Category: Newsletters

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
January 22, 1970 The Boeing 747 went on its first regularly scheduled commercial flight, from New York to London. Go to article.
1973: Roe vs Wade decision.
January 22, 1984: The apple Macintosh, the first mass-market personal computer with a revolutionary graphical user interface, was introduced during Super Bowl XVIII.

Franci Bacon, statesman, b. 1561.
Lord Byron, poet, b. 1788.

China’s ‘artificial sun’ shatters nuclear fusion record by generating steady loop of plasma for 1,000 seconds
A nuclear fusion reactor in China, dubbed the “artificial sun,” has broken its own record to bring humanity one step closer to near-limitless clean energy. Read More.

Archaeologists discover rare liquid gypsum burial of ‘high-status individual’ from Roman Britain
A Roman-era cemetery, found ahead of a construction project in England, holds an unusual burial at its center. Read More.

‘Herculean’ 2.5-billion-pixel mosaic shows our closest galactic neighbor like never before — and took more than a decade to create
The new composite image, which combines hundreds of photos from the Hubble Space Telescope, shows the Andromeda Galaxy with more than 200 million individually resolved stars. Read More.

World’s fastest supercomputer ‘El Capitan’ goes online — it will be used to secure the US nuclear stockpile and in other classified research
The world’s fastest supercomputer “El Capitan” can reach a peak performance of 2.746 exaFLOPS, making it the planet’s third exascale computer. Read More.

Cosmic voids may explain the universe’s acceleration without dark energy
New research suggests that dark energy isn’t needed to explain the acceleration in the expansion of the universe — instead suggesting giant voids in space are creating an illusion. Read More.

A major investment in artificial intelligence
Three top tech firms announced that they will create a new company, called Stargate, to grow AI infrastructure in the US.

Sparkling water and weight loss
Carbonated drinks known as sparkling, fizzy, seltzer and soda waters are thought to impact the waistline. Health experts weigh in.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Frankfurt, Germany
Commuters drive through a frozen forest toward the fog-shrouded city
Photograph: Michael Probst/AP

Rotterdam, Netherlands
Sunlight breaks through the mist over a waterway in the Dutch city where heavy fog has caused road accidents and flight cancellations
Photograph: Mouneb Taim/Anadolu/Getty Images

​​​​​​​New Orleans, US
Two friends take advantage of a rare fall of snow in City Park. The Louisiana city had not had any snow since 2009 and this week’s 10in broke the record of 2.7in set in 1963
Photograph: Michael DeMocker/Getty Images
Market Closes for January 22, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	44156.73	+130.92
		+0.30%
S&P 500	6086.37	+37.13
		+0.61%
NASDAQ	20009.34	+252.56
		+1.28%
TSX	25311.50	+29.87
		+0.12%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39889.59	+243.34
		+0.61%
HANG SENG	19778.77	-327.78
		-1.63%
SENSEX	76404.99	+566.63
		+0.75%
FTSE 100*	8545.13	-327.78
		-0.04%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.305	3.265
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.437	3.392
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.6028	4.5906
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.8194	4.8184

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6949	0.6976
US $	1.4391	1.4334

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4980	0.6675
US $	1.0410	0.9606

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2737.80	2707.70
Oil
WTI Crude Future	75.71	75.89

