Dear Friends,
Tangents: Happy Friday.
January 23, 1849: An envelope-making machine is patented by Jesse K. Park and Cornelius S. Watson, kickstarting the automation of everyday office supplies.
January 23, 1937: Seventeen people went on trial in Moscow during Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s Great Purge. Go to article.
Edouard Manet, artist, b.1832.
What are ‘exploding trees’?
As winter’s wrath sweeps through the US, some meteorologists are warning on social media that "exploding trees" are possible.
Phil Collins’ health struggles
British rock star Phil Collins has opened up about his recent health challenges, revealing that he has 24-hour live-in nurse care.
A booming breakthrough
Sonic booms could be a new way to track falling space junk.
Translation professionals are losing their jobs to AI
AI tools have reduced the amount of work available to human translators and interpreters, and depressed their earnings.
Olympic flame reaches Venice ahead of 2026 Winter Games
The Olympic torch lit up Venice on its route to the 2026 Winter Games in Italy. See the video here.
| Arctic blast probably won’t cause trees to explode in the cold — but here’s what happens if and when they do go boom |
The extreme cold from an incoming winter blast could make some trees "explode," a viral social media post claims — but don’t expect trees to start blowing up like cars in an action movie.
| An ocean the size of the Arctic once covered half of Mars, new images hint |
Mars may have been a "blue planet" with an ocean the size of today’s Arctic Ocean, a new study suggests. Read More.
| Scientists may be approaching a ‘fundamental breakthrough in cosmology and particle physics’ — if dark matter and ‘ghost particles’ can interact |
Astronomers found evidence that dark matter and neutrinos may interact, hinting at a "fundamental breakthrough" that challenges our understanding of how the universe evolved. Read More.
| ‘Pain sponge’ derived from stem cells could soak up pain signals before they reach the brain |
Scientists are developing a "sponge" that can soak up pain signals in the body before they reach the brain, potentially offering an alternative to painkillers. Read More.
| Creepy robotic hand detaches at the wrist before scurrying away to collect objects |
EPFL’s robotic appendage features fingers that bend both ways and is designed to retrieve objects from spaces too hazardous for human hands. Read More.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Porto, Portugal
Waves hit the seawall at the Felgueiras lighthouse during a storm
Photograph: José Coelho/EPA
Cold feet … a red deer walks on a snowy trail in Tatra national park, Zakopane, Poland. Established in 1955, the huge park is home to wolves, lynxes and bears among others
Photograph: Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Edinburgh, Scotland
The portrait of Scottish poet, Robert Burns, by the renowned artist Sir Henry Raeburn is on display at the National Galleries Scotland. The oil on canvas, originally commissioned in 1803 by publishers Cadell & Davies for Burns’ book of poems, was found during a house clearance in Surrey in 2025, after being missing for 200 years
Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA
Market Closes for January 23rd, 2026
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| Dow Jones |
49098.71 | -285.30 |
| -0.58% | ||
| S&P 500 | 6915.61 | +2.26 |
| +0.03% | ||
| NASDAQ | 23501.24 | +65.22 |
| +0.28% | ||
| TSX | 33144.98 | +142.28 |
| +0.43% |
International Markets
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| NIKKEI | 53846.87 | +157.98 |
| +0.29% | ||
| HANG SENG |
26749.51 | +119.55 |
| +0.45% | ||
| SENSEX | 81537.70 | -769.67 |
| -0.94% | ||
| FTSE 100* | 10143.44 | -6.61 |
| -0.07% |
Bonds
| Bonds | % Yield | Previous % Yield |
| CND. 10 Year Bond |
3.413 | 3.400 |
| CND. 30 Year Bond |
3.841 | 3.826 |
| U.S. 10 Year Bond |
4.2252 | 4.2449 |
| U.S. 30 Year Bond |
4.8264 | 4.8376 |
| BOC Close | Today | Previous |
| Canadian $ | 0.7295 | 0.7250 |
| US $ |
1.3707 | 1.3792 |
| Euro Rate 1 Euro= |
Inverse | |
| Canadian $ | 0.6168 | 1.6212 |
| US $ |
0.8454 | 1.1827 |
Commodities
| Gold | Close | Previous |
| London Gold Fix |
4832.05 | 4832.05 |
| Oil | ||
| WTI Crude Future | 61.24 | 59.48 |
Market Commentary:
On this day in 1895, the New York Stock Exchange recommended that companies listed on the NYSE should publish annual financial statements and distribute them to shareholders
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 0.4%, or 142.28 to 33,144.98 in Toronto.
Barrick Mining Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.1%.
