March 10, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1862 – Paper money issued in the U.S.
1876 – Telephone invented.

On March 10, 1985, Konstantin U. Chernenko, Soviet leader for just 13 months, died at age 73. His death was announced on March 11th. Politburo member
Mikhail S. Gorbachev was chosen to succeed him.  Go to article »

This year’s Oscar nominations, out Monday, should be the most diverse lineup in ages.
While the best picture list remains a little wobbly, “Nomadland” director Chloé Zhao is likely to be the first woman of color nominated for best director. Chadwick Boseman, above center in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” may earn two posthumous nominations, and more broadly, people of color could claim nearly half of this year’s acting nominations.
Here are our columnist’s predictions.
While the U.S. film industry slowly chugs along, Hollywood has temporarily relocated to Australia. Dozens of international film productions have been lured to the country, where cases of the coronavirus are few. In turn, actors have found something resembling paradise. –The New York Times.

Is a document long dismissed as a forgery actually the oldest known biblical manuscript?  In 1883, 15 manuscript fragments found near the Dead Sea, pictured in a drawing above, caused an international sensation. Written in ancient Hebrew script, they were said to be an alternate version of the Book of Deuteronomy. But they were quickly denounced as fakes, and the fragments subsequently vanished.
Now, a young scholar is arguing that the manuscript was not only authentic but predated Deuteronomy, back to the period of the First Temple. That would make it one of the most consequential Bible-related discoveries ever.  In more modern artifacts, a collector is parting with three treasures of his stamp collection, including the world’s most valuable single stamp. The collection, to be auctioned by Sotheby’s, could sell for as much as $37 million.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
World Champion Pipe Major Cameron Edgar, who has been playing the Bag Pipes for over 50 years, performs at the War Horse Memorial in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, to commemorate World Bagpipe Day
CREDIT: CHARLOTTE GRAHAM FOR THE TELEGRAPH
A glowing river of lava gushes from the slopes of Mt Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano, near Zafferana Etnea, Sicily
CREDIT: SALVATORE ALLEGREA/AP
A magnifying glass is held in front of a medieval bone handle carving of a woman dressed in a gown and headdress, dating to the 14th Century, one of thousands of artefacts in the care of York Museums Trust that are being photographed and put online for the public to view, while the museum in York remains closed during lockdown
CREDIT: DANNY LAWSON/PA
Market Closes for March 10^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1999, Nasdaq introduced the Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking Stock, a unit investment trust that functions like a mutual fund but trades like a stock. The units, trading under the symbol QQQ, hold shares in each of the stocks in the technology-heavy Nasdaq-100 index. The shares closed the first trading day at $51.062. Exactly a year later, they’d gained 124.2%, closing at $114.50—but one year after that, all their gains had evaporated and they traded at $45.10. Today they are valued at $312.39/sh.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian equities rose Wednesday after a rotation to value stocks continued, with tech lagging. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.5%, with eight of eleven sectors rising. Energy and consumer staples led the charge. Oil closed higher after traders assessed a U.S. government report showing the largest two-week decline in gasoline supplies on record, while signs emerged of demand picking up. Canada’s housing market is in a “huge bubble” after months of runaway price gains, according to economist David Rosenberg, who was bearish on U.S. real estate before it crashed nearly 15 years ago.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at an $11.00 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold rose 0.5% to $1,724.70 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.2% to C$1.2616 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield fell 3.8 basis points to 1.408%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the fourth day, climbing 0.5 percent, or 90.81 to 18,690.00 in Toronto. Royal Bank of Canada contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.4 percent. Vermilion Energy Inc. had the largest increase, rising 15.1 percent. Today, 139 of 219 shares rose, while 80 fell; 9 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 7.2 percent
* The index advanced 25 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI
AC Americas Index gained 37 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.4 percent below its 52-week high on
March 10, 2021 and 67.3 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2 percent in the past 5 days and rose 1.3 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
27.8 on a trailing basis and 16.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.88t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 14.46 percent compared with
15.93 percent in the previous session and the average of 14.42 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 55.5009| 2.4| 21/1
Financials | 51.3039| 0.9| 18/8
Industrials | 13.9898| 0.6| 17/12
Materials | 9.4230| 0.4| 27/23
Consumer Staples | 9.3978| 1.4| 11/0
Consumer Discretionary | 3.7127| 0.5| 5/8
Utilities | 2.8585| 0.3| 13/3
Communication Services | 1.8725| 0.2| 5/2
Real Estate | 0.0218| 0.0| 17/9
Health Care | -7.0473| -2.5| 3/6
Information Technology | -50.2318| -2.7| 2/8
US
By Andreea Papuc and Emily Barrett
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities advanced as the rotation into value stocks resumed following a weak inflation report. Treasury yields turned lower after a 10-year note auction. The dollar weakened. The S&P 500 notched its best two-day advance since early February, led by financial firms and producers of raw materials. A lower-than-expected inflation reading eased concern that prices will spike higher if growth picks up as many economists now predict. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to a record, closing above 32,000 for the first time.
Tech shares whose valuations look stretched in an era of higher yields slipped after Tuesday’s rebound from weeks of selling. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell toward 1.50%, with bonds rising after a government auction. The dollar retreated. The threat of higher prices as the economy revs and the Biden administration signs a $1.9 trillion spending package drove the rotation from growth stocks that led all of 2020 and into companies with businesses more closely tied to the economic cycle. The dollar weakened versus major peers, sending the euro and pound higher. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced. Crude topped $64 a barrel in New York, while gold futures edged higher. Bitcoin briefly topped $57,000. The rising trend in bond yields is consistent with economic growth expectations, said Lauren Goodwin, portfolio strategist at New York Life Investments. That backdrop still favors cyclicals over defensive assets and “supports equities over bonds, and a weaker U.S. dollar,” she said.

Here are some key events to watch:
* The U.S. government auctions 30-year Treasuries Thursday.
* The European Central Bank holds its monetary policy meeting
and President Christine Lagarde is set to do a briefing Thursday.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.3%
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.4%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.4%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index rose 0.8%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slumped 0.3%.
* The euro was little rose 0.2% to $1.1925.
* The British pound added 0.3% to $1.3931.
* The onshore yuan was little changed at 6.508 per dollar.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 108.40 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 1.52%.
* The yield on two-year Treasuries dropped one basis point to 0.15%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.31%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.714%.
* Japan’s 10-year yield climbed less than one basis point to 0.128%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 1.2% to $64.78 a barrel.
* Brent crude increased 1% to $68.22 a barrel.
* Gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,723.50 an ounce.

–With assistance from Ye Xie.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious.  -Marcus Aurelius, 121 AD-180 AD.

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