December 4, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.

1980 The rock group Led Zeppelin announced it was disbanding after the death in September of drummer John Bonham. Go to article »

The planets will almost literally align later this month. Jupiter and Saturn will come closer together than they have since the Middle Ages and will actually look like a double planet.-CNN

Why great athletes are more likely to be younger siblings.-Bloomberg.

The New Yorker’s best books of 2020.-Bloomberg.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Somerset House in London, UK, decorates a spectacular 40ft Christmas tree ahead of the sites public re opening.
CREDIT: GEOFF PUGH FOR THE TELEGRAPH

Declan Sellar pictured with Sam and Dante, two of the friendly alpacas from Beirhope Alpacas near Kelso Scottish Borders. All getting wrapped up warm with tartan scarves as the UK is expecting its first cold spell of the winter.
CREDIT: PHIL WILKINSON

A firefighter passes a burning tree while battling the Bond Fire in the Silverado community of Orange County, California, US.
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/NOAH BERGER

A train runs along the tracks in snowy North Yorkshire with the UK expecting more wintry weather ahead of the first weekend of December, with warnings in place for ice and snow.
CREDIT: PETER BYRNE/PA WIRE

‘Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace’ exhibition brings together some of the most important paintings in the Royal Collection from the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace, London, UK. The room was originally designed by the architect John Nash for George IV to display his collection of Dutch, Flemish and Italian Old Master paintings. Artists represented in the exhibition include Titian, Guercino, Guido Reni, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Rubens, Jan Steen, Claude and Canaletto. Picture Shows The Piazzetta Looking Towards Santa Maria Della Salute by Canaletto 1697-1768.
CREDIT: PAUL GROVER FOR THE TELEGRAPH
Market Closes for December 4^th, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1991, Charles H. Keating, Jr., the former chairman of Lincoln Savings & Loan, was convicted on 17 charges of California state securities fraud. Many of Lincoln’s investors were elderly widows, one of whom swatted Mr. Keating on the shoulder with her powdered wig when he passed her in the courthouse hallway.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose Friday, extending their gains for a fifth straight week. BlackBerry was among top performers this week after a pact with Amazon Web Services, while WSP Global rallied after an acquisition.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.7% Friday, with energy shares leading the charge. Tech underperformed. Oil rose for a fifth straight week with support from an OPEC+ deal and hopes for another round of U.S. stimulus.
The Canadian dollar rose to its strongest level in more than two years Friday after better-than-expected domestic job numbers that contrasted with a disappointing U.S. labor-market report. Pot stocks retreated after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to decriminalize marijuana, with the bill unlikely to pass the Senate unless the Democrats take control of the chamber.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $12.40 discount to West Texas Intermediate, as of yesterday
* Spot gold fell 0.1% to $1,838.20 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.6% to C$1.2783 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose 5.8 basis points to 0.797%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the fourth day, climbing 0.7 percent, or 122.95 to 17,520.97 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 1.1 percent on Nov. 24. Suncor Energy Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 7.6 percent. BlackBerry Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 13.2 percent.
Today, 131 of 222 shares rose, while 88 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 0.7 percent
* This quarter, the index rose 8.7 percent
* This year, the index rose 2.7 percent, poised for the best year since 2019
* The index advanced 3.7 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 20 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.5 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 56.8 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.8 on a trailing basis and 23.5 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.67t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 14.66 percent compared with 15.43 percent in the previous session and the average of 15.32 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 66.3872| 3.3| 23/0
Financials | 42.2363| 0.8| 19/7
Industrials | 25.7910| 1.2| 23/5
Consumer Discretionary | 5.4578| 0.8| 9/4
Utilities | 3.7109| 0.4| 10/5
Communication Services | 2.9907| 0.3| 3/4
Real Estate | 0.6569| 0.1| 16/9
Health Care | -0.9108| -0.4| 2/8
Materials | -1.8772| -0.1| 20/31
Consumer Staples | -2.4529| -0.4| 2/9
Information Technology | -19.0399| -1.1| 4/6
US
By Claire Ballentine and Lu Wang
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks climbed to all-time highs and Treasury yields jumped after a report showing U.S. employment gains slowed in November bolstered expectations for more federal stimulus. All major indexes for U.S. equities — the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Russell 2000 and the Nasdaq Composite Index — closed at records. Such synchronized highs were last seen in January 2018. The dollar posted its biggest weekly decline in five, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury note reached the highest in nine months.
“One of the recurring themes this year is the resiliency of the market, it’s been amazing and impressive,” said John Porter, head of equities at Mellon Investments. Labor Department figures showed nonfarm payrolls increased by a less-than-forecast 245,000 from the prior month, as the unemployment rate dipped 0.2 percentage point to 6.7%. President-elect Joe Biden called the report “grim” and said it shows “there’s no time to lose” for Congress to pass a new Covid relief bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there’s momentum building toward a compromise fiscal stimulus plan, though Republicans complained about the scale of aid to states included in the
bipartisan proposal that’s become the best chance yet for a deal. “The market is betting that we’ll get a relief package soon,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co. “If anything, this weaker report will get them to agree on a package sooner rather than later.”
Elsewhere, oil climbed as OPEC+ reached an agreement to ease its output cuts next year more gradually than previously planned. Bitcoin declined for the first time in three days after flirting this week with $20,000.
Energy companies led the Stoxx Europe 600 index higher. Asian equities closed mostly higher.
Here are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index climbed 0.9% to 3,699.13 as of 4:01 p.m. New York time, the highest on record.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8% to 30,217.77, the highest on record with the biggest advance in more than a week.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.7% to 12,464.23, the highest on record.
*The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.6% to 394.04, the highest in more than nine months.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index rose 0.7% to 633, the highest on record.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipped 0.1% to 1,129.43, the lowest in more than two years.
*The euro fell 0.1% to $1.2128.
*The British pound declined 0.1% to $1.3435.
*The Japanese yen weakened 0.3% to 104.17 per dollar, the largest drop in more than a week.
Bonds
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose six basis points to 0.97%, the highest in more than three weeks.
*Germany’s 10-year yield increased one basis point to -0.55%.
*Britain’s 10-year yield gained three basis points to 0.351%.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.9% to $46.05 a barrel, the highest in nine months.
*Gold weakened 0.2% to $1,836.91 an ounce.
–With assistance from Sophie Caronello.
Have a  wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
                                       -Marcus Aurelius, 121 AD-180 AD

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

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

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