Capstone Copper Corp. had the largest increase, rising 8.8%.
Today, 132 of 218 shares rose, while 86 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by materials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 4.5%
* So far this week, the index rose 0.3%
* The index advanced 30% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 14% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 49.1% above its low on April 7, 2025
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.4 on a trailing basis and 20.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.2% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$5.24t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.80% compared with 8.95% in the previous session and the average of 9.82% over the past month
Index Points
Materials | 113.4028| 1.7| 45/11
Energy | 59.3101| 1.2| 32/6
Information Technology | 16.0499| 0.6| 6/4
Communication Services | 3.7555| 0.6| 4/1
Utilities | 3.6894| 0.3| 12/2
Real Estate | 1.6582| 0.3| 14/5
Consumer Staples | 0.0414| 0.0| 4/6
Health Care | -2.3658| -2.7| 1/3
Consumer Discretionary | -7.8860| -0.8| 1/8
Industrials | -22.6113| -0.7| 7/22
Financials | -22.7539| -0.2| 6/18
Barrick Mining | 24.5200| 3.1| 4.5| 17.0
Celestica | 12.2500| 3.8| 20.7| 2.3
Nutrien | 10.7800| 3.4| -13.5| 14.6
Shopify | -5.5540| -0.3| 2.5| -14.5
Franco-Nevada | -7.6380| -1.6| 74.6| 23.2
Bank of Montreal | -12.5800| -1.3| 83.4| 5.8
MT Newswires:
The Toronto Stock Exchange set its ninth record close of 2026 on Friday, buoyed by elevated commodity prices, while there was a rebound in Canadian retail sales for November, albeit not a quarterly turnaround, just as Rosenberg Research explained "why consumer staples look interesting again".
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 142.28 points, or 0.4%, at 33,144.98.
In comparison, the first record close for the index this year came on Jan. 5 at 32,219.95.
According to Dow Jones Market Data, FactSet going in to today the TSX is up 4.07% or 1,289.94 points since the start of the month.
Most sectors were higher, led by Base Metals, up near 3%, and then Info Tech, up 1.4%, and Energy, up 1.15%, while Health Care, down 2.75%, capped gains as Truist said the Ph3 results of the RED-C program announced earlier Friday by Bausch Health (BHC.TO, BHC) "could place more pressure" on the company’s options after Xifaxan loss of exclusivity by year end 2027. BHC lost 11% in Canada trade.
Of commodities, gold traded at another record high and approached the US$5,000 mark late afternoon Friday as momentum buying continues to push the precious metal higher and the dollar weakened. Gold for February delivery was up $67.80
o US$4.9981.30 per ounce, rising off Thursday’s record close. Silver also rose to a record, up $5.10 to US$101.47.
The price of gold is up 71% over the past year and 9.1% over the past month amid strong demand from central banks and exchange-traded funds while momentum buying from investors continues.
Also, West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose Friday as geopolitical tensions heightened again, this time on fresh threats to Iran from the United States.
WTI crude oil for March delivery closed up $1.71 to settle at US$61.07 per barrel, while March Brent oil was last seen up $1.80 to US$65.86.
BMO Capital Markets Chief Executive Douglas Porter in his regular ‘Talking Points’ note said "few have been better able to ignore the noise" than players on Canada’s equity market, with the TSX reaching yet new heights this week despite the "swirling storms" all around.
Of course, Porter added, the latest surge in metals prices provided support for materials, assisted by the spike in gas and a firming in crude oil to US$61/barrel.
"Even with a serious wobble on Tuesday, the TSX still managed a net gain on the week and is remarkably able to shrug off geopolitical events."
Porter noted the Canadian dollar also had a strong week, rising 1.5% to 72.8 cents (or $1.371/US$).
It benefitted both from a broad softening in the U.S. dollar, but also from the double-barreled strength in both gold and oil prices.
After all, he said, those two commodities are currently the number one and number two largest Canadian exports.
"True," Porter added, "the production and mining of gold may not be huge movers for the Canadian economy, but the metal is increasingly weighing into the currency’s future."
In economics, National Bank noted Canadian retail sales "staged a solid rebound" in November, reversing two consecutive monthly declines and coming in stronger than both consensus and advance estimates.
It noted the gain was broad based with eight of nine subsectors rising and core retail sales were up a "robust" 1.6%.
However, National said, the improvement in November "does not signal a decisive shift in trend", noting auto sales lagged the broader retail basket and regional gains were uneven.
More importantly, the bank added, real spending remains fragile: after having contracted at a 1.3% annualized pace in the third quarter, the final quarter of the year looks no better.
