Author: Carolann

Dear Friends,

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

January 2, 1818: Institution of Civil Engineers is founded in Britain.
January 2, 1842: First US wire suspension bridge for general traffic opens in Pennsylvania
January 2, 1929: US and Canada agree to preserve the Niagara Falls
January 2, 2008: Oil prices soared to $100 a barrel for the first time. Go to article

The 10 best stargazing events of 2025
The 2025 stargazing guide includes Venus at it brightest, a sunrise solar eclipse and three supermoons. Here are all the dates you need to know. Read more.

Quadrantid meteor shower: How to watch the first ‘shooting stars’ of 2025 rain over Earth tonight
The Quadrantids are the year’s first shooting stars, peaking over North America between Jan. 3 and 4. Read more.

‘Missing link’ black hole found? Not so fast, new study says
A “missing link” black hole in Omega Centauri is still missing. What appeared to be an intermediate-mass black hole was a cluster of stellar-mass black holes. Read more.

10 amazing things found on Mars in 2024, from hundreds of ‘spiders’ to a ‘Martian dog’
From arachnid-like formations and mysterious blobs to an underground ocean and a giant volcano, here are our 10 favorite things scientists discovered on Mars this year. Read more.

Full moons of 2025: Names, dates and everything you need to know
Find out exactly when to see the full moons of 2025, including dates for two total lunar eclipses and three supermoons. Read more.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Les Rousses, France
A skater looks at pancake ice on the frozen Lac des Rousses in eastern France. This phenomenon forms when slushy ice in water clumps into round, pancake-like shapes due to waves or currents
Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

Dunfanaghy, Ireland
A surfer on Marble Hill beach on the north coast of Donegal. A yellow weather and ice warning has been issued across Ireland as temperatures are set to drop to -3C overnight
Photograph: David Young/PA

​​​​​​​Fireworks light the sky behind the Statue of Liberty in New York, US
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Market Closes for January 2, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	42392.27	-151.95
		-0.36%
S&P 500	5868.55	-13.08
		-0.22%
NASDAQ	19280.79	-30.00
		-0.16%
TSX	24898.03	+170.09
		+0.69%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39894.54	-386.62
		-0.96%
HANG SENG	19623.32	-436.63
		-2.18%
SENSEX	79943.71	+1436.30
		+1.83%
FTSE 100*	8260.09	+87.07
		+1.07 %

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.221	3.225
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.331	3.334
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.5590	4.5690
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.7772	4.7812

Currencies

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

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4785	0.6764
US $	1.0273	0.9734

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2646.30	2609.10
Oil
WTI Crude Future	73.13	70.99

Market Commentary:
📈 On Jan. 1, 1998 a global investing giant came into being, as Norges Bank Investment Management was set up to manage Norway’s oil wealth. As of mid-2024, the sovereign wealth fund oversaw some $1.667 trillion, or roughly $300,000 for each of Norway’s 5.5 million inhabitants.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.7%, or 170.09 to 24,898.03 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 0.8% on Dec. 20.
Today, materials stocks led the market higher, as 9 of 11 sectors gained; 161 of 223 shares rose, while 60 fell.
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 5.0%.
Denison Mines Corp. had the largest increase, rising 14.2%.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 0.4%
* 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 3.7% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 21.7% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.6% 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 20.6 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$3.9t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.72% compared with 10.52% in the previous session and the average of 9.07% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 93.4572| 3.3| 47/4
Energy | 71.2097| 1.7| 40/3
Information Technology | 18.3589| 0.7| 8/2
Industrials | 4.9922| 0.2| 13/14
Utilities | 1.9466| 0.2| 7/8
Communication Services | 1.8194| 0.3| 4/1
Health Care | 0.7696| 1.0| 1/2
Consumer Discretionary | 0.7040| 0.1| 5/6
Real Estate | 0.4440| 0.1| 17/3
Consumer Staples | -1.9894| -0.2| 8/2
Financials | -21.6332| -0.3| 11/15
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd | 19.6700| 5.0| -14.7| 5.0
Shopify | 16.3100| 1.3| -39.7| 1.3
Canadian Pacific Kansas | 13.2700| 2.0| 0.8| 2.0
CIBC | -3.3730| -0.6| -21.0| -0.6
Couche-Tard | -3.6470| -0.8| -32.4| -0.8
RBC | -10.4000| -0.6| 33.1| -0.6
US
By Cristin Flanagan and Alexandra Semenova
(Bloomberg) — Major US benchmarks extended a selloff for a fifth day, shaving more than a trillion dollars from share prices.
A pair of deadly attacks compounded market angst, starting the first trading day of the year on a dour note.
An early rally collapsed driving the Nasdaq 100 down more than 1%.
The tech-heavy gauge and the S&P 500 clawed back losses to end Thursday down 0.2%.
Tesla Inc.’s post-Christmas slump swelled to nearly 20% after its annual vehicle sales dropped, dragging on the indexes.
Treasury yields steadied following a choppy session.
The rate on the benchmark 10-year was nearly 20 basis points above the level prior to Jerome Powell’s hawkish turn at a Dec. 18 Federal Reserve meeting.
Big moves have proliferated across asset classes after Powell’s board expressed waning enthusiasm for interest-rate cuts.
The Cboe Volatility Index climbed for the fourth time in five days.
Tesla sagged after the electronic vehicle-marker’s fourth-quarter deliveries missed estimates and annual sales dropped for the first time in over a decade.
The stock registered its worst five-day drop in more than two years.
For corporate earnings, 2025 will be a “show-me year,” according to Lisa Shalett at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, who warned that the dominance of the Magnificent Seven — the big technology stocks responsible for the bulk of last year’s gains
— was teetering. “This idea that they as a group can trade together and lead the market may falter in 2025,” she said.
It’s a call echoed by others on Wall Street, including Bank of America Corp.’s Savita Subramanian.
As for the grim slide in the final days of 2024, it’s “too soon to call it a bad omen,” Shalett told Bloomberg Television.
While the notable absence of a Santa Rally has previously led to a rebound in stocks for the month of January, the year’s first trading day doesn’t offer a great signal for the whole 12-month period.
Over the past four years, for example, it has actually been a contrarian indicator, Deutsche Bank notes.
The S&P 500 ended the year inversely of how it started.
Extending that analysis back to 1928, the year’s first trading day and the SPX’s annual performance have a poor correlation and have only moved in tandem ~50% of the time.
Tatiana Darie, MLIV Strategist, New York Treasuries erased gains after a reading of weekly jobless claims fell to an eight-month low.
A Bloomberg gauge of the dollar’s strength traded at a more than two-year peak. 
Goldman Sachs economists led by Jan Hatzius noted that “seasonal adjustment challenges can make jobless claims readings particularly volatile around the holiday season.”  
US stocks had been straining to snap a losing streak that took some shine off the S&P 500’s best two-year run dating back to the late 1990s.
The index has surged more than 50% since the start of 2023, driven by gains in the tech megacaps amid enthusiasm about the boost to profits from artificial intelligence.
An attack on revelers celebrating New Year’s in New Orleans thrust US domestic security back into the spotlight less than a month before Donald Trump is sworn in as president.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing that incident as well as the deadly explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside of Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas.
A shooting overnight at a nightclub in New York City only added to the anxiety, while authorities said it wasn’t related to terrorism. 
CBOE’s gauge of Wall Street stock sentiment, the VIX, touched 19.
On Friday, investors will be watching the House speaker vote to see if Mike Johnson will retain his position.
GOP squabbling over his reelection could bode ill for the president-elect’s agenda, according  to Tom Essaye, founder of the Sevens report.
If Johnson’s confirmation takes several rounds of voting over several days, “that will be a bad sign for Republican unity and hopes for quick action on pro-growth policies will take a hit,” he wrote. 
In the months to come, the growth outlook in Europe and China, the Federal Reserve’s policy path and Trump’s ability to execute on his campaign promises will be among the most pressing items on traders’ radars.
European energy shares outperformed after a sharp increase in natural gas prices as the region braced for freezing winter temperatures without Russian supplies delivered via Ukraine.
A transit contract between the two warring nations expired on New Year’s Day, with no alternative in place.
The euro fell to the weakest against the dollar in over two years reflecting concerns about European growth, US trade tariffs and monetary policy divergence with the US.
Many strategists are forecasting a slide to parity with the dollar or even lower this year.
In Asia, sentiment was subdued, with Chinese equities the worst performers as data pointed to a slowing economy and traders looked ahead to potentially higher tariffs.
MSCI Inc.’s gauge of Asian shares fell for the third day out of the past four.
Financial markets in Japan remained closed.
Elsewhere in commodities, oil climbed after an industry report signaled US crude stockpiles continued to shrink.
A report from the American Petroleum Institute showed inventories fell by 1.4 million barrels last week, which would be a sixth straight drop.
Gold rose, trading around $2,657 an ounce.
Bitcoin extended its rally to a third day.

Key events this week:
* US ISM manufacturing, light vehicle sales, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.2% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.2%
* Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index rose 3.5%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro fell 0.9% to $1.0264
* The British pound fell 1.1% to $1.2380
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 157.60 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 2.6% to $97,242.95
* Ether rose 2.7% to $3,452.44
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.56%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 2.38%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 4.59%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2% to $73.13 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1.4% to $2,660.01 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Richard Henderson, Chiranjivi Chakraborty, Cecile Gutscher and John Viljoen.

Have a wonderful evening!

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shab
” In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus

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: New Year’s Eve!🎉
Carolann is away from the office; I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

December 31, 1744: English astronomer James Bradley announces the discovery of Earth’s nutation, or wobble
December 31, 1781: Bank of North America, 1st US bank opens
December 31, 1857: Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as new capital of Canada
December 31, 1974: Private U.S. citizens were allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in more than 40 years. Go to article

New Year’s celebrations around the world

New Year’s Eve dinner recipes that will dazzle your guests. Read more.

