Author: Carolann

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.

January 16, 1919: Prohibition begins in the United States with the 18^th Amendment to the Constitution, banning the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors.  It lasted for 13 years.
January 16, 2003: The space shuttle Columbia and its crew of seven blasted off from Cape Canaveral. (The shuttle broke up during its return descent on Feb. 1, killing everyone on board.)  Go to article.

January 16, 1883: Civil Service created.
1786: Religious Freedom Day.

Robert Service, poet, b.1874.

Speaking of outer space …
India today became the fourth country to successfully achieve an unmanned space docking. The feat is seen as pivotal for future missions as New Delhi cements its place as a global space power.

Extraordinary ocean stories
British marine biologist and photographer Richard Smith captured these photos of the ocean’s tiniest and weirdest creatures.

Italy will need proof your hotel was really that bad under proposed law
One cannoli imagine how hard it is for hotels to attract customers after a wave of bad reviews. Italy is considering a new law to help ensure that online travel review sites like Tripadvisor are more truthful.

Keep your red meat to these limits to protect your brain health
Eating too much red meat has been associated with poor health outcomes, but a new study shows it could also put your future cognitive health at risk.

Curse tablet found in Roman-era grave in France targets enemies by invoking Mars, the god of war
Excavation of a Roman-era cemetery in France yielded nearly two dozen lead tablets inscribed in Latin and Gaulish. Read More.

Scientists discover enormous reservoir hidden in Cascades — more than twice the amount of water in Lake Mead
An enormous water reservoir — likely the largest aquifer of its kind in on Earth — sits inside the volcanic rocks of the Oregon Cascades, scientists have revealed.  Read More.

Supermassive black hole spotted 12.9 billion light-years from Earth — and it’s shooting a beam of energy right at us
The newly discovered “blazar,” which has a mass equal to 700 million suns, is the oldest of its kind ever seen and changes what we know about the early universe. Read More.

World’s tiniest cat was a palm-sized tiddler that lived in China 300,000 years ago
Scientists identified the tiny species of cat from a fossilized jawbone, which could date back as far as 300,000 years ago. Read More.

Dust off your telescopes!  A planetary parade’s peak will soon align with clear skies in our region. Here’s when and how to look. And while we’re talking about space, video captures the sheer joy as Blue Origin’s massive rocket finally launched on its first test flight early today.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
A women’s downhill training session at the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
Photograph: Leonhard Föger/Reuters

Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA
Blue Origin New Glenn rocket lifts off on its inaugural launch
Photograph: Steve Nesius/Reuters

​​​​​​​Toowoon Bay, Australia
‘This family of tawny frogmouths lives in the trees next door to our house. During the day they roost in a different branch of a different tree, and they disappear off at night to hunt. Last year the parents raised three offspring, this year it is only two. We enjoy looking out for them and seeing where they choose to sleep each day.’
Photograph: Jo Hayes
Market Closes for January 16, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	43153.13	-68.42
		-0.16%
S&P 500	5937.34	-12.57
		-0.21%
NASDAQ	19338.29	-172.94
		-0.89%
TSX	24846.20	+56.90
		+0.23%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38572.60	+128.02
		+0.33%
HANG SENG	19522.89	+236.82
		+1.23%
SENSEX	77042.82	+318.74
		+0.42%
FTSE 100*	8391.90	+90.77
		+1.09%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.342	3.419
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.466	3.534
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.6125	4.6531
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.8545	4.8795

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6946	0.6980
US $	1.4397	1.4328

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4832	0.6742
US $	1.0302	0.9707

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2677.70	2667.00
Oil
WTI Crude Future	78.68	77.50

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1991, the Persian Gulf war began, when the U.S. launched its aerial bombardment of Baghdad and Kuwait, known as Operation Desert Storm.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 0.2%, or 56.9 to 24,846.20 in Toronto.
Today, financials stocks led the market higher, as 9 of 11 sectors gained; 106 of 222 shares rose, while 113 fell.
Brookfield Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.7%.
Richelieu Hardware Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 5.1%.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 0.3%
* The index advanced 19% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 24% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.9% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 21.4% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.9% in the past 5 days and fell 1.2% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.5 on a trailing basis and 17.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.89t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 11.26% compared with 11.25% in the previous session and the average of 10.28% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 55.8235| 0.7| 19/7
Industrials | 19.0436| 0.6| 14/14
Utilities | 18.5468| 2.0| 14/1
Information Technology | 12.9314| 0.5| 9/1
Consumer Staples | 9.4533| 1.0| 7/3
Communication Services | 6.1921| 1.1| 3/2
Health Care | 0.5462| 0.8| 3/0
Real Estate | 0.0836| 0.0| 6/13
Consumer Discretionary | 0.0001| 0.0| 7/4
Materials | -18.3598| -0.6| 15/35
Energy | -47.3726| -1.1| 9/33
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Brookfield Corp | 13.6600| 1.7| -44.1| 0.3
RBC | 12.7900| 0.8| 62.7| -0.3
Canadian National | 9.6120| 1.7| -15.6| 0.6
TC Energy | -5.2340| -1.1| -3.4| -0.8
Suncor | -11.0900| -2.2| -14.7| 9.6
Canadian Natural Resources | -11.9700| -1.8| -26.3| -0.1
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks struggled to make headway after a solid rally, while bond yields dropped on dovish remarks from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller.
Wall Street also kept a close eye on comments from Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent, who said the US faces an economic crisis if the 2017 Republican tax cuts aren’t extended.
Equities edged lower, following an almost 2% jump in the S&P 500.
While most companies rose, a slide in tech mega caps dragged down the market.
Not even solid earnings from Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp. buoyed benchmarks.
“Investors are hitting the pause button following yesterday’s momentous rally,” said Jose Torres at Interactive Brokers.
Treasuries rose as Waller told CNBC that officials could lower rates again in the first half of 2025 if inflation data continue to be favorable.
He also wouldn’t entirely rule out a cut in March.
Swap trading implied a little bit more easing this year.
The dollar hovered near two-year highs. Bessent stressed that maintaining the greenback as the world’s reserve currency is critical.
When asked about any inflationary impact of President-elect Donald Trump’s economic plans, Bessent said he believed the policies will bring inflation closer to the Fed’s target.
The S&P 500 fell 0.2%.
The Nasdaq 100 lost 0.7%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.2%.
A gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” mega caps slipped 1.9%.
The Russell 2000 added 0.2%.
The KBW Bank Index declined 0.2%.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.61%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%.
The American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) Weekly Sentiment Survey just flashed a contrarian buy signal, according to Larry Tentarelli at the Blue Chip Daily Trend Report.
The tally shows “bullish sentiment” at the lowest level since the November 2023 major S&P 500 lows, he noted.
“Investors tend to be most bullish at market highs and most bearish near market lows,” Tentarelli said.
“We consider sentiment indicators at the extremes as fairly reliable contrarian indicators.”
A third straight year of outsize gains in US stocks — a display of strength last seen in the 1990s — leads Bank of America Corp.’s list of potential market surprises for 2025.
It’s a tall order but not unimaginable, according to the firm, which floats the idea in the latest rendition of its list honoring late Wall Street strategist Byron Wien.
After the S&P 500 Index soared 24% in 2023 and 23% in 2024, lofty valuations will make it tough to achieve such a performance again this year, as will risks including extreme concentration and uncertainty around fiscal and monetary policy, BofA strategists led by Jared Woodard wrote in a report this week.
As traders waded through corporate earnings, Thursday’s economic data was mixed.
US homebuilders grew less upbeat about sales prospects, while retail sales figures pointed to a consumer that held up well in the holiday season.
“In the coming weeks, the fourth-quarter earnings season will provide investors with an opportunity to shift some attention from macro to micro data,” said David Lefkowitz at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“We continue to have an attractive view on US equities.”
Even a solid corporate earnings season is unlikely to fuel a sustained rally in equity markets.
That’s the view of Helen Jewell at BlackRock Inc., who warned the outlook for stocks remained fragile over the coming weeks amid concerns around economic growth and inflation.
“It’s going to be a rocky reporting season, although not necessarily as much on the earnings number itself,” Jewell said in an interview.
“My nervousness is more on how much beats get rewarded versus how much misses get hit, particularly in the US where the valuation multiple is very high.”
Meantime, investors have increased their exposure to the biggest technology stocks, and they appear to have little appetite for hedging less than two weeks before earnings season begins for the group.
Discretionary investors have boosted their presence across mega cap, growth and technology stocks to the highest level since July, according to data compiled by Deutsche Bank AG. And hedge funds are returning to the group after months of consistent selling in 2024.

Corporate Highlights:
* Morgan Stanley’s fourth-quarter profit more than doubled, boosted by trading revenue that came in well ahead of estimates on volatility tied to the US elections.
* Bank of America Corp. posted fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates as investment-banking fees hit the highest in three years and net interest income outperformed forecasts.
* PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and U.S. Bancorp gave muted predictions for net interest income in the first quarter, amid uncertainty over how lower interest rates will revive lending demand.
* Microsoft Corp. is raising the price of its package of Office apps for consumers, a bet that subscribers will be willing to cough up more for access to new artificial intelligence tools.
* UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s elevated medical costs persisted in the fourth quarter and revenue missed estimates.
* Target Corp. raised its sales guidance following a better-than-expected holiday season, but the boost wasn’t big enough to ease investors’ concerns about profitability.
* American Express Co. will pay about $230 million to resolve a long-running investigation into some of the firm’s prior sales practices which regulators said misled small-business owners.
* Rio Tinto Group and Glencore Plc have been discussing combining their businesses, according to people familiar with the matter, in what could result in the mining industry’s largest-ever deal.
* Reliance Industries Ltd., controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, posted a slightly better-than-expected quarterly profit, as gains from its telecom and retail units offset the volatility in its petrochemical business.
* Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. projected quarterly sales and capital expenditure ahead of analysts’ estimates, fueling hopes that spending on AI hardware should remain resilient in 2025.

Key events this week:
* China GDP, property prices, retail sales, industrial production, Friday
* Eurozone CPI, Friday
* US housing starts, industrial production, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.7%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%
* The MSCI World Index was little changed
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 1.9%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.2%
* KBW Bank Index fell 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%
* The euro was little changed at $1.0298
* The British pound fell 0.1% to $1.2229
* The Japanese yen rose 0.8% to 155.22 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.6% to $100,262.36
* Ether fell 3% to $3,329.5
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.61%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 2.55%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 4.68%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.7% to $78.66 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.7% to $2,714.48 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Sujata Rao, Margaryta Kirakosian, John Viljoen and Chiranjivi Chakraborty.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. –Charles Darwin, 1809-1882.

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 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
January 15, 1943: Pentagon completed.
January 15, 2009: US Airways Capt. Chelsey Sullenberger guided a jetliner disabled by a bird strike just after takeoff from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to a safe landing in the Hudson River. All 155 people aboard survived.
Go to article.

Jean-Baptiste Moliere, writer, b. 1622.
Martin Luther King Jr., b. 1929.

China plans to build enormous solar array in space — and it could collect more energy in a year than ‘all the oil on Earth’
China has announced plans to build a giant solar power space station, which will be lifted into orbit piece by piece using the nation’s brand-new heavy lift rockets. Read More.

Famous Sutton Hoo helmet may be clue that early Anglo-Saxons fought as mercenaries for Byzantine Empire, study suggests
The famous helmet is among the Anglo-Saxon artifacts that indicate an eastern link with the Byzantine Empire. Read More.

Scientists discover ‘sunken worlds’ hidden deep within Earth’s mantle that shouldn’t be there
A new way of measuring structures deep inside Earth has highlighted numerous previously unknown blobs within our planet’s mantle. These anomalies are surprisingly similar to sunken chunks of Earth’s crust but appear in seemingly impossible places. Read More.

Something invisible and ‘fuzzy’ may lurk at the Milky Way’s center, new research suggests
The cores of galaxies may not be made of what we thought, new research suggests — they could hold one giant, invisible star made of mysterious “fuzzy” matter. Read More.

New supergiant ‘Darth Vader’ sea bug discovered in South China Sea — and it’s absolutely massive
The giant isopod has been named Bathynomus vaderi due to its resemblance to Darth Vader’s iconic helmet from “Star Wars.” Read More.

A brief history of sunglasses
When did our interest in protecting the eyes begin, and at what point did dark glasses become a social statement? Here’s a brief history of sunglasses, from Ancient Rome to Hollywood.

Your car knows more about you than you think
There’s a good chance your car knows all about you. Where you’ve been. How fast you drive. Even what you look like, thanks to cameras pointed right at your face.

These are the fastest-growing job titles, according to LinkedIn
Hospitality and travel-related roles are among some of the fastest-growing job titles, according to a LinkedIn analysis.

