March 17, 2022 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, dies this day in 461, according to legend, and now his feast day is celebrated widely in Ireland and around the world.
From around 1700, between nine and ten million Irish-born people emigrated as a result of The Great Famine in the 1840s – a result of the potato disease that killed the crop most Irish depended on to survive with many going to Britain and the USA.  Today, mor Irish people live outside of Ireland than in Ireland.

You’ve got to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was. –Irish Proverb.

On March 17, 1942, Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia to become supreme commander of Allied forces in the southwest Pacific theater during World War II. Go to article »
Rudolph Nureyev, dancer, b. 1938.
Nat “King” Cole, b. 1919

Be good to your mentors.

The Eiffel Tower is now 20 feet taller.  France’s iconic landmark has grown with the addition of a new antenna. 

Here’s who is presenting at the Oscars so far:  We’re ready for all the red carpet action! Lady Gaga was recently added to the list of A-list celebrities presenting at the March 27 ceremony.

Saharan dust turns skies orange over Europe.  A ski resort looks like a desert after being transformed by a thick plume of dust. Check out these stunning images.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY.

A staff member carries beer as people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at McSorely’s Old Ale House in New York City, March 17^th.
CREDIT: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Britain’s Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, visit the Irish Cultural Centre to celebrate the centre’s 25th anniversary in the run-up to St. Patrick’s Day, in London, March 15.
CREDIT: Arthur Edwards/Pool

Finnian Tully, 5, New Jersey with his mom Mairead Tully, take part in the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade on 5th Avenue in New York City, March 17.
CREDIT: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Market Closes for March 17^th, 2022

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1821, on one of the quietest days in Wall Street history, the market was open, but not a single share of stock changed hands. Only three days earlier, trading volume was also zero.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 1.4%, or 302.39 to 21,771.22 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 1.7% on Feb. 25.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 5.0%.
Lightspeed Commerce Inc. had the largest increase, rising 15.9%.
Today, 212 of 238 shares rose, while 24 fell; all sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
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 2.6%
* So far this week, the index rose 1.4%, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended Feb. 4
* The index advanced 15% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 9.3% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.1% below its 52-week high on Nov. 16, 2021 and 17.9% above its low on March 25, 2021
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.9% in the past 5 days and rose 2.8% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.4 on a trailing basis and 14.1 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$3.41t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 13.23% compared with 13.22% in the previous session and the average of 13.57% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
* Energy | 88.8514| 2.6| 32/0
* Materials | 71.8219| 2.5| 49/4
* Information Technology | 46.2089| 3.3| 13/3
* Financials | 42.4128| 0.6| 21/6
* Industrials | 16.1454| 0.6| 29/1
* Consumer Staples | 14.6811| 1.8| 9/2
* Utilities | 8.9238| 0.9| 15/0
* Real Estate | 7.1605| 1.2| 22/1
* Consumer Discretionary | 3.1081| 0.4| 10/4
* Health Care | 2.7456| 2.0| 8/0
* Communication Services | 0.3145| 0.0| 4/3
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
* Shopify | 30.6800| 5.0| -15.4| -52.4
* Nutrien | 19.2300| 4.1| 4.0| 30.4
* Suncor Energy | 13.6000| 3.6| -59.3| 24.3
* Telus | -0.7480| -0.2| -32.9| 9.4
* Descartes Systems | -1.0590| -1.9| 11.0| -9.3
* Canadian National | -1.3370| -0.2| -31.3| 3.8
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed in a volatile session, while the dollar fell and Treasuries wavered a day after a bond-market indicator flashed concern the economy could buckle under the weight of the
Federal Reserve’s most aggressive rate-hike campaign in two decades.
Oil topped $100 a barrel.
The S&P 500 notched its biggest three-day rally since November 2020.
Equities rebounded after Bloomberg News reported JPMorgan Chase & Co. processed funds that were earmarked for  interest payments due on dollar bonds issued by Russia and sent the money on to Citigroup Inc.
The implied probability of a default by Russia within the year inched lower, according to credit-default swap pricing.
Earlier in the day, stocks dropped as Moscow poured cold water on reports of progress in Ukraine peace talks.
Russia’s ability to make payments on its debt is being closely watched by global markets.
There’s been concern about the possibility of creditors not getting the cash in dollars within the 30-day grace period starting Thursday, which would mark the first default on foreign-currency bonds since the
Bolsheviks repudiated the czar’s debts in 1918.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the nation has all the resources it needs to avoid a default.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to end regular trade relations with Russia in a move that would allow the U.S. to sharply raise tariffs on Russian goods entering the country.
President Joe Biden and China’s leader Xi Jinping will speak about Russia on Friday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Thursday that Biden will make clear to Xi that the U.S. will impose “costs” if China backs Russia.
“Sentiment continues to be driven almost entirely by geopolitics, with the market quick to forget or ignore  everything else,” wrote Fawad Razaqzada, an analyst at ThinkMarkets. “As we saw yesterday, the markets have been eager to rally on any positive news… but then sells off as investors realize that the two sides remain far apart in terms of a ceasefire and end of the war.”
For Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Leuthold Group, the rally in stocks may be related to technical factors and also the fact that the Fed met market expectations by starting its rate-hiking cycle on Wednesday.
“It was clearly like a sell-on-the-rumor, buy-on-the-news,” Paulsen said. “The fact the Fed came out and finally said, ‘we’ve lifted rates’ is like a buy-signal after six months of waiting for it. So there’s some sense of relief that the Fed’s in the game and we don’t, in some sense, have to worry so much about that issue.”
If history is any guide, stock investors shouldn’t be too concerned about the Fed’s decision to tighten policy.
Between June 2004 and June 2006, officials raised rates 17 times, with the S&P 500 posting gains of about 12% in the span.
The 2015-2018 monetary tightening period was even more positive for risk assets as the index surged about 21%.
Still, Bridgewater Associates’ Karen Karniol-Tambour says markets are betting on a “magical scenario” where economic expansion continues even as the Fed raises rates to combat inflation.
“If you look at history, that looks pretty unlikely,” the firm’s co-chief investment officer for sustainability said in a Bloomberg Television interview.
Mortgage rates in the U.S. soared, surpassing 4% for the first time in almost three years.
Production at U.S. factories rose in February by the most in four months, indicating firmer momentum in a manufacturing sector still challenged by supply constraints and higher costs.
New home construction rebounded to the strongest pace since 2006, suggesting builders had greater success navigating material and labor constraints in the month.
Elsewhere, the Bank of England raised its key interest rate for the third successive policy meeting, taking borrowing costs back to their pre-pandemic level and warning the war in Ukraine may push inflation well above 8% later this year.
Officials led by Governor Andrew Bailey tempered the outlook by saying that a further tightening of policy “might be” appropriate in the coming months — a softening from the wording in February, when
they said such a move was “likely.”

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2%
* The MSCI World index rose 1.8%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%
* The euro rose 0.6% to $1.1097
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3153
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 118.66 per dollar
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 2.20%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.38%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined six basis points to 1.56%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 8.7% to $103.35 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 1.4% to $1,936.70 an ounce
–With assistance from Sunil Jagtiani, Andreea Papuc, Robert Brand, Michael Msika, Vildana Hajric and Isabelle Lee.

Have a lovely  evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. -George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950.

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