November 27, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Today is Giving Tuesday. Founded by the 92nd Street Y in New York City in 2012 and propelled by social media, it’s now a global movement encouraging charitable donations and service.

At its core: “The idea that no act of giving is too small to make an impact,” one of the organization’s executives told The Times.

That same belief inspired Adolph S. Ochs, the publisher of The Times, to help a man in need on Christmas Day in 1911.

That encounter led Ochs to found the Neediest Cases Fund, our annual charity campaign. And more than a century later, we’re still sharing stories of people in need — and giving readers a way to help — throughout the holiday season.

After all, as one long-time donor summed it up: “We’re all in this together.”

Remy Tumin, a reporter for the 107th annual Neediest Cases campaign, wrote today’s Back Story. – The New York Times, November 27, 2018

Adolph S. Ochs, the former publisher of The Times, circa 1933. The New York Times Photo Archives

Bruce Lee, b. 1940
Jimi Hendrix, b. 1942
Welland Canal

By being yourself, you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before. -Edwin Eliot.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Buildings are seen in thick fog in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province of China. China Meteorological Administration issued an orange alert for thick fog. Credit: Chen Wei/VCG Via Getty Images

Tom Doslin of Hawaii wipes out of the legendary Pipeline wave during the first great winter day of surfing in Haleiwa on the Hawaiian North Shore. Credit: Brian Bielmann/AFP/Getty Images

A rainbow forms over St. Mary’s Lighthouse at Whitley Bay, North Tyneside. A “major change” in the UK’s weather is expected in the coming days as Storm Diana sweeps in from the Atlantic. Credit: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

107-year-old French cyclist Robert Marchand prepares to take the start of a ride on his bike to celebrate his birthday around Privas, southern France. Credit: Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for November 27^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Microsoft is close to becoming the most valuable U.S. company for the first time since 2003, according to Dow Jones Market Data. If the software firm eclipses Apple in market value, it would knock the iPhone maker off the top spot for the first time since 2016, when Google parent Alphabet briefly topped Apple. Apple is valued at $829 billion, while Microsoft is at $817 billion and Amazon.com is at $773 billion. 
Canada
By Tatiana Darie
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks continued to be weak on Tuesday amid a sell-off in materials as U.S.-China trade jitters and a rally in the U.S. dollar put downward pressure on the space.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.5 percent, with losses in consumer discretionary and materials pacing losses. Communication and real estate were the only sectors in the green.
     The loonie weakened against the dollar for a third day as the rising U.S. 10-year yield helped push spread over comparable Canadian debt to widest since July.
Stocks
* Kinross Gold and Turquoise Hill Resources fell along with U.S. peers in the materials sector as the U.S. signaled it’s likely to go ahead with plans to raise tariffs on Chinese products, adding to concerns about global growth.
* Maple Leaf Foods fell 2.8 percent after announcing plans to build a C$660m poultry facility in London, Ontario.
* Crescent Point Energy fell 2.7 percent after hiring Sayer Energy Advisors to assist in the sale of CPG’s prospective Duvernay oil rights in the Ferrybank area of Alberta, according to offering terms on Sayer’s website.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $33.50 discount to WTI
* Gold fell 0.7 percent to $1,214.20 an ounce 
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened by 0.3 percent to C$1.3295 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell 2.7 basis points to 2.322%
US
By Randall Jensen and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — Stocks rose as investors assessed the chances for a detente in the U.S.-China trade tussle. The dollar gained, while Treasuries edged lower. 
     The S&P 500 advanced for a second day in a row, with health care and consumer staple companies pacing gains. President Donald Trump’s economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Wednesday Trump is open to a trade deal with China, which followed threats of more tariffs by the president ahead of meeting with his counterpart Xi Jinping. Small caps dropped. Major retailers got a boost as results from the biggest shopping weekend of the year showed an increase in online shopping.
     Major moves in U.S. stocks: Facebook fell, along with Apple and Google, while Netflix rose 2 percent. General Motors slid after Trump said the U.S. is looking at cutting all its subsidies. United Technologies tumbled after it said it plans to break into three separate companies.Macy’s rose 4 percent after the end of Black Friday shopping.
     The 10-year Treasury yield edged higher, while the dollar gained for a second day after comments by several Federal Reserve officials, including Vice Chairman Richard Clarida who backed gradual rate hikes. The pound weakened as traders mulled prospects for parliamentary approval of the Brexit deal, which Trump said could jeopardize Britain’s ability to strike a trade pact with the U.S. West Texas crude traded above $51 a barrel.
     Elsewhere, emerging market shares climbed. Bitcoin steadied around $3,700 after plunging 14 percent Monday. “The news flow on the U.S.-China trade dispute has certainly been erratic and unpredictable, and the latest reports have weighed on US markets as we speak,” Neil MacKinnon, London-based global macro strategist at VTB Capital and a former U.K. Treasury official, said by phone. “Investors are a little bit anxious that the G20 meeting might not produce an agreement or even a truce on the trade dispute.”
     Trade remains firmly in investors’ minds before leaders of the two biggest economies meet in Buenos Aires at the end of the week. Trump indicated in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Monday that, besides a scheduled bump-up in tariff rates on $200 billion of Chinese imports in January, he’d also slap new duties on the remaining imports that have so far escaped his levies, depending on how talks proceed.
     Fed speakers will be closely watched for the latest thinking on the trajectory of interest rates. Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech on Wednesday will be parsed for any hints on prospects for a pause in rate increases next year after traders reduced expectations for the pace of monetary policy tightening.
Coming Up
* Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping plan to meet at the G-20 summit in Argentina that kicks off on Friday.
* Federal Reserve Chairman Powell addresses the New York Economic Club on Wednesday.
* Thursday sees the release of the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s November meeting.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.3 percent as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped 0.3 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index rose 0.1 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index increased 0.4 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index advanced 0.2 percent.
* The euro declined fell 0.3 percent to $1.1295.
* The Japanese yen dropped 0.2 percent to 113.78 per dollar.
* The British pound declined 0.7 percent to $1.2734.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index fell 0.2 percent.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose less than one basis point to 3.06 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 0.34 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to 1.382 percent.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index declined 0.4 percent.
* West Texas Intermediate rose 0.3 percent to $51.77 a barrel.
* LME copper fell 1 percent to $6,121.50 per metric ton.
* Gold dropped 0.8 percent to $1,219.00 an ounce.
–With assistance from Vildana Hajric and Eddie van der Walt.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.
                                                  -Malala Yousafzai, b. 1997

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