Month: November 2018

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  HAPPY FRIDAY!

St. Andrew’s Day

Mark Twain, b. 1835
Winston Churchill, b. 1874
Abbie Hoffman, b. 1936
Ben Stiller, b.1965

1924 – November 30 – Communications – RCA sends First wireless transmission of photographs by radio from London to New York City using the wirephoto technology, invented by Winnipeger William Stephenson; takes 20 to 25 minutes per photo; Stephenson first showed the process was in London December 27, 1922; his work laid laid some of the groundwork for the invention of television. London, England.  Go to article

From The New York Times, November 30, 2018:

Details of the last minutes of a doomed Lion Air flight emerged this week thanks to data from the Boeing jet’s so-called black boxes.

Planes did not always have these data recorders. During the first half of aviation’s history, crashes mostly remained a mystery.

A data recorder retrieved from Lion Air Flight 610, which crashed into the Java Sea a month ago.   Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

Enter David Warren, an Australian whose father was killed in an air crash. In the mid-1950s, after helping investigate a plane wreck, he came up with a way to capture information from any plane’s last minutes.

His idea: Embed recording devices that, in case of impact, would cease overwriting old data with new. He prototyped his Flight Memory Unit in 1957.

Flight-data recorders and cockpit voice recorders are now standard, and have helped explain crashes and improve airline safety.

Why are these bright orange units called “black boxes?”

Some think the first one was black, but others point to the term’s meaning in science: a complex entity whose result is known, even if its inner workings are not.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The Victorian gothic features of Bradford City Hall are picked out in vivid colours as the building is transformed into a giant canvas for a light show by world-leading 3D projection specialists the Colour Project. Credit: Asadour Guzelian

A dog jumps to catch a flying disk as it plays among ginkgo leaves at Yoyogi park in Tokyo, Japan. Credit: Issei Kato/Reuters

A woman takes pictures on Red Square in front of St Basil’s Cathedral as it snows in Moscow. Credit: Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP
Market Closes for November 30^th, 2018

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	25538.46	+199.62   +0.79%
S&P 500	2759.98	+22.22   +0.81%
NASDAQ	7330.535	+57.452   +0.79%
TSX	15197.82	+3.78
		+0.02%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	22351.06	+88.46
		+0.40%
HANG SENG	26506.75	+55.72
		+0.21%
SENSEX	36194.30	+23.89
		+0.07%
FTSE 100*	6980.24	-62.52
		-0.89%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		2.270		2.305
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.393		2.412
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.9933		3.0298
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.2933		3.3245

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75220	0.75329
US $	1.32944	1.32751
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.50433	0.66470
US $	1.13163	0.88368

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1226.25	1213.25
Oil
WTI Crude Future	50.93	51.45

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1988, private-equity firm KKR won the bidding war to do a leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco for more than $25 billion, generating over $1 billion in fees for Wall Street—and setting the high-water mark for the LBO craze and junk-bond binge of the 1980s.
Canada
By Tatiana Darie
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks eked out a gain for a third day to post their best monthly performance since June as the U.S., Canada and Mexico signed a new trade deal. Meanwhile, U.S. stocks also rose as investors turned positive on the outlook for trade ahead of a meeting between the American and Chinese presidents.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.02% on Friday, with health stocks at the front of the pack. Financials and energy shares were the sole underperformers. The head of an Aurora Cannabis Inc. unit said in an interview that the companies that will dominate the global cannabis industry are going to emerge within the next two years amid a flurry of mergers and acquisitions.
Stocks
* Galaxy Digital Holdings fell 4.2 percent after GMP analyst Deepak Kaushal downgraded shares to speculative buy from buy.
* TransCanada erased losses to close little changed after reports that the company can resume certain pre-construction activities, including engineering and meeting with stakeholders, for the Keystone XL oil pipeline following a federal court decision; however, the pipeline will get a new supplemental review from the U.S.
* Enbridge got approval to increase its B.C. gas line to maximum pressure. The company sees capacity on 9L2 segment from Station 9 to Huntingdon increasing to 1.4 bcf/d “over the next few days” after Oct. 9 rupture.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $29 discount to WTI
* Gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,221.40 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar slipped 0.08 percent to C$1.3293 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell 3.3 basis points to 2.268%
US
By Vildana Hajric and Brendan Walsh
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks gained as investors turned positive on the outlook for trade ahead of a meeting between the American and Chinese presidents.
     The S&P 500 Index posted its largest weekly advance since 2011, helped by a dovish turn from the Federal Reserve. Microsoft capped its best weekly gain since 2015 and finished the five days as the world’s most valuable company, surpassing Apple. Oil’s brief dip below $50 a barrel Friday sent energy producers lower and buoyed airlines. Optimistic trade comments from U.S. and Chinese officials provided support for equities ahead of a Saturday dinner meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
     Ten-year Treasury yields resumed their drop toward 3 percent, while the dollar pushed higher. Crude capped its biggest monthly slump in a decade. Emerging-market equities slipped, though Chinese stocks advanced even as data showed the economy remains in a rough patch. The euro weakened with the region’s shares after data showed inflation easing in the region.
     Any sign of a trade truce could tame the greenback’s gains and boost riskier assets including emerging-market currencies and stocks. Trump on Thursday gave conflicting signals on his expectations for reaching a deal with Xi this weekend, as officials work on the contours of an accord that may delay ramping up tariffs on the Asian country in January. Goldman Sachs, however, said an escalation of tensions is the most likely outcome.
     “The market really wants to see a deal with China,” said Peter Mallouk, the co-chief investment officer of Creative Planning, a wealth-management firm with about $36 billion in assets. “If we can get any kind of trade indication in the coming weeks that there was a path to getting a deal done, I think people would be surprised how positively the market would react to that kind of news.”
     The best-case scenario: what the Trump-Xi dinner could yield.
     The first official gauge of China’s economy in November showed manufacturing activity continued to worsen, indicating the authorities will need to keep using stimulus measures as economic growth slows. On Thursday in the U.S., minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting showed the central bank preparing for a more flexible path in 2019.
Coming Up
* Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet at the G-20 summit of world leaders in Argentina that kicked off Friday. Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman are likely to discuss oil policy. 
* Ford, Fiat Chrysler, other automakers report November U.S. sales on Monday. 
* Fed Chairman Jerome Powell testifies on the economic outlook before Congress’s Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday. 
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.8 percent at the close of trade in New York; the gauge gained 4.8 percent this week and 1.8 percent in November.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.2 percent. 
* The Nikkei-225 Stock Average rose 0.4 percent for its sixth consecutive gain. 
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index decreased 0.3 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index advanced 0.4 percent. 
* The euro dipped 0.7 percent to $1.1319. 
* The British pound decreased 0.4 percent to $1.2744. 
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 113.52 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped two basis points to 3.01 percent, the lowest in more than 10 weeks. 
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.31 percent, the lowest in more than 14 weeks. 
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 1.36 percent. 
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude decreased 1.5 percent to $50.68 a barrel. 
* Gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,222.35 an ounce. 
* Copper fell 0.1 percent to $2.7875 a pound.
–With assistance from Adam Haigh, Christopher Anstey and Robert Brand.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Change is inevitable.  Change is constant.
           -Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Nov. 29, 1947, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling for Palestine to be partitioned between Arabs and Jews. Go to article »

1989: Czechoslovakia ends Communist rule.

Under capitalism, man exploits man.   Under communism, it’s just the opposite.  –John Kenneth Galbraith, 1908-2006

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Participants in the 2018 Siberian Snowkiting Cup compete on the surface of the Novosibirsk Reservoir. Credit: Itar-Tass News Agency/Alamy Live News

Goldfinch bird does the splits as it tries to balance between two teasel plants in Hawick, Scottish Borders. Credit: Mediadrumimages/Ron McCombe

A two-masted schooner is dwarfed by a 300 foot tall turquoise iceberg off the coast of Scoresbysund, West Greenland. Credit: James Rushforth/Solent News & Photo Agency

Israeli archeologist Ronit Lupu of the IAA Antiquities Theft Prevention Unit holds a rare stone mask dating to the Neolithic (new stone age) period which was found the Pnei Hever region of southern Hebron mount, at the Rockefeller archeological museum in Jerusalem. The mask is made of pinkish-yellow limestone, carefully shaped with stone tools to resemble a human face, 4 holes were drilled along the perimeter of the mask, probably in order to tie it to the face of a living person, or maybe to a pole or other designated artefact in order to display it. Credit: Gali Tibbon/AGP/Getty Images
Market Closes for November 29^th, 2018

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	25338.84	-27.59   -0.11%
S&P 500	2737.76	-6.03   -0.22%
NASDAQ	7273.082	-18.510   -0.25%
TSX	15194.04	+22.79
		+0.15%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	22262.60	+85.58
		+0.39%
HANG SENG	26451.03	-231.53
		-0.87%
SENSEX	36170.41	+453.46
		+1.27%
FTSE 100*	7038.95	+34.43
		+0.49%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		2.305		2.328
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.412		2.414
U.S.    10 Year Bond		3.0298		3.0571
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.3245		3.3459

