May 7, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,
Tangents

Carolann is out of the office this afternoon, I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Participants attend the annual May bank holiday “Jack In The Green” parade and festival in Hastings     CREDIT:TOBY MELVILLE/REUTERS

Royal super fan John Loughery (C) pops the cork on a bottle of champagne near Windsor Castle, west of London     CREDIT: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The remains of a building in Gaza City after it was hit during Israeli air strikes.     CREDIT: MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for May 7th, 2019 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary
On this day in 1991, AT&T finally got NCR to let the telecom giant to take it over for $7.4 billion, or a mere $110 a share, after almost two years of clumsy pursuit. AT&T’s takeover of NCR turned out to be one of the most disastrous blunders ever, as NCR’s computer lines fell in popularity and the two corporate cultures clashed. AT&T ended up spinning off NCR in 1996, after losing $3.8 billion.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for the sixth day in seven Tuesday as investors remained on edge over President Trump’s threat to increase tariffs on billions of dollars of imports from China. Oil also tumbled toward $60 a barrel.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index slid 0.8 percent to 16,358, the most since March 22, led lower by health care, tech and industrials. Consumer staples, communications services and utilites advanced. SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is weighing a breakup amid the stock’s slide, the Globe & Mail reported. Additionally, Enbridge Inc. is asking oil shippers to sign at least eight-year contracts to move crude on its Mainline pipeline network, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
     In other moves:
Stocks
* Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. jumped 6.3% after 1Q earnings
* Westshore Terminals Investment Corp. gained 5.5%
* SEMAFO Inc. rose 5.1% ahead of its 1Q earnings report
* IAMGOLD Corp. dropped 12.6% after downgrades from Canaccord and BMO
* NuVista Energy Ltd. lost 5.6%
* Cronos Group Inc. fell 5.5%
* TORC Oil & Gas Ltd. retreated 4.5%
Ratings
* EDR CN: Endeavour Silver Downgraded to Market Perform at Noble Capital
* GEI CN: Gibson Energy Raised to Sector Outperform at Scotiabank; PT C$25
* HBM CN: Hudbay Minerals Downgraded to Neutral at Eight Capital; PT C$11
* IMG CN: Iamgold Downgraded to Market Perform at BMO
** IMG CN: Iamgold Downgraded to Hold at Canaccord; PT C$3.75
* KMP-U CN: Killam Apartment REIT Cut to Hold at Industrial Alliance
* OSB CN: Norbord Upgraded to Neutral at CIBC; PT C$32
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $13.50 discount to WTI
* Gold spot prices rose 0.3 percent to $1,284.51 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.2 percent to C$1.3472 U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.683 percent
US
By Adam Haigh
     (Bloomberg) — Asian stocks looked set for heavy declines Wednesday after the U.S. threat of higher tariffs on imports from China pushed American equities down the most since March.
     The yen held its climb and Treasuries edged higher. Futures on Japanese shares indicated losses of about 2 percent when trading opens in Tokyo, with Hong Kong and Australia also signaling declines. The S&P 500 Index ended weaker despite closing off the session lows, posting its broadest day of declines since the Christmas Eve sell-off.
     China’s top trade negotiator still intends to visit Washington later this week as President Donald Trump ratchets up pressure to clinch a deal that many market participants had expected was all but done.
     “The two largest economic powerhouses, the U.S. and China, either will be at a trade war or a trade peace and in reality there’s only a couple of people who know the answer to that and it isn’t those of us on Wall Street,” Larry Robbins, Glenview Capital Management’s CEO, told Bloomberg TV in New York. “It’s to be expected that there’s some volatility into this critical week.”
     Sentiment remains fragile as traders wait for the next development in the dispute between the world’s two-biggest economies and trade data that’s coming Wednesday in China. China’s government confirmed Tuesday that Vice Premier Liu He would visit the U.S. for trade talks on May 9 and 10. At the same time, the country was said to be preparing retaliatory tariffs on American imports should Trump carry out his threat of further duties.
     Elsewhere, the New Zealand dollar edged down ahead of the country’s finely poised central bank decision. Turkey’s lira and stocks slumped Tuesday as investors interpreted a decision to redo Istanbul’s municipal vote as yet another manifestation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s influence over independent institutions. Oil steadied after dropping toward $60 a barrel.
     Here are some notable events coming up:
* China releases trade data Wednesday, and the U.S. does so on Thursday.
* South Africa holds national elections Wednesday.
* China reports on inflation Thursday. The U.S. releases the April CPI report Friday.
* A Chinese trade delegation is expected to arrive in Washington for talks.
     These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.8 percent in Singapore.
* Contracts on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.8 percent.
* Hang Seng Index futures declined 1.5 percent.
* Futures on the S&P 500 Index dipped 0.1 percent. The underlying gauge fell 1.7 percent Tuesday.
Currencies
* The yen was at 110.25 per dollar after a 0.5 percent advance Tuesday.
* The offshore yuan was at 6.7933 per dollar.
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.1 percent.
* The euro bought $1.1193, little changed.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell more than one basis point to 2.46 percent.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate added 0.4 percent to $61.62 a barrel, after touching the lowest level in more than five weeks Tuesday.
* Gold was steady at $1,284.59 an ounce.
Have a  great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.                                    

                                                     –Muhammad Ali

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