January 13, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Thursday.

2000:  Microsoft chairman Bill Gates stepped aside as chief executive.   Go to article »

1993: The chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is signed and becomes effective on 29 April 1997.  It prohibits the large-scale use, development, production, stockpiling and transfer of chemical weapons and their precursors, except for very limited purposes (research, medical, pharmaceutical or protective.)  As of March 2021, 193 states have become parties to the CWC and accept its obligations.  Israel has signed but not ratified the agreement, while three other UN member states (Egypt, North Korea and South Sudan) have neither signed nor acceded to the treaty.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards, honoring the year’s best TV and film performances, announced their nominees yesterday. Check out the surprises and snubs.

San Francisco’s ‘leaning’ skyscraper tilted up to 3 inches last year.  It’s the Leaning Tower of California! The cost to stabilize the sinking building is an estimated $100 million. 

Prince Charles exhibits dozens of his watercolors, saying painting ‘refreshes the soul’.  I agree, Your Royal Highness. A therapeutic painting session is quite refreshing.

Study finds rationality declined years ago. 

New map of the universe just dropped.

NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS:
Woodie Guthrie, in his 1942 “New year Rulin’s;”  the 33-part list also includes writing a song each day, loving “mama” and “papa” and helping win the war to beat fascism:
“Work more and better…Wash teeth if any…Bank all extra money…Have company but don’t waste time…Dance better…Love everybody.”

Susan Sontag in a 1972 diary entry; the writer, teacher, documentarian, and political activist opened this entry with three simple words: 
“Kindness, kindness, kindness.”

People have  been making promises since as far back as ancient Mesopotamia that the new year would bring better behavior.  Resolutions may come as simple goals or poignant prayers, but all reflect a universal desire for progress – whether they are kept or not.  Commentary in the January 2, 1904, issue of The Penny Illustrated Paper in London:
“The sum of human experience seems to be that a very large percentage of New Year’s resolutions are quickly broken…A good resolution kept for a time is better than nothing at all.”

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Children wear masks as they watch a carnival procession from a window. The carnival is held to celebrate the New Year according to the Julian calendar. The festivity is held on 13 and 14 January every year. People in Vevcanci believe that with their masks they banish evil spirits from their lives
CREDIT: Georgi Licovski/EPA

Children play during a heavy snowstorm on Sakhalin Island. Weather reports indicate the year’s first snowstorm has brought 44mm of snow, which is close to the monthly average for January
CREDIT: Sergei Krasnoukhov/Tass

A rare snowy owl sits on the Christopher Columbus memorial fountain near Union Station
CREDIT: Stefani Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

Market Closes for January 13^th, 2022

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1937, the first shipment of gold was received at the Fort Knox Bullion Depository, the official gold vault of the U.S.
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell as companies in the technology sector sunk to their lowest point in nearly eight months as pressure rises on the U.S. Federal Reserve to tamper inflation.
The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.5% at 21,292.96 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since falling 0.9% on Jan. 5 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.6.
Today, information technology stocks led the market lower, as 6 of 11 sectors lost; 134 of 241 shares fell, while 102 rose.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 8.8% to its lowest point since May 2021.
Energy Fuels Inc/Canada had the largest drop, falling 10.2%.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 1%
* The index advanced 19% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 19% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 2.3% below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 23.1% above its low on Jan. 29, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1% in the past 5 days and rose 2.6% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.2 on a trailing basis and 15.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.42t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 12.31% compared with 14.24% in the previous session and the average of 14.80% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Information Technology| -109.0132| -5.5| 4/12
* Materials | -31.3941| -1.3| 12/43
* Energy | -8.2994| -0.3| 6/25
* Health Care | -4.3444| -2.7| 0/8
* Consumer Staples | -2.9476| -0.4| 3/8
* Utilities | -1.2063| -0.1| 6/10
* Real Estate | 1.2855| 0.2| 17/6
* Communication Services| 5.2101| 0.5| 6/1
* Industrials | 6.3572| 0.3| 19/10
* Consumer Discretionary| 14.7818| 1.9| 10/4
* Financials | 27.5306| 0.4| 19/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
| Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | -100.4000| -8.8| 28.9| -23.5
* Brookfield Asset Management | -7.1090| -1.0| -39.7| -4.5
* Nutrien | -5.9540| -1.7| -52.7| -6.5
* CIBC | 7.9680| 1.6| -23.1| 11.0
* Canadian Natural Resources | 9.6950| 1.9| 15.2| 17.7
* Canadian Pacific | 10.9600| 1.8| -63.4| 6.0