Mountains where you can ski right across Europe’s international borders
Some of Europe’s best winter sports terrains cross international borders, offering the chance to ski or snowboard into multiple countries.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
 Cumbria, UK
‘A beautiful misty morning at Ullswater. The mist swirled and changed in the early morning light, and I sat with camera at hand, mesmerised by the changing conditions.’
Photograph: David Eberlin

Tromsø, Norway
Admiring the scene over the city and river from a high viewpoint
Photograph: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock

​​​​​​​Pangong Lake, Ladakh, India
‘Nature’s own painting. Pangong is poetry in motion.’
Photograph: Kaberi Raychowdhury Bhaumik
Market Closes for January 15, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	43221.55	+703.27
		+1.65%
S&P 500	5949.91	+107.00
		+1.83%
NASDAQ	19511.23	+466.84
		+2.45%
TSX	24789.30	+200.72
		+0.80%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38444.58	-29.72
		-0.08%
HANG SENG	19286.07	+66.29
		++0.34%
SENSEX	76724.08	+224.45
		+0.29%
FTSE 100*	8301.13	+99.59
		+1.21%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.419	3.544
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.534	3.620
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.6531	4.7842
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.8795	4.9650

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6980	0.6967
US $	1.4328	1.4354

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4752	0.6779
US $	1.0297	0.9711

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2667.00	2669.50
Oil
WTI Crude Future	77.50	77.50

Market Commentary:
💸 On this day in 1987, the New York Stock Exchange racked up daily volume of over a quarter-of-a-billion shares for the first time.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.8%, or 200.72 to 24,789.30 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 1.4% on Nov. 21. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.5%.
Stella-Jones Inc. had the largest increase, rising 6.9%.
Today, 148 of 222 shares rose, while 71 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 18% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 23% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 4.1% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 21.1% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1% in the past 5 days and fell 1.9% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.5 on a trailing basis and 17.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.87t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 11.25% compared with 10.88% in the previous session and the average of 10.23% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 98.2530| 1.2| 25/1
Information Technology | 52.2855| 2.2| 10/0
Energy | 14.8454| 0.3| 25/18
Materials | 14.6237| 0.5| 28/20
Industrials | 12.5606| 0.4| 17/11
Real Estate | 6.9672| 1.5| 18/1
Consumer Staples | 4.1927| 0.5| 6/4
Utilities | 1.0492| 0.1| 9/6
Health Care | 1.0345| 1.5| 3/1
Communication Services | -1.7059| -0.3| 1/4
Consumer Discretionary | -3.3858| -0.4| 6/5
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | 30.5900| 2.5| -27.5| -2.3
Brookfield Corp | 20.1000| 2.5| -30.5| -1.3
Manulife Financial | 14.4800| 2.8| -51.1| -0.4
GFL Environmental | -1.9540| -1.9| 19.9| -4.0
Tourmaline Oil | -2.5200| -1.5| -31.8| 1.7
Dollarama | -3.5380| -1.3| 9.3| -4.3
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street breathed a sigh of relief after a surprise slowdown in inflation spurred a stock rally and a plunge in bond yields, reinforcing bets the Federal Reserve is on track to keep cutting rates this year.
Equities erased their losses for 2025, with the S&P 500 up almost 2% to notch its biggest advance since the aftermath of the US election.
A surge in Treasuries pushed 10-year yields down by 15 basis points — easing fears that a 5% rate would be on the horizon.
The market’s “fear gauge” — the VIX — collapsed the most this year.
A Goldman Sachs basket of money-losing tech companies jumped 3.2%, while a group of most-shorted shares added 3.8%.
Bitcoin hovered near $100,000.
The US CPI rose in December by less than forecast, reinvigorating bets the Fed will cut rates sooner than previously thought.
Swap traders are back to fully pricing in a rate cut by July.
That was a quick shift after Friday’s hot jobs data spurred bets officials would only be able to resume policy easing in September or October. Not to mention some wagers on hikes.
“Extreme sentiment led to a powerful post-CPI move,” said Steve Sosnick at Interactive Brokers.
“The proximate cause of today’s rallies in stocks and bonds was a better-than-expected month-over-month core CPI reading, but the magnitude of the rallies reflected the jittery sentiment that had pervaded markets.”
To Tina Adatia at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, while the latest CPI release is likely insufficient to put a January rate cut back on the table, it strengthens the case that the Fed’s cutting cycle has not yet run its course.
“The market will be encouraged by the decrease in core inflation, which should alleviate some of the pressure on stock and bond markets, both of which have had a poor start to the year on inflation fears and concerns the Fed would not only stop cutting interest rates, but could even reverse course and begin raising them,” said Chris Zaccarelli at Northlight Asset Management.
The S&P 500 rose 1.8%.
The Nasdaq 100 climbed 2.3%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.7%.
A Bloomberg gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” mega caps rallied 3.7%.
The Russell 2000 advanced 2%.
The KBW Bank Index surged 4.1% as Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. kicked off the earnings season.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined 15 basis points to 4.64%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%.
Oil remained higher even after news that Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal, bringing at least a temporary halt to the war in Gaza.
At the very least, the latest inflation figures are causing some short covering, according to Steve Wyett at BOK Financial.
“The market is relieved that potential ‘nose-bleed’ interest rates are — for now — taken off the table and the bond market will not curtail the massive run we’ve seen over the last two years in the equity markets,” said John Kerschner at Janus Henderson Investors.
At Evercore, Krishna Guha says the CPI print reinforces the view that the market has “overtraded” the inflation story since the start of the year on limited new information — and should be risk-on.
“It reinforces the base case for two Fed cuts, and keeps open the possibility of a March cut,” he noted.
To Ellen Zentner at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, Wednesday’s CPI won’t change expectations for a pause later this month, but it should curb some of the talk about the Fed potentially raising rates.
“And judging by the market’s initial response, investors appeared to feel a sense of relief after a few months of stickier inflation readings.”
Indeed, the data provides a sigh of relief for the markets after coming in largely aligned with expectations, said Rajeev Sharma at Key Wealth.
“However, inflation data coming in line is not enough good news for the Fed to forget the strength of the job market and, in turn, should not be enough for the market to start anticipating a larger number of rate cuts for 2025,” Sharma noted.
The so-called core consumer price index — which excludes food and energy costs — increased 0.2% in December.
That marked the first stepdown in the rate in six months.
From a year ago, it rose 3.2%. That’s still above the Fed’s 2% target.
“We still think that it will be easy for the Federal Reserve to remain on hold for now and wait for more data and fiscal policy clarity,” said Allison Boxer at Pacific Investment Management Co.
“We expect this to be the message Chair Jerome Powell aims to communicate at the January meeting.”
Fed’s Beige Book Points to Slight to Moderate Growth at Year-End
After months of elevated prints, the easing in the CPI helps restart the conversation that inflation progress has resumed — but officials will need to see a series of subdued readings to be convinced.
Lingering price pressures have contributed to a deep selloff in global bond markets and fueled concerns that the Fed eased policy too quickly at the end of last year.
Fed Bank of New York President John Williams voiced confidence that inflation would continue to recede, without offering any hints on the timing of additional cuts.
His Richmond counterpart Tom Barkin said fresh data show continued progress on lowering inflation, but that rates should remain restrictive.
Austan Goolsbee, president of the Chicago Fed, pointed to the data as supporting his outlook for easing price pressures.
“For the Fed, this is certainly not enough to prompt a January cut,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.
“But, if today’s print were accompanied by another soft CPI print next month plus a weakening in payrolls, then a March rate cut may even be back on the table.”
Shah also noted that perhaps the key takeaway is that markets are likely to be “whipsawed” over the next few data releases as investors seek a narrative that they can be comfortable with for more than just a few days at a time.
To Solita Marcelli at UBS Global Wealth Management, Fed cuts are still on the table as inflation should moderate over the coming months.
“The strength of the economy remains a supporting factor for corporate earnings growth at the current level of yields, “ she noted.
“While volatility could make it an uncomfortable journey before the S&P 500 hits our year-end target of 6,600, we expect the equity bull market to continue and maintain our ‘attractive’ rating on US equities.”
At Nationwide, Mark Hackett says the encouraging inflation data is “bringing bulls off the sidelines.”
“Equity investors have become increasingly sensitive to moves in the bond market, with an intense focus on rates, inflation, and Fed policy,” said Hackett.
“Focus will now shift to earnings, which has been a headwind in recent quarters, as we have entered earnings season with elevated expectations.  Given the weakness over the past month, the odds for a positive surprise this earnings season have improved.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cruised past estimates as its equity traders delivered their best year on record.
* JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s traders scored their biggest fourth- quarter haul ever, boosted by volatility tied to the US elections in November.
* Citigroup Inc. said it will repurchase $20 billion worth of its stock in the coming years — unleashing billions of excess capital the bank had been keeping on hand in order to meet a key ask from shareholders.
* Wells Fargo & Co.’s expenses dropped 12% in the fourth quarter as Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf continues to whittle headcount as part of broader efforts to slash costs and remake the bank. The company’s shares rose.
* BlackRock Inc. attracted an annual record of $641 billion in client cash, underlining the firm’s global reach across public and, increasingly, private assets as it integrates multibillion- dollar acquisitions and reshapes its leadership.
* Bank of New York Mellon Corp.’s fourth-quarter profit topped analyst expectations after higher-for-longer interest rates boosted margins.
* Southwest Airlines Co. was sued by the US Transportation Department for allegedly violating rules that require airlines to set and meet realistic flight schedules.
* CBS owner Paramount Global’s merger with film and TV producer Skydance Media should be reviewed by federal authorities because of the participation of China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd., which was recently added to a US military blacklist, a key member of Congress said.
* NetApp Inc. has agreed to sell a portfolio of cloud software assets it acquired in recent years to Thoma Bravo-backed Flexera.
* Airbus SE Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury said the engine issues afflicting many of its narrowbody aircraft will continue into the first half of the year and possibly beyond, complicating the European plane maker’s outlook as it grapples with persisted supply-chain constraints.
* Pfizer Inc. sold about 700 million shares in Haleon Plc, further paring its stake in the maker of Sensodyne toothpaste.

Key events this week:
* ECB releases account of December policy meeting, Thursday
* Bank of America, Morgan Stanley earnings, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, retail sales, import prices, Thursday
* China GDP, property prices, retail sales, industrial production, Friday
* Eurozone CPI, Friday
* US housing starts, industrial production, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.8% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 2.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.7%
* The MSCI World Index rose 1.7%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 3.7%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 2%
* KBW Bank Index rose 4.1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.1% to $1.0296
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.2242
* The Japanese yen rose 1% to 156.45 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 3.3% to $99,583.06
* Ether rose 6.8% to $3,434.38
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined 15 basis points to 4.64%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined nine basis points to 2.56%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined 16 basis points to 4.73%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.9% to $80.53 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.7% to $2,696.67 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Lu Wang, Natalia Kniazhevich, Sujata Rao, Margaryta Kirakosian, Julien Ponthus and Winnie Hsu.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power.  We have guided missiles and misguided men.-Martin Luther King Jr., 1929-1968.

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 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
January 14,1784: End of the American Revolution.
January 14, 2004 Former Enron finance chief Andrew Fastow pleaded guilty to conspiracy as he accepted a 10-year prison sentence.  Go to article
January 14, 2005: The European Huygens space prove made history by landing on Saturn’s moon Titan, marking the first-ever landing in the outer solar system.

Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, b. 1869.
Benedict Arnold, traitor, b. 1741.

10th-century woman buried with weapons in Hungary is 1st of her kind, but researchers are hesitant to call her a warrior
A woman buried with archery equipment in 10th-century Hungary is unusual but may not necessarily have been a warrior. Read More.

New treatment for most aggressive brain cancer may help patients live longer
Glioblastoma often kills within months. A new targeted radiation therapy may help patients live longer. Read More.

Enormous skull of 200-million-year-old giant dinosaur discovered in China
The well-preserved skull belongs to a never-before-seen species of sauropodomorph that potentially grew up to 33 feet long. Read More.

Walmart’s logo got its first facelift in nearly 20 years
The company says the redesigned logo is inspired by founder Sam Walton’s old trucker hat. Can you spot the changes?

Rachel Maddow returning to MSNBC five nights a week
The network’s prime-time star is expanding her on-air presence for the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s administration, MSNBC announced Monday, injecting what may be a much-needed ratings boost into the progressive outlet’s lineup.

