March 17, 2025, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Monday.  Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 💚☘☘☘💚

A St. Patrick’s Day tradition
Every St. Patrick’s Day, Chicago dyes the city’s river a vibrant green, a tradition since 1962.  Check it out.

IRISH BLESSING
When times are hard
May your heart never
Turn to stone.
When shadows
Fall on you – remember:
You never walk alone.

A man in Cork, Ireland, walks into a bar and asks the barman:
“What’s the quickest way to get to Dublin?”  The barman replies:
“Are you walking or driving?”
“Driving.” The barman says:
“That’s the quickest way.”

An Irishman’s Philosophy
There are only two things to worry about.
Either you are well or you are sick.
If you are well,
then there is nothing to worry about.
But if you are sick,
there are two things to worry about.
Either you will get well or you will die.
If you get well, there is nothing to worry about.
If you die,
there are only two things to worry about.
Either you will go to heaven or hell.
If you go to heaven there is nothing to worry about.
But if you go to hell,
you’ll be so damn busy shaking hands with friends
you won’t have time to worry!

March 17, 1755: Transylvania Land Co. buys Kentucky from a Cherokee Chief for $50,000.
March 17, 1845: Stephen Parry patents the first rubber band, providing a simple and effective solution for holding items together.
March 17, 2003: Edging to the brink of war, President George W. Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave his country. Iraq rejected the ultimatum.  Go to article

Nat King /Cole, musician, b.1919.
Rudolph Nureyev, dancer, b.1938.

Refuge from the worst mass extinction in Earth’s history discovered fossilized in China
The End-Permian mass extinction killed an estimated 80% of life on Earth, but new research suggests that plants might have done okay. Read More.

Ocean’s ‘heart’ is slowing down — and it will affect the entire planet’s circulation
Melting ice could weaken Earth’s strongest ocean current 20% by 2050, study reveals. Read More.

James Webb telescope spots ‘rogue’ planet with a cake-like atmosphere barrelling through space without a star
The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted a “rogue” cosmic object barrelling through our galaxy without a star, and covered in clouds of iron and magnesium minerals. Read More.

Could the universe ever stop expanding? New theory proposes a cosmic ‘off switch’
Dark energy, the mysterious phenomenon that powers the expansion of the universe, may undergo periodic “violent transitions” that reverse the growth of the cosmos, a new pre-print study hints. Read More.

Google’s AI ‘co-scientist’ cracked 10-year superbug problem in just 2 days
Scientists took 10 years to figure out how one type of superbug gains its ability to infect diverse bacterial species. When prompted, Google’s new AI “co-scientist” gave them the answer in two days. Read More.

Irish names you’re probably mispronouncing
If you hesitated to tell your friends about how much you loved Cillian Murphy “Oppenheimer” because you don’t know how to say his first name, you need to read this.

Awake at night but tired in the morning? Here’s what could help
Feeling tired at the “wrong” time is a common complaint that patients share with their sleep doctors, says neurologist Dr. Sonja Schütz.  She and other sleep experts share their tips for quality sleep at night.

Michael Fassbender on how he likely blew his James Bond audition
During a conversation with the movie’s producer, the Irish actor said he mentioned Daniel Craig’s name. Craig later became the face of the Bond franchise for five films.

Mysterious radio pulses from the Milky Way
The blasts last between 30 and 90 seconds and seem to come from the direction of the Big Dipper. Now, astronomers have zeroed in on their surprising origin.

Human remains on display
It can be quite a shock to see a mummified body in a museum. One group wants to end those displays in the UK, pointing to the colonial origins of the practice

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

San Marino, US
A hummingbird seeks nectar on blooming cherry blossoms at the Huntington Library and Gardens in California
Photograph: Bruce Chambers/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

Bangkok, Thailand
A worker harvests sea salt
Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters

Najaf, Iraq
Shia Muslims break their fast at the Imam Ali shrine during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan
Photograph: Anmar Khalil/AP
Market Closes for March 17^th, 2025

