January 18, 2018

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On Jan. 18, 1912, English explorer Robert F. Scott and his expedition reached the South Pole, only to discover that Roald Amundsen had gotten there first.
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PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People walk through The Wave by Vertigo, part of the Lumiere London light festival. London is hosting a festival that brings together international light artists to create installation across the capital.

A light dusting of snow on the rooftops of the houses on the iconic Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset at sunrise.  Gold Hill was the setting for the famous Hovis Bread advert in the 1970’s.

Two buzzards raise their talons as they clash in mid-air. The two birds were fighting over food in the Ferrara province in Ital.
CREDIT: ALBERTO GHIZZI PANIZZA/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY
Market Closes for January 18^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1956, Ford Motor Co. goes public when the Ford Foundation sells 10.2 million shares at $64.50. The largest IPO then on record, the offering puts 22% of Henry Ford’s company into public hands.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks retreated as the likelihood of a U.S. government shutdown grew and gold prices fell the most in six weeks.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 42 points or 0.3 percent to 16,284.47, the lowest in more than a week. Materials stocks tumbled 1.2 percent, with gold miners dragging the index down. Barrick Gold Corp. lost 2.5 percent and Goldcorp Inc. fell 2.2 percent.
     The energy index retreated 0.8 percent even as the U.S. oil stockpile fell to its lowest level since March 2015. Husky Energy Inc. lost 6.8 percent, the most since mid-2016, after a close call with an iceberg suspended offshore operations in the Atlantic.
     In other moves:
                          Stocks
* CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. rose 17 percent and Newstrike Resources Ltd. jumped 25 percent. Newstrike shareholders approved a takeover by CanniMed
* Hudbay Minerals Inc. fell 8.2 percent, the most since September. The stock was downgraded at National Bank Financial after Hudbay said it sees its copper production falling 15 percent in 2018
* OceanaGold Corp. gained 4.4 percent after reporting record annual and quarterly gold production
                          Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $24.40 discount to WTI
* Gold fell 0.9 percent to $1,327.20 an ounce, the most in six weeks
                          FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.1 percent to $1.2425 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose two basis points to 2.23 percent, the highest since 2014
US
By Eric J. Weiner and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks dipped one day after racing to all-time highs. The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed above 2.6 percent for the first time since March, while the dollar failed to hold the previous day’s gain.
     Most major equity gauges were lower, led by weakness in real estate, energy producers and household products makers. The move in Treasuries came as the possibility of a government shutdown after temporary funding runs out on Jan. 19 appeared to increase. In addition, investors speculated that Apple Inc. may sell some securities to pay the tax bill it will incur from it’s planned cash repatriation. 
     “We looked at (the government shutdown) backwards and forwards, and after a while it’s just exhausting,” Chris Harvey, head of equity strategy at Wells Fargo & Co., said on Bloomberg TV. “At the end of the day, I don’t think it really affects the capital markets all that much. We’ve seen it before, not a big deal.”
     European stocks advanced but struggled to stay in the green as the euro shrugged off ECB attempts to talk down the currency earlier this week. West Texas oil slipped amid signs that U.S. crude stockpiles continued to shrink. And base metals advanced following strong Chinese growth data.
     China’s better-than-expected figures only added to the narrative of synchronized expansion, which — alongside upbeat profit expectations — could mean the bull run in stocks will keep going until 2019 or beyond, according to a Bank of America survey of fund managers.
     Elsewhere, gold rose after two days of declines, and bitcoin steadied above $11,000. Emerging-market stocks gained for a fifth straight day.

     These are the main moves in markets:
                         Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent to 2,798.03, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.4 percent to 26,017.81.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.2 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index slid less than 0.1 percent.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index dipped 0.3 percent.
* Germany’s DAX Index gained 0.7 percent, the largest rise in almost two weeks.
                         Currencies
* The Bloomberg dollar spot index dropped 0.2 percent.]
* The euro advanced 0.4 percent to $1.224.
* The British pound rose 0.4 percent to $1.3892, the highest since June 2016.
* South Africa’s rand increased 1.3 percent to 12.1375 per dollar, the strongest in more than two years.
                          Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained three basis points to 2.6163 percent, the highest in more than 10 months.
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 1.33 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield added one basis point to 0.573 percent.
                          Commodities
* Gold was little changed at $1,326.85 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3 percent to $63.78 a barrel.
* Copper futures advanced 0.3 percent to $319.90 per pound.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

In the greatest confusion there is still an open channel to the soul.  It may be difficult to find because by midlife it is overgrown, and some of the wildest thickets that surround it grow out of what we describe as our education.  But he channel is always there, and it is our business to keep it open, to have access to the deepest part of ourselves.
                                                                 -Saul Bellow, 1915-2005

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
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