November 19, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  November 19, 1863~ Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

Peter Drucker, management guru, b. 1909.
Ted Turner, media mogul, b. 1938.
Indira Gandhi, Indian politician, b. 1917.
Indira Gandhi, Indian politician, b. 1917.
Meg Ryan, b. 1961.
Jodie Foster, b. 1962.

Blame it on the asteroid: Dinosaurs were thriving on Planet Earth — until an asteroid wiped them out 66 million years ago, a new study says.-CNN

Riled up over toast: Author and television chef, Nigella Lawson, revealed that she butters her toast — twice. And our mates across the pond are really angry about it.-CNN

$1 million: The amount George Clooney gave to each of his 14 closest friends.

Scientists discover a new, exotic, blue mineral in Russia.-Bloomberg.

These shrimp leave the water to walk around on land.-Bloomberg.

FROM THE LATE NIGHT HOSTS:
“Apparently, el Presidente has even canceled his plans to travel to Mar-a-Lago for Thanksgiving, deciding to stay in Washington instead. Smart move. The minute he steps out of there, you know they’re changing all the locks.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“Meanwhile, Trump was like, ‘If Don Jr. asks, I’ll still be at Mar-a-Lago.’” — JIMMY FALLON

“And according to one official, there is a ‘bunker mentality’ in the White House — somewhere between Archie and Hitler.” — JIMMY KIMMEL

“Basically if you work for Donald Trump, there are two possible outcomes: You get fired or you get Covid.” — JIMMY KIMMEL
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Tourist taking the Bailong elevators in Zhangjiajie, China’s Hunan province. Towering more than 300 metres up the cliff face that inspired the landscape for the blockbuster movie “Avatar”, the world’s highest outdoor lift whisks brave tourists to breathtaking views.
CREDIT: WANG ZHAO/AFP

Specially designed roundels are unveiled at Oxford Circus to celebrate the UK launch of PlayStation 5
CREDIT: MATT CROSSICK/PA

Undated handout artist impression issued by ESA of space debris in low Earth orbit (LEO). The UK will play a critical role in building “The Claw”, the first satellite to remove space junk.
CREDIT: ESA/PA WIRE
Market Closes for November 19^th, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1792, in the same room where the Declaration of Independence was adopted 16 years earlier, the Insurance Company of North America held its initial public offering at $10 a share. More than 660 investors from all walks of life signed up for shares. If you’d spent $1,000 to buy 100 shares on the first day, they’d have been worth more than $10.1 million by 1998.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian shares managed to eke out a gain Thursday as investors continued to weigh tougher lockdown measures.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.1% as tech shares led the advance. Consumer staples lagged.
Ontario will unveil new public health measures on Friday to try to contain rising Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, Premier Doug Ford said.
West Fraser Timber Co. offered to buy Norbord Inc., taking advantage of high demand for wood products during a pandemic-fueled surge in homebuilding.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $11.60 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,867.63 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.2% to C$1.3056 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 2.3 basis points to 0.680%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.1 percent at 16,909.81 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.3 percent.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 3.6 percent. Norbord Inc. had the largest increase, rising 11.1 percent.
Today, 110 of 222 shares rose, while 108 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 1.4 percent
* This year, the index fell 0.9 percent, heading for the worst year since 2018
* The index declined 0.6 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 15 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 5.9 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 51.3 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2 percent in the past 5 days and rose 3.9 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.4 on a trailing basis and 22.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.1 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.59t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 15.15 percent compared with 15.25 percent in the previous session and the average of 14.86 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | 36.6184| 2.3| 7/3
Industrials | 8.7859| 0.4| 20/8
Energy | 5.0590| 0.3| 16/6
Consumer Discretionary | 1.3396| 0.2| 8/4
Communication Services | 1.3179| 0.2| 5/2
Health Care | 0.1880| 0.1| 5/5
Real Estate | -1.1582| -0.2| 12/14
Utilities | -2.6099| -0.3| 3/13
Financials | -3.4031| -0.1| 13/13
Consumer Staples | -6.6288| -1.0| 6/5
Materials | -19.5208| -0.8| 15/35
US
By Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks were mixed, with tech shares outperforming the broader market as investors weighed the impact of tougher virus restrictions on economic growth along with the outlook for widespread vaccine distribution within months.
The S&P 500 Index swung between small gains and losses, while the Nasdaq 100 climbed. Tesla Inc. rose to a record as investors bet that the global car market will be dominated by electric cars in decades ahead. In Europe, cyclical shares led stocks lower. Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA plunged 16% after seeking protection from creditors amid the travel-industry upheaval caused by the pandemic.
Treasury yields slipped and the dollar held steady after U.S. weekly jobless claims came in higher than forecast. Gold dropped for a fourth day amid a drawdown in bullion-backed exchange-traded funds.
The bullish fever that lifted the MSCI World Index to an all-time high Monday has softened, with virus cases surging in many parts of the world and public health facilities being pushed to the brink. New York City announced it will close schools and South Australia began one of the world’s toughest lockdowns, with even outdoor exercise and dog-walking banned. In Tokyo, the virus alert was raised to the highest levels as daily infections topped 500 for the first time.
It all means that investors are grappling with how long and how severe the pandemic will be in the months ahead. There’s plenty of economic stress now as businesses struggle under lockdowns, but scientists are also rapidly advancing several vaccine candidates to get life back to normal.
“There’s the push-pull of short-term versus long-term and that’s what investors are looking at right now,” said Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank. “There are some very serious risks in the short term, especially with the lockdowns.” In a report published Thursday, the International Monetary Fund noted progress on a vaccine, but also said elevated asset prices point to a disconnect from the real economy and a potential threat to financial stability. “While global economic activity has picked up since June, there are signs that the recovery may be losing momentum, and the crisis is likely to leave deep, unequal scars,” officials at the Washington-based fund said. “Uncertainty and risks are exceptionally high.”
In other markets, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell for the first time in 14 days, ending the longest winning run since 1988. Commodities dropped and Bitcoin steadied after surging past $18,000 on Wednesday.
Turkey’s lira strengthened after the country’s new central bank governor raised the benchmark interest rate.

     These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index was little changed at 1:48 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.8%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.2%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index dipped 0.6%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
* The euro was little changed at $1.1851.
* The British pound decreased 0.2% to $1.3243.
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 103.82 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased two basis points to 0.85%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to -0.57%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 0.32%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1% to $41.42 a barrel
* Gold weakened 0.5% to $1,863.65 an ounce.
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Jan-Patrick Barnert and Todd White.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

In Wall Street, the man who does not change his mind will soon have no change to mind.
                                                                                   -William D. Gann, 1878-1955
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