April 1, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On April 1, 1945, American forces invaded Okinawa during World War II.  Go to article »
April 1, 1970 – Cigarette ads banned from TV.

100 years of the Bauhaus

The Bauhaus art school celebrates the centenary of its founding today.

The Modernist school (whose name inverts “Hausbau,” the German word for “house building”) was among the first to combine the teaching of crafts, design, architecture and fine art.

Walter Gropius, the architect who established the school in 1919 in Weimar, Germany, wrote in the Bauhaus’s program that the ultimate aim was the “unified work of art.”

He enlisted masters of various artistic disciplines, such as Wassily Kandinsky, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Paul Klee, to join the faculty.

The school survived for little more than a decade before it was shut down in 1933 under pressure from the Nazis.

But the Bauhaus principles of uniting art and functional design in everyday life were long-lasting and spread worldwide. – Anna Schaverien, NY Times.

Spring Letter from the South
             -by Keetje Kuipers
Mother, it’s like summer here. I miss 
the way the mountains get cold at night,
draw their shoulders up. In the evenings
we walk through the old neighborhoods,
past the frayed houses where magnolias
collapse their heavy bosoms against
each roof’s pitched elbows. Everything
the baby does — proclaiming song-words
to the birds, commanding trees
to hold still or spill their guts —
is magic I haven’t given up on yet.
That pollen-rot smell is starting again:
one year later and it’s like a year
hasn’t passed. When she sleeps pressed against
me, we still feel so young — all of us.
Even the cemetery is beautiful
this time of year. Do you remember
when you were here? It’s like that.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Spring lambs on Dartmoor. CREDIT: RICHARD AUSTIN

A Northern Hawk Owl peeks out of the trunk of a hollow tree in Gakona, Alaska. CREDIT: MICHAEL QUINTON/MINDEN PICTURES/SOLENT NEWS

A woman flies her kite on the National Mall in Washington, DC, during the Cherry Blossom Kite Festival. CREDIT: EVA HAMBACH/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for April 1^st, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1930, in one of the biggest “suckers’ rallies” of all time, the total market value of New York Stock Exchange-listed companies hit $67.5 billion, up roughly 40% from their trough in the Great Crash of 1929. As the New York Fed cut interest rates yet again to just 3.5% (down from 6% in 1929), investors turned bullish and many leading stocks such as RCA and Columbia Graphophone roughly doubled from their 1929 lows. By year-end, however, stocks were down more than 40% from here.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks kicked off the second quarter on an upbeat note, gaining the most since mid-February amid a widespread global rally prompted by strong Chinese manufacturing data.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.8 percent to 16,228.06, about 300 points from its record closing high. Consumer discretionary stocks led the way, rising 2.2 percent as Dollarama Inc. jumped 6.1 percent, the most since 2017. The stock has been rising steadily since the discount retailer reported earnings last week.
     On the other side of the ledger, materials lost 0.6 percent as precious metals prices fell. MAG Silver Corp. was the biggest decliner on the benchmark, losing 7.2 percent.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Cresco Labs Inc. rose 3.7 percent and Origin House fell 1.6 percent. Cresco, one of the most valuable U.S.-focused cannabis companies, is buying Origin House for about $820 million
* Village Farms International Inc. jumped 8.5 percent after Beacon Securities boosted its price target on the produce-and-pot stock to a street high of C$60
* Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. gained 2.6 percent amid a broader rally in financial stocks. The firm is cutting jobs in London as Brexit hurts capital markets
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $8.25 discount to WTI, the narrowest gap since January
* Gold fell 0.4 percent to $1,288.40 an ounce FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.3 percent to C$1.3315 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose 8 basis points to 1.70 percent, the biggest gain since January, amid a global slump in bond prices
US
By Vildana Hajric and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — Stocks strengthened worldwide as strong manufacturing data out of the world’s second largest economy helped allay investor concern about a slowdown in global growth.
     Yields on Treasuries rose the most since January after as a gauge of U.S. factories topped estimates in March.
     The S&P 500 closed at the highest level since October, while the Dow gained the most since Feb. 15. Shares of Lyft dropped below its IPO price as analysts noted there is limited visibility into the company’s path to growth and profitability.
     The Stoxx Europe 600 climbed on the heels of its best quarter in four years after key China manufacturing PMIs for March beat the highest estimate in Bloomberg surveys of economists. That’s despite manufacturing data for Europe coming in at the lowest since 2013.
     “This is good news for investors wondering what the next catalyst for stocks will be in 2019,” wrote Nancy Tengler, chief investment strategist at Tengler Wealth Management, in an email. ‘It means momentum is turning more bullish in an intermediate to long term,” David Russell, vice president at TradeStation, said in an interview. “This chart pattern does not happen a lot.”
     In Asia, Chinese shares surged to the highest since May, while Hong Kong stocks entered a bull market. The yen declined, while the Turkish lira fluctuated as preliminary results from the weekend’s municipal elections showed the popularity of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is being tested.
     Global equities are building on their strongest quarter since 2010 amid bets that dovish tilts by major central banks will help prop up earnings. The Chinese data went some way toward easing worries about a slowdown prior to the release of American monthly jobs numbers at the end of the week. U.S.-China trade talks will resume when Vice Premier Liu He leads a delegation to Washington later this week, potentially offering more positive developments for investors.
     Elsewhere, the pound extended its gain as U.K. factory data reached a 13-month high on Brexit stockpiling and as lawmakers prepare to vote on alternative options to replace Prime Minister Theresa May’s divorce plan.
Here are some key events coming up:
* The Reserve Bank of Australia decides on monetary policy Tuesday at a time of falling growth forecasts. Then Australia will release its federal budget that evening. 
* Chinese Vice Premier Liu He leads a delegation of trade negotiators to Washington on Wednesday, days after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer traveled to Beijing.
* The monthly U.S. jobs report on Friday is projected to show nonfarm payrolls up 175,000 in March, similar to the 186,000 average over the prior three months, after recent readings whipsawed analysts. Economists think the jobless rate held at 3.8 percent with hourly earnings growing at a strong clip.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 1.2 percent to 2,867. 19 as of 4:03 p.m. New York time, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.3 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.3 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 1.2 percent. 
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index increased 1.2 percent.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1 percent. 
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index eased less than 0.1 percent, the first drop in five trading sessions.
* The euro was little changed at $1.1212, while the yen weakened 0.4 percent to 111.35 per dollar.
* The British pound gained 0.6 percent to $1.3113.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index rose 0.4 percent.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries jumped nine basis points to 2.49 percent, the biggest one-day increase since January.
* Germany’s 10-year yield climbed four basis points to negative 0.03 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose five basis points to 1.05 percent. 
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate rose 1.5 percent to $61.64 a barrel.
* Gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,289 an ounce.
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index rose 0.7 percent, the first increase in four sessions.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Most people ignore most poetry because
most poetry ignores most people.
      -Adrian Mitchell, 1932-2008

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