Category: Newsletters

Dear Friends,

Tangents: U.S. Presidential Inauguration Day.

On Jan. 20, 1981, Iran released 52 Americans held hostage for 444 days, minutes after the presidency had passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan.  Go to article » 
 
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration 
CREDIT: ANDREW HARNIK/AP

A man rides a penny-farthing bicycle in central London
CREDIT: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

David Gilligan took first prize in the Trail magazine’s 2020 UK Mountain Photo of the Year award with this self-portrait, standing atop the rocks of Castell y Gwynt in Glyder Fach, Snowdonia
CREDIT:DAVID GILLIGAN/TRAIL MAGAZINE

Market Closes for January 20^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	31188.38	+257.86
		+0.83%
S&P 500	3851.85	+52.94
		+1.39%
NASDAQ	13457.250	+260.070 +1.97%
TSX	18014.91	+57.54
		+0.32%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28523.26	-110.20
		-0.38%
HANG SENG	29962.47	+320.19
		+1.08%
SENSEX	49792.12	+393.83
		+0.80%
FTSE 100*	6740.39	+27.44 +0.41%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.826	0.803
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.459	1.441
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.0802	1.0903
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8296	1.8381

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79234	0.78520
US $	1.26208	1.27357
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.52922	0.65393
US $	1.21167	0.82531

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1834.70	1833.05
Oil
WTI Crude Future	53.24	52.98

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1870, the first known female-owned U.S. stock brokerage was launched, as sisters Victoria Woodhull and Tennie Claflin opened their Woodhull, Claflin & Co. at 44 Broad St. in Manhattan. Bedeviled by rumors that it was merely a front for Woodhull’s supposed lover, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, the firm did not survive long.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equity markets rose on Wednesday, as the Bank of Canada adopted a positive tone on the outlook for the nation’s economy. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.3% in Toronto. Materials and tech stocks were the best performers, while health care was the worst sector. The Bank of Canada is choosing to look past a weak start to 2021 as vaccine efforts accelerate. In a decision Wednesday from Ottawa, policy makers led by Governor Tiff Macklem said the economy remains on a two-year timeline to fully repair damage from the pandemic and doesn’t currently need additional support, even amid a wave of new Covid-19 cases and lockdowns.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 1.6% to $1,870.02 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.7% to C$1.2643 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose to 0.826%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 0.3 percent, or 57.54 to 18,014.91 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 1.1 percent on Jan. 7. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.5 percent. MEG Energy Corp. had the largest increase, rising 9.8 percent. Today, 138 of 221 shares rose, while 80 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 3.3 percent
* The index advanced 2.4 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 17 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.2 percent below its 52-week high on Jan. 8, 2021 and 61.2 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.4 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.7 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
26.4 on a trailing basis and 17.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.77t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.01 percent compared with
8.01 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.62 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 34.0496| 1.4| 45/7
Information Technology | 26.2960| 1.4| 9/1
Real Estate | 7.6815| 1.4| 25/1
Utilities | 3.9558| 0.4| 12/4
Consumer Discretionary | 3.0215| 0.4| 8/5
Consumer Staples | 0.0892| 0.0| 4/5
Financials | -1.0398| 0.0| 14/11
Communication Services | -1.5672| -0.2| 3/4
Energy | -4.5869| -0.2| 8/14
Health Care | -4.6233| -1.7| 1/8
Industrials | -5.7311| -0.3| 9/20
US
By Adam Haigh and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied to all-time highs as investors grew optimistic that recent federal spending will revive growth and bolster corporate earnings. Treasuries were little changed while the dollar weakened. The Nasdaq 100 Index jumped more than 2% and the S&P 500 Index posted the best first-day reaction to a newly elected president’s inauguration since Jan. 20 became the official start in 1937.
Netflix Inc. surged more than 17% after a jump in subscribers. Chipmaker ASML Holding NV rallied on solid results. Morgan Stanley gained after reporting record full-year results. Investors looked past a fresh stumble in the rollout of vaccines and elevated infection rates, and eyed the promise of more stimulus and an expanded federal effort to get shots to more Americans quickly under President Joe Biden. “If stimulus happens at the same time that people get vaccinated, the optimism can’t help but build,” said Keith Buchanan, a portfolio manager for GLOBALT Investments in Atlanta. “It’s a fairly safe bet there will be another stimulus package with more direct payments to consumers and individuals and more help for small businesses..” Investors are counting on more spending to help propel economic growth under Biden, who is planning a flurry of executive orders on his first day. Still, it won’t be all smooth sailing, with Janet Yellen encountering early Republican resistance to Biden’s relief plan in her confirmation hearing to become Treasury secretary.
On the virus front, Germany suffered record daily deaths and a study on the South African variant raised concern about the efficacy of vaccines. Elsewhere, crude oil edged higher and gold traded touched an almost two-week high. In Asia, Chinese firms trading in Hong Kong saw the bulk of gains, and the Hang Seng Index approached the 30,000 level. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. rallied after billionaire Jack Ma resurfaced from months out of public view amid escalating scrutiny over his internet empire. These are some key events coming up:
* Policy decisions are due Wednesday from central banks in Brazil and Canada. The Bank of Japan and the ECB deliver decisions Thursday.

Here are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index increased 1.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time, the highest on record with the largest climb in almost two weeks.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 2% to the highest on record.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index rose 2.3% to an all-time high.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.7% to 410.78.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.2%.
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.2101.
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3644.
* The Japanese yen appreciated 0.3% to 103.57 per dollar, the strongest in two weeks on the largest gain in more than a week.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries lost one basis point to 1.085%.
* The two-year rate fell to 0.13%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield dipped less than one basis point to -0.53%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.6% to $53.29 a barrel.
* Gold strengthened 1.4% to $1,865.95 an ounce, the highest in almost two weeks on the biggest jump in more than two weeks.
–With assistance from Michael G. Wilson.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1870: Tin can patented
Edgar Allen Poe, poet, b. 1808
Paul Cezanne, painter, b. 1939
On Jan. 19, 1937, millionaire Howard Hughes set a transcontinental air record by flying his monoplane from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds. Go to article »
 
Electric cars get a battery that can charge in five minutes–Bloomberg.

Hold the boeuf bourguignon. I’ll have the dulse seaweed, lemongrass and galangal.

For the first time in France, the Michelin Guide awarded a star to a fully vegan restaurant, ONA, a small restaurant on the Atlantic coastline near Bordeaux.

“We want to show you can eat differently,” said Claire Vallée, the chef at ONA, which stands for “Origine Non Animale,” or “Non-Animal Origin.” She is one of a growing number of chefs in France who are eschewing the country’s traditional, meat-focused cuisine.  AM by Alexandre Mazzia in Marseille was a new addition to the top category;
no previous three-star restaurants were demoted. –The New York Times.

From The Late Night Hosts last night:
“Today was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and I’d like to think he’d have a good laugh if he knew the F.B.I. had to spend this federal holiday tracking down and arresting thousands of white supremacists. He did have a second dream, and that was it.” — SETH MEYERS

“Trump’s leaving office with his lowest approval rating yet — it’s down to 29 percent. Which, for someone who incited a violent insurrection to overthrow the government isn’t bad. I mean, honestly, what would he have to do to get below 20 percent — eat the Constitution?” — JIMMY KIMMEL

“Normally, after a president’s term, they show before and after photos to prove how much the job aged him. This time, they’re showing before and after photos of all of us.” — JIMMY FALLON

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
‘Berkutchi’ – Mongolian hunters who use trained golden eagles to forage food – from Bayan-Olgii, an area located in the Altai Mountains of western Mongolia
CREDIT: ZAY YAR /SWNS.COM
 A large hippopotamus demonstrates the size and power of its jaw as it prepares to fight another on the Chobe River, in Botswana
Credit: CHARL STOLS/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY
A visitor takes part in a tour in Son Doong cave, one of the world’s largest natural caves, in central Vietnam’s Quang Binh province
CREDIT: NHAC NGUYEN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for January 19^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	30930.52	+116.26
		+0.38%
S&P 500	3798.91	+30.66
		+0.81%
NASDAQ	13197.180	+198.678 +1.53
TSX	17957.37	+12.49
		+0.07%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28633.46	+391.25
		+1.39%
HANG SENG	29642.28	+779.51
		+2.70%
SENSEX	49398.29	+834.02
		+1.72%
FTSE 100*	6712.95	-7.70 -0.11%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.803	0.805
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.441	1.436
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.0903	1.0835
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8381	1.8331

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78520	0.78403
US $	1.27357	1.27545
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.54456	0.64744
US $	1.2357	0.82455

