October 13, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Oct. 13, 1943, Italy declared war on Germany, its one-time Axis partner.
Go to article »
1812 – British and Canadians Victorious at Queenston Heights; Gen Isaac Brock dies.
1925- Lenny Bruce was born.
1941- Paul Simon was born.

October
    -Robert Frost
O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—
For the grapes’ sake along the wall.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A cheetah cub chases the gazelle fawn in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve during The Great Migration.

A San Diego Cal Fire firefighter monitors a flare up on the head of a wildfire (the Southern LNU Complex), off High Road above the Sonoma Valley, in Sonoma, California.
A wind shift caused flames to move quickly up hill and threaten homes in the area.  Three days after the fires began, firefighters were still unable to gain control of the blazes that had turned entire Northern California neighborhoods to ash and destroyed thousands of homes and business.

Sophia, a life-like humanoid robot, is pictured at the UN headquarters in New York.
Sophia was here attending a meeting on “The Future of Everything – Sustainable Development in the Age of Rapid Technological Change”.
Market Closes for October 13^th, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks inched closer to an all-time high, touching their highest level in eight months as the telecom, energy and financial sectors boosted the benchmark.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 65 points or 0.4 percent to 15,807.17, the highest close since Feb. 22. The benchmark gained 0.5 percent on the week.
     Telecom stocks were the biggest gainers, adding 0.9 percent, while energy shares rose 0.5 percent. West Texas Intermediate rose above $51 a barrel after China’s crude imports jumped to the second highest on record. Financials gained 0.5 percent even as bond yields fell the most since early September.
     In other moves:
                             Stocks
* SSR Mining Inc. tumbled 8.3 percent, the most since March. Production at its Marigold mine fell 30 percent quarter-over- quarter
* ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. rose 5.1 percent after its plasminogen replacement therapy was accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
* TFI International Inc. rose 4.4 percent, the most in a year. RBC upgraded the stock to outperform, saying it’s well positioned to capitalize on improving sector trends
                            Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at an $11.35 discount to WTI, widening for the first time in a week and a half
* Aeco natural gas traded at a $2.97 discount to Henry Hub
* Gold rose 0.6 percent to $1,301.50 an ounce, the highest since Sept. 25
                            FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.1 percent to C$1.2482 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell four basis points to 2.04 percent, the lowest in more than a month
US
By Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks climbed to record highs and Treasuries rallied after a core inflation reading slowed, adding to evidence that economic growth continues apace without stoking price increases. The dollar pared losses.
     Bonds in Europe gained after a report that the European Central Bank may continue asset purchases for at least nine months after it starts tapering in January. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed, led by steelmakers and miners as most industrial metals gained and crude oil rose back above $51 a barrel.
    “There’s nothing here to suggest why the core number was as weak as it is, but that’s just consistent with the trends that we’ve seen,” said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors Inc. “Inflation has been befuddling everyone for a really long time.”
     Excluding food and energy, so-called core prices rose 0.5 percent in September, below an estimate of 0.6 percent. At the same time, a Commerce Department report also released Friday showed U.S. retail sales rose in September by the most in more than two years, as Americans replaced storm-damaged cars and paid higher prices at the gasoline pump. Excluding autos and gas, sales still increased at the second-fastest pace since January.
     The inflation data bolstered the view that U.S. inflation below the Federal Reserve’s target may be structural rather than transitory, prompting traders to slightly reduce the odds of another rate increase in December.
     “The presumption that, with a softer inflation print, it would mean that maybe the Fed is not going to be as aggressive as people expected,” said Chris Verrone, head of technical analysis at Strategas Research in New York.
     Back in Europe, central bank officials are considering reducing quantitative easing to 30 billion euros ($36 billion) a month from the current pace of 60 billion euros, according to officials familiar with the debate. While the central bank’s governors are split on the need to identify an end date for purchases, a pledge to keep buying bonds until September — with the proviso that it could be extended if needed — may offer grounds for compromise, they said.
     In the U.S., Tenet Healthcare Corp., other hospital chains and health insurers fell as President Donald Trump’s move to cut off subsidies to insurers is likely to have a “profoundly destabilizing” impact that could range from lower earnings estimates to deal making to credit downgrades. The late-Thursday announcement is fueling fears that the payments, known as cost- sharing reduction subsidies, may end immediately.
     Elsewhere, gold strengthened for a sixth day and bitcoin surged to a fresh record above $5,800.
     Here are the main moves in markets:
                             Stocks
* S&P 500 Index rose 0.1 percent to 2,553.17 at 4:14 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.1 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.2 percent. All three indexes hit record highs.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.3 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index rose 0.2 percent.
* Spain’s IBEX Index fell 0.2 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index rose 0.5 percent
                            Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed after slumping as much as 0.3 percent.
* The euro was little changed at $1.1825.
* The Turkish lira rose 0.7 percent.
                            Bonds
* Spain’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to 1.61 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell four basis points to 0.40 percent.
* U.S.’s 10-year yield fell four basis points to 2.28 percent, round out the best week since the five days ending Sept. 8.
                            Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 76 cents to $51.36 a barrel, after climbing earlier to the highest in more than a week.
* Gold futures increased 0.7 percent to $1,302.85 an ounce.
                            Asia
* Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1 percent, finishing the week at the highest since 1996. Fast Retailing Co., the gauge’s biggest component, climbed 5.5 percent as overseas sales rose. The broader Topix index rose 0.5 percent.
* Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was little changed, while China’s benchmark gained 0.2 percent and South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.1 percent.

Have a wonderful evening everyone!

Be magnificent!

Nonviolence is not a cloistered virtue to be practiced
by the individual for peace and final salvation,
but it is a rule of conduct for society,
if it is to live consistently with human dignity
and make progress towards  the attainment of peace
for which it has been yearning for ages past.
Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,

Carolann

Know how to live the time that is given to you.
                                 -Dario Fo, 1926-2016

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
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com