US
By Rita Nazareth, Peyton Forte and Emily Graffeo
(Bloomberg) — Technology companies led stock losses amid widespread calls from Federal Reserve officials to raise rates to prevent inflation from taking root in the U.S. economy.
Traders also assessed news that a divided Supreme Court blocked the centerpiece of President Joe Biden’s push to get more people vaccinated, rejecting a rule that would have required 80 million workers to get shots or periodic tests.
The Nasdaq 100 sank more than 2.5%, led by losses in Microsoft Corp. and Tesla Inc.
Chipmakers erased gains that were earlier driven by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s growth projections.
Boeing Co. rallied as Bloomberg News reported the 737 Max is set to resume commercial flights in China as soon as this month.
Fed Governor Lael Brainard said officials could boost rates as early as March to ensure that generation-high price pressures are brought under control.
Fed Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker favors a March liftoff and three or four hikes for 2022.
His Chicago counterpart Charles Evans — who sees a similar number of increases this year — said he couldn’t judge the likelihood of the first raise taking place in two months’ time.
Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said officials will be in a position to start normalizing rates at their March meeting should circumstances support that.
“We are in a position where much that has been positive for equities is maybe moving to neutral or negative, and while there are still few alternatives, it makes the equity market ripe for more fluctuations over the next few months as we see how the data shake out and how the Fed reacts,” said Sarah Hunt, portfolio manager at Alpine Woods Capital Investors.
Rising rates — an upshot of strong economic growth –could drive investors toward value stocks, which tend to be more cyclical and offer near-term cash flows.
That leaves growth shares wanting for buyers.
The long-term earnings potential of
the relatively expensive technology companies could become less appealing amid elevated inflation.
“Tech is the classic example of an area where stocks have really benefited from the decline in rates,” said Kara Murphy, chief investment officer of Kestra Investment Management. “As expectations rise for rates going forward, then it makes sense that would be the area that would get hurt more.”
Prices paid to U.S. producers decelerated in December as two key drivers of inflation in 2021 — food and energy — declined from a month earlier, representing a respite in the recent trend of sizable increases. At the same time, producers continued to face a variety of materials shortages, limited labor supply and transportation bottlenecks that sent prices soaring last year.

Morgan Stanley clients expect financial stocks to outperform this year, according to a survey at its annual conference this week.
The poll shows that 45% of respondents bet the industry will be the best performer in 2022.
That’s the highest share of the votes for the sector since 2015, the firm said in a note Thursday.
Here are some key events this week:
* Bank of Korea policy decision and briefing on Friday.
* Wells Fargo, Citigroup, JPMorgan due to report earnings on Friday.
* U.S. business inventories, industrial production, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, retail sales on Friday.
* New York Fed President John Williams speaks Friday.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 1.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 2.6%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%
* The MSCI World index fell 1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.1452
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3705
* The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 114.14 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 1.70%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to -0.09%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 1.11%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.4% to $81.46 a barrel
* Gold futures fell 0.3% to $1,821.20 an ounce
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Cecile Gutscher, Nikos Chrysoloras and Vildana Hajric.
Have a  lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

To be amiable in society, one must allow oneself to be told what one already knows. –Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince of Benevento, 1754-1838.

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