February 9, 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Feb. 9, 1943, the World War II battle of Guadalcanal in the southwest Pacific ended with an American victory over Japanese forces.  Go to article »

Boeing flies its 747 model in 1969 for the first time, taking off from Everett’s Paine Field. Pilot Jack Waddell calls the jet’s performance in the two-hour test flight “a pilot’s dream.” In order to build the 747, Boeing constructs the largest building in the world in Everett. The FAA certifies the 747 on Dec. 30, 1969, ushering in the era of jumbo jets. (Compiled from HistoryLink.org).

Feb. 9, 1997: Fox cartoon series “The Simpsons” airs its 167^th episode “The Itchy & Scratchy Show” surpassing the former record holder The Flintstones as the longest-running animated series in cartoon history.

Feb. 9, 1942: Carol King, songwriter, b.

2022 Oscar nominations announced.  Looking for a great movie to watch? Check out this list of Oscar contenders.

Winners announced at the 2022 Brit Awards.  Yesterday was a big day in entertainment news across the pond too! 

This is the wildlife photo of the year, as chosen by the public.  The enchanting image of a frozen lake seriously could have been pulled from a scene in “Game of Thrones.”

More Revolutionary War-era cannons have been found in Georgia.  Ahoy! After this remarkable find, divers are searching the depths of the Savannah River for more historic treasure.

With Covid in retreat, it’s time to end mask mandates in schools. They’re doing more harm than good. — Bloomberg’s editorial board.

Charles Dickens’s coded notes have finally been decoded. (h/t Ellen Kominers)

A Mediterranean diet could add 10 years to your life, a study has shown.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A giant panda plays with its cub in the snow at the China Conservation and Research Centre
CREDIT: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

Tianyi Zhang of Team China falls during the men’s 1500m quarter finals of the short-track speed skating event, on day five of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games
CREDIT: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Adele poses for a photo as she attends The Brit awards 2022 at the O2 Arena, where she won three awards for best artist, album and song of the year
CREDIT: Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images