Rams roll over the Vikings in final contest of NFL wild-card round
Los Angeles beat Minnesota 27-9 in a game played in Glendale, Arizona, due to the LA wildfires.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Altadena, US
Smoke from the Eaton fire lingers above the mountains of Angeles national forest in California
Photograph: Étienne Laurent/AFP/Getty Images

Puerto Caimito, Panama
A pelican is silhouetted against the first full moon of the year
Photograph: Bienvenido Velasco/EPA

​​​​​​​Colombo, Sri Lanka
A priest prays during the Thai Pongal harvest festival at a Hindu temple. Thai Pongal, which takes place over four days, is one of the first Hindu festivals of the year, celebrated by Tamils all over the world
Photograph: Chamila Karunarathne/EPA
Market Closes for January 14, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	42518.28	+221.16
		+0.52%
S&P 500	5842.91	+6.69
		+0.11%
NASDAQ	19044.39	-43.71
		-0.23%
TSX	24588.58	+52.26
		+0.21%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38538.62	+62.32
		+0.17%
HANG SENG	19219.78	+345.64
		+1.83%
SENSEX	76499.63	+169.62
		+0.22%
FTSE 100*	8201.54	-22.65
		-0.28%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.544	3.505
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.620	3.580
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.7842	4.7634
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.9650	4.9480

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6967	0.6956
US $	1.4354	1.4377

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4787	0.6763
US $	1.0302	0.9707

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2669.50	2687.45
Oil
WTI Crude Future	77.50	78.82

MARKET COMMENTARY:
📈 On this day in 2000, the dot-com bubble reached a peak, with stock indexes closing at or near record highs. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan a day earlier had cautioned that a future observer looking back might conclude that markets were in a euphoric and speculative bubble.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.2% at 24,588.58 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.9%.
Enbridge Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.2%.
Fortuna Mining Corp. had the largest increase, rising 7.4%.
Today, 134 of 223 shares rose, while 86 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 17% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 21% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 4.9% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 20.1% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.4% in the past 5 days and fell 2.7% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.2 on a trailing basis and 16.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.87t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 10.88% compared with 10.95% in the previous session and the average of 10.17% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 42.9610| 1.5| 42/9
Financials | 27.2058| 0.3| 18/8
Energy | 17.7527| 0.4| 30/11
Consumer Discretionary | 3.3462| 0.4| 8/3
Health Care | 0.4303| 0.6| 2/2
Real Estate | 0.2891| 0.1| 10/9
Industrials | -1.9795| -0.1| 14/14
Utilities | -5.7163| -0.6| 3/12
Information Technology | -6.3947| -0.3| 6/4
Communication Services | -12.6002| -2.2| 0/5
Consumer Staples | -13.0289| -1.4| 1/9
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Enbridge | 11.7400| 1.2| 12.5| 3.7
Bank of Nova Scotia| 7.0590| 1.1| -40.6| -4.6
Fairfax Financial | 6.8860| 2.4| 495.5| -0.9
Cenovus | -5.1930| -2.6| 9.6| -1.8
Shopify | -5.5200| -0.4| -5.5| -4.7
BCE | -6.3240| -3.0| 36.5| -2.8
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks bounced around all day long, with traders unwilling to make any significant bets as they awaited key inflation data for clues on the path of Federal Reserve rates.
After several twists and turns in the run-up to the consumer price index, the S&P 500 finished 0.1% higher.
While most of its shares advanced, big tech once again came under pressure.
Options traders are bracing for the US equity benchmark’s busiest CPI day since March 2023.
The index is expected to move 1% in either direction on Jan. 15, based on the cost of at-the-money puts and calls, according to Stuart Kaiser at Citigroup Inc.
“All eyes are now on Wednesday’s CPI report, which may be the most important inflation reading in recent memory, as it will fuel the market’s Fed-obsessed sentiment,” said Chris Brigati at SWBC.
“A strong inflation number adds to this idea of no cuts in 2025, and potentially even a rate hike, while a weak inflation data point may help to calm the market’s Fed fears.”
Data Tuesday showed the producer price index unexpectedly cooled in December, helped by a drop in food costs and flat services prices.
Yet several of its components that feed into the Fed’s preferred inflation measure — the personal consumption expenditures gauge — were actually mixed in December.
“This means the Fed and markets will not benefit from particularly benign PPI inputs into PCE as was the case in November,” said Krishna Guha at Evercore.
“In the very near term, this leaves markets exposed (in both directions) to Wednesday’s CPI report.”
The S&P 500 closed above its 100-day moving average after briefly falling below it.
The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.1%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5%.
A gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” mega caps slipped 1%.
The Russell 2000 of small firms gained 1.1%.
Homebuilders jumped after KB Home’s earnings beat.
Eli Lilly & Co. sank 6.6% amid disappointing sales.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.78%.
The dollar slipped after Bloomberg News reported Donald Trump’s incoming economic team is considering gradual hikes in tariffs, helping avoid an inflation spike.
Oil dropped from a five-month high as Hamas and Israel tentatively agreed to a cease-fire, cooling a rally fueled by risks to Russian and Iranian supplies.
Underlying US inflation probably cooled only a touch at the close of 2024 against a backdrop of a resilient job market and steadfast economy, supporting the Fed’s go-slow approach to further rate cuts.
The consumer price index excluding food and energy is seen rising 0.2% in December after four straight months of 0.3% increases, according to the median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The core CPI, a better snapshot of underlying inflation, is forecast to have risen 3.3% from a year earlier — matching readings from the prior three months.
A survey conducted by 22V Research showed 47% of investors expect the market reaction to CPI to be “risk-off,” 29% think “risk-on” and 24% said “mixed/negligible.”
The survey also showed that 53% of the respondents believe that financial conditions need to tighten.
“Higher interest rates or some tightening of financial conditions appear needed for the US economy to achieve “macro balance” (core PCE closer to 2% and full employment), said Dennis DeBusschere at 22V.
Wall Street is also gearing up for the unofficial start of the earnings season, with results from big banks hitting the tape on Wednesday.
Lenders including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. are expected to show continued gains from trading and investment banking, which helped offset net interest income declines caused by higher deposits and sluggish loan demand.
“When it comes to big-bank earnings, net interest income is the key data point to watch,” Brigati at SWBC said.
“If banks have been able to take advantage of borrowing at cheaper rates versus their loan portfolio, this is a constructive sign for the coming year.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Southwest Airlines Co. is pausing hiring for management, headquarters jobs and outside workers in a new round of cost cuts following a fight with activist shareholder Elliott Investment Management.
* Meta Platforms Inc. is cutting roughly 5% of its staff through performance-based terminations and plans to hire new people to fill their roles this year, according to an internal memo sent to all employees.
* Units of CVS Health Corp., Cigna Group and UnitedHealth Group Inc. charged significantly more than the national average acquisition cost for dozens of specialty generic drugs, bringing in more than $7.3 billion in “excess” revenue over six years, the Federal Trade Commission said in a report on the drug middlemen.
* B. Riley Financial Inc. received more demands for information from federal regulators about its dealings with now-bankrupt Franchise Group as well as a personal loan for co-founder and Chairman Bryant Riley.
* Capital One Financial Corp. misled customers when it rolled out a new savings account with a higher interest rate it didn’t also give to existing savings accounts, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday in a lawsuit against the bank.
* United Rentals Inc. agreed to buy H&E Equipment Services Inc. for $3.4 billion in cash, gaining a fleet of equipment to serve construction and industrial markets.
* Country Garden Holdings Co. suffered another record loss in 2023 as one of China’s largest developers continues its lengthy restructuring process after defaulting on its debt.

Key events this week:
* Eurozone industrial production, Wednesday
* Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York Mellon, Wells Fargo and BlackRock earnings, Wednesday
* US CPI, Empire manufacturing, Wednesday
* Fed’s John Williams, Tom Barkin, Austan Goolsbee and Neel Kashkari speak, Wednesday
* TSMC earnings, Thursday
* ECB releases account of December policy meeting, Thursday
* Bank of America, Morgan Stanley earnings, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, retail sales, import prices, Thursday
* China GDP, property prices, retail sales, industrial production, Friday
* Eurozone CPI, Friday
* US housing starts, industrial production, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.2%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 1%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 1.1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%
* The euro rose 0.6% to $1.0302
* The British pound was little changed at $1.2206
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 157.97 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 2.5% to $96,500.95
* Ether rose 3.3% to $3,217.58
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.78%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 2.65%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.89%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.3% to $77.82 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.5% to $2,676.38 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Sujata Rao, Julien Ponthus, Margaryta Kirakosian and Aya Wagatsuma.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann
We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility. –Rabindranath Tagore, 1861-1941.

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 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Monday.  Full moon tonight.

January 13, 1942: Henry Ford patents a method of constructing plastic auto bodies, revolutionising vehicle manufacturing with lighter and more affordable materials.
January 13, 2000: Microsoft chairman Bill Gates stepped aside as chief executive.  Go to article

Ice core may hold answers to mysteries of Earth’s past
A research team has collected what may be among the oldest ice samples on Earth — spanning at least 1.2 million years of the planet’s climate history.

Bob Dylan’s song drafts, artworks and photos to go on sale
A spectacular haul of Bob Dylan memorabilia, including early drafts of the singer and songwriter’s number 1 hit “Mr. Tambourine Man” and an original oil painting, will soon go under the hammer.

Takeaways from the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs
The Houston Texans, Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills all advanced, as did the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Commanders.

‘I was shaking when I first unearthed it’: 11th-century silver coin hoard unearthed in England
Archaeologists have discovered 321 silver coins still wrapped in a cloth and lead pouch from a time in English history marked by upheaval due to the coronation of a new Anglo-Saxon king. Read More.

Passenger plane with entirely new ‘blended wing’ shape aims to hit the skies by 2030
A new type of passenger plane will adopt a design that blends wings into the aircraft’s body, which its creators say will cut fuel consumption by 50% and reduce noise. Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Kent, UK
A red sky from the winter morning sunrise is pictured beyond the harbour wall at the port of Dover in south-east England
Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

​​​​​​​Jilin, China
A boat sailing on Songhua River as visitors gather to see the frost-covered trees on the riverbank in north-east China
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
People prepare to take part in a lunar new year parade in the city’s Chinatown
Photograph: Annice Lyn/Getty Images
Market Closes for January 13, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	42297.12	+358.67
		+0.86%
S&P 500	5836.22	+9.18
		+0.16%
NASDAQ	19088.10	-73.53
		-0.38%
TSX	24536.32	-231.40
		-0.93%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39190.40	-414.69
		-1.05%
HANG SENG	18874.14	-190.15
		-1.00%
SENSEX	76330.01	-1048.90
		-1.36%
FTSE 100*	8224.19	-24.30
		-0.29%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.505	3.442
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.580	3.536
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.7634	4.7592
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.9480	4.9469

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6956	0.6932
US $	1.4377	1.4425

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4734	0.6787
US $	1.0248	0.9758

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2687.45	2674.60
Oil
WTI Crude Future	78.82	76.57

