Dear Friends,
Tangents:
Carolann is away from the office attending the Bloomberg Conference, so I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.
March 4, 1789: The United States Congress meets for the first time under the new U.S. Constitution in New York City, marking the official beginning of the federal government. History.com
March 4, 1791: Vermont is admitted as the 14th state of the United States. History.com
March 4, 1861: Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States. History.com
March 4, 1933: Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated as President during the Great Depression and delivers his famous line, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” History.com
March 4, 1994: The Supreme Court rules in Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, strengthening protections for parody under U.S. copyright law. Oyez.org
Antonio Vivaldi, Italian composer, b. 1678.
Casimir Pulaski, Polish-American military leader, b. 1745.
Knute Rockne, American football coach, b. 1888.
Catherine O’Hara, Canadian actress and comedian, b. 1954.
NASA fixes Artemis II rocket for April launch to take astronauts around moon
NASA’s Artemis II is on track to shoot for the moon in April after engineers fixed the helium issue that grounded the mission’s rocket last month.
Birds are declining faster and faster in 3 US hotspots, new study finds
Researchers have revealed that North American birds are declining at an accelerating rate in three regional hotspots associated with intense agriculture.
Scientists have described Tanyka amnicola, a newly identified species of prehistoric creature that lived 275 million years ago and had a bizarre twisted jaw with sideways-facing teeth.
Detached orca fins scored with distinctive tooth marks suggest that killer whale cannibalism is happening — and it might explain some complex orca societies.
How award-winning scientist Meha Jain is using satellite data to help India’s farmers adapt to climate change.
What went wrong in the women’s competition at the chaotic USATF half marathon championship?
Atlanta — North Carolina runner Molly Born won the USA Track & Field (USATF) women’s half marathon championship by a slim margin of just over four seconds on Sunday in Atlanta – but the result is only half the story.
Why Pluto is the planet (yes, we said ‘planet’) we need right now
Flagstaff, Arizona — For no explainable practical reason, humans are enamored with – and even empathetic toward – specific inanimate objects. Our first car. A choice coffee mug. And for a particular subset of the population, that extends to a dimly lit frozen sphere currently 3.3 billion miles away.
The Oscars are next week and it’s anyone’s game
With the Academy Awards right around the corner, it’s difficult to find another year when the race was this wide open, this late in the game.
US stocks rise, Asian markets get rocked as Middle East conflict intensifies
New York — Oil prices Wednesday paused their recent surge, supporting a rebound in European and US stocks, as investors hold hope for limited long-term disruptions to energy markets and monitor developments in the Middle East.
Apple announces its cheapest-ever new MacBook
New York — Apple on Wednesday launched the MacBook Neo, the company’s cheapest-ever new model.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Makha Bucha celebrations take place at Wat Phra Dhammakaya Buddhist temple in Pathum Thani province, Thailand.
Photograph: Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images
Ahmedabad, India
A priest sprays coloured water on devotees during Holi celebrations at Kalupur Swaminarayan temple
Photograph: Ajit Solanki/AP
The moon lights up the night sky over the Simatai Great Wall during a total lunar eclipse on in Beijing, China.
Photograph: VCG/Getty Images
Market Closes for March 4th , 2026
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| Dow Jones |
48739.41 | +238.14 |
| +0.49% | ||
| S&P 500 | 6869.50 | +52.87 |
| +0.78% | ||
| NASDAQ | 22807.48 | +290.79 |
| +1.29% | ||
| TSX | 33942.86 | +157.92 |
| +0.47% |
International Markets
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| NIKKEI | 54245.54 | -2033.51 |
| -3.61% | ||
| HANG SENG |
25249.48 | -518.60 |
| -2.01% | ||
| SENSEX | 79116.19 | -1122.66 |
| -1.40% | ||
| FTSE 100* | 10567.65 | +83.52 |
| +0.80% |
Bonds
| Bonds | % Yield | Previous % Yield |
| CND. 10 Year Bond |
3.276 | 3.242 |
| CND. 30 Year Bond |
3.751 | 3.720 |
| U.S. 10 Year Bond |
4.0959 | 4.0594 |
| U.S. 30 Year Bond |
4.7341 | 4.7039 |
| BOC Close | Today | Previous |
| Canadian $ | 0.7333 | 0.7312 |
| US $ |
1.3635 | 1.3675 |
| Euro Rate 1 Euro= |
Inverse | |
| Canadian $ | 0.6298 | 1.5879 |
| US $ |
0.8588 | 1.1643 |
Commodities
| Gold | Close | Previous |
| London Gold Fix |
5033.65 | 5313.90 |
| Oil | ||
| WTI Crude Future | 75.98 | 75.07 |
Market Commentary:
On this day in 1472, the world’s oldest continually operating bank, now trading as Monte dei Paschi di Siena, was founded in Siena, Italy to lend money to “poor or wretched or needy persons” at 7.5% annual interest.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.5% at 33,942.86 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 2.2%.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 6.1%.
SSR Mining Inc. had the largest increase, rising 14.7%.
