March 5, 2025, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Carolann is away from the office for a Bloomberg Invest Conference “Unlocking Opportunity Across Markets” in New York, I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

March 5, 1046: Persian scholar Naser Khosrow begins a seven-year Middle Eastern journey, which he later describes in his book “Safarnama”
March 5, 1844:George Brown starts publishing The Toronto Globe
March 5, 2004: Martha Stewart was convicted of obstructing justice and lying to the government about why she’d unloaded her Imclone Systems Inc. stock just before the price plummeted.  Go to article

Earth from space: Giant, pyramid-like ‘star dunes’ slowly wander across Moroccan desert
This 2023 astronaut photo shows a series of slowly moving “star dunes” in the Erg Chebbi region of Morocco. Most of these massive structures are likely several centuries old.

Spectacular photo taken from ISS shows ‘gigantic jet’ of upward-shooting lightning towering 50 miles over New Orleans
A newly unveiled astronaut photo shows a “gigantic jet” shooting upward from a thunderstorm above Louisiana in November 2024.

‘Primordial’ helium from the birth of the solar system may be stuck in Earth’s core
The discovery that helium and iron can mix at the temperatures and pressures found at the center of Earth could settle a long-standing debate over how our planet formed.

Ancient Egyptian city of Alexandria — the birthplace of Cleopatra — is crumbling into the sea at an unprecedented rate
Coastal erosion from rising sea levels has led to the collapse of 280 buildings across Alexandria, Egypt, over the past two decades.

125 million-year-old fossil of giant venomous scorpion that lived alongside dinosaurs discovered in China
Extremely rare fossil of an ancient scorpion unearthed at China’s Jehol Biota. The scorpion would’ve been a key species in the Cretaceous ecosystem, scientists say.

Hoard of silver Roman coins found in UK — and some date to reign of Marcus Aurelius
The silver coins were minted over a period of more than 200 years, suggesting that Roman currency at this time was relatively stable.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Nuuk, Greenland
A woman walks with her dogs through the snow on a beach
Photograph: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP

Antarctica
Humpback whales photographed by researchers on the ninth National Antarctic Science Expedition led by the Turkish Polar Research Institute
Photograph: Sebnem Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images

​​​​​​​Gold Coast, Australia
People take photos at Snapper Rocks as a tropical cyclone is expected to hit part of the Australian coast for the first time in more than 50 years
Photograph: Jason O’Brien/AAP
Market Closes for March 5^th, 2025

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 1923, Montana’s Old-Age Pension Law—the first state law that provides retirement pensions and stands up to constitutional challenges—is enacted, setting a key precedent for the creation of Social Security a decade later.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 1.2% at 24,870.82 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 1.3% on Jan. 30 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 1.7%.
Today, materials stocks led the market higher, as 10 of 11 sectors gained; 173 of 220 shares rose, while 47 fell.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.4%. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 12.8%.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain eight times. The next day, it advanced five times for an average 0.3% and declined three times for an average 1%
* This quarter, the index rose 0.6%
* The index advanced 16% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 15% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.9% below its 52-week high on Jan. 30, 2025 and 15.9% above its low on June 17, 2024
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.8% 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 18.2 on a trailing basis and 15 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.8% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.97t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 13.63% compared with 13.07% in the previous session and the average of 11.26% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 104.3134| 3.4| 45/4
Information Technology | 62.5232| 2.5| 10/0
Financials | 55.6287| 0.7| 22/3
Industrials | 37.5292| 1.2| 24/4
Consumer Discretionary | 15.0078| 1.8| 9/2
Consumer Staples | 10.6994| 1.1| 9/1
Energy | 9.7416| 0.2| 22/21
Real Estate | 3.6721| 0.8| 18/2
Health Care | 0.1682| 0.2| 2/2
Utilities | 0.0982| 0.0| 9/6
Communication Services | -0.5669| -0.1| 3/2
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move | % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Shopify | 41.9200| 3.4| 30.0| -0.5
RBC | 25.2000| 1.6| -0.8| -4.5
Canadian Pacific | | | |
Kansas | 17.5400| 2.5| 1.8| 5.9
Waste Connections | -6.5140| -1.3| 84.1| 10.5
Bank of Montreal | -8.0820| -1.1| 15.3| 2.2
Suncor | -13.9300| -3.1| 67.2| -4.0
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — A late-session runup in US stocks capped another volatile day for global markets, a session that also featured extreme moves in European bonds and equities.
Geopolitical news dominated sentiment once again, including a delay in the imposition of auto tariffs in Canada and Mexico by the White House.
Wall Street remained focused on the latest developments around trade negotiations and how that could impact the economy and Federal Reserve decisions.
The S&P 500 rose over 1%, rebounding from a two-day slide.
Treasuries saw small losses in a stark contrast to the plunge in their European counterparts.
German bunds tumbled the most since 1990.
The dollar fell 1%.
Oil sank to the lowest in about six months.
The market has been on a wild ride, and traders expect more of that as they assess the latest tariff developments and brace for Friday’s US payrolls report.
Options trading projects the S&P 500 to move 1.3% in either direction, in what would be the most for any jobs day since the regional bank turmoil in March 2023.
The S&P 500 rose 1.1%.
The Nasdaq 100 added 1.4%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.1%.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose four basis points to 4.28%.
The dollar dropped against most major currencies.

Corporate Highlights:
* Marvell Technology Inc. issued a revenue forecast that fell short of the highest estimates, disappointing investors who were looking for a bigger payoff from the AI boom.
* Apple Inc. rolled out updated MacBook Air laptops and Mac Studio desktops, seeking to maintain a sales resurgence for the company’s computer line.
* Novo Nordisk A/S is following in rival Eli Lilly & Co.’s footsteps by selling its hit weight-loss drug Wegovy directly to US patients at a discount.
* Microsoft Corp.’s $13 billion investment into OpenAI Inc. was cleared by the UK’s antitrust watchdog, ending months of uncertainty over the tie-up.
* Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is struggling to meet investors’ lofty expectations. The retailer said revenue this year would grow 3% to 5%. Wall Street projected an average of $5.2 billion in annual sales, which would be a gain of about 5.5%.
* Foot Locker Inc., the struggling sneaker chain, faces limited direct exposure to new US-imposed tariffs, with executives calling their impact small to moderate.
* Oil refiner Phillips 66 is fighting back against activist investor Elliott Investment Management in a letter to shareholders Wednesday.

Key events this week:
* Eurozone retail sales, ECB rate decision, Thursday
* US trade, initial jobless claims, wholesale inventories, Thursday
* US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks, Thursday
* Fed’s Christopher Waller and Raphael Bostic speak, Thursday
* Eurozone GDP, Friday
* US jobs report, Friday
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell gives keynote speech at an event in New York hosted by University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Friday
* Fed’s John Williams, Michelle Bowman and Adriana Kugler speak, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.1% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.4%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1%
* The MSCI World Index rose 1.5%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 1%
* The euro rose 1.6% to $1.0792
* The British pound rose 0.8% to $1.2899
* The Japanese yen rose 0.6% to 148.88 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 3.3% to $90,367.57
* Ether rose 2.3% to $2,228.73
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 4.28%
* Germany’s 10-year yield advanced 30 basis points to 2.79%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced 15 basis points to 4.68%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.7% to $66.45 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 0.1% to $2,921.24 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Shab
” Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple — that’s creativity.”– Charles Mingus

Shab Mohammadpour
Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff
Queensbury Securities Inc.
340A – 730 View Street
Victoria BC  V8W 3Y7
Tel: 778-430-5851
Fax: 778-430-5828