Dear Friends,
Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.
December 11, 1936: Edward VIII abdicates the Throne to marry Wallis Simpson.
December 11, 1941: Germany and Italy declared war on the United States, which responded in kind. Go to article.
December 11, 1946: UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) is established to provide humanitarian aid to children worldwide.
Hector Berlioz, composer, b. 1803.
Tom Hayden, activist , b. 1939.
John Kerry , US Senator, b. 1943
| New discoveries at Hadrian’s Wall are changing the picture of what life was like on the border of the Roman Empire |
The British northern frontier was the edge of the Roman world — and a place of violence, boredom and opportunity, experts told Live Science. Read More.
| ‘It is the most exciting discovery in my 40-year career’: Archaeologists uncover evidence that Neanderthals made fire 400,000 years ago in England |
Archaeologists have found the earliest evidence yet of fire technology — and it was created by Neanderthals in England more than 400,000 years ago. Read More.
| Russia’s Bezymianny volcano blew itself apart 69 years ago. It’s now almost completely regrown. |
A 1956 eruption collapsed much of the Bezymianny volcano in Kamchatka, Russia, but frequent eruptions since — including a large event in November — means it has now almost completely r
regrown. Read More.
| Mysterious X-ray signal from deep space may be the scream of a star ripped apart by two black holes |
A strange X-ray signal spotted decades ago may be the result of a star that got attacked by two black holes, one after the other. Read More.
| Scientists create new solid-state sodium-ion battery — they say it’ll make EVs cheaper and safer |
A new sodium-ion battery offers a cheaper and safer alternative to conventional lithium-ion systems, scientists say, paving the way for more sustainable EVs. Read More.
‘They’re not monsters’
Responding to an increase in fatal bear attacks, Japan is staging "bear drills" and deploying military troops in some areas. Can humans and bears coexist? It depends on who you ask.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Berlin, Germany
People skate on an ice rink in the art installation ‘Forest – Winterlights 2025’ by light and media artist Christopher Bauder at his Dark Matter art gallery
Photograph: Hannibal Hanschke/EPA
St Moritz, Switzerland
The American alpine ski racer Lindsey Vonn during women’s downhill training for the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2025–26
Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
Carlsbad, US
Huge inflatable Santas line Highland Drive, nicknamed Ho Ho Highland
Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters
Market Closes for December 11th, 2025
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| Dow Jones |
48704.01 | +646.26 |
| +1.34% | ||
| S&P 500 | 6901.00 | +14.32 |
| +0.21% | ||
| NASDAQ | 23593.86 | -60.29 |
| -0.25% | ||
| TSX | 31660.73 | +169.88 |
| +0.54% |
International Markets
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| NIKKEI | 50148.82 | -453.98 |
| -0.90% | ||
| HANG SENG |
25530.51 | -10.27 |
| -0.04% | ||
| SENSEX | 84818.13 | +426.86 |
| +0.51% | ||
| FTSE 100* | 97803.16 | +47.63 |
| +0.49% |
Bonds
| Bonds | % Yield | Previous % Yield |
| CND. 10 Year Bond |
3.428 | 3.420 |
| CND. 30 Year Bond |
3.853 | 3.840 |
| U.S. 10 Year Bond |
4.1468 | 4.1468 |
| U.S. 30 Year Bond |
4.7938 | 4.7868 |
| BOC Close | Today | Previous |
| Canadian $ | 0.7260 | 0.7248 |
| US $ |
1.3772 | 1.3795 |
| Euro Rate 1 Euro= |
Inverse | |
| Canadian $ | 0.6183 | 1.6171 |
| US $ |
0.8516 | 1.1741 |
Commodities
| Gold | Close | Previous |
| London Gold Fix |
4230.35 | 4198.00 |
| Oil | ||
| WTI Crude Future | 57.60 | 58.46 |
Market Commentary:
Predicting rain doesn’t count. Building arks does. – Warren Buffett, b.1930.
C🎄A🎄N🎄A🎄D🎄A
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 0.5%, or 169.88 to 31,660.73 in Toronto.
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.7%.
TerraVest Industries Inc. had the largest increase, rising 22.3%.