Today, 121 of 217 shares rose, while 94 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 7%
* The index advanced 38% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 20% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.7% below its 52-week high on March 2, 2026 and 52.7% above its low on April 7, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.5% in the past 5 days and rose 4.2% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.1 on a trailing basis and 17.6 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.2% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$5.34t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 19.68% compared with 19.66% in the previous session and the average of 17.46% over the past month
Index Points
Information Technology | 94.4338| 3.9| 6/4
Financials | 51.7054| 0.5| 14/10
Materials | 33.8446| 0.5| 33/23
Energy | 8.5325| 0.2| 26/10
Communication Services | 3.0285| 0.5| 3/2
Real Estate | 0.6571| 0.1| 18/1
Health Care | -0.3711| -0.4| 2/2
Consumer Discretionary | -1.8498| -0.2| 5/4
Consumer Staples | -4.1494| -0.4| 1/9
Utilities | -4.3243| -0.4| 5/8
Industrials | -23.5673| -0.7| 8/21
Shopify | 86.1800| 6.1| -20.1| -20.0
Celestica | 14.4400| 5.1| -38.2| -9.1
Bank of Montreal | 13.1300| 1.3| -60.6| 11.8
Waste Connections | -7.7090| -1.8| 25.5| -3.8
Agnico Eagle Mines | Ltd | -8.1510| -0.7| -19.4| 36.7
Canadian Pacific | Kansas | -9.6990| -1.3| 0.6| 17.2
SSR Mining | 14.7| 8.2170| 101.3| 50.6
Bitfarms/Canada | 12.9| 1.2670| 15.0| -5.0
Shopify | 6.1| 86.1800| -20.1| -20.0
George Weston | -3.9| -4.2440| 89.5| 0.5
WSP Global | -3.1| -6.6840| -40.2| -8.4
Badger Infrastructure Solutions Ltd | -3.1| -0.5330| -1.0| -1.7
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A report underscoring economic resilience and cooling inflationary pressures drove stocks higher at a time when the war in the Middle East clouds the growth outlook.
Bitcoin topped $73,000. Oil whipsawed.
Equities rose as data showed the US service economy expanded at the fastest pace since mid-2022 while a price index hit an almost one-year low.
A megacap rally lifted the market, with the Nasdaq 100 up 1.5%.
In late hours, Broadcom Inc.’s outlook underwhelmed investors, but the firm announced plans to buy back as much as $10 billion in shares through the end 2026.
President Donald Trump expressed confidence in the military campaign against Iran even as the timeline for operations remained unclear.
Tehran targeted Israel and Gulf states while Israeli and American forces followed through on pledges to bomb targets in the Islamic Republic.
The US sank an Iranian warship in international waters.
Meantime, Tehran dismissed a report it had reached out to the US to negotiate an end to the conflict as “pure falsehood.”
Although risk assets face a “significant headwind” from the war and anxiety over artificial intelligence, economic strengthand robust earnings mean the extent of a pullback will be , according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Peter Oppenheimer.
“While further escalation remains a risk, we think the more likely outcome is an increase in market risk aversion that likely lasts only a short time until investors can see a winding down of hostilities,” said Scott Wren at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.8%.
The dollar slipped 0.3%.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose three basis points to 4.09%.
Crude settled near $75 a barrel.
“We have been seeing a bit of a ‘squeeze’ on those bearish positions accumulated since the start of the week, as a tentative ‘risk-on’ mood crept back in,” said Fawad Razaqzada at Forex.com.
“The conflict is ongoing and there’s no concrete evidence of de-escalation. This could keep pressure on risk assets for a while yet.”
Veteran strategist Louis Navellier notes that today is an example of how geopolitical risks often present short-term buying opportunities.
This could change if the Iran conflict heats up, but for now, “we are in a guarded uptrend,” he added.
As US stock investors endure bouts of volatility in the wake of the war, Citadel Securities’ Scott Rubner said his fundamental analysis signals now is a time to turn bullish.
From a technical standpoint, Jonathan Krinsky at BTIG notes that the S&P 500 has reclaimed the 6,800 level, creating the possibility of a “bear trap” below that support.
Still, he continues to think that “a low has been made and we should be playing offense more than defense.”
Corporate Highlights:
* Nvidia Corp.’s Jensen Huang doesn’t see his company’s investments in OpenAI reaching $100 billion.
* Intel Corp.’s chief financial officer said server demand is still strong amid a supply shortage.
* Apple Inc. rolled out the $599 MacBook Neo in its biggest push yet into low-end laptops.
* Alphabet Inc.’s Google unveiled a new system for apps on its Android phones and tablets.
What Bloomberg Strategists say…
“Markets are set up for a sharp reversal the moment an Iran conflict off-ramp turns tangible, because the war premium sitting in oil is fleeting given fundamentals.” —Michael Ball,
Macro Strategist, Markets Live.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.8% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.5%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.7%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%
* The euro rose 0.2% to $1.1638
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3373
* The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 157.07 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 7.4% to $73,096.13
* Ether rose 9.4% to $2,154.19
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 4.09%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.75%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 4.44%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.1% to $75.37 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1% to $5,140.44 an ounce
Have a wonderful day.
Be magnificent!
As ever,
Shima
"The task is not so much to see what no one yet has seen, but to think what nobody yet has thought, about that which everybody sees." — Erwin Schroedinger-1887-1961
Shima Zangeneh
Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff
Queensbury Securities Inc.
340A – 730 View Street
Victoria BC V8W 3Y7
Tel: 778-430-5851
Fax: 778-430-5828