Market Closes for February 9^th, 2022

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1966, the Vietnam-era bull market peaked, buoyed by defense spending and rising inflation, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day at 995.15—a level it would not reach again until October 11, 1982. 
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose to the highest point in more than two months as companies in the technology and industrials sectors surged.
The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 1.1%, or 227.01 to 21,604.19 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 1.7% on Jan. 31.
Today, information technology stocks led the market higher, as all sectors gained; 190 of 240 shares rose, while 49 fell.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.9%. Canopy Growth Corp. had the largest increase, rising 14.8%.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain 13 times. The next day, it advanced nine times for an average 0.7% and declined four times for an average 0.5%
* The index advanced 17% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 15% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.9% below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 20.5% above its low on Feb. 26, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.1% in the past 5 days and rose 2.5% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.3 on a trailing basis and 15 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6% 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 rose to 13.19% compared with 12.91% in the previous session and the average of 12.74% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology | 62.8743| 3.7| 16/0
* Industrials | 50.3151| 2.0| 28/2
* Energy | 49.3140| 1.6| 29/3
* Materials | 13.5729| 0.5| 26/27
* Consumer Discretionary | 12.7446| 1.7| 13/1
* Utilities | 9.3437| 1.0| 16/0
* Health Care | 9.1778| 6.1| 8/0
* Consumer Staples | 6.0836| 0.8| 7/4
* Real Estate | 5.4232| 0.9| 22/2
* Communication Services | 4.4007| 0.4| 4/3
* Financials | 3.7581| 0.1| 21/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 42.5700| 4.9| -29.0| -32.8
* Canadian Pacific | 14.8500| 2.6| -30.9| 2.1
* Cameco | 9.8210| 14.3| 55.9| 4.6
* Franco-Nevada | -4.4190| -1.9| 28.7| -0.6
* CIBC | -4.6020| -0.9| -35.9| 11.9
* Royal Bank of Canada | -10.7500| -0.8| -55.2| 9.1
US
By Stephen Kirkland
(Bloomberg) — The advance in U.S. stocks gathered pace as an easing in a Treasury selloff provided respite to markets whipsawed in recent weeks by concerns about tightening monetary policy.
The S&P 500 extended Tuesday’s broad-based rally, with tech stocks recovering about half of their losses this year.
Mega caps led the Nasdaq 100 higher, with dip-buying in Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc. after a four-day slide wiped about a third off its market value.
Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 posted their biggest daily gains this month.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield retreated from levels last seen in 2019 and hit session lows around 1.91% after strong demand at auction of similar-maturity notes.
Rates across Europe also fell after France’s central banker said markets may be getting ahead of themselves in pricing rate hikes for this year.
A dollar gauge fell.
Investors are weighing still-robust earnings against worries about a rapid withdrawal of pandemic-era stimulus.
About 76% of the 317 S&P 500 firms that have reported results beat earnings estimates, with profits coming nearly 6% above projected levels.
But data this week is expected to show U.S. inflation continues to overheat, potentially stoking bets on a more aggressive Federal Reserve liftoff in March.
“Improving economic data will support risk assets unless the Fed needs to reset the outlook for financial conditions lower,” Dennis DeBusschere, founder of 22V Research, wrote in a note.
Until it is clear financial conditions need to tighten further, he said he favors cyclicals relative to defensives, especially as the economic headwinds of omicron fade and demand growth firms.
Bets on the pace of rate hikes have increased since the January Fed meeting, shifting to roughly five this year versus the three that officials forecast in December.
Fed Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said Wednesday she anticipated it will be appropriate for policy makers to raise rates at a faster pace, reiterating a January comment that she supported a first hike in March. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said earlier “every option is on the table.”
“Investors certainly appear encouraged by the fact that the falling-knife period looks to be in the rear-view mirror and we’re now seeing signs of stabilization,” Craig Erlam, a senior  markets analyst at Oanda, said in a note. “Of course, that could change quickly if the inflation outlook worsens, and we won’t have to wait long for the next hurdle on that front, with the U.S. CPI data being keenly anticipated.”
The euro briefly rose to session highs versus the dollar after Bloomberg reported, citing officials with knowledge of the matter, that a growing number of European Central Bank policy makers were losing faith in the institution’s current inflation forecasting, emboldening their shift toward hiking rates later this year. 
Some earnings and market-related news:
* CVS Health Corp. said demand for Covid-19 tests and vaccines is expected to fade this year, eroding a source of growth that helped insulate it from other pressures on its business.
* Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. reported sales that topped estimates as smoked brisket, strong delivery orders and higher prices helped results in the fourth quarter.
* Billions of dollars earmarked for takeovers by blank-check companies have piled up unused as the hot-then-not mania fades for speculative stocks.
* A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S  said it expects to report a 2022 profit of about $24 billion, less than average analyst estimate of $28 billion. It also said shipping backlogs that have persisted for most of the Covid-19 pandemic will begin to let up in the second half.
* Amundi SA, Europe’s largest asset manager, climbed the most in more than a year after raking in more client cash than analysts’ expectations.

Here are some events to watch this week:
* Earnings: AstraZeneca, Twitter, Uber, Walt Disney
* U.K. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey speaks Thursday
* U.S. consumer price index, initial jobless claims Thursday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 2.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%
* The MSCI World index rose 1.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%
* The euro was little changed at $1.1424
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3537
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 115.52 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 1.94%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 0.21%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined six basis points to 1.43%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.7% to $90 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,833.50 an ounce
–With assistance from Michael Msika, Andreea Papuc, Joanna Ossinger, Sunil Jagtiani, Robert Brand, Peyton Forte and Vildana Hajric.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

It is always the false that makes you suffer, the false desires and fears, the false values and ideas,
the false relationships between people.  Abandon the false and you are free of pain;
truth makes happy, truth liberates. –Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, 1897-1981.

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