February 6, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

My apologies for the e-mail problems we have been experiencing.  Our switch to the cloud has created complications this past two weeks, that we’ve been gradually recognizing and resolving.  Some of my communications have not been sent and some of yours have not been received.  Think we’ve got everything solved now. 🙂

On Feb. 6, 1952, Britain’s King George VI died; he was succeeded by his daughter, Elizabeth II.
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On this day in 1808, the Milan Stock Exchange is established.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Horsemen prepare to leave after the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery Royal 41-gun salute to mark the start of Queen Elizabeth’s Blue Sapphire Jubilee year at Green Park in central London on Monday. Hannah McKay/Reuters

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (l.) and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady pose with the MVP trophy during a news conference after Super Bowl 51 on Monday in Houston. Brady was named most valuable player. David J. Phillip/AP
Market Closes for February 6, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Linda Nguyen
     (Canadian Press) — TORONTO — A pullback in the price of crude pushed the Canadian dollar lower Monday, prompting worries the currency may continue to face downward pressure if oil prices stay range bound this year.
     The loonie, which was trading at its highest levels in nearly five months last week, started the week on the soft side, tumbling 0.35 of a U.S. cent to settle at 76.41 cents US.
     A major contributor to the weakness was falling oil prices, as the March crude contract fell 82 cents at US$53.01 per barrel — with global supply and demand continuing to be in flux as effects of a cut imposed by OPEC and non-OPEC members take hold.
     Craig Fehr, a Canadian markets strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis, says he anticipates oil prices to stay range bound this year, which will likely pull the Canadian currency lower.
     Another factor that will negatively influence the loonie will be the growing gap between interest rates in Canada and the U.S., he said, with assumptions being that growth will accelerate faster south of the border.
     But a lower Canadian dollar isn’t necessarily bad news for everyone.
     “To the extent that the loonie can stay low, stay where it is at the moment or move a bit lower, that provides a pretty powerful boost to the export output particularly when it’s combined with faster growth and higher demand out of the U.S.,” Fehr noted.
     In other commodities, March natural gas was down a penny at US$3.05 per mmBTU, the April gold contract gained $11.30 at US$1,232.10 an ounce, and March copper was up four cents at US$2.65 a pound.
     Meanwhile, stock markets on both sides of the border were quiet in the absence of any major economic releases or corporate earnings results.
     In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index fell 19.45 points at 15,456.94, with the losses in energy partially offset by gains in gold and materials stocks.
     On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 19.04 points at 20,052.42, the S&P 500 slipped 4.86 points at 2,292.56, and the Nasdaq composite declined 3.22 points at 5,663.55.
     “In the short term, day-to-day, it’s going to be more of what we’ve seen in the last week or two — up days followed by down days as we try to make sense of very solid fundamentals combined with what is an increasing amount of (U.S.) policy uncertainty in this environment,” said Fehr.
     On Monday, nearly 100 tech companies announced they were pushing back in court against U.S. President Trump’s temporary travel ban, calling it unconstitutional, un-American and bad for the economy.
     The companies filed briefs Sunday to back lawsuits from Washington state and Minnesota fighting Trump’s travel temporary ban. The ban keeps refugees and travellers from seven Muslim- majority countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days since being enacted Jan. 27.
     The 97 companies are mostly in the technology industry and include social media companies Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. Non-tech companies participating include yogurt maker Chobani and jeans-seller Levi Strauss & Co.    
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell in tandem with world equity markets Monday as nine of 11 industry groups in the S&P 500 Index declined, coming off a mixed week that ended with the best day for financial stocks since November.
     The benchmark gauge for American equity fell 0.2 percent to 2,292.56 at 4 p.m. in New York, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 19 points lower at 20,052. Stocks drifted lower in Europe on Monday as investors turned cautious on the region’s assets including bonds and the euro as their focus shifted to potential political risks.
* Energy shares weighed on stocks with biggest sector decline, down 0.9% as oil drops 1.5%
* Industrial and financial shares pared or reversed earlier gains, with industrial stocks little changed and financials down 0.4%
* S&P 500 hasn’t seen a move of 1% in either direction since Jan. 7, longest stretch since September
* VIX up 3.7% to 11.4
* With 6 billion shares trading hands, smallest day of volume in more than a week
* “Fed officials will see good labor-hours growth as confirming their view that the economy is approaching full employment and that rate hikes are in order,” David Sloan, a senior economist at 4CAST-RGE, said in a note; “The fly in the ointment is that average hourly earnings growth weakened in January, a problem for the reflationary outlook”
* Investors are keeping a close eye on the rhetoric coming from President Donald Trump’s administration; some who were bullish in the immediate aftermath of his election have since warned his pledges could ignite a trade war
* Nine S&P 500 members are reporting quarterly results Monday, including 21st Century Fox Inc. With more than half of the gauge’s members having released earnings this season, about three-quarters beat profit estimates and about half beat sales estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg
* EARNINGS:
**       After-market Monday: Tesoro (TSO), FMC (FMC), Twenty-
First Century Fox (FOXA), Macerich (MAC)
**       Pre-market Tuesday: AMETEK (AME), Fidelity National
Information Services (FIS), Cardinal Health (CAH), Centene (CNC), Vulcan Materials (VMC), Cynosure (CYNO), TransDigm Group Inc (TDG), Church & Dwight (CHD), Sabre (SABR), Aramark (ARMK), Omnicom Group (OMC), Mallinckrodt (MNK), Emerson Electric (EMR), National Oilwell Varco (NOV), Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), Mosaic (MOS), S&P Global (SPGI), General Motors (GM), Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)

Have a wonderful day!

Be magnificent!

It is not a question of belief.
Stop believing in that which is;
this is what is taught in jnana yoga.
Believe in no other,
stop believing in that which is;
this is the first stage.  Dare to be rational.
Dare to follow reason where it may take you.
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,
 

Carolann

You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.
–Beverly Sills, 1929-2007

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

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com