Dear Friends,

Tangents:Happy Monday.

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

December 29, 1845 – Texas officially became the 28th state of the United States. Wikipedia
December 29, 1937 – The Irish Free State became Ireland under a new constitution. Time and Date
December 29, 1978 – Shah of Iran, asks Shapour Bahktiar to form a civilian government. Go to the article
December 29, 1996 – The Guatemalan Civil War (36‑year conflict) officially ended with a peace agreement. Time and Date

Back to Nature Day — Observed to celebrate and protect nature and wildlife, reminding humans of the importance of reconnecting with the natural world. Holidays and Observances. nationaldaycalendar.com
In some Christian traditions, December 29 falls within the Twelve Days of Christmas. famousdaily.com

James Clark Ross (British polar explorer). b. 1800
Ada Lovelace (British mathematician and first computer programmer). b. 1815
Yuri Gagarin (Soviet cosmonaut, first human in space). b. 1934

Stunning array of 400 rings in a ‘reflection’ nebula solves a 30-year-old star-formation mystery — Space photo of the weekThe discovery is the first direct observational confirmation of a theory for how young stars feed on, and then explosively expel, surrounding material.

Putting the servers in orbit is a stupid idea’: Could data centers in space help avoid an AI energy crisis?
Google’s proposal to explore space-based AI infrastructure raises fundamental questions about energy, physics and feasibility – and whether Earth has really run out of options.

5 common mistakes beginner telescope users make — and how to avoid themThe simple mistakes every stargazing newbie makes — avoid these traps and you’ll get the best out of your telescope from night one!

The most exciting new trains coming in 2026When you’re standing in a big-city railway station, scanning the departure board for your train, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a seasoned traveler or a nervous newcomer. Few travel moments match that brief tingle of anticipation, as the possibilities for adventure flicker through your mind.

Gold is escaping from Earth’s core and other wild things we learned about the planet in 2025Billions of years ago, Earth was an uninhabitable rock covered in magma. Scientists are still working to decipher the tale of how it transformed into a blue and green orb teeming with life.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

New York, US

Snow falls on the Brooklyn Bridge during a winter storm

Photograph: Adam Gray/Reuters

Lausanne, Switzerland

Remue Menage perform the show Amorous Ballad with illuminated mobile structures depicting a herd of deer, during the 11th edition of the Bô Noël event

Photograph: Salvatore Di Nolfi/EPA

New Hampshire, US

People look up at the ice ceiling of the Ice Castles during the opening day in North Woodstock. Brent Christensen crafted his first icy creation in the front yard of his home to bring happiness and joy to his children. Since 2011, Ice Castles has been dedicated to creating a world of ice caves, frozen waterfalls and glaciers formed into archways, caverns, slides and tunnels

Photograph: Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images

Market Closes for December 29th, 2025

International Markets

Bonds

Commodities

Market Commentary:

