August 15, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Napoleon Bonaparte, b. 1769.

Spotify has a great playlist for summer road trips, aptly named Songs to Sing in the Car.  It’s a mix of contemporary radio hits by the biggest R&B  & pop stars today as well as a sampling of the great voices of the past 10 years such as Adele, Sam Smith, Sia, Alessia Cara, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Pink etc.

The NPR podcast Planet Money makes economic news easy to understand, taking unusual approaches to covering the latest business stories.  You can find it at http://bit.ly/planetmoneypodcast.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Northumberland’s Bamburgh Beach, overlooked by Bamburgh Castle, proved an attractive proposition for surfers as brighter weather returned to the UK after a weekend of rain and storms. Credit: Phil Wilkinson

People dressed as imperial guards of Napoleon I, take part in a re-enactment battle in Ajaccio on the French Mediterranean Island of Corsica, ob August 14, 2018, to celebrate Napolean Week. Napolean was born on August 15^th 1769. Credit: Pascal Pochard-Casabianca/AFP

Joan of Arc during the taking of Orleans at the CBG Mignot workshop, in La Breille-Les-Pins, western France. Founded in 1825 CBG Mignot workshop has produced lead soldiers to the delight of collectors. The 1/32^nd scale figurines are designed in Anjou, and cast in Paris and then returned to Anjou to be hand-painted. Credit: jean-Francois Monier/AFP
Market Closes for August 15^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Carolina Wilson
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell to the lowest level in over two months, in line with the broad decline in global equities, as Turkey announced new tariffs on U.S. imports and commodities slumped.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 1.1 percent to 16,148.50 in Toronto. Materials dragged down the benchmark, dropping more than 4.3 percent as Hudbay Minerals slumped 8.4 percent amid a selloff in copper and other industrial metals. Energy companies also took a hit, with the group falling 2.6 percent.
     Canopy Growth Corp. soared as much as 52 percent, the most since intraday since April 2014. Constellation Brands Inc. said it was boosting its stake in the cannabis grower, poising the owner of Corona beer to take a leading position on the world’s weed stage.
     In other moves:
                            Stocks
* Aphria Inc. climbed 20.5 percent, to the most since November 2016, as pot stocks followed Canopy’s gains. Aurora Cannabis Inc. climbed 19.5 percent.
* Great Canadian Gaming Corp. gained as much as 8.6 percent after second quarter adjusted Ebitda beat analyst estimates
* First Majestic Silver Corp. fell 8 percent, tumbling along with metals which declined on strength of U.S. dollar amid trade tensions, China weakness and Turkey’s financial crisis; New Gold Inc. declined 7.7 percent and Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. fell 7.6 percent.
                            Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $27.50 discount to WTI
* Aeco natural gas traded at a $1.78 discount to Henry Hub
* Gold fell 1.5 percent to $1,183.20 an ounce
                            FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.5 percent to C$1.3129 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 2.266 percent
US
By Olivia Schaber
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks had their worst day in seven weeks Wednesday amid a broad decline in global equities as technology shares were roiled by disappointing results from Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. and copper sank into a bear market, weighing on commodities. Crude oil slipped below $65 a barrel following a report that American stockpiles rose the most since March 2017.
     The S&P 500 Index declined for the fifth time in six sessions, while the Nasdaq 100 Index posted the weakest performance among major U.S. benchmarks. Strong retail sales figures did little to mollify investors, as Macy’s Inc. plummeted 16 percent, the most since May 2017, despite beating expectations. Tencent’s first profit decline in at least a decade also rattled emerging-market equities.
     “Tech stocks are pulling the markets lower,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at TF Global Markets U.K. in London. “We are seeing investors becoming more concerned about the geopolitics.”
     Tesla Inc. dropped more than 2.5 percent after a report that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sent a subpoena to the company regarding Elon Musk’s privatization plans and his comments about having secured funding.
     Raw-materials producers dragged down European shares as copper and zinc sank to the lowest in more than a year. In Turkey, the lira gained after the country’s banking regulator moved to deter short-selling in the currency. While the nation’s assets stabilized, other emerging-market currencies continued to buckle as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intensified a diplomatic feud with U.S. President Donald Trump by issuing a series of new import tariffs.
     With the bull market in American stocks just a week away from becoming the longest in history, investors have turned increasingly cautious amid lingering global trade tensions. Markets have been rocked over the past week as turmoil in Turkey weighed on sentiment across many emerging- and developed-nation assets. Qatar promised Wednesday to invest $15 billion in the Turkish economy to help the country avert a financial crisis.
      Elsewhere, Hong Kong intervened to defend its peg to the dollar for the first time in three months after the local currency fell to the weak end of its trading band. Several markets, including Poland and India, were closed for a holiday.
     Here are some key events coming up this week:
* Earnings are due this week from companies including Maersk, Cisco, Walmart, and Carlsberg.
* Brexit talks between the EU and the U.K. resume in Brussels Thursday.
     These are the main moves in markets:
                            Stocks
* The S&P 500 slumped 0.8 percent to 2,818.39, the biggest decline since June, and the Nasdaq 100 dropped 1.2 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 1.4 percent to the lowest in more than a month.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index dipped 1.1 percent to the lowest in five weeks.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index fell 1.8 percent, reaching the lowest since July 2017.
                            Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2 percent to the highest since June 2017.
* The euro was little changed at 1.1345.
* The Japanese yen climbed 0.4 percent to 110.68 per dollar.
* The Turkish lira surged 7.5 percent to 5.9101 per dollar.
* South Africa’s rand plunged 2.5 percent to 14.597 per dollar, the weakest since September 2016.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index fell 0.6 percent to the lowest since May 2017.
                            Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 2.8569 percent, the lowest in a month.
* Germany’s 10-year yield slid two basis points to 0.304 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield decreased four basis point to 1.225 percent.
                            Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index fell 1.9 percent to the lowest since July 2017.
* West Texas Intermediate crude slid 3.3 percent to $64.86 a barrel, the lowest since June.
* LME copper sank 4 percent to $5,801 per metric ton, the lowest in 13 months.
* Gold declined 1.7 percent to $1,174.42 an ounce, the weakest since January 2017.
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, James Poole, Adam Haigh and Eddie van der Walt. 

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Learning never exhausts the mind.
   -Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519

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