January 17, 2024

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.
January 17, 1991: The Gulf War in Iraq begins.  “Operation Desert Storm”, launched in response too Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, led to approximately 100,000 civilian deaths.
January 17, 1997 A court in Ireland granted the first divorce in the Roman Catholic country’s history.  Go to article.

Benjamin Franklin, b. 1706.
Al Capone, b. 1899.
William Stafford, poet, b. 1914.
James Earl Jones, actor, b.1931.
Muhammed Ali, “The Greatest” boxer, b. 1942

Popular artists unite for FireAid benefit concert
The FireAid benefit concert, an event to raise funds for LA wildfire victims, will take place on January 30. So far, the performer lineup includes Lady Gaga, Stevie Nicks, Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers and more.

Video: Latest eruption at one of the world’s most active volcanoes
Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano has been occasionally erupting since late December. On Wednesday, it entered its fourth eruptive episode. See the video here.

Nintendo’s Switch 2 console to be released in 2025
Nintendo revealed its newest console on Thursday after a yearslong wait.

Schrödinger’s Cat breakthrough could usher in the ‘Holy Grail’ of quantum computing, making them error-proof
Errors in quantum computers are an obstacle for their widespread use. But a team of scientists say that, by using an antimony atom and the Schrödinger’s Cat thought experiment, they could have found a way to stop them.   Read More.

Secrets of Alexander the Great mosaic revealed after 1st-of-its-kind analysis
There are around 2 million pieces that make up the Alexander the Great mosaic, but where did they come from? Read More.

‘Totally amazing’ astronaut photo captures comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS shooting past Earth from the ISS
NASA astronaut Don Pettit has snapped a striking shot of the super-bright comet racing past our planet for the first time in 160,000 years, as it lit up the night skies across the globe. Read More.

‘Spooky’ quantum entanglement discovered inside individual protons for 1st time ever
Physicists have long-suspected that the building blocks of protons experienced quantum entanglement. Now, researchers have the first direct evidence — after using a trick to infer subatomic particles’
entropy. Read More

Great winds are powerless to disturb the water of a deep well. –Chinese Proverb.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Sapporo, Japan
Julia Mühlbacher of Austria in action during the official training of the FIS ski jumping women’s at Okurayama jump stadium in Hokkaido
Photograph: Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images

Singapore
Visitors look at the Madam White Snake exhibit, a living floral sculpture on display at Gardens by the Bay as part of Lunar New Year celebrations
Photograph: Roslan Rahmanroslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images

​​​​​​​Emperor penguins form an orderly queue as breeding season begins in Antarctica
Photograph: Natacha Planque/IPEV/WWF
Market Closes for January 17, 2025

