Dear Friends,
Tangents: Happy Monday.
March 9, 1945: 334 US B-29 Superfortresses attack Tokyo with 120,000 fire bombs. Go to article
March 9, 1959: Barbie debuts at the American International Toy Fair, reshaping global toy design and mass-market branding.
Bobby Fischer, chess master, b. 1943.
Harry Styles on SNL
The singer’s appearance in the audience distracted from host Ryan Gosling’s opening monologue.
Royal breakup
Netflix wished Meghan Markle all the best with her lifestyle brand after the streaming giant and the Duchess of Sussex decided to end their partnership.
| Ancient ‘alien-like’ skulls have been found on every continent but Antarctica. Anthropologists are starting to figure out why. |
Humans have practiced head shaping for tens of thousands of years, and anthropologists are beginning to uncover clues as to why. Read More.
| ‘The warming trend nearly doubled after 2014’: The rate of global warming has accelerated more in the past decade than ever before |
A new analysis finds that global warming has significantly accelerated since 2015, but not everyone agrees. Read More.
| ‘Cikai Korran came here and saw’: Visitors from India graffitied dozens of Egyptian tombs 2,000 years ago |
Ancient inscriptions written in Indian languages have been discovered on Egyptian tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Read More.
| Planting trees in the sea could act as a huge carbon sink and save millions of dollars in storm damage every year. What is stopping us from doing it? |
A new study reveals restoring mangroves could save $800 million in storm damage, protect 140,000 people from flooding, and remove almost triple the amount of CO2 produced by cars in the U.S. every year. Read More.
| Enormous 3D map of the universe shows brilliant ‘sea of light’ near the cosmic dawn |
A unique technique allowed astronomers to see the early universe as a "sea of light" and explore the effects of gravity and dark energy on cosmic evolution. Read More.
| Making a ‘digital twin’ of yourself could revolutionize future surgeries, making medical procedures much more personal |
Live Science spoke with Dr. John Pandolfino, a researcher who designed a "digital twin" to help guide surgery. Read More.
| Anthropic collides with the Pentagon over AI safety — here’s everything you need to know |
As Anthropic releases its most autonomous agents yet, a mounting clash with the military reveals the impossible choice between global scaling and a "safety first" ethos. Read More.
In full bloom: California’s Death Valley is bursting with wildflowers after getting a lot of rain recently. It’s a rare superbloom that happens roughly once every decade.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Crimea, Ukraine
A cat walks among toy cars in a miniature square at a zoo in Bakhchysarai
Photograph: Alexey Pavlishak/Reuters
Birmingham, UK
Bruin the clumber spaniel poses with the trophy after winning the best in show on the final day of the Crufts Dog show
Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
Maloja, Switzerland
Skiers compete in the 56th Engadin marathon in the Alps. The 26-mile race crosses frozen lakes and through forests
Photograph: Peter Klaunzer/EPA
Market Closes for March 9th , 2026
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| Dow Jones |
47740.80 | +239.25 |
| +0.50% | ||
| S&P 500 | 6795.99 | +55.97 |
| +0.83% | ||
| NASDAQ | 22695.95 | +308.27 |
| +1.38% | ||
| TSX | 33189.32 | +105.61 |
| +0.32% |
International Markets
| Market Index |
Close | Change |
| NIKKEI | 52728.72 | -2892.12 |
| -5.20% | ||
| HANG SENG |
25408.46 | -348.83 |
| -1.35% | ||
| SEN SEX | 77566.16 | -1352.74 |
| -1.71% | ||
| FTSE 100* | 10249.52 | -35.23 |
| -0.34% |
Bonds
| Bonds | % Yield | Previous % Yield |
| CND. 10 Year Bond |
3.364 | 3.405 |
| CND. 30 Year Bond |
3.812 | 3.858 |
| U.S. 10 Year Bond |
4.0958 | 4.1383 |
| U.S. 30 Year Bond |
4.7136 | 4.7567 |
| BOC Close | Today | Previous |
| Canadian $ | 0.7364 | 0.7371 |
| US $ |
1.3579 | 1.3566 |
| Euro Rate 1 Euro= |
Inverse | |
| Canadian $ | 0.6331 | 1.5793 |
| US $ |
0.8598 | 1.1629 |
Commodities
| Gold | Close | Previous |
| London Gold Fix |
5127.55 | 5104.05 |
| Oil | ||
| WTI Crude Future | 82.79 | 90.86 |
Market Commentary:
On this day in 2020, with the Covid-19 pandemic unfolding, U.S. stock trading was briefly halted for the first time since 1997 after a tumultuous selloff triggered an automatic curb. The S&P 500 ended the day down 7.6%.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.3% at 33,189.32 in Toronto.
The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 1.6%.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.6%.