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75329	0.75347
US $	1.32751	1.32720
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.51254	0.66114
US $	1.13938	0.87767

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1213.25	1221.20
Oil
WTI Crude Future	51.45	50.29

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1912, John Marks Templeton was born in Winchester, Tenn. He went on to found the Templeton Growth Fund and invented the discipline of global investing.
Canada
By Tatiana Darie
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks inched up for a second day, fueled by a rally in heavy Canadian crude, outperforming the U.S. market where trade anxiety before the highly anticipated sit-down between the U.S. and China weighed on sentiment.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.2 percent, with energy and consumer staples pacing gains. Six of the 11 subsectors fell. Anticipation that the Alberta government might impose production cuts to reduce a glut of crude in the west of the country sent the price of heavy Canadian crude up. Meanwhile, Tenaris SA is suspending work at a steel-pipe plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and put part of the blame on U.S. metal tariffs.
Stocks
* Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce fell 3.2 percent after reporting profit that missed analysts’ expectations for the first time in almost four years. analysts blamed lower-than- expected revenues in Canadian and U.S. operations.
* Bombardier rose 1.9 percent after the finance chief said the company is reviewing options to renegotiate existing deal with Caisse; Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec CEO Michael Sabia said in an interview that Bombardier’s team is “doing a lot of the right things.”
* Enbridge rose 2.4 percent after Height Capital Markets noted that the co.’s Line 5 replacement project is a step closer to becoming a “done deal” as legislation expected to hit Michigan governor Rick Snyder’s desk by year-end.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $30.00 discount to WTI
* Gold gained 0.02 percent to $1,223.90 an ounce FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar slipped 0.09 percent to C$1.3287 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell 2.4 basis points to 2.300%
US
By Randall Jensen and Vildana Hajric
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for the first time in four days as fresh trade anxiety outweighed a dovish shift by the Fed ahead of a highly anticipated sit-down between the U.S. and China. Treasuries rose, while the dollar dropped.
     The S&P 500’s late rally faltered as speculation that President Donald Trump won’t be able to tamp down his trade spat with China at the G-20 meeting hurt sentiment. Tech firms that led Wednesday’s rally paced declines. Banks also fell as the 10- year Treasury yield held near its lowest level since September as Fed minutes appeared to signal the central bank is preparing for a more flexible path. Chairman Jay Powell sparked the biggest stock rally since March with dovish comments.
     “The G-20 meeting is a binary event — no one knows what the outcome is,” Nathan Thooft, Manulife Asset Management’s head of global asset allocation, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters. “The optimists are looking for some evidence of thawing in the China, US trade dynamics, the pessimists are saying there’s no way they’re going to resolve it.”
     Trade and political developments vied for attention Thursday as Trump heads to Buenos Aires to meet President Xi Jinping. The latest twist in Robert Mueller’s investigation threatened to distract Trump after his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to new crimes related to the his business dealings in Russia. While the dovish Fed turn potentially removed a market overhang, the trade tensions remained a problem for investors concerned that global growth is slowing.
     In Europe, shares and bonds rose, while the pound fell as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May raised the prospect of a “no deal” Brexit. Deutsche Bank AG slid after prosecutors said its headquarters were being searched in a money laundering probe.
Coming Up
* Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping plan to meet at the G-20 meeting of world leaders in Argentina that kicks off on Friday.
* Thursday sees the release of the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s November meeting.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.2 percent as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.1 percent. 
* The Nasdaq composite declined 0.3 percent, while the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.1 percent. 
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.2 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index rose 0.5 percent.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.6 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1 percent. 
* The euro climbed 0.2 percent to $1.1392.
* The British pound declined 0.3 percent to $1.2785.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.3 percent to 113.39 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell three basis points to 3.03 percent, the first decline in four days.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to 0.32 percent, the lowest in more than 14 weeks.
* Britain’s 10-year yield dipped three basis points to 1.345 percent, the lowest in more than three months.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.1 percent to $51.34 a barrel.
* Gold was steady at $1,230.10 an ounce.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

 

Carolann

Champions keep playing until they get it right.
                        -Billie Jean King, b. 1943

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1995 – November 28 – Rail – Ottawa privatizes the publicly owned Canadian National Railways (CN) through an initial public offering (IPO), after 78 years as a Crown corporation; Canada’s largest Crown corporation and one of the largest state-run enterprises in the industrialized world; issue will raise $2.6 billion for the government of Canada. CN will go on to acquire the Illinois Central (1999), Wisconsin Central (2001), the rail and marine holdings of Great Lakes Transportation LLC (2004), and BC Rail (2004). Ottawa, Ontario.

1,000+
Age (in years) of a 33-inch-long, possibly pre-Viking sword pulled from a Swedish lake by a vacationing 8-year-old girl this summer. –The Local

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A swarm of starlings flies over the Altare della Patria monument (Unkown soldier) in the city centre of Rome during senset. Credit: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP
Migratory birds fly around row boats on the Yamuna River on a morning of heavy air pollution in New Delhi. Credit: Noemi Cassanelli/AFP
A long exposure photograph captures Scott Monument along side the 60 metre high Sky Flyer fairground ride which lights up Edinburgh’s Christmas skyline in Princes Street Gardens. Credit: Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS.COM
Market Closes for November 28^th, 2018

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	25366.43	+617.70   +2.50%
S&P 500	2743.78	+61.61   +2.30%
NASDAQ	7291.594	+208.894   +2.95%
TSX	15171.25	+227.16
		+1.52%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	22177.02	+224.62
		+1.02%
HANG SENG	26682.56	+350.60
		+1.33%
SENSEX	35716.95	+203.81
		+0.57%
FTSE 100*	7004.52	-12.33
		-0.18%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		2.328		2.334
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.414		2.393
U.S.    10 Year Bond		3.0571		3.0553
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.3459		3.3154

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75347	0.75207
US $	1.32720	1.32966
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.50909	0.66265
US $	1.13704	0.87948

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1221.20	1223.40
Oil
WTI Crude Future	50.29	51.56

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Tatiana Darie
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rallied as U.S. stocks surged after a dovish tone from the Federal Reserve chairman fueled speculation that the central bank is closer than thought to pausing on rate hikes.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 1.5 percent, the most in a week, with health-care and information technology leading gains. 
     Telecom was the only group in the red on Wednesday. The loonie broke a three-day streak of losses against the dollar, climbing 0.2 percent.
Stocks
* Descartes Systems Group rose 3.4 percent after reporting revenue for the third quarter of $70.0 million.
* Transcontinental climbed 10 percent after TD Securities analyst Damir Gunja upgraded the rating to buy from hold, PT C$29 from C$31, following the stock’s recent selloff.
* Superior Plus rose 3.4 percent after TD upgraded to action list buy from buy (PT C$16) on valuation and after recent investor meetings.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $33.25 discount to WTI
* Gold gained 0.6 percent to $1,220.80 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.2 percent to C$1.3273 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell 1 basis points to 2.324%
US
By Randall Jensen and Vildana Hajric
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied the most in eight months and the dollar fell after a dovish tone from the Federal Reserve chairman fueled speculation the central bank is closer than thought to pausing on rate hikes.
Stocks that had fallen the most during the six-week slump in American equities led gains after Jerome Powell said rates are “just below” the range of a neutral policy, potentially removing one of the biggest overhangs. Aside from the Treasury market, where shorter-term yields turned lower but only by a few basis points, moves in other asset classes were just as heady:
* The spread between December 2018 and December 2019 eurodollar futures — a measure of how much tightening traders expect next year — briefly touched less than 25 basis points, the equivalent of one Fed hike. It had forecast two earlier this month.
* The two-year Treasury yield fell two basis points to 2.81 percent.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index jumped almost 3 percent, with the Amazon.com and Netflix each higher by at least 5 percent to lead the FANG cohort.
* The Bloomberg Dollar Index sank the most in two weeks, fueling speculation its two-month rally may be over.
* Emerging-market equities hit a three-week high, while the rate on Mexico’s 10-year dollar-denominated bond tumbled by 16 basis points.
* The pound reversed losses sparked by the Bank of England’s warning that a no-deal Brexit could spark a recession.
     The Fed chairman said the economic outlook remains “solid,” bolstering expectations for a rate hike when the central bankmeets next month, but he noted that the effects of higher rates take time to show up in data. All told, investors surmised the Fed is likely to reduce the number of hikes or outright stop them next year.
     “Stocks are rallying dramatically because Chair Powell took a far more dovish tone than he did just a month ago when he said rates were a long way from neutral,” Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco Ltd, said in an email interview. “This is in line with the more dovish tone Vice Chair Richard Clarida has taken in recent weeks, but which the market didn’t believe because it didn’t come from Powell. Now investors are true believers – and are reacting accordingly.”
     Trade also remained in focus, carmaker shares were under pressure after President Donald Trump threatened tariffs and renewed his haranguing of General Motors for closing U.S. plants. Trump heads to the Group of 20 meeting tomorrow where investors will look for progress in his trade war with China.
Coming Up
* Trump and President Xi Jinping plan to meet at the G-20 summit in Argentina that kicks off on Friday.
* Thursday sees the release of the minutes from the Federal Open
Market Committee’s November meeting.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index gained 2.3 percent as of 4 p.m. New York time, the biggest three-day gain since June.
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 3.2 percent and the Dow added 2.5 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 1.4 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was little changed.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 1.7 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.6 percent.
* The euro advanced 0.7 percent.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1 percent.
* The British pound gained 0.6 percent.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.06 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield was steady at 0.35 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 1.377 percent.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index gained 1.6 percent.
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.1 percent to $50.45 a barrel.
* Gold rose 0.6 percent to $1,226.80 an ounce.
–With assistance from Alexandra Harris and Katherine Greifeld.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Today is Giving Tuesday. Founded by the 92nd Street Y in New York City in 2012 and propelled by social media, it’s now a global movement encouraging charitable donations and service.

