January 25, 2023 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Burns Night, Scotland, England, Newfoundland.  The poet, Robert Burns, was born January 25, 1759.

O my Luve is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve!
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my luve,
Though it were ten thousand mile.
-Robert Burns.

On Jan. 25, 1915, the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, inaugurated U.S. transcontinental telephone service.  Go to article » 
1924: the Winter Olympics opens in Chamonix, in the French Alps, inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games.
1984: McIntosh computer debuts.

Virginia Woolf, writer, b. 1882.
W. Somerset Maugham, writer, b. 1874.

The Doomsday Clock reveals how close we are to total annihilation.  This clock attempts to gauge how close humanity is to destroying the world. Yes, it sounds very grim… but it’s actually helping to encourage public engagement in difficult scientific topics.

Doomsday clock advances to 90 seconds to midnight – the closest to apocalypse it’s ever been: The Doomsday Clock, created 76 years ago by atomic scientists to warn against a human-made apocalypse, has moved to 90 seconds to midnight.  Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the climate crisis, and biological threats such as the unchecked spread of COVID-19 were the leading reasons given by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) for setting the hands of the clock closer to human extinction than they have ever been before.  Full Story: Live Science (1/24)

South Korea’s lunar orbiter unveils jaw-dropping images of Earth and the moon:  After orbiting the moon for just over a month, the Korean Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) is now sending back breathtaking images of Earth’s rocky neighbor — and our planet too.  The images, which were posted to the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) website, show a variety of lunar landscapes, including two jaw-dropping black-and-white images of an enormous Earth rising over the moon’s crater-studded horizon, and a time-lapse image of the moon’s orbit around Earth taken over several hours. Full Story: Live Science (1/24)

The James Webb Telescope detected the coldest ice in the known universe – and it contains the building blocks of life:  Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have observed and measured the coldest ice in the deepest reaches of an interstellar molecular cloud to date.  The frozen molecules measured minus 440 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 263 degrees Celsius), according to new research published Jan. 23 in the journal Nature Astronomy.  Full Story: Live Science (1/24)

‘Replica’ sword is really 3,000 years old and may have been used in battle:  A “replica” sword that has been part of the collection at the Field Museum in Chicago for nearly a century is actually a 3,000-year-old artifact from the Bronze Age.  Curators made the shocking discovery while preparing for an upcoming exhibition called “First Kings of Europe.”  Full Story: Live Science (1/24)

Lake Michigan is home to a second Stonehenge.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

​​​​​​​Somerset, UK
A robin looks at the camera as it perches on a car wing mirror
Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA Media

‘There really is nothing like this’: East Anglia’s fen skaters – in pictures
Harry Hall: ‘During the winter of 2022, I began reading about fen-skating, which dates back to the medieval period when farmers would skate on sharpened old animal bones. After subscribing to weather alerts for obscure corners of East Anglia, I made many trips to fen-skating “hotspots” – only to find thin or melted ice, rain, flooded roads, no sign of the wonky telegraph pole (meeting point), no skaters and darkness’

Paris, France
On Aura Tout Vu, founded by the design duo Livia Stoianova and Yassen Samouilov, presents its Haute Couture Spring Summer 2023 show, at Paris fashion week
Photograph: Victor Boyko/Getty Images
Market Closes for January 25^th, 2023