This red giant star has star spots larger than the entire sun
Astronomers modeled sunspot activity on a nearby red giant star to learn about its chaotic interior. Read more.

There’s a weird, disappearing dark spot on Saturn’s moon Enceladus
“After staring at dozens and dozens of image pairs, she found something interesting.” Read more.

10 jaw-dropping space photos that defined 2024
From solar storms to “shooting stars” over Stonehenge, here are our top 10 favorite space photos of 2024 — and what they told us about our beautiful cosmos. Read more.

Earth from space: ‘Lake of clouds’ appears between volcanic nesting dolls in Russia via rare mirror-like phenomenon
A photo captured a rare effect, known as sunglint, transforming the surface of one of Russia’s deepest lakes into a sea of swirling clouds. The crater lake is sandwiched between a pair of unusual volcanic “nesting dolls” on a Pacific island. Read more.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Sydney, Australia
The 9pm fireworks are seen during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Sydney
Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Lyon, France
A sound and light show is projected onto the facade of the Notre Dame de Fourvière basilica
Photograph: Mourad Allili/Sipa/Rex/Shutterstock

Seoul, South Korea
People take pictures as they observe the last sunset of the year on a viewing deck at Namsan tower
Photograph: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for December 31, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	42544.22	-29.51
		-0.07%
S&P 500	5881.63	-25.31
		-0.43%
NASDAQ	19310.79	-176.00
		-0.90%
TSX	24727.94	+107.35
		+0.44%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39894.54	-386.62
		-0.96%
HANG SENG	20059.95	+18.5
		+0.09%
SENSEX	78139.01	-109.12
		-0.14%
FTSE 100*	8173.02	+52.01
		+0.64%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.225	3.241
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.334	3.347
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.5690	4.5327
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.7812	4.7497

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6948	0.6965
US $	1.4392	1.4358

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4899	0.6712
US $	1.0352	0.9660

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2609.10	2615.95
Oil
WTI Crude Future	70.99	70.99

Market Commentary:
📈
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.4% at 24,727.94 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 0.6% on Dec. 23 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.7%.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.2%.
Brookfield Business Partners LP had the largest increase, rising 7.1%.
Today, 188 of 223 shares rose, while 33 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 18%, poised for the best year since 2021
* This quarter, the index rose 3%
* This month, the index fell 3.6%
* The index advanced 18% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 22% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 4.3% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 20.8% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.5% in the past 5 days and fell 3.6% in the past 30 days
* 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$3.89t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.52% compared with 10.48% in the previous session and the average of 8.99% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 41.3700| 1.0| 38/5
Materials | 24.9387| 0.9| 48/2
Industrials | 16.5062| 0.5| 25/3
Financials | 11.9703| 0.1| 20/5
Communication Services | 9.4905| 1.7| 5/0
Consumer Discretionary | 4.1585| 0.5| 10/1
Consumer Staples | 4.0864| 0.4| 8/2
Real Estate | 3.8814| 0.8| 19/1
Health Care | 0.9408| 1.3| 3/1
Utilities | -1.7297| -0.2| 9/6
Information Technology | -8.2760| -0.3| 3/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Natural Resources | 14.0400| 2.2| -73.6| 2.2
Enbridge | 8.0830| 0.9| -66.8| 27.9
BCE | 6.0680| 2.9| -40.4| -36.1
Shopify | -1.7830| -0.1| -54.8| 48.3
Bank of Nova Scotia | -2.0040| -0.3| -0.1| 19.7
Constellation Software | -4.2450| -0.7| -55.0| 35.3
US
By Rheaa Rao
(Bloomberg) — A string of volatile sessions for US stocks extended into 2024’s last day, marking an ominous close to an otherwise stellar year for North American equity investors.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 dropped for a fourth consecutive session in a year-end pullback that has shaved more than a trillion dollars from large-cap market values.
Still, losses remain just a blip in a advance that has lifted the S&P 500 more than 50% since the start of 2023, the best two-year gain since the late 1990s.
While yields remained higher across maturities on Tuesday, a broad gauge of Treasuries eked out an annual gain, albeit a smaller one than in 2023.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index had its best year in nearly a decade.
It was a year in which stocks, particularly those of US technology companies, outshone virtually every other asset class.
The S&P 500 has gained 23% in 2024, rising for the fifth time in six years, in an advance that added $10 trillion to US equity values.
The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 16%.
In fixed income, the Vanguard Total Bond market exchange- traded fund finished with a gain of 1.5% including dividends, while the Bloomberg Commodity Index was essentially unchanged.
An ETF tracking a cross-asset portfolio encompassing equities, bonds and commodities, the RPAR Risk Parity ETF, was also little changed after dropping 6% in December.
Even as the US economy chugs along, cross-asset investors are heading into 2025 facing an array of challenges, first among them inflation and the Federal Reserve’s response to it — especially after Chair Jerome Powell signaled there would be fewer interest-rate cuts going forward. Another question is how President-elect Donald Trump’s pro-growth policies will affect consumer prices and federal finances.
Among individual commodities, gold had its best year since 2010.
Oil rose in thin holiday trading to close out a flat performance in 2024 as the market braces for a global surplus next year.
Cocoa’s 178% annual gain was driven by market volatility and concerns about supply.
European natural gas prices rose to the highest level since last November in anticipation of a halt in Russian flows via Ukraine on New Year’s Day.
European trading was muted in the final session of the year, with several markets shut on New Year’s Eve and shortened sessions in London and Paris.
In Asia, trading was also thin because several regional markets including South Korea’s were shut for a public holiday.
Japanese markets are closed through Jan. 6. Stocks fell in Australia and mainland China, with those in Hong Kong flat.

Key events this week:
* New Year’s Day holiday, Wednesday
* US construction spending, jobless claims, manufacturing PMI, Thursday
* US ISM manufacturing, light vehicle sales, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.4% as of 4:02 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.9%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%
* The euro fell 0.4% to $1.0361
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.2521
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 157.33 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 1.7% to $93,503.26
* Ether rose 0.9% to $3,343.93
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 4.57%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.37%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 4.57%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.1% to $71.80 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.6% to $2,623.12 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from John Viljoen, Elizabeth Stanton and Isabelle Lee.

Happy New Year 2025!

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shab
” The opportunity for brotherhood presents itself every time you meet a human being.” — Jane Wyman

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

December 30, 1906: Iran becomes a constitutional monarchy
December 30, 1924:  Astronomer Edwin Hubble formally announces the existence of other galactic systems at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society
December 30, 1963: Congress authorizes Kennedy half dollar, in honor of John F. Kennedy
December 30, 1993: Israel and the Vatican agreed to recognize one another. Go to article

Sunlight shapes our evolution — and may explain why some people have curly hair
Light helps explains the evolution of our skin color, why some of us have curly hair, and the size of our eyes. And light still shapes us today. Read more.

2,000-year-old RSVP: A birthday invitation from the Roman frontier that has the earliest known Latin written by a woman
This wafer-thin wooden tablet from a first-century Roman fort in the U.K. includes a heartfelt birthday party invitation. Read more.

From lost planets to human-caused meteor showers
From the mysterious Planet Nine to the prospect of a “human-caused meteor shower,” space and physics editor Brandon Specktor lists his favorite stories of 2024. Read more.

Hubble captures a cosmic snow angel created by a bright, young star
Created by a young star, the bipolar star-forming region Sharpless 2-106 in this Hubble image depicts how intense the star-formation process can get. Read more.

What is embodied AI?
Embodied AI enables robots and autonomous drones to interact with the real world, but how does it work? Read more.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Rongcheng, China
Fishers work at a kelp farming area in Ailun Bay, in eastern China’s Shandong province
Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

Weehawken, US
The Empire State Building in New York City is illuminated in red, white and blue to mark the death of the 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter
Photograph: Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

The Taunus mountain range, Germany
Cars drive through a forest with frozen trees near Frankfurt
Photograph: Michael Probst/AP
Market Closes for December 30, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	42573.73	-418.48
		-0.97%
S&P 500	5906.94	-63.90
		-1.07%
NASDAQ	19486.79	-235.24
		-1.19%
TSX	24620.59	-175.81
		-0.71%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39894.54	-386.62
		-0.96%
HANG SENG	20041.42	-49.04
		-0.24%
SENSEX	78248.13	-450.94
		-0.57%
FTSE 100*	8121.01	-28.77
		-0.35%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.241	3.317
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.347	3.415
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.5327	4.6253
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.7497	4.8171

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6965	0.6939
US $	1.4358	1.4412

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4931	0.6696
US $	1.0398	0.9617

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2615.95	2615.95
Oil
WTI Crude Future	70.99	69.62

