumer Discretionary | -3.2176| -0.5| 3/10
Energy | -3.1781| -0.2| 8/14
Consumer Staples | -2.8614| -0.4| 3/8
Communication Services | -0.5904| -0.1| 3/4
Health Care | 7.7189| 3.4| 6/3
US
By Vildana Hajric and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for the first time in five sessions as investors started the week in a cautious mood with equity prices near all-time highs.
The S&P 500 was led lower by the real estate and consumer discretionary sectors, while energy companies were the biggest gainers in the benchmark index. Eli Lilly & Co. lifted health- care shares. The dollar strengthened against all its major peers, with demand supported by elevated Treasury yields. Weighing on the minds of investors are worries that equities are running too hot and valuations are stretched at a time when major parts of the world are grappling with the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Keep in mind though, after big runs like we saw last week, it’s natural for the market to take a breather,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing product at E*TRADE Financial. “Traders looking for new opportunities may be wise to look beyond behemoth tech stocks.” Benchmark Treasury yields topped 1% last week on bets that Democratic lawmakers will enact big spending packages to drive the economic recovery out the pandemic. The move reset expectations for a range of asset classes and sparked debate over whether higher yields might jeopardize the current environment of easy financial conditions.
Ten-year U.S. yields climbed to almost 1.14% on Monday, the highest level since March. “Ultimately it goes back to the 10- year,” wrote KC Rajkumar and Jahanara Nissar of Lynx Equity Strategies. A higher yield “points to higher inflation down the road — which is negative for stocks. We are not there yet, but as the 10-year inches higher — the closer we get.” Twitter Inc. fell after the social media platform permanently banned President Donald Trump after a mob invaded the Capitol building last week. Mirabaud Securities analyst Neil Campling said the ban shows the company is making editorial decisions, and opens the door to more regulation of social media under the next administration. Shares of Facebook Inc., which also suspended Trump’s account, also declined. Meanwhile, House Democrats Monday introduced a resolution to impeach Trump for a second time, setting up a vote this week unless Vice President Mike Pence uses his constitutional authority to remove the president. Bitcoin tumbled, with prices sliding as much as 20% on Monday. Some investors have said the digital currency’s recent gains defy logic and the U.K.’s financial watchdog issued a statement that consumers in crypto should be prepared to lose all their money. The token traded down about 14% at $32,835.
Elsewhere in markets, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped. Commodities were broadly lower on the back of the stronger dollar, with West Texas Intermediate oil trading near $52 a barrel.

Here are some key events coming up:
* JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co., as well as firms ranging from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to Infosys Ltd., are among those due to report earnings.
* EIA crude oil inventory report is due Wednesday.
* European Central Bank’s Christine Lagarde speaks at an online conference Wednesday.
* U.S. consumer-price inflation figures are due Wednesday.
* Biden plans to lay out proposals for fiscal support on Thursday.
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell takes part in a webinar on Thursday.
* U.S. initial jobless claims data are due Thursday.
* U.S. retail sales, industrial production, business inventories and consumer sentiment figures are due Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index declined 0.7% to 3,799.61 as of 4:00 p.m. New York time, the first retreat in a week.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.3% to 31,008.69, the first retreat in a week.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1.3% to 13,036.43, the largest drop in a week.
*The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 0.7% to 408.41, the biggest dip in three weeks.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index sank 0.7% to 658.67, the first retreat in a week and the largest decrease in three weeks.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.5% to 1,126.98, the highest in two weeks.
*The euro sank 0.5% to $1.2156, the weakest in almost four weeks on the largest decrease in more than a week.
*The British pound declined 0.3% to $1.3521, the weakest in almost two weeks.
*The Japanese yen depreciated 0.2% to 104.17 per dollar, the weakest in more than a month.
Bonds
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained two basis points to 1.13%, reaching the highest in about 10 months on its seventh straight advance.
*Germany’s 10-year yield gained two basis points to -0.50%, the highest in two months.
*Britain’s 10-year yield gained 31 basis points to 0.309%, its fifth straight advance and the biggest advance on record.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 0.3% to $52.10 a barrel, the first retreat in a week.
*Copper declined 3% to $3.56 a pound, the lowest in a week.
–With assistance from Claire Ballentine.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Life’s not about expecting, hoping and wishing, it’s about doing, being and becoming.
                                                                                       -Mike Dooley, b.1961

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
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