January 21, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Ethan Allen, revolutionary war hero, b.1738.
Christian Dior, designer, b.1905.
1915: Kiwanis International founded.
1981: Ronald Reagan inaugurated as the 40^th President of the United States of America.
On Jan. 21, 1924, the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin died at age 53. Go to article »

Scientists make paralyzed mice walk again. (h/t Scott Kominers)
Bernie Sanders is now a meme.

The Trump era in a nutshell. We asked a group of presidential historians to weigh in on Trump’s biggest achievements, his most emblematic moments and to sum up his term in three words. The answers were timely, foreboding and downright relentless. See their picks and tell us yours.-Bloomberg.

The Late Night Hosts weigh in:
“Wow, all right. So that’s what it feels like when you’re not grinding your teeth. I forgot, and I think — yeah, I can see colors again.” — SETH MEYERS

“It’s so nice to have a president with a soul again. The previous one sold his to the devil and didn’t even get Georgia out of the deal.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“‘Have a good life?’ That’s not a presidential farewell. That’s what your high school crush writes in your yearbook as a final twist of the knife: ‘I guess we won’t be seeing each other with me going to Bryn Mawr and you staying here to chase your kickboxing dreams so, have a good life.’” — SETH MEYERS

“That’s ominous. What form? A Demogorgon? A Horcrux? Maybe he’ll come back as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man?” — JIMMY KIMMEL

“‘In some form?’ What does that mean? [imitating Trump] ‘Whenever you see a black plastic bag stuck in a tree, or a vulture on the shoulder of the highway pulling the guts out of a dead raccoon, that’ll be me.’” — SETH MEYERS

“Who wrote this speech, Voldemort?” — JIMMY FALLON
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A child runs towards a dust storm in Mullengudgery, New South Wales, Australia. Dust storms have hit many parts of western New South Wales as a prolonged drought continues.
CREDIT: MARCIA MACMILLAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
An Ethiopian Orthodox Christian holds a candle during the celebration of Timkat, the Ethiopian Epiphany, in Gondar, Ethiopia.
CREDIT: EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
A man dressed as a clown is part of hundreds of climate protesters who are on a there-day-protest march from Landquart to Davos pass the city of Klosters, Switzerland
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/MICHAEL PROBST
Central American migrants – mostly Hondurans, travelling on caravan to the US- remain at the international bridge that connects Tecum Uman, Guatemala, with Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico. Most of the migrants left last Tuesday from Honduras and had arrived Saturday morning at the bridge over the Suchiate River, which forms the border between Guatemala and Mexico to the north.
CREDIT: CARLOS ALONZO / AFP
Market Closes for January 21^st, 2021 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1993, just over a year after breaking the 600 mark, the Nasdaq Composite Index broke the 700 barrier, finishing the day at 700.77.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell on Thursday, while tech shares led U.S. stocks to all-time highs. The S&P/TSX Composite index fell 0.6% in Toronto. Health care and industrials were the worst performers, while utilities and communication services were the only sectors in the green. Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System almost quadrupled its stock holdings in Asia-Pacific last year and plans to keep boosting its exposure to the fast-growing region over the next several years. The pension manager, known as Omers, deployed almost C$4 billion ($3.17 billion) in the region, up from about C$1 billion.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold was flat around $1,870.48 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was flat around C$1.2630 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 4 basis points to 0.869%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.5 percent at 17,916.20 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 0.6 percent on Jan. 11 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.3 percent. Canadian National Railway Co. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.7 percent. Canada Goose Holdings Inc. had the largest drop, falling 5.6 percent. Today, 157 of 221 shares fell, while 59 rose; 9 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.8 percent
* So far this week, the index was little changed
* The index advanced 2 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC
Americas Index gained 17 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.8 percent below its 52-week high on
Jan. 8, 2021 and 60.4 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 2.4 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
26.3 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 rose to 8.19 percent compared with
8.01 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.60 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | -27.6986| -0.5| 10/15
Industrials | -25.0538| -1.1| 8/19
Energy | -15.4262| -0.7| 2/20
Materials | -15.0050| -0.6| 11/41
Information Technology | -11.5945| -0.6| 3/7
Real Estate | -4.4382| -0.8| 2/24
Health Care | -3.1830| -1.2| 1/8
Consumer Discretionary | -2.6152| -0.4| 2/11
Consumer Staples | -0.3158| 0.0| 5/4
Communication Services | 1.4299| 0.2| 5/2
Utilities | 5.2025| 0.6| 10/6
US
By Cecile Gutscher
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks eked out a gain to close at a record with tech shares lifting the major indexes on anticipation that more fiscal spending will revive economic
growth and bolster corporate earnings. The dollar weakened. The S&P 500 Index rose a bit omre than one point, while the Nasdaq indexes rose at least 0.5%. Risk appetite has gotten a boost from President Joe Biden’s push for nearly $2 trillion in additional spending and plans to jumpstart a federal response to the pandemic.
Benchmark Treasury yields remained higher after initial jobless claims posted a small decline. U.S. equities remained at records with stretched valuations as earnings continue to roll in. Intel Corp. reported fourth- quarter revenue that topped expectations. Investors continue to bet on another stimulus package from Biden as the president ramps up the federal response to the pandemic. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned the virus continues to pose a serious risk after policy makers voted to keep pumping unprecedented amounts of stimulus into the economy. “High valuations could find justification in the strong recovery that we expect, while inflation assets remain in the affordable zone,” according to Florian Ielpo, head of macroeconomic research andmulti-asset portfolio manager at Unigestion SA. “We therefore see 2021 as a land of investment opportunities.”
Meanwhile, fresh tensions surfaced between U.S. companies and Beijing. China’s three biggest telecommunications firms said they requested a review of the New York Stock Exchange’s decision to delist their shares. Separately, Twitter Inc. locked the official account of the Chinese embassy to the U.S., citing a violation of its “dehumanization” policy. On the virus front, global fatalities hit a daily record, with a U.K. official comparing some hospitals there to a “war zone.”
These are some key events coming up:
* Earnings are due from companies including Schlumberger Ltd. and Yes Bank Ltd.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose less than 0.1% as of 4 p.m. in New York.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index added 0.8%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index ended flat.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 0.6%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.2%.
* The euro jumped 0.4% to $1.2158.
* The British pound gained 0.5% to $1.372.
* The onshore yuan was little changed at 6.461 per dollar.
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 103.54 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained three basis points to 1.11%.
* The yield on two-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 0.12%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield climbed three basis points to -0.496%.
* Japan’s 10-year yield dipped one basis point to 0.043%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.3% to $53.13 a barrel.
* Brent crude was little changed at $56.11 a barrel.
* Gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,871.90 an ounce.
–With assistance from Michael Msika and Adam Haigh.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

You can’t always get what you want but if you try sometimes
you just might find you get what you need.  -Mick Jagger, b. 1943

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