January 22, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Jan. 22, 1973, the Supreme Court handed down its Roe vs. Wade decision, which legalized abortion. Go to article »

Lord Byron, poet, b. 1788

SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY
    -by Lord Byron

She walks in beauty, like the night 
Of cloudless climes and starry skies, 
And all that’s best of dark and bright 
Meet in her aspect and her eyes, 
Thus mellowed to that tender light 
Which heaven to gaudy day denies. 

One shade the more, one ray the less, 
Had half impaired the nameless grace 
Which waves in every raven tress 
Or softly lightens o’er her face, 
Where thoughts serenely sweet express 
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place. 

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow, 
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, 
The smiles that win, the tints that glow, 
But tell of days in goodness spent, – 
A mind at peace with all below, 
A heart whose love is innocent.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

This combination photo shows the totally eclipsed moon, center, and others at the different stages during a total lunar eclipse, as seen from Los Angeles. It was also the year’s first supermoon, when a full moon appears a little bigger and brighter thanks to its slightly closer position. During totality, the moon will look red because of sunlight scattering off Earth’s atmosphere. That’s why an eclipsed moon is sometimes known as a blood moon. In January, the full moon is also sometimes known as the wolf moon or great spirit moon. Credit: AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu

A Kashmiri boatman paddles a shikara boat during rainfall on Dal Lake in Srinagar. Credit: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/Getty Images

Aerial view of bullet trains waiting at a railway station during Chinese Spring Festival travel rush on January 21, 2019 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China. The 40-day Chinese Spring Festival travel rush starts on Monday, lasting until March 1. The Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, falls on February 5 this year. Credit: VCG Via Getty Images
Market Closes for January 22^nd, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 2008, in the depths of the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve surprised markets by cutting rates three-quarters of a percentage point to 3.5% a week before it was scheduled to meet. It was the Fed’s first emergency rate cut since 1998.
Canada
By Carolina Wilson
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks weakened after gaining for 12 consecutive sessions, the longest advance for the S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange Index since May 2018. Trade and growth fears weighed on global markets, with U.S. stocks dropping.
     The benchmark dropped 0.7 percent at 9:50 a.m. in Toronto, with declines led by energy and industrials shares. Consumer staples and utilities rose.
     A group of former ambassadors and academics is calling on China to immediately release two Canadians it detained in the wake of the arrest of a top Huawei Technologies Co. executive in Vancouver. The open letter, dated Monday and addressed to Chinese President Xi Jinping, said its 141 signatories are “deeply concerned” by the detentions of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor by state security officials.
Stocks
* Baytex Energy Corp. declined more than 7 percent after the stock was downgraded to sell at Veritas
* Superior Plus Corp. climbed 3.8 percent after reporting 2018 preliminary adjusted Ebitda toward the high end of the range 
* Canopy Growth Corp. continued climbing to record highs after CIBC initiated coverage with a sector outperform rating last week
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $11.40 discount to WTI
* Gold rose about 0.2 percent to $1,282.81 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell about 0.4 percent to C$1.3344 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose to 1.979%
US
By Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — Stocks fell the most in almost three weeks as rising pessimism that trade tensions with China will persist helped send technology and multinational companies tumbling.
     Treasuries climbed, oil fell and the yen strengthened. Chipmakers plunged more than 3 percent, with every member of the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index in the red. Caterpillar and DowDuPont led declines in the Dow Jones Industrial Average of more than 400 points at one point. The S&P 500 briefly pared losses after presidential adviser Lawrence Kudlow said a Financial Times report that the U.S. canceled a preliminary meeting with Chinese officials was untrue.
     “Investors obviously are still a little bit edgy and therefore we would expect periods of volatility to continue,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide Funds Group, which manages $60 billion. “As the headlines continue to get more nerve wracking with regards to a global slowdown and trade wars and government shutdowns, it’s easy to spook investors, but we think those are temporary versus permanent.”
     The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dipped after Switzerland’s UBS Group AG delivered disappointing results. Earlier, shares retreated across Asia after Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the need to maintain political stability, comments which hinted at growing concern over the country’s slowing economy.
     After stocks and many risk assets kicked off the year with a stellar rally, investors now find their conviction tested anew as a familiar litany of concerns weigh on sentiment. The IMF’s dour forecast for global growth, fears of slowing momentum in the world’s second-largest economy and uncertainty over trade are all combining to spook markets.
     Elsewhere, the pound rose after U.K. data showed the jobs market remains resilient and as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn backed a plan that could open the door to a second Brexit referendum. Oil retreated from a near two-month high in New York. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, billionaire investor Ray Dalio chastised monetary policy makers for an “inappropriate desire” to tighten faster than the capital markets could handle.
These are some events investors will be watching out for in the coming days:
* Earnings season is in full swing: IBM, United Technologies, Texas Instruments, and Ford are among companies posting results this week.
* The World Economic Forum, the annual gathering of global leaders in politics, business and culture, continues in Davos, Switzerland.
* There are monetary-policy decisions for the Bank of Japan (Wednesday), the Bank of Korea and the European Central Bank (both Thursday).

And these are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 1.4 percent to 2,633 as of 4:02 p.m. New York time, while Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 1.9 percent to 7,020 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.2 percent to 24,405.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.4 percent, the largest drop in a week.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index dipped 1 percent.
* Germany’s DAX Index declined 0.4 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index declined 0.9 percent, the largest drop in more than two weeks.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose less than 0.1 percent, the sixth consecutive gain.
* The euro was little changed at $1.1360.
* TheBritish pound increased 0.5 percent to $1.2960.
* The Japanese yen gained 0.3 percent to 109.30 per dollar, the biggest rise in more than a week.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries sank five basis points to 2.74 percent, the largest decline in more than a week.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to 0.23 percent, the biggest fall in a week.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose than one basis point to 1.32 percent.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude declined 2.3 percent to $52.57 a barrel, the largest drop in more than a week.
* Gold rose 0.7 percent to $1,285 an ounce.
–With assistance from Yakob Peterseil.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

A schedule defends from chaos and whim.
                –Annie Dillard, b. 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