March 29, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

This Sunday is Easter Sunday for many Christians and Palm Sunday for Orthodox Christians.  Passover starts on Friday evening.   A time of reflection for many of us.
Happy Holidays.

Just returned this morning from an investment conference, Healthy Returns, held in NYC which covered current trends in science and medicine, and what we can expect the future to offer from gene therapy immunotherapy and technology interfacing medicine.   Fascinating stuff and interesting investment opportunities to contemplate.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A basketball-playing robot called CUE, developed by Toyota engineers, shoots a free throw during a rehearsal for half-time show of Alvark Tokyo’s basketball match in Tokyo, Japan.
Credit: Toru Hanai/Reuters

A seal and a huge stingray fight off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa. Credit: Dave Hurwitz/Caters News

A member of Royal Collection staff with a walnut geodesic dome sculpture by Naseer Yasna during the press preview of the Prince and Patron exhibition at Buckingham Palace, London, which will mark the 70^th birthday of the Prince of Wales this year. Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Market Closes for March 29th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose the most in nearly seven weeks, ending the worst quarter in two and a half years on an upbeat note.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 197 points or 1.3 percent to 15,367.29 Thursday. With markets closed Friday for a holiday, that brought the benchmark’s first-quarter loss to 5.2 percent, the biggest decline since the third quarter of 2015.
     Materials and energy stocks led the gains on Thursday, adding 2.4 percent and 2.3 percent respectively as commodity prices rose. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. gained 8.5 percent and Teck Resources Ltd. added 4.5 percent.
     In other moves:
                           Stocks
* ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. tumbled 29 percent to the lowest since 2014 after National Bank Financial said the company is “out of cash and surviving on credit”
* BlackBerry Ltd. fell 6 percent, the most since June, as analysts questioned its failure to provide software-revenue guidance
* Dollarama Inc. rose 0.9 percent after earlier gaining as much as 6.2 percent. The company reported earnings that beat estimates and proposed a three-for-one stock split
                           Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $22.00 discount to WTI
* Gold was little changed at $1,325.17 an ounce
                            FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.3 percent to C$1.2886 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell three basis points to 2.09 percent
US
By Brendan Walsh and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks jumped, with tech shares leading the way, as equity markets ended a tumultuous quarter on a high note. Treasuries rose while the dollar slipped.
     Gains in the S&P 500 Index were led by energy companies and chipmakers, and were helped by a recovery in Amazon.com Inc. after a White House spokeswoman said Donald Trump isn’t planning to take action against the company after he accused it of not paying taxes. Ten-year Treasury yields fell below 2.75 percent after data showed U.S. consumer spending lagged behind income growth for a second month in February.
     Volumes were subdued ahead of a long weekend. The S&P 500 closed the first three months of the year down 1.2 percent, marking the first quarterly loss for the gauge since 2015. The dollar posted its fifth straight quarterly decline, and oil its third consecutive quarterly gain.
     The arrival of the holiday will be a relief for many investors following a roller coaster start to the year in which stellar global equity gains gave way to a volatility blowup in February and a technology-led rout in recent days. Most Western markets are set to close on Friday and many European countries are also out on Monday.
     “Let’s get out of this quarter and take a breather,” said Rich Guerrini, the chief executive officer of PNC Investments. “We need some market stability at this point and hopefully we get to some calmer waters.”
     The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose for a third day, with automakers leading the way after Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. were said to be in talks to merge. Stocks were mixed in Asia.
     Elsewhere, West Texas oil rallied toward $65 a barrel. Bitcoin fell past $7,500.
     These are the main moves in markets:
                         Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.4 percent at the close of trading in New York.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index rose 1.9 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.4 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 0.9 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index advanced 0.8 percent.
                         Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.2 percent.
* The euro was little changed at $1.2303.
* The British pound decreased 0.4 percent to $1.4027.
* The Japanese yen advanced 0.4 percent to 106.41 per dollar.
                         Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 2.74 percent, the lowest in more than seven weeks.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.49 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield slipped one basis point to 1.35 percent, the lowest in more than two months.
                        Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.9 percent to $64.95 a barrel.
* Copper gained 0.9 percent to $3.029 a pound, the highest in more a week.
* Gold was little changed at $1,325.60 an ounce.
–With assistance from Blaise Robinson, Adam Haigh, Samuel Potter, Natasha Doff and Christopher Anstey.

Have a terrific weekend.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Everything in moderation, including moderation.
                          -Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

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