Canada

By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.3%, or 103.17 to 31,896.59 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 0.7% on Dec. 16.
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 5.3%.
Bitfarms Ltd/Canada had the largest drop, falling 7.7%.
Today, 106 of 218 shares fell, while 111 rose; 4 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 29%, heading for the best year in at least 10 years
* This quarter, the index rose 6.2%
* This month, the index rose 1.6%
* The index advanced 29% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 17% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.6% below its 52-week high on Dec. 22, 2025 and 43.5% above its low on April 7, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.4% in the past 5 days and rose 1.6% 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 20 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$5.09t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 11.07% compared with 10.96% in the previous session and the average of 13.58% over the past month
Index Points
Materials | -170.5410| -2.9| 6/50
Information Technology| -19.7129| -0.6| 4/6
Consumer Discretionary| -1.5547| -0.1| 6/3
Health Care | -0.5938| -0.7| 2/2
Utilities | 1.2563| 0.1| 7/7
Real Estate | 1.8478| 0.4| 15/4
Consumer Staples | 5.6922| 0.5| 7/3
Communication Services| 8.1677| 1.4| 5/0
Industrials | 11.0341| 0.3| 14/15
Energy | 29.5286| 0.6| 29/8
Financials | 31.7012| 0.3| 16/8
Agnico Eagle Mines | Ltd | -45.6800| -5.3| 28.5| 108.7
Barrick Mining | -20.7500| -2.8| -42.3| 170.5
Wheaton Precious | Metals | -17.5400| -3.3| 68.8| 98.7
Enbridge | 6.8580| 0.7| -50.9| 7.1
Bank of Montreal | 7.0110| 0.8| -33.0| 28.8
RBC | 13.0400| 0.6| -33.6| 35.7
TerraVest Capital | 3.4| 0.5810| -20.8| 51.1
Teck Resources | 2.6| 5.0910| -9.1| 12.1
Peyto Exploration | 1.9| 0.6070| 52.7| 35.1
Bitfarms/Canada | -7.7| -1.0130| -43.5| 58.7
Perpetua Resources |Corp | -6.9| -1.3410| -34.6| 120.2
Curaleaf | -6.4| -0.8120| -61.0| 57.1
MT Newswires:
Canada’s main stock market, the Toronto Stock Exchange, was down Monday and for a second straight session, likely on some more profit taking after the index set a hat trick of record closes up to and including last Tuesday, leading in to the Christmas break, but also likely on fresh selling in precious metals as silver prices suffered their biggest one day fall since 2021, while gold also dropped.
Today, the resources heavy index was down 103.17 points or 0.3% at 31,896.59, adding to the near 60 points lost last Wednesday, before an early close for a 2.5 day trading holiday.
A rebound in oil prices may have helped cap losses.
Sectors were mixed, with Telecoms up 1.1% and Energy up 1%.
In contrast, Health Care was down 1.5% and Base Metals down 1%.
Of individual stocks, Energy Fuels (EFR.TO) lost early session gains and ended up closing modestly lower after saying it expects to sell 360,000 pounds of triuranium octoxide (U3O8) in the fourth quarter, a 50% jump over the third-quarter’s 240,000 pounds. Total uranium sales revenue for the quarter is expected to hit US$27.0 million with a weighted average sales price of US$74.93 per pound.
The company also said it beat its own guidance for fiscal year 2025 on several fronts.
With commodities, The Wall Street Journal noted precious metals prices fell sharply Monday after exchange operator CME Group required traders to put down more cash on their bets in the volatile gold and silver markets.
"The move effectively put the brakes on a wild rally in the metals last week," it said.
The WSJ noted gold futures dropped 4.5% Monday, while silver futures slid 8.7%, their largest decline since February 2021.
Both contracts had settled at records on Friday.
Monday’s report from The WSJ noted the price reversal came after CME raised margin requirements across a range of metals contracts.
The exchange operator announced the increase in a Friday notice to traders, describing it as part of "normal review of market volatility," and the change took effect Monday.
Platinum and palladium futures were also affected by CME’s move.
They dropped about 15%.
"Exchange operators such as CME typically increase margin requirements after price runups in commodities, raising the minimum amount of cash that futures traders must post with their brokers to bet on commodity prices.
Margin is required by the exchange in case the owner of the contract defaults."
Separately, The WSJ noted crude futures recovered much of Friday’s losses as the weekend meeting of President Trump and Ukraine’s Zelensky left some key points to be settled.
"Crude oil is trading on the perception the Russia/Ukraine peace process is not going to produce a cease-fire anytime soon.
Lot of talk but no deal," it cited Mizuho’s Robert Yawger saying in a note.
It also cited Yawger as saying a continuation of the war would pressure Russian crude oil production with sanctions testing Russia’s ability to move barrels to international customers, while Ukrainian strikes on refineries will "challenge Russia’s ability to run the refinery at a high utilization rate."
WTI settled up 2.4% at US$58.08 a barrel and Brent gained 2.1% to $61.94 a barrel. Price: 31896.59, Change: -103.17, Percent Change: -0.3
US