At its core: “The idea that no act of giving is too small to make an impact,” one of the organization’s executives told The Times.

That same belief inspired Adolph S. Ochs, the publisher of The Times, to help a man in need on Christmas Day in 1911.

That encounter led Ochs to found the Neediest Cases Fund, our annual charity campaign. And more than a century later, we’re still sharing stories of people in need — and giving readers a way to help — throughout the holiday season.

After all, as one long-time donor summed it up: “We’re all in this together.”

Remy Tumin, a reporter for the 107th annual Neediest Cases campaign, wrote today’s Back Story. – The New York Times, November 27, 2018

Adolph S. Ochs, the former publisher of The Times, circa 1933. The New York Times Photo Archives

Bruce Lee, b. 1940
Jimi Hendrix, b. 1942
Welland Canal

By being yourself, you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before. -Edwin Eliot.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Buildings are seen in thick fog in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province of China. China Meteorological Administration issued an orange alert for thick fog. Credit: Chen Wei/VCG Via Getty Images

Tom Doslin of Hawaii wipes out of the legendary Pipeline wave during the first great winter day of surfing in Haleiwa on the Hawaiian North Shore. Credit: Brian Bielmann/AFP/Getty Images

A rainbow forms over St. Mary’s Lighthouse at Whitley Bay, North Tyneside. A “major change” in the UK’s weather is expected in the coming days as Storm Diana sweeps in from the Atlantic. Credit: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

107-year-old French cyclist Robert Marchand prepares to take the start of a ride on his bike to celebrate his birthday around Privas, southern France. Credit: Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for November 27^th, 2018

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	24748.73	+108.49   +0.44%
S&P 500	2682.20	+8.75   +0.33%
NASDAQ	7082.699	+0.846   +0.01%
TSX	14944.09	-68.56
		-0.46%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	21952.40	+140.40
		+0.64%
HANG SENG	26331.96	-44.22
		-0.17%
SENSEX	35513.14	+159.06
		+0.45%
FTSE 100*	7016.85	-13.70
		-0.19%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		2.334		2.354
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.393		2.405
U.S.    10 Year Bond		3.0553		3.0590
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.3154		3.3171

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75207	0.75421
US $	1.32966	1.32590
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.50153	0.66599
US $	1.12926	0.88554

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1223.40	1223.65
Oil
WTI Crude Future	51.56	51.63

Market Commentary:
Microsoft is close to becoming the most valuable U.S. company for the first time since 2003, according to Dow Jones Market Data. If the software firm eclipses Apple in market value, it would knock the iPhone maker off the top spot for the first time since 2016, when Google parent Alphabet briefly topped Apple. Apple is valued at $829 billion, while Microsoft is at $817 billion and Amazon.com is at $773 billion. 
Canada
By Tatiana Darie
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks continued to be weak on Tuesday amid a sell-off in materials as U.S.-China trade jitters and a rally in the U.S. dollar put downward pressure on the space.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.5 percent, with losses in consumer discretionary and materials pacing losses. Communication and real estate were the only sectors in the green.
     The loonie weakened against the dollar for a third day as the rising U.S. 10-year yield helped push spread over comparable Canadian debt to widest since July.
Stocks
* Kinross Gold and Turquoise Hill Resources fell along with U.S. peers in the materials sector as the U.S. signaled it’s likely to go ahead with plans to raise tariffs on Chinese products, adding to concerns about global growth.
* Maple Leaf Foods fell 2.8 percent after announcing plans to build a C$660m poultry facility in London, Ontario.
* Crescent Point Energy fell 2.7 percent after hiring Sayer Energy Advisors to assist in the sale of CPG’s prospective Duvernay oil rights in the Ferrybank area of Alberta, according to offering terms on Sayer’s website.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $33.50 discount to WTI
* Gold fell 0.7 percent to $1,214.20 an ounce 
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened by 0.3 percent to C$1.3295 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell 2.7 basis points to 2.322%
US
By Randall Jensen and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — Stocks rose as investors assessed the chances for a detente in the U.S.-China trade tussle. The dollar gained, while Treasuries edged lower. 
     The S&P 500 advanced for a second day in a row, with health care and consumer staple companies pacing gains. President Donald Trump’s economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Wednesday Trump is open to a trade deal with China, which followed threats of more tariffs by the president ahead of meeting with his counterpart Xi Jinping. Small caps dropped. Major retailers got a boost as results from the biggest shopping weekend of the year showed an increase in online shopping.
     Major moves in U.S. stocks: Facebook fell, along with Apple and Google, while Netflix rose 2 percent. General Motors slid after Trump said the U.S. is looking at cutting all its subsidies. United Technologies tumbled after it said it plans to break into three separate companies.Macy’s rose 4 percent after the end of Black Friday shopping.
     The 10-year Treasury yield edged higher, while the dollar gained for a second day after comments by several Federal Reserve officials, including Vice Chairman Richard Clarida who backed gradual rate hikes. The pound weakened as traders mulled prospects for parliamentary approval of the Brexit deal, which Trump said could jeopardize Britain’s ability to strike a trade pact with the U.S. West Texas crude traded above $51 a barrel.
     Elsewhere, emerging market shares climbed. Bitcoin steadied around $3,700 after plunging 14 percent Monday. “The news flow on the U.S.-China trade dispute has certainly been erratic and unpredictable, and the latest reports have weighed on US markets as we speak,” Neil MacKinnon, London-based global macro strategist at VTB Capital and a former U.K. Treasury official, said by phone. “Investors are a little bit anxious that the G20 meeting might not produce an agreement or even a truce on the trade dispute.”
     Trade remains firmly in investors’ minds before leaders of the two biggest economies meet in Buenos Aires at the end of the week. Trump indicated in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Monday that, besides a scheduled bump-up in tariff rates on $200 billion of Chinese imports in January, he’d also slap new duties on the remaining imports that have so far escaped his levies, depending on how talks proceed.
     Fed speakers will be closely watched for the latest thinking on the trajectory of interest rates. Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech on Wednesday will be parsed for any hints on prospects for a pause in rate increases next year after traders reduced expectations for the pace of monetary policy tightening.
Coming Up
* Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping plan to meet at the G-20 summit in Argentina that kicks off on Friday.
* Federal Reserve Chairman Powell addresses the New York Economic Club on Wednesday.
* Thursday sees the release of the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s November meeting.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.3 percent as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped 0.3 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index rose 0.1 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index increased 0.4 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index advanced 0.2 percent.
* The euro declined fell 0.3 percent to $1.1295.
* The Japanese yen dropped 0.2 percent to 113.78 per dollar.
* The British pound declined 0.7 percent to $1.2734.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index fell 0.2 percent.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose less than one basis point to 3.06 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.34 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to 1.382 percent.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index declined 0.4 percent.
* West Texas Intermediate rose 0.3 percent to $51.77 a barrel.
* LME copper fell 1 percent to $6,121.50 per metric ton.
* Gold dropped 0.8 percent to $1,219.00 an ounce.
–With assistance from Vildana Hajric and Eddie van der Walt.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.
                                                  -Malala Yousafzai, b. 1997

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

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

I watched the film The Seagull on HBO last night and highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it yet.  Anton Chekov’s classic play has been made into this beautiful film.  Film critic Peter Rainer comments that “the best reason to check out the film is for Saoirse Ronan’s tender, wrenching performance as the lovelorn Nina, and, especially , for Annette Benning’s fantastic turn as Irina, the grand dame of the Russian theater whose most tumultuous work occurs offstage.”  I thought both of their performances were terrific and the production overall was great.

