January 14, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1784- End of the American Revolution.

There’s a case of wine heading back to Earth from space.  Space wine? That’s a new status symbol, unlocked. 
 
There may be fewer galaxies in the universe than we thought.  It’s always nice to know our vast, unexplored universe is just slightly less populated than assumed. 

Sea shanties are back! 

Over the last two weeks, a video made by a Scottish postman singing “Soon May the Wellerman Come” has been shared and duetted thousands of times: by professional musicians, maritime enthusiasts, memers, a Kermit the Frog puppet, and more.  Experts might cavil that is not a true shanty, but rather a whaling ballad — but the two share a form that is kind regarding musical ability.
“That’s one of the things I love about sea shanties,” said one folk musician. “The accessibility. You don’t have to be a trained singer to sing on it. You’re not supposed to sing pretty.” –NY Times.

From The Late Night Hosts:
“I feel like I just took down my decorations from the last impeachment.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

”Reportedly, McConnell has told associates in private that he believes the president committed impeachable offenses and is leaning toward convicting him. It will all be in his memoir, ‘Leaning Toward Courage.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A curious polar bear surprised a ship’s crew by trying to clamber aboard. Fascinated by the boat, the bear walked away from a walrus carcass he was eating to investigate.
Credit: FRANCO BANFI/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

A woman pulls a sledge on a footbridge above traffic gridlocked in the snow on Manchester Road, West Bowling, Bradford this morning as heavy snow affects northern and central parts of the UK
Credit: ASADOUR GUZELIAN

A woman is reflected in a window as she braves wind and rain while walking towards Tower Bridge in London
AP PHOTO/KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH
Market Closes for January 14^th, 2021 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1982, in the depths of recession, Ford Motor said it would skip paying a quarterly dividend for the first time since the company went public in 1956, saving the car maker $36 million per quarter.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities managed to post a gain Thursday after a drop the previous day. The S&P/TSX Composite Index advanced 0.1%, led by health care stocks, while industrials dropped. Cannabis producers including Aphria Inc., Hexo Corp., and Aurora Cannabis Inc. all rallied.
     On the M&A front, Couche-Tard co-founder Alain Bouchard gave an update to investors four months ago about a hunt for a major acquisition. The convenience store chain was on the lookout for deals, he said, but not at any cost. He may not want a splash, but Bouchard’s company is making one with its $20 billion move for French grocer Carrefour SA. Canada’s three largest cities — Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver — saw a sharp jump in the number of citizens moving to suburbs, smaller towns and rural areas, according to Statistics Canada data released Thursday.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $10.80 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,848.39 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar gained 0.5% to C$1.2638 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose 4.7 basis points to 0.856%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.1 percent at
17,958.09 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s
decrease of 0.3 percent.
Today, energy stocks led the market higher, as 5 of 11
sectors gained; 117 of 221 shares rose, while 99 fell.
Enbridge Inc. contributed the most to the index gain,
increasing 2.4 percent. BlackBerry Ltd. had the largest
increase, rising 21.3 percent.

Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 0.5 percent
* The index advanced 3.5 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI
AC Americas Index gained 17 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.6 percent below its 52-week high on
Jan. 8, 2021 and 60.7 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.4 percent in the past 5 days and rose 3.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
26.4 on a trailing basis and 17.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.77t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.17 percent compared with
8.30 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.15 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 47.1381| 2.2| 21/1
Financials | 24.3839| 0.5| 14/12
Health Care | 14.2634| 5.8| 8/1
Real Estate | 1.9601| 0.4| 16/10
Consumer Discretionary | 0.6564| 0.1| 8/4
Utilities | -0.5786| -0.1| 8/7
Communication Services | -1.8594| -0.2| 2/5
Materials | -2.5913| -0.1| 20/30
Consumer Staples | -8.2182| -1.3| 1/10
Information Technology | -21.9027| -1.2| 4/6
Industrials | -29.8882| -1.3| 15/13
US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for the first time in three days and Treasury yields climbed amid expectations President- elect Joe Biden plans Covid-19 relief of as much as $2 trillion. After approaching all-time highs most of Thursday, the S&P 500 turned negative late in the trading session. Technology, communication services and consumer discretionary sectors were the biggest losers, while energy shares rose with oil. Biden last week put the “entire package” at “trillions of dollars,” and many Democrats believe it will be as much as $2 trillion. Biden is expected to announce his economic support plans later in the day. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said policy makers won’t raise interest rates unless they see troubling signs of inflation. “With stock markets close to record highs, some investors may be concerned about signs of over-exuberance in equities,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management. “But support from vaccine rollouts, continued low interest rates, and the likelihood of further fiscal stimulus should drive rapid economic and earnings growth in 2021, which should support further upside for equities.”
     Investors betting on an economic recovery this year are tolerating stretched stock valuations, partly because they expect further U.S. fiscal spending and better control of the pandemic with vaccines. With Biden due to take office within days, the transfer of power promises more turbulence. On Wednesday the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time, though a Senate trial for Trump likely won’t get underway before his term ends on Jan. 20. “Investors are looking past that and really concentrating on the stimulus and what that’s going to mean further down the road, “said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank.
     After years of too-low inflation, the U.S. central bank approved new policy guidance in September, spelling out it would be appropriate to keep rates near zero until inflation has risen to its 2% target and was on track to moderately exceed that level. “Our eyes are wide open on this,” Powell said. “At the end of the day the public will need to see us allow inflation to move moderately above 2% for a time before the new framework will be seen as fully credible.” The time to raise rates “is no time soon,” Powell added.
     On the virus front, China recorded its first Covid-19 death since April as new clusters continued to expand. France said it will extend tighter curfew measures across the country in a bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Here are some key events coming up:
* JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. are among firms due to report earnings.
* U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans to lay out proposals for fiscal support on Thursday.
* U.S. retail sales, industrial production, business inventories and consumer sentiment figures are due Friday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index decreased 0.4% to 3,795.54 as of 4:03 p.m. New York time.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to 30,991.52.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.1% to 13,112.64.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index jumped 0.7% to 412, the highest in almost 11 months.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index increased 0.1% to 661.91.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3% to 1,119.64.
* The euro was little changed at $1.2161.
* The British pound climbed 0.4% to $1.3691, the strongest in almost three years.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.2% to 103.72 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose four basis points to 1.12%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to -0.55%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield dipped two basis points to 0.291%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 1.3% to $53.60 a barrel, the highest in almost a year.
* Silver strengthened 1.3% to $25.55 per ounce.
–With assistance from Kamaron Leach.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are. –JP Morgan, 1837-1913

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