October 31, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Nicholas Kristof, a journalist for The New York Times, recently published a piece entitled “Trump  Is Inspirational …for Poetry.”  He held a poetry contest for his readers and readers accepted the invite by submitting 2,750 poems.  With the help of the Poetry Society of America, he picked the winners.  Here are a couple of the several he published:

Lisa Grunberger, an associate professor at Temple University who is Jewish wrote about the vandalism of her house in Philadelphia. An excerpt:

A “J” spray-painted on my olive green house in South Philly,
Its white-hooked tail grazes my daughter’s head.

A skinhead, says my neighbor Jorge,
Un racist blanco, no entiendo,

Holding my hand inside his hand
Far longer than any gringo would.

He smells of sawdust and cologne.
I shoot a picture with my phone

Of my daughter underneath the “J.”
Evidence is always good to gather.

She traces the letter with her small finger.
She’s just learning about how letters

Make words, and words make sentences.
Doesn’t yet know sentences can kill:

Arbeit macht frei. Sentences can lie:
Make America Great Again. Sentences

Can heal: I have a dream. She’s fished
A pen from my bag and draws a “K” beside the “J.”

Lee Robinson, a retired lawyer in Comfort, Tex., ended her elegy on an uplifting note. Her poem, condensed here, is called “Who Says Trump and Poetry Are Incompatible?”

We know a poem can be maniacal, the best ones
Always unpredictable. Don’t poets sometimes rave?
Pound for example: profound, but mad as the Hatter,
And maybe a traitor. As for the tweets, if Dylan Thomas
Were still with us, might not he tweet his late-night sullen art?
Perhaps only poetry, after prose has failed us,
Is brave and big enough for this Trumpian time.
Think of Wordsworth, The world is too much with us,
Or Arnold: And we are here as on a darkling plain.
Dickinson would tell us to turn the TV off, the phone
And iPad too: The Soul selects her own Society.
Did Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwock foretell our president
Come whiffling through the tulgey wood, and burbling… But if I had to choose one poem to give to him, 

I’d give him Angelou: You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

On Oct. 31, 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated near her residence by two Sikh security guards.
Go to article »

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The Tianjin Binhai New Area Library, called ‘the eye of Binhai’, is located at the cultural centre of Binhai New Area in Tianjin, China.
CREDIT: VCG/VCG VIA GETTY

A view of the River Mersey and the city skyline as the sun rises over Liverpool.

The sun behind a windmill belonging to Miller Nigel Moon in Whissendine.

