February, 3, 2023 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
February 3, 1959: Rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson are killed in a plane crash along with the pilot near Clear Lake,  Iowa.  This event is later known as “The Day the Music Died.”
February 3, 1995: The space shuttle Discovery blasted off with a woman, Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins, in the pilot’s seat for the first time.  Go to article » 

Gertrude Stein, writer, b. 1874.
Simone Weil, mystic, b. 1909.

The full ‘Snow micro-moon’ rises Feb. 5. Here’s how to see it.  When it rises on Feb. 5, the full moon will appear smaller than average because it is at one of its most distant points in its elliptical path around Earth.
This positioning makes February’s “Snow Moon” a micro-moon, a full moon that is visible when the moon is at one of its greatest distances from the planet. In astronomical terms, this is called apogee. Full Story: Live Science (2/2)

Rat brain injuries ‘plugged’ with lab-grown human minibrains in world-first experiment: Miniature, lab-grown models of the human brain’s wrinkled surface can be used to patch injuries in the brains of living rats and thus repair broken connections in the rodents’ sensory processing systems, a new study shows.  Someday, such minibrains — known as brain organoids — could potentially be used to mend the brains of human patients, too, the study authors propose.  Full Story: Live Science (2/2)

17-pound meteorite found in Antarctica, likely hidden for millennia, is perfectly intact: Scientists recently scooped up one of the heaviest meteorites ever discovered in Antarctica, as well as four other frozen space rocks that likely crashed into the icy continent thousands of years ago.
The researchers found the mini-hoard of meteorites on the surface of the Nils Larsen blue ice zone near the Belgian-owned Princess Elisabeth Antarctica station.  Full Story: Live Science (2/2)

Battle site of ‘Great Revolt’ recorded on Rosetta Stone unearthed in Egypt:  Archaeologists have long known about the Great Revolt, a battle between the ancient Egyptians and the Ptolemaic Kingdom that lasted from 207 B.C. to 184 B.C., because it is mentioned on the Rosetta Stone and in other historical texts.   But now, archaeologists have finally discovered the exact location of one of the revolt’s battles.  Full Story: Live Science

The people who live inside airplanes: These homes are anything but plane. Meet the people who bought airplanes and converted them into private homes.

Subway hopes new meat slicers will boost sales: Following a menu revamp and store renovations, the company believes its plan to slice meat in front of customers could make 2023 another record year.

How to buy a monastery in Italy: Surrounded by olive groves and green rolling hills, just imagine living a peaceful, slow life in this rural Italian village.

“Some people may have to go back to stealing Netflix the old-fashioned way, sitting with binoculars in your neighbor’s tree.” — JIMMY KIMMEL
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Masai Mara, Kenya
A lioness surveys the landscape of the Masai Mara in Kenya from the top of an umbrella acacia thorn tree
Photograph: Siddhesh Mungekar/Media Drum Images

Ein Bokek, Israel
Competitors running on a salty track during the annual Dead Sea Marathon
Photograph: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Worshippers take part in the traditional ceremony of Iemanjá, the goddess of the sea of the Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda, at Arpoador beach
Photograph: Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for February 3^rd, 2023