Market Commentary:
📈
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.7%, or 175.81 to 24,620.59 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 2.2% on Dec. 18.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.8%.
Mag Silver Corp. had the largest drop, falling 4.0%.
Today, 175 of 223 shares fell, while 46 rose; 10 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 17%, poised for the best year since 2021
* This quarter, the index rose 2.6%
* This month, the index fell 4%
* The index advanced 17% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 22% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 4.7% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 20.3% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.8% in the past 5 days and fell 4% 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 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.92t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.48% compared with 10.44% in the previous session and the average of 8.91% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -50.9196| -1.8| 2/49
Information Technology | -38.1652| -1.5| 0/9
Financials | -36.0854| -0.4| 4/22
Industrials | -30.9905| -1.0| 3/25
Consumer Staples | -11.0596| -1.1| 1/9
Consumer Discretionary | -7.6436| -0.9| 1/10
Real Estate | -5.9205| -1.2| 0/20
Communication Services | -3.5591| -0.6| 0/5
Utilities | -2.9648| -0.3| 3/11
Health Care | -0.8547| -1.2| 1/3
Energy | 12.3453| 0.3| 31/12
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | -24.0300| -1.8| -40.6| 48.5
RBC | -12.8800| -0.8| -4.1| 29.1
Canadian National | -8.7560| -1.5| -43.3| -13.1
CIBC | 2.9100| 0.5| 50.2| 42.8
ARC Resources | 2.9880| 2.9| -19.3| 32.3
Tourmaline Oil | 7.0420| 4.5| 1.7| 15.8
US
By Rheaa Rao and John Viljoen
(Bloomberg) — A banner year for US stocks is ending poorly as a retreat in technology stocks extended a stretch of losses that began when the Federal Reserve cooled expectations for interest-rate cuts two weeks ago.
It was the third consecutive decline for both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100, and also the third time the indexes dropped more than 1% in eight sessions.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is on track for its best year since 2015.
Treasuries rallied on Monday, with the 10-year yield hovering around 4.54%.
Yields had declined further after Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index data showed an unexpected decline.
Data on Monday also showed pending sales of US homes increasing for a fourth month in November to the highest level since early 2023.
This year, the so-called Magnificent Seven cohort of US tech giants has driven an advance of more than 20% in the S&P 500, while prompting some to worry that the gains are too concentrated in a small group of names.
Still, few are calling for the rally to end and none of the 19 strategists tracked by Bloomberg expects the S&P 500 to decline next year.
“In these moments, it’s best to stay put,” said Nicolas Domont, a fund manager at Optigestion in Paris.
“The US remains the place to be. Growth stocks continue to outperform and earnings forecasts are good, so there are good reasons to remain optimistic.”
Elsewhere, Europe’s Stoxx 600 index retreated, while Asian stocks snapped five days of gains.
Trading volumes were thinner because of the holiday season.
“There’s a little bit of trepidation heading into year-end, owing in part to uncertainty over how the international trade picture may take shape in 2025,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at Kohle Capital Markets Pty.
“Some traders are taking risk off the table heading into year-end.”
It’s the final session of 2024 for some markets including Germany, where the DAX benchmark saw a 19% annual advance.
Among commodities, oil edged higher as traders focused on 2025 risks.
US natural gas futures soared as the weather outlook for January shifted colder.
Gold is set for a blockbuster year.

Key events this week:
* China manufacturing PMI, non-manufacturing PMI, Tuesday
* New Year’s Day holiday, Wednesday
* US construction spending, jobless claims, manufacturing PMI, Thursday
* US ISM manufacturing, light vehicle sales, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 1.1% as of 4:06 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1%
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.9%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.0401
* The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.2548
* The Japanese yen rose 0.7% to 156.78 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.9% to $94,002.87
* Ether rose 1.3% to $3,388.21
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined nine basis points to 4.54%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.37%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.61%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.8% to $71.13 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.5% to $2,607.81 an ounce

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

Have a wonderful evening!

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shab
“A great book begins with an idea; a great life, with a determination.” — Louis Dearborn L’Amour

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

December 27, 1831: British naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a voyage to the Pacific Ocean aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin’s discoveries during the nearly five-year journey helped form the basis of his theories on evolution. Go to article
December 27, 1867:  Ontario & Quebec legislatures hold 1st meeting
December 27, 1945: International Monetary Fund and The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development are formally established with signing of articles of agreement by member countries, ratifying Bretton Woods Conference findings, based on ideas of economists Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes
December 27,  : Dow Jones Industrial Average hits record 3792.93

National Fruitcake Day: In the United States, this day celebrates the often-divisive holiday treat, fruitcake, with various festivities and culinary activities.🍰

2024’s most exciting technology advancements
AI dominated tech news this year, but has the technology actually been improving? We review the leaps we’ve seen, as well as what’s new in the world of quantum computing. Read more.

What is quantum supremacy?
We may be on the cusp of quantum supremacy. But what does that actually mean? Read more.

Early human ancestor ‘Lucy’ was a bad runner, and this one tendon could explain why
By digitally modeling muscles and tendons for the skeleton of Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis), researchers determined that our hominin ancestors could run well but topped out around 11 mph. Read more.

Kawah Ijen: The volcano in Indonesia that holds the world’s largest acidic lake at its heart
Kawah Ijen is an active volcano on the island of Java with an extremely acidic crater lake and gas emissions that produce blue flames upon contact with oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere. Read more.

Parker Solar Probe survives historic closest-ever flyby of the sun, NASA confirms
On Christmas Eve, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe flew closer to the sun than any human-made object ever — a stunning technological feat that scientists liken to the historic Apollo moon landing in 1969. Now, we know it survived. Read more.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Deer cross a road in the Taunus forest near Frankfurt, Germany
Photograph: Michael Probst/AP

New York, US
People view Winter Reflections, part of a mile-long illuminated trail called Lightscape, at the Brooklyn botanical garden
Photograph: Sarah Yenesel/EPA

​​​​​​​Nanjing, China
A snake-shaped lantern is illuminated during the China Qinhuai festival in the run-up to the Chinese new year, the year of the snake, in Jiangsu province
Photograph: VCG/Getty Images
Market Closes for December 27, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	42992.21	-333.59
		-0.77%
S&P 500	5970.84	-66.75
		-1.11%
NASDAQ	19722.03	-298.33
		-1.49%
TSX	24796.40	-50.42
		-0.20%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	40281.16	+713.10
		+1.80%
HANG SENG	20090.46	-7.83
		-0.04%
SENSEX	78699.07	+226.59
		+0.29%
FTSE 100*	8149.78	+12.79
		+0.16%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.317	3.296
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.415	3.376
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.6253	4.5887
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.8171	4.7618

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6939	0.6966
US $	1.4412	1.4356

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5026	0.6655
US $	1.0426	0.9591

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2615.95	2613.80
Oil
WTI Crude Future	69.62	69.81

Market Commentary:
📈
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.2% at 24,796.40 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 0.6% on Dec. 19 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.4%.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.2%.
ATS Corp. had the largest drop, falling 3.3%.
Today, 117 of 223 shares fell, while 103 rose; 8 of 11 sectors were lower, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 18%, poised for the best year since 2021
* This quarter, the index rose 3.3%
* This month, the index fell 3.3%
* So far this week, the index rose 0.8%
* 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 21.2% 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$3.93t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 10.44% compared with 10.46% in the previous session and the average of 8.80% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | -34.7495| -1.3| 1/9
Industrials | -14.2818| -0.5| 12/16
Consumer Staples | -2.9827| -0.3| 5/5
Materials | -2.5485| -0.1| 24/27
Consumer Discretionary | -2.1904| -0.3| 7/4
Real Estate | -1.3359| -0.3| 10/10
Communication Services | -1.1867| -0.2| 3/2
Utilities | -0.9842| -0.1| 7/8
Health Care | 0.5043| 0.7| 3/1
Energy | 2.7158| 0.1| 17/24
Financials | 6.6346| 0.1| 14/11
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | -29.4700| -2.2| -35.5| 51.3
Canadian National | -4.0690| -0.7| -67.4| -11.7
Brookfield Corp | -3.6160| -0.4| -22.0| 55.1
Bank of Montreal | 4.2410| 0.6| -10.9| 6.7
Bank of Nova Scotia| 4.2700| 0.6| -37.6| 20.2
RBC | 8.2250| 0.5| -43.2| 30.1
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A selloff in the world’s largest technology companies hit stocks in the final stretch of a stellar year.
In another session of slim trading volume — which tends to amplify moves — the S&P 500 lost 1.1% and the Nasdaq 100 slipped 1.4%.
While every major industry succumbed to Friday’s slide, tech megacaps bore the brunt of the selling.
That’s after a torrid surge that saw the group dubbed “Magnificent Seven” account for more than half of the US equity benchmark’s gains in 2024.
“I think Santa has already come. Have you seen the performance this year?” said Kenny Polcari at SlateStone Wealth.
“It’s Friday, next week is another holiday-shortened week, volumes will be light, moves will be exaggerated. Don’t make any major investing decisions this week.”
Steve Sosnick at Interactive Brokers says that while Friday was shaping up to be a quiet holiday-season day, he’s been fielding more inquiries than expected.
“The best I can figure out is that there are large accounts, pension funds and the like, who need to rebalance their holdings before year-end,” he said.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 trimmed this week’s gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.8% Friday.
A gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” sank 2%, led by losses in Tesla Inc. and Nvidia Corp.
The Russell 2000 index of small caps dropped 1.6%.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose four basis points to 4.62%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index wavered.
Funds tied to several of the major themes that have driven markets and fund flows over the past three years stumbled during the week ending Dec. 25, according to data compiled by EPFR.
Redemptions from cryptocurrency funds hit a record high while technology sector funds extended their longest outflow streak since the first week of 2023, the firm said.
This year’s rally in US equities has driven the expectations for stocks so high that it may turn out to be the biggest hurdle for further gains in the new year.
And the bar is even higher for tech stocks, given their massive surge in 2024.
A Bloomberg Intelligence analysis recently found that analysts estimate a nearly 30% earnings growth for the sector next year, but tech’s market-cap share of the S&P 500 index implies closer to 40% growth expectations may be embedded in the stocks.
“The market’s largest companies and other related technology darlings are still being awarded significant premiums,” said Jason Pride and Michael Reynolds at Glenmede.
“Excessive valuations leave room for downside if earnings fail to meet expectations. Market concentration should reward efforts to regularly diversify portfolios.”
John Belton at Gabelli Funds says valuation alone is not a reason to be bearish on the US equity market, but impacts risk/reward in the near-term.
Yet Belton notes the “Magnificent Seven” still look like a well-positioned group.
“I remain bullish on the tech sector, despite concerns about high valuations,” saidDavid Miller at Catalyst Funds.
“The growth potential, particularly driven by AI, justifies these valuations, as it significantly enhances productivity for companies.”
“Large cap valuations appear expensive, and the US economy sits in the late stage. As a result, the road ahead may be shorter than the bull market’s age alone would suggest,” said Pride and Reynolds at Glenmede.
While the current boom from 2022 to present has seemed quite extraordinary it has been the second shortest bull market, with the second smallest cumulative gains, since 1928, they noted.
Historically, bull markets that were both late cycle and had premium valuations at the two-year mark lasted on average 38 months.
“The combination of a young bull market, a late-cycle expansion and premium valuations justifies a neutral risk posture given the relatively balanced implications for risk assets,” the Glenmede strategists concluded.
To Tom Essaye at The Sevens Report, sentiment is no longer euphoric and markets will start the year with regular investors much more balanced in their outlook — and that would be a “good thing as it reduces air pocket risk,” but advisors have largely ignored the recent volatility.
“It’s fair to say that this recent dip in stocks has taken the euphoria out of individual investors, but it has not dented advisors’ sentiment,” he said.
“And if we get bad political news or Fed officials pointing towards a ‘pause’ in rate cuts, that likely will cause more short, sharp drops.”

