January 29, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
January 29, 1796 – Transport – Lt Gov John Graves Simcoe officially opens Yonge Street, naming it after his friend Sir George Yonge, an expert on ancient Roman roads and British Secretary at War (1782–1783 and 1783–1794)

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PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Unusual bookshop in Chongqing, China. Credit: ImagineChina/Rex

A booth attendant looks at a digital installation of rapeseed flowers during a press preview of the Flowers by Naked exhibition in Tokyo, Japan. Credit: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

A woman walks along by the sea in a haze caused by dust clouds in southeast resort of Ayia Napa on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. A massive dust cloud has blanketed the island for several days blown in by strong winds from Africa. Credit: AP Photo/Petros Karadjias
Market Closes for January 29^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Carolina Wilson and Aoyon Ashraf
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks extended gains for a fourth consecutive session to the highest level for the S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange Index since mid-October of last year. U.S. stocks declined as investors studied the latest corporate earnings.
     The Canadian benchmark climbed 0.6 percent in Toronto, led by mostly by mining and materials stocks. Health care and information technology stocks underperformed.
     The stock symbol POT is up for grabs on Canadian exchanges and demand is so high that they’re holding a lottery for the first time ever to determine who gets it. POT, previously the ticker for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan before it merged with Agrium Inc. to form Nutrien Ltd., becomes available for use on Friday. Not surprisingly, the cannabis-themed symbol has attracted “significant interest,” according to a staff notice published by the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Stocks
* SNC-Lavalin gained 6.5 percent after it got its first upgrade after Monday’s historic stock rout * Iamgold rises 5.8 percent after BMO upgraded the stock, praising the delay of Côté construction
* First Quantum Minerals climbed 5.2 percent copper futures rose 1.5 percent 
* Canopy Growth Corp. fell as much as 1.4 percent; Canopy-backed Slang Worldwide Inc. is expected to debut with a $377 million market value 
* Cascades Inc. fell 4.3 percent 
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $9.00 discount to WTI
* Gold rose about 0.7 percent to $1,311.86 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell about 0.1 percent to C$1.3277 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.936%
US
By Reade Pickert and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. equities edged lower as investors weighed the latest corporate earnings and the chances of a trade breakthrough between the world’s biggest economies.
     Technology shares dragged the S&P 500 Index down, with Twitter, Facebook and chipmakers leading losses ahead of earnings by Apple and AMD after the bell. Industrial companies fared better as 3M Co. struck an optimistic tone and reported profit that beat estimates. Treasuries edged higher with the dollar. Crude rose as the U.S. put a de facto ban on Venezuelan oil. The British pound weakened after lawmakers voted for Prime
     Minister Theresa May to renegotiate the Brexit withdrawal agreement with Brussels.
     After a robust start to the year for equities, investors are looking for direction from a corporate earnings season that’s been indecisive so far. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He arrived in Washington for what the White House is describing as “very, very important” trade talks this week. Against the backdrop of U.S.-China stress and geopolitical tensions in Venezuela, traders they also need to navigate the Federal Reserve rate decision, developments in the U.K.’s Brexit process and a potential slew of American economic data that was delayed by the government shutdown. 
     “You have Brexit, you have the U.S.-China trade and you have the Federal Reserve, and so I think there’s some hope that each and every one of those is moving toward some sort of resolution that the market can hang its hat on,” said Brent Schutte, the chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. “There’s going to be some back and forth and probably not a lot of conviction as we await to see what happens.”
     Elsewhere, almost all sectors climbed in the Stoxx Europe 600. Asian technology stocks underperformed after U.S. prosecutors filed criminal charges against Huawei Technologies Co., China’s largest smartphone maker. Emerging-market shares climbed and gold touched the highest level since May.
Among key events in the coming days:
* Chinese President Xi’s top economic aide, Vice Premier Liu He, will meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday and Thursday.
* Tech giants Microsoft, Facebook, Alibaba, Qualcomm, Tesla, Samsung and Sony announce earnings.
* The EU Parliament debates Brexit on Wednesday.
* Wednesday Fed Chairman Jerome Powell holds a news conference after the FOMC rate decision.
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 Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.8 percent.
* The Nikkei-225 Stock Average climbed 0.1 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 0.1 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1 percent.
* The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.1436.
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 109.33 per dollar.
* The British pound fell 0.6 percent to $1.3163.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries sank three basis points to 2.71 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.20 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 1.26 percent.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index increased 0.8 percent.
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 2.3 percent to $53.17 a barrel.
* Copper gained 1.5 percent to $2.7195 a pound.
* Gold climbed 0.6 percent to $1,311.23 an ounce, the highest since May.
–With assistance from Cormac Mullen, Christopher Anstey, Eddie van der Walt, Todd White and Samuel Potter.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

The present is the funeral of the past, and man the living sepulchre of life.
                                                             -John Clare, 1793-1864

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