July 19, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: 
Carolann is out of the office this afternoon, I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Photographer Patrick Marshall spent three hours cooped up in a water hide at Horn Mill Trout Farm in Oakham, Peterborough to capture this moment. When the osprey eventually scooped up the fish, it then flew directly towards the camera, yielding this dramatic image. CREDIT: PATRICK MARSHALL/CATERS NEWS

People fish from the end of Whitby pier on Wednesday morning as the sun rises on the Yorkshire coast & the UK prepares for another hot day. CREDIT: ANDREW MCCAREN/LNP
Market Closes for July 19th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose the most in a week, bucking the global trend amid higher oil prices and strong railway earnings.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 66 points or 0.4 percent to 16,543.01. Energy stocks led the gains, rising 1.4 percent as Saudi Arabia pledged not to flood global markets with oil.
TransCanada Corp. jumped 5.4 percent, the most since 2015, after U.S. regulators made major changes to a new tax rule announced earlier this year.
     Industrials gained 1.2 percent to a record high. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. added 2.3 percent following strong second- quarter earnings and anticipation that the company will boost its full-year targets.
     In other moves:
                             Stocks
* First Quantum Minerals Ltd. was the biggest decliner on the benchmark, losing 7.5 percent as copper prices fell below $6,000 a metric ton for the first time in a year
* Magna International Inc. lost 1.9 percent, Linamar Corp. slid
2.4 percent and Martinrea fell 2.2 percent. The U.S. Commerce Department held a hearing Thursday into whether imports of passenger vehicles threaten national security
* West Fraser Timber Co. lost 2.9 percent and Canfor Corp. fell
3.2 percent as lumber prices fell for a fourth day
                          Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $26.25 discount to WTI, the widest gap since March
* Gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,224.00 an ounce
                           FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.7 percent to C$1.3264 per U.S.
dollar as the Bloomberg commodity index fell to its lowest level in a year
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell 4 basis points to 2.11 percent
US
By Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — The dollar swung between gains and losses and Treasuries strengthened after President Donald Trump criticized the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates. U.S.
equities finished lower for the first time in three days as financial shares led declines.
     Trump expressed frustration with the central bank in an CNBC interview. The critique follows Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s upbeat assessment this week of the domestic economy.
The greenback has rallied for three consecutive days after Powell pledged to continue to tighten policy to keep the domestic economy from overheating, pressuring emerging market assets and commodities.
     “The market is already challenging the notion that the Fed can tighten as much as it has been projecting, but even so, it does throw a bit of a monkey wrench into that debate,” said Mazen Issa, a senior foreign-exchange strategist at TD in New York. “This is a knee-jerk reaction.”
     While Powell’s comments that the U.S. economy may not yet have reached full employment helped cement investor expectations for the path of monetary tightening, the strengthening dollar has done little to lift the mood elsewhere. The immediate focus in the stock market remains on company results, but trade threats are never far away. China said on Thursday it doesn’t want a trade war, but isn’t afraid of one.
     Commodities tumbled into correction territory earlier Thursday, sliding again in the face of the resurgent dollar and lingering global trade tensions. Among the recent milestones:
Copper dipping below $6,000. West Texas Intermediate crude tested $68. Gold crashing through $1,220.
     Oil recovered after Saudi Arabia dismissed assertions that it’ll oversupply demand as “without basis” and said it “does not try to push oil into the market beyond its customers’ needs.”
Gold briefly rallied after Trump’s comments, but finished lower.
     These are the main moves in markets:
                             Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.4 percent to 2,804.50 as of 4:03 p.m. in New York.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average eased 0.5 percent to 25,064.50.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index slumped 0.4 percent to 7,825.30.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index gained 0.1 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index slumped 0.9 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.2 percent.
                           Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3 percent, after rising as much as 0.6 percent.
* The euro was little changed at $1.1639.
* The Japanese yen gained 0.3 percent to 112.49 per dollar.
* South Africa’s rand fell 2.4 percent to 13.59 per dollar.
                             Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell three basis points to 2.84 percent.
* Italian 10-year yields were little changed at 2.51 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.33 percent.
                          Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.9 percent to $69.32 a barrel.
* Gold fell 0.4 percent to $1,222.75 an ounce, after reaching the weakest level in more than a year.
–With assistance from Yakob Peterseil.

Have a great evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Megan

Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value. 
-Albert Einstein

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