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

MARKET COMMENTARY:
📈 On this day in 1946, the Federal Reserve temporarily eliminated all margin trading after the stock market had gained more than 20% in the five months following the end of World War II.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the fourth day, climbing 0.9%, or 221.72 to 25,067.92 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 1.4% on Nov. 21.
Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.4%.
First Majestic Silver Corp. had the largest increase, rising 5.0%.
Today, 151 of 222 shares rose, while 66 fell; 10 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 1.2%, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended Nov. 22
* The index advanced 21% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 26% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3% below its 52-week high on Dec. 9, 2024 and 22.5% above its low on Feb. 13, 2024
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.7 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% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.9t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 11.65% compared with 11.26% in the previous session and the average of 10.44% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 71.4623| 1.7| 31/11
Financials | 61.9341| 0.8| 15/11
Materials | 33.1600| 1.1| 37/9
Industrials | 22.6593| 0.7| 22/6
Utilities | 12.6729| 1.4| 14/1
Information Technology | 6.8394| 0.3| 6/4
Consumer Staples | 6.4005| 0.7| 8/2
Communication Services | 5.0700| 0.9| 2/3
Consumer Discretionary | 1.3146| 0.2| 5/6
Real Estate | 0.3751| 0.1| 8/12
Health Care | -0.1818| -0.3| 3/1
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
TD Bank | 43.2300| 4.4| 0.5| 8.6
Enbridge | 16.3200| 1.7| -25.7| 5.5
TC Energy | 15.4100| 3.2| -34.7| 2.3
Intact Financial | -1.7740| -0.6| 45.4| -3.0
National Bank of Canada | -6.1540| -2.0| 3.8| -1.7
Bank of Nova Scotia| -7.4960| -1.2| -23.0| -4.7
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street powered ahead as stocks notched their best week since the November presidential election just ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Most groups in the S&P 500 rose, with the gauge up 1% Friday.
Tesla Inc. and Nvidia Corp. led gains in mega caps, while Intel Corp. jumped 9.2% on a report the chipmaker is an acquisition target.
Also aiding sentiment were headlines that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed trade, TikTok and fentanyl, which could set the tone for relations between the world’s two largest economies.
Bonds also rebounded this week, with 10-year yields down about 15 basis points in the span.
Trump, who is set to be sworn in as the 47th US president on Monday, has reiterated his focus on core priorities such as cutting taxes and raising tariffs.
Equities soared following the election on bets the new administration will enact pro-growth policies that will boost Corporate America.
While stocks faltered last month on hawkish Fed signals, recent data showing cooling inflation reignited bets on rate cuts.
“This week’s easing inflation data and a positive reaction to earnings from several financial companies resulted in a bond and stock rally,” said Craig Johnson at Piper Sandler.
“Recent short-term oversold conditions and weak bullish sentiment are underpinning the recovery of the major indices from within their primary uptrends.”
To Mark Hackett at Nationwide, the bounce in equities is encouraging, indicating the balance between bulls and bears is leveling.
“Markets are likely to remain in a zigzag pattern through earnings season,” he noted.
“Once earnings season is finished, expectations are reset, and the buyback window reopens, the bulls can reestablish control.”
The S&P 500 rose 1%.
The Nasdaq 100 climbed 1.7%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8%.
A Bloomberg gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” mega caps rallied 1.8%.
The Russell 2000 advanced 0.4%.
Buoyed by solid earnings, banks continued to surge, sending a closely watched industry gauge up 8.2% for the week.
US markets will be closed Monday for a holiday.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.61%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%.
Bitcoin jumped to around $105,000.
“What a difference a week makes,” said Steve Sosnick at Interactive Brokers.
“At this time last Friday stocks were selling off sharply thanks to a better-than-expected jobs report.  It revealed the equity market’s somewhat seemingly obvious preference for rate cuts over a solid economy.”
From a technical perspective, Dan Wantrobski at Janney Montgomery Scott, says the setup was “nearly perfect for oversold conditions to collide with positive news and trigger the rally we are currently experiencing.”
When Trump takes his oath as the next US president on Monday, stock investors will have one big reason to breathe a sigh of relief.
History shows the performance of the equities benchmark over a three-month period usually improves after inauguration day.
History shows that the average three-month performance of the S&P 500 going into the ceremony is just about 1%, compared to a 3.7% rise on the way out, according to Jefferies’ analysis of data going back to 1929.
The index “typically trades lumpy around inaugurations,” the firm’s strategists said, but things start to improve a few months in.
In fact, on average the S&P gains 8.3% six months into an inauguration and about 9.5% 12 months in, according to Jefferies.
Trump’s return to the White House will likely shield US stocks from a big selloff, according to Bank of America Corp. strategists, as investors focus on his protectionist agenda and proposals for lower corporate taxes.
US stocks are “protected by Trump” from downside, strategist Michael Hartnett wrote in a note, although he doesn’t expect sharp gains either due to risks including high concentration in mega-cap technology stocks, valuations and investor positioning.
“We continue to view US equities as attractive, forecasting that 9% earnings growth this year will drive the S&P 500 to 6,600 by the end of the year,” said Mark Haefele at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“Large-caps should outperform mid- and small-caps given their greater AI exposure, better earnings trends, and less dependency on Fed rate cuts.
Sector-wise, he likes information technology, financials, utilities, communication services, and consumer discretionary.
“When you’ve had so many years should significant outperformance of US equities, it’s very difficult to then look at opportunities outside the US and think that they’re going to be any more attractive,” said Zehrid Osmani at Martin Currie Investment Management. “But valuation discipline has to be an important angle for investors. We would need to see a broadening of the earnings momentum at the moment.”

Corporate Highlights:
* Microsoft Corp.’s $13 billion investment in OpenAI raises concerns that the tech giant could extend its dominance in cloud computing into the nascent artificial intelligence market, the Federal Trade Commission said in a report released Friday.
* The Supreme Court unanimously upheld a law that threatens to shut down the wildly popular TikTok social media platform in the US as soon as Sunday, ruling that free speech rights must yield to concerns that Chinese control of the app creates a national- security risk.
* US auto safety regulators are probing General Motors Co. over concerns that more than 870,000 of its full-size pickup trucks and SUVs face the risk of engine failure.
* Applied Materials Inc. and Lam Research Corp. were raised to overweight from sector weight at KeyBanc Capital Markets as the broker repositions semi cap coverage toward immediate growth drivers.
* J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. reported fourth-quarter earnings trailed expectations and it warned about first-quarter results, as well as cost pressures in 2025.
* JetBlue Airways Corp. and Southwest Airlines Co. were downgraded to underperform from neutral at Bank of America Corp., which citied their lower exposure to corporate, premium and international routes.
* Novo Nordisk A/S’s blockbuster drug Wegovy was targeted for price cuts by the US government and suffered a setback in a new trial, adding to growing threats to the Danish company’s early dominance in the surging market for new weight-loss treatments.
* Bumble Inc. founder Whitney Wolfe Herd will return to the dating-app firm as chief executive officer, a year after she handed over the reins to a Slack Technologies Inc. executive.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.7%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.8%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 1.8%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.4%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
* The euro fell 0.3% to $1.0275
* The British pound fell 0.6% to $1.2170
* The Japanese yen fell 0.6% to 156.15 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 4.5% to $104,677.54
* Ether rose 5.9% to $3,514.99
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.61%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 2.54%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.66%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.9% to $77.95 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.5% to $2,701.21 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Isabelle Lee, Sujata Rao, Margaryta Kirakosian and John Viljoen.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
“Dost thou love life?  Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made of”-Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790.

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 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com