February 12, 2018

Dear Friends,

Tangents: 

          SEASON TO SEASON 

I have been fooled before, and just because
This summer seems so long, it might not be
My last. Winter could come again, and pause
The sky like a taped tactical descent
Of pocket paratroopers. Things to see
Could happen yet, and life prove not quite spent
But still abundant, still the main event.

The trick, I’m learning, is to stay in doubt,
Season to season, of what time might bring,
And patiently await how things turn out.
Eventually time tells you everything.
If it takes time to do so, no surprise
In that. You fold your arms, you scan the skies,
And tell yourself that life has made you wise,

If only by the way it ebbs away.
But still it takes an age, and after all,
Though nearly gone, life didn’t end today,
And you might be here when the first leaves fall
Or even when the snow begins again,
If life that cast you, when this all began,
As a small boy, still needs a dying man.
                                      -By Clive James 

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Snowdrops make a white carpet in the woods at Welford Park near Newbury. Welford Park, where The Great British Bake Off is filmed every summer, is only open for visitors for five weeks in the year – until March 5^th.
CREDIT: THE TELEGRAPH

Dancers perform at Palazzo Pisani Moretta during the annual Ballo del Doge in Venice, Italy. The Ballo del Doge, created by fashion and costume designer Antonia Sautter, is considered the most elegant and exclusive masquerade ball during the Venice Carnival.
CREDIT: THE TELEGRAPH

Revellers from the Vila Maria Samba School take part in Carnival celebrations at Anhembi Sambradrome in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
CREDIT: THE TELEGRAPH
Market Closes for February 12^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1970, the New York Stock Exchange elects its first African-American member, Joseph L. Searles III.
Number of the Day
$22.9 billion
Investors withdrew $22.9 billion from U.S. stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in the seven days that ended Wednesday, according to fund tracker EPFR Global, the highest total on record.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rebounded from two weeks of steep declines, gaining the most since July 2016, but still lagged their U.S. counterparts.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 207 points or 1.4 percent to 15,241.88. The gain was the biggest in 19 months but underperformed the 1.7 percent increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
     Materials stocks saw the biggest gain, adding 3 percent as precious and base metals rose. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. jumped 11 percent, the most since October.
     Industrials added 2.2 percent as CAE Inc. rose 5.7 percent.
RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock to outperform, saying it could be headed to C$30 or more long term.
     In other moves:
                             Stocks
* Aecon Group Inc. fell 1.8 percent to the lowest since a Chinese firm launched its takeover bid for the engineering firm; Canada began a national security review of the deal
* Restaurant Brands International Inc. gained 6.2 percent, the most in a year. The parent company of Burger King said the chain’s 4Q comparable sales rose far more than analysts expected
* First Quantum Minerals Ltd. added 6.2 percent, the most in three months, after the company said it will push ahead with an Alaska mining project
                          Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $21.25 discount to WTI, the smallest gap in four weeksGold rose 0.9 percent to $1,324.20 an ounce
                            FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.1 percent to $1.2595 per U.S.dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell one basis point to 2.34 percent
US
By Kailey Leinz and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks surged, with financial markets showing signs of recovery after the worst week in two years for American equities.
     The 10-year yield fell back from the four-year high hit earlier Monday as the dollar slipped. The Nasdaq Composite Index turned positive for 2018, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 now down less than 1 percent since the end of December. Stocks and bonds have been in a tug-of-war since a blowout jobs report early this month sent Treasury yields spiking, raising the specter of higher interest rates to come.
     The Cboe Volatility Index fell as the S&P posted its biggest two-day advance in 18 months, but traders were still on edge following the tumultuous move in equities last week that wiped $2 trillion from U.S. stocks. Investors are awaiting U.S.
consumer-price data due Wednesday with some trepidation, given that pressure on equities has been emanating from the Treasury market and the outlook for inflation.
     “You just had a major reversal and investors are just taking a deep breath,” said Mike Bailey, the director of research at FBB Capital Partners in Bethesda, Maryland. “People said, ‘OK, the 10 percent correction is over, let’s take a look at the bright side.”’
     The S&P 500 retook its 100-day moving average, a technical indicator that it crashed through last week. Morgan Stanley chief U.S. equity strategist Michael Wilson reversed his week- old cautious call, joining peers at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. who have told clients to buy the dip.
     European and Asian equities also rose Monday, while the dollar’s slide supported commodities, with metals rallying and crude oil slightly higher after a six-day selloff.
     The won outperformed major currencies after Vice President Mike Pence told the Washington Post the U.S. is ready to engage in talks about North Korea’s nuclear program, signaling a shift in policy. South Africa’s rand strengthened on speculation President Jacob Zuma is poised to leave office.
     Terminal users can read more in our markets blog.
     Here are some important things to watch out for this week:
* Chinese New Year celebrations for the Year of the Dog begin in China and follow across much of Asia, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Chinese mainland markets are closed Feb. 15-21.
* Zuma’s fate is set to be sealed on Monday when the top leadership of the ruling African National Congress meets to conclude the transition to a new administration.
* The U.S. consumer-price index, due Wednesday, probably increased at a moderate pace in January, economists project.
Retail sales in the U.S., also out Wednesday, probably increased for a fifth straight month.
* Japan is expected to extend the longest stretch of economic growth since the mid-1990s when it reports fourth-quarter gross domestic product on Wednesday.
* Earnings season continues in full swing with reports from Bunge, TripAdvisor, SunPower, Con Edison, Bombardier, Michelin, PepsiCo, MetLife, Cisco, Japan Post Bank, Credit Suisse, Nestle, Airbus, Allianz, Telstra, Coca-Cola, Deere, Eni, Credit Agricole and Campbell Soup.
     These are the main moves in markets:
                             Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 1.4 percent at the close of trading in New York
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 1.2 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index added 1.2 percent, the most since April.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose 1.2 percent.
                           Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipped 0.3 percent.
* The euro rose 0.3 percent to $1.229.
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3834.
* South Africa’s rand climbed 0.5 percent to 11.93 per dollar.
                             Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 2.85 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 0.75 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose three basis points to 1.6 percent.
                          Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude added 0.2 percent to $59.33 a barrel, the first advance in more than a week.
* Gold rose 0.5 percent to $1,322.74 an ounce for the largest advance in two weeks.
* Copper futures climbed 1.7 percent for the first advance in five days.
–With assistance from Elena Popina, Ruth Carson, Andreea Papuc, Eddie van der Walt, Todd White, Christopher Anstey and Lu Wang.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann 

Si jeunesse savait; si vieillesse pouvait.
If youth knew; if age could.
                   -Henri Etienne, 1531-98

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