March 18, 2021 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Swallows return to San Juan Capistrano – yearly since 1776.

On March 18, 1965, the first spacewalk took place as Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov left his Voskhod 2 capsule and remained outside the spacecraft for 20 minutes, secured by a tether.  Go to article »

An exceptionally rare 15th century porcelain bowl made in China that somehow turned up at a Connecticut yard sale and sold for just $35 was aucti…Read More

Tide wants you to quit using warm water for laundry.  We’d apparently be saving the planet — and maybe even some money.

A giant manta ray jumped out of the ocean and photobombed a surfer.  Just take a look at this photo!

They’re huggable, they’re collectible and they’re taking over: Meet Squishmallows.

With an inaugural exhibition that includes giant flowers, soap bubble clouds and a spatial installation by James Turrell called a Ganzfeld, Superblue offers an escape for those deprived of sensory experience and malnourished by screens. –The NY Times.

A rose is a rose is a rose, except when it’s a Lenten rose. Then it’s not a rose at all. Also known as the hellebore, the plant only resembles a wild rose. It’s now in full bloom, beloved for its easy care and adaptability to shade.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Three year old Olivia Munton picking daffodils in a field near Splading in Lincolnshire
CREDIT: GEOFF ROBINSON

A man dressed as Saint Patrick walks through the Temple Bar area on Saint Patrick’s Day in Dublin, Ireland. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic the Irish government has announced all bar and pubs will close and the cancellation of the traditional St. Patricks Day Parade
CREDIT: AIDAN CRAWLEY/EPA

Neighbours Katie Burke, Maebh Manning, Camila Compas and Eamonn Manning enjoy a street session to celebrate St Patricks Day, Dublin, Ireland
CREDIT: REUTERS/CARMEL CRIMMINS

A person jumps over a bonfire as part of the Nowruz celebrations, marking the arrival of spring in Baku, Azerbaijan
CREDIT: RESUL REHIMOV/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for March 18^th, 2021

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
     On this day in 1850, Henry Wells, William G. Fargo, and John Butterfield met at the Mansion House in Buffalo to join their separate companies—Wells & Co., Livingston, Fargo & Co. and Butterfield and Watson—into a single firm with a monopoly over express shipping in the northeast.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell with the broader market, after energy stocks declined with the oil price. The S&P/TSX Composite index fell 0.8% in Toronto, most since March 4. Energy stocks tumbled as oil plunged as vaccination efforts in some parts of the world stalled, casting uncertainty over the speed of an economic recovery and a full rebound in global oil demand. Meanwhile, financials and industrials were the best performing stocks within the index. Meanwhile, Canada’s population grew at the slowest pace in more than a century as Covid-related restrictions curbed immigration. The nation’s population rose by just 0.4% in 2020 to 38,048,738, Statistics Canada reported Thursday in Ottawa. That’s the slowest annual growth since 1916, during World War I. In absolute numbers, the 149,461 annual increase was the smallest since 1945.
Commodities
* Western Canadian Select crude oil traded at a $10.50 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.6% to $1,735.48 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.9% to C$1.2145 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year Canada government bond yield rose about 3 basis point to 1.616%

