February 22, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Happy Friday!
George Washington, first US president, b. 1732
1879 Frank Winfield Woolworth opened a five-cent store in Utica, N.Y.
The Woolworths empire eventually became Venator, whose leading retail brand is…
Foot Locker!  Go to article >>

Numbers:
4 BILLION + ~  Age (in years) of the oldest known rock yet discovered – on the moon.  Scientists believe the rock was formed on Earth and transplanted during an asteroid collision. -Sputnik News.
1.65 BILLION + ~ People who depend on water from Himalayan glaciers.  According to a study, as much as two-thirds of the Himalayan snowpack could vanish by 2100 due to climate change. –USA Today.
80 ~ Proposed speed limit (in miles per hour) for Germany’s autobahn, which could greatly curb vehicle emissions and cut traffic deaths.  A vocal minority firmly opposes such a limit.  –Reuters.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The unique friendship between an ostrich and a parade of elephants has been captured in Indalu Game Reserve, Mossel Bay, South Africa. Having grown up alongside elephants, the nine-year-old ostrich called Fransina slowly walks with her new family and even uses her neck as a trunk. Credit: Africa Media/Caters News

People visit the installation called ‘Mirage Gstaad’ by American artist Doug Aitken, in Gstaad, Switzerland. This structure was presented during the exhibition ‘Elevation 1049: Frequencies’. It will be on display for the next two years. Credit: Anthony Anex/Keystone/AP

Sunlight hits the Horesetail Fall, turning it into a “Firefall”, at Yosemite National Park, California, US. Credit: Dakota Snider/Reuters

A group of husky puppies watch as snow flies on a small farm near Little Falls, Minnesota. Snow forced Minneapolis and St. Paul schools and scores of other districts in Minnesota and Wisconsin to cancel classes as up to 10 inches of snow fell on the region. Credit: Dave Schwarz/St. Cloud Times/AP
Market Closes for February 22^nd, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
•   On this day in 1980, the consumer-price index rose 1.4% in January alone, the Labor Department said, equating to an annualized inflation rate of 18%—the highest rise in prices since the 1973 oil crisis.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks ended the week little changed, driven by underperformance of pot stocks, while metals and mining benefited from gold M&A frenzy and a rally in base metals. The S&P/TSX Composite Index was up about 0.1 percent to 16,013 in Toronto on Friday.
     The S&P/TSX Health Care Index, dominated by marijuana companies, fell 3.3 percent during the week, while S&P/TSX Materials Index rose 2.5 percent. Bausch Health Cos. Inc., the drug maker formerly known as Valeant, and pot grower Canopy Growth were the worst performers within the sector this week.
     Turquoise Hill Resources and Torex Gold Resources were the outperformers in materials index. Canopy Growth is considering multiple ways to leverage its assets, including issuing bonds, mortgaging its properties or spinning them off into a real estate investment trust, according to CEO Bruce Linton.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Turquoise Hill Resources, Lundin Mining, Hudbay Minerals and Teck Resources were among the base metals miners that outperformed as copper surged on supply concerns
* Hudson’s Bay rose 7.1 percent after announcing the closure of Home Outfitters in Canada and upt o 20 Saks OFF 5TH stores in U.S. 
* Cott Corp. sank 12 percent after its fourth quarter EPS and Ebitda missed estimates, while sales matched expectations 
* Lucara Diamond fell 8.4 percent after posting an unexpected fourth quarter loss
* Uni-Select continued its slump after reporting its fourth quarter results and getting several downgrades
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $13 discount to WTI
* Gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,330.70 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.6 percent to C$1.3149 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.89 percent
US
By Randall Jensen and Reade Pickert
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied on signs that negotiators are making headway in trade talks between America and China. Treasuries advanced and the dollar declined.
     The S&P 500 rose for a fourth-straight week after President Donald Trump said if he sees progress he will extend a trade truce to avoid more than doubling tariffs on some imports from China at the end of the month. The benchmark padded gains after the Chinese delegation said it was extending its stay in Washington past Friday to continue talks. The greenback fell against the yuan traded offshore after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the two sides had reached a final agreement on currency. The 10-year Treasury yield dropped below 2.66 percent.
     “On the margin, this is probably going be digested as positive news as it should be, I mean we’re making progress on the cage-rattling that could lead to a potential trade war,” Terri Spath, Sierra Investment Management’s chief investment officer and portfolio manager, said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. “But I think a lot of the market gains that we’ve seen year to date are processing and digesting and incorporating that news as already happening.”
     A plunge in Kraft Heinz shares weighed on indexes after the company announced a $15 billion write-down and a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission, dragging down consumer- staples stocks and also Berkshire Hathaway, the top investor in the packaged-food giant.
     Markets are cautiously optimistic on a truce as China and the U.S. face a March 1 deadline to avoid a further escalation in tariffs. Expectations of an accord between the world’s economic superpowers combined with a less-hawkish stance from some of the biggest central banks has sent an MSCI global gauge of stocks surging 15 percent in less than two months. Still, concerns about global growth persist.
     Elsewhere, emerging-market stocks increased for a fifth day, the longest streak since May. Oil rose above $57 a barrel in New York.
And these are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index advanced 0.6 percent as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.2 percent.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.4 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index rose 0.7 percent, rising for the sixth-straight day, the longest streak since May 14. 
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2 percent.
* The euro was steady at 1.1332.
* The British pound gained 0.1 percent to $1.3052.
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 110.66 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 2.65 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield sank three basis points to 0.096 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell four basis points to 1.158 percent, the biggest tumble in more than a month.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index advanced 0.4 percent, its fifth straight advance.
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.4 percent to $57.18 a barrel.
* Gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,331.00. 
–With assistance from Sarah Ponczek, Todd White and Luke Kawa.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Write the bad things that are done to you in sand, but write
the good things that happen to you on a piece of marble.
                                                       -Arabic Parable

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