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 1.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8%
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.6%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 2%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 1.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.0425
* The British pound rose 0.4% to $1.2580
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 157.92 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 1.3% to $94,497.53
* Ether was little changed at $3,335.93
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 4.62%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced seven basis points to 2.40%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced six basis points to 4.63%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.8% to $70.20 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.7% to $2,615.73 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Robert Brand, Julien Ponthus and Chiranjivi Chakraborty.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shab
“To be prepared is half the victory.”– Miguel de Cervantes

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: Wish you peace and happiness during this festive time of year.🎉
Carolann is away from the office; I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

“The light and air of winter days,
The quiet sun’s soft glow,
May guide your way through calm and peace,
Wherever you may go.”

Emily Dickinson

It’s Christmas Eve!🎄
​​​​​​​
December 24, 1906: Canadian physicist Reginald A. Fessenden became the first person to broadcast a music program over radio, from Brant Rock, Mass. Go to article

There’s a massive fault hidden under America’s highest mountain — and we finally know how it formed
Today, the Denali Fault rips apart some of the North American plate, but it was once a place where tectonic plates came together.

Earth from space: Strange phenomena create festive decorations on Iraq’s ‘Christmas tree lake’
A 2018 astronaut photo shows a festive, fir-tree-shaped artificial reservoir in Iraq decorated with both natural and imagined ornaments.

How did the ancient Egyptians celebrate the new year?
The ancient Egyptians celebrated the new year in a variety of ways, including having feasts, giving gifts, and exposing statues of gods to sunlight so they could be “regenerated.”

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Tokyo, Japan
People take pictures in front of a Christmas tree in the Hibiya area
Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

Tynemouth, UK
The DFDS King Seaways arrives at the mouth of the Tyne at sunrise. The Met Office has forecast a mild Christmas with notably high temperatures over the festive period
Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Pokhara, Nepal
Hot air balloons rise in the sky during the international hot air balloon festival
Photograph: Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for December 24, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	43297.03	+390.08
		+0.91%
S&P 500	6040.04	+65.97
		+1.10%
NASDAQ	20031.13	+266.25
		+1.35%
TSX	24846.82	+97.84
		+0.40%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39036.85	-124.49
		-0.32%
HANG SENG	20098.29	+215.16
		+1.08%
SENSEX	78472.87	-67.30
		-0.09%
FTSE 100*	8136.99	+34.27
		+0.42%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.296	3.289
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.376	3.367
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.5887	4.5865
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.7618	4.7740

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6966	0.6956
US $	1.4356	1.4376

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4934	0.6696
US $	1.0402	0.9613

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2613.80	2616.45
Oil
WTI Crude Future	69.81	69.81

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1905, aviator, Hollywood mogul and business magnate Howard Hughes was born in Texas. He inherited family wealth and became richer yet from his varied businesses, before retreating from public view and dying in 1976 with no will or children.
Canada
Shortened trading session today for Day preceding Christmas.  Markets closed at 1 pm EST.
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A rally in the group that has led Wall Street’s gains in 2024 lifted stocks in a relatively quiet session ahead of Christmas.
Following a strong day for big tech, the shares continued to power ahead Tuesday.
Tesla Inc. led megacaps higher.
Broadcom Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. climbed as President Joe Biden’s team launched a probe into Chinese-made chips.
In a shortened pre-holiday session, the S&P 500 closed with an advance of over 1% amid thin trading volume.
“The action of the past few weeks shows that the big-cap tech names are still the key leadership group in today’s stock market,” said Matt Maley at Miller Tabak.
“These big-tech names are highly overweighted in the portfolios of a huge number of institutional investors. Any buying they do over the next week is likely to be concentrated in these names.”
Equity investors are also hoping for what’s known as the “Santa Claus Rally,” in which stocks rise during the final five trading sessions of a year and the first two of the new one.
This time around that window started Tuesday.
“Santa Claus rally could still be alive, with strong seasonality into the end of the year,” said London Stockton at Ned Davis Research.
Since 1950, the S&P 500 has generated average and median returns of 1.3% during this period, widely outpacing the market’s average seven-day gain of 0.3%, according to Adam Turnquist at LPL Financial.
“When investors are on the ‘nice’ list, and Santa delivers a ‘positive’ Santa Claus Rally return, the S&P 500 has generated an average January and forward annual return of 1.4% and 10.4%, respectively,” he said.
The S&P 500 rose 1.1%.
The Nasdaq 100 added 1.4%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.9%.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.59%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index barely budged.
While a positive “Santa Claus Rally” has preceded a 10.4% average annual gain for the S&P 500 since World War II, Sam Stovall at CFRA says a more accurate indicator in his view is the “January Barometer.”
That’s a market hypothesis positing that January’s performance predicts the year’s performance.
The term was coined by Yale Hirsch, creator of the Stock Trader’s Almanac, in 1972.
Since 1945, when the year started with a gain in January, the S&P 500 rose an average of 18.3% in price during the entire year, Stovall at CFRA said.
If the first month saw a decline in price, however, the average full-year return was negative 1.9%.
With the market up over 25% this year and no corrections of more than 10%, the S&P 500 has managed to stay solidly above its 200-day moving average for the entirety of 2024, noted Bespoke Investment Group strategists.
“Barring a significant market selloff in the last few trading days of the year, this will be the 12th year since 1952 (when we went to the current 5-day trading week at the NYSE) that the S&P has traded above its 200-DMA all year,” they said.
The average next-year change following these years has been a gain of just 4.6% compared to the average gain of 9.2% for all years, Bespoke noted.
Bank of America Corp. clients bought US equities for the seventh consecutive week, according to strategist Jill Carey Hall.
Similar to the prior five weeks, clients bought both single stocks and exchange-traded funds, with bigger inflows into the former, she noted.
Flows were primarily in large caps.
Investors should have a more-balanced approach in US stocks over the first quarter, according to Citigroup Inc. strategists led by Scott Chronert, who see a greater opportunity in defensive sectors.
They raised health care to overweight, noting valuations are now lower and fundamentals seem close to inflection point.
Meantime, they are selective on growth stocks, looking for stronger fundamental trend versus valuation and potential margin improvement.
Citi’s strategists are overweight in media, internet and semiconductors, while raising software to market weight.

Corporate Highlights:
* American Airlines Group Inc. said a technical vendor glitch was the cause of a brief ground stop on all US flights on Christmas Eve, one of the busiest days of the holiday travel season.
* Nippon Steel Corp.’s proposed $12.3 billion acquisition of US Steel Corp. moved a step closer to being blocked after a US national security panel deadlocked on its review and left the final decision with President Biden, who has repeatedly indicated his opposition to the deal.
* Salesforce Inc. says it’s taking multiple large customers from former partner Veeva Systems Inc. in a mounting rivalry to sell software to the pharmaceutical industry.
* A Starbucks Corp. barista strike has shut down about 170 cafes, according to the coffee chain, disrupting service at locations nationwide during the final days of the crucial holiday shopping season.
* Arcadium Lithium Plc, a chemicals company, said it obtained all shareholder approvals for a proposed acquisition by Rio Tinto Plc.

Key events this week:
* Christmas Day, Wednesday
* US initial jobless claims, Thursday
* Boxing Day, Thursday
* Japan Tokyo CPI, unemployment, industrial production, retail sales, Friday
* US goods trade, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.1%
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.9%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 2.1%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.1% to $1.0394
* The British pound was little changed at $1.2533
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 157.31 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 3.6% to $97,269.57
* Ether rose 0.5% to $3,436.69
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.59%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.32%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 4.58%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.2% to $70.10 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,616.87 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Robert Brand, Sagarika Jaisinghani, Chiranjivi Chakraborty, Winnie Hsu and Rob Verdonck.

Wishing all of you and your families and close friends the very best of the season!

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shab
“A poet should leave traces of his passage, not proofs. Traces alone engender dreams.” — Rene Char

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

December 23, 1482: The Peace of Atrecht (now Arras) concluded between Louis XI of France and Maximilian of Austria, ending the War of the Burgundian Succession
December 23, 1783: George Washington resigned as commander-in-chief of the Army and retired to his home at Mount Vernon, Va. Go to article
December 23, 1888: Vincent van Gogh cuts off his left ear with a razor, after argument with fellow painter Paul Gauguin, and sends to a female courtesan for safe keeping

Do black holes really evaporate — and how do we know?
In 1974, Stephen Hawking proposed that black holes could evaporate. But do we understand how this might happen? Read more.

James Webb telescope solves 20-year-old Hubble conundrum — and it could finally explain why the universe’s oldest planets exist
The James Webb Space Telescope has confirmed 20-year-old Hubble observations that could finally explain how ancient stars can host massive planets.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will reach its closest-ever point to the sun on Christmas Eve
NASA’s record-breaking Parker Solar Probe will smash its own personal bests for proximity to the sun and fastest speed by a human-made object when it whizzes past our star on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24). It is unlikely to get significantly closer to the sun before the end of its mission.