MARKET COMMENTARY:
📈 On this day in 2008, as the subprime crisis gathered steam, the Federal Reserve surprised markets with the deepest cut in interest rates in more than two decades.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the seventh day, climbing 0.1%, or 29.87 to 25,311.50 in Toronto.
The index advanced to the highest closing level since Dec. 12.
Today, industrials stocks led the market higher, as 6 of 11 sectors gained; 122 of 222 shares rose, while 97 fell.
Cameco Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 5.6%.
AtkinsRealis Group Inc. had the largest increase, rising 7.2%.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.4%
* The index advanced 21% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 25% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.1% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 23.7% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.1% in the past 5 days and rose 2.9% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.9 on a trailing basis and 17.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.98t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 11.81% compared with 11.81% in the previous session and the average of 10.83% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Industrials | 40.9487| 1.3| 22/6
Information Technology | 24.9521| 1.0| 10/0
Consumer Staples | 7.0684| 0.7| 10/0
Health Care | 0.5996| 0.8| 2/2
Communication Services | 0.4208| 0.1| 2/3
Real Estate | 0.1170| 0.0| 4/16
Energy | -0.9581| 0.0| 26/15
Materials | -1.3372| 0.0| 26/23
Consumer Discretionary | -1.5675| -0.2| 5/6
Utilities | -10.7027| -1.1| 1/14
Financials | -29.6701| -0.4| 14/12
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Cameco | 13.0500| 5.6| 36.5| 9.6
Canadian Pacific Kansas | 9.4140| 1.3| -0.3| 8.4
Constellation Software | 8.1570| 1.3| -21.9| 1.2
Enbridge | -9.3060| -0.9| 70.5| 5.6
Brookfield Corp | -10.4500| -1.2| -32.3| 2.6
RBC | -13.7800| -0.8| 88.6| 0.5
USA
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A rally in big tech fueled by optimism over artificial intelligence and a batch of earnings from corporate heavyweights sent stocks to the brink of their record highs.
Equities extended this year’s advance, with the S&P 500 briefly topping 6,100.
Netflix Inc. surged 9.7% amid its biggest-ever subscriber gain.
Nvidia Corp. led gains in mega caps while Oracle Corp. soared 6.7% on a $100 billion joint venture with SoftBank Group Corp. and OpenAI, an effort unveiled with President Donald Trump that further boosts prospects for the AI mania that has powered the bull market.
“We stay risk-on and expect earnings to fuel equities,” said BlackRock Investment Institute strategists including Jean Boivin and Wei Li.
“Even in a higher-rate environment, we still think stocks can keep pushing higher as long as fundamentals stay strong.”
To Matt Maley at Miller Tabak, if this earnings season is a good one, it’s a rally that could have legs.
However, it will take more than merely “beating expectations” to fuel a further advance of significance.
Despite a recent broadening attempt of the market beyond a handful of mega caps, tech led the way on Wednesday — and most companies in the S&P 500 actually fell.
Poor breadth has been a major concern of investors, especially among those nervous about sky-high valuations and frothy AI stocks.
JP Morgan Chase & Co.’s chief Jamie Dimon told CNBC there are signs that the stock market is overheated, with asset prices “kind of inflated.”
Meantime, Cathie Wood, the founder of ARK Investment Management, told Bloomberg’s ETF IQ that Trump’s regulatory and growth agenda will revive the market for US initial public offerings.
The S&P 500 rose 0.6%.
The Nasdaq 100 climbed 1.3%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%.
A Bloomberg gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” mega caps gained 1.3%.
The Russell 2000 fell 0.6%.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 4.6%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index wavered.
“Markets are reacting positively to the initial wave of Trump policies, with investors showing enthusiasm reminiscent of the run-up to the election as they breathe a sigh of relief over the tariff announcements and the early stages of earnings season,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide.
Hackett also noted  hat while the bar for earnings is high, the market is showing impressive resilience.
“A breakout to a fresh record high would energize the bulls, as earnings seasons have been choppy in recent quarters,” he concluded.
After the S&P 500 soared 24% in 2023 and 23% in 2024, lofty valuations brought some discussion on whether the benchmark will be able to achieve such a performance again this year.
Back-to-back annual gains of over 20% for the S&P 500 do not necessarily make US equities due for a pullback, as history shows the market has typically continued to deliver solid, albeit more muted, returns in the following year,” said Jeff Schulze at ClearBridge Investments.
“Further, the current rally is far from the longest without a correction.”
Schulze also noted that earnings growth has largely been concentrated amongst a small group of stocks in recent years.
This is expected to shift in 2025 with a broadening of earnings participation, which should lead to improved relative performance for small/mid cap and value laggards.
“While we continue to watch the new administration’s next moves closely, investor should not lose sight of the fundamentals that remain favorable for US equities,” said Solita Marcelli at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“Without taking any single-name views, we continue to like technology, utilities, and financials, and see value in utilizing structured strategies to navigate near-term volatility.”
The stock market’s “January effect” is taking shape so far, with stocks performing strongly throughout the month, according to John Creekmur at Creekmur Wealth Advisors.
“Investors are now more focused on earnings and hopes for tax cuts and deregulation from the new Trump administration, and less so about worries of fewer Federal Reserve rate cuts this year,” he noted.
The Nasdaq 100 has nearly doubled since the start of 2023, adding $14 trillion in value in the process.
Evercore ISI’s Rich Ross is prepared for that rally to continue, shrugging off fears of a familiar nemesis: bond yields.
Treasury rates jumped to multi-month highs last week as investors parsed economic data for clues on the Federal Reserve’s next interest-rate cut.
The yield on the US 10-year has since pulled back after hitting a relative strength reading that usually signals a retreat.
Pair that with positive technical signals and the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 Index both appear poised to hit fresh all-time highs in the first quarter, according to Ross.
“At the end of the day technology remains in an outstanding position to continue to lead this market higher,” Ross said.

Corporate Highlights:
* Netflix Inc. reported its biggest quarterly subscriber gain in history, buoyed by its first major live sporting events and the return of Squid Game.
* Salesforce Inc. Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff said there will be “thousands” of deals for its new Agentforce AI product in the current fiscal quarter.
* Samsung Electronics Co. plans to launch an ultrathin version of its Galaxy S25 phone in the first half of this year, beating Apple Inc. to a promising new category.
* Alphabet Inc.’s Google won a UK court ruling to block Russian media firms from seizing the tech giant’s global assets to recover Russian court-imposed fines that have now accrued interest equal to many times more than the world’s economy combined.
* United Airlines Holdings Inc. expects a solidly profitable first quarter as the carrier capitalizes on strong demand during the winter months, a surprising shift from a normally sluggish travel period.
* Procter & Gamble Co. organic sales surpassed estimates on higher volume, a change from earlier quarters where most of the company’s growth came from price hikes.
* Johnson & Johnson warned Wall Street about the perils of the strong dollar. Now the drug and device maker is saying analysts failed to hear the message.
* Abbott Laboratories is forecasting lower-than-expected first- quarter earnings but full-year profit in line with Wall Street estimates as the health care company points to strong demand for its medical devices as a growth driver this year.
* Ally Financial Inc. fourth-quarter earnings surged as its net interest margin beat analysts’ estimates and expenses and provisions for bad debt declined.

