February 24, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Steve Jobs, founder Apple Computer, b. 1955
George Harrison, musician, b. 1943

On this day 1903, the United States signed an agreement acquiring a naval station at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Go to article>>

Arturo Di Modica hoped his bull would soothe investors. The Italian sculptor, who has died at age 80, surreptitiously installed a bronze statue in New York a couple of years after the Black Monday crash.

Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall talk about their friendship and the long-awaited sequel to the 1988 comedy “Coming to America.”

The sheet pan, long the bedrock of many American restaurants and bakeries, has become a home cooking star.  Sheet pans were first popularized by Martha Stewart, who used them on her first TV show in the 1990s. Now a wave of recipes and a new genre of weeknight cooking provide an entire meal on the pan. Here’s how the unassuming pan became a social media darling, and what to look for when you buy one.  “If you saw how many sheet pans I owned, you would be quite horrified,” Ms. Stewart said. “I have a lot of sheet pans.”  Our Cooking team developed 20 sheet pan recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Above, gochujang chicken and roasted vegetables. -from The New York Times.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A Kyrgyz berkutchi (eagle hunter) launches his bird, a golden eagle, during the hunting festival “Salburun” in the village of Tuura-Suu, Kyrgyzstan
CREDIT:VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Fans take selfies with a man whose body is painted in the colours of India and England before the start of the third test match between India and England in Ahmedabad, India
CREDIT: AMIT DAVE/REUTERS

Mother Marina and baby Vivienne (no last name given) amongst daffodils in St James’s Park, London, with forecasters predicting “the first signs of spring” will be felt across much of the UK in the coming days
CREDIT: AARON CHOWN/PA

The main crop of Jersey Royals for M&S is planted in the Channel Islands
CREDIT:ANDY LE GRESLEY
Market Closes for February 24^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1982, the first stock-index futures began trading, as futures contracts on the Value Line stock index opened for dealing in the pits of the Kansas City Board of Trade.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities gained the most in two and a half weeks after a retreat in the previous session. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.8%, with gains in seven of eleven sectors. Health care and financials led the way while utilities dropped. Royal Bank of Canada’s capital-markets operation powered earnings in the fiscal first quarter, with volatile stock markets driving record profit from the division. Toronto’s financials index was propelled to a record high after multiple bank earnings this week. Canada’s utility stocks fell for their 12th straight session, the longest losing streak since July of 2017. Rising yields on bonds reduce the attractiveness of utilities as a safe-haven for dividend-oriented investors.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $10.80 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.1% to $1,804 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.6% to C$1.2511 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 7 basis points to 1.32%
By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.8 percent at 18,484.53 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 1.1 percent on Feb. 8 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.5 percent. Today, financials stocks led the market higher, as 7 of 11 sectors gained; 155 of 219 shares rose, while 57 fell. Bank of Nova Scotia contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.0 percent. Aphria Inc. had the largest increase, rising 11.0 percent.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 6.6 percent
* The index advanced 5.2 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI
AC Americas Index gained 23 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.5 percent below its 52-week high on
Feb. 16, 2021 and 65.4 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.6 percent in the past 5 days and rose 3.6 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
28.2 on a trailing basis and 17.3 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$2.84t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 13.58 percent compared with
13.43 percent in the previous session and the average of 12.79 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 90.4992| 1.6| 18/7
Materials | 22.2825| 1.0| 41/7
Energy | 20.3657| 0.9| 21/1
Industrials | 18.2482| 0.8| 23/5
Real Estate | 8.7455| 1.5| 19/5
Consumer Discretionary | 6.6259| 0.9| 10/3
Health Care | 5.4950| 1.9| 8/1
Information Technology | -0.1498| 0.0| 4/5
Communication Services | -4.1077| -0.5| 2/5
Consumer Staples | -4.1982| -0.7| 4/7
Utilities | -9.3650| -1.1| 5/11
US
By Lu Wang and Kamaron Leach
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities reversed losses and staged a rally as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reaffirmed his view that the economy needs support. Government bond yields climbed along with oil prices. Energy and industrial companies led gains in the S&P 500 Index, offsetting weakness for tech stocks. Banks advanced, sending an industry gauge to its highest since 2007, and small caps rallied more than 2% after U.S. regulators said Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective. Tesla Inc. gained after Ark Investment Management’s Cathie Wood said she bought shares during this week’s selloff. U.S. 10-year yields touched 1.43%, the highest since February 2020, before paring the increase.
Powell, testifying before lawmakers, said the U.S. economy still had a long way to go to reach maximum employment and the Fed’s inflation target, a signal he wants to remain accommodative. Equity investors are weighing predictions for a post-pandemic surge in economic activity and corporate earnings with concerns that higher interest rates could dent the appeal of stocks. “Mr. Powell didn’t say anything different than he has been saying for a couple of months now,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. “But his comments gave investors confidence that the Fed is still keen on helping asset prices push higher, so they bought on weakness with both hands.” In Europe, the Stoxx 600 climbed. Travel shares and construction companies were among the top performers. Meanwhile, Asian stocks tumbled, led by a retreat in Hong Kong after the city announced its first stamp-duty increase on stock trades since 1993.
Mainland-based funds sold a record $2.6 billion worth of Hong Kong stocks through exchange links with Shenzhen and Shanghai. The Hang Seng Index closed down 3%, the biggest retreat in nine months. Bitcoin climbed back toward $50,000. The rebound follows a tough week for the digital currency after skeptical comments from Microsoft Corp. co founder Bill Gates and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. “There’s definitely a debate going on within the market both in terms of interest rates and inflation, but also in terms of economic growth,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance. “It’s this whole growth-versus-value investing style discussion that happened last year, and now in 2021 I would say it’s been more mixed.”
Some key events to watch this week:
* Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 will meet virtually
Friday. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will be among the attendees.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 1.1% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.5%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1.9%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index fell 1.4%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slipped 0.2%.
* The euro strengthened 0.1% to $1.2166.
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.4139.
* The Japanese yen weakened 0.6% to 105.86 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries jumped four basis points to 1.38%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to -0.31%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 0.73%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 2.5% to $63.23 a barrel.
* Gold slid 0.2% to $1,801.34 an ounce.
–With assistance from Joanna Ossinger, Sophie Caronello, Andreea Papuc and Anchalee Worrachate.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent.

As ever,

Carolann

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.  ― Steve Jobs,  1955-2011.

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