November 22, 2024, Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday.

On Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas. Suspected gunman Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States.  Go to article 

November 22, 1859: Charles Darwin’s On The Origin Of Species published.
George Eliot, writer, b. 1819.
Charles de Gaulle, French politician, b. 1890.
Hoagie Carmichael, composer, b. 1899.
Jamie Lee Curtis, actress, b. 1958.
Scarlett Johansson, actress, b. 1984.

Hungry bears raid storage room at Alaska military base
Several bears found a buffet of military rations that were stored at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. See the damage.

Wisconsin kayaker accused of faking his own drowning is alive
A Wisconsin man accused of faking his own drowning and fleeing the country is alive in Europe and talking to investigators, officials said. But it’s still unclear whether he will ever return home to his wife and three children.

Students’ ‘homemade’ rocket soars faster and farther into space than any other amateur spacecraft — smashing 20-year records
Aftershock II, a new rocket built by students at the University of Southern California, recently broke a number of 20-year-old amateur spaceflight records for altitude, power and speed. It reached more than 470,000 feet above Earth’s surface and went “hypersonic.” Read More.

‘A harbinger of what’s to come:’ NASA satellites show massive drop in global freshwater levels
NASA satellites discovered that Earth’s surface has lost enough water to empty Lake Erie two and a half times since 2015. And the problem could be here to stay. Read More.

Is light a particle or a wave?
Does light behave more like a particle, or like a wave? Today we know the surprising answer. Here’s why it took so long to get there. Read More.

Gotta Catch ‘Em All: How Pokémon Go covertly captured your data for years to train a massive AI model
Niantic, the company behind Pokémon Go, has been scraping users’ scans of the world to build a model that will help robots navigate physical space. Some experts are worried about the potential applications.
Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Grindavik, Iceland
Lava flows during a volcanic eruption near Grindavik on the Reykjanes Peninsula
Photograph: Marco di Marco/AP

Three black-headed gulls look extremely disgruntled by the sudden snowy weather in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, as a large part of the UK woke to colder conditions this week
Photograph: Lee Hudson/Alamy Live News

​​​​​​​A group of chamois, a species of goat-antelope, perch on the rocks on the island of Šolta, Croatia
Photograph: Marko Đurica/Reuters
Market Closes for November 22, 2024