Today, 133 of 212 shares rose, while 76 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights* This year, the index rose 28%, heading for the best year in at least 10 years
* This quarter, the index rose 5.5%
* So far this week, the index rose 1.1%
* The index advanced 23% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 14% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 42.4% above its low on April 7, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.6% in the past 5 days and rose 4.1% 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 19.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$4.99t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 14.44% compared with 14.40% in the previous session and the average of 15.11% over the past month
Index Points
Materials | 171.0896| 3.1| 47/3
Financials | 37.9734| 0.4| 17/7
Industrials | 20.2277| 0.6| 20/9
Utilities | 1.4477| 0.1| 9/5
Energy | 0.9083| 0.0| 17/19
Health Care | 0.0095| 0.0| 2/2
Real Estate | -0.0588| 0.0| 5/13
Consumer Discretionary | -0.2927| 0.0| 5/4
Consumer Staples | -0.6286| -0.1| 7/4
Communication Services | -4.9466| -0.8| 3/2
Information Technology | -55.8490| -1.7| 1/8
Agnico Eagle Mines | Ltd | 29.2200| 3.7| -5.9| 108.7
RBC | 22.1200| 1.0| -5.4| 32.7
Barrick Mining | 20.1600| 2.9| -45.9| 166.7
Canadian Natural |Resources | -13.0000| -1.9| 14.1| 2.8
Brookfield Corp | -19.3100| -2.0| 32.5| 16.4
Shopify | -47.6200| -2.4| -29.7| 48.3
MT Newswires:
The Toronto Stock Exchange set a second-straight record close Thursday, with investors buoyed by one set of economic data showing Canadian household balance sheets "remained resilient" in the third quarter and another showing a better-than-expected trade balance.
The resources-heavy index closed up 169.88 points or 0.5% at 31,660.73, topping the prior day’s record finish by about 170 points, even as a third of sectors were lower, commodity prices traded wildly mixed and Oxford Economics told its clients to "stand on guard for continued Canadian weakness in early 2026".
Among sectors, the Battery Metals Index led gainers, up 2.4%, with Base Metals up near 2% as gold traded sharply higher by late afternoon Thursday as the dollar and treasury yields weakened after the Federal Reserve, as expected, cut U.S. interest rates by 25 basis points a day earlier.
Gold for February delivery was last seen up US$79.00 to US$4,303.t0 per ounce, the highest for the metal since its Oct. 20 record high of US$4,359.40.
Info Tech was down 1% and Energy eased 0.7% as West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed at a seven-week low despite rising geopolitical risk after the United States seized an oil tanker off Venezuela while the International Energy Agency said global inventory builds are slowing even as it expects production to continue rising above demand growth next year.
WTI crude oil for January delivery closed down $0.86 to settle at US$57.60 per barrel, the lowest since Oct.20, while February Brent oil was down $0.94 to US$61.27.
Related to energy, Oxford Economics in a ‘Cross Asset’ note said the price of commodities, which often influence the direction of Canada’s equity and macro markets, will offer limited relief for the Canadian dollar.
Oxford Economics expects Western Canadian Select oil prices will continue to weaken.
It forecast Brent crude prices, which move in line with WCS prices, will fall due to global supply growth outpacing demand and inventories building.
Oxford Economics remains overweight USD/CAD and sees little support for the Canadian dollar in early 2026.
It said the interest rate differential will remain unfavorable as it disagrees with markets on the pace of Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Tariff uncertainty surrounding US-Mexico-Canada Agreement renegotiations will add further pressure, it added.
In contrast, RBC in a note on today’s Canadian household net worth data said while uncertainty about Canada’s future trade relationship with the United States continues to add strain, it is worth noting that as of September, 86% of Canadian exports to the U.S. still cross the border duty-free.
"Given these mixed but generally improving conditions, we remain cautiously optimistic about the Canadian economic outlook in the year ahead," the bank.
RBC noted Canadian household balance sheets "remained resilient" in Q3, with household net worth growing at a faster pace than in Q2 driven by robust financial asset gains, while the debt-servicing ratio ticked slightly lower from last quarter after an upward revision to Q2.
Still, RBC said, wealth gains are likely, again, not evenly distributed, with Statistics Canada noting the increase in net wealth was led by strong gains in financial asset values, and the top 20% of the wealth distribution holds nearly 70% of all financial assets.
It noted that is broadly consistent with earlier reports showing the household wealth gap widening in Q2.
RBC noted housing continued to weigh on wealth in Q3 as prices declined again and debt levels rose.
However, it also noted, encouraging signs emerged elsewhere in the economy, with Q3 GDP showing recovered activity from Q2 lows and the unemployment rate ticked lower in October and November.
"These improvements suggest that a broader recovery should gradually take hold as economic momentum builds and labour market conditions stabilize further."
Elsewhere, BMO noted the long-awaited September trade data came in even better than Statistics Canada’s preliminary estimates.
Not only did the trade balance improve from a $6.4 billion deficit to a $0.2 billion surplus (versus an estimated $1.25 billion shortfall in the Q3 GDP figures), but volumes were also firmer.
Exports were up 4.9% while imports fell 3.9%.
For Q3, as in the accompanying chart, exports increased 3.5% a.r. while imports declined 10.8% annualized.
BMO said: "These data are typically volatile and prone to revisions, so we’ll caution against reading too much into any one report.
Still, the better-than-expected figures suggest some upside risk for a September revision when the October real GDP report is released later this month."
US
By Cristin Flanagan and Andre Janse van Vuuren (Bloomberg) — Buyers emerged for US stocks after concerns on Oracle Corp.’s plans for vast capital outlays on artificial- intelligence infrastructure drove a broad retreat from risky assets.
The S&P 500 clawed back losses to climb 0.2%, a closing record and back near October’s intraday peak.
