January 13, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

I read this poem last weekend and I thought it was very beautiful; hope you do too:

WINTER SONG FOR ONE WHO SUFFERS
                                  -by Brenda Hillman

The stars stand up
behind the day. A known dove balances
on its claw
at the window. A cosmic incident
of darkness has begun
   & a mild excess of beauty
will be offered to the dead,
which they will eat. On a hill
the wise man serves the people,
your thought splits
in half when he speaks of the old
revolts, the return
of apocalypse, motive & advancement.
   A soul can crouch
a long time while the heart
expands to reach its edges.
What is missing past the glitter
of the harvest?
Friend, you chose
to live. How? You did. So many
choices, not just two, encrypted
behind the mystery of the sun,
then the hurt was set aside,
indeterminate chaos
called in by love.

Brenda Hillman, a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, teaches at Saint Mary’s College of California. Her latest poetry collection is “Extra Hidden Life, Among the Days.”.

January 13, 2000 – Microsoft chairman Bill Gates stepped aside as chief executive.  Go to article »

Netflix plans to release a new movie every week of 2021.  Now we don’t even need to expend energy deciding what to watch. Just take us away, Netflix!

Transparent TV screens are the cool new tech trend.  Living room, or Star Wars command center? Who knows! 

The Late Night Hosts weighed in:
“The president and Mike Pence reportedly spoke yesterday in the Oval Office for the first time since last week’s attack on the Capitol, which had to be pretty awkward. But don’t worry, Trump accepted Pence’s apology.” — SETH MEYERS

“And you’d think Pence would be into the idea, considering the whole ‘Hang him’ thing. But you would be dead wrong, because yesterday, after days of silence, ‘The president and Mike Pence spoke for the first time, meeting in the Oval Office, and agreed that those who broke the law and stormed the Capitol last week do not represent their policy of America first.’ Well, of course this mob violence wasn’t America first — it was in Germany first. So, apparently, it’s all water under the gallows now.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“When they heard Trump was coming to the border, Mexico was like, ‘Phew, thank God that wall is here.’” — JIMMY FALLON

“You know your presidency is off the rails when you have to distract from your attempted coup with your giant symbol of racism.” — JIMMY FALLON