POINTS OF PROGRESS:
CYPRUS
The number of green and loggerhead turtle nests on the Mediterranean country’s beaches has more than tripled since conservation efforts began.  In 1978, there were only 300 turtle nests.  Now there are more than 1,000.  The increase is especially significant for green turtle populations, which nest only on the beaches of Cyprus and Turkey. -Voice of America.

NORWAY
The country’s $1 trillion sovereign investment fund has announced a new push against plastics.  The fund, which invests and has voting rights in 268 big companies, offers carrot-and-stick plans to encourage environmental responsibility:  The companies that comply the most with fund expectations are recognized, while the least may be dropped form its investment list.  While the fund’s mandate is not replacement for regulatory legislation, it has the advantage of incentivizing companies to act more quickly.  –Reuters.

INDONESIA
The Wondiwoi tree kangaroo, thought to be extinct, was recently photographed in the wild.  Michael Smith, an amateur botanist from England, saw the tree kangaroo while trekking in  a remote jungle area in West Papua on the island of New Guinea while searching for rhododendrons.  Biologists speculate that the tree kangaroo survived because of the impenetrability of the bamboo forest in the area where it was found, and hope the discovery will lead to protection of its habitat. –National Geographic.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

After heavy showers on Saturday night, these wild ponies were out grazing on the hill at Chapel Carn Brea in Cornwall on Sunday. Credit: Simon Maycock/Alamy Live News

Men dressed as 1812-era French soldiers take part in re-enact a staged battle near the Belarus village of Bryli. The event marks the 206^th anniversary of the Berezina battle during Napoleon’s army retreat from Russia. About 50,000 people, soldiers from both sides of sides and civilians, were killed during the crossing, which was effected under heavy Russian attack and saved Napoleon and his forces from capture. Credit: Sergei Grits/AP

Steampunk enthusiasts attend the sixth annual Haworth Steampunk Weekend in West Yorkshire. Credit: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for November 26^th, 2018

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	24640.24	+354.29   +1.46%
S&P 500	2673.45	+40.89   +1.55%
NASDAQ	7081.852	+142.868   +2.06%
TSX	15012.65	+1.92
		+0.01%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	21812.00	+165.45
		+0.76%
HANG SENG	26376.18	+448.50
		+1.73%
SENSEX	35354.08	+373.06
		+1.07%
FTSE 100*	7036.00	+89.49
		+1.29%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		2.354		2.339
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.405		2.390
U.S.    10 Year Bond		3.0590		3.0390
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.3171		3.3015

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75421	0.75544
US $	1.32590	1.32374
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.50191	0.66582
US $	1.13275	0.88282

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1223.65	1227.05
Oil
WTI Crude Future	51.63	50.22

Market Commentary:
U.S. crude oil lost 11% last week, the steepest weekly percentage decline since January 2016. It fell 7.7% Friday, its biggest one-day drop since July 2015. 
The tech-laden Nasdaq fell 4.3% last week, its biggest weekly percentage decline since March 2018. The Dow fell 4.4% while the S&P 500 lost 3.8%.
Canada
By Tatiana Darie
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks ended Monday little changed after erasing earlier gains of as much as 0.78 percent. In the U.S., beaten-down tech shares helped lead a rebound, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each up about 1.5 percent.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index eked out a 0.01 percent gain, with tech and telecom shares offsetting losses in health care.
     The energy sector fell as gas exploration and production companies dropped, with one analyst citing pricing and pipe bottlenecks. Industrials gained slightly even as General Motors announced that the carmaker has no plans to produce vehicles at a plant in Oshawa, Ontario after December 2019.
Stocks
* Toronto-Dominion Bank and Canadian Imperial Bank of Canada each gained slightly after agreeing to pay $622 million to join Air Canada’s rewards plan.
* Emera Inc. fell 0.3 percent after agreeing to sell its three natural gas-fired generation facilities in New England, known as Bridgeport Energy, Tiverton Power and Rumford Power to an affiliate of the Carlyle Group for $590 million.
* First Quantum Minerals Ltd., Leagold Mining Corp. and Kelt Exploration Ltd. are among the stocks with potential to reward contrarian investors with a year-end rally, a GMP analyst writes.
* Car parts supplier Martinrea International fell 6.8% on news that GM has no plans to manufacture in Oshawa, Ontario beyond 2019. 
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $32.50 discount to WTI
* Gold fell 0.05 percent to $1,222.60 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was little changed percent at C$1.3248 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield gained 0.7 basis points to 2.351%
US
By Sarah Ponczek and Vildana Hajric
     (Bloomberg) — Beaten-down tech shares led the strongest session for U.S. stocks in two weeks, extending the run of turbulence that has made this month one of the wildest of the past five years.
     The S&P 500 roared back from the worst week in a month as investors speculated a strong start to the holiday season will keep economic growth on track. Amazon.com and L Brands led gains among retailers, while Microsoft was among the tech leaders.
Here are some major moves in U.S. stocks:
Amazon jumped more than 5 percent as all members of the FAANG cohort rallied more than 1 percent. Retailers Tiffany & Co. and Best Buy Co. surged on a strong start to holiday shopping.CVS Health rallied after it won the New York regulator’s approval for its Aetna deal.
     Positive political developments in Europe and rising oil prices added to optimism, sending the 10-year Treasury yield higher ahead of a slew of Federal Reserve speakers this week, including Chairman Jerome Powell. The dollar advanced, while West Texas crude rose above $51 a barrel following a more than 7 percent slide on Friday.
“Today is a relief rally. I don’t know if it will last through today and to tomorrow, but markets are moving a lot off of not a lot of news,” Larry Benedict, founder of The Opportunistic Trader, said in a phone interview. “Tech is bouncing a little bit. It still looks heavy. FANG stocks have taken massive hits.”
     Investors will scour this week’s Fed speech and policy minutes for clues on the future of rates. After stock markets skidded last week, and with bond traders reducing expectations for the pace of U.S. monetary policy tightening, Powell has the opportunity to shed light on prospects for a pause in a speech Wednesday. The sit-down between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump has heightened hopes of a resolution to the trade war ahead of the next escalation of tariffs.
     Elsewhere, Italy’s bonds jumped as state officials began studying scenarios for a lower 2019 budget deficit target, while European shares rose after EU leaders signed off over the weekend on the proposed Brexit plan. Bitcoin extended its recent tumble to below $4,000 as cryptocurrencies fell across the board.
Coming Up
* Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping plan to meet at the G-20 summit in Argentina that kicks off on Friday.
* Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida speaks in New York on Tuesday and Powell addresses the New York Economic Club on Wednesday. 
* Thursday sees the release of the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s November meeting.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index gained 1.6 percent as of 4 p.m. New York time, the most since Nov. 7. 
* The Nasdaq 100 advanced 2.3 percent. 
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 1.2 percent. 
* Italy’s FTSE MIB Index jumped 2.8 percent, the largest surge in more than five months.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 1.1 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2 percent.
* The euro was little changed at 1.1333.
* The British pound was little changed at $1.2812.
* The Japanese yen dipped 0.6 percent to 113.62 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained three basis points to 3.06 percent, its first advance in more than two weeks.
* Italy’s 10-year yield fell 14 basis points to 3.269 percent, the lowest in almost two months.
* Germany’s 10-year yield climbed two basis points to 0.36 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield increased three basis points to 1.413 percent.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 2.3 percent to $51.58 a barrel.
* Gold fell 0.1 percent to $1,222.50 an ounce.
–With assistance from Todd White.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

And when we think we lead, we are most led.
       -Lord George Gordon Byron, 1788-1824

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday!

Full moon tonight!
1936 – Life magazine premiered.
2005 – Ottawa announces $1.9 billion compensation for survivors of abuse at native residential schools. Go to article »

POINTS OF PROGRESS:
EUROPEAN UNION
The European Parliament has voted to ban a wide range of single-use plastics.  Plastic utensils, straws, drink stirrers and plates are some of the items that will be banned by the new measure.  Spurred by public support for a single-use plastics ban, the EU plans to have the measure take effect I 2021.  All member countries – including Britain, if the Brexit transition period has not ended – will be required to work the ban into national law. -BBC

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
A new anti-desertification  process is currently being tested in Dubai.  According to the United nations, desertification is a global problem, and about 46,000 square miles of arable land are lost each year.  No3w. a nongovernmental organization is using existing infrastructure to fight it.  Across the world, millions of man-made lakes sustain populations in dry areas.  These lakes must be dredged so that they don’t overflow or lose water storage capacity, but many local governments can’t afford the process.  Afforest4Future uses existing dredging companies to remove lake sediment; in turn, dredged sediment can be pumped out and used as topsoil in areas that have already been desertified. –New York Magazine.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Autumn colours reflected in Buttermere Lake in the Lake District, Cumbria, UK. Credit: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

People light lamps at the Banganga pond as they celebrate Dev Diwali festival in Mumbai, India. Credit: AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade  