Oldest sinew bowstrings ever found in Europe have been hiding in Spain’s ‘Bat Cave’ for 7,000 years
The bowstrings were found with wood-and-reed arrows and were used by the first European farmers. Read more.

1,500-year-old tomb in Peru holds human sacrifices, including strangled son next to father’s remains, genetic analysis reveals
A genetic analysis of six people buried in a Moche tomb around A.D. 500 revealed that two teenagers were sacrificed to their close relatives.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Harbin, China
Visitors at the 26th Harbin Ice and Snow World
Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

Salisbury, England
Members of Salisbury Cathedral choir pose for photos before their final practice for Christmas services
Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

Kleine Scheidegg, Switzerland
‘A skier ventures out.’
Photograph: Phil Davis
Market Closes for December 23, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	42906.95	+66.69
		+0.16%
S&P 500	5974.07	+43.22
		+0.73%
NASDAQ	19764.89	+192.29
		+0.98%
TSX	24748.98	+149.50
		+0.61%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39161.34	+459.44
		+1.19%
HANG SENG	19883.13	+162.43
		+0.82%
SENSEX	78540.17	+498.58
		+0.64%
FTSE 100*	8102.72	+18.11
		+0.22%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.289	3.278
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.367	3.343
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.5865	4.5222
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.7740	4.7204

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6956	0.6957
US $	1.4376	1.4374

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4955	0.6687
US $	1.0403	0.9613

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2616.45	2592.45
Oil
WTI Crude Future	69.81	70.06

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1732: Richard Arkwright, one of the fathers of the Industrial Revolution, was born in Preston in Lancashire, England. In 1769 he invented the first practical machine for spinning cotton into thread, and then built the first functional textile mill.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.6%, or 149.5 to 24,748.98 in Toronto.
Brookfield Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.7%.
Tilray Brands Inc. had the largest increase, rising 15.2%.
Today, 140 of 223 shares rose, while 80 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 18%, poised for the best year since 2021
* This quarter, the index rose 3.1%
* This month, the index fell 3.5%
* 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 4.2% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 20.9% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.6% 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 20.4 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$3.88t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.42% compared with 10.38% in the previous session and the average of 8.65% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 58.5076| 1.4| 36/6
Financials | 40.0180| 0.5| 19/7
Materials | 19.8330| 0.7| 37/12
Industrials | 16.2386| 0.5| 20/8
Information Technology | 14.9804| 0.6| 7/3
Utilities | 7.1002| 0.8| 9/6
Consumer Staples | 1.5519| 0.2| 6/4
Health Care | 1.2241| 1.7| 2/2
Consumer Discretionary | -1.1121| -0.1| 1/10
Real Estate | -3.4630| -0.7| 1/19
Communication Services | -5.3725| -0.9| 2/3
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Brookfield Corp | 13.8600| 1.7| -26.8| 54.2
Canadian Natural Resources | 9.9020| 1.6| -23.3| -0.5
Enbridge | 9.7620| 1.1| -40.6| 25.9
Restaurant Brands | -1.9720| -0.9| 156.3| -8.1
BCE | -2.8750| -1.4| 4.1| -37.1
Waste Connections | -8.6560| -1.9| 17.2| 24.2
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A rally in some of the world’s largest technology companies spurred a rebound in stocks, following a brief slide fueled by weaker-than-expected data on US consumer confidence.
In a thin trading session at the start of a holiday-shortened week, the S&P 500 finished near session highs.
Nvidia Corp., Meta Platforms Inc. and Tesla Inc. drove a gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” megacaps up almost 1.5%.
“Primary uptrends remain intact for equities despite the recent profit-taking,” said Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler.
“Given the short-term oversold conditions, we expect a ‘Santa Claus Rally’ to be a strong possibility this year.”
To Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson, negative breadth — when falling shares outnumber those that are rising — may not matter as much for high-quality stock indexes with robust price momentum.
Earlier Monday, stocks lost steam momentarily after data showed consumer confidence unexpectedly sank for the first time in three months on concerns about the outlook for the economy.
“The economic outlook is deteriorating,” said Neil Dutta at Renaissance Macro Research.
“This was true before the Fed’s December confab and remains true. The risk of the Fed flip-flopping is quite high.”
The S&P 500 added 0.7%.
The Nasdaq 100 climbed 1%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%.
Qualcomm Inc. climbed after prevailing at trial against Arm Holdings Plc’s claim that it breached a license for chip technology.
Rumble Inc. soared the most on record as Tether will buy a stake in the video-sharing platform.
The Nordstrom family is joining forces with a Mexican retailer to take its namesake department store private.
Treasury 10-year yields advanced six basis points to 4.59%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%.
The S&P 500 is on its way to record a stellar annual return and back-to-back years of more than 20% gains.
The index has risen about 25% since the end of 2023, with the top seven biggest technology stocks accounting for more than half of the advance.
“Last week’s action should mark the end of the recent pullback and allow a ‘Santa Claus Rally’,” said Jonathan Krinsky at BTIG.
“We do think a deeper correction early in ’25 is likely, albeit from a new all-time high.”
Whether or not the gauge will be able to stage a “Santa Claus Rally,” that continues to be a barometer of investors’ optimism into the new year.
That seven-day period includes the last five trading days of the old year and the first two of the new one.
A positive “Santa Claus Rally” has preceded a 10.4% average annual gain for the S&P 500 since World War II, as well as a 74% frequency of advance, according to Sam Stovall at CFRA.
However, a decline in this seven-day period saw the gauge post an average annual increase of only 5.7%, posting a gain just 32% of the time.
Yet Stovall says a more accurate indicator in his view is the “January Barometer.”
Since 1945, if the year started with a gain in January, the S&P 500 rose an average of 18.3% in price during the entire year, advancing an average of 91% of the time, Stovall said.
If the first month declined in price, however, the average full-year return was negative 1.9%.

Corporate Highlights:
* MetLife Inc. agreed to buy PineBridge Investments’ assets outside of China from Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li’s Pacific Century Group as part of the US insurer’s push to grow in asset management.
* Xerox has agreed to buy printer maker Lexmark International Inc. from a consortium of Asian investors in a deal valued at $1.5 billion.
* Hyatt Hotels Corp. is in exclusive talks with Playa Hotels & Resorts NV over strategic options that may include an acquisition of the all-inclusive resort owner.
* Aviva Plc agreed to buy Direct Line Insurance Group Plc for roughly £3.7 billion ($4.65 billion) in a deal that would create the UK’s largest motor insurer.
* Prosus NV is acquiring online travel agency Despegar.com Corp. for $1.7 billion as the Dutch technology investor seeks to expand its online commerce presence in Latin America.
* Honda Motor Co. sketched plans for a drawn-out deal that amounts to a takeover of Nissan Motor Co. in all but name, as Japan’s automakers struggle to keep up in an increasingly competitive global car industry.

Key events this week:
* Christmas Day, Wednesday
* US initial jobless claims, Thursday
* Boxing Day, Thursday
* Japan Tokyo CPI, unemployment, industrial production, retail sales, Friday
* US goods trade, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.6%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 1.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.0407
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.2535
* The Japanese yen fell 0.5% to 157.14 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 2% to $93,183.23
* Ether rose 3.8% to $3,406
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced six basis points to 4.59%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 2.32%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 4.55%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed
* Spot gold fell 0.4% to $2,611.15 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Robert Brand, Winnie Hsu and Matthew Burgess.

Have a wonderful evening!

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shab
” Let no one be deluded that a knowledge of the path can substitute for putting one foot in front of the other.” — Mary Caroline Richards

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

December 20, 1790: 1st successful US cotton mill begins spinning yarn in Pawtucket, Rhode Island built by Samuel Slater based on Richard Arkwright‘s design

December 20, 1879: Thomas Edison privately demonstrated incandescent light at Menlo Park. Go to article

188 medieval figurines that held Christian saints’ bones unearthed in Berlin’s oldest town square
Archaeologists have found 188 medieval reliquaries during excavations at a square in Berlin. Some of them still contain human bones of people considered to be saints or holy.

Meteor strikes on the moon! Astronomer captures possible Geminid lunar impacts
A Japanese astronomer captured several impacts on the moon during the Geminid meteor shower.

Ancient Assyrian capital that’s been abandoned for 2,700 years revealed in new magnetic survey
A new magnetic survey of the ancient Assyrian capital of Khorsabad has revealed several structures, including a villa, buried underground.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Egrets rest among solar panels in Jiangsu, eastern China
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

An elephant inspects a bus in Kataragama, Sri Lanka
Photograph: Ishara S Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images

Guests stand in the reception of the Parisian hotel resort which is decorated with a replica of The Coronation of Napoleon
Photograph: Eduardo Leal
Market Closes for December 20, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	42840.26	+498.02
		+1.18%
S&P 500	5930.85	+63.77
		+1.09%
NASDAQ	19572.60	+199.83
		+1.03%
TSX	24599.48	+185.54
		+0.76 %

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38701.90	-111.68
		-0.29%
HANG SENG	19720.70	-31.81
		-0.16%
SENSEX	78041.59	-1176.46
		-1.49%
FTSE 100*	8084.61	-20.71
		-0.26%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.278	3.346
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.343	3.391
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.5222	4.5621
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.7204	4.7355

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6957	0.6941
US $	1.4374	1.4407

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4991	0.6671
US $	1.0429	0.9588

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2592.45	2592.45
Oil
WTI Crude Future	70.06	70.58

