March 23, 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Liberty Day 1775.
1994:  Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings broke Gordie Howe’s National Hockey League career record with his 802nd goal. Go to article »
2021: The Suez Canal, one of the world’s most heavily used shipping lanes, was blocked  after the mega-freighter Ever Given ran aground; it took six days to move the vessel.

One of Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe portraits could fetch a record $200 million at auction.  This instantly recognizable work of art will soon go under the hammer! Christie’s says it is “the most significant 20th century painting to come to auction in a generation.”

This Chinese tea costs nearly $185,000 for a kilogram: Welcome to the exclusive, secretive, and luxurious world of Chinese tea. People with expensive taste (and super deep pockets) are raving about this high-end hot tea.

Want to see Yosemite in peak season?  Time to get in line. The reservation system for the busy US national park opens today.

The Milky Way is the product of a galactic merger.

RIP Madeleine Albright.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Asia’s largest tulip garden opens to the public
CREDIT: Faisal Khan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Children are covered in coloured powder for the celebration of the annual Hindu festival of colours, known as Holi
CREDIT: Md Rafayat Haque Khan/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

Daffodils lean against the National Covid Memorial Wall during a national day of reflection, marking the second anniversary of the first Covid-19 lockdown
CREDIT: Neil Hall/EPA

Market Closes for March 23^rd, 2022

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1720, the South Sea Bill, granting virtual monopoly powers to the South Sea Co., passed in the British House of Commons after six hours of fierce debate, during which the price of South Sea shares fluctuated sharply. The speculation in the stock, which drove the earliest bull market in equities, was in full swing—but it ended in a terrible crash in the fall.
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks broke its four-day winning streak of setting consecutive record highs, slumping as companies in the technology and financials sectors sunk.
The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.6% at 21,932.18 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 1.3% on March 14 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.3%.
Bank of Montreal contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.7%.
Nuvei Corp. had the largest drop, falling 5.7%.
Today, 136 of 239 shares fell, while 101 rose; 9 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks which tumbled 2%, is biggest drop in nearly four months.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 3.3%
* This month, the index rose 3.8%
* The index advanced 17% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 13% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1% below its 52-week high on March 22, 2022 and 18.8% above its low on March 25, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.2% in the past 5 days and rose 5.7% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.6 on a trailing basis and 14.2 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$3.51t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 12.97% compared with 13.12% in the previous session and the average of 13.44% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | -140.8423| -2.0| 3/25
* Information Technology| -38.3667| -2.5| 2/14
* Consumer Discretionary| -11.5212| -1.6| 1/13
* Industrials | -8.5281| -0.3| 12/18
* Real Estate | -7.3668| -1.2| 1/22
* Communication Services| -5.0602| -0.5| 1/6
* Consumer Staples | -3.7170| -0.5| 2/9
* Utilities | -1.9848| -0.2| 6/9
* Health Care | -1.5070| -1.1| 2/6
* Energy | 37.3655| 1.1| 29/5
* Materials | 39.3749| 1.4| 42/9
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Bank of Montreal | -25.4800| -3.7| 110.3| 8.7
* Royal Bank of Canada | -25.1400| -1.8| -32.3| 4.6
* TD Bank | -23.2300| -1.8| 82.1| 4.2
* Barrick Gold | 5.3880| 1.5| -43.8| 28.4
* Suncor Energy | 6.4500| 1.6| -21.3| 30.8
* Canadian Natural Resources | 14.9400| 2.4| -40.3| 48.7

US
By Isabelle Lee and Peyton Forte
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks declined Wednesday as Treasuries staged a small recovery from unprecedented losses ahead of tighter monetary policy to curb inflation.
The S&P 500 fell 1.2%, led by losses in financials, while the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield slid to 2.30% after surging to highs unseen since mid-2019.
Bonds are taking the brunt of central-bank calls for tougher action to rein in inflation as investors hold up stocks as an inflation hedge, spurring a rally that had seen the S&P 500 recover half its decline from January over just six sessions.
“Certainly it’s been a tough start to the year and you just are going to have these natural ebbs and flows as people digest information,” said Lisa Erickson, senior vice president and head of traditional investment at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.  “Overall we are expecting this kind of volatility that we have seen to continue.”
Investors have fled from bonds as Federal Reserve officials have indicated they’re willing to hike rates aggressively to  tame inflation and the war on Ukraine drives commodity prices up 26% this year.
Oil pushed higher Wednesday on the risk of fresh curbs on Russia, one of the biggest crude producers.
West Texas Intermediate topped $110 a barrel while Brent futures rose above $120 a barrel.
President Joe Biden and allies meeting Thursday in Brussels are expected to announce new sanctions against Russia.
Derivatives traders are braced for a steeper rate cycle after Fed Chair Jerome Powell explicitly put a half-point hike on the table in May if needed.
His view is that the economy is strong enough to weather higher borrowing costs, a sentiment echoed by Fed hawks and doves alike.
Asked if quality names could outperform inflation, Wells Fargo Securities strategist Anna Han said in a Bloomberg TV interview she sees opportunities in value stocks.
“If the Fed really continues with the more aggressive rate hike schedule, I think they still have a chance, but at the same time it really depends on if the Fed can maintain that aggressive schedule that they do and really bring down inflation and grab inflation and face it head on.”
Nevertheless, growth concerns are unsettling markets as war rages in Ukraine and consumers shoulder the rising cost of living.
“We live in a world of macro uncertainty, increased volatility. And the Fed, like us, are going to have to watch the data,” Kristof Gleich, president and CIO of Harbor Capital Advisors, said. “That’s going to cause even more volatility to the markets, because the markets don’t like uncertainty.”
Gold climbed, the dollar was steady and Bitcoin was little changed..
Here are some key events this week:
* U.S. President Joe Biden attends NATO emergency summit in Brussels, Thursday
* Eurozone Markit PMIs, Thursday
* U.S. initial jobless claims, U.S. durable goods, Thursday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 1.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3%
* The MSCI World index fell 0.7%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1005
* The British pound fell 0.4% to $1.3208
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 121.12 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined nine basis points to 2.30%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 0.47%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined eight basis points to 1.63%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 4.7% to $114.44 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 1.3% to $1,952.20 an ounce
–With assistance from Emily Graffeo and Cecile Gutscher.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Don’t ever tell anybody anything.  If you do, you start missing everybody. -J.D. Salinger, 1919-2010.

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