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1913, the ratification of the 16th Amendment to the Constitution established Congress’s right to enact a federal income tax.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 20,758.34 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.1%.
Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.3%.
Canada Goose Holdings Inc. had the largest increase, rising 14.6%.
Today, 102 of 236 shares rose, while 132 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index was little changed
* The index declined 1.6% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 8% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 6.5% below its 52-week high on April 5, 2022 and 16.1% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.5 on a trailing basis and 13.3 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.1% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.29t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 10.36% compared with 10.91% in the previous session and the average of 12.74% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 25.8615| 0.4| 13/16
Energy | 25.1788| 0.7| 29/9
Consumer Staples | 8.1153| 1.0| 9/2
Industrials | 6.9504| 0.3| 11/15
Information Technology | 6.3735| 0.5| 6/8
Consumer Discretionary | 5.4911| 0.7| 12/3
Communication Services | 3.7808| 0.4| 4/2
Health Care | -0.9217| -1.1| 2/5
Utilities | -4.1506| -0.5| 5/11
Real Estate | -5.7652| -1.0| 2/20
Materials | -53.0143| -2.1| 9/41
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
RBC | 16.9200| 1.3| -27.3| 8.5
Bank of Montreal | 6.2150| 1.0| -30.6| 10.0
Canadian National | 6.1320| 0.9| 3.1| -0.1
Fairfax Financial | -4.6650| -3.3| -43.2| 7.6
Agnico Eagle Mines | -9.1850| -4.0| 69.8| -0.1
Barrick Gold | -14.8800| -4.7| 1.1| 5.8
US
By Peyton Forte and Isabelle Lee
(Bloomberg) — US stocks halted a three-day advance after a volatile Friday session that saw equities swerve between modest gains and losses as investors contended with data pointing to a robust labor market.
The S&P 500 still notched a weekly gain that took the index to its highest level since August.
The Nasdaq 100 also scored a weekly advance, despite heavy selling after Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Amazon. com Inc. reported disappointing results Thursday.
Friday’s session capped a hectic week that brought a raft of corporate earnings, economic data and a Federal Reserve policy decision.
Yields on Treasuries spiked higher after a surprisingly strong jobs report that should give the Fed room to remain aggressive if inflation stays elevated.
The two-year yield jumped about 19 basis points after touching a low for the year earlier in the week.
“We are concerned that on the back of this kind of jobs report, it definitely holds the Fed to a higher-for-longer path,” said Lisa Erickson, senior vice president and head of public markets group at US Bank Wealth Management. “There are of course other data points that are going to come before the next meeting, but it certainly puts a placeholder that labor market continues to run some risk of being extremely tight.”
Trading on swaps markets indicated expectations that fed funds rates will almost hit 5%, up by almost 10 basis points on the day.
A strong reading on the American economy’s services sector also bolstered concern that growth hadn’t sufficiently cooled to temper price gains.
A dollar index rose the most on Friday since late September.
Geopolitical tensions simmered in the background, with the Biden administration postponing Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming trip to Beijing after detecting a Chinese surveillance balloon over sensitive nuclear sites in Montana, two officials said.
Here’s what Wall Street said about the bewildering jobs report:
Jeffrey Rosenberg, a senior portfolio manager at BlackRock Inc.: “This is a big push back to the slowing. This is a reminder of what Powell tried to say to the market — though the market wasn’t listening — that their main concern is they’re not yet seeing the impact of their tightening in the labor markets.”
John Leiper, chief investment officer at Titan Asset Management: “There is a huge disparity between market pricing and the commentary coming from central banks. Yes, you could make the case that Jerome Powell was a little more dovish than expected, but he was very clear that his intention is to keep rates higher for longer until the job is done, and that simply isn’t the case yet. Today’s employment data might catalyze a reversion in this apparent dichotomy.”
Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard: “The clear takeaway for the Fed should be that financial conditions remain too loose to ensure inflation will return to the 2% target. While wage gains show few signs of accelerating,
persistent labor market tightness combined with the loss of real wages since the pandemic is highly likely to lead to increased wage demands over time.”
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%
* The MSCI World index rose 1.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 1.2%
* The euro fell 1% to $1.0796
* The British pound fell 1.4% to $1.2051
* The Japanese yen fell 1.9% to 131.14 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 0.5% to $23,338.22
* Ether rose 1.2% to $1,656.1
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced 14 basis points to 3.53%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced 11 basis points to 2.19%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 3.06%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.4% to $73.27 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 2.7% to $1,877.90 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Vildana Hajric and Robert Brand.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,
Civilization and anarchy are only seven meals apart. –Spanish Proverb.
Carolann

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