By Bloomberg Automation:
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 0.8 percent at 18,836.47 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since falling 1.1 percent on March 4 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.6 percent. Today, energy stocks led the market lower, as 8 of 11 sectors lost; 168 of 219 shares fell, while 51 rose. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 3.7 percent. Vermilion Energy Inc. had the largest drop, falling 9.1 percent.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 8 percent
* So far this week, the index was little changed
* The index advanced 61 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI
AC Americas Index gained 68 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.1 percent below its 52-week high on
March 17, 2021 and 68.6 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 3.1 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of
27.7 on a trailing basis and 16.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.7 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.94t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 11.74 percent compared with
11.49 percent in the previous session and the average of 13.94 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | -80.1000| -3.3| 0/22
Information Technology | -51.6254| -2.8| 1/9
Materials | -26.1598| -1.1| 9/41
Utilities | -11.8151| -1.3| 2/14
Health Care | -9.2209| -3.2| 0/9
Real Estate | -6.7243| -1.1| 4/22
Consumer Staples | -6.3465| -0.9| 3/8
Consumer Discretionary | -6.2579| -0.8| 5/8
Communication Services | 1.6020| 0.2| 2/5
Industrials | 13.7546| 0.6| 11/18
Financials | 36.2591| 0.6| 14/12
US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Stocks fell from record highs, oil slumped and Treasury yields touched some of the highest levels in more than a year amid concern the Federal Reserve risks letting inflation accelerate. The rout in risk assets picked up in the afternoon, starting with a selloff in crude. Oil plunged 8% on concern new restrictions in Europe will hamper demand. Two weeks ago it soared past $65 a barrel to the highest in almost two years. The spike in Treasury yields dented demand for tech shares with high valuations, sending the Nasdaq 100 Index tumbling 3.1%. Swings in asset prices also picked up as they often do around major expirations of options and futures contracts, such as tomorrow’s ‘quadruple witching’ event. “We’re seeing a pattern where an uncomfortable spike in the 10-year Treasury reminds equity investors that their tech stocks are trading well above average,” said Mike Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partners.
Ten-year Treasury yields climbed to 1.75% for the first time since January 2020, while the 30-year breached 2.5% for the first time since August 2019 in the wake of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s apparent willingness to keep pumping support into the economy and let it run hotter has spurred bets on faster growth and inflation, sending market expectations of price pressures to multi-year highs. Oil plunged as vaccination efforts in some parts of the world stalled, casting uncertainty over the speed of an economic recovery and a full rebound in global oil demand. West Texas Intermediate crude futures declined for a fifth session, the longest stretch of daily losses in more than a year.
In Asia and Europe, stocks were boosted by lingering enthusiasm from the Fed’s outlook for stronger growth. Automakers and banks, which tend to outperform during cyclical upswings, were higher in Europe. Japan’s Topix jumped past the 2,000 mark for the first time since 1991, becoming the region’s top-performing major equity index this year. Japan’s government bond yields rose on a Nikkei report that the Bank of Japan is considering widening the trading range around the 10-year target, which could spur concerns about policy tightening.
These are some key events this week:
* Bank of Japan monetary policy decision and Governor Haruhiko Kuroda briefing Friday.

These are some of the moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 Index sank 1.5% to 3,915.50 as of 4:02 p.m. New York
time, the lowest in more than a week on the largest tumble in three weeks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 0.5% to 32,862.37, the biggest dip in two weeks.
The Nasdaq Composite Index sank 3% to 13,116.17, the lowest in more than a week on the largest tumble in three weeks.
The Nasdaq 100 Index sank 3.1% to 12,789.14, the lowest in more than a week on the biggest tumble in three weeks.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.4% to 426.59.
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.5% to 1,139.39, the biggest advance in more than a week.
The euro fell 0.5% to $1.1915, the largest fall in more than a week.
The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.3928.
South Africa’s rand weakened 0.9% to 14.7799 per dollar, the largest fall in more than a week.
Bonds
The yield on two-year Treasuries gained two basis points to
0.16%, the highest in more than a week on the biggest advance in more than a week.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries jumped eight basis points to 1.72%, the highest in about 14 months.
The yield on 30-year Treasuries gained five basis points to 2.47%, the highest in almost 20 months.
Germany’s 10-year yield climbed three basis points to -0.26%, the highest in almost three weeks.
Britain’s 10-year yield increased five basis points to 0.875%, the highest in more than 21 months.
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude sank 8% to $59.41 a barrel, hitting the lowest in almost four weeks with its fifth straight
decline and the largest tumble in 11 months.
Gold weakened 0.6% to $1,734.60 an ounce, the biggest fall in more than a week.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Since the masses are always eager to believe something,
for their benefit nothing is so easy to arrange
as facts. -Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, 1754-1838

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