February 17, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Ash Wednesday.
February 17, 1972~ British Parliament votes to join the European Common Market.
1996 World chess champion Garry Kasparov beat IBM supercomputer “Deep Blue,” winning a six-game match in Philadelphia. Go to article »

Scientists find life under a half-mile of ice.  

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Lava gushes from the Mt Etna volcano near Catania, Sicily
CREDIT:Salvatore Allagra, AP

Artist Luke Jerram stands in front of his “Mars” installation at the Natural History Museum in London
CREDIT: CHRIS JACKSON/GETTY IMAGES

Rice farmers and their elephants join Buddhist monks as they pray at sunrise in the Surin Province of Thailand
CREDIT:THIRAWATANA PHAISALRATANA/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO ANGECY
Market Closes for February 17^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1874, Thomas J. Watson was born in Campbell, N.Y. After working as a bookkeeper, an itinerant peddler of musical instruments and a salesman for NCR, he became the dynamic head of IBM who helped computerize the modern world. His famous motto, “THINK,” was shortened from his saying, “‘I didn’t think’ has cost the world millions of dollars.”
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities fell for the first time in three sessions after marijuana and mining companies underperformed. The S&P/TSX Composite index fell 0.6% in Toronto. Materials and health care companies were the worst performers after the price of gold fell on a stronger dollar and pot stocks declined after Tuesday’s rally. On the IPO front, electric jet-ski maker Taiga Motors plans to go public via a merger with a blank-check company sponsored by Canaccord Genuity Group Inc.. It will be taking advantage of investor demand for companies that can burnish their environmental credentials.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $11.35 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 1.1% to $1,775.39 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was down slightly to C$1.2699 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell slightly to 1.111%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.6 percent at
18,374.78 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 1.8
percent on Jan. 29 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.2 percent.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline,
decreasing 2.8 percent. BlackBerry Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 7.2 percent.
Today, 138 of 219 shares fell, while 80 rose; 8 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 2.9 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI
AC Americas Index gained 18 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.1 percent below its 52-week high on
Feb. 16, 2021 and 64.5 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 2.6 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
28.6 on a trailing basis and 17.6 times estimated earnings of
its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization
of C$2.86t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 13.63 percent compared with
13.59 percent in the previous session and the average of 11.57 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -52.1230| -2.2| 11/39
Information Technology | -45.6556| -2.1| 1/9
Industrials | -16.9882| -0.8| 11/18
Consumer Staples | -7.5466| -1.2| 1/10
Health Care | -6.9625| -2.2| 4/5
Communication Services | -2.5680| -0.3| 2/5
Utilities | -2.1734| -0.2| 4/12
Consumer Discretionary | -1.7290| -0.2| 4/9
Energy | 0.7220| 0.0| 16/6
Real Estate | 1.1342| 0.2| 13/13
Financials | 15.9600| 0.3| 13/12
US
By Kamaron Leach and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks were mixed and Treasury yields retreated from a one-year high as investors weighed the outlook for economic growth and inflation. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield briefly climbed as high as 1.33% before paring its increase. The S&P 500 Index finished little changed, while the Nasdaq Composite slumped. Chevron Corp. led energy shares higher after Berkshire Hathaway Inc. revealed an increased stake. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high. Companies that may have difficulty justifying stretched valuations if rising inflation dents profits bore the brunt of selling — high-flying tech shares among them. “At some point higher yields could hurt, but I don’t think we’re there just yet,” said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist for the U.S. SPDR exchange-traded fund business at State Street Global Advisors. “That’s going to continue to be a big underlying theme for markets.” Federal Reserve officials did not see the conditions for reducing their massive asset-purchase program being met for “some time” at their January policy meeting, a record of the gathering released Wednesday showed. The recent dramatic rise in bond yields has investors wondering afresh how high they can climb before spoiling the risk rally. That adds to concerns that speculative froth may be setting equities up for a fall.
“It’s quite possible that for a while interest rates could rise and yet stock prices could still rise some more because of the tailwinds from the fiscal stimulus, from folks who save money, and people wanting to get out,” said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments. “So the tricky part is going to be figuring what level of interest rates will be supportive of stock prices either hanging in there and going higher or what level of inflation or interest rates will then start to become a worry for the market in terms of valuation.” Elsewhere, oil rose for a third session as an ongoing energy crisis in the U.S. pummeled domestic crude output. The deep freeze causing historic power outages across the central U.S. has led oil output in the country to plunge by a third. Bitcoin jumped past $52,000 for the first time. China remains shut for a week-long holiday and will reopen Thursday.
These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 Index was little changed at 3,931.43 as of 4:01 p.m. New York time.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.3% to 31,614.27,
the highest on record with the biggest climb in more than a
week.
The Nasdaq Composite Index sank 0.6% to 13,965.50, the lowest in
more than a week on the largest decrease in almost three weeks.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 0.7% to 416.10, the biggest dip in almost three weeks.
The MSCI All-Country World Index sank 0.3% to 682.92, the largest decrease in almost three weeks.
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.3% to 1,129.46, the highest in more than a week.
The euro decreased 0.5% to $1.2042, the weakest in almost two weeks on the largest dip in almost two weeks.
The Japanese yen strengthened 0.2% to 105.88 per dollar, the first advance in more than a week.
The British pound sank 0.3% to $1.3863, the largest decrease in more than two weeks.
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell three basis points to 1.28%, the biggest fall in a week.
Germany’s 10-year yield dipped two basis points to -0.37%.
Britain’s 10-year yield sank five basis points to 0.572%, the
biggest tumble in almost 10 weeks.
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude gained 1.9% to $61.22 a barrel, the highest in more than two years.
Gold depreciated 1.1% to $1,775.52 an ounce, reaching the
weakest in almost eight months on its fifth consecutive decline.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.-William James, 1842-1910

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