August 28, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Birthday: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, August 28, 1749. 
Copied into journals, folded carefully and tucked in a wallet, stuck up on refrigerators, and emailed across the world, is a passage that has given inspiration and courage to thousands of people.  The words are most always attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, that giant of German culture and his country’s Shakespeare.  They sound like him, urging us forward and into life, but only the last 18 words, from Faust, are really his.  It is the Scottish adventurer, W.H. Murray, who wrote the passage in his book, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, published in 1951, about what it takes to begin a real journey.  In the spirit of giving credit  where credit is due, here is Murray’s famous paragraph – in context and not paraphrased – with its homage to Goethe:
 “But when I said that nothing had been done I erred in one important matter.  We had definitely committed ourselves and we were halfway out of our ruts.  We had put down our passage money – booked a sailing to Bombay.  This may sound too simple, but it is great in consequence.  Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.  Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.  A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.  I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:
WHATEVER YOU CAN DO OR DREAM YOU CAN, BEGIN IT.  BOLDNESS HAS GENIUS, POWERE AND MAGIC IN IT.” 

On Aug. 28, 1963, 200,000 people participated in a peaceful civil rights rally in Washington, D.C., where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
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PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A prospective bride with a traditional face painting, is seen in Prizren, Kosovo. Pre-wedding face painting tradition is carried on by 65-year-old Bosniak woman Aziza Setifagic. Prospective brides let their faces made-up with traditional symbols and shapes over a white paint in several Bosniak villages on the foothills of the Sar (Sharr) Mountains of south of Kosovo. CREDIT: HARIS ALIJA/ANADOLU AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES

A contestant of the ‘fantasy’ category prepares to be judged during the Daegu International Bodypainting Festival in Daegu, South Korea. CREDIT: ED JONES/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Painted houses in Beirut’s southern Ouzai neighbourhood. CREDIT: ANWAR AMRO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Alphorn musicians play their instruments during a meeting in Engetried near Markt Rettenbach, southern Germany. CREDIT: STEFAN PUCHNER/DPA VIA AP
Market Closes for August 28th, 2017 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
28%
In 1963, about half the papers published in the top American economics journals were theoretical. By 2011, that figure had shrunk to 28%, while the percentage of empirical papers rose.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were little changed Monday as the fallout from Hurricane Harvey weighed on oil prices, offsetting the best day for materials shares in seven weeks.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 4 points or less than 0.1 percent to 15,052.03. Materials stocks jumped 2.5 percent, the most since July 10, as gold futures closed above $1,300 an ounce for the first time this year. Copper also continued its rally, closing at its highest price since 2014.
     On the other side of the ledger, energy shares fell 0.8 percent as the price of West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.7 percent. Refinery closures across the Texas Gulf Coast are expected to hurt demand for weeks to come.
     In other moves:
* Toromont Industries Ltd. jumped 11 percent, the most since 1990, after announcing a C$1.02-billion deal to buy Caterpillar Inc. dealer Hewitt Group. Competitor Finning International Inc. gained 5.5 percent
* Aimia Inc. gained 8.2 percent. The loyalty program operator sold the Air Miles trademarks for Canada to Diversified Royalty Corp., which rose 13 percent
* Hudson’s Bay Co. rose 4.7 percent, adding to Friday’s 14 percent gain. Reuters reported the company is reviewing its strategic options in the face of pressure from an activist shareholder.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — The U.S. equity market was little changed Monday as investors assessed fallout from Hurricane Harvey.
Health-care stocks advanced as financial shares declined.
* S&P 500 index little changed at 2,444
* Dow Jones 5 points lower to 21,808
* VIX up to 11.3
* 10-year Treasury yield down less than 1bp
* Energy stocks down 0.5% as oil drops 2.4%
** Oil and gas refiners in S&P 500 index up 1.2% for fifth straight day of gains
* Health-care stocks up 0.6% for biggest gain among sectors
* S&P 500 volume 22% below 30-day average
* POLITICS:
** U.S. President Donald Trump will undo another Obama-era initiative, lifting his predecessor’s ban on giving local police departments military-grade equipment like armored vehicles, search-and-rescue vehicles and grenade launchers, according to details provided by the Justice Department
* ECONOMY:
** Harvey’s second act across southern Texas is turning into an economic catastrophe — with damages likely to stretch into tens of billions of dollars and an unusually large share of victims lacking adequate insurance, according to early estimates
* EARNINGS:
** Pre-market Tuesday: Best Buy (BBY) 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Knowledge is the annihilation of the separation between me and the other.
Swami Prajnanpad

As ever, 

Carolann

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies,
but the silence of our friends. –Martin Luther King, Jr., 1929-1968 

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