Key events this week:
* Eurozone consumer confidence, Thursday
* US jobless claims, Thursday
* Bank of Japan policy meeting, Friday
* Eurozone HCOB Manufacturing & Services PMI, Friday
* US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, existing home sales, S&P Global Manufacturing & Services PMI, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.5%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 1.3%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 0.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.0412
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.2317
* The Japanese yen fell 0.7% to 156.54 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 2.3% to $104,337.28
* Ether fell 2.3% to $3,255.98
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 4.60%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.53%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 4.63%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.5% to $75.43 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.4% to $2,756.78 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Cecile Gutscher, Sujata Rao, Robert Brand and Aya Wagatsuma.

Have a lovely evening everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Often man is preoccupied with human rules and forgets the inner law. -Antoine the Healer, 1846-1912.

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

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

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: St. Agnes Day.

January 21, 1793: The Execution of Louis XVI, King of France, marks a pivotal moment in the French Revolution and symbolizes the end of absolute monarchy in France.
January 21, 1976: The supersonic Concorde jet was put into service by Britain and France. Go to article

1915: Kiwanis International founded.

Ethan Allen, Revolutionary War Hero, b. 1738.
Roger Nash Baldwin, founder ACLU, b. 1884.
Chrisitan Dio, designer, b. 1905.
Geena Davis, actor, b. 1956

Ozempic-style drugs tied to more than 60 health benefits and risks in biggest study-of-its-kind
A large new study has shed light on the wider health impacts of taking Ozempic-style drugs. Read More.

Giant reserves of ‘gold’ hydrogen may be lurking beneath at least 30 US states, 1st-of-its-kind map reveals
USGS researchers have unveiled the first map of prospective locations for hydrogen gas in the contiguous United States — and there’s a lot more than they previously thought. Read More.

‘Our model of cosmology might be broken’: New study reveals the universe is expanding too fast for physics to explain
Astronomers have been confounded by recent evidence that the universe expanded at different rates throughout its life. New findings risk turning the tension into a crisis, scientists say. Read More.

Coco Gauff stunned by Paula Badosa at the Australian Open
The American tennis star was knocked out of the Australian Open after Paula Badosa of Spain served up some serious competition.

Ring camera footage shows meteorite strike near a Canadian home
This Ring camera footage shows a small meteorite crash near a home in Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Archaeologists find lavish thermal spa in Pompeii
An intricate thermal spa complex was uncovered in a recent dig in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. See photos here.

Champagne sales sink because people don’t want to celebrate
The number of Champagne shipments from France sank by almost 10% last year to 271 million bottles, marking the second consecutive year of declines.   More

Figure of the day: 25%, the share of the global population living in cities of over a million people, up from 15% six decades ago.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Quang Phu Cau, Vietnam
A worker arranges sets incense sticks out to dry in a courtyard on the outskirts of Hanoi ahead of lunar new year celebrations
Photograph: Nhac Nguyen/AFP/Getty Images

Spišská Nová Ves, Slovakia
A woman and her two children explore the Siklava Skala icefall
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

​​​​​​​Pelicans rest on a rock in the lake in St James’s Park, London, during last week’s cold snap across the UK. The lake would have been frozen over if not for the fountain. Six great white pelicans live in the park and are free to come and go as they please
Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Sopa Images/Rex/Shutterstock
Market Closes for January 21, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	44025.81	+537.98
		+1.24%
S&P 500	6049.24	+52.58
		+0.88%
NASDAQ	19756.78	+126.58
		+0.64%
TSX	25281.63	+110.06
		+0.44%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	39499.58	+471.60
		+1.21%
HANG SENG	20106.55	+180.74
		+0.91%
SENSEX	75838.36	-1235.08
		-1.60%
FTSE 100*	8548.29	+27.75
		+0.33%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.265	3.278
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.392	3.402
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.5906	N.A
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.8184	N.A

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6976	0.6991
US $	1.4334	1.4304

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4931	0.6697
US $	1.0416	0.9600

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2707.70	2707.70
Oil
WTI Crude Future	75.89	77.88

Market Commentary:

📈 On this day in 1993, just over a year after breaking the 600 mark, the Nasdaq Composite broke the 700 barrier, finishing the day at 700.77.

Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the sixth day, climbing 0.4%, or 110.06 to 25,281.63 in Toronto.
The index advanced to the highest closing level since Dec. 12.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.0%.
Energy Fuels Inc/Canada had the largest increase, rising 4.7%.
Today, 109 of 222 shares rose, while 111 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.2%
* The index advanced 21% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 24% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.2% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 23.5% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.8% in the past 5 days and rose 2.8% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.9 on a trailing basis and 17.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.97t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 11.81% compared with 11.72% in the previous session and the average of 10.77% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 61.5923| 0.7| 19/7
Information Technology | 44.6407| 1.8| 10/0
Industrials | 14.6785| 0.5| 16/11
Consumer Discretionary | 7.6239| 0.9| 7/4
Utilities | 4.0208| 0.4| 6/9
Materials | 2.9287| 0.1| 24/26
Real Estate | -0.2862| -0.1| 7/13
Health Care | -0.4686| -0.6| 1/3
Communication Services | -3.2215| -0.6| 1/4
Consumer Staples | -3.3707| -0.4| 7/3
Energy | -18.0689| -0.4| 11/31
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | 24.7200| 2.0| -11.8| -0.4
Brookfield Corp | 23.9100| 2.9| -26.6| 3.8
RBC | 16.9500| 1.0| 118.2| 1.3
Cenovus | -6.1790| -3.1| -11.2| -1.3
TC Energy | -8.0690| -1.6| -32.3| 1.6
Canadian Natural Resources | -19.5100| -2.8| 10.0| 2.9
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed as President Donald Trump struck a better-than-feared tone on global trade and speculation grew that his policies will further boost Corporate America.
Bonds continued to unwind the recent surge in yields that roiled markets.
The dollar wavered.
Over 400 shares in the S&P 500 rose, with the gauge up almost 1% as Trump is expected to announce a new investment push for artificial intelligence led by Softbank Group Corp., OpenAI LLC, and Oracle Corp.
A closely watched exchange-traded fund tracking companies with AI exposure hit a three-year high.
Small caps climbed on bets they will benefit from a protectionist stance.
Trump’s flurry of executive orders helped boost space shares, while weighing on electric-vehicle makers.
An ETF focused on big Chinese firms gained as the US president so far refrained from announcing tariffs on the Asian nation.
Treasury yields hovered near their lowest levels of the year.
Mexico’s peso and Canada’s loonie got hit as Trump outlined levies he expects to place on both countries by Feb. 1.
“Risky assets should benefit from deregulation and tariffs emerging as not so bad as feared,” said Mohit Kumar at Jefferies International Ltd. “For rates, less onerous tariffs and likely lower oil prices should be a positive.”
Callie Cox at Ritholtz Wealth Management, says it’s time to see what speculation was “founded” and what was “just nonsense” when it comes to tariffs.
Meantime, she noted that Trump faces a crucial test on another front.
“We’ll start seeing more headlines around debt-ceiling talks, and possibly, more stress on the shorter end of the Treasury curve,” she said.
The debt ceiling is frequently used for leverage amid budget negotiations in Congress, with agreements often made at the last minute.
As a result, the standoffs typically ripple through short-term interest rates as investors dump Treasury bills most vulnerable to a potential default in favor of other securities.
The S&P 500 rose 0.9%.
The Nasdaq 100 added 0.6%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.2%.
The Russell 2000 of small caps rallied 1.8%.
A gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” mega caps added 0.3%.
In late hours, Netflix Inc. soared after reporting its biggest quarterly subscriber gain in history.
United Airlines Holdings Inc. issued a bullish outlook.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined seven basis points to 4.56%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
“Last week, the equity markets experienced a broad rally, supported by cooler inflation data, upbeat earnings from banks, and a recovery from short-term oversold conditions and negative sentiment,” said Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler.
“We expect further upside in equities, supported by the return of Trump’s ‘business and investor-friendly’ policies. The “presidential scorecard” of stock-market performance is resetting this Tuesday, with Trump beginning his day in the White House for the first time in four years.
For Joe Biden’s entire presidency, the Dow Jones Industrial average rallied 39.4% — about 18 percentage points less than the four years under his Trump’s first administration — and over 100 percentage points less than the 149.4% during the eight years of the Obama era, according to data compiled by Bespoke Investment Group.
“While the Dow’s performance under Biden was the weakest of the last three presidents, it was still nothing to sneeze at, and it caps off a third straight period of strong gains under a presidential term,” Bespoke said. “Let these performance numbers serve as a reminder that as an investor you should never let your politics and investment decisions overlap.”
Since 1944, from the election through the inauguration day, the S&P 500 gained an average 1.6%, according to Sam Stovall at CFRA.
During the subsequent “First 100 (calendar) Days”, the S&P 500 gained an average of 2.1%, he noted.
“What’s more, the performances of S&P 500 sectors and sub-industries during the ‘Post-Election Honeymoon Period’ have been predictive of sector and sub-industry leadership for the entire year,” Stovall added.
Since 1993, the top four sectors from election day through inauguration day posted an average calendar-year increase of 17% versus the S&P 500’s average 15.9% rise and outperformed the broad benchmark 75% of the time, Stovall said.
Even better, the top-10 S&P 500 sub-industries posted an average calendar-year increase of 26.8% and also beat the market 75% of the time, he concluded.
This time around, there are early signs that investors are preparing for equity laggards to rally on bets that Trump could take a softer-than-feared stance on global trade, according to a survey by Bank of America Corp.
If concerns around Trump’s tariff proposals prove to be “unfounded,” investor allocations would remain risk-on and stock markets that have trailed the powerful rally in the US would play catch up, BofA strategist Michael Hartnett said.
In what could be a different macro/market regime in 2025, with a moderate pick-up in economic growth, we want to look for other equity markets that have reversion potential and have positive earnings revisions, according to Emily Roland and Matt Miskin at John Hancock Investment Management.
“US large-cap value (financials heavy) and US mid-caps (industrials heavy) are the two best options across globally equities that offer reversion potential and improving earnings trends,” they noted.
“Non-US equities and US small-caps could get a boost simply from the rotation trends, but fundamentally not as strong.”
Roland and Miskin also added that investors don’t have to go far to benefit from the potential deconcentrating of the S&P 500 from the top 10 mostly technology-driven growth stocks.
“Simply a value tilt or moving down in cap a bit, may give them plenty of fundamentally favorable opportunities,” they concluded.
“Our base case for the US economy is for ‘growth despite tariffs’,” said Solita Marcelli at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“While we will be closely monitoring for risks, we do not believe that the tariff measures outlined in our base case would be sufficient to derail US growth.
Nor do we believe that such tariffs would preclude inflation continuing to fall from current levels, enabling the Federal Reserve to cut rates by 50bps later this year.”
The latest dovish inflation readings are “game-changers,” and should provide a Goldilocks backdrop for risk assets over the coming months, HSBC says.
The bank’s strategists led by Max Kettner expect only very shallow drawdowns in the coming months and would use any dips to boost risk asset exposure.
They say sentiment and positioning are still flashing a buy signal.
To Matt Maley at Miller Tabak, while many of the headlines related to Trump’s policies could have an important impact on the markets, earnings season — and forward guidance — should be extremely important as well.
“With the market as expensive as it is today, there are some concerns about whether the positive aspects of these new policies may have already been priced into the stock market,” Maley said.
“So, it’s going to be particularly important that the overall earnings picture does not begin to deteriorate in any meaningful manner.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Apple Inc. received a pair of analyst downgrades, in the latest sign that soft iPhone sales are becoming an increasing concern for investors, as artificial intelligence fails to act as a hoped-for growth catalyst.
* Charles Schwab Corp. reported results that exceeded Wall Street estimates as it continues to attract record inflows to its retail brokerage.
* 3M Co. expects profit to grow this year as Chief Executive Officer William Brown works to advance his plan to turn around the sprawling manufacturer.
* D.R. Horton Inc. reported earnings per share for the first quarter that beat the average analyst estimate.
* MicroStrategy Inc. shareholders voted for a 30 times increase to the number of authorized Class A common shares to help finance the company’s Bitcoin buying.
* B. Riley Financial Inc. suspended dividends on a pair of its preferred shares, holding off on cash payments to some investors while it prepares to pay off another set of notes coming due next month.
* Adidas AG reported better-than-expected results amid the sustained boom for retro sneakers like the Samba and more sales from its shrinking stockpile of Yeezy footwear.