“Well, that’s a wrap on a flawless administration.” — JAMES CORDEN

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man bathes in an ice hole in the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia. The temperature in St. Petersburg is -15C
Credit: AP/Dmitri Lovetsky
An Indian ten-inch-tall, three-and-a-half-year-old white-throated kingfisher flips a mouse in the air like a pancake before downing it in one. 
Credit: MEDIADRUMIMAGES/SOURAVDAS/@SOURA
The abbey which was built in 1132 was once England’s most powerful Cistercian monastery. Housing a 650-strong community at its peak in the 1160s under its most famous abbot, Aelred. The monastery was suppressed in 1538, but the spectacular abbey ruins became a popular subject for Romantic artists in the 18th and 19th centuries
Credit: DANNY LAWSON/PA WIRE
Market Closes for January 13^th, 2021 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 2000, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, speaking to the Economic Club of New York, imagined an observer looking back from the year 2010. That future-dweller, he said, “might well conclude that a good deal of what we are currently experiencing was just one of the many euphoric speculative bubbles that have dotted human history.” The next day, the Nasdaq Composite—the bubble Greenspan probably had in mind—puffed up 2.7% fatter, to 4064.27.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities fell Wednesday as traders began to assess corporate earnings and global stimulus measures. The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 0.3%, with consumer staples and materials leading the declines. Health care shares advanced with Bausch Health Companies Inc. rising 10.3%. The French government is opposed to Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. buying France’s Carrefour SA, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said, casting doubt on prospects for a $20 billion trans-Atlantic retail deal. Couche-Tard shares fell 10.2% Wednesday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government criticized moves by Canada’s largest airlines to cut jobs and routes amid
tightening restrictions on travel to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $11.35 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,848 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar gained 0.1% to C$1.2693 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 3.0 basis points to 0.813%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.3 percent at 17,934.74 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s increase of 0.3 percent. Today, materials stocks led the market lower, as 6 of 11 sectors lost; 146 of 221 shares fell, while 74 rose. Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. contributed the most to the index decline and had the largest move, decreasing 10.2 percent.
Insights
* The index advanced 3.7 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI
AC Americas Index gained 17 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 0.6 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 17.2 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 fell to 8.30 percent compared with
9.14 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.20 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -38.5306| -1.6| 6/45
Consumer Staples | -27.5239| -4.1| 2/9
Financials | -8.8165| -0.2| 5/21
Consumer Discretionary | -3.6535| -0.5| 5/8
Industrials | -3.3419| -0.1| 10/19
Communication Services | -0.7680| -0.1| 2/5
Utilities | 1.5286| 0.2| 9/7
Real Estate | 1.7041| 0.3| 18/8
Energy | 3.4588| 0.2| 4/18
Information Technology | 11.7857| 0.6| 5/5
Health Care | 13.1030| 5.6| 8/1
US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rose and benchmark Treasury yields retreated for a second day amid optimism the economy will continue to benefit from government support. Technology shares led gains, with the Nasdaq 100 outperforming the benchmark S&P 500. Intel Corp. jumped 7% after the chipmaker named a new chief executive. Treasury received strong demand for a second consecutive day at a government debt sale, helping to send yields down from the highest levels since March.
“Investors continue to focus on growing expectations for increased fiscal spending and promising economic prospects as the vaccine rolls out later this year,” said Ryan Nauman, market strategist at Informa Financial Intelligence’s Zephyr. “It’s all about resiliency here right now and equity markets continue to overlook and not be phased by all the chaos that’s out there.” In Washington, the House of Representatives is voting to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time. A Senate trial for Trump won’t likely get under way before his term ends on Jan. 20. In Europe, European Central Bank council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said the ECB will keep an easy stance for as long as needed, and U.S. investors took comfort from remarks by two Federal Reserve officials that pushed back on the possibility of tapering bond purchases anytime soon. “Coordinated comments from Fed governors” are helping to deflate bond yields, said Deutsche Bank AG strategists including Jim Reid in a note to clients. “We’ve only had seven business days this year and we’ve already had a full 360-degree tapering debate played out by the Fed.” Europe’s Stoxx 600 was flat, with losses in banks and travel shares outweighing M&A announcements. Among the day’s  winners, French grocer Carrefour SA rallied after Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the convenience-store giant that owns the Circle K chain, said it’s exploring a transaction. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 outperformed, reaching a record in dollar terms. Equities also ticked up in South Korea, while Hong Kong shares were flat. Oil fell as a stronger dollar and rising refined products supplies offset shrinking U.S. crude supplies, capping the price under a key technical indicator.

Here are some key events coming up:
* JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. are among firms due to report earnings.
* U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans to lay out proposals for fiscal support on Thursday.
* Federal Reserve Chairman 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 climbed 0.3% to 3,809.84 as of 4:02 p.m. New York time.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.1% to 31,060.47.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.5% to 13,128.95.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.1% to 409.07.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index rose 0.3% to 661.44.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.2% to 1,122.79.
* The euro decreased 0.4% to $1.2157.
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3634.
* The Japanese yen weakened 0.1% to 103.87 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped four basis points to 1.09%, the biggest decrease in five weeks.
* Germany’s 10-year yield decreased five basis points to -0.52%, the largest dip in seven months.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell five basis points to 0.307%, the first retreat in more than a week and the biggest drop in more than a month.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.6% to $52.88 a barrel, the first retreat in more than a week and the largest fall in a week.
* Silver weakened 1.5% to $25.25 per ounce.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Obstacles don’t have to stop you.  If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. 
Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. –Michael Jordan, b. 1963.

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