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1853, basic financial disclosure became mandatory for all companies seeking to list their stock for trading on the New York Stock & Exchange Board.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.1%, or 29.95 to 20,599.60 in Toronto.
Today, industrials stocks led the market lower, as 5 of 11 sectors lost; 116 of 236 shares fell, while 116 rose.
Canadian National Railway Co. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 4.7%.
Advantage Energy Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 5.3%.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 6.3%
* The index was little changed in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI ACcAmericas Index lost 8.2% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 7.3% below its 52-week high on April 5, 2022 and 15.3% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.1% in the past 5 days and rose 5.6% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.6 on a trailing basis
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.1% on a trailing 12-month  basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.28t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 12.87% compared with 12.87% in the previous session and the average of 13.13% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Industrials | -59.4226| -2.2| 9/17
Energy | -41.5910| -1.1| 14/25
Utilities | -4.4542| -0.5| 2/14
Real Estate | -0.3873| -0.1| 5/17
Consumer Staples | -0.3275| 0.0| 6/5
Health Care | 0.0100| 0.0| 3/3
Consumer Discretionary | 0.2587| 0.0| 10/5
Communication Services | 1.8676| 0.2| 4/2
Financials | 4.2453| 0.1| 19/9
Materials | 27.2426| 1.1| 40/9
Information Technology | 42.6181| 3.4| 4/10
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian National | -32.5100| -4.7| 212.2| -1.7
Canadian Pacific | -25.5600| -3.7| 81.4| 2.0
Enbridge | -19.1500| -2.5| 69.6| 2.4
Bank of Nova Scotia| 5.6750| 1.0| -23.5| 5.7
Barrick Gold | 6.4650| 2.0| -29.9| 14.1
Shopify | 51.3500| 11.0| 110.6| 34.7
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street shook off most of the losses driven by a dire sales warning from Microsoft Corp., with stock traders shifting their focus to Tesla Inc.’s earnings report after the closing bell.
The S&P 500 almost erased a slide that approached 2% earlier in the session.
In late trading, Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle giant whipsawed after beating estimates on profit and sales, but missing on cash flow.
“The push-and-pull of bulls and bears continues, with technology earnings the latest data point to energize the bears, though the positive momentum, continued heavy skepticism of the rally and the attractiveness of several areas of the markets could break equities out to the upside,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide.
The S&P 500 is headed for the best January since 2019 driven by expectations that the Federal Reserve will moderate its rate hikes.
The equity rebound came just as the economy is headed for a downturn — setting the stage for a selloff, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Marko Kolanovic told CNBC.
Investors should use any rallies to reduce exposure to the equity market, according to Richard Saperstein at Treasury Partners.
Slower economic growth caused by the Fed’s tightening and its impact on corporate earnings will likely be priced into stocks over the next several months, he added.
“We have not been impressed with the quality of earnings in recent weeks. Looking forward, margins remain at risk as inflation softens and economic growth slows,” Saperstein noted.
In other corporate news, AT&T Inc. rallied after beating analysts’ profit estimates even as the company’s 2023 outlook came up short of Wall Street targets.
Boeing Co. reported a surprise loss to end 2022 — its sixth straight money-losing quarter — as higher costs slowed the plane maker’s recovery even though a late flurry of jet deliveries drove a surge in cash.
The New York Stock Exchange said a manual error caused wild price swings and trading halts for hundreds of company stocks when the market opened on Tuesday.
The root cause of the issue, which the exchange operator says has been resolved, was tied to the company’s so-called “disaster recovery configuration” at the start of the day.
Over 1,300 trades and some 84 stocks were impacted and marked as “aberrant,” NYSE said in an updated statement on its website.
Elsewhere, the loonie fell as the Bank of Canada raised rates for an eighth consecutive and potentially final time — saying it expects to move to the sidelines and weigh the impact of its rapid tightening.
Traders also kept an eye on the latest geopolitical developments.
The US will send Ukraine 31 of its M1 Abrams battle tanks, adding to a German commitment to supply some of its top-line armor and infusing the country with a major new capability as it looks to pry Russian forces from the east.
Key events:
* Earnings for the week include: American Airlines, Blackstone, Comcast, Diageo, Intel, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Mastercard, SAP, Southwest Airlines, Visa (Thursday); American Express, Charter Communications, Chevron, HCA Healthcare (Friday)
* US fourth-quarter GDP, new home sales, initial jobless claims, Thursday
* US personal income/spending, PCE deflator, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, pending home sales, Friday
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 fell 0.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World index was little changed
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.0913
* The British pound rose 0.5% to $1.2396
* The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 129.60 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 0.1% to $22,928.84
* Ether fell 1.3% to $1,578.92
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.45%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.16%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 3.24%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5% to $80.56 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.6% to $1,963.50 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Peyton Forte, John McCorry, Vildana Hajric and Isabelle Lee.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

It is a mistake to look too far ahead.  Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time. –Winston Churchill, 1874-1965.

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