January 15, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
Jean-Baptiste Moliere, writer, b. 1622.
Martin Luther King, Jr. b. 1929. Note: US markets are closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Day.
1943: Pentagon completed.

On Jan. 15, 1967, the first Super Bowl was played as the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League, 35-10. Go to article »

Astronomers find the brightest quasar on record, equivalent to 600 trillion suns. (h/t Ellen Kominers)
 
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
The Blackpool Tower breaks through the morning freezing fog. The iconic landmark on the Lancashire coast is seen infront of the morning sunrise as severe winter weather condition hit the seaside resort
CREDIT: KARL HOUGHTON/TRIANGLE NEWS
People receive their COVID 19 vaccines inside Lichfield Cathedral which had been turned into an emergency vaccination centre
CREDIT: REUTERS/CARL RECINE
Athletes shoot during the men’s 4×7.5km relay race at the Biathlon World Cup in Oberhof, Germany
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/MATTIAS SCHRADER
Nepalese women from the Tharu community dressed in traditional attire, rehearse before a program to celebrate Maghe Sankranti festival in Kathmandu, Nepal. Tharu people celebrate this day as their New Year and observe this festival as Maghi with much fanfare and gaiety
CREDIT: SKANDA GAUTAM/ZUMA WIRE
Market Closes for January 15^th, 2021 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1987, the New York Stock Exchange racked up daily volume of over a quarter-of-a-billion shares for the first time.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell this week as gold and silver equities underperformed. Marijuana shares including Aphria Inc. advanced. The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 0.3% Friday to their lowest level since Jan. 6. Materials and energy fell while consumer staples rose the most among the 11 major sectors. Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.’s top executives are in Paris seeking to salvage a $20 billion bid for Carrefour SA as Canadian officials press the French government to relax its objections to the deal.
Oil slid by the most in three weeks as a stronger dollar and weak U.S. economic data stoked concerns over an economic rebound.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $10.65 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 1.1% to $1,826.56 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.8% to C$1.2735 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 4.6 basis points to 0.805%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.3 percent at 17,909.03 in Toronto. The index dropped to the lowest closing level since Jan. 6 after the previous session’s increase of 0.1 percent. Suncor Energy Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.8 percent. Ballard Power Systems Inc. had the largest drop, falling 10.1 percent. Today, 127 of 221 shares fell, while 92 rose; 5 of 11 sectors were lower, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index fell 0.7 percent
* The index advanced 2.8 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI
AC Americas Index gained 16 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.8 percent below its 52-week high on
Jan. 8, 2021 and 60.3 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
26.3 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 rose to 8.23 percent compared with
8.17 percent in the previous session and the average of 9.02 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -49.3651| -2.1| 6/46
Energy | -38.9594| -1.8| 3/19
Consumer Discretionary | -6.5965| -0.9| 4/9
Industrials | -5.3011| -0.2| 14/14
Health Care | -1.7456| -0.7| 3/6
Real Estate | 2.4024| 0.4| 17/8
Information Technology | 4.5018| 0.2| 7/3
Utilities | 7.9772| 0.9| 10/6
Communication Services | 10.9245| 1.3| 6/1
Financials | 10.9940| 0.2| 15/11
Consumer Staples | 16.1085| 2.6| 7/4
US
By Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell by the most in more than a week after Wells Fargo & Co. dragged down the banking sector in the wake of disappointing fourth-quarter results. Crude oil declined from a 10-month high as the dollar strengthened. The energy and financial sectors led the S&P 500 into the red for a second day, with Exxon Mobil Corp. dropping 4.8% after a report said the company is being investigated for overvaluing assets. Utilities and real estate shares rose. Stocks were already lower in Europe and Asia as President-elect Joe Biden’s much-anticipated $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan came under scrutiny. Treasury yields declined. Optimism about the U.S. aid package had helped spur the so- called reflation trade, but the plan is far from a done deal.
Biden’s proposal could be watered down under congressional opposition, and there’s the possibility that some taxes could rise. “There’s just a realization that this is a starting point for negotiations — there’s a little bit of a reality that this isn’t going to be a smooth quick process,” said John Porter, head of equities at Mellon Investments Corp. Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” includes a wave of new spending, more direct payments to households, an expansion of jobless benefits and an enlargement of vaccinations and virus- testing programs as deaths reach record levels and local governments expand lockdowns. Attention is now turning to how much of the package will ultimately get passed by Congress, with the go-big price tag and the inclusion of proposals set to be opposed by many Republicans.
     As lawmakers wrangle over details, U.S. jobless claims published Thursday painted a dismal picture and the U.S. is leading all countries in virus deaths with New York state reporting more than 200 daily fatalities for the first time since May. “With a big number on the heels of a $9 billion package, it’s not going to be easy to get the next stimulus package passed,” said James Ragan, director of wealth management research at D.A. Davidson. “I think a combination of that and the weakening consumer data is causing the pause today. It was kind of inevitable, we’ve had a pretty strong run to start the year. Maybe a little more caution going into the long weekend.” U.S. financial markets are closed Monday for the observance of Martin Luther King holiday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index dipped 0.7% to 3,768.25 as of 4:02 p.m. New
* York time, the lowest in more than a week on the largest decrease in more than a week.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.9% to 12,998.50, the lowest in more than a week.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.6% to 30,814.26, the lowest in more than a week on the largest decrease in more than a week.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 1% to 407.85, the lowest in more than a week on the biggest tumble in more than three weeks.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index sank 0.9% to 655.71, the lowest in more than a week on the largest decrease in 11 weeks.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.6% to 1,126.29, the biggest rise in more than a week.
* The euro sank 0.6% to $1.2076, the weakest in more than six weeks on the largest decrease in more than two weeks.
* The Japanese yen weakened 0.1% to 103.89 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 1.09%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield increased one basis point to -0.54%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield decreased less than one basis point to 0.288%, the lowest in more than a week.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude sank 2.6% to $52.19 a barrel, the lowest in more than a week on the biggest tumble in more than three weeks.
* Gold depreciated 1.1% to $1,826.30 an ounce, the weakest in more than six weeks on the largest fall in a week.
–With assistance from Cecile Gutscher.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts.  Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day.  The content of your character is your choice.  Day by day, what you do is who you become. –Heraclitus, 535-475 BC.

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