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1937, the first shipment of gold was received at the Fort Knox Bullion Depository, the nation’s official gold vault.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.9%, or 231.41 to 24,536.32 in Toronto.
The index dropped to the lowest closing level since Dec. 19. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.2%.
Orla Mining Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 7.1%.
Today, 176 of 223 shares fell, while 45 rose; 10 of 11 sectors were lower, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss 17 times. The next day, it declined nine times for an average 0.8% and advanced eight times for an average 0.5%
* The index advanced 17% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 21% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 5.1% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 19.9% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.9% in the past 5 days and fell 2.9% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.3 on a trailing basis and 16.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.9t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.95% compared with 10.72% in the previous session and the average of 10.02% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | -62.5615| -1.4| 4/39
Materials | -48.6121| -1.6| 8/43
Financials | -47.8892| -0.6| 4/22
Information Technology | -31.9396| -1.3| 1/9
Industrials | -17.2981| -0.6| 9/19
Utilities | -11.3244| -1.2| 3/12
Consumer Staples | -10.0535| -1.1| 1/8
Real Estate | -2.9472| -0.6| 5/14
Health Care | -1.9921| -2.8| 1/3
Consumer Discretionary | -1.6542| -0.2| 5/6
Communication Services | 4.8662| 0.8| 4/1
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | -27.6000| -2.2| 13.3| -4.3
Canadian Natural Resources | -26.9000| -3.9| -11.3| 2.4
Bank of Nova Scotia | -11.3300| -1.8| -23.9| -5.7
Constellation Software | 3.1600| 0.5| 3.7| -3.3
Waste Connections | 3.5780| 0.8| -27.5| 3.1
Nutrien | 13.1600| 5.5| 37.8| 14.6
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A renewed wave of dip buying fueled a rebound in stocks, following a selloff triggered by a recalibration of Federal Reserve wagers.
Almost 380 companies in the S&P 500 rose, with the gauge wiping out a decline that approached 1% earlier Monday.
Energy producers joined a rally in oil while banks climbed ahead of the start of the earnings season.
That’s despite a slide that engulfed tech powerhouses like Nvidia Corp. and Apple Inc.
The bond market saw small moves after a rout driven by speculation of fewer Fed cuts this year amid stubborn price pressures.
“While even cooler-than-expected inflation data this week won’t nudge the Fed into another rate cut this month, it may help ease some of the bearish momentum — as could a solid start to earnings season,” according to Chris Larkin at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley.
To Callie Cox at Ritholtz Wealth Management, while analysts have been slashing earnings expectations “like mad,” the degree of cuts has been unusual, and the reports over the next few weeks could help stabilize the market.
“If anything, earnings are a reminder of how we got here,” she said. “It’s so important to remember how encouraging the story is for the economy right now.
High expectations have caused us to stumble, but this dip could entice a lot of buyers simply because the foundation is strong.”
The S&P 500 rose 0.2%.
The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.3%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.9%.
A Bloomberg gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” mega caps slid 0.4%.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller firms added 0.2%.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 4.79%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
Oil rallied to the highest level in five months.
“Analysts may have gone too far in their rapid markdowns for earnings, with fourth-quarter estimates now at levels that our guidance model suggests can be easily beaten — though it may not matter to stocks if 2025 estimates keep dropping,” said Gina
Martin Adams and Wendy Soong at Bloomberg Intelligence.
The Magnificent Seven may be “the spoiler again” even as their growth eases, yet the key to 2025 will be the degree to which the other S&P 493 can generate some fundamental momentum, they noted.
Earnings season kicks into full gear this week with reports from the financial sector. Banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. are expected to show continued gains from trading and investment banking, which helped offset net interest income declines caused by higher deposits and sluggish loan demand.
Lenders will also be quizzed about the 2025 outlook — as the Fed has signaled fewer rate cuts this year, which could stunt future profit growth.
“The big banks often give us a good insight into what we can expect to see from the more consumer-oriented companies, which report earnings later on in earnings season,” said Michael Landsberg at Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management.
“If credit card usage is up, that typically bodes well for companies that sell directly to consumers.”
“While economic growth has remained resilient in the face of ongoing inflation pressures, we expect growth to slow in 2025,” said Megan Horneman at Verdence Capital Advisors.
“As a result, the current earnings estimate for 2025 may be too optimistic.”
Horneman says she will monitor closely the comments from company leaders regarding inflation, their view on the labor market, what they are seeing regarding consumer spending and what a new administration may mean for their bottom line.
Options traders are bracing for one of the most-volatile earnings periods in history.
They expect individual stocks in the S&P 500 to move 4.7% on average in either direction after reporting their results, the largest earnings-day moves on record, according to strategists at Bank of America Corp.
“We believe this earnings season will once again be stock pickers’ paradise,” Savita Subramanian, head of US equity and quantitative strategy, wrote Monday.
Meantime, HSBC strategists led by Max Kettner say their sentiment and positioning indicators are already flashing a mild buy signal.
They noted that a hawkish surprise from US data this week including on inflation and retail sales could present a buying opportunity for risk assets.
“Some bad news would be good news right now,” the strategists wrote.
Underlying US inflation probably cooled only a touch at the close of 2024 against a backdrop of a resilient job market and steadfast economy, supporting the Fed’s go-slow approach to further rate cuts.
The consumer price index excluding food and energy is seen rising 0.2% in December after four straight months of 0.3% increases, according to the median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The core CPI, a better snapshot of underlying inflation, is forecast to have risen 3.3% from a year earlier — matching readings from the prior three months.
“The post-data reaction has left Treasuries oversold,” said Will Compernolle at FHN Financial. “Bond market pricing reflects too much investor confidence in labor market strength and an overly pessimistic inflation outlook.
There may be nothing today or tomorrow on the calendar that will snap bond yields out of their upward drift, but a 0.2% increase in the core CPI on Wednesday, as the consensus expects, would give a bond-bullish jolt to the prevailing market sentiment.”
The equity market has seen more pronounced reactions to macroeconomic news since late 2024, with the S&P 500 swinging at least 1% in either direction in 8 of the last 15 trading sessions since the Fed’s latest rate decision Dec. 18.
Sentiment around equities is being explained by bond yields more than any point in the past 30 years, according to Michael Kantrowitz, chief investment strategist at Piper Sandler & Co. Market weakness will more likely come from higher rates rather than softer growth, he says, a dynamic that begin in 2022 during the biggest paradigm shift for stocks since the 2007 peak in value over growth.
This year’s sharp decline in funding spread suggests that institutional investors’ positioning in equities is shifting as markets rethink the Fed’s interest-rate path, according to strategists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
The funding spread — a measure of demand for long exposure through equity derivatives such as swaps, options and futures —has tumbled to around 70 basis points from about 130 basis points in late December, they said.
“In our experience, large short-term moves in funding almost always mean that there has been a change in demand trends from professional investors,” the team led by John Marshall wrote in a note to clients.
“We believe that pension funds, asset managers, hedge funds and CTAs have all been net sellers over the past few weeks.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Apple Inc.’s iPhone sales declined about 5% globally in the final quarter of last year, hurt by underwhelming upgrades and competitors making inroads in China.
* The White House unveiled sweeping new limits on the sale of advanced AI chips by Nvidia Corp. and its peers, leaving the Trump administration to decide how and whether to implement curbs that have encountered fierce industry opposition.
* Macy’s Inc. issued a downbeat outlook for sales in the current quarter, a sign that executives might have been too optimistic about their expectations for a solid holiday shopping season.
* Honeywell International Inc. is poised to proceed with a breakup following pressure from activist Elliott Investment Management to split, people familiar with the matter said.
* Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is partnering with Nucor Corp. to weigh a potential joint bid for United States Steel Corp., according to a person familiar with the matter. Cliffs’ top boss later confirmed his interest in the American steelmaker at a press event.
* Lululemon Athletica Inc. expects fourth-quarter sales to surpass the market’s expectations, showing the upscale activewear brand is fending off upstart competitors and slower growth in consumer spending.
* Abercrombie & Fitch Co. raised its fourth-quarter sales outlook on better-than-expected holiday sales, but the increase wasn’t enough to reassure investors the retailer could keep up the fast pace of growth.
* Shake Shack Inc. reported fourth-quarter sales that surpassed expectations, signaling that efforts to raise its profile and serve customers faster are paying off.
* Health insurance companies selling private Medicare Advantage plans in the US would see a greater increase in payments in 2026 than in the current year if a proposal released Friday is adopted by the incoming Trump administration.
* Moderna Inc. slashed its sales forecast for this year as it struggles with slow demand for its Covid and RSV vaccines.
* Johnson & Johnson agreed to acquire Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc., a company focused on treatments for central nervous system disorders, for about $14.6 billion.

Key events this week:
* US PPI, Tuesday
* Fed’s John Williams and Jeffrey Schmid speak, Tuesday
* Eurozone industrial production, Wednesday
* Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York Mellon, Wells Fargo and BlackRock earnings, Wednesday
* US CPI, Empire manufacturing, Wednesday
* Fed’s John Williams, Tom Barkin, Austan Goolsbee and Neel Kashkari speak, Wednesday
* TSMC earnings, Thursday
* ECB releases account of December policy meeting, Thursday
* Bank of America, Morgan Stanley earnings, Thursday
* US initial jobless claims, retail sales, import prices, Thursday
* China GDP, property prices, retail sales, industrial production, Friday
* Eurozone CPI, Friday
* US housing starts, industrial production, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%
* The MSCI World Index was little changed
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 0.4%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.3% to $1.0216
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.2177
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 157.67 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 0.6% to $93,753.82
* Ether fell 5.2% to $3,094.34
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 4.79%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.61%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 4.88%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.8% to $78.68 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 1% to $2,662.09 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Sujata Rao, Margaryta Kirakosian, Catherine Bosley and Isabelle Lee.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
The best things in life are free.  The second best things in life are very, very expensive. –Coco Chanel, 1883-1971.

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 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.

January 10, 1863: The first line of the London Underground opens, transforming urban transport and infrastructure.
January 10, 2000: America Online agreed to buy Time-Warner for $162 billion. (Time-Warner decided to spin off AOL in 2009.)  Go to article

1920: League of Nations founded.

George Freeman, boxer, b. 1949.
Pat Benatar, singer, b. 1964.

College Football Playoff
Notre Dame defeated Penn State 27-24 on Thursday in a thrilling Orange Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal. The Cotton Bowl today is likely to serve up another tight game between Ohio State and Texas.

Dubai skyscrapers to be linked by daring rooftop pool
Developers in Dubai want to build a private swimming pool that will stretch across a pair of $1 billion residential towers. See the renderings.

Man with crocodile skull in luggage arrested at Delhi airport
A Canadian man was arrested by Indian authorities at the New Delhi airport after a large crocodile skull was found in his luggage.

‘Sea women’ and sacred waterfalls: Exploring one of Japan’s most stunning secrets
Surrounded by the vast Pacific Ocean, Japan’s Ise-Shima region is a place where ancient traditions, spirituality and the great outdoors collide.

There’s a speed limit to human thought — and it’s ridiculously low
Human brains take in sensory data at more than 1 billion bits per second, but only process that information at a measly 10 bits per second, new research has found.

Medieval crowns of Eastern European royalty hidden in cathedral wall since World War II finally recovered
A cache of precious metal regalia recently discovered in a Lithuanian cathedral sheds light on medieval royalty.

1,700-year-old Roman hoard includes gold coins depicting illegitimate emperor
“Secret” excavations in Luxembourg reveal 141 Roman gold coins from eight Roman emperors and one usurper.

Mars rock samples may contain evidence of alien life, but can NASA get them back to Earth?
NASA will explore two different strategies for fetching Mars rocks collected by the Perseverance rover, and there’s a chance these samples contain evidence of alien life.

See Mars at its best and closest this weekend — no telescope required
As Mars approaches opposition this month, it will become a dazzling spectacle in the night sky. See it at its best now, or wait until 2027.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

London, England
A stag lies among frosty foliage at Richmond Park in London. The UK recorded its coldest night of this winter so far on Thursday, with more freezing temperatures expected in the coming days. Overnight temperatures fell as low as -14C in Altnaharra, northern Scotland, according to the Met Office
Photograph: Hollie Adams/Reuters

A brown-eared bulbul eats a pyracantha berry in the city of Gangneung on South Korea’s east coast
Photograph: YONHAP/EPA

​​​​​​​Derbyshire, UK
An ice climber ascends Kinder Downfall, a frozen waterfall in the Peak District National Park
Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for January 10, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	41938.45	-696.75
		-1.63%
S&P 500	5827.04	-91.21
		-1.54%
NASDAQ	19161.63	-317.25
		-1.63%
TSX	24767.73	-305.63
		-1.22%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39190.40	-414.69
		-1.05%
HANG SENG	19064.29	-176.60
		-0.92%
SENSEX	77378.91	-241.30
		-0.31%
FTSE 100*	8248.49	-71.20
		-0.86%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.442	3.350
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.536	3.477
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.7592	4.6893
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.9469	4.9288

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6932	0.6945
US $	1.4425	1.4399

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4778	0.6767
US $	1.0244	0.9762

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2674.60	2659.65
Oil
WTI Crude Future	76.57	73.32