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
📉 On this day in 1963: Stock markets plunged as news emerged that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas. The New York Stock Exchange closed early that Friday and stocks rebounded when it reopened Monday.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the fifth day, climbing 0.2%, or 53.59 to 25,444.28 in Toronto.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.0%.
ATS Corp. had the largest increase, rising 7.2%.
Today, 117 of 219 shares rose, while 98 fell; 6 of 11 sectors were higher, led by industrials stocks.
Insights
* This year, the index rose 21%, heading for the best year since 2021
* This month, the index rose 5.3%
* So far this week, the index rose 2.2%, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended Sept. 13
* The index advanced 27% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 31% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is at its 52-week high and 27.7% above its low on Nov. 28, 2023
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.3 on a trailing basis and 17.7 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.7% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$4t
* 30-day price volatility fell to 8.92% compared with 9.07% in the previous session and the average of 7.85% over the past month
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Industrials | 33.9115| 1.1| 19/7
Financials | 18.0718| 0.2| 16/10
Materials | 8.6934| 0.3| 28/21
Consumer Staples | 0.5735| 0.1| 5/5
Utilities | 0.4964| 0.1| 6/9
Communication Services | 0.2338| 0.0| 4/1
Consumer Discretionary | -0.6459| -0.1| 7/4
Health Care | -0.7485| -1.0| 1/3
Real Estate | -0.9043| -0.2| 5/15
Information Technology | -2.5416| -0.1| 7/3
Energy | -3.5378| -0.1| 19/20
================================================================
| | |Volume VS | YTD
| Index | | 20D AVG | Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Canadian Pacific Kansas | 13.9300| 2.0| 47.2| 2.3
Canadian National | 11.3400| 1.9| 44.2| -6.7
Brookfield Corp | 10.8000| 1.3| -7.6| 53.2
Manulife Financial | -3.6160| -0.6| 32.1| 55.0
Enbridge | -4.8850| -0.5| -59.6| 26.8
Constellation Software | -7.8280| -1.2| -11.5| 39.7
US
By Cristin Flanagan
(Bloomberg) — Beneficiaries of the incoming administration’s looser regulation and business-friendly stance put forth strong showings this week.
Stocks gained while Bitcoin crushed doubters and the dollar extended gains into an eighth week, the currency’s longest run of the year.
Blue chips and small caps led Friday’s equities advance as this year’s big tech winners struggled to gain ground.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% while an equal-weighted version of the gauge —where Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. has the same influence as Nvidia Corp. — climbed 0.8%, on track for an all-time closing high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1% while an index of bank stocks climbed to the highest in more than two years, the Russell 2000 jumped 1.8%.
The small-cap index climbed 4.5% this week while the biggest technology stocks, like Nvidia, Alphabet Inc. and Facebook-parent company Meta Platforms Inc., lagged.
Fundstrat’s Thomas Lee sees room for more gains in small-caps and cyclicals given President-elect’s plans for deregulation and general “animal spirits.”
He also sees a “Trump put” keeping the broader market buoyant.
Faith that the government and Donald Trump won’t let the economy knuckle under is helping bolster stocks, at least for the moment.
“When sentiment reaches a ‘bullish extreme’ is when we see equities priced to ‘perfection,’” according to Lee.
“By several measures, we are not there at that point yet.”
To Bank of America Corp. strategists the Nasdaq 100, which has rallied more than 4% this month, is approaching a level versus the S&P 500 that could trigger the unwinding of the trade favoring US equities. The tech-heavy gauge ended Friday up 0.2% with a 1.9% weekly gain.
Meanwhile, data on Friday showed S&P Global flash November composite output index for service providers and manufacturers advanced to 55.3 — the highest level since April 2022.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped around one basis point to 4.41%.
“The US flash PMIs for November were bullish in aggregate thanks to strength in services,” according to Vital Knowledge’s Adam Crisafulli, who said the details suggested a goldilocks scenario, “with favorable growth developments and cooling price pressures.”
The dollar registered its longest streak of weekly wins since September 2023. A Bloomberg gauge of the currency’s strength has risen around 2.6% so far this month, adding to October’s gains of nearly 3%.
“The US dollar’s run can continue,” said Peter McLean, head of multi-asset portfolio solutions at Stonehage Fleming.
“We also have those geopolitical tensions, which are escalating at the moment. It’s natural for investors to seek refuge in the dollar.”
Bouts of volatility, driven by escalations in the war in Ukraine earlier in the week, eased Friday.
The ongoing conflict helped to push WTI crude above $71 a barrel while gold traded at over $2,700 an ounce, and had its best week since March 2023.
The rally in Bitcoin set a fresh high Friday as the world’s biggest cryptocurrency races toward $100,000.
The latest developments included Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler’s decision to step down in January.
His tenure was marked by a flurry of crypto enforcement actions, which the industry expects will peter out under Trump.
In Europe, S&P Global’s composite Purchasing Managers’ Index for the euro area dipped back beneath a level that indicates contraction in November.
The region’s sovereign bonds rallied while the euro dropped to a two-year low.
Asian equities are on pace for their first back-to-back monthly losses this year amid dollar strength and lingering concerns over the Chinese economy.
Still, the region’s more favorable valuations versus the US market are aiding recovery in some assets.
Elsewhere in Asia, Adani Group companies advanced after a $27 billion rout on Thursday following a US indictment against Gautam Adani over allegations of bribery.
The company denied the allegations.

Corporate Highlights:
* Ally Financial Inc. is exploring a sale of its credit card arm, according to people familiar with the matter, after getting back into that business through an acquisition three years ago.
* Gap Inc. stock soared after it raised its full-year outlook as the apparel retailer attracts wealthier shoppers seeking value.
* Nvidia Corp.’s surging share price has created a challenge for Jensen Huang’s charitable foundation: As the stock climbs, so does the amount of money it has to give away.
* Walmart Inc.’s corporate employee bonuses are set to surpass targets again this year as the company’s stock soars and sales outperform its retail rivals.

Some of the main moves in markets: 
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1%
* The MSCI World Index rose 0.3%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 1.8%
* S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index rose 0.8%
* KBW Bank Index rose 1.6%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4%
* The euro fell 0.6% to $1.0414
* The British pound fell 0.5% to $1.2530
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to 154.82 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 1.2% to $99,246.81
* Ether fell 1.6% to $3,294.58
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.41%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined eight basis points to 2.24%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined six basis points to 4.39%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.5% to $71.18 a barrel
* Spot gold rose 1.4% to $2,706.96 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Margaryta Kirakosian, Andre Janse van Vuuren and Sujata Rao.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
The virtue of a person is measured not by his outstanding efforts,
but by his everyday behavior. -Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662.

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
www.carolannsteinhoff.com