September 25, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Full Moon tonight.
I watched it rise last night and it was spectacular; tonight should be even better.

September 25, 1676: Greenwich Mean Time established.
And on this day in 1493, Christopher Columbus set sail from Cadiz, Spain, with a flotilla of 17 ships on his second voyage to the Western Hemisphere. Go to article >>

Back Story , New York Times, September 25, 2018:

William Faulkner, born on this day in 1897 in New Albany, Miss., won two Pulitzers and the Nobel Prize in Literature. His Southern-rooted fiction, heartbreaking, dark and perverse, is often remembered for its long, winding sentences. His work appears in almost every listing of the best American novels. 

What’s less known about Faulkner is that he was a devotee of mysteries — Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, Dorothy Sayers — and that he tried his hand at the genre. 

William Faulkner in 1962. Neal Boenzi/The New York Times 

In 1946, he won second prize in the annual Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine contest, for the story “An Error in Chemistry.” (Its big reveal involved a whiskey toddy). 

The story later appeared in “Knight’s Gambit,” a mystery collection by Faulkner featuring a mild-mannered yet shrewd country lawyer from Mississippi. Reviews were mixed, but The Times gave it a thumbs up. 

Faulkner rarely discussed his love of mysteries, perhaps considering them lowbrow, but he seemed to understand their importance to his writing. 

A friend recalled visiting a library with him, so Faulkner could “exchange a stack of mystery stories for a new stack. I asked him, ‘Why do you read all of these damn mysteries?’ and he said, ‘Bud, no matter what you write, it’s a mystery of one kind or another.’ ” 

Nancy Wartik wrote today’s Back Story.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Mist hovers around fields near Glastonbury Tor in Somerset as the autumn chill sets in. Credit: Apex

The harvest moon casts the City’s skyline in dramatic hues as it rises over London. The name has its origins in it being the nearest full moon to the autumnal equinox when the last of the harvest was traditionally brought in. Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/LNP

Birds sit in their cages during a bird singing competition in Thailand’s southern province of Narathiwat. Over 1,600 birds from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore took part in the annual contest. Credit: Madaree Tohlala/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for September 25^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 2008, in the depths of the financial crisis, federal regulators seized Washington Mutual and struck a deal to sell the bulk of its operations to JPMorgan. It was the largest bank failure in U.S. history.
Canada
By Carolina Wilson
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for a second day as trade tensions with the U.S. continued and global markets declined. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the U.S. won’t wait for Canada on new Nafta pact. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the same luncheon at the United Nations General Assembly, where the pair had a brief handshake suggesting lingering resentment.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.3 percent, with consumer-discretionary and energy companies declining the most. Pot stocks rallied after Aurora Cannabis forecast revenue growth acceleration in fiscal 2019.
                            Stocks
* Martinrea International fell 4.9 percent as other auto players took a hit after BMW was the latest car company to lower its profit outlook, citing trade tensions and pricing pressure; Magna International Inc. declined 4.7 percent
* Barrick Gold Corp. rose as much as 5.4 percent after Citi analyst Alexander Hacking upgraded to buy from neutral, writing that the Randgold deal will add “most successful CEO” in the sector and solidifies capital allocation by removing M&A overhang/accelerating assets sales.
* Air Canada fell 2.5 percent after NTSB found tired pilots caused a near miss on a runway in San Francisco in 2017
                            Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $34.50 discount to WTI
* Gold gained 0.1 percent to $1,205.60 an ounce
                            FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar gained 0.01 percent to C$1.2953 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield gained to 2.459%
US
By Brendan Walsh
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks edged lower as oil drillers rallied with crude while industrial shares lagged behind.  Treasuries fell as the Federal Reserve started its two-day policy meeting.  U.S. benchmarks were mixed, with automobile and utility shares weighing on the S&P 500 Index, while a gain for Amazon.com Inc. helped lift the Nasdaq. President Donald Trump told the United Nations that the trade deficit with China “is just not acceptable,” stoking fears of greater trade tensions. Brent oil climbed to a four-year high.
     Benchmark Treasury yields touched 3.1 percent and the dollar weakened slightly. Core European bonds slipped, but Italian notes rallied as the country crept closer to a budget.  The Stoxx Europe 600 Index posted its seventh gain in eight days, and Japanese equities rose to the highest since January.
     Riskier assets are drifting in the face of mounting  political, trade and policy headwinds and investors look toward what could be a long and bruising conflict between the U.S. and China following the Asian nation’s decision to call off planned talks after the latest round of tariffs. Adding to political concerns are reports that U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees a probe into Russian interference in the American election, may be poised to leave his post, while the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court continues to be mired in controversy.
     Investors are also looking forward to the Federal Reserve.  The central bank’s policy meeting this week will likely see interest rates increased for the third time in 2018 and feature fresh projections for the next few years.  “What will be more interesting will be to find out” the number of rate hikes anticipated for next year, Iain Stealey, portfolio manager at JPMorgan Global Strategic Bond Fund, who expects two Fed rate hikes this year and two in the first half of 2019, said on Bloomberg TV. “Inflation is above target, so they can keep going on this sort of slow normalization.”
     Elsewhere, Brent climbed above $81 a barrel, reaching the highest since November 2014, while most metals fell. The pound added to gains made Monday when the currency was buoyed by increasing talk of a second U.K. referendum on the final Brexit deal.
     Here are some key events coming up this week:
* Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets with President Donald Trump in New York to discuss trade.
* The Fed decision on Wednesday will be followed by a press conference with Chairman Jerome Powell.
* Thursday sees durable goods, GDP data and jobless claims for the U.S.
These are the main moves in markets:
                            Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.1 percent as of the close of trading in New York; the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 0.3 percent; the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.5 percent.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index increased 0.7 percent to the highest in more than three weeks.]
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Index was little changed.
* The Nikkei 225 increased 0.3 percent.
                            Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased less than 0.1 percent.
* The euro increased 0.2 percent to $1.1768.
* The British pound gained 0.5 percent to $1.3185.
* The Japanese yen fell 0.1 percent to 112.94 per dollar.
                             Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries were little changed at 3.09 percent after hitting the highest since May.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose three basis points to 0.54 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield climbed two basis points to 1.63 percent.
* Italy’s 10-year yield declined seven basis points to 2.87 percent, the biggest fall in more than a week.
                            Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.3 percent $72.28 a barrel, while Brent rose 0.7 percent to $81.74.
* Gold advanced 0.2 percent to $1,201.13 an ounce.
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Brandon Kochkodin, Christopher Anstey, Yakob Peterseil and Samuel Potter.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever, 

Carolann

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang one.
                                 -Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1882-1945

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