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1833.05	1839.00
Oil
WTI Crude Future	52.98	52.36

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1999, President Bill Clinton proposed, in his State of the Union address, “investing a small portion [of the Social Security trust fund] in the private sector just as any private or state government pension would do. This will earn a higher return and keep Social Security sound for 55 years.”
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed mixed on Tuesday, with energy shares climbing as oil rose while consumer stocks led decliners. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose less than 0.1% in Toronto with six of the 11 main sectors down for the day. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated his support for TC Energy Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline, saying Canada’s government is still pressing U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s team despite indications Biden has already decided to block the project soon after inauguration.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.70 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.1% to $1,839.03 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.2% to C$1.2738 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield was about flat at 0.805%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 17,957.37 in Toronto. TC Energy Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.8 percent. BlackBerry Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 18.9 percent. Today, 109 of 221 shares rose, while 106 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 2.3 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 16 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.6 percent below its 52-week high on
Jan. 8, 2021 and 60.7 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 2.4 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
26.3 on a trailing basis and 17.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.77t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.01 percent compared with
8.23 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.65 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 46.1104| 2.2| 19/2
Materials | 12.8683| 0.5| 19/31
Health Care | 4.2377| 1.6| 4/5
Real Estate | 3.8296| 0.7| 22/3
Utilities | 0.4164| 0.0| 10/6
Information Technology | -0.8603| 0.0| 9/1
Consumer Discretionary | -5.5089| -0.8| 6/5
Communication Services | -6.7098| -0.8| 0/7
Consumer Staples | -7.2344| -1.1| 1/10
Industrials | -8.5768| -0.4| 13/16
Financials | -26.0921| -0.5| 6/20
US
By Anchalee Worrachate and Cormac Mullen
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, led by gains in tech shares and small caps, with Wall Street parsing the latest earnings ahead of a flood of reports this week. The S&P 500 Index rebounded from Friday’s selloff after a three-day weekend that brought little by means of fresh macro news. Ten-year Treasury yields climbed back toward 1.1% and the dollar weakened. Crude oil and emerging markets also advanced. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. turned lower even after reporting that profit more than doubled. Bank of America Corp. shares edged higher after its results. General Motors Co. rose to a record after Microsoft Corp. invested in its self-driving car startup.
     Netflix Inc. reports results after markets close. Janet Yellen encountered early Republican resistance to President-elect Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan in her confirmation hearing to become Treasury secretary. Donald Trump is in the final hours of his term, with Biden to be sworn in at noon Wednesday in Washington. Hong Kong Stocks at 20-Month High as Record China Cash Floods In The market moves on Tuesday show that investors are coming back to the reflation trade, betting that the incoming U.S. administration will use its legislative firepower to propel economic growth.
     Biden’s stimulus package includes measures like a minimum-wage hike and substantial expansion in family and medical leave — programs that have already triggered Republican opposition. “Yellen is a positive,” said Mohit Kumar, strategist at Jefferies International. “We should have greater co-operation between the Fed and the Treasury, with both the monetary and fiscal policy working together and supportive. This is a good backdrop for risk sentiment.” In Asia, Hong Kong stocks closed at the highest level since May 2019. A spending spree by mainland investors is powering gains, lifting the Hang Seng Index up 2.7% on Tuesday. Signs suggest that mainland buying will continue, with investors shifting out of A shares to buy those listed in Hong Kong. The benchmark Hang Seng Index is still cheaper than the Shanghai Composite gauge in terms of price-to-earnings multiples. These are some key events coming up in the week ahead:
* Earnings come from companies including Morgan Stanley, Procter & Gamble, Intel, and Netflix.
* Joe Biden takes office as U.S. president on Wednesday.
* Policy decisions are due Wednesday from central banks in Brazil, Malaysia and
Canada. The Bank of Japan and the ECB deliver decisions Thursday.

Here are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index jumped 0.8% as of 4 p.m. in New York.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.2%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 1.2%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index increased 1.6%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.2%.
* The euro climbed 0.4% to $1.2124.
* The British pound increased 0.3% to $1.3631.
* The Japanese yen weakened 0.2% to 103.89 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.09%.
* The yield on two-year Treasuries slipped to 0.13%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to -0.526%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 1.2% to $53.01 a barrel.
* Gold futures added 0.5% to $1,838.80 an ounce.
–With assistance from Joanna Ossinger

Have a  great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with,
but whether it’s the same problem you had last year. -John Foster Dulles, 1888-1959.

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Blue Monday & Winnie the Pooh Day.
Author A.A. Milne, b. 1882.

On Jan. 18, 1912, English explorer Robert F. Scott and his expedition reached the South Pole, only to discover that Roald Amundsen had gotten there first.  Go to article »

From The New York Times: Our editors also suggest these 12 new books, new music from Lana Del Rey and other artists, and the show “Joe Pera Talks With You” on HBO Max

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
A long exposure shows star trails above the Yangtze River in China
CREDIT: COSTFOTO/BARCROFT MEDIA VIA GETTY IMAGES
 A long exposure photo shows trains going in and out a train station in Frankfurt, Germany
CREDIT: MICHEAL PROBST/AP
A field of leeks is shown bathed in red and blue LED lights in the Dutch town of Lelystad, as part of artist Daan Roosegaarde’s new project “Grow”, intended to honour farmers and inspire them to experiment with LED technology as a supplement to natural light for crops
CREDIT: RUBEN HAMELINK/STUDIO ROOSEGAARDE/VIA REUTERS
Women dressed in kimonos pose for a selfie photograph at a deserted torii path Fushimi Inari Taish shrine on January 18, 2021 in Kyoto, Japan
CREDIT: BUDDHIKA WEERASINGHE/GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for January 18^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	Market Closed	N.A.
S&P 500	Market Closed	N.A.
NASDAQ	Market Closed	N.A.
TSX	17944.88	+35.85
		+0.20%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28242.21	-276.97
		-0.97%
HANG SENG	28862.77	+288.91
		+1.01%
SENSEX	48564.27	-470.40
		-0.96%
FTSE 100*	6720.65	-15.06 -0.22%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.805	0.808
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.436	1.439
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.0835	1.0835
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8331	1.8331

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78403	0.78519
US $	1.27545	1.27358
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.54042	0.64918
US $	1.20774	0.82799

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1839.00	1841.75
Oil
WTI Crude Future	52.36	52.36

Market Commentary:
The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient. –Warren Buffett.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canada‘s stock market rose, led by tech and health care firms, amid low trading volume with U.S. markets shut in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.2% in Toronto on Monday. The tech sector was the biggest winner with Shopify Inc. contributing the most to the rally.
Health care stocks came in second, led by Aurinia Pharmaceuticals. Energy was the only group in red on Monday, as oil prices fell. On the M&A front, executives at Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. defended a failed bid for Carrefour SA and said they would still like to buy the French grocer some day, but will turn their focus to other potential deals. Meanwhile, Canada’s economy will start 2021 with a short-lived contraction, but that’s not expected to derail the nation’s recovery over the next couple of years.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $10.65 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose o.7% to $1,841.26 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.1% to C$1.2747 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell slightly to 0.807%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.2 percent at 17,944.88 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.3 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.8 percent. Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. had the largest increase, rising 6.2 percent. Today, 134 of 221 shares rose, while 81 fell; 10 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 2.2 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI
AC Americas Index gained 15 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.6 percent below its 52-week high on
Jan. 8, 2021 and 60.6 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 2.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.3 on a trailing basis and 17.2 times estimated earnings of
its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.77t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 8.23 percent compared with 8.23 percent in the previous session and the
average of 8.76 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | 28.7370| 1.6| 9/1
Financials | 22.9108| 0.4| 23/2
Materials | 9.7070| 0.4| 30/19
Industrials | 4.0838| 0.2| 16/13
Health Care | 3.1850| 1.2| 7/2
Real Estate | 2.5040| 0.5| 21/5
Consumer Discretionary | 2.0749| 0.3| 9/4
Utilities | 1.9169| 0.2| 9/6
Communication Services | 0.9252| 0.1| 2/4
Consumer Staples | 0.8211| 0.1| 6/5
Energy | -41.0147| -1.9| 2/20
US
ALL US MARKETS CLOSEED IN OBSERVANCE OF MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
                     -Martin Luther King Jr., 1929-1968

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
Jean-Baptiste Moliere, writer, b. 1622.
Martin Luther King, Jr. b. 1929. Note: US markets are closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Day.
1943: Pentagon completed.