By Ira Iosebashvili and Andre Janse van Vuuren
(Bloomberg) — US stocks slipped for a second straight day as traders trimmed bets on tech megacaps before the end of the year.
Volatility gripped precious metals as silver retreated after touching a record high.
The S&P 500 fell 0.3%, with shares of Tesla Inc., Nvidia Corp. and Meta Platforms among the Big Tech decliners.
The Nasdaq 100 slid 0.5%.
In US government bonds, the yield on 10- year Treasuries edged lower to 4.11%.
The weakness in equities “is a reversal from last week when tech stocks led on the way up,” said Joe Mazzola, head trading & derivatives strategist at Charles Schwab.
However, it “doesn’t appear connected to any single fundamental factor.”
The S&P 500 is up 17.4% year-to-date, defying expectations of persistent tariff-fueled weakness even as it underperformed many global peers.
What Bloomberg strategists say…
“The dollar and the S&P 500 were expected to shine in 2025, yet the reality turned out a little different as turmoil and backtracking on tariff announcements in April briefly sank confidence in American policy.
The US benchmark has had a good year, but it hasn’t convincingly beaten peers, even in tech.”
— Sebastian Boyd, Macro Strategist, Markets Live.
An optimistic consensus has taken hold that the rally in stocks will continue in 2026 after three straight years of gains.
Despite a raft of risks spanning a potential bust in the artificial-intelligence advance to unanticipated policy shocks, sell-side strategists are forecasting another 9% average gain in the S&P 500 next year.
“As attention shifts to the year ahead, the outlook for U.S. economic growth appears bright,” wrote Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy and research and Michael Reynolds, vice president of investment strategy at Glenmede.
“The combined effects of tariff policy, fiscal stimulus, shifts in the labor market, AI-related productivity, and the potential for deregulation point to above trend prospects in 2026.”
Silver Selloff
Silver, meanwhile, tumbled more than 8% after smashing through $80 an ounce in a rally powered by speculative trades and fears of a supply shortage. Gold was down more than 4%.
Precious metals have emerged as a hot corner of financial markets in recent months, boosted by elevated central-bank purchases and inflows to exchange-traded funds.
Lower borrowing costs are also acting as a tailwind for non-yielding commodities, while frictions between the US and Venezuela have added to precious metals’ safe-haven appeal.
The initial momentum for metals on Monday came after a weekend comment by Elon Musk highlighted the growing bullishness around them.
Musk replied to a tweet on Chinese export restrictions by saying on X: “This is not good. Silver is needed in many industrial processes.”
Precious metals “had become quite overbought on a short- term basis, so the fact that they’re seeing some outsized declines this morning is not the end of the world at all,” according to Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co.
“We believe that any weakness in these names over the next week or two should create another good buying opportunity.”
Elsewhere, Bitcoin topped $90,000 before erasing its gain, while a gauge of the dollar was little changed.
Oil rose as the US-led talks on Ukraine failed to yield a breakthrough and as China vowed to support economic growth next year.
Brent crude is still on track for a fifth monthly drop in December, which would be the longest losing streak in more than two years.
Investors were also assessing the outlook for US interest rates and monetary policy.
Wall Street interest-rate strategists — with several notable exceptions — expect stable-to-higher Treasury yields in 2026 despite Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts.

Corporate News:
* SoftBank Group Corp. is in advanced talks to acquire DigitalBridge Group Inc., a private equity firm that invests in assets such as data centers, according to people with knowledge of the matter. DigitalBridge jumped more than 40% in premarket trading.
* Lululemon Athletica Inc. founder Chip Wilson is pushing for changes to the board before the yogawear maker selects a new chief executive officer, highlighting the contentious relationship between the company and one of its biggest shareholders.
* Airbus SE is churning out aircraft at a rapid clip in the final days of the year, with confidence building at the European planemaker that it can achieve the delivery goal it was forced to cut only a few weeks ago, according to people familiar with the situation.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%
* The MSCI World Index fell 0.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.1771
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3504
* The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 156.08 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 0.4% to $87,148.82
* Ether fell 0.3% to $2,927.41
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 4.11%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.83%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.49%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2% to $57.87 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 4.4% to $4,331.57 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Julien Ponthus, Subrat Patnaik, Shikhar Balwani, Isabelle Lee and Rheaa Rao.

Have a wonderful Evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Shima

"Fragility is the quality of things that are vulnerable to volatility."– Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Shima Zangeneh

Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff

Queensbury Securities Inc.

340A – 730 View Street

Victoria BC V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778-430-5851

Fax: 778-430-5828