September 22, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: HAPPY FRIDAY!
Happy Rosh Hoshana to all my Jewish friends – thus begins the year 5778. 

MORE ECLIPSE:
A NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center G-lll aircraft was over Oregon’s coast during the eclipse on August 21st and captured a video of the moon’s umbra.  Check it out at http://bit.ly/moonumbra.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

An intrepid goat took a peek at a brave photographer as both of them balanced on a precarious cliff edge – 650ft above the ground. Researcher and photographer Stefano Marsi, 54, scaled the Jof di Montasio in the Italian Alps with his sister in order to track down Alpine ibexes. The duo were thrilled when their tough climb was rewarded and Mr. Marsi was able to get within a metre of the creature, which is a skilled climber due to split hooves that can act as pincers and capable of living 10,000ft above sea level Mr. Marsi walked for an hour and a half to find the animal, in a location he knew they frequented. CREDIT: STEFANO MARSI/SOLENT NEWS.

People view horsemen from the Lincoln Knights Trail at Lincoln Castle, UK. The 36 sculptures celebrate the 800TH anniversary of the Battle of Lincoln and the sealing of the Charter of the Forest. CREDIT: JOE GIDDENS/ PA WIREIMAGE TITLE.

Celebrated ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev, will be commemorated with an English Heritage blue plaque on the building he considered his London home. Two students from the Royal School of Ballet as they pose in front of the newly unveiled plaque. The male dancer will be wearing a costume from Rudolf Nureyev’s production of Don Quixote (1979 for The Zurich Ballet; revised 1983 USA Tour, Nureyev with The Zurich Ballet.  CREDIT: EDDIE MULHOLLAND FOR THE TELEGRAPH.

An unusual and rare triple rainbow appears over Loughros Point on Ireland’s ‘Wild Atlandtic Way’, Ardara, County Donegal, Ireland. CREDIT: RICHARD WAYMAN/ALAMY LIVE NEWS.
Market Closes for September 22^nd, 2017 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
$180 billion
U.S. officials are considering whether to remove federal oversight of insurer American International Group Inc., according to The Wall Street Journal. The company was at the center of the global markets meltdown in 2008 and was effectively nationalized through a government bailout that topped $180 billion.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks posted their biggest weekly gain in 10 months as energy shares broke out of their months- long doldrums.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped less than one point Friday to close at 15,454.23. The weekly gain of 1.9 percent was the biggest since November 2016 and saw the benchmark move back into positive territory for the year after months in the red.
     Materials stocks were the biggest gainers Friday, adding 0.7 percent as gold and copper prices rose. Pretium Resources gained 7.5 percent and Novagold Resources Inc. added 5.4 percent. Energy shares slipped 0.5 percent, reducing their gain for the week to 2.6 percent.
     In other moves: 

                             Stocks
* BRP Inc. jumped 8.9 percent after the Ski-Doo maker was upgraded to buy at UBS
* Bombardier Inc. lost 5.9 percent. Alstom SA said it’s in talks with Siemens AG about a possible merger, potentially leaving Bombardier exposed to Chinese competition
* Hudson’s Bay Co. added 2 percent after CNBC reported that Chairman Richard Baker is trying to take the retailer private
                          Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at an $11.55 discount to WTI, 5 cents wider than Thursday
* Aeco natural gas traded at a $1.98 discount to Henry Hub, 7.5 percent narrower than Thursday
* Gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,293.30 an ounce
                            FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.1 percent to C$1.2332 per U.S.
dollar after August inflation missed estimates
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell one basis point to 2.11 percent.
US
By Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — Stocks vacillated Friday before ending little changed and Treasuries gained with gold, as investors reached for safe haven assets after North Korea ratcheted up its threats against the U.S. 
     The S&P 500 Index, churning in one of the tightest ranges in its history, rose slightly, continuing an eight-day stretch without a move of more than 0.3 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average drifted downward, while the Nasdaq Composite Index posted a marginal gain.
     The dollar fell after North Korea’s leader promised retaliation. The pound weakened following U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech on Brexit. The euro gained on strong economic data before Germany votes Sunday. Crude maintained its rally above $50 a barrel as OPEC members gathered in Vienna.
     Central bank policy vied with continued geopolitical tension for investor attention this week. The latter won out Friday after North Korea’s foreign minister suggested the country could test a hydrogen bomb, sparking haven demand. The dollar slid, erasing a rally sparked by the Federal Reserve’s signal that it intends to wind down its balance sheet and raise interest rates.
     Meanwhile, purchasing managers indexes from German and French manufacturers and a composite euro-zone private-sector activity gauge provided support for European policy makers as they consider scaling back stimulus. Germany goes to the polls on Sunday, with Chancellor Angela Merkel expected to secure a fourth term, although she may not win an outright majority.
          What to watch out as the week comes to an end:
* The U.K. will pay into the EU until 2020, Prime Minister Theresa May said in a speech in Florence.
* Angela Merkel is poised to win a fourth term as German Chancellor on Sunday, but may not get an overall majority with her existing partners.
* OPEC met in Vienna amid mixed signals on whether they’ll consider deeper or longer cuts.
* New Zealand heads to the polls on Saturday.
     Here are the main moves in markets:
                             Stocks
* The S&P 500 closed up less than 0.1 percent, finishing the week with a 0.1 percent gain.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.1 percent to the highest in two months.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index increased 0.6 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index rose 0.1 percent.
                           Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2 percent, the biggest drop in a week. 
* The euro gained less than 0.1 percent to $1.1944. 
* The British pound declined 0.4 percent to $1.3524. 
* The Japanese yen advanced 0.4 percent to 112.09 per dollar, the first gain in more than a week.
                             Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell two basis points to 2.261 percent, the first retreat in more than a week. 
* Germany’s 10-year yield slid less than one basis point to 0.445 percent. 
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 1.355 percent.
                          Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2 percent to $50.63 a barrel. 
* Gold increased 0.5 percent to $1,297.17 an ounce. 
* Copper added 0.4 percent to $2.9265 a pound.
                              Asia
* Japan’s Topix index fell 0.3 percent at the close in Tokyo and South Korea’s Kospi index slid 0.7 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.5 percent.
* Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.8 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.2 percent.
* Taiwan’s Taiex index fell 1.2 percent, the biggest slide in Asia.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.2 percent.

Have a wonderful  weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

Our contribution
to the progress of the world must, therefore,
consist in setting our own house in order.
Mahatma Gandhi 

Carolann

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
–William Arthur Ward, 1921-1994

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
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