March 06th, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday!

Elizabeth Warren was “incredibly competent, pragmatic, intelligent and well-spoken — in other words, she never had a chance,” Seth Meyers said.-The New York Times.

1836 – Battle of the Alamo: After 13 days of fighting, over 1500 Mexican soldiers overwhelm the Texan defenders, killing up to 257 Texans including William Travis, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett.

1912 – Oreo sandwich cookies were first introduced by the National Biscuit Co., which later became Nabisco.  Go to article »

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A Sumatran owl is seen in Palembang City.
CREDIT: SIGIT PRASETYA/OPN IMAGES/BARCROFT MEDIA VIA GETTY IMAGES

The Royal Ballet Swan Lake Choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, Great Britain.
CREDIT: ELLIOTT FRANKS

Farmers create beautiful patterns as they harvest seagrass sedge in Vung Liem, a rural district in Vietnam.
CREDIT: TRUNG ANH/SOLENT NEWS

Nik and Erendira Wallenda perform over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua. Erendira hung by her teeth and Nik walked a high wire across the 1,800 foot walk, 1,800 feet above the 1,800 degree lava.
CREDIT: TIM BOYLES/ALAMY LIVE NEWS

Market Closes for March 6^th ,2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
The number one thing that has made us successful, by far, is obsessive, compulsive  focus on the customer as opposed to obsession over the competitor. -Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon b. 1964.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 2.3 percent, or 378.97 to 16,175.02 in Toronto. The index dropped to the lowest closing level since Aug. 26. Today, financials stocks led the market lower, as all sectors lost; 207 of 230 shares fell, while 22 rose. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 5.3 percent. Vermilion Energy Inc. had the largest drop, falling 18.5 percent.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater loss once
* So far this week, the index fell 0.5 percent
* This quarter, the index fell 5.2 percent, heading for the biggest decline since the fourth quarter of 2018
* The index advanced 0.5 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 6.3 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 10 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 1.8 percent above its low on March 8, 2019
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.1 on a trailing basis and 14.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.2 percent on a trailing 12- month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.53t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 18.54 percent compared with 17.44 percent in the previous session and the average of 10.15 percent over the past month

US
By Randall Jensen and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for a second straight day, but rallied into the close to pare steep losses. Treasury yields sank amid fears mounting that the government response to the spreading coronavirus won’t prevent an economic slump. The S&P 500 slid 1.7%, furiously trimming losses in the final hour of trading that reached as much as 4%, and ending slightly higher for the roller-coaster week. Indexes were whipsawed over the past five days as the spreading virus shook investor confidence and spurred action from central banks and governments. Treasuries fell to all-time lows, with the 10-year yield dropping as far as 0.66%. The dollar slid for the sixth time in seven days. West Texas crude plunged 10%, the biggest drop in more than five years. A derivatives index that investors use to hedge against losses rose the most since at least 2011. Investors have grown increasingly anxious that the Trump administration’s preference for forgoing fiscal stimulus in favor of pressuring the Federal Reserve into more action will fall short of propping up the economy as airlines cancel routes and events get delayed around the nation.
“As long as we’re seeing cases climb, it’s going to drive volatility in the market,” Shawn Cruz, manager of trader strategy at TD Ameritrade, said by phone.“What you’re seeing is almost a coordinated response to try to counteract that drop in sentiment, the fear of what the actual economic impact’s going to be.” While concerted efforts from central banks and governments to soften the blow from the virus spurred gains across equity markets earlier in the week, investors are back to taking risk off the table and piling into the world’s safest and most liquid assets. The number of coronavirus cases globally surpassed 100,000 as more infections were reported in the Europe and Iran. Markets mostly shrugged off the latest U.S. jobs report, which showed the biggest gain in nearly two years, because it only reflected conditions before the virus outbreak began snarling global supply chains and intensified across America.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index dropped 1.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1%.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.9%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 3.7%.
* Germany’s DAX Index fell 3.4%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
* The British pound increased 0.5% to $1.3015.
* The euro advanced 0.7% to $1.1312.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.8% to 105.37 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell 19 basis points to 0.72%.
* The yield on two-year Treasuries declined nine basis points to 0.50%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield decreased two basis points to -0.71%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 10.1% to $41.31 a barrel, the most since 2015.
* Brent crude settled down 9.4%, the most since December 2008
* Gold rose 0.1% to $1,670.30 an ounce.

–With assistance from Jonathan Ferro, Adam Haigh and Constantine Courcoulas.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.
                                                -Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900

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