Key events this week:
* US Conference Board leading index, Wednesday
* Samsung Galaxy “Unpacked 2025” event, expected to reveal new flagship phone models, Wednesday
* Eurozone consumer confidence, Thursday
* US jobless claims, Thursday
* Bank of Japan policy meeting, Friday
* Eurozone HCOB Manufacturing & Services PMI, Friday
* US University of Michigan consumer sentiment, existing home sales, S&P Global Manufacturing & Services PMI, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.9% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.6%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.8%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 1.8%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 0.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.0420
* The British pound was little changed at $1.2339
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 155.52 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 3.5% to $106,109.48
* Ether rose 0.9% to $3,311.52
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined seven basis points to 4.56%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.51%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined seven basis points to 4.59%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.6% to $75.89 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1.3% to $2,742.72 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Cecile Gutscher, Margaryta Kirakosian, Chiranjivi Chakraborty, Julien Ponthus and Aya Wagatsuma.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it. -George Orwell, 1903-1950.

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

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

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

Dear Friends,

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

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 20, 1503: Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) established by the Crown of Castile in the port of Seville to deal with American affairs
January 20, 1869: Elizabeth Cady Stanton becomes 1st woman to testify before US Congress
January 20, 1937: 1st US Presidential Inauguration day held on Jan 20th, (previously March 4th)
January 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

An interstellar visitor may have changed the course of 4 solar system planets, study suggests
An object eight times the mass of Jupiter may have swooped around the sun, coming superclose to Mars’ present-day orbit before shoving four of the solar system’s planets onto a different course.

Giant ice age landforms discovered deep beneath North Sea revealed in amazing detail
New images from the North Sea show never-before-seen landforms that were carved by a single, colossal ice sheet 1 million years ago and subsequently buried beneath a thick layer of mud

‘ELIZA,’ the world’s 1st chatbot, was just resurrected from 60-year-old computer code
Researchers discovered long-lost computer code and used it to resurrect the early chatbot ELIZA.