On Jan. 15, 1967, the first Super Bowl was played as the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League, 35-10. Go to article »

Astronomers find the brightest quasar on record, equivalent to 600 trillion suns. (h/t Ellen Kominers)
 
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
The Blackpool Tower breaks through the morning freezing fog. The iconic landmark on the Lancashire coast is seen infront of the morning sunrise as severe winter weather condition hit the seaside resort
CREDIT: KARL HOUGHTON/TRIANGLE NEWS
People receive their COVID 19 vaccines inside Lichfield Cathedral which had been turned into an emergency vaccination centre
CREDIT: REUTERS/CARL RECINE
Athletes shoot during the men’s 4×7.5km relay race at the Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof, Germany
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/MATTIAS SCHRADER
Nepalese women from the Tharu community dressed in traditional attire, rehearse before a program to celebrate Maghe Sankranti festival in Kathmandu, Nepal. Tharu people celebrate this day as their New Year and observe this festival as Maghi with much fanfare and gaiety
CREDIT: SKANDA GAUTAM/ZUMA WIRE
Market Closes for January 15^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	30814.26	-177.26
		-0.57%
S&P 500	3768.25	-27.29
		-0.72%
NASDAQ	12998.504	-114.134 -0.87%
TSX	17909.03	-49.06
		-0.27%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28519.18	-179.08
		-0.62%
HANG SENG	28573.86	+77.00
		+0.27%
SENSEX	49034.67	-579.49
		-1.11%
FTSE 100*	6735.71	-66.25 -0.97%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.808	0.855
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.439	1.481
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.0835	1.1275
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8331	1.8676

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78519	0.79100
US $	1.27358	1.26422
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.53814	0.65014
US $	1.20773	0.82800

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1841.75	1858.85
Oil
WTI Crude Future	52.36	53.57

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1987, the New York Stock Exchange racked up daily volume of over a quarter-of-a-billion shares for the first time.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell this week as gold and silver equities underperformed. Marijuana shares including Aphria Inc. advanced. The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 0.3% Friday to their lowest level since Jan. 6. Materials and energy fell while consumer staples rose the most among the 11 major sectors. Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.’s top executives are in Paris seeking to salvage a $20 billion bid for Carrefour SA as Canadian officials press the French government to relax its objections to the deal.
Oil slid by the most in three weeks as a stronger dollar and weak U.S. economic data stoked concerns over an economic rebound.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $10.65 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 1.1% to $1,826.56 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.8% to C$1.2735 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 4.6 basis points to 0.805%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.3 percent at 17,909.03 in Toronto. The index dropped to the lowest closing level since Jan. 6 after the previous session’s increase of 0.1 percent. Suncor Energy Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.8 percent. Ballard Power Systems Inc. had the largest drop, falling 10.1 percent. Today, 127 of 221 shares fell, while 92 rose; 5 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 0.7 percent
* The index advanced 2.8 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI
AC Americas Index gained 16 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.8 percent below its 52-week high on
Jan. 8, 2021 and 60.3 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
26.3 on a trailing basis and 17.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.77t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.23 percent compared with
8.17 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.02 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -49.3651| -2.1| 6/46
Energy | -38.9594| -1.8| 3/19
Consumer Discretionary | -6.5965| -0.9| 4/9
Industrials | -5.3011| -0.2| 14/14
Health Care | -1.7456| -0.7| 3/6
Real Estate | 2.4024| 0.4| 17/8
Information Technology | 4.5018| 0.2| 7/3
Utilities | 7.9772| 0.9| 10/6
Communication Services | 10.9245| 1.3| 6/1
Financials | 10.9940| 0.2| 15/11
Consumer Staples | 16.1085| 2.6| 7/4
US
By Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell by the most in more than a week after Wells Fargo & Co. dragged down the banking sector in the wake of disappointing fourth-quarter results. Crude oil declined from a 10-month high as the dollar strengthened. The energy and financial sectors led the S&P 500 into the red for a second day, with Exxon Mobil Corp. dropping 4.8% after a report said the company is being investigated for overvaluing assets. Utilities and real estate shares rose. Stocks were already lower in Europe and Asia as President-elect Joe Biden’s much-anticipated $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan came under scrutiny. Treasury yields declined. Optimism about the U.S. aid package had helped spur the so- called reflation trade, but the plan is far from a done deal.
Biden’s proposal could be watered down under congressional opposition, and there’s the possibility that some taxes could rise. “There’s just a realization that this is a starting point for negotiations — there’s a little bit of a reality that this isn’t going to be a smooth quick process,” said John Porter, head of equities at Mellon Investments Corp. Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” includes a wave of new spending, more direct payments to households, an expansion of jobless benefits and an enlargement of vaccinations and virus- testing programs as deaths reach record levels and local governments expand lockdowns. Attention is now turning to how much of the package will ultimately get passed by Congress, with the go-big price tag and the inclusion of proposals set to be opposed by many Republicans.
     As lawmakers wrangle over details, U.S. jobless claims published Thursday painted a dismal picture and the U.S. is leading all countries in virus deaths with New York state reporting more than 200 daily fatalities for the first time since May. “With a big number on the heels of a $9 billion package, it’s not going to be easy to get the next stimulus package passed,” said James Ragan, director of wealth management research at D.A. Davidson. “I think a combination of that and the weakening consumer data is causing the pause today. It was kind of inevitable, we’ve had a pretty strong run to start the year. Maybe a little more caution going into the long weekend.” U.S. financial markets are closed Monday for the observance of Martin Luther King holiday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index dipped 0.7% to 3,768.25 as of 4:02 p.m. New
* York time, the lowest in more than a week on the largest decrease in more than a week.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.9% to 12,998.50, the lowest in more than a week.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.6% to 30,814.26, the lowest in more than a week on the largest decrease in more than a week.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 1% to 407.85, the lowest in more than a week on the biggest tumble in more than three weeks.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index sank 0.9% to 655.71, the lowest in more than a week on the largest decrease in 11 weeks.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.6% to 1,126.29, the biggest rise in more than a week.
* The euro sank 0.6% to $1.2076, the weakest in more than six weeks on the largest decrease in more than two weeks.
* The Japanese yen weakened 0.1% to 103.89 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 1.09%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield increased one basis point to -0.54%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield decreased less than one basis point to 0.288%, the lowest in more than a week.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude sank 2.6% to $52.19 a barrel, the lowest in more than a week on the biggest tumble in more than three weeks.
* Gold depreciated 1.1% to $1,826.30 an ounce, the weakest in more than six weeks on the largest fall in a week.
–With assistance from Cecile Gutscher.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts.  Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day.  The content of your character is your choice.  Day by day, what you do is who you become. –Heraclitus, 535-475 BC.

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1784- End of the American Revolution.

There’s a case of wine heading back to Earth from space.  Space wine? That’s a new status symbol, unlocked. 
 
There may be fewer galaxies in the universe than we thought.  It’s always nice to know our vast, unexplored universe is just slightly less populated than assumed. 

Sea shanties are back! 

The songs once created a sense of community among working sailors, and their rhythms could distract from chores or keep time for hauling in sails.

Over the last two weeks, a video made by a Scottish postman singing “Soon May the Wellerman Come” has been shared and duetted thousands of times: by professional musicians, maritime enthusiasts, memers, a Kermit the Frog puppet, and more.  Experts might cavil that is not a true shanty, but rather a whaling ballad — but the two share a form that is kind regarding musical ability.
“That’s one of the things I love about sea shanties,” said one folk musician. “The accessibility. You don’t have to be a trained singer to sing on it. You’re not supposed to sing pretty.” –NY Times.