Celestica Inc. had the largest increase, rising 7.1%.
Today, 108 of 217 shares rose, while 109 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 4.7%
* The index advanced 34% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 19% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.9% below its 52-week high on March 2, 2026 and 49.3% above its low on April 7, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 3.9% in the past 5 days and rose 0.5% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.8 on a trailing basis and 17 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$5.23t
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 20.49% compared with 20.48% in the previous session and the average of 18.35% over the past month
Index Points
Information Technology | 62.6401| 2.5| 9/1
Materials | 48.7604| 0.7| 33/23
Energy | 36.6285| 0.6| 20/17
Industrials | 18.1327| 0.5| 14/15
Consumer Staples | 5.0938| 0.5| 7/3
Health Care | 0.0711| 0.1| 1/3
Consumer Discretionary | -0.0757| 0.0| 2/7
Real Estate | -0.7414| -0.2| 7/12
Communication Services | -0.9050| -0.1| 3/2
Utilities | -1.8859| -0.2| 5/9
Financials | -62.1079| -0.6| 7/17
Shopify | 39.6700| 2.6| -25.2| -17.9
Cameco | 26.5700| 5.9| 27.8| 25.5
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd | 19.4300| 1.8| 17.6| 31.3
Sun Life Financial | -7.0930| -2.1| 32.5| 0.7
Scotiabank | -15.5600| -1.8| 21.6| -4.9
CIBC | -15.9100| -1.8| 62.5| 6.8
MT Newswires:
The Toronto Stock Exchange closed higher Monday after rebounding more than 700 points from early session lows, as the resources-heavy exchange was boosted by gains across both the Base Metals and Energy sectors, even with the gold price lower, while the oil price was higher, albeit off four-year highs.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index finished the day up 105.60 points, or 0.3% at 33,189.32, rising off the session low of 33,241.33 during the first hour of trade and looking like it was going to extend losses recorded at the end of last week, largely on market uncertainty around how long the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran will last.
Energy was up near 0.4% as West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose for a seventh straight session but failed to hold above the US$100 mark after hitting four-year highs earlier.
Gains were capped after G7 finance ministers decided to hold off on releasing strategic reserves, even as the war continues
to halt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, cutting around 20 million barrels per day of Persian Gulf exports.
WTI crude oil for April delivery closed up $3.87 to settle at US$94.77 per barrel, after touching US$119.48 in overnight trading.
May Brent oil was up $4.55 to US$97.24.
Base Metals was up more than 1.1% even as gold traded lower with traders moving away from the traditional safe haven in favor of the U.S. dollar as inflation fears rise on surging oil prices.
Gold for April delivery was down $55.70 to US$5,103.00 per ounce.
Showing just how unpredictable market movements are these days, the sector with the biggest gains today on the TSX was Information Technology, up 2.3%, even amid concerns that a rising oil price will lead to higher interest rates, which usually mean lower valuations for companies, like the tech sector, that depend on long term growth.
On broader equity markets, Rosenberg Research published its latest ‘Strategizer’, a monthly guidebook for active investors.
It noted the data were as of the last trading day of February, prior to the start of the war in the Middle East.
Among highlights, Rosenberg said Strategizer’s asset allocation tool had marginally backed off from its maximum underweight equity recommendation, now 45%.
Cash remained maximum overweight, at 10%, and fixed income was now 5 points below its maximum overweight, at 45%.
"Last month’s recommendation stretched the asset allocation tool to the maximum risk-off tone allowed within the constraints of the model; this month, the model’s tone is marginally less risk-off," the research added.
Within equities, the research said aggregate scores are "depressed"; adding while the gap between U.S. and Asia had narrowed, Asia remains more attractive relative to European and North American indices.
In other highlights, the research said the Materials sector held the top spot in both the United States and Canada for a second month running, while the Commodity model dipped back into ‘neutral’, but asset class wise remained "favorable", and added the Gold model edged up, but remained depressed, as Rosenberg remained "long term bullish".
According to Rosenberg, Canada’s equity scorecard improved in February, bouncing off its lowest level since June 2021 last month, to stand at 10.3, "still a very depressed level".
It said the model’s subcomponents were largely unchanged, save for a jump up in technical overcrowding and improvements in
fundamentals, of which the latter’s impacts ("positive") outweighed those of the former ("contrarian negative").
It noted the TSX at the time the research was completed was on a 10-month winning streak and was up in seven of the past nine weeks, having consecutively reached new peaks preceding the latest geopolitical events.
On Commodities,, Rosenberg said Strategizer’s commodity model has been "dodging and weaving" around the ‘overweight/neutral’ cut-off for several months now, and, as of February, it finds itself back on the ‘neutral’ side.