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1994, Mexico plunged into financial crisis after announcing a shock devaluation of the peso. The currency lost 40% of its value over the next six weeks, spurring a deep recession.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.8% at 24,599.48 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 1.4% on Nov. 21 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.6%.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.7%.
BlackBerry Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 23.1%.
Today, 165 of 219 shares rose, while 50 fell; all sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 17%, poised for the best year since 2021
* This quarter, the index rose 2.5%
* This month, the index fell 4.1%
* So far this week, the index fell 2.7%, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended Sept. 22
* 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 4.8% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 20.2% 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$3.85t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.38% compared with 10.11% in the previous session and the average of 8.59% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 44.3779| 0.5| 18/8
Materials | 35.4787| 1.3| 39/9
Information Technology | 35.2927| 1.4| 10/0
Industrials | 19.7660| 0.6| 20/7
Energy | 18.2220| 0.4| 26/15
Utilities | 9.2320| 1.0| 14/1
Consumer Discretionary | 9.0530| 1.1| 9/2
Real Estate | 7.2692| 1.5| 19/0
Consumer Staples | 3.3069| 0.3| 2/7
Communication Services | 2.1804| 0.4| 4/1
Health Care | 1.3526| 1.9| 4/0
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | 22.3200| 1.7| 170.3| 51.9
Enbridge | 13.2800| 1.5| 111.8| 24.6
RBC | 10.8100| 0.6| 201.7| 29.4
Suncor | -1.8710| -0.4| 1.3| 16.8
Cameco | -1.9530| -0.8| 127.1| 32.1
TFI International | -3.1060| -2.7| 176.5| 10.4
US
By Rheaa Rao and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Major US stock indexes saw their worst week since mid-November after the Federal Reserve’s decision to be more cautious about cutting interest rates next year roiled markets.
Treasuries sold off for a second consecutive week.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 rose on Friday — paring what would have been a steeper weekly selloff — after fresh data calmed anxieties about inflation.
Bloomberg’s dollar gauge saw its worst drop this month, but was still higher for the third straight week.
While Treasury yields are lower across the curve on Friday, the 10-year rate has climbed more than 10 basis points this week.
The Fed shook markets on Wednesday when it scaled back the number of cuts it anticipates in 2025.
A relentless stream of data showing how strong the economy is only validated the central bank’s view.
With Fed Chair Jerome Powell focused on inflation progress, the muted personal consumption expenditures data for November that released Friday likely reassured policymakers — and investors — that the economy is cooling despite being robust.
“I don’t know why we always have to be reminded that the Fed not cutting rates — or not cutting rates as fast — is actually good news if it’s driven by stronger economic data, and that’s exactly what the Fed is telling us,” Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth, said in an interview, adding that the selloff after the Fed meeting was a “major overreaction.”
The Fed is now likely to wait and see how tariff and immigration policies unfold over the next coming months before implementing another cut, said Olu Sonola, Fitch Ratings’ head of US economic research.
With the central bank facing these policy uncertainties from the incoming administration, odds still favor a pause on rate cuts in January, said Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, E*Trade from Morgan Stanley.
Concerns also grew about a looming US government shutdown.
House Republicans said they will vote Friday on funding to keep the government open through March 14, provide disaster relief and give billions of dollars in economic aid to farmers.
“The real problem is the shutdown, one wasn’t expecting this, it’s a surprise for the market, just as the Fed was a surprise,” said Jeanne Asseraf-Bitton, head of research and strategy at BFT IM in Paris.
“All in all this week is a difficult one.”
Meanwhile, US consumer sentiment rose for a fifth month in December.
The sentiment index continues to reflect an improving outlook among Republicans after November’s election, while Democrats grow more downbeat.
Friday’s US options expiration, which has historically stoked turbulence, offered a final hurdle to end-of-year calm.
The quarterly “triple-witching” saw some $6.5 trillion worth of options tied to individual stocks, indexes and exchange-traded funds fall off the board, this year’s largest, according to an estimate from derivatives analytical firm Asym 500.
Elsewhere, Brazilian markets bounced at the end of the week amid extraordinary central bank moves to curb a selloff in the currency.
The real was among the best performers in emerging markets Friday.
In the UK, long-term government borrowing costs are approaching the highest level since 1998 as investors struggle to work out how much the Bank of England will cut interest rates next year.
In just one week, the market went from wagering on the possibility of four interest rate cuts next year to fewer than two, and then back to entertaining the chance of three.
In Asia, China’s one-year bond yield slumped to 1% for the first time since the global financial crisis, as traders ramped up bets on monetary easing.
The yen trimmed weekly losses after Japan’s key inflation gauge strengthened for the first time in three months and Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato warned against currency speculation.
Crude posted a weekly loss as traders mulled the Fed’s hawkish pivot and and President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on EU countries unless they buy more US oil and gas.

Some of the main moves in markets
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.1% as of 4:14 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.8%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.5%
* The euro rose 0.6% to $1.0428
* The British pound rose 0.6% to $1.2575
* The Japanese yen rose 0.7% to 156.32 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 2% to $95,420.2
* Ether fell 0.7% to $3,393.53
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.53%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.29%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined seven basis points to 4.51%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to $69.51 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1.2% to $2,623.86 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Margaryta Kirakosian, John Viljoen, Sagarika Jaisinghani, Emily Graffeo, Julien Ponthus and Andre Janse van Vuuren.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shab
” Enthusiasm is the most important thing in life.”– Tennessee Williams

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

December 19, 1783: William Pitt the Younger becomes the youngest ever British Prime Minister at age 24
December 19, 1958: First radio broadcast from space, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends a Christmas message “to all mankind, America’s wish for peace on Earth and goodwill to men everywhere”
December 19, 1984 (40 years ago today) Britain and China signed an accord returning Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. Go to article
December 19, 1988: NASA unveils plans for lunar colony & manned missions to Mars.

NASA commander Suni Williams meets tentacled Astrobee robot on ISS
The robot’s flexible arms are a technology demonstration that could one day aid in satellite maintenance and space debris management.

Rare army general and chariot unearthed among China’s Terracotta Warriors
The life-size clay figurines offer new insights into the organization and structure of China’s army 2,000 years ago.

‘Truly extraordinary’ ancient offerings, including statues of snakes and a child priest, found submerged in ‘healing’ spring in Italy
Archaeologists in Italy have dug down deeper into a hot spring that was used, over two millennia ago, by a people known as the Etruscans as a sacred place to leave their votive offerings. Read more.

‘Alien plant’ fossil discovered near Utah ghost town doesn’t belong to any known plant families, living or extinct
Fossilized plant remains discovered near a Utah ghost town have stumped scientists, who are unable to link them to any modern or extinct plants. Read more.

James Webb telescope uncovers massive ‘grand design’ spiral galaxy in the early universe — and scientists can’t explain how it got so big, so fast
Galaxies in the early universe tend to be clumpy, but the new JWST discovery of a “grand design” spiral galaxy just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang has scientists stumped. Read more.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Kent, UK
The Folkestone White Horse gets a makeover inspired by Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Reuters

Hawaii, US
Canada’s Erin Brooks competes to win the women’s Vans 2024 Pipe Masters on Oahu’s north shore
Photograph: Brian Bielmann/AFP/Getty Images

​​​​​​​Harbin, China
Ice and Snow World prepares to open to tourists in Heilongjiang province
Photograph: Weitao Tian/Getty Images
Market Closes for December 19, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	42342.24	+15.37
		+0.04%
S&P 500	5867.08	-5.08
		-09%
NASDAQ	19372.77	-19.92
		-0.10%
TSX	24413.94	-143.06
		-0.58 %

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38813.58	-268.13
		-0.69%
HANG SENG	19752.51	-112.04
		-0.56%
SENSEX	79218.05	-964.15
		-1.20%
FTSE 100*	8105.32	-93.79
		-1.14%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.346	3.224
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.391	3.271
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.5621	4.5140
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.7355	4.6753

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6941	0.6919
US $	1.4407	1.4452

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4935	0.6696
US $	1.0366	0.9647

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2592.45	2636.35
Oil
WTI Crude Future	70.58	70.08

Market Commentary:
🚂 On this day in 1868: Cornelius Vanderbilt bought additional shares of the New York Central Railroad. He then convened an emergency meeting of the board of directors, which declared an 80% dividend. The stock shot up over the next two days, at which point Vanderbilt dumped his new shares for a $5.5 million profit.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the sixth day, dropping 0.6%, or 143.06 to 24,413.94 in Toronto.
The index dropped to the lowest closing level since Nov. 5.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.7%.
Cargojet Inc. had the largest drop, falling 4.5%.
Today, 149 of 219 shares fell, while 66 rose; all sectors were lower, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 16%, poised for the best year since 2021
* This quarter, the index rose 1.7%
* So far this week, the index fell 3.4%, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended Sept. 22
* The index advanced 17% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 22% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 5.5% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 19.3% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 3.9% in the past 5 days and fell 2.4% 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 16.8 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$3.87t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 10.11% compared with 10.01% in the previous session and the average of 8.50% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | -39.6081| -1.6| 3/7
Industrials | -37.0873| -1.2| 6/20
Materials | -24.1725| -0.9| 12/36
Financials | -11.9918| -0.1| 13/13
Energy | -8.7500| -0.2| 19/22
Communication Services | -7.8981| -1.3| 0/5
Real Estate | -7.1787| -1.5| 2/18
Consumer Discretionary | -4.0495| -0.5| 3/8
Consumer Staples | -1.3916| -0.1| 4/5
Health Care | -0.6460| -0.9| 1/3
Utilities | -0.2775| 0.0| 3/12
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | -36.2400| -2.7| 13.0| 49.4
Canadian Pacific Kansas | -20.8000| -3.0| 10.8| -2.5
TD Bank | -7.3470| -0.8| -11.6| -13.3
CGI Inc | 3.4860| 1.6| 45.4| 10.6
Bank of Montreal | 4.0400| 0.6| -37.7| 6.1
Manulife Financial | 5.3610| 1.0| -12.3| 48.0
US
By Rheaa Rao and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — US stocks ended a choppy session with modest losses, struggling to rebound from the selloff they suffered after the Federal Reserve dialed back rate-cut expectations for next year.
The S&P 500 gave up earlier gains to end the day little changed.
The Nasdaq 100 dropped 0.5% after oscillating between small advances and declines for most of the session.
The US 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.57%, a level last seen in May.
A Bloomberg dollar index continued to hover around 2022 highs.
The yen remained lower after the Bank of Japan left borrowing costs unchanged earlier.
Mexico’s peso shrugged off losses after the country’s central bank delivered a fourth consecutive rate cut.
The US economy remains resilient, as data on Thursday continued to prove.
Notably, one of the Fed’s preferred gauges of inflation was revised up to 2.2%.
Given that Chair Jerome Powell said future easing would require fresh progress on inflation, markets will now be closely watching the last noteworthy piece of data for the year — personal consumption expenditures for November — due Friday.
For now, investors are being defensive, said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co.
“They’re not jumping back into the market with both feet,” he said. “So, if we don’t get some relief from the bond market soon, there might not be a Santa Claus rally this year.”
Markets were jolted after the Fed scaled back the number of cuts it anticipates in 2025 to two.
The so-called hawkish pivot was likely what the central bank had planned for next year before the meeting, according to Evercore ISI’s Krishna Guha.
Powell said on Wednesday that some policymakers had begun to weave into their forecasts the potential impact of higher tariffs that President-elect Donald Trump may implement.
“To a large degree the Fed decided to pad its forecast and pre-position for Trump – pulling forward much of what would otherwise have been a hawkish update in March,” Guha wrote in a note.
That makes the Fed’s pronouncement of a new phase of policy “hawkish absolutely, but not as hawkish as it looked,” Guha wrote.
He’s expecting the US central bank to skip a rate cut in January unless cracks appear in the labor market.
The swaps market is now implying fewer than two quarter-point reductions for the entirety of 2025, even less than what was implied in the Fed’s so-called dot plot on Wednesday.
Traders also parsed gross domestic product numbers on Thursday.
The data showed that the US economy expanded at a faster clip in the third quarter than previously expected.
Consumer spending was also marked up.
Applications for US unemployment benefits fell last week amid volatility seen during the holiday season. Existing-home sales in the US topped a rate of 4 million in November for the first time in six months.

