February 14, 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Valentine’s Day.
On Feb. 14, 1929, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre took place in a Chicago garage as seven rivals of Al Capone’s gang were gunned down. Go to article »

February 14, 1945: Allied planes begin bombing Dresden, Germany; a firestorm results and over 22,000 die.

Distant galaxies and the true nature of dark matter. 

British zoo hopes that music by Marvin Gaye will put monkeys in the mood.  If all else fails, a little spritz of potato perfume should do the trick. 

Megadrought plaguing the western U.S. is worst in 1,200 years.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Raina Kuan and Levi Swanky kiss by a lit-up love sign at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
CREDIT: Andrew Chin/Getty Images

A member of staff poses next to the Nebra sky disc, which dates from about 1600BC. The disc is on display as part of the World of Stonehenge exhibition at the British Museum
CREDIT: Alastair Grant/AP

Artist Gregory Orekhov created this red carpet installation called Nowhere in the forest of Malevich Park
CREDIT: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Market Closes for February 14^th, 2022

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1934, the New York Stock Exchange prohibited its members from participating in “stock pools,” or organized groups of brokers who gang together to drive the price of a stock up or down regardless of demand from the general investing public. It was one of the few reforms the NYSE adopted voluntarily after the Great Crash.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.9 percent at 21,352.51 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 1.3 percent on Feb. 3 and follows the previous session’s increase of0.1 percent.
Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.4 percent.
Canopy Growth Corp. had the largest drop, falling 8.5 percent.
Today, 173 of 240 shares fell, while 61 rose; 9 of 11 sectors were lower, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss 16 times.   The next day, it advanced 10 times for an average 1 percent and declined six times for an average 0.6 percent
* The index advanced 16 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 9.6 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 19.1 percent above its low on Feb. 26, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.6 percent in the past 5 days and was little changed 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 14.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.44t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 13.48 percent compared with 13.16 percent in the previous session and the average of 12.58 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | -92.6550| -1.3| 1/27
* Energy | -62.9584| -1.9| 2/30
* Information Technology | -11.9224| -0.7| 4/12
* Utilities | -8.0553| -0.9| 6/10
* Consumer Staples | -7.4514| -0.9| 3/8
* Industrials | -5.8494| -0.2| 7/23
* Health Care | -5.5141| -3.5| 0/8
* Real Estate | -3.7245| -0.6| 1/22
* Consumer Discretionary | -1.4642| -0.2| 4/9
* Communication Services | 1.0351| 0.1| 4/3
* Materials | 2.2374| 0.1| 29/21
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* TD Bank | -19.2500| -1.4| -17.9| 9.6
* Brookfield Asset Management | -18.9200| -2.6| -10.4| -5.6
* Nutrien | -14.8100| -3.9| 11.9| -1.7
* Canadian National | 5.0870| 0.8| -0.8| 0.7
* Barrick Gold | 5.7330| 1.8| 42.6| 11.6
* Agnico Eagle Mines | 10.3100| 5.2| 24.7| -0.6

US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks faced another session of wild swings as traders assessed the latest geopolitical developments amid worries about a Federal Reserve policy mistake.
The S&P 500 notched its third straight drop, while Treasury yields climbed — with shorter maturities leading the increase.
The move kicked in a resumption of curve flattening, with the gap between two- and 10-year rates narrowing.
West Texas Intermediate crude topped $95 a barrel for the first time since 2014.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy briefly spooked markets with what his office later said was meant to be a sarcastic comment about the rest of the world predicting a date for an attack by Russia. Zelenskiy said it should be a day of unity instead.
Vladimir Putin’s top diplomat, meanwhile, urged the Russian president to continue talks with the West, with negotiation options “far from exhausted.”
“If an armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine is somehow avoided, a short-lived relief rally is likely, but there are still too many worries on the horizon for any type of longer lasting upward move higher in stocks,” said George Ball, chairman of Sanders Morris Harris in Houston. “It is time for investors to raise cash. Cash is the ultimate king when markets are volatile.”
Investors have been on edge, with bets on the pace of rate hikes since the January Fed meeting shifting to six or seven this year — versus the three that officials forecast in December.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists led by Marko Kolanovic said global markets are pricing in an aggressive wave of monetary tightening this year that’s unlikely to materialize in full — reinforcing
the allure of stocks tied to the economic cycle.
Meantime, Fed Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said Monday that the central bank needs to move forward the plans to raise rates to underline its inflation-fighting credibility.
“I do think we need to front-load more of our planned removal of accommodation than we would have previously,” he told CNBC.
It’s “hard to see a happy ending” for bonds in a scenario of rising interest rates, Oksana Aronov, a strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, told Bloomberg Television.
“We are in somewhat of a hot mess. We’re in the middle of the Fed’s last policy mistake and concerned about their next policy mistake.  Right now, caution is the name of the game.”
Here are some key events this week:
* U.S. PPI, Tuesday
* EIA crude oil inventory report, Wednesday
* FOMC minutes, Wednesday
* China CPI, PPI, Wednesday
* G-20 finance ministers, central bank governors meet, Thursday through Feb. 18
* Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard speak, Thursday
* U.S. Monetary Policy Forum: speakers including Fed officials Charles Evans, Christopher Waller and Lael Brainard, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.1%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%
* The MSCI World index fell 1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
* The euro fell 0.5% to $1.1295
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3524
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 115.61 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced seven basis points to2.00%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 0.28%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 1.59%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.1% to $95.03 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 1.7% to $1,873.10 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Abigail Moses, Emily Graffeo, Peyton Forte and Sophie Caronello.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Omnia vincit Amor: et nos cedamus Amori.
Love conquers all things: let us too  give in to Love. –Virgil, 70-19 BC.
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