From The Late Night Hosts:
“I feel like I just took down my decorations from the last impeachment.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

”Reportedly, McConnell has told associates in private that he believes the president committed impeachable offenses and is leaning toward convicting him. It will all be in his memoir, ‘Leaning Toward Courage.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A curious polar bear surprised a ship’s crew by trying to clamber aboard. Fascinated by the boat, the bear walked away from a walrus carcass he was eating to investigate.
Credit: FRANCO BANFI/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

A woman pulls a sledge on a footbridge above traffic gridlocked in the snow on Manchester Road, West Bowling, Bradford this morning as heavy snow affects northern and central parts of the UK
Credit: ASADOUR GUZELIAN

A woman is reflected in a window as she braves wind and rain while walking towards Tower Bridge in London
AP PHOTO/KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH
Market Closes for January 14^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	30991.52	-68.95
		-0.22%
S&P 500	3795.54	-14.30
		-0.38%
NASDAQ	13112.637	-16.314 -0.12%
TSX	17958.09	+23.35
		+0.13%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28698.26	+241.67
		+0.85%
HANG SENG	28496.86	+261.26
		+0.93%
SENSEX	49584.16	+91.84
		+0.19%
FTSE 100*	6801.96	+56.44 +0.84%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.855	0.812
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.481	1.442
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.1275	1.0917
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8676	1.8225

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.79100	0.78736
US $	1.26422	1.27007
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.53652	0.65082
US $	1.21539	0.82278

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1858.85	1841.25
Oil
WTI Crude Future	53.57	52.91

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1982, in the depths of recession, Ford Motor said it would skip paying a quarterly dividend for the first time since the company went public in 1956, saving the car maker $36 million per quarter.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities managed to post a gain Thursday after a drop the previous day. The S&P/TSX Composite Index advanced 0.1%, led by health care stocks, while industrials dropped. Cannabis producers including Aphria Inc., Hexo Corp., and Aurora Cannabis Inc. all rallied.
     On the M&A front, Couche-Tard co-founder Alain Bouchard gave an update to investors four months ago about a hunt for a major acquisition. The convenience store chain was on the lookout for deals, he said, but not at any cost. He may not want a splash, but Bouchard’s company is making one with its $20 billion move for French grocer Carrefour SA. Canada’s three largest cities — Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver — saw a sharp jump in the number of citizens moving to suburbs, smaller towns and rural areas, according to Statistics Canada data released Thursday.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $10.80 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,848.39 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar gained 0.5% to C$1.2638 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 4.7 basis points to 0.856%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.1 percent at
17,958.09 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s
decrease of 0.3 percent.
Today, energy stocks led the market higher, as 5 of 11
sectors gained; 117 of 221 shares rose, while 99 fell.
Enbridge Inc. contributed the most to the index gain,
increasing 2.4 percent. BlackBerry Ltd. had the largest
increase, rising 21.3 percent.

Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 0.5 percent
* The index advanced 3.5 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI
AC Americas Index gained 17 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.6 percent below its 52-week high on
Jan. 8, 2021 and 60.7 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.4 percent in the past 5 days and rose 3.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
26.4 on a trailing basis and 17.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.77t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.17 percent compared with
8.30 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.15 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 47.1381| 2.2| 21/1
Financials | 24.3839| 0.5| 14/12
Health Care | 14.2634| 5.8| 8/1
Real Estate | 1.9601| 0.4| 16/10
Consumer Discretionary | 0.6564| 0.1| 8/4
Utilities | -0.5786| -0.1| 8/7
Communication Services | -1.8594| -0.2| 2/5
Materials | -2.5913| -0.1| 20/30
Consumer Staples | -8.2182| -1.3| 1/10
Information Technology | -21.9027| -1.2| 4/6
Industrials | -29.8882| -1.3| 15/13
US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for the first time in three days and Treasury yields climbed amid expectations President- elect Joe Biden plans Covid-19 relief of as much as $2 trillion. After approaching all-time highs most of Thursday, the S&P 500 turned negative late in the trading session. Technology, communication services and consumer discretionary sectors were the biggest losers, while energy shares rose with oil. Biden last week put the “entire package” at “trillions of dollars,” and many Democrats believe it will be as much as $2 trillion. Biden is expected to announce his economic support plans later in the day. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said policy makers won’t raise interest rates unless they see troubling signs of inflation. “With stock markets close to record highs, some investors may be concerned about signs of over-exuberance in equities,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management. “But support from vaccine rollouts, continued low interest rates, and the likelihood of further fiscal stimulus should drive rapid economic and earnings growth in 2021, which should support further upside for equities.”
     Investors betting on an economic recovery this year are tolerating stretched stock valuations, partly because they expect further U.S. fiscal spending and better control of the pandemic with vaccines. With Biden due to take office within days, the transfer of power promises more turbulence. On Wednesday the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time, though a Senate trial for Trump likely won’t get underway before his term ends on Jan. 20. “Investors are looking past that and really concentrating on the stimulus and what that’s going to mean further down the road, “said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank.
     After years of too-low inflation, the U.S. central bank approved new policy guidance in September, spelling out it would be appropriate to keep rates near zero until inflation has risen to its 2% target and was on track to moderately exceed that level. “Our eyes are wide open on this,” Powell said. “At the end of the day the public will need to see us allow inflation to move moderately above 2% for a time before the new framework will be seen as fully credible.” The time to raise rates “is no time soon,” Powell added.
     On the virus front, China recorded its first Covid-19 death since April as new clusters continued to expand. France said it will extend tighter curfew measures across the country in a bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Here are some key events coming up:
* JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. are among firms due to report earnings.
* U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans to lay out proposals for fiscal support on Thursday.
* U.S. retail sales, industrial production, business inventories and consumer sentiment figures are due Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index decreased 0.4% to 3,795.54 as of 4:03 p.m. New York time.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to 30,991.52.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.1% to 13,112.64.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index jumped 0.7% to 412, the highest in almost 11 months.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index increased 0.1% to 661.91.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3% to 1,119.64.
* The euro was little changed at $1.2161.
* The British pound climbed 0.4% to $1.3691, the strongest in almost three years.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.2% to 103.72 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose four basis points to 1.12%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to -0.55%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield dipped two basis points to 0.291%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 1.3% to $53.60 a barrel, the highest in almost a year.
* Silver strengthened 1.3% to $25.55 per ounce.
–With assistance from Kamaron Leach.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are. –JP Morgan, 1837-1913

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

I read this poem last weekend and I thought it was very beautiful; hope you do too:

WINTER SONG FOR ONE WHO SUFFERS
                                  -by Brenda Hillman

The stars stand up
behind the day. A known dove balances
on its claw
at the window. A cosmic incident
of darkness has begun
   & a mild excess of beauty
will be offered to the dead,
which they will eat. On a hill
the wise man serves the people,
your thought splits
in half when he speaks of the old
revolts, the return
of apocalypse, motive & advancement.
   A soul can crouch
a long time while the heart
expands to reach its edges.
What is missing past the glitter
of the harvest?
Friend, you chose
to live. How? You did. So many
choices, not just two, encrypted
behind the mystery of the sun,
then the hurt was set aside,
indeterminate chaos
called in by love.

Brenda Hillman, a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, teaches at Saint Mary’s College of California. Her latest poetry collection is “Extra Hidden Life, Among the Days.”.

January 13, 2000 – Microsoft chairman Bill Gates stepped aside as chief executive.  Go to article »

Netflix plans to release a new movie every week of 2021.  Now we don’t even need to expend energy deciding what to watch. Just take us away, Netflix!

Transparent TV screens are the cool new tech trend.  Living room, or Star Wars command center? Who knows! 

The Late Night Hosts weighed in:
“The president and Mike Pence reportedly spoke yesterday in the Oval Office for the first time since last week’s attack on the Capitol, which had to be pretty awkward. But don’t worry, Trump accepted Pence’s apology.” — SETH MEYERS

“And you’d think Pence would be into the idea, considering the whole ‘Hang him’ thing. But you would be dead wrong, because yesterday, after days of silence, ‘The president and Mike Pence spoke for the first time, meeting in the Oval Office, and agreed that those who broke the law and stormed the Capitol last week do not represent their policy of America first.’ Well, of course this mob violence wasn’t America first — it was in Germany first. So, apparently, it’s all water under the gallows now.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“When they heard Trump was coming to the border, Mexico was like, ‘Phew, thank God that wall is here.’” — JIMMY FALLON

“You know your presidency is off the rails when you have to distract from your attempted coup with your giant symbol of racism.” — JIMMY FALLON

“Well, that’s a wrap on a flawless administration.” — JAMES CORDEN

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man bathes in an ice hole in the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia. The temperature in St. Petersburg is -15C
Credit: AP/Dmitri Lovetsky
An Indian ten-inch-tall, three-and-a-half-year-old white-throated kingfisher flips a mouse in the air like a pancake before downing it in one. 
Credit: MEDIADRUMIMAGES/SOURAVDAS/@SOURA
The abbey which was built in 1132 was once England’s most powerful Cistercian monastery. Housing a 650-strong community at its peak in the 1160s under its most famous abbot, Aelred. The monastery was suppressed in 1538, but the spectacular abbey ruins became a popular subject for Romantic artists in the 18th and 19th centuries
Credit: DANNY LAWSON/PA WIRE
Market Closes for January 13^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	31060.47	-8.22
		-0.03%
S&P 500	3809.84	+8.65
		+0.23%
NASDAQ	13128.953	+56.519 +0.43%
TSX	17934.74	-51.06
		-0.28%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28456.59	+292.25
		+1.04%
HANG SENG	28235.60	-41.15
		-0.15%
SENSEX	49492.32	-24.79
		-0.05%
FTSE 100*	6745.52	-8.59 -0.13%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.812	0.844
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.442	1.470
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.0917	1.1308
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8225	1.8761