US Corporate Highlights
* Shares of FedEx Corp. rose more than 10% postmarket after the firm said in plans to spin off its freight division into a separate publicly traded company. It also reported earnings.
* Nike Inc. reported sales that surpassed analysts’ expectations, giving new Chief Executive Officer Elliott Hill a positive development to tout during his first earnings call. Shares jumped in extended trading.
* United States Steel Corp. warned its fourth-quarter earnings will be lower than anticipated as steel prices remain depressed in the US and as the demand environment in Europe is weak. Shares declined in after-hours trading.
* Bankrupt retailer Big Lots Inc. no longer anticipates it can complete its asset sale to private equity firm Nexus Capital Management LP, and will commence the sale of its stores in coming days.

Beyond the US
Earlier, the Bank of England kept borrowing costs unchanged at 4.75%.
Still, money markets now see two quarter-point reductions and a strong chance of a third in 2025 after three of the nine-member policy committee called for a cut at Thursday’s meeting.
Swap traders had priced in less than two reductions next year prior to the announcement.
The pound declined.
The yen weakened after comments by BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda cast doubt on whether the bank could hike interest rates in January.
In China, authorities ramped up support for the currency via its daily reference rate after the Fed’s caution over future rate cuts sent the offshore yuan to a fresh one-year low.
In commodities, oil fell by almost 1% after the Fed’s outlook for next year boosted the dollar.

Key events this week:
* Japan CPI, Friday
* China loan prime rates, Friday
* Eurozone consumer confidence, Friday
* US personal income, spending & PCE inflation, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4:07 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.7%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro rose 0.1% to $1.0367
* The British pound fell 0.6% to $1.2503
* The Japanese yen fell 1.7% to 157.38 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 4.4% to $96,504.7
* Ether fell 8.2% to $3,388.84
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced six basis points to 4.57%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced six basis points to 2.31%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.58%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.9% to $69.91 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.4% to $2,596.85 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Cecile Gutscher, Cristin Flanagan and Andre Janse van Vuuren.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shab
“How very little can be done under the spirit of fear.”– Florence Nightingale

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:
December 18,1865: The United States /Congress formally adopts the 13^th Amendment, abolishing slavery throughout America.  This watershed moment transforms American society and establishes fundamental human rights in law.

On Dec. 18, 1957, the Shipping port Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first civilian nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went online.  Go to article

Antonio Stradivari, violin maker, b.1737.
Paul Klee, artist, b. 1879.
Stephen Spielberg, filmmaker, b. 1947.
Brad Pitt, actor, b. 1964.
Katie Holmes, actress, b. 1978.
Christina Aguilera, singer, b. 1980

A small glass of wine each day might be good for the heart, study finds
But slow your pour … Many medical experts don’t have grape feelings about daily wine consumption.

Prince Harry and Meghan share photo of their children on Christmas card
This year marks the first time since 2021 that Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex have released a Christmas card featuring their children, whose privacy they fiercely guard.

‘Bluey: The Movie’ is coming
A movie based on the popular children’s animated series “Bluey” is headed to theaters. Here’s what we know about the project.

Tom Cruise becomes a military hero in real life
After years of playing military heroes on screen, Tom Cruise is now one in real life. The “Top Gun” star was awarded the US Navy’s highest honor that a person outside of the Department of the Navy can receive.

Milwaukee Bucks win NBA Cup title
The Milwaukee Bucks won the second annual NBA Cup after stifling the Oklahoma City Thunder 97-81 in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was named MVP.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Stourhead, UK
Visitors walk under illuminated feathers, part of the Christmas at Stourhead seasonal lights trail
Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Prague, Czech Republic
People watch as Jan Tater lights one of the historic gas lamps on the city’s Charles Bridge. During Advent all 46 lanterns are manually lit daily, a tradition started in 1847
Photograph: Martin Divíšek/EPA

Soham, UK
A Christmas lights display at the home of Helen and John Attlesey in Cambridgeshire, who decorate their house every year to raise money for three charities that supported their grandson Jacob, who was diagnosed with epilepsy
Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA
Market Closes for December 18, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	42326.87	-1123.03
		-2.58%
S&P 500	5872.16	-178.45
		-2.95%
NASDAQ	19392.70	-716.36
		-3.56%
TSX	24557.00	-562.71
		-2.24 %

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39081.71	-282.97
		-0.72%
HANG SENG	19864.55	+164.07
		+0.83%
SENSEX	80684.45	-1064.12
		-1.30%
FTSE 100*	8199.11	+3.91
		+0.05%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.224	3.142
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.271	3.223
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.5140	4.3888
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.6753	4.5808

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6919	0.7023
US $	1.4452	1.4239

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4980	0.6675
US $	1.0366	0.9647

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2636.35	2659.05
Oil
WTI Crude Future	70.08	71.29

Market Commentary:

📈 On this day in 1899, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 8.7%, on news of heavy casualties in the war against rebels in the Philippines. Canada By Bloomberg Automation (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the fifth day, dropping 2.2%, or 562.71 to 24,557.00 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 2.3% on Feb. 13. Today, financials stocks led the market lower, as all sectors lost; 204 of 219 shares fell, while 14 rose. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline and had the largest move, decreasing 7.3%. Insights * In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss once * This year, the index rose 17%, poised for the best year since 2021 * This quarter, the index rose 2.3% * 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 5% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 20% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024 * The S&P/TSX Composite is down 4.3% in the past 5 days and fell 1.7% 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$3.96t * 30-day price volatility rose to 10.01% compared with 7.65% in the previous session and the average of 8.43% over the past month ================================================================ | Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec ================================================================ Financials | -164.8485| -2.0| 2/24 Information Technology| -150.7941| -5.6| 0/10 Materials | -100.6453| -3.5| 2/48 Energy | -71.1260| -1.7| 0/41 Industrials | -18.6779| -0.6| 5/22 Utilities | -17.3305| -1.8| 1/13 Consumer Discretionary| -16.8218| -2.0| 1/10 Real Estate | -12.8450| -2.6| 0/20 Consumer Staples | -4.7124| -0.5| 1/9 Communication Services| -2.6484| -0.4| 2/3 Health Care | -2.2376| -3.1| 0/4 ================================================================ | | |Volume VS| YTD | Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%) ================================================================ Shopify | -106.3000| -7.3| 27.7| 53.5 Brookfield Corp | -44.4200| -5.2| 18.5| 50.6 RBC | -40.2800| -2.3| 66.6| 29.1 Torex Gold Resources | 1.1690| 7.2| 196.2| 98.7 Canadian Pacific Kansas | 1.5700| 0.2| 2.2| 0.6 GFL Environmental | 2.9320| 2.9| 148.3| 43.6 US By Rheaa Rao and Emily Graffeo (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve jarred US markets Wednesday, pushing stocks lower and sending Treasury yields soaring, after forecasting fewer interest rate cuts next year. It was the worst loss for the S&P 500 on the day of a rate decision since 2001. The S&P 500 fell below the 6,000 level, suffering its worst session since August. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 dropped 3.6%, the most in five months. Micron Technology Inc. fell post market after reporting earnings. The policy-sensitive two-year US Treasury yield surged 10 basis points to 4.35% and the 10-year rate rose to a level last seen in May. Bloomberg’s gauge of the dollar jumped to its highest since November 2022. While Jerome Powell delivered a widely expected quarter- point rate cut following a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the central bank signaled increasing wariness around inflation, including a reduction in how far members expect easing to go in 2025. Powell reemphasized that the central bank would be more cautious as it considers further adjustments to the policy rate and said the Fed is committed to reaching its 2% target. “We need to see progress on inflation,” Powell said. “That is how we are thinking about it. It is kind of a new thing. We moved quickly to get to here but moving forward we are moving slower.” The velocity of Wednesday’s drop befit the speed with which the Fed’s pivoted back to an inflation-leery posture. Before the latest session, the S&P 500 had surged more than 10% since the FOMC’s July 31 rate decision, at which the central bank dropped its one-sided risk assessment and said keeping the labor market expanding had become a bigger priority. In Wednesday’s briefing, the chair also said some policymakers had begun to incorporate into their forecasts the potential impact of higher tariffs that President-elect Donald Trump may implement. But he said the impact of such policy proposals was at this point highly uncertain. Max Gokhman, senior vice president at Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions, called Powell “a hawk in dove’s clothing.” “Despite playing down the recent slowdown in disinflation while boasting about the strength of economic momentum, he still hinted that tariffs won’t be written off as transitory and that the two-cut forecast for 2025 is necessary because policy must remain restrictive,” he said. The last time the S&P 500 saw losses of the magnitude on Fed’s decision day was on Sept. 17, 2001, when the index fell nearly 5%. It fell 12% on March 16, 2020, a day after the Federal Reserve’s emergency weekend meeting during the pandemic. Whitney Watson of Goldman Sachs Asset Management expects the Fed to skip a rate cut in January before resuming on its easing path in March. “While the Fed opted to round out the year with a third consecutive cut, its New Year’s resolution appears to be for a more gradual pace of easing,” Watson, global co-head and co-chief investment officer of fixed income and liquidity solutions at the firm, said. Key events this week: * Japan rate decision, Thursday * UK BOE rate decision * US revised GDP, Thursday * Japan CPI, Friday * China loan prime rates, Friday * Eurozone consumer confidence, Friday * US personal income, spending & PCE inflation, Friday Stocks * The S&P 500 fell 2.9% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time * The Nasdaq 100 fell 3.6% * The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.6% * The MSCI World Index fell 2.6% Currencies * The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.9% * The euro fell 1.2% to $1.0368 * The British pound fell 1% to $1.2583 * The Japanese yen fell 0.8% to 154.64 per dollar Cryptocurrencies * Bitcoin fell 5.2% to $100,886.84 * Ether fell 6% to $3,693.97 Bonds * The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced 10 basis points to 4.50% * Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 2.25% * Britain’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 4.56% Commodities * West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.1% to $69.99 a barrel * Spot gold fell 2% to $2,593.75 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation. –With assistance from Vildana Hajric, Lu Wang and Stephen Kirkland. Have a lovely evening. Be magnificent! As ever, Carolann Those who cannot love want power. – Adolph Guggenbuhl-Craig, 1923-2008.

