December 9, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On Dec. 9, 2000, the United States Supreme Court voted, 5 to 4, to stop the vote counting in Florida, ending Vice President Al Gore’s presidential hopes. Go to article »

Buried Treasure: Last summer, a man found a hidden treasure chest in the Rocky Mountains that had tantalized fortune seekers for a decade. Now, the identity of the treasure
finder has been revealed. -The NY Times.

From Pac-Man’s bonus fruits to Mario’s magical mushrooms, read about the fascinating role depictions of food play in the video game industry.

The universe is a shade too bright. –Bloomberg.

​​​​​​​British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme

More spare time leads to treasure:
A cache of gold coins from the reign of Henry VIII — uncovered while gardeners were weeding their yard in April — is among the more than 47,000 archaeological finds that have been reported in England and Wales this year.
The discoveries during lockdown gardening come as the British government plans to expand its definition of treasure so that more rare objects — not just ones made of gold or silver, or that were more than 300 years old — could be preserved in museums rather than sold to private collectors.
The backyard boom will most likely carry over to the 2021 garden season, which begins this month with the arrival of seed catalogs. After a chaotic spring in which sales spiked as much as 300 percent, sellers are assuring home gardeners that they are well-stocked. Margaret Roach, our garden expert, offered some tips for seed shopping.  Have a vibrant night.

The Colors of the Year:
The trend forecasters at Pantone scour the globe for months for the latest developments and translate them into a color they claim will be the dominant shade of the coming year. Classic Blue in 2020 wasn’t exactly up to snuff.
So in 2021, get ready for Ultimate Gray and Illuminating. Or, in normal-speak: the light at the end of the tunnel. This is only the second time in the 22 years that Pantone has been choosing a color of the year that two colors have been selected and the first time that a gray has earned the honor.
Together, a Pantone executive said, “the color combination presses us forward.”

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A view of snowy gras hills during sunny weather at Schliffkopf at the Black Forest High Street near Achern, Germany.
CREDIT: RONALD WITTEK/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

River Frome at Wareham in Dorset.
CREDIT: STEVE HOGAN/PICUREEXCLUSIVE.COM

A woman takes a picture with her mobile phone of the Christmas lights and seasonal decoration illuminating deserted square in Pristina, Kosovo.
CREDIT: VALDRIN XHEMAJ/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Market Closes for December 9^th, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1931, President Herbert Hoover proposed the creation of the Reconstruction Finance Corp. to provide federal funding to help creditworthy banks, railroads and other companies remain in business. The market viewed it as an act of desperation, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank another 2.7% to close at 84.14.

Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian shares fell on Wednesday, along with broader market, as a selloff in tech stocks put a stop to its six-day advance. The S&P/TSX Composite index fell -0.5% in Toronto. The underperformance in tech and health care stocks weighed on the benchmark. Meanwhile, consumer discretionary and staples stocks outperformed. The Bank of Canada stood pat on interest rates and reiterated its commitment to keep them at historic lows to support an economy buffeted by a second wave of Covid-19 cases.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $12.20 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 1.7% to $1,838.76 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was flat at C$1.2819 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose slightly to 0.752%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.4 percent at 17,559.86 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 1.2 percent on Nov. 30 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.3 percent. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 6.0 percent. Trillium Therapeutics Inc. had the largest drop, falling 12.5 percent. Today, 141 of 222 shares fell, while 78 rose; 6 of 11 sectors were lower, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 8.9 percent
* This year, the index rose 2.9 percent, poised for the best year since 2019
* The index advanced 3.6 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 18 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.3 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 57.2 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.2 percent in the past 5 days and rose 6.6 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.9 on a trailing basis and 23.4 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$2.71t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 11.26 percent compared with 10.96 percent in the previous session and the average of 14.96 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | -70.5607| -4.0| 1/9
Materials | -42.1859| -1.7| 9/43
Health Care | -7.5638| -3.5| 0/10
Real Estate | -4.6108| -0.8| 3/23
Utilities | -3.6677| -0.4| 3/12
Energy | -3.1688| -0.2| 12/11
Consumer Discretionary | 7.8201| 1.2| 9/4
Consumer Staples | 7.9014| 1.1| 9/2
Communication Services | 9.7250| 1.1| 6/1
Industrials | 9.8559| 0.5| 14/13
Financials | 17.3185| 0.3| 12/13

US
By Rita Nazareth and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — A selloff in some of the world’s biggest technology companies weighed heavily on the equity market, dragging down stocks amid dimming prospects for fresh stimulus. The S&P 500 slid from a record, while the Nasdaq 100 had its biggest slump in a month. Facebook Inc. sank after being sued by U.S. antitrust officials, while Tesla Inc. tumbled as JPMorgan Chase & Co. called it “dramatically” overvalued. Zoom Video Communications Inc., one of the biggest stay-at-home winners, plunged after an analyst downgrade. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down half as much as the tech- heavy gauge. DoorDash Inc. defied the market weakness – almost doubling in its debut — before Airbnb Inc.’s initial public offering.
Stocks took a nosedive Wednesday as it became clear that a stimulus deal remains elusive amid the most-intense negotiations over a Covid-19 package since Election Day. The Democratic and Republican lawmakers working on a relief plan delivered a more detailed summary of their proposal, but haven’t yet resolved the deadlock over a business liability shield as well as aid to state and local governments. “To the extent they can’t come to an agreement on stimulus given the heightened urgency, given the recent outbreak, that’s a bad message,” said Mark Heppenstall, chief investment officer for Penn Mutual Asset Management. “I do think stimulus is coming and I think the market was more prepared for it to be this year than next year.
Elsewhere, the pound pared gains ahead of a meeting that could make or break a trade deal between the U.K. and the European Union. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in Brussels to talk with the head of the European Commission amid warnings from both sides that a Brexit trade deal may be impossible.
Here are some key events coming up:
* Thursday brings the European Central Bank policy decision and a press briefing from Christine Lagarde. Economists widely expect the central bank to increase and extend its pandemic bond-buying program.
* The FDA meets to discuss the vaccine made by Pfizer/BioNTech on Thursday.
* Jobless claims data are due in the U.S. on Thursday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 declined 0.8% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.3%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.5%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index increased 0.1%.
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.2076.
* The British pound gained 0.3% to $1.3393.
* The Japanese yen depreciated 0.1% to 104.24 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased two basis points to 0.94%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced less than one basis point to -0.61%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield climbed less than one basis point to 0.261%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.2% to $45.50 a barrel.
* Gold lost 2% to $1,833.30 an ounce.

–With assistance from Michael Msika, Adam Haigh, Todd White, Cecile Gutscher, Yakob Peterseil and Kamaron Leach.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding. -Leonardo Da Vinci, 1452-1519

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