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78736	0.78274
US $	1.27007	1.27757
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.54417	0.64760
US $	1.21582	0.82249

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1841.25	1847.25
Oil
WTI Crude Future	52.91	53.21

Market Commentary:
On this day in 2000, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, speaking to the Economic Club of New York, imagined an observer looking back from the year 2010. That future-dweller, he said, “might well conclude that a good deal of what we are currently experiencing was just one of the many euphoric speculative bubbles that have dotted human history.” The next day, the Nasdaq Composite—the bubble Greenspan probably had in mind—puffed up 2.7% fatter, to 4064.27.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities fell Wednesday as traders began to assess corporate earnings and global stimulus measures. The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 0.3%, with consumer staples and materials leading the declines. Health care shares advanced with Bausch Health Companies Inc. rising 10.3%. The French government is opposed to Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. buying France’s Carrefour SA, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said, casting doubt on prospects for a $20 billion trans-Atlantic retail deal. Couche-Tard shares fell 10.2% Wednesday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government criticized moves by Canada’s largest airlines to cut jobs and routes amid
tightening restrictions on travel to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $11.35 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,848 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar gained 0.1% to C$1.2693 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 3.0 basis points to 0.813%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.3 percent at 17,934.74 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s increase of 0.3 percent. Today, materials stocks led the market lower, as 6 of 11 sectors lost; 146 of 221 shares fell, while 74 rose. Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. contributed the most to the index decline and had the largest move, decreasing 10.2 percent.
Insights
* The index advanced 3.7 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI
AC Americas Index gained 17 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7 percent below its 52-week high on
Jan. 8, 2021 and 60.5 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.6 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.2 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
26.4 on a trailing basis and 17.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.78t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.30 percent compared with
9.14 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.20 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -38.5306| -1.6| 6/45
Consumer Staples | -27.5239| -4.1| 2/9
Financials | -8.8165| -0.2| 5/21
Consumer Discretionary | -3.6535| -0.5| 5/8
Industrials | -3.3419| -0.1| 10/19
Communication Services | -0.7680| -0.1| 2/5
Utilities | 1.5286| 0.2| 9/7
Real Estate | 1.7041| 0.3| 18/8
Energy | 3.4588| 0.2| 4/18
Information Technology | 11.7857| 0.6| 5/5
Health Care | 13.1030| 5.6| 8/1
US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rose and benchmark Treasury yields retreated for a second day amid optimism the economy will continue to benefit from government support. Technology shares led gains, with the Nasdaq 100 outperforming the benchmark S&P 500. Intel Corp. jumped 7% after the chipmaker named a new chief executive. Treasury received strong demand for a second consecutive day at a government debt sale, helping to send yields down from the highest levels since March.
“Investors continue to focus on growing expectations for increased fiscal spending and promising economic prospects as the vaccine rolls out later this year,” said Ryan Nauman, market strategist at Informa Financial Intelligence’s Zephyr. “It’s all about resiliency here right now and equity markets continue to overlook and not be phased by all the chaos that’s out there.” In Washington, the House of Representatives is voting to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time. A Senate trial for Trump won’t likely get under way before his term ends on Jan. 20. In Europe, European Central Bank council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said the ECB will keep an easy stance for as long as needed, and U.S. investors took comfort from remarks by two Federal Reserve officials that pushed back on the possibility of tapering bond purchases anytime soon. “Coordinated comments from Fed governors” are helping to deflate bond yields, said Deutsche Bank AG strategists including Jim Reid in a note to clients. “We’ve only had seven business days this year and we’ve already had a full 360-degree tapering debate played out by the Fed.” Europe’s Stoxx 600 was flat, with losses in banks and travel shares outweighing M&A announcements. Among the day’s  winners, French grocer Carrefour SA rallied after Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the convenience-store giant that owns the Circle K chain, said it’s exploring a transaction. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 outperformed, reaching a record in dollar terms. Equities also ticked up in South Korea, while Hong Kong shares were flat. Oil fell as a stronger dollar and rising refined products supplies offset shrinking U.S. crude supplies, capping the price under a key technical indicator.

Here are some key events coming up:
* JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. are among firms due to report earnings.
* U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans to lay out proposals for fiscal support on Thursday.
* Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell takes part in a webinar on Thursday.
* U.S. initial jobless claims data are due Thursday.
* U.S. retail sales, industrial production, business inventories and consumer sentiment figures are due Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index climbed 0.3% to 3,809.84 as of 4:02 p.m. New York time.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.1% to 31,060.47.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.5% to 13,128.95.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.1% to 409.07.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index rose 0.3% to 661.44.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.2% to 1,122.79.
* The euro decreased 0.4% to $1.2157.
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3634.
* The Japanese yen weakened 0.1% to 103.87 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped four basis points to 1.09%, the biggest decrease in five weeks.
* Germany’s 10-year yield decreased five basis points to -0.52%, the largest dip in seven months.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell five basis points to 0.307%, the first retreat in more than a week and the biggest drop in more than a month.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.6% to $52.88 a barrel, the first retreat in more than a week and the largest fall in a week.
* Silver weakened 1.5% to $25.25 per ounce.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Obstacles don’t have to stop you.  If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. 
Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. –Michael Jordan, b. 1963.

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Jan. 12, 2010, a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti, killing over 200,000 people and destroying much of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Go to article »

Visit the pleasure garden of the Roman emperor Caligula, where frescoes and peacock bones tell extraordinary stories

The first human civilization lasted 20,000 years longer than first thought. (h/t Ellen Kominers)

39%:That’s the proportion of Americans who would be able to cover an unexpected $1,000 expense, according to a new report from Bankrate.com. That’s down from 41% in 2020. -CNN.

The [US] government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me.  They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office.  Their principal device to that end is to search out groups who pant and pine for something they can’t get and to promise to give it to them.  Nine times out of ten that promise is worth nothing.  The tenth time is made good by looting A to satisfy B.  In other words, government is  a  broker in pillage, and every election is sort of an advance auction sale of stolen goods.  –H.L. Mencken, 1880-1956.

Late Night:
“Some people are saying, ‘Why bother? He’s only got nine days left in office.’ To them I reply: He’s got nine days left in office! You can do a lot in nine days. That’s enough to create the universe, and then take a three-day weekend.” — STEPHEN COLBERT
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

No, you’re not going BAA-rmy, this poodle really does look just like a Sheep. Japanese canine Goma would pull the wool over anyone’s eyes into thinking he’s more about baas than barks. Owner Yoriko Hamachiyo said the unusual hairstyle came about not for cosmetic reasons, but to help stop Goma getting painful knots in his fur. Dog groomer Yoriko, 42, spends two hours a time keeping the seven-year-old sheep-shaped and admits some do think it’s a gimmick.
Credit: YORIKO HAMACHIYO/SPLITICS UK
Scarborough beach as the sun rises in Yorkshire.
Credit: DANNY LAWSON/PA
A starry sky above St Mary’s Lighthouse in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear. 
Credit: OWEN HUMPHREYS/PA

Market Closes for January 12^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	31068.69	+60.00
		+0.19%
S&P 500	3801.19	+1.58
		+0.04%
NASDAQ	13072.434	+36.003 +0.28%
TSX	17985.80	+51.34
		+0.29%

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28164.34	+25.31
		+0.09%
HANG SENG	28276.75	+368.53
		+1.32%
SENSEX	49517.11	+247.79
		+0.50%
FTSE 100*	6754.11	-44.37 -0.65%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.844	0.838
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.470	1.459
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.1308	1.1443
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8761	1.8818

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78657	0.78274
US $	1.27134	1.27757
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.55196	0.64435
US $	1.22073	0.81918

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1847.25	1862.90
Oil
WTI Crude Future	53.21	52.25

