December 29, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Carolann is away from office this afternoon, I’ll be writing the newsletter on behalf of her.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Photographing ice sculptures at the Harbin Ice and Snow World. The 38th Harbin ice festival will begin on 5 January
CREDIT: AFP/Getty
A winter swimmer takes to the water of the half-frozen Houhai lake
CREDIT: Wu Hong/EPA
A woman photographs recently unloaded new cars covered in several inches of ice after the ship carrying them was caught in severe weather in the Sea of Japan
CREDIT: Tatiana Meel/Reuters

Market Closes for December 29^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
1999: The Nasdaq composite index closed above 4,000 for the first time, ending the day at 4,041.46.
Go to article »
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the fifth day, climbing 0.5 percent, or 114.97 to 21,344.65 in Toronto.
The index advanced to the highest closing level since Nov. 25.
Brookfield Asset Management Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.1 percent.
Interfor Corp. had the largest increase, rising 13.5 percent.
Today, 147 of 241 shares rose, while 91 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 22 percent, heading for the best year in at least 10 years
* This quarter, the index rose 6.3 percent
* This month, the index rose 3.3 percent
* The index advanced 21 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 26 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.1 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 23.4 percent above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 3.9 percent in the past 5 days and rose 1 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.3 on a trailing basis and 16.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.5 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.4t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 15.42 percent compared with 15.33 percent in the previous session and the average of 14.29 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 70.3651| 1.0| 21/7
* Energy | 29.8423| 1.1| 25/6
* Industrials | 11.4363| 0.4| 18/12
* Consumer Discretionary | 9.5388| 1.2| 11/3
* Real Estate | 8.0454| 1.2| 22/0
* Utilities | 5.9560| 0.6| 9/6
* Communication Services | 5.6211| 0.6| 5/2
* Consumer Staples | 3.2755| 0.4| 7/5
* Materials | -2.6179| -0.1| 17/38
* Health Care | -8.0249| -4.7| 2/6
* Information Technology | -18.4621| -0.8| 10/6
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Brookfield Asset Management | 15.8100| 2.1| -36.5| 49.3
* TD Bank | 15.1200| 1.3| -26.0| 35.6
* Bank of Nova Scotia| 12.1600| 1.6| 61.6| 32.6
* Barrick Gold | -3.0480| -1.1| 33.3| -17.2
* Tilray | -3.2420| -10.5| 36.0|n/a
* Shopify | -24.9900| -1.8| -22.2| 23.9

US
By Stephen Kirkland and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose in thin trading as the slump in tech stocks abated amid speculation the economic recovery can weather the surge in coronavirus cases.
Treasuries fell along with the dollar.
After spending much of the session little changed, the S&P 500 rose to reach the 70th record close of the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average also ended the day at an all-time high, while the Russell 2000, a proxy for the reopening trade, rebounded.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, too, staged a comeback, erasing earlier losses.
Omicron fears are easing on growing evidence that the fast-spreading strain leads to milder symptoms, even as worldwide Covid-19 cases rose above 1 million for a second straight day.
Coronavirus developments along with Federal Reserve policy tightening and China’s outlook rank among the key risks for 2022.
“We just might get a relatively calm last week of the year after all,” Matt Maley, chief market strategist for Miller Tabak + Co. wrote. “That said, thin markets can change on a dime, so investors will want to stay nimble.”
Treasuries fell, sending the 10-year yield up as much as 7.4 basis points to 1.55%, breaching the 50-day moving average that has contained it since Nov. 29.
The dollar weakened against all of its Group-of-10 peers except the yen.
“I think the economy is going to be very strong, I think the Fed will continue its policy of keeping rates very low, disappointing aggressive people,” Margie Patel, senior portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments, said on Bloomberg TV.  “And I think the stock market may well surprise on the upside and have another very, very good year after a very good year in ‘21.”
What to watch this week:
* U.S. initial jobless claims, Thursday
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 was little changed
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%
* The MSCI World index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
* The euro rose 0.3% to $1.1348
* The British pound rose 0.4% to $1.3484
* The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 114.97 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced seven basis points to 1.55%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to -0.18%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced nine basis points to 1.01%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.7% to $76.50 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,805.40 an ounce

–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Marcus Wong and Robert Brand.
Have a nice evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Isabel

It is better to know some of the questions than all the answers. – James Grover Thurber, 1894-1961.

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff,

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
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Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

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