April 30, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
St. James the Great Day, Christian Orthodox

Beltane, Wicca.
Walpurgisnacht, Witch’s Night, Europe.

Beltane – the ancient Celtic union of goddess and god, water and light.  All fires are extinguished at sunset on Beltane Eve, the midpoint between the spring equinox and the summer solstice.  In blackness of night, bonfires are struck from standing stone or drilled from sacred oak. …

We were there last night when the dark

drew down: we set the bonfires leaping.

Then we vanished in the heather and

we couldn’t be found until the dawn came creeping.

                            -Celtic rock group Annwn

On April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces.  Go to article »

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A yellow tulip emerging out a large plantation of red tulips Tulips fields in the Flevoland region, The Netherlands   CREDIT: VALERIO BERDINI/REX

A fisherman is celebrating a two-million- to -be one catch – a rare blue lobster. Skipper Tim Harrison spotted the stunning sapphire coloured creature in one of his lobster pots. He snapped a picture of the vibrant crustacean – showing its rich blue colour from its claws to its tail. CREIDT: WALES NEWS SERVICE

Bulgarian Orthodox faithful carry an icon of the Virgin Mary during a parade on Easter Monday at Bachkovo monastery, near the village Bachkovo, Bulgaria. The Orthodox world celebrates their Easter according to the old Julian calendar. Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ and is regarded by Christians as their most important religious festival. CREDIT: VASSIL DONEV/EPA-EFE/REX

People bathe as the sun sets at San Blas beach in La Libertad, 36 km south of San Salvador, El Salvador. CREDIT: MARVIN RECINOS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for April 30^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1999, Priceline.com, which had gone public at $16 a share exactly one month earlier, closed the day at $162.38—giving the internet company a one-month return of 915% and a total market value of $23 billion. But it was all downhill from there. Priceline ended up trading for less than $6 per share by October 2000. The company rebranded itself as Booking Holdings in 2018 and is once again one of the move valuable American tech companies.\
Canada
By Carolina Wilson
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks pared most of their earlier losses and ended Tuesday’s trading session mostly negative-to- flat. The record rally from Shopify helped the index rise and pushed the technology sector up, while health care and energy stocks underperformed.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.12 percent to 16,580.73. Technology gained the most, as Shopify extended its market- leading rally with another strong quarter. Health care sector was the worst performing sector, mostly led by pot stocks.
According to Ontario’s finance minister Victor Fedeli, the province could allow several hundred cannabis stores to open but is being stymied by the federal government’s “bungling” of supply. More than six months after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government legalized recreational pot in Canada, supply still “doesn’t line up,” Fedeli said. That’s why Ontario has set a limit of 25 bricks and mortar stores, and outlets across the country are struggling to fill their shelves, he added.
Meanwhile, Canada’s economy returned to its sluggish ways in February, with a drop in output that will reinforce expectations of a slow start to the year. Gross domestic product fell 0.1 percent, taking back some of the 0.3 percent gain in January in part due to poor weather, Statistics Canada said Tuesday from Ottawa. Economists were estimating output would be unchanged.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Interfor Corp. gained for four days amid lumber rally, peer earnings results. Peer Western Forest Products also advanced
* First Quantum fell 3 percent after the company surprised investors with an early release of earnings
* Aphria was among outliers within pot stocks, rising 2.9 percent after 3-day slump
* Ensign Energy Services was among underperformers within the energy stocks, along with Crescent Point Energy and CES Energy Solutions
* Capital Power declined 2.8 percent after reporting lower profits and sales than estimated
* Canadian National fell 1.4 percent after the company reported adjusted earnings per share for the first quarter that missed the average analyst estimate
Ratings
* AI CN: Atrium Mortgage Investment Rated New Buy at Echelon Wealth
* CNR CN: Canadian National Downgraded to Sector Perform at RBC; PT C$128
** CNR CN: Canadian National Cut to Sell at Veritas; Price Target C$120
* FSZ CN: Fiera Capital Rated New Sector Perform at RBC; PT C$14
* IPL CN: Inter Pipeline Cut to Market Perform at Cormark Securities
* LUN CN: Lundin Mining Upgraded to Buy at Pareto Securities
* SEA CN: Seabridge Gold Rated New Buy at B Riley FBR, Inc.
* UFS: Domtar Upgraded to Buy at BofAML; PT $58
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $13.00 discount to WTI
* Gold spot prices rose 0.3 percent to $1,283.48 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.5 percent to C$1.3397 per U.S.dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.711%
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks were mixed as investors assessed earnings from some of the world’s largest companies amid angst over U.S-China trade talks. Treasury yields and the dollar fell before the Federal Reserve’s rate decision.
The S&P 500 Index erased losses and closed at a record high, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on better- than-estimated results from giants Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co.
Meantime, the FAANG group of major technology and internet shares got pummeled as Alphabet Inc. had its worst day since 2012 on a revenue miss, and Apple Inc. sank before its earnings report.
FAANG Stocks Drop $100 Billion as Alphabet Loss Bites Hard Stocks wavered at the end of a strong month amid mixed earnings and a cloudy outlook for trade talks. The White House is ramping up pressure to reach a deal with China in the next two weeks, warning that the U.S. is prepared to walk away. Just a day before the Fed’s policy decision, President Donald Trump suggested that if the central bank cut rates by one percentage point and resumed bond purchases it would boost the economy “like a rocket.”
The rally that sent the S&P 500 to record highs may lose steam, but any pullback is likely to “prove limited and temporary”, wrote Tony Dwyer, chief market strategist at Canaccord Genuity. Among the reasons, he cited a dovish Fed, better-than-expected earnings and a stabilization in global growth.
Elsewhere, the euro gained as data showed Europe began 2019 with an unexpected growth spurt, easing pressure on the central bank to add stimulus. Oil rose as police and protesters clashed in the streets of Venezuela, escalating turmoil in the home of the world’s biggest crude reserves.

Here are some notable events this week:

* Companies reporting earnings include: HSBC, Macquarie and
Royal Dutch Shell.
* U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin landed in Beijing on Tuesday and will
head into a new round of talks before Chinese Vice Premier Liu
He goes to Washington next week. China and the U.S. hope to seal
a deal by early May.
* The U.S. Fed’s rate decision is on Wednesday, while the Bank
of England sets interest rates Thursday.
* Friday brings the U.S. jobs report: non-farm payrolls are
projected to rise by 187,000 in April. Economists expect an
unemployment rate of 3.8 percent, with average hourly earnings
growth picking up to 3.3 percent.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent to 2,945.83 at 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Dow Average gained 0.2 percent, while the Nasdaq-100 sank 0.7 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was little changed.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dipped 0.1 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased 0.2 percent.
* The euro increased 0.3 percent to $1.1216.
* The British pound jumped 0.8 percent to $1.3039.
* The Japanese yen climbed 0.2 percent to 111.40 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped two basis points to 2.50 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 0.01 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield increased three basis points to 1.185 percent.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index rose 0.1 percent.
* West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 0.7 percent to $63.91 a barrel.
* Gold added 0.3 percent to $1,285.70 an ounce.
–With assistance from Joanna Ossinger, Andreea Papuc, Samuel Potter, Todd White and Lu Wang.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.

                                                    -Henry Ford, 1863-1947

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