March 1, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1872~ Yellowstone National Park established.
1961~ Peace Corps established.
1999~ UN Land Mine Ban.
Former Nixon White House aides H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman and former Attorney General John Mitchell were indicted on obstruction of justice charges related to the Watergate break-in.  Go to article »

The month is so called March from MARS.  The old Dutch name for it was Lentmaand (lent).  The old Saxon name was Hr?thm?nath, perhaps meaning “rough month”, from its boisterous winds.  This subsequently became Lenctenm?nath – “lengthening month”.  In the French Revolutionary Calendar the corresponding month was called Ventôse – “windy”, extending form 20 February to 21March.

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A masked reveller walks along the water front, preparing to parade though the streets during the carnival season in Lucerne, Switzerland. Credit: URS Flueeler/Keystone VIA AP

These adorable photos show five newborn lambs dressed in woolly jumpers to keep them warm. Tiny lambs, Finn, Freddy, Flora, Fleur and Freya were only born five days ago. They live at Auchingarrich Wildlife Centre, Comrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, but were born at a nearby farm. The siblings are fed four times a day, and live in a ‘hatchery’ in a little pen. Credit: SWNS.COM

Sharp showers over Mousehole, Cornwall, UK this morning, bringing with them a beautiful double rainbow over the village. Credit: Simon Maycock, Alamy Live News
Market Closes for March 1^st, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1935, the first U.S. savings bond (Series A) was issued after Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau observed that the U.S. lacked a government savings plan like those of France and Great Britain.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks ended on a high note despite paring gains in the afternoon. The SPTSX Index rose for its ninth consecutive week. U.S. stocks broke a three-day slide, led by a rally in shares of technology companies.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.4 percent to 16,068 on Friday. Technology, energy, consumer staples and discretionary advanced while communication services lagged after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said it’s reviewing the mobile wireless market.
     Canada’s gross domestic product grew by just 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, or 0.4 percent annualized, Statistics Canada said Friday. Separately, Canada officially ordered the start of extradition hearings against Huawei Technologies Co. Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, in a proceeding that promises to be long and politically explosive.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Martinrea International Inc. gained 12.6% after 4Q adj. EPS beat estimates
* Village Farms International Inc. rose 9% after a hemp JV
* Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. gained 9.8% percent 
* Parkland Fuel Corp. rose 8.8% after 4Q earnings, which included a dividend boost
* Kinaxis Inc. slumped 7.8% after its 2019 adj. Ebitda outlook disappointed 
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $11.90 discount to WTI
* Spot gold fell about 1.7% to 1,291.34/ounce 
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.9% to C$1.3295 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.941%
US
By Reade Pickert and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks broke a three-day slide, led by a rally in shares of technology companies, propelling the benchmark S&P 500 to its fifth consecutive weekly gain. 
     Treasuries fell, the dollar strengthened and oil slumped. The Nasdaq 100 jumped as Amazon announced plans to open new grocery stores and Apple’s chief executive made positive comments, keeping that index on track to post its 10th straight week in the green. The S&P 500 closed above the 2,800 price level for the first time since November after struggling to hold above the threshold all week.
     “People are looking for a catalyst for equities to move up,” said Erik Ristuben, the chief investment strategist at Russell Investments Management Co., said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters.
     The psychological level of 2,800 continued to act as resistance for the S&P 500, a point that the benchmark had failed to breach four times in the past five months.
     Stocks weakened earlier after the Institute for Supply Management’s gauge of U.S. factories slumped to a two-year low. They had opened higher in the wake of gains posted overseas after positive economic data from China and prospects of a trade deal improved. Chinese shares outperformed as an increase in the Caixin manufacturing gauge and confirmation that MSCI Inc. will raise the weight of Chinese stocks in its global benchmarks buoyed sentiment.
     After a 16 percent surge from Christmas through the start of this week, MSCI’s gauge of global equities has tread water as investors await progress in U.S.-China trade negotiations.
     American officials are preparing a final deal that U.S. President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping could sign in weeks, people familiar with the matter said, even as a debate continues in Washington over whether to push Beijing for more concessions.
     Meanwhile, geopolitical concerns remain in the background, amid tensions between India and Pakistan and the failure of a summit between Kim Jong Un and Trump to achieve an agreement between the U.S. and North Korea on denuclearization.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.7 percent to 2,803.69 as of 4:07 p.m. New York time, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.8 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4 percent. 
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index was little changed.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.1 percent. 
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4 percent, the third straight daily increase.
* The euro fell 0.1 percent to $1.1361, while the yen weakened 0.5 percent to 111.99 per dollar.
* The British pound fell 0.5 percent to $1.3196.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index fell 0.3 percent.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose five basis points to 2.76 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield climbed less than one basis point to 0.18 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell less than one basis point to 1.30 percent. 
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate fell 2.5 percent to $55.79 a barrel.
* Gold dropped 1.7 percent to $1,290 an ounce.
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index fell 0.5 percent. 
–With assistance from Robert Brand.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

You must do the things you think you  cannot do.
                        -Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962

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