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1870, John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil Co. (Ohio). The company, he said, “will someday refine all the oil and make all the barrels.”
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 1.2% at 24,767.73 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 2.2% on Dec. 18 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.1%.
Today, financials stocks led the market lower, as all sectors lost; 168 of 223 shares fell, while 54 rose.
Brookfield Corp. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 5.9%. Tilray Brands Inc. had the largest drop, falling 12.1%.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss eight times. The next day, it declined four times for an average 1% and advanced four times for an average 0.7%
* So far this week, the index fell 1.2%
* The index advanced 18% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 21% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 4.2% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 21% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.4 on a trailing basis and 17 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.95t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.72% compared with 10.19% in the previous session and the average of 9.65% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | -148.7353| -1.8| 3/23
Information Technology| -57.3140| -2.3| 2/8
Materials | -31.3996| -1.0| 10/40
Industrials | -19.4063| -0.6| 10/18
Consumer Staples | -11.5786| -1.2| 1/9
Communication Services| -10.6915| -1.8| 1/4
Utilities | -10.0755| -1.1| 5/10
Real Estate | -8.6072| -1.8| 0/20
Energy | -4.2404| -0.1| 19/24
Health Care | -2.2971| -3.1| 0/4
Consumer Discretionary| -1.2861| -0.2| 3/8
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Brookfield Corp | -49.5100| -5.9| 66.4| -4.1
Shopify | -48.6600| -3.7| 27.8| -2.1
RBC | -35.1800| -2.0| 19.3| -1.4
Canadian Natural Resources | 5.3200| 0.8| -14.0| 6.5
Aritzia | 6.3250| 19.1| 349.3| 27.0
Suncor | 14.2600| 2.9| 44.8| 10.7
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks got hammered and bond yields climbed alongside the dollar, with traders slashing their bets for Federal Reserve rate cuts this year after a blowout jobs report.
Equities erased their 2025 gains, with the S&P 500 seeing its worst rout since Dec. 18 — when the Fed roiled markets by signaling caution over how quickly it can continue reducing rates.
Riskier corners of Wall Street sold off, with small caps down about 10% from previous highs.
A slide in Treasuries briefly drove 30-year yields above 5%.
Swaps are now pricing in less than 30 basis points of Fed cuts this year.
The US economy in December added the most jobs since March and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell, capping a surprisingly strong year.
Separate data fueled concerns about stubborn price pressures, with consumers’ longer-term inflation expectations rising to the highest level since 2008.
And a surge in oil only added to anxiety on that front.
Neil Birrell at Premier Miton Investors says that any hope of a quiet start to the year has well and truly disappeared now.
“Good news for the strength of the economy and bad news for those hoping for interest-rate cuts, as inflation will stay bang at the top of the Fed’s agenda now,” he noted.
“The jump in bond yields looks set to continue, which is bad news for equities. Could a 5% yield on the 10-year Treasury really be hit?”
At Interactive Brokers, Steve Sosnick says equity traders once again revealed their “liquidity addiction.”
“Stock traders are once again more concerned about the potential for monetary accommodation rather than the type of robust economy that can improve corporate fundamentals.”
The S&P 500 fell 1.5%, hovering near its 100-day moving average.
The Nasdaq 100 sank 1.6%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.6%.
A gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” mega caps fell 1.2%.
The Russell 2000 index of small firms lost 2.2%.
Wall Street’s favorite volatility gauge — the VIX — surged to around 20.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced seven basis points to 4.76%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.5%.
Following Friday’s solid jobs data, economists at some big banks revised their forecasts for additional Fed rate cuts.
Bank of America Corp., which previously expected two quarter-point reductions this year, no longer expects any, and said there’s a risk the next move is a hike.
Citigroup Inc. — whose rate-cut outlook is among Wall Street’s most hopeful — still looks for five quarter-point cuts, but says they’ll start in May.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sees two cuts this year versus three.
“The Fed can be very comfortable staying put in January and will need some meaningful downside inflation surprises or reversals in upcoming jobs reports to wake them from rate slumber in March,” said Seema Shah at Principal Asset Management.
“For global bonds, the strength of the US jobs report just adds to their challenges. The peak for yields has not yet been reached.”
Treasury yields have been climbing since the Fed in September kicked off its rate cutting cycle.
A resilient US economy has fueled the moves further, leaving the 10-year yield more than 100 basis points higher than it was before the debut rate reduction.
All that has forced bond investors to contend with the possibility that the benchmark yield could soon return to 5% — a level that has been breached only a handful of times over the past decade.
The move higher in Treasury yields over the past month has largely been driven by real rates — suggesting that higher growth expectations have been the dominant driver behind the selloff, according to Gennadiy Goldberg at TD Securities.
“Investors may want to brace themselves for more volatility as the market recalibrates expectations for fewer cuts,” said Gina Bolvin at Bolvin Wealth Management Group.
Although the stock market doesn’t need lower rates in order to go higher, a Fed that is easing policy is always a better environment for equity investors than one where they are tightening policy — or leaving policy unchanged), said Chris Zaccarelli at Northlight Asset Management.
“At this point in the cycle, earnings will need to improve– and not just within the large tech companies – in order to have markets ‘grow into’ their already high valuations, so we would be cautious in the short term,” he noted.
For investors hoping equity markets would broaden from the mega cap tech names, the latest data didn’t do them any favors, according to Lara Castleton at Janus Henderson Investors.
“People are now going to get concerned that the Fed will not be able to cut at all, pressure is building on the Fed,” said Guy Stear at the Amundi Investment Institute.
“Yields will continue to rise towards 5% in the next couple of months, putting pressure on equity markets unless you get a very strong first-quarter earnings season.”
To Bret Kenwell at eToro, while the market may not love the latest jobs data, there are a lot of worse things than a strong labor market.
“Without a strong foundation in the labor market, the whole thing falls apart. Investors need to keep that in mind — even if that means rate-cut expectations take a step back,” Kenwell said.
Indeed, it looks like we are back in a world where good news is bad news, said Scott Helfstein at Global X. But that seems shortsighted, he noted.
“We believe that companies can deliver on lofty earnings expectations this year powered by automation technologies like AI and deregulation, and that will drive equities rather than the Fed,” he said.
Earnings season kicks into full gear next week with reports from the financial sector.
Banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. are expected to show continued gains from trading and investment banking, which helped offset net interest income declines caused by higher deposits and sluggish loan demand.
The latest data raises the stakes for inflation gauges to be released next week. December consumer price index data to be released Jan. 15 are forecast to show a third straight month of acceleration, to a rate of 2.9%.
“The surprisingly strong jobs report certainly isn’t going to make the Fed less hawkish,” said Ellen Zentner at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.
“All eyes will now turn to next week’s inflation data, but even a downside surprise in those numbers probably won’t be enough to get the Fed to cut rates any time soon.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Tesla Inc. refreshed its best-selling Model Y, applying a design element of the polarizing Cybertruck to its high-volume sport utility vehicle.
* Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. won a deal worth more than $1 billion to provide Elon Musk’s X social network with servers optimized for artificial intelligence work.
* Nvidia Corp. criticized new chip export restrictions that are expected to be announced soon, saying the White House was trying to undercut the incoming Trump administration by imposing last- minute rules.
* Delta Air Lines Inc.’s profit beat Wall Street’s estimates for the final months of 2024, buoyed by gains in both the US market and overseas. The company doesn’t expect the momentum to slow in the new year.
* Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. reported quarterly sales that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations, spurring the shares and easing pressure on the drugstore chain as it mulls strategic options including a sale.
* Constellation Energy Corp. agreed to acquire closely held Calpine Corp. for $16.4 billion in a deal that will create the largest fleet of US power stations.
* Walt Disney Co., Fox Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. scrapped plans to create a joint sports streaming service, saying they want to focus on their existing online offerings instead.
* Chip-design company Synopsys Inc. won conditional approval from the European Union’s merger watchdog for its planned $34 billion buyout of software developer Ansys Inc, after addressing the regulator’s fears over the deal.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 1.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.6%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.6%
* The MSCI World Index fell 1.5%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 1.2%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 2.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.5%
* The euro fell 0.5% to $1.0245
* The British pound fell 0.8% to $1.2210
* The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 157.72 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 2.8% to $94,655.51
* Ether rose 1.7% to $3,261.71
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced seven basis points to 4.76%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 2.59%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 4.84%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.7% to $76.64 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.9% to $2,691.16 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Natalia Kniazhevich and Julien Ponthus.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Man has always sacrificed truth to his vanity, comfort and advantage.  He lives not by truth but by make-believe. –W. Somerset Maugham, 1874-1965.

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 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve!
Carolann is away from the office; I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

January 9, 1493: Christopher Columbus mistakes manatees for mermaids, describing them as “not half as beautiful as they are painted”
January 9, 1799: British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces income tax to raise funds for the war against Napoleon
January 9, 1847: 1st San Francisco newspaper published (California Star)
January, 2007: Steven P. Jobs introduced Apple’s long-awaited entry into the cellphone world, the iPhone. Go to article

800-mile-long ‘DUNE’ experiment could reveal the hidden dimensions of the universe
A new underground facility called DUNE, which will accelerate particles for 800 miles between Illinois and South Dakota, could reveal the hidden dimensions of the universe, new research suggests. Read more.

Now is the best time to see Mars until 2027: How to spot the Red Planet ‘at opposition’
As Mars approaches opposition this month, it will become a dazzling spectacle in the night sky. See it at its best now, or wait until 2027. Read more.

A ‘planetary parade’ will dance across the sky on Jan. 21 — but that’s not the best night to see it
Worlds will align for a “planetary parade” in January, with four bright and easily visible to the naked eye. But an even better view arrives in February and March. Here’s what you need to know. Read more.

2,700-year-old archaeological site in Jordan may be a biblical place visited by King David
Researchers think they have identified a biblical site known as Mahanaim, along with a residence that may have been used by the kings of Israel. Read more.

NASA and Japan launch world’s 1st wooden satellite into orbit. Here’s why it could help solve a huge problem for our planet.
NASA and Japan’s space agency (JAXA) have officially launched the world’s first wooden satellite into Earth orbit. The magnolia wood LignoSat is an attempt to make space junk biodegradable, potentially solving the growing problem of orbital debris. Read more.

“Jimmy Carter, with humble roots as a farmer and family man, devoted his life to public service and defending our freedom,” Lynn Martin, President of NYSE Group said in a news release.

State funeral of President Jimmy Carter

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Strensham, UK
Horses in the mist at Sam Drinkwater’s Granary Stables in Worcestershire
Photograph: David Davies/PA

Kingussie, Scotland
A red squirrel peeps out from behind a snow bank in Inverness-shire
Photograph: Jane Hobson/Rex/Shutterstock

Luxor, Egypt
Tourists are helped into the basket of a hot air balloon before flying above the west bank of the Nile river in Egypt’s southern city
Photograph: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for January 9, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	Market closed	N.A.
S&P 500	Market closed	N.A.
NASDAQ	Market closed	N.A.
TSX	25073.36	+21.68
		+0.09%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39605.09	-375.97
		-0.94%
HANG SENG	19240.89	-38.95
		-0.20%
SENSEX	77620.21	-528.28
		-0.68%
FTSE 100*	8319.69	+68.66
		+0.83%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.350	3.339
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.477	3.453
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.6893	4.6729
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.9288	4.9151

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6945	0.6953
US $	1.4399	1.4383

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4831	0.6743
US $	1.0300	0.9709

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2659.65	2650.85
Oil
WTI Crude Future	73.32	73.32

Market Commentary:

📈 On this day in 1835: Trading in a U.S. stock was halted for the first time on record. The New York Stock & Exchange Board suspended activity in Morris Canal & Banking after widespread manipulation of the shares.

Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 25,073.36 in Toronto.
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.5%.
Lundin Gold Inc. had the largest increase, rising 5.9%.
Today, 127 of 223 shares rose, while 91 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index was unchanged
* The index advanced 20% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 23% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 22.5% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.7% in the past 5 days and fell 2.2% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.7 on a trailing basis and 17.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.95t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 10.19% compared with 10.19% in the previous session and the average of 9.53% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 44.0927| 1.5| 46/5
Information Technology | 3.4674| 0.1| 4/6
Financials | 2.6349| 0.0| 16/10
Health Care | 0.8876| 1.2| 3/0
Real Estate | 0.5805| 0.1| 9/10
Consumer Staples | -0.4198| 0.0| 5/5
Consumer Discretionary | -1.5411| -0.2| 4/7
Energy | -1.5799| 0.0| 27/13
Communication Services | -3.9246| -0.7| 0/5
Utilities | -5.0990| -0.5| 1/14
Industrials | -17.4273| -0.6| 12/16
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd | 6.2860| 1.5| -57.4| 8.3
CIBC | 4.8950| 0.8| -67.1| 0.7
Teck Resources | 4.8830| 2.6| -32.7| 5.0
Enbridge | -4.7280| -0.5| -50.0| 3.2
RBC | -5.3510| -0.3| -61.7| 0.7
Canadian Pacific Kansas | -7.4510| -1.0| -70.2| 4.2
US
US stock market closed for Carter’s day of mourning.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shab
“There is nothing so easy to learn as experience and nothing so hard to apply.”– Josh Billings

Shab Mohammadpour

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff
Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
January 8, 1851: Earth’s rotation proved.
January 8, 1889: Computer pioneer Herman Hollerith patents his punched card calculator, paving the way for modern automatic computation.
January 8, 1982: AT&T settled the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against it by agreeing to divest itself of the 22 Bell System companies. Go to article

Elvis Presley, b. 1935.
Stephen Hawking, physicist, b.1942.
David Bowie, musician, b.1947.

‘This keeps happening’: Airplane stowaway incidents raise alarm
A string of stowaway incidents has raised concerns about airport safety and security. Read about the latest incident involving a JetBlue flight this week.

Coffee-drinking health benefits
Limit your coffee intake to this time window to help decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease, a new study suggests.

CNN photo gallery: The golden lion tamarin
Deforestation and the illegal pet trade drove these charismatic monkeys to the brink of extinction. Now, they’re bouncing back.

Hello Kitty’s $80 billion kingdom
CNN’s Hanako Montgomery meets the designer responsible for the economic powerhouse we know today. Watch the video here.

4,100-year-old tomb of doctor who treated pharaohs discovered at Saqqara
Archaeologists working at the site of Saqqara have discovered a 4,100-year-old tomb that held the burial of a doctor. Read more.

The moon is about to ‘swallow’ Mars for 4 hours — and you can watch it from the US
On Jan. 13, bright Mars will disappear behind the full moon for several hours. It’s the only lunar occultation of Mars visible from the U.S. this year. Here’s how to get the most out of it. Read more.

Most of the atoms in your body left the Milky Way on a ‘cosmic conveyor belt’ long before you were born, new study reveals
New research suggests that most of the atoms within the human body likely spent part of their lives drifting beyond the Milky Way on a cosmic “conveyor belt,” before eventually returning to our galaxy. Read more.

Rare comet could shine bright as Venus as it falls toward the sun: What to expect from Comet ATLAS (C/2024) G3
Comet ATLAS (C/2024) G3 is set to dazzle Southern Hemisphere skywatchers in mid-January. Here’s everything you need to know about the ‘New Year comet’. Read more.

RIP
Peter Yarrow, who was one-third of the popular folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, and co-writer of the song “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” died Tuesday. He was 86. During an incredible run of success spanning the 1960s, Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers released six Billboard Top 10 singles, two No. 1 albums and won five Grammys.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Panchagarh, Bangladesh
Workers collect tea leaves from a tea garden in the plains of the northernmost district of the country
Photograph: Syed Mahabubul Kader/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

Whitley Bay, UK
Huge waves smash against the seafront in North Tyneside
Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

A flock of painted storks forage for food on a cold winter morning at Kalkere Lake in Bengaluru, India
Photograph: Idrees Mohammed/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for January 8, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	42635.20	+106.84
		+0.25%
S&P 500	5918.25	+9.22
		+0.16%
NASDAQ	19478.88	-10.80
		-0.06%
TSX	25051.68	+121.79
		+0.49%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39757.54	-223.52
		-0.56%
HANG SENG	19279.84	-167.74
		-0.86%
SENSEX	78148.49	-50.62
		-0.06%
FTSE 100*	8251.03	+5.75
		+0.07%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.339	3.302
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.453	3.415
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.6729	4.6850
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.9151	4.9130

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6953	0.6959
US $	1.4383	1.4369

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4822	0.6747
US $	1.0306	0.9703

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2650.85	2633.35
Oil
WTI Crude Future	73.32	73.56

Market Commentary:

📈 On this day in 1829: In one of the quietest days in Wall Street history, the market was open, but not a single share of stock changed hands.

Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.5% at 25,051.68 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.3%.
Constellation Software Inc/Canada contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.9%.
K92 Mining Inc. had the largest increase, rising 16.0%.
Today, 101 of 223 shares rose, while 119 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 19% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 23% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.1% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 22.4% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.3% in the past 5 days and fell 2.5% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.7 on a trailing basis and 17.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.93t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.19% compared with 10.05% in the previous session and the average of 9.50% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 49.3239| 1.7| 38/12
Financials | 47.0843| 0.6| 14/12
Information Technology | 43.7404| 1.8| 8/2
Energy | 11.8773| 0.3| 19/23
Consumer Staples | 6.8293| 0.7| 3/7
Health Care | -1.1975| -1.6| 0/4
Real Estate | -1.6360| -0.3| 5/14
Utilities | -4.3742| -0.5| 5/10
Communication Services | -5.7861| -1.0| 0/5
Consumer Discretionary | -5.9962| -0.7| 4/7
Industrials | -18.0573| -0.6| 5/23
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Constellation Software | 22.4000| 3.9| 84.9| -2.7
Brookfield Corp | 21.2900| 2.6| 16.4| 1.6
Shopify | 12.9100| 1.0| 0.4| 1.2
TD Bank | -6.8560| -0.7| 118.0| 1.8
Canadian Pacific Kansas | -7.6470| -1.1| -7.9| 5.3
Canadian National | -10.1500| -1.8| -21.3| 0.9
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stock traders refrained from making big bets, with the market set to close on the eve of Friday’s jobs report.
Treasuries rebounded as a solid $22 billion sale brought a degree of relief after the recent selloff.
Equities swung between small gains and losses throughout the session, with the S&P 500 reclaiming the 5,900 psychological mark after briefly falling below it.
The options market is betting the gauge will move roughly 1.2% in either direction after the upcoming US employment data, according to Citigroup Inc.
That would be the biggest implied move on a jobs day since September.
US employers probably tempered their hiring last month to wrap up a year of moderating yet still-healthy job growth that economists expect to carry on in 2025.
A survey conducted by 22V Research showed most investors are watching payrolls closer than normal.
Only 26% of the respondents think Friday’s data will be “risk-on,” 40% said “risk-off,” and 34% “mixed/negligible.”
“Investors will want to see a return to Goldilocks data, consistent with a cooling labor market to help temper the recent spike in yields and help stocks stabilize,” said Tom Essaye at The Sevens Report.
The latest Federal Reserve minutes didn’t break any significant ground, showing officials adopted a new stance on rate-cutting amid elevated price risks, deciding to move more slowly in the months ahead.
Meantime, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he believes inflation will continue to cool toward the central bank’s 2% target.
The S&P 500 added 0.2%.
The Nasdaq 100 was little changed.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%.
US stock markets will close Jan. 9, in observance of a National Day of Mourning for former President Jimmy Carter.
The bond market will close at 2 p.m. New York time.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.67%.
The 20-year yield, a laggard on the US government debt curve since its re-introduction in 2020, briefly topped 5%.
UK markets tumbled, pushing bond yields to the highest in more than a decade.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%.
“While further near-term strength in the labor market is likely to keep expectations around 1-2 cuts in 2025 for now, we continue to believe that inflation will continue to slowly trend down while employment stays in balance allowing the Fed to cut rates three times in 2025,” said Chris Senyek at Wolfe Research.
While the recent slide in stocks and bonds could worsen as traders fret over the prospect of higher inflation and interest rates, the decline is unlikely to reach the extremes seen in 2022 when markets weathered their worst year since the global financial crisis, according to Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson.
The bank’s chief US equity strategist expects a choppy first half of 2025 and an improved second part of the year, he said during an interview with Bloomberg Television on Wednesday.
The difference between now and then is that the Federal Reserve in 2022 was aggressively raising interest rates at a pace that is unlikely going to be repeated in the foreseeable future.
There is not as much downside for rates today “but that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be 10% downside for many stocks if rates stay at this level,” Wilson noted.
There’s room for stocks to fall further as bond yields approach levels that have been painful for equities in recent years.
“Equity/bond yield correlations have turned negative again,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists including Christian Mueller-Glissmann wrote in a note, stressing that if yields keep going up without good economic data, it will hit equity markets.
“With equities having been relatively resilient during the bond selloff, we think near-term correction risk is somewhat elevated in case of negative growth news.”
“Historically, the most common driver of significant losses are recessions,” said Henry Allen at Deutsche Bank AG.
“The huge plunges in 2020 and 2008 required an economic contraction, and the bursting of the dot-com bubble also happened amidst a slowdown that ended up in a recession in 2001.  But right now, there’s no sign of a slowdown, and if anything, several leading indicators are looking increasingly positive.”
If economic growth stays robust and the Fed doesn’t start pivoting in a hawkish direction, it’s not implausible that elevated valuations continue for some time, Allen noted.
However, if signs of a slowdown emerge or rate hikes move back on the table, the historic precedents show that equities are capable of a notable decline, even without a recession, he concluded.
“The start of the new year has been volatile,” said Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler.
“Increased sensitivity to rising bond yields and short-term oversold conditions are testing investors’ patience and nerves. Despite the increased caution, we remain optimistic as the major indices’ primary uptrends remain well-intact.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Albertsons Cos. raised its adjusted earnings outlook for the full year, a positive sign for the grocer seeking to pave a new path after its proposed deal with Kroger Co. fell apart.
* Advanced Micro Devices Inc. was downgraded to reduce from buy at HSBC, which cited difficulty in competing with Nvidia Corp.
* Merck & Co. was downgraded to hold from buy at Truist Securities, which cited growth concerns at the pharmaceutical company.
* Palo Alto Networks Inc., a security software company, received a pair of analyst downgrades.
* The US utilities sector was upgraded to overweight from market weight at RBC Capital Markets, which called the group the “top defensive sector.”

Key events this week:
* China CPI, PPI, Thursday
* Eurozone retail sales, Thursday
* US state funeral and National Day of Mourning for former President Jimmy Carter is a federal holiday, Thursday
* Japan household spending, leading index, Friday
* US jobs report, consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 was little changed
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%
* The MSCI World Index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.0316
* The British pound fell 0.9% to $1.2363
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 158.37 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 2.5% to $94,069.98
* Ether fell 2.2% to $3,288.33
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.67%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced seven basis points to 2.55%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced 11 basis points to 4.80%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.2% to $73.38 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.5% to $2,663.05 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Andre Janse van Vuuren, Sujata Rao, Kit Rees, Joanna Ossinger and Rob Verdonck.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Talent is God given.  Be humble.  Fame is man-given.  Be grateful.  Conceit is self-given.  Be careful. –John Wooden, 1910-2010.

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 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Orthodox Christmas Day.
January 7, 1714: The typewriter is patented by Englishman Henry Mill, marking a pivotal step in the evolution of written communication.
January 7^th, 1927: Commercial transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated between New York and London. Go to article

McDonald’s unveils major menu shakeup
It appears McDonald’s is moving on to burger and better things … The fast chain is rolling out new anticipated menu items today.

A media merger
Disney’s Hulu + Live TV service and Fubo will merge, the companies announced Monday in a surprise deal.

Closure of French marine park sparks outcry over future of its two orcas
The closure of a marine zoo in the south of France has sparked intense debate over the future of its inhabitants, including two beloved orcas.

Nvidia’s mini ‘desktop supercomputer’ is 1,000 times more powerful than a laptop — and it can fit in your bag
New Project Digits mini-PC offers a petaFLOP of power for local AI processing and data science. Read more.

James Webb telescope spies record-breaking hoard of stars hiding in a warped ‘dragon’ galaxy
Photos from the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed more than 40 stars within the gravitationally lensed “Dragon Arc” galaxy, 6.5 billion light-years from Earth. It is the largest group of individually imaged stars ever seen at such a distance. Read more.

Mysterious climate-changing eruption that turned the sun blue traced to remote Pacific island
Zavaritskii volcano in the Kuril Islands — a former Soviet nuclear submarine base — was responsible for the mysterious 1831 volcanic eruption that cooled the climate and turned the sun different colors, a new study finds. Read more.

Scientists find hidden ‘hotspot’ that helped create the Great Lakes before North America even existed
A hotspot that now lies in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean was once under the Great Lakes, and may explain why they formed where they did. Read more.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Istanbul, Turkey
A half-moon sets behind the Galata Tower
Photograph: Emrah Gürel/AP

A fiery skipper butterfly gathers nectar and pollen on a lantana plant in Orange County, California, US
Photograph: Bruce Chambers/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

​​​​​​​Two deer walk between tombstones at the snow-covered Park Lawn Cemetery in Toronto, Canada
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Market Closes for January 7, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	42528.36	-178.20
		-0.42%
S&P 500	5909.03	-66.35
		-1.11%
NASDAQ	19489.68	-375.30
		-1.89%
TSX	24929.89	-69.90
		-0.28%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	40083.30	+776.25
		+1.97 %
HANG SENG	19447.58	-240.71
		-1.22%
SENSEX	78199.11	+234.12
		+0.30%
FTSE 100*	8245.28	-4.38
		-0.05%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.302	3.240
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.415	3.359
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.6850	4.6300
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.9130	4.8482

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6959	0.6972
US $	1.4369	1.4344

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4861	0.6729
US $	1.0343	0.9669

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2633.35	2646.80
Oil
WTI Crude Future	73.56	73.56

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1914, the French ship Alexandre La Valley completed the first commercial passage through the Panama Canal, which shortened the shipping distance between New York and San Francisco by nearly 8,000 miles.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.3%, or 69.9 to 24,929.89 in Toronto.
Today, information technology stocks led the market lower, as 5 of 11 sectors lost; 115 of 223 shares fell, while 106 rose.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 6.3%.
Bird Construction Inc. had the largest drop, falling 7.4%.
Insights
* The index advanced 19% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 25% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.5% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 21.8% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.3% in the past 5 days and fell 3% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.6 on a trailing basis and 17.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.94t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 10.05% compared with 10.06% in the previous session and the average of 9.46% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology| -116.7844| -4.5| 0/10
Financials | -25.7366| -0.3| 7/19
Consumer Staples | -5.6160| -0.6| 4/6
Real Estate | -3.3351| -0.7| 2/18
Consumer Discretionary| -2.9480| -0.4| 4/6
Health Care | 0.4446| 0.6| 2/2
Utilities | 0.4775| 0.1| 7/8
Communication Services| 3.1186| 0.5| 4/1
Industrials | 13.6795| 0.4| 13/15
Materials | 24.7714| 0.9| 34/17
Energy | 42.0407| 1.0| 29/13
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | -87.5600| -6.3| -2.8| 0.2
Constellation Software | -21.5100| -3.6| 109.5| -6.3
Cameco | -13.6800| -5.7| 51.9| 0.3
Canadian Natural Resources | 11.5300| 1.7| -54.4| 5.9
Enbridge | 16.6200| 1.8| -29.6| 2.8
Suncor | 18.4000| 4.0| -16.4| 7.3
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks got hammered as a selloff in the world’s biggest bond market deepened on speculation the Federal Reserve won’t cut rates before July amid inflation risks.
Following a recent rally, equities lost traction as a report on US service providers showed a price gauge hitting the highest since early 2023.
A selloff in big tech weighed heavily on trading, with the S&P 500 down over 1% and the Nasdaq 100 falling almost twice as much.
Nvidia Corp. sank 6.2% after a surge to all-time highs.
A $39 billion sale of 10-year Treasuries drew the highest yield since 2007.
Bonds also came under pressure amid a flurry of investment-grade deals.
Trump Says Interest Rates Are Far Too High “Rising yields are not necessarily an issue for stocks unless, of course, the economy starts to fail.
Then all bets are off,” said Kenny Polcari at SlateStone Wealth.
“But rising yields will be an issue if inflation rears its ugly head.”
To Mark Streiber at FHN Financial, the latest US services report supports the Fed’s recent communication that rate cuts would likely slow in 2025 due to upside price risks.
Fed Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said officials should be cautious given uneven progress on lowering inflation.
“The Fed will likely switch from cutting interest rates at every decision, as they did between September and December, to pausing in between rate cuts in 2025,” said Bill Adams at Comerica Bank.
Separate data Tuesday showed job openings rose to a six-month high in November, boosted by a jump in business services —while other industries showed more mixed demand for workers.
The S&P 500 fell 1.1%.
The Nasdaq 100 slid 1.8%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.4%.
A gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” mega caps sank 2.5%.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller firms dropped 0.7%.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed six basis points to 4.69%.
In the UK, 30-year yields hit the highest since 1998, raising the prospect of tax increases to meet fiscal rules.
Bitcoin dropped below $100,000.
With Treasury yields climbing again, Bank of America Corp. strategists predict traders could return to perceiving strong economic data as negative, as it signals the Fed will need to keep rates elevated for longer.
Growth scare is subsiding as inflation and rates become a bigger focus, the team led by Ohsung Kwon said.
Swap traders who as recently as late September were fully pricing in another Fed rate cut by March scrapped wagers there will be one until the second half of the year.
Another indication of bond market anxiety can be seen in a metric called the term premium, which is the additional yield that investors demand to hold long-dated debt instead of rolling over shorter-term securities as they mature.
It recently hit the highest level since 2015.
Equity investors will also suffer if Treasury yields stay high and companies have to face persistently high borrowing costs, according to Apollo Global Management’s Torsten Slok.
To Lauren Goodwin at New York Life Investments, because growth expectations are sanguine, unless we see a shock to employment or inflation, investors should give the market the benefit of the doubt.
“Our base case US economic view is a constructive one – that US activity will come in near its long-term trend of 2% for the year – but that still calls for a modest slowdown over the course of this year,” she said.
“A reversal in inflation will require a policy shock – a concern that will linger over the market, but that can’t be handicapped.”
In the meantime, Goodwin says duration is still not her favorite place to take risk.
“Market yields continue to edge higher even amid 100 basis points of policy rate cuts,” she noted.
“This is highly unusual, because soft landings are highly unusual and because higher government spending and global bond yields are changing the supply-demand balance for US debt.”
She estimates that the reasonable range of the 10-year Treasury yield this year is a “wider-than-normal range” between 3.5% and 5.1% — “and one that likely does not reward bold positioning in interest rates,” she concluded.
The 10-year yield has now risen more than one full percentage point since its close on the day before the Fed’s first rate cut in mid-September, noted Bespoke Investment Group strategists. Around current levels, it’s right on the cusp of
“extreme cheap” territory, using the firm’s fair value model.
“Bond ETFs have become very oversold once again, and in the near term, we’d rather be long than short,” Bespoke concluded.
Meantime, JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists said the Treasury yield curve has steepened too much relative to the “fair value.”
“It appears to us that the curve has moved ahead of its fundamental drivers,” strategists including Jay Barry wrote.
“As we look ahead, this decoupling presents risks the curve could flatten back over the near term”
Barry and his colleagues, however, are reluctant to initiate a curve flattening trade even they see the steepening move becoming “stretched.”
“We think the Fed’s reaction-function and structural shifts in the demand for Treasuries support a steeper curve, so we are hesitant to swim upstream against this longer-term trend,” they wrote.
“By now, plenty of faces have been ripped off by this most recent bond-market tantrum, and even though we’d love to say that the worst is over, there’s no indication that shorts are exhausted or that data is supportive of a duration rally,” said Thomas Tzitzouris at Strategas.
“That could change by Friday, with the jobs number, and we have to assume that there will be some profit taking on duration shorts by tomorrow, with equity markets being closed on Thursday.
But for now, the growth in the short base appears to be tentatively supported by growth in float,” he said.
Tzitzouris also noted that this is not just bad news for Treasuries, but with corporates trading at their tightest levels of the cycle adjusted for default risk, we’re entering a “danger zone” for both risk assets and safe havens.