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1914, Henry Ford announced that he would share the Ford Motor Co.’s profits with its workers by raising wages from $2.34 for a nine-hour day to $5.00 for an eight-hour day. He hoped his workers would be able to afford to buy their own Fords. Within two years, Ford went on to produce its millionth car.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose Tuesday after falling Monday.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.3%, with energy,
financials and materials rising. Consumer staples fell.
     Oil rose to a fresh 10-month high with a weaker dollar
providing support to a market already boosted by expectations for tightening global supply.
     Justin Trudeau’s decision to shuffle his cabinet is the strongest sign yet that he could soon send Canadians to the
polls. Separately, Trudeau said his government has ordered another 20 million doses of the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE coronavirus vaccine.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $12.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.6% to $1,855 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.5% to C$1.2714 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield edged higher to 0.844%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.3 percent at 17,985.80 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.6 percent.
Nutrien Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 5.4 percent. Ballard Power Systems Inc. had the largest increase, rising 18.0 percent. Today, 102 of 221 shares rose, while 117 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 4.4 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 18 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.4 percent below its 52-week high on Jan. 8, 2021 and 61 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.7 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.5 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.4 on a trailing basis and 17.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.77t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 9.14 percent compared with 9.14 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.25 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 29.2245| 0.5| 19/7
Energy | 24.8184| 1.2| 18/4
Materials | 11.6335| 0.5| 21/30
Information Technology | 5.5880| 0.3| 3/7
Industrials | 1.9733| 0.1| 14/14
Health Care | -0.9481| -0.4| 4/5
Consumer Discretionary | -1.0566| -0.1| 3/10
Real Estate | -1.7528| -0.3| 10/16
Utilities | -2.9413| -0.3| 6/10
Communication Services | -7.0685| -0.8| 1/6
Consumer Staples | -8.1187| -1.2| 3/8
US
By Claire Ballentine and Kamaron Leach
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks edged higher and benchmark Treasury note yields lingered at 10-month highs as investors mulled the prospects of the economic recovery and vaccine rollout. The S&P 500 closed in the green after fluctuating between gains and losses most of the trading session, with the energy, materials and consumer discretionary sectors leading gainers. The Dow Jones Industrial and Nasdaq Composite rose more than the benchmark index. Crude oil approached a 11-month high as the dollar weakened following a three-day rally. Corn futures surged by the exchange limit to the highest level for a most-active contract since May 2014.
     The mood across markets remained mostly positive even as investors assessed how the rise in Treasury yields changes the financial landscape. While progress on a vaccine gives reason to be hopeful, there are lingering concerns over the speculative excess and froth that’s driven stock markets to all-time highs in the middle of a pandemic.
“What I think investors are most focused on is the digesting of what is shifting fiscal policy,” said David Bianco, chief investment officer of the Americas at DWS Group. “We’re beginning to lose the anchor on some long-term key benchmark interest rates.” Yields on Treasury 10-year notes pared an earlier rise after a government auction of $38 billion of the securities was met with solid demand. The spread between the rate on the two-and 10-year notes had risen every single day this year as investors bet on additional U.S. fiscal stimulus, spurring more bond issuance and higher yields on longer-maturity Treasuries.
     In Washington, the House is moving forward on an expected vote to impeach the President Donald Trump for the second time in little more than a year. “I wrap up the market’s concerns into an easy-to-remember acronym – EIEIO – which stands for EPS-Impeachment-Energy Prices-Interest Rates-Overvaluation,” said CFRA Research Chief
Investment Strategist Sam Stovall. “The market is vulnerable to a setback as many measures are at extremes, encouraged by the ‘Blue Ripple’s’ push for additional stimulus.”
     Elsewhere, Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index traded little changed. After Bitcoin suffered steep declines on Monday, the largest cryptocurrency continued its wide swings. In Asia, China’s CSI 300 Index rallied to a 13-year high, driven by a surge in financial and securities stocks. The yuan reached the highest since 2018 versus a basket of trading partners’ currencies on upbeat growth prospects. Malaysia’s stock benchmark slipped as much as 1.6% after the nation’s king declared a state of emergency until August.

Here are some key events coming up:
* JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co., as well as firms ranging from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to Infosys Ltd., are among those due to report earnings.
* EIA crude oil inventory report is due Wednesday.
* European Central Bank’s Christine Lagarde speaks at an online conference Wednesday.
* U.S. consumer-price inflation figures are due Wednesday.
* U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans to lay out proposals for fiscal support on Thursday.
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell takes part in a webinar on Thursday.
* U.S. initial jobless claims data are due Thursday.
* U.S. retail sales, industrial production, business inventories and consumer sentiment figures are due Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index was little changed at 3,801.19 as of 4:06 p.m. New York time.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 31,068.69.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.3% to 13,072.43.
*The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was little changed at 408.61.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index jumped 0.3% to 660.66.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index sank 0.6% to 1,120.16, the biggest dip in almost six weeks.
*The euro increased 0.5% to $1.2205, the largest increase in more than three weeks.
*The British pound jumped 1.1% to $1.3667, the strongest in more than a week on the biggest jump in more than two months.
*The Japanese yen strengthened 0.5% to 103.73 per dollar, the first advance in a week and the largest climb in more than five weeks.
Bonds
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped one basis point to 1.13%, the first retreat in more than a week.
*Germany’s 10-year yield gained three basis points to -0.47%, the highest in more than four months.
*Britain’s 10-year yield increased four basis points to 0.352%, reaching the highest in almost six weeks on its sixth straight advance and the biggest climb in almost three weeks.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude increased 1.7% to $53.15 a barrel, hitting the highest in almost a year with its sixth consecutive advance.
*Silver strengthened 2.7% to $25.57 per ounce, the first advance in a week.
–With assistance from Sophie Caronello.
Have a nice evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Breach of promise is no less an act of insolvency than a refusal to pay one’s debt.
                                                                      -Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948
Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1922- insulin first used on humans to treat diabetes, on Canadian Leonard Thompson, aged 14.

On Jan. 11, 1964, the United States surgeon general reported that cigarettes cause lung cancer. Go to article »

Humans wouldn’t be able to contain a superintelligence.
.
Bean plants show signs of intention. (h/t Ellen Kominers)

These five minutes will make you love the flute.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
A crescent moon rises before sunrise above lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in New York City as seen from Kearny, New Jersey.
CREDIT: GARY HERSHORN/GETTY IMAGES 

Traffic passing over a bridge above the frozen Han river in Seoul.
CREDIT: ED JONES/ AFP VIA GETTI IMAGES

Fishermen scoop up grey mullet which froze to death during a recent cold wave with nets at a farm in Muan, South Korea
CREDIT: YONHAP/REUTERS
Market Closes for January 11^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	31008.69	-89.28
		-0.29%
S&P 500	3799.61	-25.07
		-0.66%
NASDAQ	13036.430	-165.546 -1.25%
TSX	17934.45	-107.62
		-0.60%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28139.03	+648.90
		+2.36%
HANG SENG	27908.22	+30.00
		+0.11%
SENSEX	49269.32	+486.81
		+1.00%
FTSE 100*	6798.48	-74.78 -1.09%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.838	0.815
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.459	1.431
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.1443	1.1170
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8818	1.8754

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78274	0.78770
US $	1.27757	1.29653
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.55239	0.64417
US $	1.21511	0.82297

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1862.90	1920.10
Oil
WTI Crude Future	52.25	52.24

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1807, Ezra Cornell was born. While helping Samuel F. B. Morse lay the transmission lines for his new telegraph, Cornell made the key discoveries that the wires should be insulated and strung above ground. In 1855, Cornell co-founded Western Union, the greatest growth stock of the 19th Century, and in 1865 he founded Cornell University.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities snapped a five -day winning streak Monday, following U.S. equities lower.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.6%, the most since December 31. Health care was the only group that gained as marijuana shares continued to climb. Canada’s top banking regulator dashed hopes that the country’s lenders will be able to follow U.S. peers in resuming share buybacks soon, saying it won’t reverse its safeguards on the financial system as the Covid-19 pandemic rages.
Royal Bank of Canada Chief Executive Officer David McKay says Canada is in a race to vaccinate enough people in the next three months to safely reopen its economy. On the deals front, Quebecor CEO Pierre-Karl Péladeau’s C$6/share offer for Transat through his private investment firm may still fall short of Air Canada’s offer, Scotiabank said.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.35 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,845 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.6% to C$1.2781 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 2.2 basis points to 0.836%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.6 percent at 17,934.45 in Toronto. The move was the biggest loss since Dec. 31 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.1 percent.
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 2.8 percent. Trillium Therapeutics Inc. had the largest drop, falling 6.8 percent.
Today, 154 of 221 shares fell, while 64 rose; 10 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 4.1 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI  AC Americas Index gained 18 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.7 percent below its 52-week high on Jan. 8, 2021 and 60.5 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.3 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.2 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.4 on a trailing basis and 17.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.78t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.14 percent compared with 8.87 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.35 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -42.7059| -1.7| 3/49
Industrials | -25.0746| -1.1| 13/16
Information Technology | -18.4962| -1.0| 3/7
Financials | -8.9275| -0.2| 8/17
Real Estate | -5.4252| -1.0| 6/18
Utilities | -4.8377| -0.5| 8/8
Consumer Discretionary | -3.2176| -0.5| 3/10
Energy | -3.1781| -0.2| 8/14
Consumer Staples | -2.8614| -0.4| 3/8
Communication Services | -0.5904| -0.1| 3/4
Health Care | 7.7189| 3.4| 6/3
US
By Vildana Hajric and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for the first time in five sessions as investors started the week in a cautious mood with equity prices near all-time highs.
The S&P 500 was led lower by the real estate and consumer discretionary sectors, while energy companies were the biggest gainers in the benchmark index. Eli Lilly & Co. lifted health- care shares. The dollar strengthened against all its major peers, with demand supported by elevated Treasury yields. Weighing on the minds of investors are worries that equities are running too hot and valuations are stretched at a time when major parts of the world are grappling with the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Keep in mind though, after big runs like we saw last week, it’s natural for the market to take a breather,” said Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing product at E*TRADE Financial. “Traders looking for new opportunities may be wise to look beyond behemoth tech stocks.” Benchmark Treasury yields topped 1% last week on bets that Democratic lawmakers will enact big spending packages to drive the economic recovery out the pandemic. The move reset expectations for a range of asset classes and sparked debate over whether higher yields might jeopardize the current environment of easy financial conditions.
Ten-year U.S. yields climbed to almost 1.14% on Monday, the highest level since March. “Ultimately it goes back to the 10- year,” wrote KC Rajkumar and Jahanara Nissar of Lynx Equity Strategies. A higher yield “points to higher inflation down the road — which is negative for stocks. We are not there yet, but as the 10-year inches higher — the closer we get.” Twitter Inc. fell after the social media platform permanently banned President Donald Trump after a mob invaded the Capitol building last week. Mirabaud Securities analyst Neil Campling said the ban shows the company is making editorial decisions, and opens the door to more regulation of social media under the next administration. Shares of Facebook Inc., which also suspended Trump’s account, also declined. Meanwhile, House Democrats Monday introduced a resolution to impeach Trump for a second time, setting up a vote this week unless Vice President Mike Pence uses his constitutional authority to remove the president. Bitcoin tumbled, with prices sliding as much as 20% on Monday. Some investors have said the digital currency’s recent gains defy logic and the U.K.’s financial watchdog issued a statement that consumers in crypto should be prepared to lose all their money. The token traded down about 14% at $32,835.
Elsewhere in markets, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped. Commodities were broadly lower on the back of the stronger dollar, with West Texas Intermediate oil trading near $52 a barrel.