Visitors look at an art installation by Japanese artist Tatsuo Miyajima titled ‘Mega Death’ during Minimalism: Space. Light. Object exhibition at the National Gallery Singapore. The exhibition features over 150 works that explore the history and legacy of the ‘Minimalism’ art movement and runs from 16 November 2018 to 14 April 2019. Credit: Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images
Market Closes for November 23^rd, 2018

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	24285.95	-178.74   -0.73%
S&P 500	2632.56	-17.37   -0.66%
NASDAQ	6938.984	-33.267   -0.48%
TSX	14992.74	-98.84
		-0.65%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	21646.55	+139.01
		+0.65%
HANG SENG	25927.68	-91.73
		-0.35%
SENSEX	34981.02	-218.78
		-0.62%
FTSE 100*	6952.86	-7.46
		-0.11%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		2.339		2.367
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.390		2.419
U.S.    10 Year Bond		3.0390		3.0627
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.3015		3.3163

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75544	0.75808
US $	1.32374	1.31913
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.50014	0.66661
US $	1.13325	0.88242

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1227.05	1226.10
Oil
WTI Crude Future	50.22	54.43

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks retreated for a fourth day in five as oil posted its biggest weekly loss since the depths of the last price slump in 2016. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.5 percent to close at 15,010.78 Friday after earlier losing as much as 1.3 percent.
     The benchmark’s weekly loss was 1 percent. Energy stocks posted the biggest decliners, falling 3 percent as West Texas Intermediate crude prices tumbled 7.7 percent. Futures in London posted their worst week since January 2016. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. was among the biggest decliners, falling to its lowest since April 2016.
     Materials also weighed on the index, losing 2.3 percent amid weakness in base metal prices. Progress in U.S.-China trade talks is looking less likely ahead of a meeting next week, weighing on the outlook for global growth.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Torex Gold Resources Inc. slid 14 percent, the most in a year, amid the prospect for tougher mining regulations in Mexico
* Canadian Western Bank fell 5.8 percent, the most since 2016. The bank is exposed to the energy patch, which is being hammered by tumbling crude prices
* Cannex Capital Holdings Inc. jumped 12 percent after the cannabis firm secured a $32 million investment from Gotham Green Partners LLC
* Air Canada and WestJet Airlines Ltd. both jumped 3.5 percent. The airlines are poised to benefit from lower fuel prices. WestJet has risen six straight sessions, the longest streak since March 2017.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $35.75 discount to WTI
* Gold fell 0.4 percent to $1,223.20 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.4 percent to C$1.3238 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell 3 basis points to 2.34 percent
US
By Vildana Hajric
     (Bloomberg) — Stocks fell and the S&P 500 Index tumbled into a correction in shortened Black Friday trading as energy companies were battered with oil sliding below $51 a barrel, its lowest in a year. Crude’s weakness on signs of oversupply also paced a broad retreat in commodities, and the dollar climbed with Treasuries.
     All major equity benchmarks were lower. The S&P 500 Index had its worst Thanksgiving week performance since 1939, and is down 10 percent from its September high, the technical definition of a correction. Energy was by far the worst performing group on Friday, with companies like Devon Energy Corp. and Marathon Oil Corp. losing at least 4 percent. West Texas Intermediate crude slid 6.3 percent to $51.20 and is down 33 percent since hitting a four-year high of $76.41 last month.
     The break in petroleum prices only adds to the list of issues investors will be weighing this weekend — from trade wars to the likelihood of the economic expansion continuing.
     “There’s a lot of uncertainty to still churn through,” Noah Weisberger, chief U.S. strategist at AB Bernstein, said on Bloomberg TV. “I’m a little bit surprised, you know, going back to October that its taken the market as long as it has — it still hasn’t regained its footing.”
     Trading was very quiet, with volume more than 30 percent below average over the past 30 days. Stock markets closed early at 1 p.m. in New York. Bond markets shut at 2 p.m. “It’s a light volume day,” said Chris Zaccarelli chief investment officer at the Independent Advisor Alliance. “I’m not going to read too much into it.”
     In Europe, sluggish mining shares pushed the Stoxx Europe 600 Index lower. The euro reversed earlier gains as data showed Germany’s growth outlook weakened. The pound handed back much of Thursday’s gains after Spain objected to part of the Brexit plan. Italian bonds led an advance in European debt markets.
     Drops in oil, copper and other industrial raw materials set the Bloomberg Commodity Index on track for the biggest weekly decline since July. But falling commodity prices are just one of several indicators that reinforce investor concern about weakening global growth. Political turmoil in Europe, a lingering uncertainty over the Brexit agreement and a trade war that’s engulfed the world’s biggest economies add to nervousness.
     Slowing growth is one of several prospects that may lead the Federal Reserve toward more caution in 2019 should it raise rates next month.
     “The global economy is slowing down but we’re slowing down from a pretty decent level,” Jonathan Mackay, strategist at Schroder Fund Advisors, said on Bloomberg TV. “It’s a little bit of ‘reality bites’ right now. The picture is still fine. It’s just not as good as it was. And that’s feeding into this technical unwind we’re seeing in the oil market as well.”
     Elsewhere, a drop Chinese equities led regional declines in Asia, with the technology sector weak on concern the U.S. is ratcheting up a campaign against Huawei Technologies Co. Emerging market shares and currencies fell. And Bitcoin was on course for a 22 percent tumble this week.
Coming Up
* Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping plan to meet at the G-20 summit in Argentina next week.
* Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida speaks in New York on Tuesday and Chairman Jerome Powell addresses the New York Economic Club on Wednesday. 
* Next Thursday sees the release of the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s November meeting.
* European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will address the European Parliament’s committee for economic and monetary affairs on Monday.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent to 2,632.56.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 dipped 0.2 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index declined 0.5 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index dropped 0.7 percent to the lowest in a week.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.3 percent.
* The euro sank 0.6 percent to $1.1334.
* The Japanese yen climbed 0.1 percent to 112.85 per dollar.
* The British pound lost 0.6 percent to $1.2804.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index fell 0.2 percent.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased two basis points to 3.039 percent, the lowest since September.
* Germany’s 10-year yield dipped three basis points to 0.34 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield retreated five basis points to 1.381 percent.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index declined 1.7 percent to the lowest since July.
* West Texas Intermediate crude sank 6.3 percent to $51.17 a barrel, the lowest in 13 months.
* Gold fell 0.4 percent to $1,223.48 an ounce.
–With assistance from Abhishek Vishnoi, Adam Haigh, Vildana Hajric and Eddie van der Walt.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

If you can’t tolerate critics, don’t do anything new or interesting.
                                                           -Jeff Bezos, b. 1964

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1859 – On the Origin of Species published, Charles Darwin.
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 »

Daily Poetry
Start your day with a bit of poetry with the Poem of the Day series, which can be found at www.poetryfoundation.org.  A new audio recording of a poem is added every day, with recent selections including poetry by Yusef Komunyakaa, Rosemarie Waldrop and Johannes Göransson.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Spectacular waterspout in the Italian port city pf Salerno, southeast of Naples. The ‘water tornado” appeared on Tuesday afternoon skirting ports and reportedly damaging containers as it finally crossed the shore. Waterspouts are similar to tornadoes, but form over water when cool unstable air passes over warner waters, producing vigorous up-draughts that can turn into a spinning column of water. They generally collapse once they move across solid ground. Credit: Hotel Cetus/Bav Media

Light displays are pictured during a photocall at Kew Gardens in south west London, during an event to promote the launch of the “Christmas at Kew Gardens”. – The Kew at Night Christmas trail is illuminated with numerous art installations especially commissioned. Credit: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images

Alfie Hobbs (aged 2) from London visits Hyde Park Winter Wonderland’s ‘Secret Forest’ themed magical ice kingdom as visitors get a first look at the woodland animal and mythical creature ice sculptures ahead of the public opening on Thursday, November 22. Credit: David Parry/PA

A man rides a boat as seagulls fly over the waters of the river Yamuna early morning in New Delhi, India. Credit: Reuters/Anushree Fadnavis
Market Closes for November 22^nd, 2018

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	24464.69	Closed
S&P 500	2649.93	Closed
NASDAQ	6972.250	Closed
TSX	15091.58	-3.44
		-0.02%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	21646.55	+139.01
		+0.65%
HANG SENG	26019.41	+47.94
		+0.18%
SENSEX	34981.02	-218.78
		-0.62%
FTSE 100*	6960.32	-89.91
		-1.28%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		2.367		2.358
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.419		2.417
U.S.    10 Year Bond		3.0627		3.0627
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.3163		3.3155

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75808	0.75583
US $	1.31913	1.32304
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.50454	0.66466
US $	1.14056	0.87677

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1226.10	1223.00
Oil
WTI Crude Future	54.43	54.43

