May 11, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On May 11, 1973, charges against Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the Pentagon Papers case were dismissed by Judge William M. Byrne, who cited government misconduct. 
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This Sunday is Mother’s Day.  The NY Times ran some great recipes today of what to prepare for Mom.  This one looks like a great brunch item:

More-Vegetable-Than-Egg Frittata
MARK BITTMAN

• YIELD 2 or 4 servings
• TIME  30 minutes

This simple frittata — just eggs, vegetables, fresh herbs and a little Parmesan if you’re feeling luxurious — is proof that eating well doesn’t have to be deprivational. It can also be delicious.

Featured in: When Diet Meets Delicious.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ onion, sliced (optional)
•  Salt and black pepper
• 4 to 6 cups of any chopped or sliced raw or barely cooked vegetables
• ¼ cup fresh basil or parsley leaves, or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon or mint leaves, or any other herb
• 2 or 3 eggs
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

PREPARATION

Put olive oil in a skillet (preferably nonstick or well-seasoned cast iron) and turn heat to medium. When fat is hot, add onion, if using, and cook, sprinkling with salt and pepper, until it is soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add vegetables, raise heat and cook, stirring occasionally until they soften, from a couple of minutes for greens to 15 minutes for sliced potatoes. Adjust heat so vegetables brown a little without scorching. (With precooked vegetables, just add them to onions and stir before proceeding.)

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A lava flow moving on Makamae Street in Leilani Estates, Hawaii. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

German Artist Michael Pendry (picture) has hung 2500 origami doves in the nave of Salisbury Cathedral in an installation called Les Colombes. It opens to the public Saturday May 12^th. Credit: Jay Williams for The Telegraph

Actresses Fan Binbing, Marion Cotillard, director Simon Kinberg, with actresses Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz and Lupita Nyong’o attend the photocall for “355” during the 71^st annual Cannes Film Festival at Majestic Beach Pier. Credit: Antony Jones/Getty Images

South China tiger (Pantheratigris amoyensis) cub triplets born in Hangzhou, China. Credit: Wang Gang/China News Service/VCG Via Getty Images
Market Closes for May 11^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1861, the New York Stock Exchange banned all trading in Confederate stocks and bonds as a sign of patriotic fellowship.
Number of the Day
$158 billion
The amount of stock that S&P 500 companies bought back during the first three months of the year, with 85% of firms reporting, on pace to be a quarterly record
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks posted their best week since February as crude prices posted a second weekly gain, pushing the energy sector to its highest since January.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 24 points or 0.2 percent to 15,983.32 Friday, its sixth straight gain. The benchmark added 1.6 percent for the week.
     Rate-sensitive stocks rose as bond yields retreated, with the telecom and real estate indexes up 0.5 percent. Energy stocks also gained 0.5 percent even as oil prices retreated below $71 a barrel.
     Industrials lost 0.6 percent as New Flyer Industries Inc. slid 2.5 percent to the lowest since January.
     In other moves:
                          Stocks
* Air Canada rose 3.8 percent. The airline is adding capacity on key transcontinental flights as a potential strike looms at competitor WestJet Airlines Ltd.
* Great Canadian Gaming Corp. rose 7.5 percent to a record high, adding to Thursday’s 27 percent gain on strong earnings and two analyst upgrades
* Thomson Reuters Corp. lost 4.5 percent to the lowest since 2015. First-quarter sales missed analyst expectations
                          Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $15.00 discount to WTI
* Gold fell 0.1 percent to $1,320.70 an ounce
                          FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.2 percent to C$1.2788 per U.S. dollar as Canadian job growth stalled in April
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell two basis points to 2.38 percent
US
By Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks edged higher Friday, capping the best week in two months amid growing conviction that inflation will remain tame and as trade tensions eased.
     The S&P 500 Index was buoyed by telecom companies as tech shares weighed on the gauge. The dollar steadied, leaving it little changed for the week, while 10-year Treasury yields held below 3 percent. Emerging-market shares rose for a fifth day, the best streak since January. Oil slipped, but notched a second weekly advance after the U.S. quit the Iran nuclear deal.
     The week saw a bullish tone take hold in equities following a great earnings season for the biggest U.S. companies and removal of some trade anxiety as China seemed to soften its tone. At the same time, investor anxiety about a rapid rise in global interest rates was eased after a tame inflation reading in the U.S. and a dovish policy decision by the Bank of England.
     “What has gotten stocks going again is the reality that maybe rates are not going to be rising to the moon and the dollar is not going to continue to strengthen,” Krishna Memani, the chief investment officer at OppenheimerFunds Inc., said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters. “The underlying fundamentals in terms of economic growth, earnings, has been extraordinarily good.”
     Easing geopolitical tensions aided gains in Asian stocks, with Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un set for their landmark meeting in Singapore on June 12. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index edged higher. Malaysian assets trading offshore began to stabilize after the shock election win for the opposition. Argentina’s peso fell to a record low as the country seeks a credit line from the International Monetary Fund.
     These are the main moves in markets:
                          Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.2 percent as of the close of trading in New York.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index was little changed.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.1 percent.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.9 percent to the highest in seven weeks.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.6 percent.
                         Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
* The euro increased 0.3 percent to $1.1945.
* The British pound increased 0.2 percent to $1.3543.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1 percent to 109.3 per dollar.
                         Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose 1 basis point to 2.97 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.55 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose 1 basis point to 1.44 percent.
                         Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.1 percent to $70.56 a barrel.
* Gold slipped 0.2 percent to $1,319.20 an ounce.
* Copper was little changed at $3.11 a pound.
–With assistance from Garfield Reynolds, Cormac Mullen, Christopher Anstey, Joe Easton and Robert Brand. 

Have a great weekend.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Answer me in one word.
-William Shakespeare, 1564-1616

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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com