It added: "The story in the space is not much changed from previous editions; the asset class remains in favor through the model’s lens, supported by historically low valuations, depressed sentiment, and undercrowded positioning, while fundamentals and technicals are neither providing positive nor negative signals."
It noted the top individual commodity scores were ranked as follows: wheat, aluminum, with crude oil and sugar tied for third.
The research noted the gold scorecard has been on an upward trajectory for the past two months.
However, it has remained south of 20.0 for seven consecutive months (now 19.9).
"That said, the score is not representative of any sort of bearish narrative in our fundamental macro view, rather it is a product of extreme valuations relative to history."
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street mounted a dramatic comeback, with stocks and bonds rebounding on hopes the 10-day-old Iran war may be nearing a conclusion.
Oil tumbled in post-settlement trading after earlier topping $100.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% as President Donald Trump told CBS the conflict is “very complete, pretty much” and the military operation is “very far” ahead of its initial four- to five-week timeframe.
The equity benchmark erased an intraday loss of over 1.5% for the first time since April.
US crude dropped to around $87 in late hours. Ten-year Treasury yields halted a five-day increase.
The whipsaw session underscored how exposed markets remain to every development in the Middle East conflict, with a single headline enough to reverse billions of dollars in losses.
Volatility shows no signs of letting up as investors weigh a fast-shifting geopolitical conflict with no clear trading playbook.
“We expect markets to stay very short-term focused, volatile and headline-driven as the conflict plays out this week,” said Carol Schleif at BMO Private Wealth.
Markets have been rocked by the war in the Middle East, with a standstill of tanker traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz choking off supplies to the rest of the world.
Saudi Arabia started reducing oil production, even as the kingdom rushes to boosts exports through an alternative route.
Group of Seven finance ministers said they were ready to take any steps needed to support energy supply, including releasing strategic oil reserves — although the group isn’t at he point of doing so yet.
Trump is expected to review a set of options to tame oil prices, including restricting US exports and waiving some federal taxes, Reuters reported.
“I have a plan for everything,” Trump told the New York Post.
“We see a now-familiar pattern re-emerging,” said Steve Sosnick at Interactive Brokers. “US index futures sell off sharply overnight, recover somewhat as domestic traders rub the sleep from their eyes to find the ‘buy’ buttons on their screens, then after a bit of nervousness around the open, ever- hopeful dip buyers step in.”
Sosnick notes the “push/pull” between the real-world issues causing higher oil prices, inflation and growth fears versus the undercurrent of FOMO (fear of missing out) that keeps an underlying bid in stocks and keeps the losses from being catastrophic.
“FOMO is labeled as fear, but it’s really greed, and I would assert that there is still plenty of greed out there relative to fear,” he added.
Still, US stocks are facing a growing risk of a sharp rout this year, said Ed Yardeni, who updated his outlook for what he describes as “fast-moving times.”
The founder of Yardeni Research raised the probability of a meltdown to 35% for the rest of the year, up from 20%.
He also slashed the odds of a melt up — a rally driven more by investor enthusiasm than underlying fundamentals — to just 5% from 20%.
Traders are unprepared for a correction in the S&P 500 that could see the gauge falling as much as 10% from its peak as a result of the war, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Andrew Tyler, who turned “tactically bearish.”
“Although volatility may feel uncomfortable, could rise from here, and possibly cause a near-term drawdown in stocks, volatility in itself tends to be brief when it reaches more extreme levels,” said Anthony Saglimbene at Ameriprise.
“And, more often than not, the extreme volatility provides investors with a solid long-term entry point to buy stocks rather than sell.”
Corporate Highlights:
* Apple Inc.’s artificial intelligence struggles are rippling through its product plans, forcing the company to delay a long- in-the-works smart home display until later this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
* Anthropic PBC sued the Defense Department for declaring the AI giant posed a risk to the US supply chain, further ramping up a high-stakes dispute with the Pentagon over safeguards on the company’s technology.
* Novo Nordisk A/S and Hims & Hers Health Inc. will work together to sell obesity drugs, a sudden reversal after more than eight months of acrimony that culminated in a legal battle.
* Live Nation Entertainment Inc. reached a settlement with federal antitrust authorities, the Justice Department said, throwing a wrench mid-trial into an antitrust case that accused the company of illegally monopolizing the live music industry and sought to force a sale of its Ticketmaster subsidiary.
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 1.3%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%
* The euro was little changed at $1.1614
* The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3428
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 157.87 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 2.6% to $68,964.07
* Ether rose 3.8% to $2,032.77
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 4.10%
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.86%
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.65%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.3% to $87.86 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.5% to $5,144.44 an ounce
–With assistance from Lu Wang.
Have a lovely evening.
Be magnificent!
As ever,
Carolann
Well done is better than well said. –Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790.
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 (Text Only)
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828