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks failed to gain traction following Wednesday’s rally, closing slightly lower on holiday- hit trading volumes. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell less than 0.1 percent to 15,091.58 Thursday, fresh off the heels of Wednesday’s 1.5 percent surge. Volume was about 60 percent lower than average due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
     Health-care stocks were the biggest decliners, losing 1.2 percent amid weakness in the pot sector. Offsetting that was a 0.5 percent gain in materials, boosted by rising gold stocks.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Bombardier Inc. jumped 11 percent, bringing its gains for the week to 50 percent. The rebound follows the worst week for the stock in at least 30 years
* ARC Resources Ltd. added 2.4 percent and Finning International Inc. rose 2 percent. Tax relief in Canada’s fiscal update is positive for both firms, analysts said
* Torstar Corp. gained 11 percent, the most since 2016. Canada’s fiscal update included a package to help the country’s media sector
Commodities
* Gold for immediate delivery was up 0.1% at $1,227.38 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.3 percent to C$1.3189 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose 1 basis point to
2.37 percent
US
US markets are closed today for Thanksgiving.
By Yakob Peterseil
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. equity futures dropped alongside European stocks on Thursday in a subdued day of trading thanks to the American Thanksgiving holiday. The pound jumped and the euro strengthened after the U.K. and EU had a breakthrough over the Brexit deal.
     The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gave up a chunk of Wednesday’s advance as almost every sector fell, though trading volume was 25 percent below the 30-day average and the gauge finished above its lows on the day. Asian equity benchmarks swung between gains and losses before turning higher, with Japanese stocks getting an end-of-session boost on a report about a possible government rebate. Trading volumes in the region were also depressed.
     Gilts fell as a draft Brexit deal pointing to deep ties between the U.K. and European Union as well as a solution to the Irish border question was agreed at a political level. Prime Minister Theresa May spent more than two hours in Parliament Thursday responding to lawmakers’ largely skeptical questions about the deal. The region’s sovereign debt mainly edged higher.
     West Texas oil traded below $54 a barrel as an increase in U.S. crude inventories added to the recent bearish mood. Investor sentiment remains fragile following the volatility that’s rocked markets since October, wiping out many equity gains for the year. Traders are having to contend with the White House’s protectionism and President Donald Trump’s calls for the Fed to back off from raising rates, as well as corporate credit markets playing catch-up to the broader risk sell-off.
     Elsewhere, Bitcoin declined, emerging-market assets edged higher and gold nudged upward. Treasuries didn’t trade because of the U.S. holiday.
Coming Up
* It’s a shortened trading week because of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. on Thursday. In addition, Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, marks the traditional start to the U.S. holiday shopping season.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* Futures on the S&P 500 Index decreased 0.6 percent as of 2:43 p.m. New York time, to the lowest in more than seven months.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dipped 0.7 percent.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index dipped 1.3 percent, the largest decrease in six weeks.
* Germany’s DAX Index sank 0.9 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 0.1 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased 0.2 percent.
* The euro climbed 0.2 percent to $1.1406.
* The British pound gained 0.8 percent to $1.2881, the strongest in more than a week on the largest rise in more than a week.
* The Japanese yen gained 0.1 percent to 112.97 per dollar.
Bonds
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 0.37 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield climbed three basis points to 1.428 percent, the highest in more than a week.
* Italy’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to 3.454 percent, the lowest in more than a week.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude decreased 1.4 percent to $53.85 a barrel.
* Gold gained 0.1 percent to $1,227.44 an ounce, the highest in more than two weeks.
–With assistance from Marvin G. Perez and Andreea Papuc.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1921 – King George V proclaims Canada’s Coat of Arms, with white and red as the official Canadian colours. Go to article »
1783 – Man’s first flight in a balloon.

November 21, 1995: The Dow Jones tops 5,000 for the first time (today’s close was 24,464.69).

The BBC podcast The Food Chain explores issues related to what we eat, from how restaurant reviewers do their work to the celebrity status of chefs today.  Food writers and chefs also share their “life in five dishes.”
You can check it out at http://bit.ly/foodchainpodcast.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The Great Geysir, is a geyser in southwestern Iceland. Geysir lies in the Haukadalur valley on the slopes of Laugarfjall hill. Eruptions at Geysir car hurl boiling water up to 70 metres (230 ft) in the air. However, eruptions may be infrequent, and have in the past stopped altogether for years at a time. Credit: CAG Photography

Autumn colours are seen at Rurikoin Temple. Credit: The Asahi Shimbun

‘Leda and the swan’ fresco discovered during an evacuation of a bedroom in a house along via del Vesuvio. Credit: Rex

A picture taken on November 19, 2018 shows a snow-covered landscape at the Fichtelberg mountain in Oberwiesenthal, eastern Germany, as new snowfalls are expected in parts of Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. Credit: Bernd Marz/DPA/AFP
Market Closes for November 21^st, 2018

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	24464.64	-0.95   —
S&P 500	2649.93	+8.04   +0.30%
NASDAQ	6972.250	+63.427   +0.92%
TSX	15095.02	+218.02
		+1.47%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	21507.54	-75.58
		-0.35%
HANG SENG	25971.47	+131.13
		+0.51%
SENSEX	35199.80	-274.71
		-0.77%
FTSE 100*	7050.23	+102.31
		+1.47%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		2.358		2.349
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.417		2.409
U.S.    10 Year Bond		3.0627		3.0628
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.3155		3.3155

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75583	0.75169
US $	1.32304	1.33033
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.50639	0.66384
US $	1.13858	0.87829

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1223.00	1221.60
Oil
WTI Crude Future	54.43	53.33

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1792, the Insurance Company of North America debuted for trading, pricing its initial public offering at $10 a share. If you’d bought 100 shares that day, they’d have been worth more than $10.1 million by 1998.
Canada
By Tatiana Darie
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rebounded from two days of losses as major U.S. equity benchmarks also rose in light pre-Thanksgiving trading thanks to a rally in tech and energy shares.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 1.5 percent, its biggest one-day percentage gain since May 2016, with cannabis, materials and industrials stocks pacing gains. All 11 sectors rose on Wednesday.
     Justin Trudeau’s finance minister, Bill Morneau, earlier unveiled corporate tax breaks valued at C$14 billion ($10.5 billion) over six years in a fiscal update in Ottawa, the government’s biggest support for businesses since taking power.
Stocks
* Metro Inc. rose 3.1 percent after its chief executive said the company is positive about 2019 prospects, noting square footage in the grocer industry is moderate.
* Ascent Industries Corp. plunged 65 percent after Health Canada said in a letter that it intends to revoke the Canadian producer’s and dealer’s licenses issued to unit Agrima Botanicals. 
* Copper Mountain Mining Corp. rose 3.3 percent after Clarksons Platou initiated coverage with a buy recommendation.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $35.90 discount to WTI
* Gold gained 0.4 percent to $1,225.90 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar gained 0.4 percent to C$1.3249 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield gained 0.8 basis points to 2.353%
US
By Vildana Hajric
     (Bloomberg) — Stocks rose Wednesday as tech rallied and surging oil pushed energy shares higher. The dollar fell and Treasuries clawed back from an early retreat amid speculation the Federal Reserve may soften its stance on raising interest rates.
     Most major U.S. equity benchmarks were up in light pre-Thanksgiving trading, although they gave back some ground in the afternoon to finish near session lows, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending flat. The small-capitalization Russell 2000 Index climbed 1.3 percent to pace the gains, and the Nasdaq 100 Index wiped out nearly half of its decline from Tuesday. 
     Energy was the strongest group in the S&P 500 Index, as WTI crude rebounded from a one-year low to leap back above $54 a barrel. Apple Inc. surrendered an earlier gain to close down for a third straight day, bringing its loss this week to 8.6 percent.
     “The FANGs were doing all the heavy lifting for the indexes, and now that that’s come unwound somewhat,” said Craig Brothers, head of fixed income at Bel Air Investment Advisors. “Tech had an oversize effect on the rally and an oversize effect on the selloff because it’s such a big portion of the indexes.”
Here are some of the equity moves:
* Foot Locker Inc. jumped 15 percent, the most since May, after posting strong third-quarter earnings. 
* CBS Corp. rose amid speculation of a coming merger with Viacom Inc., which also saw its stock climb.
* Gap Inc. added almost 5 percent despite reporting weak earnings as investors appeared to finally buy the dip on a company that had lost almost 10 percent this month.
     The dollar weakened after MNI reported the Fed is considering ending a cycle of interest rate hikes as early as the spring. In addition, U.S. data showed that durable goods orders declined and filings for unemployment benefits rose.
     “The market is really trading on technicals, a lot of the tech names are very overvalued,” Rahul Shah, chief executive officer of Ideal Asset Management. “For a name like Apple, you could argue that some buyers are coming in at this level. But overall, today’s action might be an oversold bounce. I wouldn’t read it as a shift in the tenor of the market.”
     Banks and telecommunications companies led an advance in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index as optimism for a compromise on Italy’s budget buoyed stocks. The euro gained and Italian bonds firmed on reports the Italian government may be open to budget revisions as the European Union took a first step toward imposing fines on the country.
     Apple’s plunge Tuesday hit suppliers in Asia, sending the leading benchmark tracking Asia-Pacific stocks lower. Oil Investors are weighing industry data that showed U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly fell last week against doubts about OPEC’s plans to cut output.
     Investor sentiment remains susceptible to the volatility that’s rocked markets since October. Traders are having to contend with the Trump Administration’s trade war, as well as the president’s calls on the Federal Reserve to back off from raising rates as corporate credit spreads at two-year highs reflect investor angst about borrowing costs.
     “There are still concerns, particularly over China and the path of the Fed and that will likely continue,” said Jennifer Ellison, principal at San-Francisco based BOS, which manages $4.5 billion. “It’s part of the volatility we’re in.”
     Elsewhere, emerging-market shares climbed, and an index tracking developing-nation currencies reached the highest since August. Bitcoin advanced after a recent sell-off.
Coming Up
* It’s a shortened trading week because of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. on Thursday. In addition, Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, marks the traditional start to the U.S. holiday shopping season.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent to 2,649.93 and the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.8 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 surged 1.3 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index increased 0.4 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index climbed 0.3 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slid 0.1 percent.
* The euro jumped 0.1 percent to $1.1384.
* The Japanese yen declined 0.3 percent to 113.07 per dollar.
* The British pound dipped 0.1 percent to $1.2776.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index rose 0.1 percent to the highest since August.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed 3.0609 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield climbed three basis points to 0.376 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield added one basis point to 1.396 percent.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index increased 0.5 percent.
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2 percent to $54.48 a barrel, the largest gain in seven weeks.
* Gold climbed 0.3 percent to $1,225.56 an ounce.
–With assistance from Cecile Gutscher, Eddie van der Walt and Robert Brand.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Everything comes gradually at its appointed hour.
                                       -Ovid, 43 BC-17 AD