People cross the over the first 3D road crossing in France, created to encourage motorists to slow down in proximity to a school in Cysoing, northern France, the first 3D road crossing in France is being tested in Cysoling, northern France, to encourage motorists to slow down, similar to a system already in place in India, Iceland and Belgium.
Market Closes for October 31^st, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
55%
The percentage of companies in the S&P 500 that reported both better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and sales that notched a stock-price gain during the trading session that followed. That is lower than the average going back to 2015, but it is an improvement from the 49% of companies that got a boost from topping estimates in the second quarter.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canada’s equity benchmark posted a third consecutive record high and a third monthly increase, boosted by energy stocks as oil marked its best October since 2011.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 23 points or 0.1 percent to 16,025.59. For the month of October, the benchmark rose 2.5 percent.
     The energy sector gained 0.8 percent Tuesday as West Texas Intermediate prices added 0.4 percent to the highest since February. Baytex Energy Corp. jumped 5.7 percent and Torc Oil & Gas Ltd. rose 4.6 percent.
     Materials stocks weighed to the downside, losing 0.4 percent as gold prices fell. Eldorado Gold Corp. tumbled 6.9 percent.
     In other moves:
                            Stocks
* Shopify Inc. lost 8.5 percent amid signs the tech company’s growth rate is starting to slow
* Colliers International Group Inc. jumped 7.9 percent after third-quarter revenue beat the highest analyst estimate
* Canadian Western Bank added 4.8 percent to the highest since 2014. The bank is buying about C$900 million of loans and leases from ECN Capital Corp.
                            Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $13.15 discount to WTI, the widest gap since March
* Aeco natural gas traded at a $1.29 discount to Henry Hub
* Gold fell 0.6 percent to $1,270.50 an ounce
                            FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.5 percent to C$1.2896 per U.S. dollar, the lowest since mid-July
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield was little changed at 1.95 percent
US
By Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks capped the best month since February and the dollar strengthened as investors assessed the prospects for tax cuts and the next Federal Reserve chairman. The euro slipped as data showed inflation unexpectedly slowed in the region.
     The S&P 500 Index finished October with a gain of more than 2 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added nearly 1,000 points in the period, spurred by strong economic data, rising expectations for tax cuts and robust corporate earnings. Small caps led advances Tuesday to erase a loss for October. Facebook Inc. was little changed as its executives testified before Congress. 
     The 10-year Treasury yield held near 2.37 percent, four basis points higher than when it ended September. The greenback gained versus major peers to cap a second straight monthly advance. Oil headed for its first back-to-back monthly gains of the year. Gold fell for a second month.
     Tuesday’s trading undid most of Monday’s moves as investors stare down a torrent of decisions with the potential to move markets. President Donald Trump signaled he’ll name a new Fed chair Thursday, while Wednesday brings the central bank’s rate decision and some specifics on tax plans. Markets remain on edge after the first indictments from Robert Mueller, which may may pose a danger to tax cuts. The news flow has overshadowed a robust corporate earnings season and fresh data showing the U.S. economy on firm footing. In Europe, Spanish equities outperformed Tuesday as the government in Madrid won the power struggle against Catalan separatists. Bonds in the region edged lower after data showed the economy appeared to be strengthening. A drop in China’s factory gauge sparked some caution in Asia, with equity benchmarks mixed. Japanese stocks ended the day slightly lower after the Bank of Japan maintained its key policy rate.
     The European data came amid mixed signals about the global economy. China’s official factory gauge fell this month, though the country’s economy continues to defy predictions of a sharper slowdown. The euro-area’s unemployment rate inched lower in September as the economy expanded for an 18th consecutive quarter, but consumer inflation unexpectedly slowed in October, complicating the European Central Bank’s task as it considers tightening policy.
     Here are some key upcoming events this week:
* The U.S. central bank’s next rate decision is on Wednesday, with economists expecting policy makers to hold rates for now and to increase them at the December meeting.
* The U.S. October payroll report comes out Friday.
* Trump starts an 11-day trip to Asia, his first as president, on Friday. Trade and security issues — particularly North Korea — will probably be in focus.
* A probable Bank of England rate hike on Thursday will be the first in a decade.
* The slew of earnings releases will culminate with Apple Inc. results.
* Germany’s markets are closed for a public holiday.

     And these are the main moves in markets:
                          Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent to 2,575.31 at 4 p.m. in New York. It added 2.2 percent in the month, the most since February.
* The Russell 2000 Index jumped 0.9 percent, rebounding from a rout Monday and headed for a 0.6 percent gain in October.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.3 percent to the highest in more than five months. It rose 1.8 percent in the month.
* Spain’s IBEX Index gained 0.7 percent to the highest since Aug. 16.
                          Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index increased 0.1 percent.
* The euro dipped 0.1 percent to $1.1634.
* The British pound rose less than 0.05 percent to $1.3212.
                          Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed less than one basis point to 2.37 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell less than one basis point to 0.36 percent, the lowest in two weeks.
* Britain’s 10-year yield dipped one basis point to 1.335 percent, the lowest in more than a week.
                          Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.4 percent to $54.38 a barrel, the highest in more than six months. 
* Gold futures decreased 0.5 percent to $1,271.50 an ounce.
                           Asia
* Japan’s Topix index declined 0.3 percent at the close of trading in Tokyo, while the Nikkei 225 Stock Average was flat. SoftBank declined 4.6 percent. 
* Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.2 percent. 
* The Kospi in Seoul climbed 0.9 percent. 
* Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was steady while the Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.1 percent.
* The Japanese yen declined 0.2 percent to 113.36 per dollar.
Have a fabulous evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
                                                                                   -Mark Twain, 1835-1910

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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