Corporate Highlights:
* Meta Platforms Inc. will end third-party fact checking on its social media platforms in the US, letting users comment on posts’ accuracy with a community notes system it said will promote free expression.
* Uber Technologies Inc. said it’s teaming up with Nvidia in order to accelerate the development of autonomous driving technology.
* Johnson & Johnson said its combination therapy for lung cancer outperformed AstraZeneca Plc’s blockbuster Tagrisso in a head- to-head study, a finding that could change the standard of care for one of the most deadly tumor types.
* Toronto-Dominion Bank will consider the fate of its 10.1% stake in Charles Schwab Corp. as part of a strategic review stemming from the Canadian bank’s US money-laundering scandal, incoming Chief Executive Officer Raymond Chun said.
* Getty Images Holdings Inc. agreed to acquire rival stock-photo provider Shutterstock Inc. in a deal that would create a combined company worth about $3.7 billion including debt.
* UniFirst Corp.’s shares jumped after a report in the Wall Street Journal said uniform supplier Cintas Corp. made a $5.1 billion offer for the company.
* Paychex Inc. agreed to acquire rival payroll processor Paycor HCM Inc. for about $4.1 billion in cash, including debt.
* Apollo Global Management Inc. and BC Partners agreed to acquire a controlling stake in GFL Environmental Inc.’s environmental services unit, in a deal that values the business at C$8 billion ($5.6 billion) including debt.
* Phillips 66 agreed to acquire EPIC NGL, an owner of natural gas liquids pipelines, for $2.2 billion in cash as it moves to expand its transport business in the Permian basin in the southwestern US.
* Southwest Airlines Co. will gain $92 million from selling and leasing back 35 of its Boeing Co. 737-800 aircraft, the first move in the carrier’s broader plan to monetize part of its large fleet and extensive aircraft order book.

Key events this week:
* Eurozone PPI, consumer confidence, Wednesday
* US ADP employment, Fed minutes, consumer credit, Wednesday
* Fed’s Christopher Waller speaks, Wednesday
* China CPI, PPI, Thursday
* Eurozone retail sales, Thursday
* US state funeral and National Day of Mourning for former President Jimmy Carter is a federal holiday, Thursday
* Fed’s Patrick Harker, Thomas Barkin, Jeff Schmid and Michelle Bowman speak, Thursday
* Japan household spending, leading index, Friday
* US jobs report, consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 1.1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.8%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 2.5%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 0.7%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.4% to $1.0344
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.2480
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 157.93 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 5% to $96,530.7
* Ether fell 7.6% to $3,390.43
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced six basis points to 4.69%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 2.48%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced seven basis points to 4.68%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1% to $74.28 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.5% to $2,650.33 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Andre Janse van Vuuren, Julien Ponthus and Aya Wagatsuma.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are. –Anais Nin, 1903-1977.

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 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy New Year!  Three Kings Day – Epiphany of Twelfth Day.
Carnivale Season begins.

Ring out the old, ring in the new….Ring out the false, ring in the true. -Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

January 6, 1838: Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail demonstrate their telegraph system in New Jersey, revolutionizing long-distance communication.  Go to article.

Joan of Arc, Saint, b. 1412.
Carl Sandburg, poet, b.1878.
Kahlil Gibran, poet, b. 1883.

Brazilian nun becomes the world’s oldest person
A soccer-loving nun from Brazil is believed to have become the world’s oldest living person at nearly 117!

Why you should drink more water
Speaking of longevity, health experts say proper hydration can add years to your life. So, how much water is sufficient per day?

Here’s what trend forecasters think you’ll be wearing in 2025
From the resurrection of skinny jeans to donning pajamas during the day, here’s what experts believe you’ll add to your closet this year.

An NFL shake-up
The NFL’s New England Patriots fired head coach Jerod Mayo on Sunday after just one season. The Patriots join the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints as franchises that will be looking for a new head coach.

Ultimately, United will add Starlink to its entire fleet.
— United Airlines, announcing that its flights will have access to Elon Musk’s Starlink Wi-Fi services as early as this spring. The deal is yet another sign of the billionaire’s widening reach into industries across the US economy.

Just 2 hours is all it takes for AI agents to replicate your personality with 85% accuracy
Researchers from Google and Stanford have created accurate AI replicas of more than 1,000 people. Read more.

Quantum computers that are actually useful 1 step closer thanks to new silicon processor that could pack millions of qubits
We’ve just hit a ‘critical inflection point’ on the road to scalable quantum computers. Here’s why.

How do DNA tests tell if two people are related?
How can DNA from a cheek swab determine if someone is closely related to you?
DNA tests can tell people where in the world their ancestors came from, and if they’re at risk of developing different genetic conditions. They can sometimes even help people connect with family members they never knew they had. Read more.

2,100-year-old coin hoard dating to dynasty of Jewish kings discovered in Jordan Valley
A coin hoard dating back about 2,100 years, during the time of the Jewish Hasmonean kings, has been discovered at a site in the Jordan Valley. Read more.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

London, England
A person shields from the rain during the morning rush-hour as they walk on the South Bank, across the river from the Houses of Parliament
Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Harbin, China
Visitors having fun at the Harbin Ice-Snow World in north-east China’s Heilongjiang province. The 41st Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival kicked started on Sunday with the theme ‘Dream of Winter, Love among Asia’
Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock

Pupukea, Hawaii
Eli Olson from Hawaii rides a wave during the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout surf competition at Hawaii’s Pipeline, in Pupukea, Oahu’s north shore
Photograph: Brian Bielmann/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for January 6, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	42706.56	-25.57
		-0.06%
S&P 500	5975.38	+32.91
		+0.55%
NASDAQ	19864.98	+243.30
		+1.24%
TSX	24999.79	-73.75
		-0.29%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39307.05	-587.49
		-1.47 %
HANG SENG	19688.29	-71.98
		-0.36%
SENSEX	77964.99	-1258.12
		-1.59%
FTSE 100*	8249.66	+25.68
		+0.31 %

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.240	3.231
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.359	3.349
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.6300	4.5975
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.8482	4.8110

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6972	0.6923
US $	1.4344	1.4446

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4890	0.6716
US $	1.0380	0.9634

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2646.80	2646.80
Oil
WTI Crude Future	73.56	73.96

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1933, investor protection took a major step forward in the wake of the Great Crash as the New York Stock Exchange began requiring listed companies to have annual financial statements prepared by an independent auditor.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.3% at 24,999.79 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s increase of 0.7%.
Today, financials stocks led the market lower, as 9 of 11 sectors lost; 137 of 223 shares fell, while 85 rose.
Constellation Software Inc/Canada contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.1%.
Orla Mining Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 6.1%.
Insights
* The index advanced 19% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 26% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.3% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 22.1% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.8% in the past 5 days and fell 2.7% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.8 on a trailing basis and 17.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.96t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 10.06% compared with 10.93% in the previous session and the average of 9.36% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | -35.7569| -0.4| 8/18
Materials | -34.3213| -1.2| 16/35
Consumer Staples | -17.4708| -1.8| 0/10
Consumer Discretionary | -8.6313| -1.1| 7/4
Industrials | -7.1612| -0.2| 9/19
Real Estate | -3.3694| -0.7| 6/14
Utilities | -1.8518| -0.2| 7/8
Health Care | -0.8473| -1.1| 0/4
Communication Services | -0.2694| 0.0| 3/2
Energy | 5.3055| 0.1| 23/19
Information Technology | 30.6044| 1.2| 6/4
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Constellation Software | -19.3100| -3.1| 58.4| -2.8
Brookfield Corp | -11.8500| -1.4| -25.5| -0.4
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd | -10.5000| -2.6| -24.2| 1.5
Canadian Natural Resources | 9.1630| 1.4| -24.4| 4.2
Canadian Pacific Kansas | 17.1200| 2.5| 31.9| 5.1
Shopify | 49.2600| 3.7| -27.3| 7.0
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A rally in the world’s largest tech companies lifted stocks at the start of the first full trading week in 2025. The dollar trimmed losses as President-elect
Donald Trump said his tariff plan won’t be scaled back.
While most shares in the S&P 500 actually fell, dip buying fueled gains in Wall Street’s most-influential group — with Nvidia Corp. hitting a record high ahead of chief Jensen Huang’s speech.
Banks climbed on deregulation optimism, with Michael Barr stepping down as the Federal Reserve’s vice chair for supervision.
The news also fueled a steepening of the Treasury curve, with longer maturities underperforming.
The yield on 30-year bonds hit the highest since late 2023.
Scott Rubner at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sees signs of a short-term tactical bullish setup for US stocks, driven by institutional money flows and a lack of selling across trend- following systematic funds.
At JPMorgan Chase & Co., Andrew Tyler said while risks to the fierce rally are mounting, a bearish downturn remains “extremely unlikely” amid strong economic growth.
“The recovery we’ve seen Friday and today shows just how strong the ‘buy the dip’ mentality still is,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide.
“Investors continue to lean heavily on tech. Looking ahead, 2025 won’t be a year for easy double-digit gains by solely investing in the S&P 500.
Success in this market will require more discipline and creativity.”
The S&P 500 rose 0.6%.
The Nasdaq 100 added 1.1%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed.
A gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” mega caps rallied 2%.
American Airlines Group Inc. jumped on a trio of analyst upgrades.
Citigroup Inc. also gained on a bullish call.
Tencent Holdings Ltd. depositary receipts slid as the US added company to its Chinese military blacklist.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose two basis points to 4.62%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.6%.
The loonie gained as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quit after more than nine years leading Canada.
Bitcoin topped $100,000.
Oil halted a five-session rally.
Lori Calvasina at RBC Capital Markets says investor exuberance in the stock market is starting to “self-correct” as a measure of sentiment and positioning fell into the year end.
“While this doesn’t tell us that the recent period of malaise in the stock market is over, we do think this deterioration in sentiment is actually good news for the stock market longer term,” she wrote.
The S&P 500’s December pullback didn’t prevent clients from being net buyers in nine of 11 sectors last month, according to Chris Larkin at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley.
“While there may have been a defensive element to some of the buying in utilities and real estate, the push into the consumer discretionary sector suggested more of a ‘risk-on’ mindset — led by purchases of TSLA and AMZN,” he noted.
Traders are also gearing up for Friday’s jobs report, which is expected to show employers tempered hiring to wrap up a year of moderating yet still-healthy labor market.
The data is unlikely to alter the view of Federal Reserve officials that they can slow the pace of rate cuts amid a durable economy and inflation that’s dissipating only gradually.
Fed Governor Lisa Cook said Monday that policymakers can proceed more cautiously amid a sturdy labor market and lingering inflation pressures.
US stocks are becoming rate sensitive again, with breadth turning narrow after the US 10-year Treasury yield rose above 4.5%, according to Morgan Stanley strategists led by Michael Wilson.
“In order to see the return of a ‘good is good’ backdrop where hotter economic data drives upside in stocks even amid higher rates, we likely need to see more convincing evidence that animal spirits are inflecting and translating into stronger economic activity,” they wrote.
Notwithstanding fewer likely rate cuts, Solita Marcelli at UBS Global Wealth Management, sees a favorable backdrop ahead —driven by a mixture of lower borrowing costs, resilient US activity, a broadening of US earnings growth, further AI monetization, and the potential for greater capital market activity under a second Trump administration.
“We expect the S&P 500 to hit 6,600 by end-2025 and suggest that under-allocated investors consider using any near-term turbulence to add to US stocks, including through structured strategies,” she noted. The gauge closed at 5,975.38 Monday.