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

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1910~ Mexico Revolution Day.
On Nov. 20, 1945, 24 Nazi leaders went on trial before an international war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. Go to article »

NUMBERS IN THE NEWS:
7,000
Estimated number of migrants from Central America at or near the Mexico-USA border.  Many say they are fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries.

69
Percentage of Americans who say they feel sympathy for immigrants who enter the US illegally.  75% of Republican voters say illegal immigration is a “very big” problem, versus 19% of Democratic voters.

640 Million
Value (in dollars) of luxury goods imported by North Korea from China in 2017, according to a South Korea report.  The trade is in defiance of United nations sanctions, and includes items such as sedans, liquor, watches, and TVs.

2,400
Age (in years) of a 75-foot-long ship found in the Black Sea, 1-1/2 miles down.  It is the oldest intact wreck ever found.  A similar ship is depicted on ancient Greek vases telling the story of Odysseus’ escape for the Sirens.

14
Years that crude oil has been flowing from a damaged well into the Gulf of Mexico.   The cumulative volume of the offshore oil spill – 300 to 700 barrels daily – will soon surpass that of BP’s 2010 disaster.

34.2
Length (in miles) of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the longest sea crossing in the world, which opened October 23^rd.  Part bridge, part tunnel, the new link is seen by some as Beijing’s bid for more control over autonomous territories such as Hong Kong.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A photographer has captured stunning aerial images of the Netherlands by shooting from a helicopter with its door removed. Jeffrey Milstein has gained international praise for his artistic, God’s eye views of urban areas. His latest series focuses on the green-tinged Dutch landscape of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Credit: Jeffrey Milstein/Cover Images

A big wave surfer drops a wave during a tow-in surf session at Praia do Norte in Nazare, Portugal. Credit: Pedro Fiúza/Nurphoto/SIPA USA

Scotland wakes up to sub zero temperatures as Scandinavian winds bring temperatures to as low as -5. Views here across Loch Ness, Inverness. Credit: Euan Cherry/Wenn
Market Closes for November 20^th, 2018

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	24465.64	-551.80   -2.21%
S&P 500	2641.89	-48.84   -1.82%
NASDAQ	6908.824	-119.653   -1.70%
TSX	14877.00	-194.01
		-1.29%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	21583.12	-238.04
		-1.09%
HANG SENG	25840.34	-531.66
		-2.02%
SENSEX	35474.51	-300.37
		-0.84%
FTSE 100*	6947.92	-52.97
		-0.76%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		2.349		2.356
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.409		2.422
U.S.    10 Year Bond		3.0628		3.0628
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.3155		3.3221

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75169	0.75929
US $	1.33033	1.31702
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.51249	0.66116
US $	1.13690	0.87958

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1221.60	1211.85
Oil
WTI Crude Future	53.33	56.76

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Tatiana Darie
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for a second day as their U.S. counterparts extended their slide amid a global sell- off in riskier assets led by technology shares. All major benchmarks in the U.S. were down more than 1.5 percent.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 1.3 percent, with transportation stocks leading the way. Canadian tech shares bucked the trend to rebound on Tuesday while the Nasdaq Composite index fell for a third session.
     The loonie fell against the dollar to trade around the lowest level since late June. CIBC Capital Markets wrote in a report that Canada’s heightened sensitivity to higher interest rates will prevent the central bank from raising borrowing costs much beyond current levels.
Stocks
* Bombardier Inc gained 4.4 percent after reports that the company is the front-runner to win a New Jersey Transit rail car contract.
* Metro Inc fell 0.7 percent ahead of 4Q results before the market open on Wednesday
* Flexible Solutions International Inc fell 2.6 percent despite being upgraded to buy at Greenridge Global
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $37 discount to WTI
* Gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,222.20 an ounce FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell nearly 1 percent to C$1.3302 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell 0.7 basis points to 2.345%
US
By Sarah Ponczek and Vildana Hajric
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell Tuesday as sinking oil prices hit energy companies, tech hardware continued to plunge with Apple Inc. leading the way, and retailers saw little joy from the coming Christmas shopping season. Treasuries advanced with the dollar and gold fell.
     All major benchmarks were down more than 1.5 percent. The S&P 500 Index briefly slid 10 percent below its September record close before clawing back just above the threshold. The Nasdaq Composite Index was almost 14 percent below the closing high it reached in August. And the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed more than 500 points, or 2.1 percent, as angst spread across global equity markets.
     “The fact that we haven’t seen a fast bounce or hard bounce, shows the market is exploring where prices should be,” Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network. “But it’s hopefully a sign that we’re starting to find a bottom here.”
     Investors pointed to escalating trade tensions, signs of a looming slowdown in retail growth and cracks in the credit market as reasons for the decline. Tech hardware was the worst performing group in the S&P 500, followed by transportation and energy as oil slid to its lowest price in more than a year.           The Nasdaq 100 Index fell as much as 3 percent early in the session but retraced almost half the decline during the afternoon. “There’s clearly a concern about a global growth slowdown,” said Alec Young, managing director of global markets research at FTSE Russell. “Not so much in the U.S., but internationally driven. Trade has an impact on the tech supply chain, so it’s impacting the technology sector. The market wants more dovish Fed talk. The Fed has been giving guidance based on the U.S. economy, but in recent months the market has become more focused on the global growth slowdown, and we haven’t heard about that from the Fed.”
Here are some of the equity moves:
* Apple slumped again, down almost 5 percent, bringing its plunge from a recent high to around 24 percent.
* Target Corp. fell 11 percent after its sales forecast disappointed; Kohl’s Corp. and L Brands Inc. also sank on weak earnings.
* Union Pacific Corp. slid 6 percent, its third consecutive decline, while Norfolk Southern Corp. and CSX Corp. both were lower as well.
* Devon Energy Corp. sank more than 7 percent to the lowest since April 2016, and Marathon Oil Corp. lost over 6 percent.
     “There’s a lot of trade fears, a lot of mega-cap tech selling, and it’s one of those things that happens when there’s a correction,” said Dan Miller, director of equities at GW&K Investment. “I’ve seen this too many times before but there’s enough things out there that people are pointing to and it’s created a heavy level of fear.”
     WTI crude slipped below $54 for the first time since October 2017. In bond markets, the yield on 10-year Treasuries fell to the lowest level since September. A credit-default swap index of mostly high-yield issuers in Europe reached the highest in almost two years, signaling renewed nerves about the asset class.
     The sell-off in momentum stocks continued a slump that began last month, with the latest blow coming from renewed concern that demand for Apple’s iPhones has slowed. At the same time, the Trump administration is considering tighter curbs on technology exports, a step that Deutsche Bank AG says would have a “profound and long lasting adverse impact” on relations between the U.S. and China.
     And calls for dip-buying have turned into notes of caution. Goldman Sachs recommended investors hold more cash. Ray Dalio, head of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund firm, said that investors should expect low returns for a long time after enjoying years of low interest rates from central- bank stimulus.
Coming Up
* It’s a shortened trading week because of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. on Thursday. In addition, Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, marks the traditional start to the U.S. holiday shopping season.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 declined 1.8 percent to 2,641.89, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 552 points, or 2.2 percent, to 24,465.64. 
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 1.1 percent, hitting the lowest since December 2016.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index retreated 1.3 percent.
* Germany’s DAX Index lost 1.6 percent, reaching the lowest in almost two years.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index dropped 1.7 percent.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 1.3 percent, the biggest decrease in two weeks.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.5 percent.
* The euro dropped 0.8 percent to $1.1367, the first retreat in more than a week.
* The British pound declined 0.6 percent to $1.2783.
* The Japanese yen fell 0.1 percent to 112.70 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 3.0537 percent, the lowest since September
* Germany’s 10-year yield dipped two basis points to 0.35 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 1.383 percent.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude slid 6.1 percent to $53.32 a barrel, the lowest since October 2017.
* Gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,221.95 an ounce.
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc and Todd White.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Money dignifies what is frivolous if unpaid for.
                       -Virginia Woolf, 1882-1912