Here are some key events coming up:
* JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co., as well as firms ranging from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to Infosys Ltd., are among those due to report earnings.
* EIA crude oil inventory report is due Wednesday.
* European Central Bank’s Christine Lagarde speaks at an online conference Wednesday.
* U.S. consumer-price inflation figures are due Wednesday.
* Biden plans to lay out proposals for fiscal support on Thursday.
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell takes part in a webinar on Thursday.
* U.S. initial jobless claims data are due Thursday.
* U.S. retail sales, industrial production, business inventories and consumer sentiment figures are due Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index declined 0.7% to 3,799.61 as of 4:00 p.m. New York time, the first retreat in a week.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.3% to 31,008.69, the first retreat in a week.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1.3% to 13,036.43, the largest drop in a week.
*The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 0.7% to 408.41, the biggest dip in three weeks.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index sank 0.7% to 658.67, the first retreat in a week and the largest decrease in three weeks.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.5% to 1,126.98, the highest in two weeks.
*The euro sank 0.5% to $1.2156, the weakest in almost four weeks on the largest decrease in more than a week.
*The British pound declined 0.3% to $1.3521, the weakest in almost two weeks.
*The Japanese yen depreciated 0.2% to 104.17 per dollar, the weakest in more than a month.
Bonds
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained two basis points to 1.13%, reaching the highest in about 10 months on its seventh straight advance.
*Germany’s 10-year yield gained two basis points to -0.50%, the highest in two months.
*Britain’s 10-year yield gained 31 basis points to 0.309%, its fifth straight advance and the biggest advance on record.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 0.3% to $52.10 a barrel, the first retreat in a week.
*Copper declined 3% to $3.56 a pound, the lowest in a week.
–With assistance from Claire Ballentine.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Life’s not about expecting, hoping and wishing, it’s about doing, being and becoming.
                                                                                       -Mike Dooley, b.1961

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com
.

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Happy Friday.

On January 8,1987 The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 2,000 for the first time, ending the day at 2,002.25. Go to article »
1835-US national debt is $0 for the first and only time in history.
1851-Earth’s rotation proven.
Elvis Presley, b. 1935.
Stephen Hawking, physicist, b. 1942
David Bowie, musician, b. 1947

Neil Sheehan, who in 1971 obtained the Pentagon Papers, telling the secret government history of the Vietnam War, has died at 84. Sheehan, who covered the war for The Times, never explained how he got the documents — until a few years ago, when he agreed to an interview on the condition that it not be published until his death

A different “52 Places to Go”:

 

The Times usually publishes its annual travel feature right about now, a visually rich list of worthy destinations for the coming year. But, of course, the pandemic has changed that. This year’s list hits closer to home: We’re calling it “52 Places to Love.” Instead of turning to reporters and photographers, The Times asked readers to tell us about their favorite places — near or far — and share photos. Their responses included Huanchaco, Peru; a town in Wales called Mumbles; Montana’s “Golden Triangle”; and Hokkaido, Japan, which has an entire weather forecast devoted to the changing leaves.-The New York Times.

L’Heure exquise:
The first time I heard this work by Reynaldo Hahn, sung here by Susan Graham, I was moved to tears. Here’s hoping it brings you some peace after a difficult week. (Click here to view.) -CNN.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A three minute time exposure shows the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Launch Complex 40 in Floridda, USA. The rocket is carrying the Turksat 5A satellite for Turkey
CREDIT: MALCOLM DENENARK/FLORIDA TODAY VIA AP

Lights twinkle in a valley, seen from high in the Malvern Hills
CREDIT:@JACKBOSKETT

Trees are covered in snow on the Nordhelle mountain near Meinerzhagen, western Germany
CREDIT: INA FASSBENDER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for January 8^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	31097.97	+56.84
		+0.18%
S&P 500	3824.68	+20.89
		+0.55%
NASDAQ	13201.977	+134.498 +1.03%
TSX	18042.07	+14.50
		+0.08%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	28139.03	+648.90
		+2.36%
HANG SENG	27878.22	+329.70
		+1.20%
SENSEX	48782.51	+689.19
		+1.43%
FTSE 100*	6873.26	+16.30 +0.24%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.815	0.792
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.431	1.403
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.1170	1.0778
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8754	1.8555

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78770	0.78843
US $	1.29653	1.26834
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.55095	0.64477
US $	1.22168	0.81855

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1920.10	1931.95
Oil
WTI Crude Future	52.24	50.83

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1829, the market was open but it was one of the quietest days in Wall Street history, as not a single share of stock changed hands
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian shares pared early losses on Friday, as U.S. stocks rallied after President-elect Joe Biden said he’ll lay out the details of trillions of dollars in further stimulus.
The S&P/TSX Composite index was mostly unchanged in Toronto, paring an earlier decline of as much as 0.5%. The index
hit an all-time high on Thursday and rose about 3.5% this week, its best week since Nov. 6.
Tech and industrial stocks were the best performers, while materials and energy fared the worst. Miners tumbled after gold dropped below $1,900 an ounce as technical selling took over following a recovery in the dollar and higher Treasury yields.
Silver also fell the most since September.
Meanwhile, WestJet Airlines Ltd. said it would reduce capacity by a further 30% in February and March, affecting the jobs or pay of roughly 1,000 employees and bringing the number of domestic and international flights it operates down to levels not seen in almost 20 years. The cuts come after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government forced travelers to present a recent negative Covid-19 test before being allowed to board flights into Canada. The new rules took effect Thursday.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.70 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 3.4% to $1,848.88 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell slightly to C$1.2699 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose to 0.794%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 18,042.07 in Toronto.
Today, information technology stocks led the market higher, as 9 of 11 sectors gained; 118 of 221 shares rose, while 99 fell.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.1 percent. BlackBerry Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 6.4 percent.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 3.5 percent, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended Nov. 6
* The index advanced 5.1 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 19 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.1 percent below its 52-week high on Jan. 8, 2021 and 61.5 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.5 on a trailing basis and 17.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.78t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 8.87 percent compared with 8.87 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.60 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | 46.9046| 2.6| 9/0
Industrials | 34.4984| 1.5| 23/6
Utilities | 13.0200| 1.4| 13/3
Consumer Discretionary | 8.6885| 1.2| 11/2
Communication Services | 6.3442| 0.7| 7/0
Consumer Staples | 4.2555| 0.6| 10/1
Real Estate | 3.7343| 0.7| 19/6
Financials | 2.8296| 0.1| 11/15
Health Care | 0.7609| 0.3| 5/3
Energy | -19.4449| -0.9| 5/16
Materials | -87.1013| -3.4| 5/47
US
By Rita Nazareth and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed to all-time highs after President-elect Joe Biden said he’ll lay out the details of trillions of dollars in further aid to revive the world’s largest economy.
The S&P 500 notched its fourth straight day of gains, led by retailers and real-estate companies. The Nasdaq 100 outperformed, with Tesla Inc. surging for an 11th consecutive session. Meanwhile, the KBW Bank Index halted a rally that drove the gauge up more than 10% in three days. Miners joined a selloff in gold and silver.
In a week marked by a siege of the U.S. Capitol and Democratic sweep of Congress, all major equity benchmarks notched records as investors focused on the prospect for more fiscal aid. Biden made the call for new assistance – including $2,000 stimulus checks — after a dismal December jobs report.
The 140,000 slump in payrolls highlighted how surging coronavirus infections are taking a greater toll on parts of the economy. “Biden was talking about more stimulus,” said Jonathan Boyar, managing director at BoyarValue. “The sooner we see both parties acting together in a constructive manner, the better.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the nation’s top military officer assured her safeguards are in place in case President Donald Trump seeks to initiate a nuclear strike — something he has the sole authority to do. Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer are calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to have the cabinet remove Trump from office over his encouragement of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida said he doesn’t expect the central bank to begin tapering its asset purchases this year despite an expected strengthening of the economy as the pandemic fades. A few policy makers, including Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and Atlanta’s Raphael Bostic, said this week they might support reducing the pace of buying by year-end if the economy bounces back strongly enough.

