February 10th, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

February 10, 1763 – France ceded Canada to England under the Treaty of Paris, which ended the French and Indian War. Go to article »

This cherry-blossom tree is the biggest Lego sculpture on record. (h/t Scott Kominers) –Bloomberg.

Every Oscar Best Picture winner, ranked. –Bloomberg.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Supermoon is seen rising behind Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, Turkey.
CREDIT: GOKHAN BALCI/ANADOLU

Boats sail during the water parade, part of the Venice Carnival, in Venice, Italy.
CREDIT: ANTONIO CALANNI/AP

Some people enjoyed the weather watching the waves on the beach of Scheveningen, Netherlands. The storm Ciara has reached the coast of Holland with strong winds that caused trees to fall, destroying roofs of houses and disrupting trains and flights at Schipol airport.
CREDIT: NACHO CALONGE/GETTY IMAGES

Maren Lundby of Norway soars through the air during the first round at the ladies’ Normal Hill Individual Ski Jumping event, of the FIS ski jumping World Cup in Hinzenbach, Austria.
CREDIT: GEORG HOCHMUTH/GETTY IMAGES

Market Closes for February 10^th , 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 2000, Dr. Martin Baily, chairman of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers, declared, “The fundamentals look very good. As long as we stick to sound policy, there’s no reason why it [the nation’s economic expansion, then 107 months long] cannot continue indefinitely.” By the end of the year, the economy was heading into recession.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.5 percent at 17,740.57 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.6 percent. Today, materials stocks led the market higher, as 9 of 11 sectors gained; 146 of 232 shares rose, while 78 fell. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.8 percent. Great Canadian Gaming Corp. had the largest increase, rising 10.9 percent.
Insights
* The index advanced 13 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 23 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.1 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 6, 2020 and 14.1 percent above its low on Feb. 11, 2019
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.1 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.9 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.2 on a trailing basis and 15.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 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 fell to 6.65 percent compared with 6.74 percent in the previous session and the average of 4.97 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 20.9179| 1.1| 37/9
Information Technology | 18.4372| 1.7| 9/1
Energy | 15.9265| 0.6| 13/15
Consumer Discretionary | 8.4124| 1.2| 11/5
Utilities | 8.2347| 0.9| 13/3
Industrials | 7.8480| 0.4| 22/8
Consumer Staples | 5.0695| 0.7| 10/1
Communication Services | 2.2832| 0.2| 3/5
Real Estate | 1.0437| 0.2| 15/10
Financials | -0.1065| 0.0| 10/15
Health Care | -2.9909| -1.4| 3/6

* The benchmark 10-year bond rose and the yield fell 1.6 basis points to 1.310 percent

US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities started the week strong as investors looked past the potential economic hit from the spreading coronavirus to prepare for more corporate earnings. The S&P 500 Index rose to a new high Monday, with most sectors advancing. Energy company shares proved the exception, declining as West Texas crude fell below $50 a barrel. Treasuries and European bonds edged higher, and the dollar held steady versus a basket of its major peers. Asia’s main equity gauges fell everywhere apart from Shanghai. Traders monitored the restart of Chinese factories and the possible chaos that may ensue as several hundred thousand people begin returning to work at companies like Apple Inc. supplier Foxconn. General Motors Co. will restart production in China beginning Feb. 15. With cases of the coronavirus outside of China on the rise and various companies pulling back from international meetings, investors are trying to figure out whether the rate of contagion is stabilizing. In the meantime, monetary authorities across emerging markets have stepped in to help shore up the financial system. The People’s Bank of China moved to keep liquidity ample Monday through reverse-repurchase agreements.
“As disconcerting as the spread of the coronavirus has been to date, the global focus on the illness is likely to produce a solution to stem its spread before long,” John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer Asset Management, wrote in a note. “Economic data released last week underscored strength and resilience in the U.S. labor market and pointed toward the sustainability of the U.S. economic expansion.” The euro declined after the region was buffeted by political headlines. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s succession plan collapsed, and polls put Sinn Fein in place for a possible role in Ireland’s government, depressing the country’s banking stocks. European equities closed higher. Earnings are due this week from major names like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Credit Suisse Group AG and Nestle SA. Elsewhere, emerging-market currencies steadied against the dollar. Bitcoin traded just below $10,000, having risen above that mark over the weekend for the first time since October.
Here are some key events coming up:
* Earnings season continues with reports including: MGM Resorts and Cisco Systems on Monday; Softbank on Wednesday; Thursday will bring Alibaba, Nissan, Credit Suisse, Airbus, Nestle and AIG.
* Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell delivers his semiannual testimony in Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday; ECB President Christine Lagarde speaks at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Tuesday.
* Thursday brings a gauge of underlying U.S. inflation, the core consumer price index. It’s expected to increase to 0.2% in January, a faster pace than in December.
* China and the U.S. on Friday lower tariffs on billions of dollars of respective imports, as part of the trade deal signed last month.

And these are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index increased 0.7% to 3,352.13 as of 4:01 p.m. New York time, the highest on record.
*The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.1% to 424.64.
*The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 0.5% to 168.88.
*The MSCI Emerging Market Index fell 0.4% to 1,086.80.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed at 1,207.56, the highest in more than 10 weeks.
*The British pound climbed 0.2% to $1.2912.
*The euro dipped 0.3% to $1.0913, hitting the weakest in 19 weeks with its sixth consecutive decline.
*The Japanese yen was little changed at 109.74 per dollar.
*The offshore yuan strengthened 0.3% to 6.9854 per dollar, the largest increase in four weeks.
Bonds
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased three basis points to 1.56%, the lowest in a week.
*Germany’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to -0.41%, the lowest in a week on the largest drop in more than a week.
*Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 0.557%, the lowest in a week.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.5% to $49.58 a barrel, the lowest in more than 13 months on the largest fall in a week.
*Gold strengthened 0.2% to $1,573.67 an ounce, the highest in a week.
*LME copper dipped 1.3% to $5,663 per metric ton, the largest decrease in two weeks.

–With assistance from Cecile Vannucci, Adam Haigh and Todd White.
Have a great night!

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Life is the sum of all your choices.
                                          -Albert Camus, 1913-1960

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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com