Corporate Highlights:
* Walt Disney Co. agreed to merge its Hulu + Live TV streaming service with the online sports-focused company FuboTV Inc., creating the second-biggest digital pay-TV provider.
* Meta Platforms Inc. elected three new directors to its board, including Ultimate Fighting Championship Chief Executive Officer Dana White, one of the media industry’s most influential executives and a high-profile campaigner for US President-elect Donald Trump.
* Advanced Micro Devices Inc., the second-biggest maker of computer processors, said its chips will be used by Dell Technologies Inc. for the first time in PCs sold to businesses.
* Dell Technologies Inc. is re-branding its PCs in a manner reminiscent of Apple Inc.’s naming conventions in an effort by the computer maker to spur demand.
* Qualcomm Inc. introduced new chips designed to power personal computers capable of running the latest artificial intelligence software yet cost as little as $600.
* Nippon Steel Corp. and United States Steel Corp. jointly filed a pair of lawsuits in a last-ditch effort to preserve their planned merger, which was blocked last week by President Joe Biden.
* Carvana Co. said it has reestablished an agreement with Ally Financial Inc. to sell the lender up to $4 billion in used- vehicle loan receivables over the next year, a move that counters one claim by short seller Hindenburg Research that the financier was pulling back on their relationship.

Key events this week:
* Eurozone CPI, unemployment, Tuesday
* US job openings, trade, ISM services, Tuesday
* Fed’s Thomas Barkin speaks, Tuesday
* Eurozone PPI, consumer confidence, Wednesday
* US ADP employment, Fed minutes, consumer credit, Wednesday
* Fed’s Christopher Waller speaks, Wednesday
* China CPI, PPI, Thursday
* Eurozone retail sales, Thursday
* US state funeral and national day of mourning for former President Jimmy Carter is a federal holiday, Thursday
* Fed’s Patrick Harker, Thomas Barkin, Jeff Schmid and Michelle Bowman speak, Thursday
* Japan household spending, leading index, Friday
* US jobs report, consumer sentiment, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.7%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 2%
* The Russell 2000 Index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.6%
* The euro rose 0.8% to $1.0388
* The British pound rose 0.8% to $1.2520
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 157.63 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 3.8% to $102,260.79
* Ether rose 1.1% to $3,688.08
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 4.62%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.45%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.61%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.7% to $73.44 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.2% to $2,635.40 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Andre Janse van Vuuren, Allegra Catelli, Julien Ponthus and Catherine Bosley.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs only to the people who prepare for it today. –Malcolm X, 1925-1965.

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 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday!
Carolann is away from the office; I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

January 3, 1831: First US building and loan association organized in Frankford, Pennsylvania
January 3, 1842: Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine leave Liverpool, England for America on board the RMS Britannia
January 3, 1889: German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche suffers a mental breakdown after supposedly witnessing a horse flogging
January 3, 1961: The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba. Go to article
January 3, 1977 Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs incorporate Apple Computer, Inc.

Qubits inspired by ‘Schrödinger’s cat’ thought experiment could usher in powerful quantum computers by 2030
Quantum technology company Alice & Bob outlines its plan for quantum computing by 2030, but how feasible is that goal? Read more.

Weird bumps in UK quarry turn out to be 166 million-year-old dinosaur ‘highway’ for some of Jurassic’s biggest dinosaurs
Researchers have excavated the largest dinosaur footprint site in the U.K. after a quarry worker found tracks left by two of Britain’s biggest Jurassic dinosaurs. Read more.

Saturn will disappear behind the moon for skywatchers in Europe on Saturday. Here’s how to see it.
One of the last easily visible lunar occultations of Saturn until 2037 will occur on Jan. 4. Read more.

Massive piece of space junk crashes into village in Kenya — and officials still have no idea where it came from
A 1,100-pound metal ring from a rocket smashed in to a Kenyan village, where it startled residents and flattened trees. Read more.

1,700-year-old oil lamp found in Jerusalem shows a rare Jewish menorah
The lamp depicts Jewish motifs from a time when Jewish worship was suppressed under the Romans. Read more.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Berlin, Germany
A giraffe grazes during the feeding of animals with unused Christmas trees at Berlin zoo
Photograph: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP

Nanjing, China
People walk through the waiting area of a luxury toilet at a shopping mall
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

​​​​​​​Tynemouth, England
Walkers on the beach at sunrise
Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
Market Closes for January 3, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	42732.13	+339.86
		+0.80%
S&P 500	5942.47	+73.92
		+1.26%
NASDAQ	19621.68	+340.89
		+1.77%
TSX	25073.54	+175.51
		+0.70%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39894.54	-386.62
		-0.96%
HANG SENG	19760.27	+136.95
		+0.70%
SENSEX	79223.11	-720.60
		-0.90%
FTSE 100*	8223.98	-36.11
		-0.44 %

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.231	3.221
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.349	3.331
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.5975	4.5590
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.8110	4.7772

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6923	0.6948
US $	1.4446	1.4392

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4894	0.6714
US $	1.0310	0.9699

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2646.80	2646.30
Oil
WTI Crude Future	73.96	73.13

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 2001, the Federal Reserve made a surprise rate cut from 6.5% to 6%, and Wall Street went nuts. Analysts who previously said that interest rates were irrelevant to the value of tech stocks embraced the cut, and the Nasdaq rocketed to its best day ever, gaining 14%.  It is “unambiguously great news” for investors, said Edward Keon of Prudential Securities. “Stocks should do fine this year.”
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 0.7%, or 175.51 to 25,073.54 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 0.8% on Dec. 20.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.9%.
Aritzia Inc. had the largest increase, rising 7.1%.
Today, 153 of 223 shares rose, while 64 fell; 10 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 1.1%, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended Nov. 22
* The index advanced 20% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 25% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 22.5% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.7 on a trailing basis and 17.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.93t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.93% compared with 10.72% in the previous session and the average of 9.18% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 54.7715| 0.7| 20/5
Information Technology | 35.2026| 1.4| 9/1
Energy | 28.5866| 0.7| 30/11
Industrials | 26.0836| 0.8| 22/5
Communication Services | 10.3674| 1.8| 4/1
Real Estate | 6.3379| 1.3| 20/0
Consumer Discretionary | 5.9827| 0.7| 9/2
Utilities | 5.2161| 0.6| 12/3
Consumer Staples | 2.1513| 0.2| 9/1
Materials | 0.8528| 0.0| 16/33
Health Care | -0.0277| 0.0| 2/2
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | 25.1400| 1.9| -38.7| 3.2
RBC | 16.2500| 1.0| -11.5| 0.3
TD Bank | 15.6700| 1.7| 105.5| 1.6
Couche-Tard | -2.6670| -0.6| -23.0| -1.5
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd | -3.2310| -0.8| -32.0| 4.2
Bank of Montreal | -5.2110| -0.7| -56.7| -0.6
US
By Cristin Flanagan
(Bloomberg) — Investors have finally been induced to buy the dip in US stocks.
After a five-day drop that shaved more than a trillion dollars off share prices, Wall Street put the longest equities losing streak since April behind it.
The Nasdaq 100 clawed back losses on Friday, climbing 1.7% while the S&P 500 rose 1.3%.
The gains managed to put a dent in the week’s selloff after an end of December rout had stretched into the first trading day of the year.
Traders shrugged off warnings about slowing earnings growth for the tech stocks dubbed the Magnificent Seven and continued to snap up shares of AI juggernaut Nvidia Corp. 
“For as long as retail investors continue to pour money into the AI theme, the AI led boom in stock markets is likely to continue,” JPMorgan strategists led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou told clients.
To track the mood of day traders they advised watching flows into Invesco’s Nasdaq-tracking exchange-traded fund (QQQ) and a fund from GraniteShares, which provides twice the daily returns of Nvidia (NVDL).
Stocks reached session highs in the afternoon as the reelection of Mike Johnson to House speaker suggested Republicans will be able to coalesce behind the president-elect’s business-friendly deregulatory agenda.
Bond yields pushed higher with the benchmark 10-year touching 4.6% after Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin suggested his preference was to keep rates restrictive for longer.
Earlier data showed US manufacturing rose at a modest pace in the final month of 2024.
The Institute for Supply Management’s gauge hit 49.3, topping estimates, but remained below 50, a level that indicates economic expansion.
New orders rose to the highest since the start of last year.
Treasuries dipped after the report while stocks held onto gains.
Investors sieving through data to find signs the world’s largest economy was still going strong had to weigh that against the prospect of slower and shallower interest-rate cuts after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish pivot in December.
Vital Knowledge’s Adam Crisafulli said the ISM readout was incrementally positive but “but it will reinforce worries about hawkish policy and elevated yields.”
Such concerns saw volatility reemerge this week as the S&P 500 notched intraday gains in the previous two sessions, only to close lower.
Lighter holiday trading amplified the moves.
Investors are also contemplating Donald Trump’s return to the White House in 17 days.
“We really need to see more of that clarity on Jan. 20 for markets to have greater conviction,” Laura Cooper, global investment strategist at Nuveen, said on Bloomberg Television.
“US exceptionalism will continue to be the dominant theme at least in the first half of the year, regardless of what some of those policies that come through are.”
Louis Navellier sees “growing concern regarding the plethora of changes being proposed by the incoming Trump 2.0 administration.”
“The sabre rattling about tariffs brings inflation risks. The deportation of many thousands of illegal immigrants may cause labor disruptions,” the chief investment officer of Navellier & Associates wrote in a note.
The dollar drifted lower after setting a two-year high Thursday.
Among individual stock movers, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae traded near eight-year highs on plans to release the mortgage giants from government supervision.
United States Steel Corp. fell 6.5% after President Joe Biden blocked Nippon Steel Corp.’s proposed purchase of the company.
Biden’s decision to block the $14.1 billion sale of US Steel to Nippon Steel killed a high-profile deal that sparked a political firestorm and tensions between the US and Japan.
Biden announced his formal decision on Friday after the case was referred to him by a US security review panel, ahead of a deadline early next week.
“U.S. Steel will remain a proud American company — one that’s American-owned, American-operated, by American union steelworkers — the best in the world,” the president said in a statement.  
Shares of drinks makers declined after the US Surgeon General said labels on alcohol products like beer and wine should carry warnings of their links to cancer. 
Constellation Brands Inc. slumped as much as 2.3% and Molson Coors Beverage Co. lost nearly 5%.
In Brussels, Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the maker of Budweiser beer, fell 2.8%.
Chinese stocks extended the worst start to the year since 2016, reflecting worries about the growth outlook.
The yuan fell to breach the psychological milestone of 7.3 per dollar for the first time since late 2023.
The nation’s 10-year government bond yield slipped below 1.6% for the first time ever.
“There’s been many false dawns in China in recent months and it looks as though it’s unraveling again,” said Kenneth Broux, a strategist at Societe Generale.
“We’ve seen three big days of selling which is not really conducive to sentiment.”
In commodities, WTI crude extended a climb into the fifth day reaching $74 a barrel. Gold lodged its best weekly gain since November.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.3% as of 4:05 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.7%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%
* The MSCI World Index rose 1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%
* The euro rose 0.4% to $1.0308
* The British pound rose 0.4% to $1.2429
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 157.28 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 1.2% to $98,261.76
* Ether rose 4.4% to $3,602.51
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 4.60%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 2.43%
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.59%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.2% to $74 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.7% to $2,638.43 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Richard Henderson, Divya Patil, Margaryta Kirakosian, Cecile Gutscher, Sujata Rao and John Viljoen.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shab
“The beginning is always today.” — Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Shab Mohammadpour

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff
Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com