March 9, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1959 – Barbie doll debuts.

On March 9, 1862, during the Civil War, the ironclads Monitor and Virginia (formerly Merrimac) clashed for five hours at Hampton Roads, Va. Go to article »

Here’s how you can prepare for daylight saving time this weekend.  You know, instead of rolling out of bed Sunday morning confused and cursing all your clocks. 

“Tragic optimism” could help you cope. (h/t Mike Smedley)

A Turkish lake could offer clues about life on Mars.

Area couple turns millennia-old bog trees into furniture

The Late Night Show Hosts weigh in:
“Harry said racism was a big part of their decision to leave, which you know things are bad at Buckingham Palace if they came to America to get away from racism,” Jimmy Kimmel said.

“Hold up, you’re saying Buckingham Palace has H.R.? How long has that been around? Because you would think someone in Human Resources might have stepped in to tell Henry VIII that chopping off your wife’s head could be interpreted as a hostile work environment.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“Britain’s Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle sat down for an interview last night with Oprah Winfrey, or as British tabloids reported it, ‘Harry’s kidnapper speaks.’” — SETH MEYERS

“And her husband Harry made a number of startling accusations. The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, vigorously denied all of them, just out of reflex today.” — JIMMY KIMMEL
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Paragliders take to the skies over the Weald of Sussex in the South Downs National Park
CREDIT: ANDREW/HASSON

Gabriel Potts, 11, practises for International Bagpipe Day 2021, playing his bagpipes at a walkers cairn on Lauder Moor in the Scottish Borders, with the Eildon Hills in the distance
CREDIT: PHIL WILKINSON

Teenager Charlie Jackson from Winchcombe Gloucestershire hasn’t let the past year of lockdown woes restrict his learning. After completing his daily school studies online he has been brushing up on his skill and knowledge of the famously known craft of Cotswold dry stone walling.
CREDIT: RUSSELL SACH FOR THE TELEGRAPH

The Space Launch System twin solid rocket boosters are fully assembled and stacked on the mobile launcher inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. The SLS will be the most powerful rocket in the world, producing up to 8.8 million pounds of thrust during its Artemis I launch.
CREDIT: NASA/ISAAC WATSON/COVER-IMAGES.COM
Market Closes for March 9^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1929, just in time to suffer through the worst depression in modern history, the forerunner of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange was established.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks jumped Tuesday, closing at a record high after a rebound in tech and other risk equities.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.8%, with seven of 11 sectors rising. Marijuana stocks including Curaleaf Holdings Inc. were among leaders, gaining 15%.
Just Energy Group Inc. filed for court protection in Canada and bankruptcy in the U.S. after suffering crushing losses in the Texas blackouts that plunged millions of people into darkness and the region’s power sector into chaos.
Inter Pipeline Ltd. is open to an acquisition by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP should the suitor sweeten its takeover offer, the pipeline firm’s chief executive officer said.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at an $11.20 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 1.9% to $1,716.10 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.2% to C$1.2638 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 8.4 basis points to 1.442%.

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 0.8 percent, or 141.41 to 18,599.19 in Toronto.
Today, information technology stocks led the market higher, as 7 of 11 sectors gained; 155 of 219 shares rose, while 63 fell. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.7 percent. Aphria Inc. had the largest increase, rising 11.9 percent.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 6.7 percent
* The index advanced 28 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 43 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.6 percent below its 52-week high on March 9, 2021 and 66.5 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1 percent in the past 5 days and rose 1 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.5 on a trailing basis and 16.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.86t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 15.93 percent compared with 16.02 percent in the previous session and the average of 14.39 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | 78.2498| 4.5| 10/0
Materials | 39.4587| 1.8| 43/7
Health Care | 14.2667| 5.3| 9/0
Utilities | 12.7223| 1.5| 15/1
Industrials | 8.8510| 0.4| 19/10
Financials | 8.1116| 0.1| 19/7
Consumer Staples | 1.4582| 0.2| 9/2
Real Estate | -0.3082| -0.1| 12/14
Consumer Discretionary | -0.3526| 0.0| 7/5
Communication Services | -6.0146| -0.7| 2/5
Energy | -15.0211| -0.6| 10/12
US
By Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Investors poured back into the market’s riskiest assets Tuesday as dip-buyers powered the Nasdaq 100 to its biggest rally since November and sent Bitcoin back toward a record. Treasuries added to gains after a note auction.
Stay-at-home winners surged after being left for dead as vaccinations pick up and Democrats move to inject $1.9 trillion into the economy. Treasury yields pulled back from recent highs sparked by worries a potential overshoot in the economy will bring inflation. For a day, at least, the rotation from growth shares to value reversed violently. Here are some of the major moves:
* Tesla Inc. jumped 20% in its best day in a year.
* Peloton Interactive Inc., DocuSign Inc. and Pinduoduo Inc. rallied more than 11%.
* Financial firms and energy producers, recent winners, were the only two S&P 500 groups to retreat.
* Spot gold surged more than 2% after falling to lowest since April.
* The 10-year yield fell below 1.55%.
* Bitcoin jumped above $54,000.
* Oil and copper retreated after recent rallies.

The rising prospects for turbo-charged economic growth have been reordering the market’s winners and losers for the past two months as the stimulus bill’s passage grew more likely and daily vaccinations surged. Tuesday, dip buyers targeted the areas recently abandoned as too expensive. The reversal is a theme that’s played out for years, every retreat gets bought, and it’s been extreme lately. The S&P 500 hasn’t had a pullback of 5% since November.
The drop in Treasury yields after the recent violent runup has given some cover for risk takers to wade back into growth after abandoning the group because stretched valuations began to look scary with rates on the rise. “Let’s not forget that less than a year ago traders interpreted one of the biggest negative macro events in market history as a buying opportunity, so there’s little reason to think otherwise given all the positive signals around us today,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing product at E*Trade Financial. “Corrections create natural inflection points for traders. It’s no surprise to see the Nasdaq rise today, and the fundamentals support continued bullishness.”
The first of several Treasury sales in the coming days went off without disrupting markets. The sales will test appetite for the safest debt after last month’s poorly bid auctions sent shockwaves throughout global markets and short bets climbed to a record. Benchmark 10-year yields breached the 1.6% level to trade at a one-year high last week.
Here are some key events to watch:
* EIA crude oil inventory report is due Wednesday
* The U.S. February consumer price index will offer the latest look at price pressures Wednesday.
* The U.S. government auctions 3-, 10- and 30-year Treasuries this week.
* The European Central Bank holds its monetary policy meeting and President Christine Lagarde is set to do a briefing Thursday.
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index advanced 1.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Nasdaq 100 added 4%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.8%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.8%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index rose 0.9%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index sank 0.6%.
* The euro gained 0.5% to $1.1902.
* The British pound climbed 0.5% to $1.3897.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 108.46 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped five basis points to 1.54%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield dipped three basis points to -0.30%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 1.6% to $64.02 a barrel.
* Gold futures strengthened 2.2% to $1,715.30 an ounce.
–With assistance from Cecile Gutscher and Beth Mellor Have a great night.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,
Carolann

The truth is always the  strongest argument. –Sophocles, c. 496 BC-406 BC.

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