January 19, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1870: Tin can patented
Edgar Allen Poe, poet, b. 1808
Paul Cezanne, painter, b. 1939
On Jan. 19, 1937, millionaire Howard Hughes set a transcontinental air record by flying his monoplane from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., in 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds. Go to article »
 
Electric cars get a battery that can charge in five minutes–Bloomberg.

“We want to show you can eat differently,” said Claire Vallée, the chef at ONA, which stands for “Origine Non Animale,” or “Non-Animal Origin.” She is one of a growing number of chefs in France who are eschewing the country’s traditional, meat-focused cuisine.  AM by Alexandre Mazzia in Marseille was a new addition to the top category;
no previous three-star restaurants were demoted. –The New York Times.

From The Late Night Hosts last night:
“Today was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and I’d like to think he’d have a good laugh if he knew the F.B.I. had to spend this federal holiday tracking down and arresting thousands of white supremacists. He did have a second dream, and that was it.” — SETH MEYERS

“Trump’s leaving office with his lowest approval rating yet — it’s down to 29 percent. Which, for someone who incited a violent insurrection to overthrow the government isn’t bad. I mean, honestly, what would he have to do to get below 20 percent — eat the Constitution?” — JIMMY KIMMEL

“Normally, after a president’s term, they show before and after photos to prove how much the job aged him. This time, they’re showing before and after photos of all of us.” — JIMMY FALLON

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
‘Berkutchi’ – Mongolian hunters who use trained golden eagles to forage food – from Bayan-Olgii, an area located in the Altai Mountains of western Mongolia
CREDIT: ZAY YAR /SWNS.COM
 A large hippopotamus demonstrates the size and power of its jaw as it prepares to fight another on the Chobe River, in Botswana
Credit: CHARL STOLS/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY
A visitor takes part in a tour in Son Doong cave, one of the world’s largest natural caves, in central Vietnam’s Quang Binh province
CREDIT: NHAC NGUYEN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for January 19^th, 2021 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1999, President Bill Clinton proposed, in his State of the Union address, “investing a small portion [of the Social Security trust fund] in the private sector just as any private or state government pension would do. This will earn a higher return and keep Social Security sound for 55 years.”
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed mixed on Tuesday, with energy shares climbing as oil rose while consumer stocks led decliners. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose less than 0.1% in Toronto with six of the 11 main sectors down for the day. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated his support for TC Energy Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline, saying Canada’s government is still pressing U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s team despite indications Biden has already decided to block the project soon after inauguration.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $13.70 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.1% to $1,839.03 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.2% to C$1.2738 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield was about flat at 0.805%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 17,957.37 in Toronto. TC Energy Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.8 percent. BlackBerry Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 18.9 percent. Today, 109 of 221 shares rose, while 106 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 2.3 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 16 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.6 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 little changed in the past 5 days and rose 2.4 percent in the past 30 days
* 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 fell to 8.01 percent compared with
8.23 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.65 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 46.1104| 2.2| 19/2
Materials | 12.8683| 0.5| 19/31
Health Care | 4.2377| 1.6| 4/5
Real Estate | 3.8296| 0.7| 22/3
Utilities | 0.4164| 0.0| 10/6
Information Technology | -0.8603| 0.0| 9/1
Consumer Discretionary | -5.5089| -0.8| 6/5
Communication Services | -6.7098| -0.8| 0/7
Consumer Staples | -7.2344| -1.1| 1/10
Industrials | -8.5768| -0.4| 13/16
Financials | -26.0921| -0.5| 6/20
US
By Anchalee Worrachate and Cormac Mullen
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, led by gains in tech shares and small caps, with Wall Street parsing the latest earnings ahead of a flood of reports this week. The S&P 500 Index rebounded from Friday’s selloff after a three-day weekend that brought little by means of fresh macro news. Ten-year Treasury yields climbed back toward 1.1% and the dollar weakened. Crude oil and emerging markets also advanced. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. turned lower even after reporting that profit more than doubled. Bank of America Corp. shares edged higher after its results. General Motors Co. rose to a record after Microsoft Corp. invested in its self-driving car startup.
     Netflix Inc. reports results after markets close. Janet Yellen encountered early Republican resistance to President-elect Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan in her confirmation hearing to become Treasury secretary. Donald Trump is in the final hours of his term, with Biden to be sworn in at noon Wednesday in Washington. Hong Kong Stocks at 20-Month High as Record China Cash Floods In The market moves on Tuesday show that investors are coming back to the reflation trade, betting that the incoming U.S. administration will use its legislative firepower to propel economic growth.
     Biden’s stimulus package includes measures like a minimum-wage hike and substantial expansion in family and medical leave — programs that have already triggered Republican opposition. “Yellen is a positive,” said Mohit Kumar, strategist at Jefferies International. “We should have greater co-operation between the Fed and the Treasury, with both the monetary and fiscal policy working together and supportive. This is a good backdrop for risk sentiment.” In Asia, Hong Kong stocks closed at the highest level since May 2019. A spending spree by mainland investors is powering gains, lifting the Hang Seng Index up 2.7% on Tuesday. Signs suggest that mainland buying will continue, with investors shifting out of A shares to buy those listed in Hong Kong. The benchmark Hang Seng Index is still cheaper than the Shanghai Composite gauge in terms of price-to-earnings multiples. These are some key events coming up in the week ahead:
* Earnings come from companies including Morgan Stanley, Procter & Gamble, Intel, and Netflix.
* Joe Biden takes office as U.S. president on Wednesday.
* Policy decisions are due Wednesday from central banks in Brazil, Malaysia and
Canada. The Bank of Japan and the ECB deliver decisions Thursday.

Here are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index jumped 0.8% as of 4 p.m. in New York.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.2%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 1.2%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index increased 1.6%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.2%.
* The euro climbed 0.4% to $1.2124.
* The British pound increased 0.3% to $1.3631.
* The Japanese yen weakened 0.2% to 103.89 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.09%.
* The yield on two-year Treasuries slipped to 0.13%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to -0.526%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 1.2% to $53.01 a barrel.
* Gold futures added 0.5% to $1,838.80 an ounce.
–With assistance from Joanna Ossinger

Have a  great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with,
but whether it’s the same problem you had last year. -John Foster Dulles, 1888-1959.

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