October 18, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Oct. 18, 1968, the United States Olympic Committee suspended two black athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, for giving a “black power” salute as a protest during a victory ceremony in Mexico City.
Go to article »

POINTS OF PROGRESS:

SCOTLAND
A type of butterfly not seen in Scotland for 133 years has been sighted.  The white-letter hairstreak was spotted munching on ragwort “in the grassy edge of an arable field,” according to Iain Cowe of Britain’s Butterfly Conservation, who snapped a photo of it.  While Mr. Cowe said the butterfly looked “ragged and worn,” the  first sighting since 1884 has sparked hopes that a breeding colony has been established in the area.  The white-letter hairstreak is prevalent in England and Wales but the population has declined by 72 % over the past decade. –BBC, SMITHSONIAN.
THE BALKANS
The Accursed Mountains continue to open up to outsiders.  The Balkan mountain range, straddling the borders of Albania, Montenegro, and Kosovo, was largely closed to travelers for the past 70 years because of dictatorships and ongoing conflicts often fueled by the fractious relationships among Muslim, Christian and Orthodox communities in the region.  But since 2012, when a German government agency opened a 120-mile circular hiking trail through the pristine region, hikers have been drawn in larger numbers.  It is now seen as a symbol of peace. –FINANCIAL TIMES.
BOLIVIA
The Latin American nation’s infant mortality rate has plummeted.  Between 2008 and 2016, the number of deaths of children under 1 year old has dropped 52 %, from 50 deaths per thousand to 24.  The government said the fall corresponded with a 71.8 % increase in women who were attended by health-care personnel during childbirth.  The government says women have benefited from a raft of other initiatives, including a program called “My Health,” launched in 2013, that provides free health are to residents in  the poorest communities.  -TELESUR
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The Milky Way is pictured from the top of Schonguetsch mountain (2319m) above Lake Brienz, in the Bernase Oberland, Switzerland.

Autumn coloured vineyards around the castle of Hambach in Hambach near Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Germany.

Jim Zentveld from Amsterdam tries out Destination U Prototype, a facial coding pod developed by Realeyes to celebrate Thomson rebranding as TUI, in London. The prototype is the first of its kind, using facial coding and emotional measurement technology to guide holidaymakers when selecting a travel destination.

Japanese Shinto priests attend a ritual during an autumn festival at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Japan.
Market Closes for October 18^th, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed lower as energy stocks tumbled, pressured by a widening discount for crude and a general selloff in the space.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 35 points or 0.2 percent to 15,782.16, the lowest in four trading days. The energy sector fell 1.2 percent as data firm Genscape said flow on TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone pipeline was “essentially shut.” Precision Drilling Corp. fell 4 percent and Paramount Resources Ltd. lost 3.9 percent.
     The decline in energy shares offset a 1.1 percent gain in industrials. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. jumped 5.1 percent to the highest since May 2015 after raising its full-year profit forecast.
     In other moves:
                            Stocks
* Magna International Inc. rose 2.5 percent. The stock received a double upgrade to buy from underperform at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, while Nafta talks were extended to 2018
* Corus Entertainment Inc. fell 2.4 percent after fourth-quarter revenue missed the lowest analyst estimate
* Encana Corp. added 2.8 percent. The energy producer expects to increase cash flow about 25 percent a year through 2022
                           Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $12.10 discount to WTI, the biggest gap in a month, amid the drop in Keystone flow
* Aeco natural gas traded at a $2.63 discount to Henry Hub
* Gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,279.90 an ounce, the metal’s third consecutive decline
                            FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.5 percent to C$1.2460 per U.S. dollar, the biggest gain in six weeks
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose two basis points to 2.03 percent, the first increase in eight trading days
US
By Brendan Walsh
     (Bloomberg) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its biggest gain in five weeks and the three major U.S. equity benchmarks closed at records as corporate earnings beat estimates.
     Stocks were bolstered by IBM’s forecast for its first sales growth in five years, which sent its shares to their biggest advance since 2009, and better-than-expected results at Abbott Laboratories and Northern Trust Corp. A gauge of commodities declined as copper and gold slipped. Treasury yields increased after traders added to bets on steeper U.S. interest rates.
     More than 80 percent of the 52 members of the S&P 500 Index that have already reported earnings for the most recent quarter beat analysts’ forecasts.
     Fed funds futures indicate a roughly 80 percent chance that U.S. policy makers will raise rates at their December meeting, up from 72 percent Friday. President Donald Trump’s choice for the next Fed chair will be unveiled before he leaves Nov. 3 for an 11-day trip to Asia and Hawaii, a person familiar with the process said Tuesday. John Taylor was said to have impressed Trump in an interview, buoying gains in the greenback earlier this week given the assumption by many that he would favor tighter policy. 
     Elsewhere, The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose on wagers the European Central Bank will remain accommodative even as it tapers asset purchases. Stocks in Shanghai gained after Chinese President Xi Jinping laid out a road map to turn the country into a leading global power by 2050. Investors are watching to see whether Xi will push through tough reforms as the world’s second-largest economy faces structural challenges over the next five years.
     Here are some key events coming up this week:
* China releases data for GDP, industrial production and retail sales on Thursday.
* Markets in Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka were closed on Wednesday for holidays.

      Here are the main moves in markets:

                              Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.1 percent at the close in New York.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.7 percent
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.3 percent.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index gained 0.4 percent.
* Germany’s DAX Index increased 0.4 percent to a record. 
                          Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
* The euro rose 0.2 percent to $1.1794.
* The British pound gained 0.1 percent to $1.3198.
* The Japanese yen sank 0.6 percent to 112.92 per dollar.
                           Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased four basis points to 2.34 percent, the highest in a week. 
* Germany’s 10-year yield climbed three basis points to 0.39 percent. 
* Britain’s 10-year yield jumped four basis points to 1.31 percent.
                           Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate rose 0.2 percent to $52 a barrel.
* Gold dipped 0.3 percent to $1,280.76 an ounce, a one-week low
* Copper fell for a second day, declining 0.6 percent to $3.175 a pound

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Whenever I see an erring man, I say to myself I have also erred;
when I see a lustful man I say to myself, so was I once;
and in this way I feel kinship with everyone in the world
and feel that I cannot be happy without the humblest of us being happy.
Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,

Carolann

Rank does not confer privilege or give power.  It imposes responsibility.
                                                     -Peter Drucker, 1909-2005

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