March 9, 2023 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday Eve.

March 9,1862: The first documented discovery of gold in California occurs at Rancho San Francisco, six years before the California Gold Rush.
On March 9, 1862, the Space Shuttle Discovery was retired after completing its final mission, STS-133. The spacecraft is now on display in Virginia at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, an annex of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. Go to article » 

1959: Barbie doll debuts.

CNN reporter calls his parents using AI voice. Watch what happens next.  If you have a short recording of someone’s voice, you can use this artificial intelligence tool to make the voice say just about anything. It’s convincing … scary convincing.

Two diets reduced signs of Alzheimer’s in brain tissue, study finds. People who consumed food from the Mediterranean and MIND diets had fewer of the hallmark signs of Alzheimer’s when autopsied.

Bronze Age craftspeople tempered steel more than 1,000 years before the Romans did it: Intricate 2,900-year-old engravings on stone monuments from what is now Portugal in the Iberian Peninsula could only have been made using steel instruments, archaeologists have found.
The discovery hints at small-scale steel production during the Final Bronze Age, a century before the practice became widespread in ancient Rome.  Full Story: Live Science (3/9)

Antarctica’s sea ice reaches its lowest level since records began, for the 2nd year in a row.  The amount of sea ice surrounding Antarctica has reached its lowest level since modern records began, for the second year in a row.  Last year, the minimum sea ice extent was less than 772,000 square miles (2 million square km), the lowest total since scientists began recording sea ice extent with satellites in 1979. On Feb. 21 this year, that number had shrunk to just 691,000 square miles (1.8 million square km), which is roughly 40% less than the average between 1981 and 2010.  Full Story: Live Science (3/8)

Scientists discover enzyme that can turn air into energy, unlocking potential new energy source.  Scientists studying a cousin of the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis and leprosy have discovered an enzyme that converts hydrogen into electricity, and they think it could be used to create a new, clean source of energy literally from thin air.  The enzyme, which has been named Huc, is used by the bacterium Mycobacterium smegmatis to draw energy from atmospheric hydrogen, enabling it to survive in extreme, nutrient-poor environments. Full Story: Live Science (3/8)

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Barcelona, Spain
Moco Museum’s owner, Kim Logchies-Prins (centre), speaks to the Serbian artist Marina Abramović (right) during her visit to the gallery. Abramović will have her show 7 Deaths of Maria Callas premier at the Liceu opera in Barcelona
Photograph: Enric Fontcuberta/EPA

Bogolyubovo, Russia
A woman walks through snow in front of the 12th-century Church of the Intercession on the Nerl outside the city of Vladimir, about 125 miles from Moscow
Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

Gateshead, UK
The Angel of the North sculpture receives a dusting of snow
Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters
Market Closes for March 9^th, 2023

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📈 On this day in 2000, the Nasdaq Composite Index closed above 5000 for the first time.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite fell 1.3% at 20,086.72 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest loss since Feb. 21 and follows the previous session’s increase of 0.4%.
Today, financials stocks led the market lower, as all sectors lost; 187 of 236 shares fell, while 42 rose.
Toronto-Dominion Bank contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.8%.
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. had the largest drop, falling 14.1%.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 3.6%
* So far this week, the index fell 2.4%, heading for the biggest decline since the week ended Dec. 16
* The index declined 6.5% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index lost 9.2% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 9.6% below its 52-week high on April 5, 2022 and 12.4% above its low on Oct. 13, 2022
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 1.2% in the past 5 days and fell 2.5% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13 on a trailing basis and 13.2 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.2% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$3.25
* 30-day price volatility rose to 9.29% compared with 8.70% in the previous session and the average of 8.10% over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | -114.4116| -1.8| 1/27
Materials | -40.2618| -1.7| 12/36
Industrials | -28.6477| -1.0| 4/22
Energy | -21.0123| -0.6| 12/24
Communication Services| -16.3879| -1.7| 0/6
Consumer Discretionary| -12.1961| -1.7| 3/12
Consumer Staples | -10.5482| -1.2| 0/11
Information Technology| -8.4849| -0.7| 5/9
Utilities | -6.7331| -0.8| 3/13
Real Estate | -5.1825| -1.0| 2/20
Health Care | -1.6575| -2.1| 0/7
================================================================
| | |Volume VS| YTD
|Index Points| | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors | Move |% Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
TD Bank | -19.6900| -1.8| 82.8| -2.3
RBC | -16.0800| -1.2| -9.0| 6.4
CIBC | -15.9500| -4.2| 62.9| 7.4
Wheaton Precious Metals | 1.8430| 1.1| -18.7| 2.1
Cenovus Energy | 2.1020| 0.9| 7.2| -2.2
Constellation Software | 3.3440| 1.1| 53.7| 13.0
US
By Isabelle Lee, Peyton Forte and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — US stocks notched their worst day in two weeks after a rout in bank shares picked up steam on concerns pockets of trouble in the sector could portend broader dangers.
Treasuries rallied.
The S&P 500 fell to the lowest since Jan. 19 with financial companies in the index plunging more than 4%.
The KBW Bank Index, which includes regional lenders, plunged 7.7%.
Banks came under fire after Silvergate Capital Corp. collapsed overnight amid growing scrutiny in Washington.
SVB Financial Group plummeted by a record amount following a stock sale to shore up losses.
“Everybody has been concerned that higher interest rates will lead to higher defaults at some point in 2023, and this raises those questions even more,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co.
Cryptocurrencies slid with Bitcoin falling the most since November amid Silvergate’s meltdown.
“Banks and semis are two groups that historically have been very good leading indicators. Typically, markets can do OK if either of them are languishing, but when one of them is having an outsized move it’s usually wise to listen,” said Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at BTIG. “In this case, the outsized move is clearly banks to the downside.”
Stocks erased early session gains after Thursday’s data showed weekly jobless claims had risen to 211,000 during the week ending March 4, ahead of expectations for 195,000 and marking the first time claims surpassed 200,000 since early January.
“This is a tiny glimmer of hope that maybe the US labor market isn’t quite as tight as the other data points are saying,” Fiona Cincotta, senior financial markets analyst at City Index, said by phone. “This is a preshow before the main
event.”
The numbers set the stage for Friday’s monthly jobs report, with even just slightly stronger-than-forecast figures expected to cement bets for a bigger hike at the March 21-22 Fed meeting.
Economists project a 225,000 increase in February payrolls, about half January’s blockbuster pace, but a figure in that range would confirm the US economy continues to add jobs at a strong rate.
A softer-than expected number could soften wagers on a half-point move in March, and tilt expectations back to a quarter-point hike.
“The market had to do a pretty quick job of repricing higher rate expectations from the Fed after a couple of days of Chair Powell’s testimony on Capitol Hill,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth. “We now become data-dependent until the Fed meets.”
Two-year yields’ premium over their 10-year equivalent narrowed to around 97 basis points, having surpassed 110 basis points earlier this week.
The inversion is considered a reliable recession harbinger.
Key events this week:
* Bank of Japan policy rate decision, Friday
* US nonfarm payrolls, unemployment rate, monthly budget statement, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 1.8% as of 4:01 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.8%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.7%
* The MSCI World index fell 1.2%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro rose 0.3% to $1.0580
* The British pound rose 0.6% to $1.1919
* The Japanese yen rose 0.9% to 136.14 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 8.2% to $20,208.79
* Ether fell 8.2% to $1,425.02
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined seven basis points to 3.92%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.64%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 3.80%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.4% to $75.56 a barrel
* Gold futures rose 0.9% to $1,834.90 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
Make each day your masterpiece. -John Wooden, 1910-2010.

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