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:
The beginning of Saturnalia in ancient Rome: Roman masters served their slaves December 17-23.

December 17^th, 1903: Orville Wright pilots the first powered aircraft for 12 seconds at Kitty Hawk, Norh Carolina.  This breakthrough launches the age of aviation and transforms human transport forever.
Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful man-powered airplane flight, near Kitty Hawk, N.C.  Go to article.

December 17, 1971: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Aretha Franklin perform at a benefit at the Apollo for the Attica Prison Uprising families.

1790: Aztec calendar stone discovered.

World’s 1st nuclear-diamond battery of its kind could power devices for 1000s of years
The world’s first nuclear-diamond battery uses carbon-14 to power devices for more than 10,000 years. Read More.

Do atoms ever touch?
Atoms make up everything around us, but do these building blocks of matter ever actually touch? Read More.

Woman who stowed away on Delta flight to Paris apprehended again
The woman who stowed away on a Delta flight from New York to Paris last month was taken into custody again, this time trying to sneak into Canada.

China extends visa-free transit policy
China has tripled the amount of time visitors can spend in the country without a visa in yet another move to entice more foreign tourists.

China extends visa-free transit policy
China has tripled the amount of time visitors can spend in the country without a visa in yet another move to entice more foreign tourists.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Val Gardena, Italy
Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt in action during men’s downhill training for the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
Photograph: Leonhard Föger/Reuters

Yala, Sri Lanka
Malabar pied hornbills perch on a tree at the Yala national park
Photograph: Ishara S Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images

​​​​​​​Changchun, China
Aerial view of ice sculptures at Changchun Ice and Snow New World in Jilin province
Photograph: VCG/Getty Images
Market Closes for December 17, 2024

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	43449.90	-267.58
		-0.61%
S&P 500	6050.61	-23.47
		-0.39%
NASDAQ	20109.06	-64.83
		-0.32%
TSX	25119.71	-27.50
		-0.11%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39277.29	-87.39
		-0.22%
HANG SENG	19852.77	+152.29
		+0.77%
SENSEX	80684.45	-1064.12
		-1.30%
FTSE 100*	8195.20	-66.85
		-0.81%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.142	3.187
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.223	3.279
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.3888	4.3967
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.5808	4.5984

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6983	0.7023
US $	1.4320	1.4239

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.5034	0.6652
US $	1.0499	0.9525

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2654.20	2659.05
Oil
WTI Crude Future	70.08	71.29

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1992, the U.S., Canada and Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, after 14 months of negotiations.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the fourth day, dropping 0.1%, or 27.5 to 25,119.71 in Toronto.
The index dropped to the lowest closing level since Nov. 20.
Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 0.6%.
Air Canada had the largest drop, falling 9.4%.
Today, 139 of 219 shares fell, while 76 rose; 7 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 20%, poised for the best year since 2021
* This quarter, the index rose 4.7%
* The index advanced 22% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 27% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.8% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 22.7% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.5% in the past 5 days and rose 0.9% 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$3.96t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 7.65% compared with 8.13% in the previous session and the average of 8.36% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | -24.4370| -0.3| 5/21
Energy | -18.0625| -0.4| 4/35
Industrials | -13.6834| -0.4| 11/16
Materials | -9.9505| -0.3| 17/31
Consumer Staples | -8.4763| -0.8| 3/7
Communication Services | -7.5002| -1.2| 0/5
Consumer Discretionary | -0.5763| -0.1| 4/7
Utilities | 0.9117| 0.1| 8/7
Health Care | 1.3569| 1.9| 3/1
Real Estate | 2.6597| 0.5| 15/5
Information Technology | 50.2618| 1.9| 6/4
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
TD Bank | -5.7550| -0.6| -19.3| -12.2
Air Canada | -5.5050| -9.4| 125.0| 20.9
Telus | -4.3920| -2.1| 49.0| -14.7
Canadian National | 3.4950| 0.6| -45.0| -11.5
Constellation Software | 4.8420| 0.8| 51.1| 41.8
Shopify | 47.1900| 3.4| -18.9| 65.6
US
By Rheaa Rao
(Bloomberg) — US stocks declined as traders braced for the Federal Reserve’s widely anticipated rate decision and its forecast for next year.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 slid 0.4%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its longest losing streak since 1978.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.40%.
Bloomberg’s dollar gauge fluctuated for most of the session.
Earlier, data showed that US retail sales increased at a firm pace in November, highlighting consumer resilience.
While the report didn’t seem to change expectations for a rate cut by the Fed this week, there is an understanding that the central bank will prepare the market for a pause early next year, said Ian Lyngen of BMO Capital Markets.
Industrial production data also came in Tuesday, unexpectedly declining for a third month in November.
Traders are now turning to the Fed’s last rate decision of the year due Wednesday.
A quarter-point cut is widely expected, but what happens in the following months is less clear.
While the US economy is resilient, the prospect of inflationary import tariffs proposed by the incoming administration of Donald Trump may give Fed officials pause about the pace of further moves.
Bank of America Corp. sees the Fed lowering interest rates to the 3.75% level — or three more cuts from where they are, CEO Brian Moynihan said on Bloomberg Television.
“They need to bring it down a little bit, they just have to be more careful because the economy is stronger than we thought three months ago, six months ago but still has potential weaknesses” he said.
“We haven’t even talked about what is going on outside the United States that could affect it — not tariffs but wars.”
On the other hand, Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, E*Trade from Morgan Stanley, says more strong economic data like retail sales could bolster the case for the Fed to pause in January.
In either case, what happens to stocks and bonds will be determined by what the Fed says about cuts in 2025 instead of the central bank’s decision tomorrow, wrote Tom Essaye, president and founder of Sevens Report and a former Merrill Lynch trader.
In Canada, inflation dropped below the central bank’s target for the second time in three months.
The data is expected to give Bank of Canada officials confidence that their rapid rate cuts didn’t derail their efforts to keep price gains at the 2% target.
However, persisting political discord in Canada pushed the loonie to a Covid-era low.
Concerns over Brazil’s ballooning debt and deficits pushed the real to all-time lows.
To stem the slide in the currency, its central bank sold over $3 billion in local markets in back-to-back auctions — its fourth intervention in three days.
Elsewhere, money markets continued to trim wagers on Bank of England interest-rate cuts as attention turns to Wednesday’s UK November inflation figures.
Traders place the chance of a third quarter-point reduction next year at 25%, down from 90% on Monday.
Gilt yields rose.
Earlier, index of Asian currencies fell to the lowest in more than two years amid pessimism over China’s economic outlook and expectations that Trump policies will drive gains in the greenback.
Among other notable currencies, the yen snapped a six-day losing streak. The yen’s rapid decline in the past week had strategists warning that further weakness may trigger verbal intervention from authorities and add pressure on the Bank of Japan to hike rates.
Meanwhile, oil fell for a second day after Chinese economic data stoked concerns about demand and equity markets slipped. 

Key events this week:
* UK CPI, Wednesday
* Eurozone CPI, Wednesday
* US rate decision, Wednesday
* Japan rate decision, Thursday
* UK BOE rate decision
* US revised GDP, Thursday
* Japan CPI, Friday
* China loan prime rates, Friday
* Eurozone consumer confidence, Friday
* US personal income, spending & PCE inflation, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.4% as of 4:02 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.0488
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.2709
* The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 153.55 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.5% to $106,608.76
* Ether fell 2.9% to $3,929.27
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.40%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.23%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced eight basis points to 4.52%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.7% to $70.19 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $2,643.85 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Vildana Hajric and Andre Janse van Vuuren.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen;  even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. -Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519.

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