March 23, 2023 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.

1994 Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings broke Gordie Howe’s National Hockey League career record with his 802nd goal.  Go to article > 

March 23, 2023: First ever tweet by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey “just setting up my twttr” sells for $2.9 million I digitally autographed version. (NFT)

Apple is getting into the movie business …
… and maybe into soccer, too.

Back from the dead: Blockbuster’s website has a second life.

That’s a tonic: New Zealand’s government is investing in gin.

1st ever analysis of Beethoven’s DNA sheds light on the mystery of his death
The world renowned composer Ludwig van Beethoven was infected with hepatitis B when he died, according to the first ever DNA analysis of the deaf musician’s remains.
The genetic analysis, conducted on five locks of Beethoven’s hair, also revealed that he had a high risk of liver disease.  Full Story: Live Science (3/22)

China is hunting the world’s most elusive particles a mile beneath the ocean floor.  China is building a detector deep beneath the ocean surface to hunt for the world’s most elusive subatomic particles.
Every second, tens of trillions of these ghostly neutrinos stream through Earth (and your body) without interacting with anything.  Full Story: Live Science (3/22)

Alien mothership lurking in our solar system could be watching us with tiny probes, Pentagon official suggests
Could an alien mothership be hovering around the solar system, sending out tiny probes to explore planets? According to a Harvard scientist and a Pentagon official, it’s possible.
In a draft paper, the pair said it is feasible an extraterrestrial spaceship could be in our galactic neighborhood.  Full Story: Live Science (3/22)

Extinction-level asteroid impacts could be far more common than we thought, controversial study suggests
Earth may have been pummeled by large space rocks more often than previously estimated, controversial new research suggests, raising the risk that a species-ending impact could come sooner than we think.
The study focused on the largest-known impact craters from the past million years, and the authors argue that these craters were originally far bigger than they look now.  Full Story: Live Science (3/22)
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

London, UK
Coventry Street in the West End is decorated with Ramadan illuminations to mark the start of the Islamic holy month
Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Mammoth Lakes, US
Heavy snow buries buildings in Sierra Nevada, California. Following the driest three-year stretch on record, a series of destructive, and sometimes deadly, atmospheric river storms has been sweeping through the state since early winter, bringing torrential rains, wide spread flooding and one of the snowiest winters on record in the Sierra Nevada Mountains
Photograph: David McNew/Getty Images

Northumberland, UK
The Milky Way core rises over Bamburgh lighthouse
Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
Market Closes for March 23^rd, 2023

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary: 
📈 On this day in 1987, the S&P 500 index closed above 300 for the first time, less than a year and a half after crossing 200.  Today it closed at 3948.72.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.4%, or 72.86 to 19,459.92 in Toronto.
Cenovus Energy Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 5.1%.
Capstone Copper Corp. had the largest drop, falling 7.6%.
Today, 125 of 235 shares fell, while 106 rose; 6 of 11 sectors were lower, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 0.4%
* This month, the index fell 3.8%
* So far this week, the index rose 0.4%
* The index declined 11% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 13% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 12.4% below its 52-week high on April 5, 2022 and 8.9% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.4% in the past 5 days and fell 3.6% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.6 on a trailing basis and 12.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.3% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.13t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 11.91% compared with 11.92% in the previous session and the average of 9.54% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | -45.9165| -1.4| 4/35
Financials | -39.3113| -0.7| 9/20
Industrials | -18.9294| -0.7| 12/15
Utilities | -9.2624| -1.1| 3/12
Real Estate | -1.4342| -0.3| 7/14
Health Care | -0.8631| -1.3| 2/4
Consumer Discretionary | 1.2068| 0.2| 9/6
Communication Services | 3.4133| 0.4| 6/0
Consumer Staples | 4.3110| 0.5| 9/2
Information Technology | 12.6345| 1.0| 12/0
Materials | 15.5972| 0.6| 33/17
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Cenovus Energy | -11.0600| -5.1| 43.0| -17.9
Canadian Pacific | -10.4700| -1.6| -0.7| 1.6
TD Bank | -9.5570| -1.0| 23.8| -11.8
Constellation Software | 4.3700| 1.4| 1.7| 15.1
Barrick Gold | 4.6210| 1.5| -30.9| 8.1
Shopify | 9.0800| 1.8| -0.6| 33.6
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — The stock market shrugged off losses, with traders piling into some of the world’s largest technology companies that are seen by many on Wall Street as a kind of shelter in times of stress and economic uncertainties.
Gains in mega-caps like Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. put the Nasdaq 100 near the threshold of a bull market after an almost 20% surge from its December low.
In the wake of the banking turmoil that has rattled markets around the globe and added to recession fears, the cohort of tech stalwarts that are flush with cash has largely outperformed this month.
Banks remained under pressure even after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s remarks that the US would be ready for any necessary additional deposit actions.
Shorter-dated Treasury yields were down once again, with swaps linked to policy meeting dates now showing the central bank benchmark ending 2023 around three quarters of a point below its new, post-decision level.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell insisted Wednesday that rate cuts are not his “base case.”
“The push-and-pull between financial market stability and inflation that is receding more slowly than anyone would prefer will further complicate an already significant challenge for the Fed, increasing the risk of a policy misstep and keeping the door open for a potential recession on the horizon,” said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors.
In other corporate news, Block Inc. tumbled after Hindenburg Research said it’s betting on a decline in the stock, alleging the payments company led by Jack Dorsey facilitated fraudsters who took advantage of government stimulus programs during the pandemic.
Block called Hindenburg’s claims “inaccurate and misleading” and said it’ll explore legal action.
Now hedge funds couldn’t have picked a worse time to turn bullish on the dollar.
After betting against the greenback for 13 straight weeks, speculators flipped to a net long position in the week ended March 14, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The shift came days just before the Fed tempered its language around how much additional policy tightening might be needed, sending the dollar sliding.
A gauge of the greenback is down for a sixth straight session — its longest losing streak since April 2021.
On the economic front, applications for US unemployment benefits unexpectedly eased for a second week, underscoring a still-tight job market in which employers are reluctant to reduce headcount.
Sales of new homes unexpectedly rose in February after a downward revision to the prior month, suggesting the housing market is beginning to stabilize after a tumultuous year.
Elsewhere, the Bank of England pushed ahead with another interest rate increase despite turmoil in the banking sector, predicting the UK economy will avoid a recession for now and that inflation remains a risk.
The pound rose, and investors priced in more certainty of at least one more rate hike later this year.

Key events this week:
* Eurozone S&P Global Eurozone Manufacturing PMI, S&P Global Eurozone Services PMI, Friday
* US durable goods, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%
* The MSCI World index rose 0.5%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%
* The euro fell 0.1% to $1.0841
* The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.2290
* The Japanese yen rose 0.7% to 130.54 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 3.5% to $28,360.29
* Ether rose 4.8% to $1,821.05
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined six basis points to 3.38%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined 13 basis points to 2.20%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined nine basis points to 3.36%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.3% to $69.25 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 2.6% to $2,018.70 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
–With assistance from John Viljoen, Angel Adegbesan, Isabelle Lee, Carly Wanna and Vildana Hajric.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result. –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
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com