March 16, 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
2003: Vice President Dick Cheney predicted on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that American troops would be “greeted as liberators” by the Iraqi people.  Go to article »
2023: Declassified US intelligence report says Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized efforts to aid re-election of  Donald Trump.  The declassified report represented the  most comprehensive intelligence assessment of foreign efforts to influence the 2020 vote.
James Madison, 4^th President, b. 1751.

Starbucks is planning to phase out its iconic cups.  Enjoy the holiday-themed cups while they last! The coffee chain is aiming to eliminate all disposable cups by 2025.

High fashion meets functional footwear.  Manolo Blahnik and Birkenstock. This is a collab we weren’t expecting — but gladly welcome. Take a look at the new collection

Superyachts have been detained in Spain and denied fuel in Norway.

A Stone Age woman who lived 4,000 years ago is leaning on her walking stick and looking ahead as a spirited young boy bursts into a run, in a stunning life-size reconstruction now on display in Sweden.
Although her likeness is new — it debuted last month in an exhibit about ancient people at Västernorrlands Museum — researchers have known about this woman’s existence for nearly a century. During the construction of a road in the hamlet of Lagmansören in 1923, workers found her skeletal remains buried next to the remains of a child, likely a 7-year-old boy. Full Story: Live Science (3/16) 

Why have we stopped making geniuses?
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Woman wear traditional dresses during the annual Las Falles commemoration of Saint Joseph
CREDIT: Biel Aliño/EPA

The sky above Plaza Nueva is tinged orange as sand and dust blows across the Mediterranean Sea from the Sahara
CREDIT: Carlos Gil Andreu/Getty Images

Children attend the preview of Van Gogh Alive, an immersive, multi-sensory art experience in Festival Square
CREDIT: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Market Closes for March 16^th, 2022

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1999, the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 10,000 for the first time. The index has come a long way since then—closing at 33544.34 Tuesday.
Canada
By Geoffrey Morgan
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose the most since Feb. 25, amid a broad rally in all sectors except for energy and materials.
The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 1.3%, or 280.99 to 21,468.83 in Toronto.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain and had the largest percentage move, increasing 12% and adding $10 billion in market value.
Information technology stocks were the best performing group in the Index as 9 of 11 sectors gained; 184 of 238 shares rose, while 50 fell.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain six times. The next day, it advanced four times for an average 0.5% and declined twice for an average 0.5%
* This quarter, the index rose 1.2%
* The index advanced 14% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 8.1% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.5% below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 16.3% above its low on March 25, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 0.4% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.2 on a trailing basis and 13.9 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.6% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.37t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 13.22% compared with 12.61% in the previous session and the average of 13.58% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Financials | 105.7783| 1.5| 26/2
* Information Technology | 97.8831| 7.4| 16/0
* Industrials | 47.3352| 1.9| 27/3
* Consumer Staples | 19.6897| 2.5| 9/2
* Consumer Discretionary | 19.2210| 2.8| 14/0
* Real Estate | 12.6003| 2.1| 22/1
* Health Care | 6.0275| 4.6| 8/0
* Communication Services | 2.5645| 0.2| 5/2
* Utilities | 0.3861| 0.0| 8/7
* Energy | -7.5436| -0.2| 22/10
* Materials | -22.3850| -0.8| 27/23
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 64.1800| 11.6| 15.5| -54.7
* Brookfield Asset
* Management | 18.2600| 2.7| 15.6| -9.4
* Couche-Tard | 16.8100| 6.1| 35.6| -4.1
* Enbridge | -5.7080| -0.7| 3.6| 13.0
* TC Energy | -8.5470| -1.8| -26.2| 15.7
* Nutrien | -20.9200| -4.3| 28.0| 25.3
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks rallied after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell struck a more positive tone on the prospects for economic growth as the central bank raised interest rates for the first time since 2018. Bonds retreated.
After briefly dropping, the S&P 500 rebounded as Powell said the “economy is very strong” to handle tighter policy while adding that the probability of a recession is “not particularly elevated.”
Treasury yields rose, led by rates at the front end of the curve.
Swaps linked to Fed policy announcement dates at one stage indicated at least 75 basis points of hikes would take place over the coming two meetings, suggesting one of the anticipated moves from the central bank might be bigger than the standard size of 25 basis points.
The Fed raised rates by a quarter percentage point Wednesday and signaled hikes at all six remaining meetings this year, launching a campaign to tackle the fastest inflation in four decades even as risks to economic growth mount.
The central bank said it would begin allowing its $8.9 trillion balance sheet to shrink at a “coming meeting” without elaborating.
Powell said officials had made good progress this week in nailing down their plans and could be in a position to begin the process at their May meeting.
“The Fed finally made it official — no surprises there,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley. “That said, the Fed raising rates means a vote of confidence that the economy is in shape enough to weather tighter policies.”
For Guggenheim Partners Chief Investment Officer Scott Minerd, the Fed is in an “inflation panic” as it begins to tighten monetary policy in response to inflation.
The central bank has paid too much attention to financial markets at the expense of its job to control money supply and manage its balance sheet, he said during an interview on Bloomberg Television.
“The Fed has largely abandoned monetary orthodoxy,” he added. “It’s trying to be too cute in how it’s managing this.”
Traders also monitored the latest geopolitical developments.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy delivered an emotional address to the U.S. Congress while President Joe Biden offered hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of new weaponry and called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal.”
After talks between Russia and Ukraine, a Kremlin spokesman said that a neutral Ukraine with its own army could be a possible compromise in the current crisis, while Kyiv said it needed firm security guarantees in any outcome.
Here are some key events to watch this week:
* Bank of England rate decision, Thursday
* ECB President Christine Lagarde, Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel, Governing Council member Ignazio Visco and Chief Economist Philip Lane speak at a conference, Thursday
* Bank of Japan rate decision, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 2.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 3.7%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.5%
* The MSCI World index rose 2.9%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.7%
* The euro rose 0.8% to $1.1046
* The British pound rose 0.9% to $1.3154
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 118.60 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 2.17%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced six basis points to 0.39%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 1.63%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.6% to $94.86 a barrel
* Gold futures were little changed
–With assistance from Emily Barrett, Sunil Jagtiani, Robert Brand, Vildana Hajric, Emily Graffeo, Jennifer Bissell-Linsk and Isabelle Lee.

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. –Booker T. Washington, 1856-1915

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