April 24, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On April 24, 1898, Spain declared war on the United States after rejecting America’s ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba.
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Barbra Streisand, b. 1942
Shirley MacLaine, b. 1934
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A worker throws a cloth during a drying process at Sukoharjo near Solo, Central Java province, Indonesia. CREDIT: ANTARA FOTO/MOHAMMAD AYUDHA/VIA REUTERS

Hundreds of broken bodyboards have been collected from beaches and layed out on the san in Bude, Cornwall, by environmental campaigners. CREDIT: SWINS

Saharan dust is causing the sky to look more red than usual during the next few says due to a dust cloud blowing in from North Africa. Here the sun is seen rising on the Thames behind ships at Gravesend, United Kingdom. CREDIT: WENN.COM
Market Closes for April 24^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1968, IPO mania was in full fury as National Student Marketing went public. The company, which signed up undergrads to flog vinyl LPs, employment guides, posters and other schlock on college campuses nationwide, was a huge hit. Offered at $6 a share, the stock surged 133% to close the first day at $14, or roughly 100 times earnings. Within two years, Cort Randell, the company founder, was on his way to jail for stock fraud, and the stock traded below $1 a share.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks dropped Wednesday as the energy sector sold-off after crude futures in New York hit a wall. U.S. equities edged lower as investors assessed corporate earnings and economic data.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 0.5 percent to 16,587. Energy fell 1.1 percent, the most since March 25. Financials also weakened while health care advanced.
The Bank of Canada fully abandoned its bias toward raising interest rates as the economy grapples with a slowdown, bringing its policy in line with the Federal Reserve and other major industrial central banks.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Village Farms International Inc. jumped 12.3% as the company is positive on a Texas hemp bill
* Trican Well Service Ltd. fell 7%
** Baytex Energy Corp. lost 5.9%
** NuVista Energy Ltd. sank 5.9%
** Crescent Point Energy Corp. dropped 5.6%
** MEG Energy Corp. retreated 4.6%
Ratings
* CIA AU: Champion Iron Rated New Buy at B Riley FBR, Inc.
* DGC CN: Detour Gold Reinstated at Canaccord With Buy; PT C$16.50
* IFC CN: Intact Financial Cut to Market Perform at Cormark Securities
* WCN CN: Waste Connections Rated New Sector Outperform at Scotiabank
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $12 discount to WTI
* Gold rose 0.4 percent to $1,277.90 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.5 percent to C$1.3485 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.674 percent
US
By Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities edged lower as investors assessed corporate earnings and economic data. Treasuries joined a global rally in sovereign bonds and the dollar extended its rally to a four-month high.
The S&P 500 Index slumped 0.2 percent from Tuesday’s record close. AT&T Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. fell after reporting first-quarter results, while Boeing Co. rose. The euro sank to the lowest in almost two years after key gauges of confidence in the EU’s two largest economies deteriorated. The loonie fell to the weakest since January after the Bank of Canada abandoned its bias toward raising rates.
U.S. stocks have been on a tear since late last year, but the fresh record Tuesday appears to have triggered a pause and some soul-searching among investors. Although about 80 percent of S&P 500 companies reporting results so far have exceeded estimates, some are starting to question whether the rally has legs. Positive earnings surprises in Europe, meanwhile, have done little to erase lingering concerns about the region’s economic outlook. Still ahead is U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product data due on Friday.
“Overall, we’ve seen somewhat better-than-expected earnings coming in,” said Bill Merz, the head of fixed-income research at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “But we do see softness in economic data across the globe, and while there are some signs of potential bottoming outside the U.S., we do see enough signs of slowing growth.”
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index snapped its longest rally since 2017. Asian stock gauges were mixed. In China, markets got little help from the central bank’s move to support liquidity in the banking system by injecting the equivalent of about $40 billion in medium-term loans. Policy makers have refrained from stronger measures, such as lowering benchmark lending rates, as an upturn in economic data reduces the pressure for more stimulus.
Elsewhere, emerging-market currencies and shares fell.
Here are some notable events coming up:
* A Who’s Who of the tech world reports this week, with Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft among the heavy hitters on tap. European bank earnings kick into full gear with reports from Deutsche Bank, UBS, Barclays and Swedbank.
* The Bank of Japan, Bank of Russia, Sweden’s Riksbank and Bank of Indonesia set monetary policy.
* Japan’s Shinzo Abe meets leaders of the European Union Thursday before flying to the U.S. for a summit with President Donald Trump.
* The initial print on first-quarter U.S. GDP Friday will be closely watched for clues as to how the economy responded to the government shutdown and fallout from the fourth-quarter market rout.

These are the main market moves:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.2 percent at the close of trading in New York.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.1 percent, the first retreat in two weeks.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.6 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index declined 0.7 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index added 0.6 percent.
* The euro fell 0.6 percent to $1.1155, the weakest since June 2017.
* The Japanese yen fell 0.3 percent to 112.21 per dollar, the weakest this year.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index sank 0.5 percent to the lowest since March.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped four basis points to 2.52 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to -0.02 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield decreased five basis points to 1.17 percent.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index fell 0.3 percent.
* West Texas crude fell 0.9 percent to $65.73 a barrel.
* Copper rose 0.6 percent to $2.917 a pound.
* Gold rose 0.3 percent to $1,276.34 an ounce.
–With assistance from Cormac Mullen, Justina Vasquez, Robert Brand and Eddie van der Walt.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.
  -Oprah Winfrey, b. 1954

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