Cell phone captures underwater surprise
A tourist visiting Tulum, Mexico, accidentally dropped her phone into one of the region’s popular cenotes. What her phone’s camera captured next turned out to be a viral hit.

Roman emperor quiz: Test your knowledge on the rulers of the ancient empire
The Roman emperors were once the most famous people in the world, ruling over an empire that stretched between what are now Spain and the Middle East. But just how much do you know about these characters? Take our quiz to find out.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Nansha, China
Colourful lantern displays are illuminated for the 2025 Greater Bay Area lantern festival
Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

Tokyo, Japan
An immersive digital artwork at the teamLab Planets Tokyo museum
Photograph: Franck Robichon/EPA

​​​​​​​Wengen, Switzerland
Ryan Cochran-Siegle of the US in action during the men’s downhill race at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup
Photograph: Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA
Market Closes for January 20, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	Market closed	N.A.
S&P 500	Market closed	N.A.
NASDAQ	Market closed	N.A.
TSX	25171.58	+103.66
		+0.41%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38902.50	+451.04
		+1.17%
HANG SENG	19925.81	+341.75
		+1.75%
SENSEX	77073.44	+454.11
		+0.59%
FTSE 100*	8520.54	+15.32
		+0.18%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.278	3.297
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.402	3.420
U.S. 10 Year Bond	N.A	4.6270
U.S. 30 Year Bond	N.A	4.8567

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6991	0.6912
US $	1.4304	1.4468

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4908	0.6708
US $	1.0422	0.9595

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2707.70	2715.20
Oil
WTI Crude Future	77.88	77.88

Market Commentary:

📈

Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the fifth day, climbing 0.4%, or 103.66 to 25,171.58 in Toronto.
The index advanced to the highest closing level since Dec. 13.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.4%.
Bombardier Inc. had the largest increase, rising 7.2%.
Today, 165 of 222 shares rose, while 54 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 1.8%
* The index advanced 20% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 23% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.6% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 23% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.6% in the past 5 days and rose 2.3% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.8 on a trailing basis and 17.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.95t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 11.72% compared with 11.65% in the previous session and the average of 10.70% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 54.4690| 1.2| 35/7
Materials | 35.0308| 1.2| 43/7
Industrials | 23.8103| 0.8| 22/6
Consumer Discretionary | 4.1810| 0.5| 10/1
Communication Services | 3.5787| 0.6| 4/1
Real Estate | 2.2872| 0.5| 16/4
Health Care | 0.5955| 0.8| 3/0
Consumer Staples | -0.7035| -0.1| 5/5
Utilities | -1.1864| -0.1| 6/8
Information Technology | -3.9781| -0.2| 5/5
Financials | -14.4171| -0.2| 16/10
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Natural Resources | 28.9700| 4.4| -45.1| 5.8
Canadian Pacific Kansas | 11.1800| 1.6| -50.0| 5.7
Suncor | 6.3400| 1.3| -79.6| 11.4
Enbridge | -6.8650| -0.7| -74.9| 4.8
Brookfield Corp | -7.1320| -0.8| -78.9| 1.0
TD Bank | -9.4290| -0.9| -81.4| 7.6
US
US stock market closed for federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shab
” No object is mysterious. The mystery is your eye.”– Elizabeth Bowen

Shab Mohammadpour

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

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
January 17, 1991: The Gulf War in Iraq begins.  “Operation Desert Storm”, launched in response too Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, led to approximately 100,000 civilian deaths.
January 17, 1997 A court in Ireland granted the first divorce in the Roman Catholic country’s history.  Go to article.

Benjamin Franklin, b. 1706.
Al Capone, b. 1899.
William Stafford, poet, b. 1914.
James Earl Jones, actor, b.1931.
Muhammed Ali, “The Greatest” boxer, b. 1942

Popular artists unite for FireAid benefit concert
The FireAid benefit concert, an event to raise funds for LA wildfire victims, will take place on January 30. So far, the performer lineup includes Lady Gaga, Stevie Nicks, Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers and more.

Video: Latest eruption at one of the world’s most active volcanoes
Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano has been occasionally erupting since late December. On Wednesday, it entered its fourth eruptive episode. See the video here.

Nintendo’s Switch 2 console to be released in 2025
Nintendo revealed its newest console on Thursday after a yearslong wait.

Schrödinger’s Cat breakthrough could usher in the ‘Holy Grail’ of quantum computing, making them error-proof
Errors in quantum computers are an obstacle for their widespread use. But a team of scientists say that, by using an antimony atom and the Schrödinger’s Cat thought experiment, they could have found a way to stop them.   Read More.

Secrets of Alexander the Great mosaic revealed after 1st-of-its-kind analysis
There are around 2 million pieces that make up the Alexander the Great mosaic, but where did they come from? Read More.

‘Totally amazing’ astronaut photo captures comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS shooting past Earth from the ISS
NASA astronaut Don Pettit has snapped a striking shot of the super-bright comet racing past our planet for the first time in 160,000 years, as it lit up the night skies across the globe. Read More.

