November 24, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, painter, b. 1864.
Benedict de Spinoza, philosopher, b. 1632
Dale Carnegie, writer, b. 1888.

On Nov. 24, 1963, Jack Ruby shot and mortally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President Kennedy. Go to article »

The Times Book Review released its list of the year’s 10 best books. –NY Times.

Read an in-depth conversation with the cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Evolutionary transitions suggest intelligent life is rare. –Bloomberg.

So it begins: A monolith appears in the Utah desert.-Bloomberg.

Everything you ever wanted to know about the color palette of Garfield comics.

Researchers are also using a convolutional neural network, a type of A.I. that is especially well suited to analyzing photographs and other images, to identify ancient civilizations in millions of square miles of Google Earth imagery.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

This tiny burrowing owl tilts his head in curiosity as he spots a photographer taking his picture in the small town of Diessen in the Netherlands.
CREDIT: ALBERT BEUKHOF/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

Two people walk through early morning frost during sunrise in Epping Forest, east London, UK.
CREDIT: VICTORIA JONES/PA WIRE

The stunning Christmas light display pictured at Hever Castle in Kent, UK, which started this weekend, photographed by drone. Hever Castle’s annual Christmas event sees a Peter Pan themed trail in the grounds as well as the chance to witness the enchantment of the Castle and gardens festooned with fabulous colours and twinkling lights. Tickets must be booked in advance. The castle which dates back to the 13th century was once the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII and Mother of Elizabeth I, set in 125 acres of glorious grounds.
CREDIT: OLIVER DIXON

Market Closes for November 24^th, 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1998, America Online took over Netscape Communications for roughly $4.2 billion.

Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian shares rose with the global markets, as investors piled into risk assets. The S&P/TSX Composite index rose 1.1% to the highest since Feb. 24. Pot stocks were the best performing sector, while materials were the worst as gold prices fell. Cannabis stocks surged as President-elect Joe Biden started his formal transition after the General Services Administration acknowledged that he was the apparent winner of the Nov. 3 election.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $11.60 discount to West Texas Intermediate
* Spot gold fell 1.7% to $1,806.46 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose about 0.6% to C$1.3073 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose to 0.716%

By Bloomberg Automation:
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the fourth day, climbing 1.1 percent, or 179.71 to 17,274.25 in Toronto. The move was the biggest since rising 1.3 percent on Nov. 16. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.4 percent. Aurora Cannabis Inc. had the largest increase, rising 27.7 percent. Today, 141 of 222 shares rose, while 76 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by financials stocks.
Insights
* This month, the index rose 11 percent, heading for the biggest advance in at least 10 years
* This year, the index rose 1.2 percent, heading for the best year since 2019
* The index advanced 1.9 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 17 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 3.9 percent below its 52-week high on Feb. 20, 2020 and 54.6 percent above its low on March 23, 2020
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 1.9 percent in the past 5 days and rose 6 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.9 on a trailing basis and 23.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.62t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 15.40 percent compared with 15.23 percent in the previous session and the average of 15.20 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | | Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Financials | 106.0662| 2.0| 24/2
Energy | 74.4243| 3.8| 23/0
Consumer Discretionary | 14.2278| 2.2| 10/3
Communication Services | 8.8595| 1.0| 6/1
Health Care | 8.1872| 4.1| 6/4
Industrials | 4.7903| 0.2| 19/9
Utilities | 3.4249| 0.4| 11/4
Real Estate | 1.4617| 0.3| 14/12
Consumer Staples | -3.6600| -0.5| 4/6
Information Technology | -14.2902| -0.9| 4/5
Materials | -23.7775| -1.0| 20/30

US
By Kamaron Leach and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average topped 30,000 for the first time and investors piled into risk assets as a series of market-friendly developments unleashed animal spirits on Wall Street. The S&P 500 Index hit a record, spurred by the formal start of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition, news that all but removed the threat of a contested transfer of power. Investors also woke up with a clear sense of what Biden’s Treasury Department will have in policy preferences after he nominated Janet Yellen to the post. A third promising vaccine candidate added to the euphoria, boosting bets that the economy can soar next year. The rotation into risk assets was widespread. Small caps in the Russell 2000 added another 1.9%, pushing its November rally past 20%. Tesla Inc. tacked on another 6.4% and is now worth $500 billion. Carnival Corp. jumped 11%, Planet Fitness Inc. rose 8% and MGM Resorts International added 9%. Four stocks rose for every one that fell in the S&P 500, while only three Dow companies dropped. Bitcoin rose to a three-year high, topping $19,000 as it closed in on a record. The record runs come in the face of more troubling news on the virus front, with cases rising and more states enacting restrictions ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Wednesday will also bring a flood of economic indicators, from jobless claims to readings on consumer confidence and personal income. Trading volumes have been elevated in what is normally a calm week. More than 12 billion shares changed hands yesterday, up 75% from the Monday before last year’s holiday.
“There’s nothing else to buy. People have this excess cash and they’re buying into the market and they’re chasing it,” Gene Goldman, chief investment officer at Cetera Financial Group, said. “People are ignoring the short term and just jumping in and buying. All the short terms news is being ignored for long term optimism.” Energy companies in the S&P 500 surged 4% on the back of oil’s advance past $45 for the first time since March. The dollar weakened versus major peers and Treasuries slipped. Gold fell toward $1,800 an ounce. As the S&P 500 pushes its November surge past 11%, a growing chorus is saying the rally can persist. Even after the latest advance, four of the 11 S&P 500 groups remain at least 8% below when the index set a record on Feb. 19. Expectation is mounting that as investors grow confident the vaccine will spark an economic boom, cash will continue flooding into the likes of banks, utilities and energy companies that have underperformed. “Everybody’s just ecstatic with the vaccine news,” said Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer of First American Trust, in Santa Ana, California, which manages around $2 billion. “We had to slug through the election results, there’s a sense of relief that we didn’t decay into anarchy. That was definitely holding back the economy. We know how well stock markets do with recovery and its vision ahead.” The rotation has been on display all month. Energy shares have surged almost 40%, while financial firms have rallied about 20%. Treasury yields have advanced and gold has stumbled. “Even though we’ve seen this pretty sharp rotation into cyclical stocks, we think this could go on for much longer given how unbalanced many investors’ portfolios are when,” said Bill Callahan, investment strategist at Schroders. “With the vaccine announcement it really doesn’t matter if the vaccine is distributed in the second quarter or third quarter next year, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Here are some key events coming up:
* Minutes of the most recent Federal Open Market Committee meeting are due Wednesday.
* U.S. jobless claims, GDP and personal spending data come Wednesday.
* U.K. expected on Wednesday to deliver the government’s spending plans for next year.
* Thursday sees a policy decision and briefing from the Bank of Korea.
* U.S. celebrates the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.
* The week ends with Black Friday, the traditional start of the U.S. holiday shopping season.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 1.6% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Dow average added 1.5% to 30,045.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.9%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.9%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index was little changed.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%.
* The euro climbed 0.4% to $1.1890.
* The British pound gained 0.3% to $1.3358.
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 104.54 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries jumped two basis points to 0.88%.
* The yield on two-year Treasuries increased less than one basis
point to 0.16%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield gained three basis points to -0.56%.
* Japan’s 10-year yield climbed one basis point to 0.025%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude surged 4.2% to $44.84 a barrel.
* Brent crude climbed 3.9% to $47.87 a barrel.
* Gold futures weakened 1.8% to $1,811 an ounce.
–With assistance from Todd White.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever, 

Carolann

Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.  -Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862

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