March 22, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
March 22, 1945 – Arab League formed.
On March 22, 1972, Congress sent the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution to the states for ratification. It fell short of the three-fourths approval needed.
Go to article »

                  SPRING
Nothing is so beautiful as spring –
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush,
Thrush’s eggs look little low heaven, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing… 
                                     -Gerard Manley Hopkins

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A lookout tower, left, and the broadcast tower of Antenna Hungaria at the top of Karancs mountain are backdropped by the rising moon as seen from the vicinity of Karancskeszi village, 128 kms northeast of Budapest, Hungary. Credit: Peter Komka/MTI Via AP

People visit the Vessel at Hudson Yards, New York City. The newly opened staircase sculpture was designed by Thomas Heatherwick. Credit: Adam Gray/Barcroft Images

Super moon & equinox, rare lunar phenomenon of the large super worm moon coinciding with spring equinox at Minninglow hill, a historic English monument with a chambered tomb & two bowl barrows in Ballidon, Derbyshire, UK. Credit: The Telegraph
Market Closes for March 22^nd, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
To know values is to know the meaning of the market. –Charles Dow, 1851-1902
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks ended the week lower, following declines in foreign markets after disappointing data from the German manufacturing sector renewed global growth worries.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell almost 1 percent on Friday, most since Dec. 24. Marijuana companies were the worst performers trading lower as analysts are keeping a close watch on a House committee vote scheduled for Tuesday on a bill to get cannabis industry cash off the streets and into bank accounts.
     Meanwhile Newmont Mining’s shareholders, including Paulson & Co. expressed concerns over the terms of the gold miners $10 billion purchase of Goldcorp Inc. VanEck — one of the biggest Newmont shareholders, also shared similar concerns about the deal.
     Canada’s economy gave no sign of a quick exit from its current soft patch, with data released Friday showing a benign environment for price pressures and tepid consumer spending.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Gold miners were among the best performing miners as gold outperformed the metals. Gainers include OceanaGold, Franco-Nevada, Barrick Gold, Centerra Gold 
* Industrial metal miners including Lundin Mining, First Quantum underperformed as copper fell
* Cronos Inc. fell 6 percent; earlier this week Altria and Cronos disclosed in a regulatory filing that the companies have begun to explore creating a new holding company for Cronos outside of Canada
* Canadian energy companies also fell as oil price declined; Kelt Exploration, Gran Tierra and MEG Energy are among decliners
* BRP Inc. shares traded lower despite reporting normalized EPS forecast midpoint that beat estimates
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $9.25 discount to WTI
* Gold futures rose 0.5 percent to $1,3426 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.4 percent to C$1.3418 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.596 percent
US
By Vildana Hajric and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. equities ended the week lower and Treasuries rose amid more signals that global growth is slowing.
     The dollar advanced against most major currencies, while the three-month/10-year yield curve inverted for the first time since 2007.
     Despite a dovish turn by the Fed Wednesday, the S&P 500 Index on Friday saw its biggest drop since January — and lost 0.8 percent for the week — with materials and financials leading the benchmark down as the yield on 10-year Treasuries, already at a 14-month low, extended its decline. Growth fears also took a toll on crude, and energy shares tumbled. Investors sought refuge in utilities, while gold headed for its best week since early February.
     “The inversion historically has not been a good sign for the economy going ahead,” according to Ed Keon, chief investment strategist and portfolio manager at QMA. “But there’s deeper issues which we don’t fully understand and which the markets are grappling with. It’s not just cyclical signs that a flatter yield curve tends to be a sign of weaker economic growth ahead, but that the secular change where rates around the world in all the developed countries have been remarkably low.”
     Banks and industrial shares led the Stoxx Europe 600 lower after German purchasing manager data badly missed forecasts. Sovereign bonds in Europe quickly reversed earlier losses and the euro erased a modest gain. The yield on Germany’s 10-year bonds — Europe’s benchmark — tumbled below zero.
     The surprise to stock and bond markets pulled the MSCI index of global equities down from its highest level since October, eroding some of the optimism that the Federal Reserve’s dovish tilt could prolong the bull market for stocks. Bonds, however, were already signaling investor worries that momentum in growth and inflation remains too subdued.
     Hours before the 10-year yield tumbled in Germany, its counterpart in Japan fell to the lowest since 2016, New Zealand’s dropped below 2 percent for the first time and Australia’s was approaching an all-time low, as the world’s major central banks wound up another week showing they can’t yet tighten policy. Trade talks between the U.S. and China are scheduled to continue next week.
     Elsewhere, sterling advanced after European leaders moved to stop a chaotic no-deal Brexit from happening next week, handing the U.K. an extra two weeks. The U.K. now needs to decide by April 12 what it will do next. In Asia, a late-day turnaround put benchmark stock indexes in Japan, Korea and Australia back into the green.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index decreased 1.9 percent as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 1.2 percent.
* Germany’s DAX Index fell 1.6 percent to a one-month low.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index dipped 1 percent, the largest decrease in two weeks.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3 percent.
* The euro decreased 0.7 percent to $1.1297, the largest dip in more than two weeks.
* The British pound rose 0.7 percent to $1.3198.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.8 percent to 109.97 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries sank 10 basis points to 2.44 percent, the lowest in more than 14 months.
* Germany’s 10-year yield dipped six basis points to -0.02 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell five basis points to 1.014 percent.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude sank 1.8 percent to $58.91 a barrel.
* Gold advanced 0.2 percent to $1,312.58 an ounce.
–With assistance from Adam Haigh, Cecile Gutscher and Todd White.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own
flesh and blood and bones.  Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man’s features, and any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them. -Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862

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