June 29, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On June 29, 1995, the shuttle Atlantis and the Russian space station Mir docked, forming the largest man-made satellite ever to orbit the Earth.
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700 MILLION: Time (in years) that the Gale Crater on Mars had the right conditions to support life, according to new findings from NASA’s Curiosity rover. 

Robert Burke and William John Wills accomplished the first crossing of Australia from south to north, reaching the Gulf of Carpentaria in February, 1861.  Both died of starvation at Cooper’s Creek on the return journey; John King, another member of the expedition, survived.  Will’s last entry in his Journal, dated June 29^th, 1861: 

Clear, cold night, slight breeze from the east, day beautifully warm and pleasant.  Mr. Burke suffers greatly from the cold and is getting extremely weak; he and King start tomorrow up the creek to look for the blacks [aborigines]; it is the only chance we have of being saved from starvation.  I am weaker than ever, although I have a good appetite and relish the nardoo [a seed cake] much; but it seems to give us no nutriment, and the birds here are so shy as to not to be got at.  Even if we got a good supply of fish, I doubt whether we could do much work on them and the nardoo alone.  Nothing now but the greatest good luck can save any of us; and as for myself I may live four or five days if the weather continues warm.  My pulse is at forty-eight, and very weak, and my legs and arms are nearly skin and bone.  I can only look out, like Mr. Micawber, “for something to turn up”;  starvation on nardoo is by no means very unpleasant, but for the weakness one feels, and the utter inability to move one’s self; for as far as appetite is concerned, it gives the greatest satisfaction.

Birthday: June 29, 1861, William James Mayo, cofounder of the Mayo Clinic.
Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. –Mark Twain.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spins cotton during a visit to the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, India. AMIT DAVE/REUTERS

A police officer looks at a hole in the road that swallowed a car in St. Louis. CHRISTIAN GOODEN/ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Market Closes for June 29^th, 2017 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 2007, the Apple iPhone goes on sale.

Number of the Day 

$10
The price at which Blue Apron sold shares in its IPO, well below its initial range of between $15 and $17 apiece. 

Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks tumbled in a broad-based decline as investors weighed the implications of hawkish comments from central banks around the world.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 142 points , or 0.9 percent, to 15,213.42, its lowest close in six trading days. The benchmark fell below its 200-day moving average (15,271) on slower than usual volume ahead of holidays in Canada and the U.S.
     Materials shares slumped 1.8 percent, pressured by gold stocks, which tend to underperform when interest rates are rising. The energy index lost 0.8 percent even as crude prices gained 0.4 percent. Financial stocks slipped 0.3 percent.

     In other moves:
* Shaw Communications Inc. lost 5.1 percent, leading the telecom index lower, as investors fled dividend stocks ahead of a potential Bank of Canada rate hike on July 12
* Jean Coutu Group Inc. fell 4.2 percent. Quebec said it will seek lower generic drug prices after negotiations over a compromise plan with pharmaceutical companies fell through
* Shopify Inc. lost 3.5 percent as the tech index tumbled 1.7 percent. Renewed selling in the sector sent U.S. software and chipmaker shares to the lowest in seven weeks.
US
By Samuel Potter and Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — The shift in tone from central banks in Europe and the U.S. continued to drive financial markets, with stocks and bonds selling off and currencies from the euro to the loonie padding gains versus the dollar.
     The U.S. technology sector’s woes deepened as renewed selling in the year’s biggest winners sent software and chipmaker shares to the lowest in seven weeks. Investors rotated into banks after the Federal Reserve cleared them to repurchase stocks. The 10-year Treasury note rate topped 2.26 percent, while government debt in Europe sold off faster on hawkish sings from the European Central Bank. The euro hit the highest level in more than a year and sterling rose a seventh day.
     Volatility returned the financial markets as investors grapple with the fallout from central banks that seem intent on raising interest rates amid signs that the global economy is picking up steam, signaling the start of the end to nine years of stimulus. Tech remained a victim of investor rotation from growth to value stocks, suggesting that investors may be questioning the growth prospects in the world’s largest economy.
          Here are some key upcoming events and data releases:
* The Trump travel restrictions start from 8 p.m. New York time today, a person familiar said.
* China’s PMI might have declined in June after unexpectedly remaining unchanged in May, reflecting government offers to cut overcapacity and leverage. That reading is due Friday.
* Japan’s calendar is even heavier with economic data on Friday, with reports due on inflation, factory output, unemployment, household consumption and housing starts.
     These are the main moves in markets:
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.9 percent as of 4 p.m. in New York, paring a drop that at its worst reached 1.4 percent. It’s still up 2.4 percent in the quarter.
* Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose more than 0.5 percent, the only two members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average to advance.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index lost 1.7 percent, pushing its loss in June past 2 percent. The measure rose as much as 21 percent this year, before a selloff that started three weeks ago took 3 percent back.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 1.3. Emerging-market equities were little changed.
     Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2 percent.
* The euro increased 0.6 percent to $1.1444, for the highest level since last year’s Brexit vote.
* The pound climbed 0.6 percent to $1.3000, heading for a seventh straight day of gains, the longest winning streak since April 2015.
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.3 percent after jumping 1.2 percent on Wednesday as Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz reiterated he’s considering tighter policy.
     Commodities
* WTI futures advanced 19 cents to $44.93 a barrel, capping a sixth day of advances and the longest rally since April. Prices gained as government data showed a drop in U.S. gasoline supplies that have remained stubbornly high at the start of the summer driving season.
* Gold futures fell 0.4 percent to $1,244.30 an ounce.
* Copper futures jumped 1 percent, advancing for a seventh day.
     Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose four basis points to 2.27 percent, after gaining two basis points on Wednesday and jumping seven basis points in the previous session.
* The yield on U.K. gilts increased 10 basis points to 1.25 percent. French 10-year yields added seven basis points, as did those of 10-year German bunds.
 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Civilization, in the real sense of the term, consists not in the multiplication
but in the deliberate and voluntary restriction of the wants.
This alone promotes real happiness and contentment, and increases the capacity for service.
A certain degree of physical harmony and comfort is necessary, but above that level,
it becomes a hindrance instead of a help.
Therefore the ideal of creating an unlimited number of wants and satisfying them
seems to be a delusion and a snare.  The satisfaction of one’s physical needs, even the intellectual needs
of one’s narrow self, must meet at a point a dead stop before it degenerates into physical
and intellectual voluptuousness.  A man must arrange his physical and cultural circumstances
so that they may not hinder him in his service of humanity,
on which all his energies should be concentrated.
Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,
Carolann

Attitude determines the altitude of life.
         -Edwin Louis Cole, 1922-2002
Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President 

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com