April 3, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

The Poem:
Outside the Bakery
-by Rachel Spence
Saturday, 10am, the Street of the Cats.
Morning hammered thin by rain, paving stones
licked by bronze. Outside the bakery,
four ladies boneless as the loaves in their trollies,
tossing a recipe for meatballs through the rusty air.
A man passes, his cheeks pouched with middle-age.
“Angelo!” calls a lady.  “I saw your mamma yesterday.
Why do you never visit her?”  Chastened, he bows
his head, taking his scolding from a woman
for whom St Mark’s Square is as far as Paris, unaware
that fifty years ago his mother was the local beauty,
a Titian blonde in swing skirt and stilettos,
that the bread buyers hissed “putana” as she passed. 

From Bird of Sorrow (Templar Poetry).

On this day in 1860, the Pony Express mail service debuted as riders simultaneously set out riding west from St. Joseph, Mo. (the nation’s most westerly telegraph terminal) and east from Sacramento, Calif. The riders reached the opposite cities, nearly 2,000 miles apart, just 10 days later–cutting the time it took news to travel across the continent from more than two months to less than two weeks.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Lambs wander in the garden of Doe Park in Teesdale today, as snow sweeps north over the North of England this Easter Monday. 
Credit: The Telegraph

Ducks are tipped into the river from Hebden Bridge during the yearly duck race. 
Credit: The Telegraph

People relax under cherry blossom trees in Kameoka Yawaraginomichi Sakura Park in Kameoka, Japan. 
Credit: The Telegraph
Market Closes for April 3^rd, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks retreated as cannabis companies and gold miners fell, while the loonie was the strongest in nearly a month amid reports that the U.S. wants to announce a preliminary Nafta deal next week.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 33 points or 0.2 percent to 15,180.76. Health-care stocks tumbled 4.9 percent, the most in two months, as investors fled pot stocks. Canopy Growth Corp. lost 13 percent, Aurora Cannabis Inc. fell 11 percent and Aphria Inc. lost 11 percent.
     The materials sector retreated 0.9 percent as gold prices fell. Barrick Gold Corp. lost 2.2 percent and Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. fell 4.1 percent.
      In other moves:
                         Stocks
* West Fraser Timber Co. gained 5.4 percent, Interfor Corp. rose 4.9 percent and Norbord Inc. added 4.3 percent amid talk of strong U.S. housing demand
* Transcontinental Inc. lost 6 percent, giving up much of Monday’s 9.7 percent gain. The company is selling C$250 million of subscription receipts to help finance its acquisition of Coveris Americas
* Martinrea International Inc. rose 5.8 percent, Magna International Inc. gained 3.1 percent and Linamar Corp. added 2.6 percent amid growing optimism that a Nafta deal will get done
                         Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $18.15 discount to WTI, the narrowest gap in four months
* Gold fell 0.7 percent to $1,332.80 an ounce
                          FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.9 percent to C$1.2805 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose three basis points to 2.15 percent
US
By Jeremy Herron and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — A risk-on tone gripped U.S. markets, with equities pushing to session highs and bond yields climbing on speculation that President Donald Trump’s policies won’t disrupt global trade and economic growth.
     Equities broke out from a mixed session following a Bloomberg report that suggested the White House isn’t actively looking to challenge Amazon.com’s business despite days of attacks from the president. That news came after the Director of the National Trade Council said “smart money” would buy stocks following Monday’s rout, sparked in part by tariff angst and Donald Trump’s bluster against one of the nation’s largest companies.
     “What we’ve seen first with Navarro and secondarily today with some of the headlines is them sort of pulling back on some of this,” Tom Essaye, founder of “The Sevens Report,” said by phone. “What we’re seeing is the administration, or one specific person, realizing there are unintended consequences of whatever fight he wants to pick at the moment. The market decline probably got bad enough yesterday to where it got people’s attention.”
     The reversion to risk taking followed the S&P 500’s first close below its 200-day moving average since the Brexit vote, a rout that left major averages in correction territory. The U.S. equity benchmark is still more than 9 percent below its January record.
     Investors are also contending with tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve, with Friday’s government jobs report the next major data point on the world’s largest economy. After that, earnings season looms, with analyst predicting a surge in profits.
     “What we are really seeing across the economies and markets are opposing forces playing out: in the economy you are seeing Fed versus inflation, in markets you are seeing momentum versus fundamental supports,” JPMorgan Asset Management Global Market Strategist Hannah Anderson told Bloomberg TV.
     Here are some key events coming up this week:
* U.S. employment data are due Friday; the jobless rate probably fell in March after holding at 4.1 percent for five straight months.
* The Reserve Bank of India decides on policy Thursday.
     These are the main moves in markets:
                          Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 1.3 percent as of 4 p.m. in New York.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index added 1.1 percent.
* Trading of Spotify shares began early Tuesday afternoon in New York in an unusual direct listing, giving the company a market value of about $28 billion.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.5 percent, the first retreat in more than a week.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dipped 0.1 percent.
                          Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1 percent to the lowest in a week.
* The euro decreased 0.3 percent to $1.2262, the weakest in two weeks.
* The British pound gained 0.1 percent to $1.4053.
* The Japanese yen fell 0.7 percent to 106.63 per dollar.
                           Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained five basis points to 2.78 percent, the highest in a week.
* Germany’s 10-year yield was unchanged at 0.50 percent, the lowest in 12 weeks.
                           Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.9 percent to $63.55 a barrel.
* Gold futures fell 0.9 percent to $1,335.40 an ounce.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

I only want people around me who can do the impossible.
                                              -Elizabeth Arden, 1884-1966

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