January 20, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: U.S. Presidential Inauguration Day.

On Jan. 20, 1981, Iran released 52 Americans held hostage for 444 days, minutes after the presidency had passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan.  Go to article » 
 
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Jill Biden holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration 
CREDIT: ANDREW HARNIK/AP

A man rides a penny-farthing bicycle in central London
CREDIT: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

David Gilligan took first prize in the Trail magazine’s 2020 UK Mountain Photo of the Year award with this self-portrait, standing atop the rocks of Castell y Gwynt in Glyder Fach, Snowdonia
CREDIT:DAVID GILLIGAN/TRAIL MAGAZINE

Market Closes for January 20^th, 2021 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1870, the first known female-owned U.S. stock brokerage was launched, as sisters Victoria Woodhull and Tennie Claflin opened their Woodhull, Claflin & Co. at 44 Broad St. in Manhattan. Bedeviled by rumors that it was merely a front for Woodhull’s supposed lover, Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, the firm did not survive long.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equity markets rose on Wednesday, as the Bank of Canada adopted a positive tone on the outlook for the nation’s economy. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 0.3% in Toronto. Materials and tech stocks were the best performers, while health care was the worst sector. The Bank of Canada is choosing to look past a weak start to 2021 as vaccine efforts accelerate. In a decision Wednesday from Ottawa, policy makers led by Governor Tiff Macklem said the economy remains on a two-year timeline to fully repair damage from the pandemic and doesn’t currently need additional support, even amid a wave of new Covid-19 cases and lockdowns.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $14.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 1.6% to $1,870.02 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.7% to C$1.2643 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose to 0.826%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 0.3 percent, or 57.54 to 18,014.91 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 1.1 percent on Jan. 7. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.5 percent. MEG Energy Corp. had the largest increase, rising 9.8 percent. Today, 138 of 221 shares rose, while 80 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 3.3 percent
* The index advanced 2.4 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 17 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.2 percent below its 52-week high on Jan. 8, 2021 and 61.2 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.4 percent in the past 5 days and rose 2.7 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 17.3 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
8.01 percent in the previous session and the average of 8.62 percent over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 34.0496| 1.4| 45/7
Information Technology | 26.2960| 1.4| 9/1
Real Estate | 7.6815| 1.4| 25/1
Utilities | 3.9558| 0.4| 12/4
Consumer Discretionary | 3.0215| 0.4| 8/5
Consumer Staples | 0.0892| 0.0| 4/5
Financials | -1.0398| 0.0| 14/11
Communication Services | -1.5672| -0.2| 3/4
Energy | -4.5869| -0.2| 8/14
Health Care | -4.6233| -1.7| 1/8
Industrials | -5.7311| -0.3| 9/20
US
By Adam Haigh and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied to all-time highs as investors grew optimistic that recent federal spending will revive growth and bolster corporate earnings. Treasuries were little changed while the dollar weakened. The Nasdaq 100 Index jumped more than 2% and the S&P 500 Index posted the best first-day reaction to a newly elected president’s inauguration since Jan. 20 became the official start in 1937.
Netflix Inc. surged more than 17% after a jump in subscribers. Chipmaker ASML Holding NV rallied on solid results. Morgan Stanley gained after reporting record full-year results. Investors looked past a fresh stumble in the rollout of vaccines and elevated infection rates, and eyed the promise of more stimulus and an expanded federal effort to get shots to more Americans quickly under President Joe Biden. “If stimulus happens at the same time that people get vaccinated, the optimism can’t help but build,” said Keith Buchanan, a portfolio manager for GLOBALT Investments in Atlanta. “It’s a fairly safe bet there will be another stimulus package with more direct payments to consumers and individuals and more help for small businesses..” Investors are counting on more spending to help propel economic growth under Biden, who is planning a flurry of executive orders on his first day. Still, it won’t be all smooth sailing, with Janet Yellen encountering early Republican resistance to Biden’s relief plan in her confirmation hearing to become Treasury secretary.
On the virus front, Germany suffered record daily deaths and a study on the South African variant raised concern about the efficacy of vaccines. Elsewhere, crude oil edged higher and gold traded touched an almost two-week high. In Asia, Chinese firms trading in Hong Kong saw the bulk of gains, and the Hang Seng Index approached the 30,000 level. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. rallied after billionaire Jack Ma resurfaced from months out of public view amid escalating scrutiny over his internet empire. These are some key events coming up:
* Policy decisions are due Wednesday from central banks in Brazil 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 increased 1.4% as of 4 p.m. New York time, the highest on record with the largest climb in almost two weeks.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 2% to the highest on record.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index rose 2.3% to an all-time high.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.7% to 410.78.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.2%.
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.2101.
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3644.
* The Japanese yen appreciated 0.3% to 103.57 per dollar, the strongest in two weeks on the largest gain in more than a week.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries lost one basis point to 1.085%.
* The two-year rate fell to 0.13%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield dipped less than one basis point to -0.53%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.6% to $53.29 a barrel.
* Gold strengthened 1.4% to $1,865.95 an ounce, the highest in almost two weeks on the biggest jump in more than two weeks.
–With assistance from Michael G. Wilson.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com