May 8, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Happy Hump Day – yes it’s only Wednesday.

VE DAY, 1945: Victory in Europe.
On May 8, 1886 – Atlanta pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invented the flavor syrup for Coca-Cola.
Go to article »
-fom today’s New York Times:
Canadian Music Week

It’s part trade show, part music festival, part national celebration set in Toronto.

On Thursday, its focus will be a lifetime achievement award for Robbie Robertson, one of many Canadians who’ve become international stars. He played with The Band, which was known for its work with Bob Dylan.

Robbie Robertson, lead guitarist with The Band, will be honored at Canadian Music Week this year.  John Storey/Associated Press

Canada’s vibrant music industry owes a debt to a regulatory move in 1970.

Fears that the U.S. recording and broadcast industry would steamroller Canada’s led to the imposing of minimum Canadian content requirementson radio stations. Currently, the standard for pop music is at least 35 percent.

The rise of streaming music, which is not regulated in Canada, has diminished the effectiveness of radio as a promotional tool. But the country still churns out global stars.

This month, the rapper Drake, who is from Toronto, set a record for the greatest number of Billboard Music Awards, having received 27.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A photographer lines up his shot at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland     CREDIT: OWEN HUMPHREYS/PA WIRE

Overcast and cold weather for visitors to the East Lancashire Railway in Bury, Lancashire. The volunteer run railway ran a full service of both steam and diesel trains past a carpet of Bluebells at Burrs Country Par     CREDIT: PAUL HEYES/ALAMY LIVE NEWS

A Tyrannosaurus animatronic model is wheeled through Chester Zoo after arriving from America. It is one if thirteen enormous animatronic predators which have been created for Chester zoo in Texas, ahead of the opening of a world first exhibition into 200 million years of lost species.     CREDIT: PETER BYRNE/PA WIRE
Market Closes for May 8^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary
On this day in 1929, John Clifton Bogle, future founder of Vanguard Group and a crusader for investors’ rights for more than three decades, was born in Montclair, N.J. He created the first mutual fund tied to an index in 1975. Mr. Bogle died in January.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.2 percent at 16,397.40 in Toronto. The move follows the previous session’s decrease of 0.8 percent.
     Suncor Energy Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.2 percent. Element Fleet Management Corp. had the largest increase, rising 13.5 percent.
     Today, 121 of 242 shares rose, while 113 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 3.5 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 7 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.7 percent below its 52-week high on April 23, 2019 and 19 percent above its low on Dec. 24, 2018
* The S&P/TSX Composite is down 0.6 percent in the past 5 days and was little changed in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 18 on a trailing basis and 15 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3.1 percent on a trailing 12- month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.53 trillion
* 30-day price volatility little changed to 6.15 percent compared with 6.15 percent in the previous session and the average of 6.34 percent over the past month. 

================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 31.7252| 1.1| 33/8
Industrials | 14.2558| 0.8| 17/12
Information Technology | 6.2129| 0.8| 6/4
Health Care | 4.5756| 1.3| 8/1
Consumer Staples | 0.6838| 0.1| 5/5
Communication Services | -0.2612| 0.0| 3/4
Real Estate | -1.0816| -0.2| 10/12
Utilities | -1.0952| -0.2| 7/9
Financials | -3.2694| -0.1| 13/13
Consumer Discretionary | -3.7809| -0.5| 6/11
Materials | -8.3290| -0.5| 13/34
================================================================
| | |Volume VS |
| Index | | 20D AVG |YTD Change
Top Contributors |Points Move| % Change | (%) | (%)
================================================================
Suncor Energy | 10.5300| 2.2| 14.3| 15.1
Canadian National | 5.5990| 0.9| 8.2| 23.6
Canadian Natural | | | |
Resources | 5.3210| 1.7| -17.8| 15.1
Royal Bank of | | | |
Canada | -3.9980| -0.4| -55.9| 13.4
Bank of Nova Scotia| -4.2890| -0.7| -34.0| 6.5
TD Bank | -5.6280| -0.6| -34.4| 10.7
================================================================
| | Index | Volume VS |YTD Change
Biggest Gainers | % Change |Points Move|20D AVG (%)| (%)
================================================================
Element Fleet | 13.5| 3.4970| 646.1| 37.2
Torc Oil & Gas | 6.1| 0.2890| 49.6| 8.0
Crescent Point | | | |
Energy | 5.2| 0.9820| -47.5| 21.5
================================================================
| |Index Points | Volume VS |YTD Change
Biggest Losers| % Change | Move |20D AVG (%)| (%)
================================================================
Iamgold | -5.9| -0.6680| 81.3| -35.9
Home Capital | | | |
Group | -4.1| -0.3390| 224.5| 25.1
Fortuna Silver| -3.9| -0.1830| -16.7| -21.4

* The benchmark 10-year bond fell and the yield rose 2 basis points to 1.705 percent
* The S&P 500 Index declined 0.2 percent
US
By Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for a third day as an escalation in trade tensions prompted investors to question whether China and America will make progress as talks resume this week. The dollar rose and Treasuries fell.
     The S&P 500 swung between gains and losses for much of the day as markets sought a measure of calm after the White House suggested a deal was still possible even as both sides threatened to raise tariffs as soon as Friday. Stocks had swooned 2 percent to start the week as trade tensions escalated.A late drop in Intel helped to weigh on tech shares.
     “Volatility in the markets is really headline driven, particularly around the fluid conversations between the U.S. And China,” said Charlie Ripley, a senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management. “We’ll have to see how this thing plays out at the end of the week here, but we would continue to expect this environment as long as the headlines are going back- and-forth.”
     Beijing’s top trade negotiator, Liu He, is traveling to the U.S. on Thursday and Friday for the high-stakes talks. U.S. officials have said Chinese negotiators reneged in the past week on provisions in a draft deal the U.S. considered settled. The developments raise the prospect that talks between the U.S. and China to resolve their trade war could collapse entirely.
     An escalation of Trump’s rhetoric on trade in the past few days appears to have caught global equity markets off-guard. Many had been testing record highs, seemingly priced to perfection on the assumption a deal between the U.S. and China would get done. The likes of JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon still put the odds of that at 80 percent, and the S&P 500 has only fallen to levels seen a month ago.
     Elsewhere, the yuan edged lower as data showed Chinese exports unexpectedly fell in April and imports rose. The New Zealand dollar slumped more than 1 percent as the central bank cut interest rates, though it later pared most of the drop.
     In emerging markets, the lira extended losses against the dollar amid the fallout from Turkey’s decision to re-run municipal elections in Istanbul. The South African rand strengthened as the country headed to the polls for a national election.

Here are some notable events coming up:
* The U.S. releases trade data Thursday.
* South Africa holds national elections Wednesday.
* China reports on inflation Thursday. The U.S. releases the April CPI report Friday.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.2 percent as of 4:07 p.m. New York time, the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.3 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added less than 0.1 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.2 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index dropped 0.7 percent.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slumped 1.1 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.2 percent, higher for a third straight day.
* The euro was little changed at $1.1191, while the yen strengthened 0.2 percent to 110.13 per dollar, the fourth consecutive daily increase.
* The British pound weakened 0.5 percent to $1.3008, the third straight decline.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index eased 0.1 percent.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose two basis points to 2.48 percent, the first decline in four days.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell less than one basis point to negative 0.05 percent.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate rose 0.9 percent to $61.92 a barrel.
* Gold declined 0.3 percent to $1,281.25 an ounce.
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index was little changed.
–With assistance from Rita Nazareth.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Life resembles the banquet of Damocles; the sword is ever suspended.

                                    -Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire, 1694-1778

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