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

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as he dedicated a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania. Go to article »
Puerto Rico Discovery Day
Meg Ryan, b. 1961
Jodie Foster, b. 1962

Gary and I  had an interesting time yesterday attending the One Day University in Vancouver.  The speakers were Professor Seth Lerer, a Distinguished Professor of Literature at the University of California at San Diego.   His lecture was entitled Four Books that Changed the World.
The second lecture was given by David Helfand who is a Professor of Astronomy at Columbia University.  His lecture was entitled What We Know About the Universe (and What We Don’t Know).
Both stimulating and fascinating topics.   Professor Sara Mednick was also scheduled to give a lecture but was unable to get out of California due to the fires.
One Day University takes place in many cities in North America by an array of distinguished professors from many universities who lecture on a myriad of varied and interesting topics.  You can see if there is anything that you’d be interested in attending in future by viewing their full schedules at www.onedayu.com.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A little owl marches across a rooftop in Worcestershire. Credit: Pete Walden/Caters News Agency

Paul Zizka surveys the gorgeous Scottish landscape at the Quiraing on the Isle of Skye. Credit: Paul Zizka/Caters News Agency

Families visit the beach as an exceptionally large Atlantic swell hits the Cornish coast at sunset, in Porthtowan, Cornwall. Credit: Mike Newman/Alamy Live News

Light art projects will illuminate buildings by artists from the Netherlands and abroad. The projects are all connected in a walking route through the city centre making Eindhoven an open-air museum in the night. Credit: Nicolas Economou/Nurphoto/SIPA USA
Market Closes for November 19^th, 2018

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	25017.44	-395.78   -1.56%
S&P 500	2690.73	-45.54   -1.66%
NASDAQ	7028.477	-219.396   -3.03%
TSX	15071.01	-84.49
		-0.56%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	21821.16	+140.82
		+0.65%
HANG SENG	26372.00	+188.47
		+0.72%
SENSEX	35774.88	+317.72
		+0.90%
FTSE 100*	7000.89	-7.03
		-0.10%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		2.356		2.364
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.422		2.420
U.S.    10 Year Bond		3.0628		3.0628
U.S. 30 Year Bond		3.3221		3.3180

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.75929	0.76072
US $	1.31702	1.31454
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.50849	0.66291
US $	1.14538	0.87307

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1222.40	1211.85
Oil
WTI Crude Future	56.76	56.46

Market Commentary:
$ ~ On this day in 1792, the Insurance Company of North America held its IPO at $10 a share in the same room where the Declaration of Independence was adopted 16 years earlier. More than 660 investors signed up for shares. If an investor had spent $1,000 to buy 100 shares on the first day, they would have been worth more than $10.1 million by 1998.
Canada
By Tatiana Darie
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks followed their U.S. peers lower amid mounting pessimism about escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China after remarks by Vice President Pence over the weekend. The biggest stocks in the technology and internet sectors saw some of the steepest declines Monday, as a darker outlook for growth pushed investors to further step back from the one-time trading favorites.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.6 percent, breaking a three-day advance, with pot and tech shares leading losses. Telecom, energy and industrial stocks posted gains.
Stocks
* Bombardier Inc. rebounded 23 percent after a Citigroup analyst said Friday’s 20 percent drop was excessive because a regulatory review of the company’s executive stock-sale plan “appears routine.”
* Cameco Corp rose 2.7 percent after BofAML upgraded the stock to buy from underperform (PT C$20 from C$10.50) on an improving uranium sector outlook. 
* Enbridge Inc. rose 2.5 percent as Height Securities wrote that its Line 3 Replacement project should get a certificate of need from the Minnesota Public Utility Commission.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $39.25 discount to WTI
* Gold gained 0.1 percent to $1,224.40 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.2 percent to C$1.3179 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell 0.6 basis points to 2.354%
US
By Vildana Hajric and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — Weakness in some of the biggest technology companies sent U.S. stocks tumbling Monday as pessimism about escalating trade tensions between the Trump Administration and China added to concerns about potential new regulations coming for the industry. The dollar steadied and Treasuries crept higher for a fifth straight session.
     All major American benchmarks were down more than 1.5 percent. Software developers and semiconductor manufacturers were the worst performing groups in the S&P 500 Index. The Nasdaq 100 Index plunged more than 3 percent to the lowest since April on renewed concern that trade fights will tamp down global demand and disrupt supply chains for the major technology companies that have carried the bull market for almost 10 years.
     In addition, the biggest drop in homebuilder sentiment in more than four years hammered the housing sector. “The easiest way to stop the selloff would be for Trump and [Chinese President] Xi to reach some kind of agreement, even if it’s just no new tariffs and/or keeping the rate at 10 percent through Jan. 1,” said Max Gokhman, head of asset allocation for Pacific Life Fund Advisors. “The U.S. equity market is starting to price in the supply chain disruption, which is doubly painful because of stretched margins.”
Here are some of the key moves:
* Apple Inc. sank following reports that it had cut production orders for the three iPhone models it unveiled in September. 
* Facebook Inc. dropped as its public image remains under pressure. Snap Inc. and Twitter Inc. tumbled too as social media shares were broadly punished.
* Nvidia Corp.’s two-day plunge reached nearly 28 percent after its disappointing earnings, as chipmaker shares remained in a tailspin.
* Salesforce.com fell 9 percent, the most since February 2016. 
* The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF reversed an earlier gain to trade lower following the housing sentiment report.
     “You’re seeing weakness in semiconductors because of Nvidia’s weak earnings that were released last week,” said Ryan Nauman, market strategist at Informa Financial Intelligence. “Facebook is having some more issues with potentially covering up the Russia hack in the 2016 election. Apple, they’re getting downgraded based on demand. A lot of companies and analysts are concerned that the demand for the iPhone has decreased. The trade concern isn’t helping Apple much either with the supply chain.”
Investors are reassessing markets after several weeks of volatility spurred by fears of trade conflicts. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation failed to agree on a joint statement for the first time in its history, and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence attacked China at a weekend summit, quashing optimism that relations would improve at Group-of-20 meetings starting next week. In addition, rising U.S. interest rates are pushing up financing costs and threatening global growth.
     “Any margin for safety with global growth rates is gone,” said Tim Courtney, chief investment officer of Exencial Wealth Advisors in Oklahoma City. “Now we’re going into a period of slow growth. We’re in no-man’s land — sitting, stuck in a slow growing, slow inflationary environment.”
     In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index fell following a plunge in Renault SA on misconduct allegations against the carmaker’s leader, Carlos Ghosn. European bonds mostly edged lower. The pound fluctuated as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May appealed to business leaders to help deliver her Brexit deal, and Gibraltar emerged as a fresh sticking point.
     Elsewhere, the Australian and New Zealand currencies slipped after Pence’s remarks. Bitcoin fell below $5,000 for the first time since October 2017. Crude closed in on $57 a barrel as energy stocks rebounded.
Coming Up:
* Bank of England Governor Mark Carney appears before parliament on Tuesday.
* It’s a shortened trading week because of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. on Thursday. In addition, Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, marks the traditional start to the U.S. holiday shopping season.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 sank 1.7 percent to 2,690.73, while the Nasdaq 100 plunged 3.3 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dipped 0.3 percent.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index gained 0.1 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index dropped 1 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
* The euro climbed 0.3 percent to $1.1451.
* The British pound added 0.1 percent to $1.285.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.3 percent to 112.54 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined 1 basis point to 3.0537 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield decreased three basis point to 1.378 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield jumped one basis point to 0.373 percent.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index gained 1.1 percent.
* West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 0.5 percent to $56.76 a barrel.
* Natural gas rose 7 percent to $4.583 per mmbtu.
* Gold was little changed at $1,223.43.
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc and Todd White.

Have a great evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

I hadn’t been aware that here were doors closed to me until I started knocking on them.
  -Gertrude Belle Elion, 1918-1999

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