     These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 gained about 0.5% at 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.7%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 2%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.1%.
* The euro decreased 0.4% to $1.2225.
* The Japanese yen depreciated 0.1% to 103.95 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed four basis points to 1.12%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose less than one basis point to -0.52%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose less than one basis point to 0.288%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 3.5% to $52.60 a barrel.
* Gold fell 3.5% to $1,847.89 an ounce.
–With assistance from Sunil Jagtiani, Cormac Mullen, Yakob Peterseil, Robert Brand, Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength.
Give thanks for your food and the joy of living.  If you see no reason for giving thanks,
the fault lies in yourself. -Tecumseh, 1768-1813

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Jan. 7, 1979, Vietnamese forces captured the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge government. Go to article »

Tomorrow’s radical architecture, today.

Why “Peanuts” endures.

In the past, we’ve asked artists and notable figures to choose the five minutes they would play to make their friends fall in love with classical music, the piano, Mozart and more. Now we want those friends to fall for an instrument based on the most fundamental sign of life: breath.
“No matter the style of the music or the cultural context it sings from, it’s the flute’s ability to pierce the heart that moves me most,” says the flutist and composer Nicole Mitchell. Her pick: “The Price of Everything” by James Newton.

“Remind me: Are we great again yet?” — STEPHEN COLBERT
“The America that so many aspire to will be back,” he said. “It’s just been hijacked by a lunatic.”  –JAMES CORDEN

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A car drives through a field of solar panels at a solar energy power plant (GES) in Edremit district of Van, Turkey
CREDIT: OZKAN BILGIN/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES

St Michael’s Tower, a Grade I listed building, is surrounded by freezing fog at Glastonbury Tor in Somerset
CREDIT: SPLASHNEWS.COM

People enjoy the snow  in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
CREDIT: REY SOTOLONGO/EUROPA PRESS VIA GETTY IMAGES

Market Closes for January 7^th, 2021 

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	31041.13	+211.73
		+0.69%
S&P 500	3803.79	+55.65
		+1.48%
NASDAQ	13067.480	+326.686 +2.56%
TSX	18027.57	+199.46
		+1.12%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	27490.13	+434.19
		+1.60%
HANG SENG	27548.52	-143.78
		-0.52%
SENSEX	48093.32	-80.74
		-0.17%
FTSE 100*	6856.96	+15.10 +0.22%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	0.792	0.754
CND. 30 Year Bond	1.403	1.364
U.S.    10 Year Bond	1.0778	1.0372
U.S. 30 Year Bond	1.8555	1.8099

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.78843	0.78880
US $	1.26834	1.26775
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.55682	0.64234
US $	1.22744	0.81470

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1931.95	1940.35
Oil
WTI Crude Future	50.83	50.63

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1825, the nation’s first great nonfinancial IPO was sold, as the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co. went public at $100 per share. The stock hit $112 that May, slid to $71 over the next three years, then went on to be a stable growth stock for decades.

Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rallied to an all-time high along with shares in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world as investors focused on the prospect for increased government spending to stimulate the economy once Joe Biden is inaugurated president in less than two weeks. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 1.1% to record high of 18,027.57. The index was driven by tech and energy shares, while communication services underperformed. Meanwhile, Canada’s largest pension plan is expanding its holdings of hard assets, plowing around $850 million into property, wind farms and logistics facilities to kick off the year.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $15.10 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,914.50 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was little changed at C$1.2675 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 4 basis points to 0.792%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the fourth day, climbing 1.1 percent, or 199.46 to 18,027.57 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 1.3 percent on Nov. 16. Today, information technology stocks led the market higher, as 9 of 11 sectors gained; 153 of 221 shares rose, while 68 fell. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 6.9 percent. Ballard Power Systems Inc. had the largest increase, rising 15.7 percent.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 3.4 percent, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended Nov. 6
* The index advanced 5 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 19 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.1 percent below its 52-week high on Jan. 7, 2021 and 61.4 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.7 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.5 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.5 on a trailing basis and 17.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.75t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 8.87 percent compared with 8.81 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.87 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | 77.9142| 4.5| 8/2
Energy | 42.1166| 2.0| 21/1
Industrials | 36.6312| 1.7| 24/5
Financials | 21.6940| 0.4| 22/4
Materials | 10.2129| 0.4| 29/23
Consumer Discretionary | 8.2831| 1.2| 10/3
Utilities | 6.2684| 0.7| 11/5
Health Care | 3.4896| 1.6| 6/3
Real Estate | 1.3230| 0.2| 18/8
Consumer Staples | -2.2509| -0.3| 2/9
Communication Services | -6.2349| -0.7| 2/5

US
By Rita Nazareth and Lu Wang
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rallied a day after violence rocked the U.S. Capitol, with investors firmly focused on the prospect for more stimulus and the likelihood that calm will prevail as Joe Biden takes the presidency. All major U.S. equity benchmarks notched all-time highs, with about 70% of the companies in the S&P 500 in the green and the Nasdaq 100 jumping 2.5%. The Dow Jones Transportation Average — a proxy for economic activity — also hit a record, while the Russell 2000 Index of small caps extended a three-day advance to almost 8%. Tesla Inc. surged after RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock, noting it was “completely wrong” with a previous bearish view. Another notable call came from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which said banks have “moved back into vogue” due to optimism about fiscal aid and rising rates. Bitcoin pared gains after topping $40,000.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer demanded that President Donald Trump’s cabinet immediately remove him from office and threatened a new drive to impeach him if they don’t act. Democrats, who already have a majority in the House, are set to take control of the Senate and presidency, paving the way for Biden to bring his legislative agenda to life and reshape the economy. While campaigning in Georgia before the runoff elections, he vowed that $2,000 stimulus checks would be sent out “immediately” if his party won the state. “Markets (rightly, in our view) see the U.S. government as ultimately a stable-enough set of institutions even if things occasionally go pear-shaped,” Nick Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research, wrote in a note to clients. “Politics play second fiddle to economic and corporate fundamentals when it comes to setting asset prices. The country’s economic future coming out of the pandemic remains promising.”
Data Thursday showed that growth at U.S. service providers unexpectedly accelerated as gains in business activity and new orders helped offset a decline in a measure of employment. Friday’s jobs report is forecast to show a sharp slowdown in hiring. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan said officials shouldn’t intervene to slow rising bond yields because that’s expected to happen as the economy recovers.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 increased 1.5% at 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.5%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.8%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index jumped 0.6%.
* The euro declined 0.5% to $1.2266.
* The Japanese yen depreciated 0.8% to 103.82 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose four basis points to 1.08%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined less than one basis point to -0.52%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield climbed four basis points to 0.284%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.6% to $50.95 a barrel.
* Gold lost 0.2% to $1,914.70 an ounce.
–With assistance from Gregor Stuart Hunter, Andreea Papuc, Anchalee Worrachate, Claire Ballentine, Katherine Greifeld, Nancy Moran and Sophie Caronello.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Because of his compassion, a man can become courageous.
Because of his economy, a man may become generous.  Because of his humility,
a man can become a leader.   -Lao Tzu, 6^th c. BC.

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com