‘Spooky’ quantum entanglement discovered inside individual protons for 1st time ever
Physicists have long-suspected that the building blocks of protons experienced quantum entanglement. Now, researchers have the first direct evidence — after using a trick to infer subatomic particles’
entropy. Read More

Great winds are powerless to disturb the water of a deep well. –Chinese Proverb.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Sapporo, Japan
Julia Mühlbacher of Austria in action during the official training of the FIS ski jumping women’s at Okurayama jump stadium in Hokkaido
Photograph: Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images

Singapore
Visitors look at the Madam White Snake exhibit, a living floral sculpture on display at Gardens by the Bay as part of Lunar New Year celebrations
Photograph: Roslan Rahmanroslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images

​​​​​​​Emperor penguins form an orderly queue as breeding season begins in Antarctica
Photograph: Natacha Planque/IPEV/WWF
Market Closes for January 17, 2025

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	43487.83	+334.70
		+0.78%
S&P 500	5996.66	59.32
		+1.00%
NASDAQ	19630.20	+291.91
		+1.51%
TSX	25067.92	+221.72
		+0.89%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	38451.46	-121.14
		-0.31%
HANG SENG	19584.06	+61.17
		+1.35%
SENSEX	76619.33	-423.49
		-0.55%
FTSE 100*	8505.22	+113.32
		+1.35%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.297	3.342
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.420	3.466
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.6270	4.6125
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.8567	4.8545

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6912	0.6946
US $	1.4468	1.4397

 

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.4887	0.6717
US $	1.0293	0.9715

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	2715.20	2677.70
Oil
WTI Crude Future	77.88	78.68