Blue-chip and small-cap gauges, long laggards in the tech-led equity bull run, climbed to all-time highs.
The Nasdaq 100 pared a 1.6% drop, though sentiment for tech stocks remained sour after a disappointing earnings report for Oracle, a bellwether of the AI investment boom.
Traders will get another read on the strength of the AI trade when Broadcom Inc. reports after the close.
Caution toward AI heavyweights persisted, with Nvidia Corp. falling 1.5% amid Magnificent Seven losses.
Bitcoin pared a drop after dipping below $90,000.
The dollar ticked lower.
Broadcom’s stock has more than doubled from its April low, and Bloomberg Intelligence expects results that are in line with, or slightly above, estimates as hyperscaler customers continue to ramp up spending.
Oracle’s results pushed worries about tech valuations and whether heavy spending on AI infrastructure will pay off back into focus, reviving concerns that fueled weeks of volatility in November.
While the sector has powered the S&P 500’s stunning rally this year, spending fears have prompted some investors to rotate into other areas as the US economic outlook remains robust.
“Markets have grown far more wary of AI-related spending, which is a sharp contrast with mid-2025 when anything hinting at higher capex sparked excitement,” said Susana Cruz, a strategist at Panmure Liberum.
“Oracle has been the weakest link in all this, largely because it’s funding a big chunk of its investment with debt.”
Oracle’s earnings landed after the S&P 500 closed just shy of a record on Wednesday, lifted by a Federal Reserve interest- rate cut and Chair Jerome Powell’s sanguine economic outlook.
Investors had taken comfort in Fed policymakers leaving the door open to more easing next year, even though the quarter- point cut drew three dissents.
Traders stuck to bets on two cuts in 2026, even as the Fed’s new projections signaled only one such move.
“The effect of Oracle has been greater than the Fed. This already tells us everything as we’ve been witnessing a strong concentration and one theme — AI — leading the market,” said Alberto Tocchio, a portfolio manager at Kairos Partners. “
This doesn’t mean that AI is gone or it’s a bubble, but we need to focus on a wider scale.”
US Treasuries rallied after the rate cut was paired with the authorization of fresh bill purchases to rebuild bank reserves.
The gains continued after initial jobless claims rose more than expected in the Dec. 6 week but waned in late afternoon trading as the yield on the 10-year note steadied at 4.15%.
Powell suggested that the Fed had now acted sufficiently to help stabilize the labor market while leaving rates high enough to continue weighing on price pressures.
Officials upgraded their median outlook for growth in 2026, to 2.3% from the 1.8% they projected in September.
They also foresaw inflation declining to 2.4% next year, from the 2.6% in the previous projection.
“The Fed’s ‘hawkish-but-bullish’ cut last night reinforces this: stronger 2026 growth, faster disinflation,” said Florian Ielpo, head of macro at Lombard Odier Investment Managers.
“Cuts are continuing, but they’re no longer automatic — and that’s usually a constructive backdrop for equities.”
In commodities, oil retreated tracking wider losses in risk assets.
Silver extended an all-time high past $63 an ounce.
What Bloomberg Strategists say…
“Rather than signaling an imminent bust in tech shares, Oracle’s earnings disappointment is poised to further redefine the divide between AI winners and losers.
The next stage of the AI cycle promises even more dispersion, as companies battle for a share of booming AI spending as well as superior efficiency
and cost advantages on the provider side.”
—Tatiana Darie, Macro Strategist, Markets Live
Corporate News
* Walt Disney Co. agreed to invest $1 billion in OpenAI and license characters from Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars for use on the Sora generative video platform.
* A next-generation obesity shot from Eli Lilly & Co. helped patients lose almost a quarter of their body weight, potentially making the experimental drug the most potent weight-loss medicine yet. The stock rose in premarket trading.
* Oracle Corp. shares fell in early trading after the company reported a jump in spending on AI data centers and other equipment, rising outlays that are taking longer to translate into cloud revenue than investors want.
* OpenAI and its investor Microsoft were sued over a Connecticut murder-suicide in the latest case to blame the popular ChatGPT chatbot for dangerous psychological manipulation of users.
* Novo Nordisk A/S shares have fallen so much this year that it’s almost as if the frenzy around weight-loss drugs that propelled the Danish pharmaceutical company’s meteoric rise never happened.
* Coca-Cola Co. said Chief Executive Officer James Quincey is stepping down and will be replaced at the end of March by Henrique Braun, the company’s chief operating officer.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks* The S&P 500 rose 0.2% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.4%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 1.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
* The euro rose 0.4% to $1.1740
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3394
* The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 155.61 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 0.7% to $91,776.18
* Ether fell 3.5% to $3,222.61
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.14%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.84%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.48%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.1% to $57.82 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1.1% to $4,274.34 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Neil Campling and Sagarika Jaisinghani.
Have a lovely evening.
Be magnificent!
As ever,
Carolann
The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts. –Marcus Aurelius, 121 CE-180 CE.
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