August 16, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Aug. 16, 1977, singer Elvis Presley died at Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tenn., at age 42.
Go to article »

On this day in 1974, the Ramones play their first public gig at CBGB’s in downtown Manhattan.

HIKE INSPIRATION:
If the beautiful weather inspires you to set out on a jaunt, the app MAP MY HIKE can enhance the experience for you.  In addition to recording your journey, the app also lets you store the best hikes you’ve taken, tell others about them and get ideas for other hikes.  Map My Hike is free for iOS and Android.

SURF HELP
If you’re planning to surf this summer, get information about conditions before you go with the Surfline app, which is free for iOS and Android.  It lets you know about what’s happening with the waves and when the weather will turn grim, requiring you to call it a day.  The app also provides real-time footage of beaches.

You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want. –Zig Ziglar.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

As part of the UK-India Year of Culture 2017 and Indian Independence Day Celebrations the Indian Naval Band and a group of Bollywood style dancers visit Calton Hill. CREDIT: STEVEN SCOTT TAYLOR/ALAMY LIVE NEWS

A mantis rests on a lotus seedpod in Xuyi County of Huai’an City, east China’s Jiangsu Province. CREDIT: XINHUA/ZHOU HAIJUN

Nine year old Rory Scott from Bonar Bridge herds sheep as farmers gather at Lairg auction for the great sale of lambs in Lairg, Scotland. Lairg market hosts the annual lamb sale, which is the biggest one day livestock market in Europe, when some twenty thousand sheep from all over the north of Scotland are bought and sold. CREDIT: JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for August 16th, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
$1.5 billion
The approximate profit that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway made on its $3 billion investment in General Electric in the depths of the financial crisis. Berkshire sold the last of the GE stock it got as part of the deal in the second quarter, a new filing revealed this week.
Canada
By Natalie Wong
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks flashed green as Nafta renegotiation talks began Wednesday in Washington D.C.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.3 percent to 15,143.02 at around 9:50 am.  Health care gained 0.8 percent as Valeant
Pharmaceuticals International Inc. jumped 1.5 percent.
     Materials rose 0.7 percent, snapping a three-day slump, as Hudbay Minerals Inc. rose 7.2 percent, becoming the top- performing stock on the index, and First Quantum Minerals Ltd.
increased 2.9 percent despite reduced supply to Zambia mine and complex.
     In other moves:
* Prometic Life Sciences Inc. dropped 3.7 percent becoming the worst-performing stock on the index, after being cut to sector perform at the National Bank of Canada yesterday and amid the CFO Greg Weaver’s departure
* Energy rose 0.5 percent after falling for six-days straight as Pason Systems Inc. added 1.5 percent and Baytex Energy Corp.
increased 1.3 percent. Oil halted its slide amid industry data that showed U.S. crude stockpiles declined again, further trimming an inventory surplus.
US
By MARLEY JAY
     New York (AP) — U.S. stocks rose slightly Wednesday as Urban Outfitters and Target helped retailers rally. That was enough to cancel out more losses for energy companies.
     Urban Outfitters and Target did better in the second quarter than analysts expected, and Target raised its forecasts for the year. That helped companies that sell clothing and other retailers. Technology companies and firms that make and sell household goods also traded higher.
     A wide variety of retailers saw their shares sink the day before based on weak earnings reports. With Wal-Mart and Ross Stores in line to report their own results Thursday, investors could change their minds again.
     “This sector is not for the faint of heart,” said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist for TD Ameritrade. “The market is trying to figure out who the winners and losers are going to be.”
     He said turbulence for retailers will be a constant as online competition keeps growing and customers want more features like same-day delivery.
     The Standard & Poor’s 500 index picked up 3.50 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,468.11. The Dow Jones industrial average added 25.88 points, or 0.1 percent, to 22,024.87. The Nasdaq composite gained 12.10 points, or 0.2 percent, to 6,345.11. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies inched up 0.30 points to 1,383.53.
     Clothing and accessories retailer Urban Outfitters had a better second quarter than Wall Street expected, and analysts said there are some signs the company’s business is recovering after years of struggles. The stock rose $2.94, or 17.5 percent, to $19.76. Even with those gains, it’s down 31 percent this year and recently traded at eight-year lows, far below its price of $45 a share in early 2015.
     Target gained $1.96, or 3.6 percent, to $56.31. The company raised its annual estimates after it did better than analysts expected in the second quarter.
     Gap climbed 50 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $22.57. Express added 27 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $5.84. Retailers had struggled a day earlier after poor results and lower forecasts from Dick’s Sporting Goods and Advance Auto Parts. The S&P 500 index of retailers climbed 1.7 percent Wednesday after a 2.3 percent plunge the day before.
     Benchmark U.S. crude lost 77 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $46.78 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, dipped 53 cents, or 1 percent, to $50.27 a barrel in London. That pulled energy companies down further. EOG Resources fell $2.04, or 2.3 percent, to $84.98 and Marathon Oil fell 34 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $11.19.
     Energy companies have slumped this month, but their second- quarter profits have improved dramatically compared to a year ago. A year ago the companies were struggling to make money thanks to a prolonged slump in oil prices. But for more than a year, U.S. crude has mostly stayed between $40 and $55 a barrel.
     Stocks made bigger gains earlier in the day, but they slipped after a group of CEOs, including the heads of 3M and Campbell Soup, said they were leaving a manufacturing jobs group over comments about made by President Donald Trump about the racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Virginia this past weekend.
     Trump then tweeted that he is ending that council as well as a strategy and policy group. The furor could create more obstacles for Trump’s pro-business agenda of tax cuts and infrastructure spending.
     The Dow rose as much as 86 points earlier on.     
After an early gain, the dollar dipped to 110.16 yen from 110.58 yen. The euro rebounded to $1.1769 from $1.1734.
     Bond prices turned higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.23 percent from 2.27 percent.
     With bond yields falling, banks and financial companies turned lower as well. Lower bond yields mean lower interest rates on loans and fewer profits for banks.
     Lincoln National fell $1.03, or 1.4 percent, to $71.14 and Bank of America gave up 28 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $24.19.
Regions Financial sank 14 cents, or 1 percent, to $14.34.
     The minutes from the Federal Reserve’s meeting last month did not include many details about the central bank’s plans for letting its balance sheet shrink. The notes showed a divided Fed, as some members of its policy committee think that interest rates should stay about where they are because inflation is still low. But others felt that interest rates should be raised because delays might lead to dangerously high inflation later.
     Fed officials unanimously agreed to leave the interest rates unchanged.
     Gold rose $3.20 to $1,282.90 an ounce. Silver climbed 23 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $16.94. Copper jumped 6 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $2.95 a pound.
     In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline lost 2 cents to $1.56 a gallon. Heating oil fell 3 cents to $1.57 a gallon. Natural gas shed 5 cents to $2.89 per 1,000 cubic feet.
     France’s CAC 40 rose 0.7 percent, and Germany’s DAX and the FTSE i100 in Britain rose by the same amount. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 retreated 0.1 percent while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 0.9 percent. The South Korean Kospi advanced 0.6 percent.
 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

We must learn to love those who think exactly opposite to us.
We have humanity for the background, but each must have his own individuality and his own thought.
Push the sects forward and forward till each man and woman are sects unto themselves.
We must learn to love the man who differs from us in opinion.
We must learn that differentiation is the life of thought.
We have one common goal, and that is the perfection of the human soul, the god within us.
Swami Vivekananda

As ever, 

Carolann

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.
                                                                       -Matsuo Basho, 1644-1694

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

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com