February 3, 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.

February 3, 1994: The space shuttle Discovery blasted off with a woman, Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins, in the pilot’s seat for the first time. Go to article »
1870: The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified, guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of race and intending to ensure, with the Fourteenth Amendment, the civil rights of former slaves.
1947: coldest North American temperature  -81 degrees Farenheit.
Gertrude Stein, writer, b. 1874.

2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees announced.  Our favorite country queen Dolly Parton is one of several first-time nominees!

Starbucks has been raising prices, but customers apparently don’t mind.  You call it Starbucks, I call it a weekly necessity. That’s not changing.

Inside Gwyneth Paltrow’s serene California home.  This Oscar winner has an award-worthy home spa. Zen is an understatement

Scientists engineer new material that can absorb and release enormous amounts of energy. 

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People take part in the Endiablada (demonic) festival in Cuenca during which 100 ‘devils’ dressed in vividly coloured costumes parade through the streets of the town, dedicating dances and jumps to the saints
CREDIT: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Colourful lanterns of sea creatures are displayed at the Kennedy Center as part of the Winter Lanterns show to celebrate the lunar new year
CREDIT: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Horticultural workers arrange floral displays for the Kew Orchid festival at the Royal Botanical Gardens. The festival runs from 5 February to 6 March
CREDIT: Neil Hall/EPA

Market Closes for February 3^rd, 2022

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1964, a direct feed to the stock ticker at the New York Stock Exchange was extended overseas for the first time, as Switzerland got a real-time link to follow share prices in New York
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 1.3 percent at 21,094.01 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 2.1 percent on Jan. 21 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.2 percent.
Today, information technology stocks led the market lower, as 10 of 11 sectors lost; 187 of 241 shares fell, while 53 rose.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 8.4 percent.
Telus International CDA Inc. had the largest drop, falling 9.1 percent.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss seven times. The next day, it declined four times for an average 0.5 percent and advanced three times for an average 0.6 percent
* So far this week, the index rose 1.7 percent, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended Dec. 24
* The index advanced 18 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 14 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.2 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 18.4 percent above its low on Feb. 3, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.7 percent in the past 5 days and fell 0.6 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19 on a trailing basis and 14.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.41t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 12.84 percent compared with 13.32 percent in the previous session and the average of 13.19 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology| -107.3839| -6.2| 0/16
* Industrials | -51.7791| -2.1| 2/28
* Financials | -37.9890| -0.5| 6/22
* Materials | -26.7602| -1.1| 11/44
* Energy | -21.7586| -0.7| 13/19
* Consumer Discretionary| -10.6118| -1.4| 2/12
* Utilities | -5.4297| -0.6| 4/12
* Consumer Staples | -5.0821| -0.6| 4/7
* Real Estate | -4.8496| -0.8| 5/18
* Health Care | -4.2331| -2.8| 2/6
* Communication Services| 7.5260| 0.7| 4/3
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -73.7900| -8.4| 39.8| -41.0
* Brookfield Asset Management | -17.0200| -2.4| -40.6| -9.6
* Canadian Pacific | -15.1700| -2.6| -27.0| -0.9
* Franco-Nevada | 1.8750| 0.8| 4.2| -2.1
* Telus | 3.2670| 1.2| 18.2| 2.8
* BCE | 3.9890| 1.0| -10.8| 2.5

US
By Peyton Forte and Emily Graffeo
(Bloomberg) — The worst selloff in technology shares since fall 2020 sent U.S. equity indexes reeling, halting a four-day rebound.
The Nasdaq 100 shed 4.2% and the S&P 500 fell 2.4% as Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc. suffered a historic rout that wiped more than $250 billion from its value. Meanwhile, in post market trading Amazon.com Inc. rose more than 15% on an earnings beat, helping to lift index futures.
The declines came as investors also digested concerns about persistently high inflation from the European Central Bank with hawkish comments from Christine Lagarde.
The euro spiked higher along with European bond yields.
U.S. Treasuries followed the euro zone lower and the dollar fell.
“We got hit with a one-two punch today with the big drop in Facebook and the surprising news that the ECB has become more hawkish,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist for Miller Tabak + Co.
“The stock market had rallied in the afternoon each of the last four days, so traders were hoping that could bail us out again. When the rally didn’t materialize, traders lost a lot of confidence.”
Weak numbers from U.S. tech giants including Spotify Technology SA jolted investors who had bet a strong earnings season would keep equities attractive and counter some of their lingering worries including tighter monetary policy.
Markets have swung sharply and stocks are nursing losses this year as officials pare stimulus to curb inflation.
In Europe, the Bank of England hiked its key rate and signaled it would start running down bond holdings.
Meanwhile, the ECB held its interest rates and said net buying under its emergency support program will end in March.
Lagarde said inflation would remain elevated for longer but the bank was getting “much closer” to its inflation target.
Germany’s two-year yield rose to a 2015 high.
The Stoxx Europe 600 fell below its 100-day moving average.
“As markets focus closely on large, developed-market monetary policy stances — and investor sentiment around the globe shifts — economic activity data releases will be key,” said Marilyn Watson, head of global fundamental fixed income strategy at BlackRock.
Growth in the U.S. services sector pulled back in January to the slowest pace in nearly a year.
Meanwhile, U.S. initial jobless claims fell more than expected last week to 238,000 ahead of data on payrolls Friday.
“Tomorrow’s jobs report is a reminder that expectations for Fed policy are the key influence on this market right now, and if economic data, especially inflation data, comes in ‘too hot’ then that will rekindle hawkish Fed concerns like in January, and we would expect at least a partial return of the January volatility,” wrote Tom Essaye, a former Merrill Lynch trader who founded “The Sevens Report” newsletter. “Bottom line, Fed policy still very much matters to this market.”
What to watch this week:
* U.S. payrolls report for January, Friday
* Winter Olympics kick off in China, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin due to attend opening ceremony, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 2.4% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 4.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.5%
* The MSCI World index fell 1.8%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
* The euro rose 1.1% to $1.1431
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3595
* The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 114.94 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 1.83%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced 10 basis points to 0.14%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced 11 basis points to 1.37%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.1% to $90.11 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,806.80 an ounce
–With assistance from Vildana Hajric and Elaine Chen.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.  The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid,
but he who conquers that fear. –Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013.

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