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was. –Irish Proverb.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.9%, or 231.71 to 24,785.11 in Toronto.
The index advanced to the highest closing level since March 5.
Brookfield Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.2%.
TerraVest Industries Inc. had the largest increase, rising 20.5%.
Today, 183 of 220 shares rose, while 35 fell; all sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index was little changed
* The index advanced 13% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 10% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 4.2% below its 52-week high on Jan. 30, 2025 and 15.5% above its low on June 17, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.7% in the past 5 days and fell 2.7% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.5 on a trailing basis and 15.1 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.9% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.95t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 14.79% compared with 14.80% in the previous session and the average of 12.71% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 84.4953| 1.1| 25/0
Materials | 58.0936| 1.7| 43/6
Energy | 46.7615| 1.1| 38/5
Information Technology | 13.6555| 0.6| 4/5
Industrials | 10.5818| 0.3| 20/8
Real Estate | 5.8665| 1.2| 20/0
Consumer Discretionary | 5.2245| 0.6| 10/1
Utilities | 4.9513| 0.5| 10/4
Consumer Staples | 0.9483| 0.1| 7/3
Communication Services | 0.8415| 0.1| 3/2
Health Care | 0.2847| 0.4| 3/1
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Brookfield Corp | 15.9900| 2.2| -16.4| -10.4
Shopify | 14.3700| 1.2| -17.7| -9.8
RBC | 10.2200| 0.6| 8.2| -7.1
Lundin Gold | -0.9310| -3.1| -6.0| 40.0
Loblaw | -1.7360| -0.9| -27.2| -1.8
Canadian Pacific Kansas | -3.5990| -0.5| -34.3| 3.3
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — US stocks climbed for a second day, extending the recovery from a sharp drop that reached 10% last week, as industrial and energy shares rallied on economic data that while missing forecasts was able to quell concern about an imminent recession.
More than 90% of the companies in the S&P 500 rose, overshadowing a slide in most mega caps.
An equal-weighted version of the benchmark — one that gives Target Corp. as much clout as Apple Inc. — climbed 1.3%.
While the latest economic data did little to alter traders’ bets on the Federal Reserve outlook, mixed retail sales brought some relief that consumer spending is not collapsing.
As the chatter around tariffs subsided, equities continued to push away from technically oversold levels.
“Corrections that occur within a bull market, tend to be good buying opportunities,” said David Lefkowitz at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“The spike in policy uncertainty hit the market at a time when investor positioning and sentiment were quite elevated. But we think a lot of this has now been cleaned up.”
To Michael Wilson at Morgan Stanley, sentiment/positioning gauges have lightened up considerably and seasonality is set to improve in the second half of March.
That could provide support for a short-term rally led by the lower-quality, higher-beta stocks that have sold off the most.
“The more important question is whether such a rally is likely to extend into something more durable and mark the end of the volatility we’ve seen year to date,” said Wilson.
“The short answer is, probably not.”
The S&P 500 climbed 0.6%.
The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.5%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.9%.
A gauge of the Magnificent Seven mega caps fell 1.1%.
The Russell 2000 gained 1.2%.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.30%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%.
US retail sales rose by less than forecast in February and the prior month was revised lower However, the so-called control-group sales — which feed into the government’s calculation of goods spending for gross domestic product — increased 1% last month, reversing the previous drop.
“This morning’s February retail sales report offers evidence of a limited, modest economic slowdown, rather than signaling a gathering recession,” said Jennifer Timmerman at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
A sense of wait-and-see may emerge from policymakers this week, in their first assessment of how Trump’s trade policies are impacting the economy. With Fed officials expected to hold rates steady on Wednesday, the market will focus on officials’ updated economic projections and Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference for clues on the path ahead.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, said he’s not worried about the recent downturn in equities as the US seeks to reshape its economic policies.
“I’ve been in the investment business for 35 years, and I can tell you that corrections are healthy, they are normal,” Bessent said Sunday on NBC’s Meet The Press.
“I‘m not worried about the markets. Over the long term, if we put good tax policy in place, deregulation and energy security, the markets will do great.”

Key events this week:
* Germany ZEW survey expectations, Tuesday
* US housing starts, import price index, industrial production, Tuesday
* Bank of Japan rate decision, Wednesday
* Eurozone CPI, Wednesday
* Federal Reserve rate decision, Wednesday
* China loan prime rates, Thursday
* Bank of England rate decision, Thursday
* US Philadelphia Fed factory index, jobless claims, existing home sales, Thursday
* Eurozone consumer confidence, Friday
* Fed’s John Williams speaks, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
* The euro rose 0.4% to $1.0924
* The British pound rose 0.5% to $1.2994
* The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 149.17 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 1.1% to $84,141.79
* Ether rose 2.2% to $1,935.75
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.30%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined six basis points to 2.82%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 4.64%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5% to $67.52 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.6% to $3,001.24 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from Sujata Rao, John Viljoen and Catherine Bosley.

Have a  lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
To live is the rarest thing in the world.  Most people exist, that is all. –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 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com