Indeed, the bank noted, Statistics Canada’s preliminary estimate points to a 0.5% nominal decline in December.
The bank said: "With goods prices essentially flat in the December CPI report, this implies a similar sized pullback in real terms.
As a result, real retail sales are tracking a roughly 1.4% annualized decline in Q4 based on this estimate.
As such, we expect goods consumption to detract from growth in the fourth quarter.
Rising debt service costs, population driven weakening demand, and still cautious consumer confidence continue to cap upside, leaving Canadian retail activity stuck in a holding pattern heading into early 2026."
With interesting timing, Mehmet Beceren at Rosenberg Research published a note entitled ‘Why Consumer Staples Look Interesting Again’ in which he said consumer staples "look primed for a contrarian over-performance thanks to cheap valuations and an improving margin outlook".
While the note is focused on related U.S. stocks, it should make for interesting reading for investors here that invest across North American markets.
Among highlights, Beceren said after three years of underperformance, consumer staples "look positioned for relative upside as defensive rotation re-emerges and expectations remain reset, with last year’s downgrade cycle starting to fade".
Beceren added: "sticky consumer prices alongside cooling producer/input costs point to potential margin expansion, supporting a firmer EPS revision trend."
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street ended a jittery week on a relatively quiet note, with stock traders digesting the rally of the past two days in the run-up to the Federal Reserve decision and the start of the big-tech earnings season.
While the S&P 500 posted its first back-to-back weekly losses since June, the gauge erased Friday’s drop amid solid consumer sentiment and gains in most mega caps. Nvidia Corp.
climbed 1.5% as China told tech firms they can prepare orders for H200 AI chips.
Intel Corp. sank 17% on a tepid outlook.
Small caps trailed the US equity benchmark after beating it for 14 days.
“Stocks are consolidating,” said Louis Navellier at Navellier & Associates.
“The laggards are catching up, and the winners are giving back a little.”
Action was fairly muted in bonds.
As inflationary pressures linger amid signs of stabilization in the labor market, the Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady Wednesday.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg project reductions only in June and September.
The dollar saw its worst week since May.
Markets around the globe were roiled this week by President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on some European countries over Greenland, before softening his rhetoric as NATO’s chief said a breakthrough was secured.
The European Union will suspend retaliatory levies on €93 billion ($109 billion) of US goods for another six months.
“This week’s market action is an important reminder for investors to not allow political headlines out of Washington to affect their portfolio, and to be opportunistic when stocks succumb to headline risk,” said Alexander Guiliano at Resonate Wealth Partners.
The S&P 500 hovered near 6,915.
A gauge of mega caps climbed 1%.
The Russell 2000 fell 1.8%.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries slipped one basis point to 4.23%.
The dollar lost 0.7%.
The yen jumped the most since August on speculation Japan could intervene to halt its slide.
Oil rallied as traders factored in the possibility of American military action in Iran and a massive winter storm in the US.
Gold hit all-time highs.
Silver topped $100.
Copper rallied above $13,000.
Despite operating in the shadow of political storm clouds in recent weeks, the US stock market is still relatively close to a record, noted Daniel Skelly, head of Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management Market Research & Strategy Team.
“If those clouds can part, positive sentiment about some of this year’s dominant themes—the benefits of continued AI adoption, along with deregulation and other market-friendly policy initiatives ahead of the mid-year elections—may get a chance to re-emerge,” he added.
US stocks suffered nearly $17 billion in outflows in the week ended Jan. 21, according to a Bank of America Corp. note, citing EPFR Global data.
After briefly erasing its January gain, the S&P 500 reclaimed its year-to-date advance ahead of high- stakes results from several tech giants.
“Many of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ names have actually underperformed the S&P 500 over the past 12 months, so these next few earnings reports can be an important catalyst,” said Guiliano at Resonate Wealth Partners.
There were doubters, all across Wall Street by some accounts, that Tuesday’s stock rout would be short-lived, a pullback not sharp enough to dissuade Trump from waging a trade war with Europe for control of Greenland.
Yet individual investors plowed $4 billion into US equities as the S&P 500 suffered its biggest drawdown in three months, according to data from JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Another $2.3 billion flowed in on Wednesday, just in time for Trump to unleash a rally by standing down from his tariff bluster.
“Investors remain conditioned to buy every dip — retail money rushed in during this week’s selloff, reinforcing a pattern that’s been in place since 2020,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide.
“That combination of broadening leadership and deeply ingrained buy-the-dip behavior continues to tilt the odds in favor of the bulls.”
Stress-driven selloffs are becoming increasingly short- lived, and the latest one was not echoed in other technical indicators such as credit spreads, the put/call ratio, or financial conditions, Hackett noted.