MARKET COMMENTARY:
📈 On this day in 1946, the Federal Reserve temporarily eliminated all margin trading after the stock market had gained more than 20% in the five months following the end of World War II.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the fourth day, climbing 0.9%, or 221.72 to 25,067.92 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 1.4% on Nov. 21.
Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.4%.
First Majestic Silver Corp. had the largest increase, rising 5.0%.
Today, 151 of 222 shares rose, while 66 fell; 10 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 1.2%, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended Nov. 22
* The index advanced 21% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 26% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 22.5% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.7 on a trailing basis and 17.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.9t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 11.65% compared with 11.26% in the previous session and the average of 10.44% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 71.4623| 1.7| 31/11
Financials | 61.9341| 0.8| 15/11
Materials | 33.1600| 1.1| 37/9
Industrials | 22.6593| 0.7| 22/6
Utilities | 12.6729| 1.4| 14/1
Information Technology | 6.8394| 0.3| 6/4
Consumer Staples | 6.4005| 0.7| 8/2
Communication Services | 5.0700| 0.9| 2/3
Consumer Discretionary | 1.3146| 0.2| 5/6
Real Estate | 0.3751| 0.1| 8/12
Health Care | -0.1818| -0.3| 3/1
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
TD Bank | 43.2300| 4.4| 0.5| 8.6
Enbridge | 16.3200| 1.7| -25.7| 5.5
TC Energy | 15.4100| 3.2| -34.7| 2.3
Intact Financial | -1.7740| -0.6| 45.4| -3.0
National Bank of Canada | -6.1540| -2.0| 3.8| -1.7
Bank of Nova Scotia| -7.4960| -1.2| -23.0| -4.7
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street powered ahead as stocks notched their best week since the November presidential election just ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Most groups in the S&P 500 rose, with the gauge up 1% Friday.
Tesla Inc. and Nvidia Corp. led gains in mega caps, while Intel Corp. jumped 9.2% on a report the chipmaker is an acquisition target.
Also aiding sentiment were headlines that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed trade, TikTok and fentanyl, which could set the tone for relations between the world’s two largest economies.
Bonds also rebounded this week, with 10-year yields down about 15 basis points in the span.
Trump, who is set to be sworn in as the 47th US president on Monday, has reiterated his focus on core priorities such as cutting taxes and raising tariffs.
Equities soared following the election on bets the new administration will enact pro-growth policies that will boost Corporate America.
While stocks faltered last month on hawkish Fed signals, recent data showing cooling inflation reignited bets on rate cuts.
“This week’s easing inflation data and a positive reaction to earnings from several financial companies resulted in a bond and stock rally,” said Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler.
“Recent short-term oversold conditions and weak bullish sentiment are underpinning the recovery of the major indices from within their primary uptrends.”
To Mark Hackett at Nationwide, the bounce in equities is encouraging, indicating the balance between bulls and bears is leveling.
“Markets are likely to remain in a zigzag pattern through earnings season,” he noted.
“Once earnings season is finished, expectations are reset, and the buyback window reopens, the bulls can reestablish control.”
The S&P 500 rose 1%.
The Nasdaq 100 climbed 1.7%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8%.
A Bloomberg gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” mega caps rallied 1.8%.
The Russell 2000 advanced 0.4%.
Buoyed by solid earnings, banks continued to surge, sending a closely watched industry gauge up 8.2% for the week.
US markets will be closed Monday for a holiday.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.61%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%.
Bitcoin jumped to around $105,000.
“What a difference a week makes,” said Steve Sosnick at Interactive Brokers.
“At this time last Friday stocks were selling off sharply thanks to a better-than-expected jobs report.  It revealed the equity market’s somewhat seemingly obvious preference for rate cuts over a solid economy.”
From a technical perspective, Dan Wantrobski at Janney Montgomery Scott, says the setup was “nearly perfect for oversold conditions to collide with positive news and trigger the rally we are currently experiencing.”
When Trump takes his oath as the next US president on Monday, stock investors will have one big reason to breathe a sigh of relief.
History shows the performance of the equities benchmark over a three-month period usually improves after inauguration day.
History shows that the average three-month performance of the S&P 500 going into the ceremony is just about 1%, compared to a 3.7% rise on the way out, according to Jefferies’ analysis of data going back to 1929.
The index “typically trades lumpy around inaugurations,” the firm’s strategists said, but things start to improve a few months in.
In fact, on average the S&P gains 8.3% six months into an inauguration and about 9.5% 12 months in, according to Jefferies.
Trump’s return to the White House will likely shield US stocks from a big selloff, according to Bank of America Corp. strategists, as investors focus on his protectionist agenda and proposals for lower corporate taxes.
US stocks are “protected by Trump” from downside, strategist Michael Hartnett wrote in a note, although he doesn’t expect sharp gains either due to risks including high concentration in mega-cap technology stocks, valuations and investor positioning.
“We continue to view US equities as attractive, forecasting that 9% earnings growth this year will drive the S&P 500 to 6,600 by the end of the year,” said Mark Haefele at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“Large-caps should outperform mid- and small-caps given their greater AI exposure, better earnings trends, and less dependency on Fed rate cuts.
Sector-wise, he likes information technology, financials, utilities, communication services, and consumer discretionary.
“When you’ve had so many years should significant outperformance of US equities, it’s very difficult to then look at opportunities outside the US and think that they’re going to be any more attractive,” said Zehrid Osmani at Martin Currie Investment Management. “But valuation discipline has to be an important angle for investors. We would need to see a broadening of the earnings momentum at the moment.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Microsoft Corp.’s $13 billion investment in OpenAI raises concerns that the tech giant could extend its dominance in cloud computing into the nascent artificial intelligence market, the Federal Trade Commission said in a report released Friday.
* The Supreme Court unanimously upheld a law that threatens to shut down the wildly popular TikTok social media platform in the US as soon as Sunday, ruling that free speech rights must yield to concerns that Chinese control of the app creates a national- security risk.
* US auto safety regulators are probing General Motors Co. over concerns that more than 870,000 of its full-size pickup trucks and SUVs face the risk of engine failure.
* Applied Materials Inc. and Lam Research Corp. were raised to overweight from sector weight at KeyBanc Capital Markets as the broker repositions semi cap coverage toward immediate growth drivers.
* J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. reported fourth-quarter earnings trailed expectations and it warned about first-quarter results, as well as cost pressures in 2025.
* JetBlue Airways Corp. and Southwest Airlines Co. were downgraded to underperform from neutral at Bank of America Corp., which citied their lower exposure to corporate, premium and international routes.
* Novo Nordisk A/S’s blockbuster drug Wegovy was targeted for price cuts by the US government and suffered a setback in a new trial, adding to growing threats to the Danish company’s early dominance in the surging market for new weight-loss treatments.
* Bumble Inc. founder Whitney Wolfe Herd will return to the dating-app firm as chief executive officer, a year after she handed over the reins to a Slack Technologies Inc. executive.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.7%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.8%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 1.8%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro fell 0.3% to $1.0275
* The British pound fell 0.6% to $1.2170
* The Japanese yen fell 0.6% to 156.15 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 4.5% to $104,677.54
* Ether rose 5.9% to $3,514.99
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.61%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 2.54%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.66%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.9% to $77.95 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.5% to $2,701.21 an ounce

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

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
“Dost thou love life?  Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made of”-Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790.

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

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

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.

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

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

Robert Service, poet, b.1874.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

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

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

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

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

International Markets

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

Bonds

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

Currencies

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

 

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

Commodities

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

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

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

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

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

Dear Friends,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

International Markets

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

Bonds

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

Currencies

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

 

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

Commodities

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

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

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

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

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

Dear Friends,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

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

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

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

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

International Markets

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

Bonds

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

Currencies

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

 

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

Commodities

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

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

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

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

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Monday.  Full moon tonight.

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

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

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

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

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

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

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

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

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

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

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

International Markets

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

Bonds

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

Currencies

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

 

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

Commodities

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be magnificent!
As ever,

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

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

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

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.

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

1920: League of Nations founded.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

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

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

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

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

International Markets

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

Bonds

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

Currencies

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

 

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

Commodities

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

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

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

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

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

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

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

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

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

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

Dear Friends,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

State funeral of President Jimmy Carter

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

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

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

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

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

International Markets

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

Bonds

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

Currencies

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

 

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

Commodities

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

Market Commentary:

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

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

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

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

Shab Mohammadpour

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

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