April 13, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On this day in 1997, Tiger Woods becomes, at the age of 21, the youngest person to win the Masters Tournament and the first person of African heritage to claim a major golf title.

Oscar Wilde to Robert Ross, from Rome, April 16, 1900; he had seen Pope Leo XIII the day before:
He was wonderful as he was carried past me on his throne, not of flesh and blood, but a white soul robed in white, and an artist as well as a saint – the only instance in history, if the newspapers are to be believed.
  I have seen nothing like the extraordinary grace of his gesture, as he rose, from moment to moment, to bless – possibly the pilgrims, but certainly me.  Tree [the actor-manager] should see him.  It is his only chance.
  I was deeply impressed; and my walking-stick showed signs of budding…
  How did I get the ticket?  By a miracle, of course.  I thought it was hopeless, and made no effort of any kind.  On Saturday afternoon at five o’clock Harold and I went to have tea at the Hotel de l’Europe.  Suddenly, as I was eating buttered toast, a man, or what seemed to be one, dressed like a hotel porter, entered and asked me would I like to see the Pope on Easter Day.  I bowed my head humbly and said “Non sum dingus” [I am not worthy], or words to that effect.  He at once produced a ticket!
  When I tell you that his countenance was of supernatural ugliness, and that the price of the ticket was thirty pieces of silver, I need say no more.-from The Book of Days.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A visitor looks at Pysanky, traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs, displayed as part of the upcoming Easter celebration in central Kiev, Ukraine, on Wednesday. Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Desert monkeys gather on the slopes of the Sarawat Mountains near the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday. Amr Nabil/AP
Market Closes for April 13^th, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
NUMBER OF THE DAY
$9 billion
The amount that Saudi Arabia raised in its first international sale of Islamic bonds, or sukuk, as the kingdom rolls out an ambitious plan to reshape its oil-dependent economy.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks ended the holiday-shortened trading week with a triple-digit loss as falling bond yields hit financials and oil prices slipped for a second day.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 113 points or 0.7 percent to 15,535.48, falling below its 50-day moving average (15,590). The Canadian market will be closed Friday for the Easter holiday weekend.
     The financial index fell 1 percent as falling yields battered lenders. Home Capital Group Inc. plunged 8.6 percent and Genworth MI Canada Inc. tumbled 6 percent. The energy index also lost 1 percent as oil prices fell 0.2 percent to $53.02.
     In other moves:
* Canopy Growth Corp. fell 3.7 percent, part of a wider decline in pot stocks, after Canada laid out its plan to legalize recreational marijuana
* Gold stocks were mixed after the world’s second-largest gold ETF widened the criteria for inclusion. Alacer Gold Corp. tumbled 7.7 percent and Guyana Goldfields Inc. lost 5.4 percent, while Eldorado Gold Corp. gained 4.7 percent and Pan American Silver Corp. rose 4.4 percent
* Source Energy Services Ltd. ended its first day of trading unchanged after earlier rising 2 percent. The fracking sand distributor cut its IPO price to C$10.50 from as much as C$19
US
By Eric J. Weiner
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell as the U.S. launched a heavy bombing campaign against Islamic State positions in Afghanistan.
     The S&P 500 Index closed down 0.68 percent at 2,328.96 Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.67 percent to 20,453.25. The dollar rose slightly after dropping below its 200-day moving average on Wednesday. Treasuries were flat, erasing earlier declines.
     “It’s just creating more uncertainty with people,” Frank Ingarra, head trader at NorthCoast Asset Management LLC, which oversees about $1.7 billion, said by phone. “It’s the only big news that’s come out. Does it mean we’re going to be more militarily engaged in the world?”
     In addition, traders are trying to get a handle on President Donald Trump’s fiscal and economic plans following his remarks from Wednesday, in which he called the dollar too strong, signaled a softening on China’s currency practices and left open the possibility of reappointing Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
     “Talk of lower interest rates and a weaker dollar has not helped,” said Mark Kepner, managing director and equity trader at Themis Trading LLC in Chatham, New Jersey.
     Reduced volumes in the shorter trading week before Easter may have compounded the swings as well. The bond market closed at 2 p.m. in New York.
     Here’s what investors are watching:
* With JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. reporting earnings, analysts are looking at the slowdown in commercial loan growth as well as the state of consumer lending amid worries over high levels of student and auto loans.
* Many markets around the world will be closed tomorrow for the Easter holiday weekend.
     Here are the main moves in markets:
     Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1 percent, paring an earlier slide of as much as 0.3 percent.
* The yen fell 0.06 percent to 109.10 per dollar.
* The euro was 0.43 percent lower at 1.0619, falling for the first time in four days.

     Stocks
* The Nasdaq 100 Index dropped 0.44 percent, while the Russell 2000 Index slid 1.03 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.35 percent.

     Bonds
* The yield on the 10-year Treasury was essentially flat at 2.23 percent.
* German 10-year yields fell one basis points to 0.19 percent.

     Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate slipped 0.1 percent to $53.04 a barrel. It fell 0.5 percent on Wednesday as a government report showed U.S. output expanded to the highest level in more than a year, countering a decline in stockpiles from a record.
* Gold climbed 0.9 percent to $1,289.50 an ounce.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

If this individuality is wiped away, the creative joy that crystallized it disappears,
even if no material was lost, even if no atom was destroyed.
And if it is lost, it is also a loss for the entire world.  It is particularly precious because it is not universal.
Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,

Carolann

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.  The most certain way
to success is always to try just one more time.
                                                -Thomas Edison, 1847-1931

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