“Following the strong run to record highs, it is not unusual or unhealthy to see a period of consolidation,” he said.
Hackett also added that the pattern in seven of the past eight quarters is that equity markets rally into earnings season but are met with volatility and market sluggishness, despite better-than-expected results, as skepticism arises, investors are more reactive and companies are unable to buy back shares due to earnings blackout periods.
As the US earnings season gathers momentum, early results are offering a window into the economic and political crosscurrents shaping Corporate America’s outlook for the year ahead.
Stocks are trading at high valuations after the S&P 500 clocked in three straight years of double-digit growth, leaving little room for error.
Earnings resilience and stability in the rates market are crucial for stocks to shrug off geopolitical noise, according to Barclays Plc strategists led by Emmanuel Cau.
The slow start of the earnings season suggests geopolitics isn’t the only driver of stock volatility, according to RBC Capital Markets strategists led by Lori Calvasina.
They noted that analysts’ 2026 earnings growth forecast has fallen slightly while macro commentary remains cautiously optimistic on earnings calls.
Corporate Highlights:
* Apple Inc. accused the European Commission of using “political delay tactics” to postpone new app policies as a pretense to investigate and fine the iPhone maker.
* Meta Platforms Inc., the reigning leader in the growing smart glasses category, is being sued by another glass’s maker over patent infringement in a case that also targets the US entity of eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica SA and its Oakley subsidiary.
* Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr sees “legitimate competition concerns” in Netflix Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.’s studios and streaming businesses, concerns he doesn’t share if Paramount Skydance Corp. were to acquire those assets.
* SLB, the world’s largest oilfield-services provider, raised its dividend and posted fourth-quarter earnings that beat estimates as activity in the Middle East and other key regions accelerated and its data-center business rapidly expanded.
* DoorDash Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. lost a bid to block a New York City law requiring a tipping option be presented to customers at checkout from going into effect Monday.
* Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted Chief Executive Officer David Solomon’s pay to $47 million, capping a year in which the investment bank’s shares soared, and its leader reasserted his control at the top.
* Capital One Financial Corp. reported adjusted earnings per share that missed the average analyst estimate. The company also agreed to acquire Brex, a financial-technology company that focuses on corporate expense management and accounting, for
$5.15 billion.
* Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. has started selling vapes in some stores across the US, a surprise reversal after the drugstore chain stopped selling them more than six years ago amid concerns about their popularity with teens.
* Software maker Databricks Inc. has lined up $1.8 billion of new financing from broadly syndicated loan investors and private credit lenders.
* Affirm Holdings Inc. said it applied for a limited bank
charter to help roll out additional financial-technology products for the buy-now, pay-later company’s US customers.
* Short interest in Sandisk Corp. has been climbing for months alongside a sharp rally in the stock, pushing the risk of a short squeeze to an “extreme” level, according to S3 Partners LLC.
* The online arm of Saks Global Enterprises won court approval to hire a liquidator to sell its inventory separately from the rest of the luxury retailer.
* Deutsche Lufthansa AG faces the risk of having to block off almost the entire business-class section on its new Boeing Co. 787 aircraft for longer as seat certification drags out, an expensive setback at a time when more passengers are upgrading to the front of the cabin.
* Ericsson AB proposed its first-ever buyback after fourth- quarter earnings beat analysts’ forecasts, boosted by the Swedish telecommunications equipment maker’s efforts to cut costs and raise margins in a sluggish market.
* Thyssenkrupp AG is considering the sale of a roughly 30% stake in its Rothe Erde bearings business, people familiar with the matter said, in a deal that could value the asset at about €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion).
* Pirelli & C. SpA’s biggest Italian investor said it won’t renew a shareholder agreement governing the tiremaker with China’s Sinochem Group, citing an inability to adapt the company’s governance to US legal requirements.
* French authorities received a report of a second infant death, as a tainted formula crisis that’s engulfed Nestlé SA, Danone SA and Groupe Lactalis widen.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.3%
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 1%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 1.8%
* Intel fell 17%
* Nvidia rose 1.5%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.7%
* The euro rose 0.6% to $1.1825
* The British pound rose 1% to $1.3638
* The Japanese yen rose 1.6% to 155.80 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.4% to $89,506.48
* Ether was little changed at $2,944.2
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.23%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.91%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 4.51%
* The yield on 2-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 3.60%
* The yield on 30-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.83%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.2% to $61.27 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1% to $4,984.39 an ounce
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.
Be magnificent!
As ever,
You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength. – Marcus Aurelius, 121-180 CE.
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 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828