July 26, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday!

Mick Jagger turns 76 years old today and still touring:

Ronnie Wood from left Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts and Keith Richards
of The Rolling Stones  perform during their “No Filter Tour” at Lincoln Financial Field.
Credit: Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP

I was in New York for an investment conference a few years ago and the Stones were playing in Philadelphia the day after the conference ended so we took the train over to Philadelphia to see them.  I asked the concierge at the hotel to recommend an excellent restaurant for dinner near by.  When we arrived at the restaurant, we told our waiter that we were on a time line because we had to get to the concert.  He told us that the Stones had been to the restaurant the night before, and all reservations had been cancelled so that the group could have the restaurant to themselves.  Gary asked the waiter what they had ordered and he replied that they ordered very little, didn’t consume much  food at all but drank all the best wines that the restaurant stocked.

What does our universe look like? NASA has released fascinating new images that will make you wonder what else is really out there.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A removal van arrives at No.10 Downing St.
CREDIT- GEOFF PUGH FOR THE TELEGRAPH

The sunrise over London on what is expected to be the hottest July day on record.
CREDIT: THE ROOFTOP/ BAV MEDIA

Franky Zapata, a former jet-skiing champion, stands on his jet-powdered “flyboard” as he takes off from Sangatte in northern France. He is attempting to fly across the 22 mile Channel crossing in 20 minutes, while keeping an average speed of 87 mph at a height of 50-65 feet above the sea.
This attempt to cross the Channel is on the 110 year anniversary of pioneer Louis Bleriot’s first flight across the Channel.
CREDIT: DENIS CHARLET/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for July 26th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1786, the earliest known U.S. stock and bond tables were published in the Massachusetts Centinel.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose, with nine of the 11 sectors climbing, led by consumer staples and technology shares. Energy and healthcare were the worst performing sectors within the index. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.3% to 16,531 in Toronto. The energy sector fell a fourth day, while health care declined for a third, mostly led by pot stocks. Meanwhile, Canada’s C$2.19 trillion ($1.67 trillion) household debt load will likely start swelling again, now that Bank of Canada appears to be on hold for at least the rest of the year.
Consumers hit the snooze button last year on home and vehicle purchases, but that spending is about to resume, according to Fred Demers, a director at BMO Global Asset Management in Toronto. He argues lower interest rates, an accelerating housing market, a solid labor market, record high stocks and decent investment returns will support consumption.
Stocks
* CannTrust jumped 17% after firing its CEO amid a scandal over a regulatory breach
* Aecon Group climbed 9.6% after reporting second quarter revenue that beat the highest estimate
* Winpak Ltd. rose 5.4% after second quarter EPS beat estimates
* Thomson Reuters jumped 4.3% after the London Stock Exchange Group was said to be in talks to acquire Refinitiv, the former financial and risk business of Thomson Reuters
* Aphria fell 6.1% as CIBC downgraded, partly due to a “leadership void”
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $14 discount to WTI
* Gold spot price rose 0.2% to $1,417.21 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell about 0.03% to C$1.3169 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield up slightly to 1.467%
US
By Vildana Hajric and Olivia Rinaldi
(Bloomberg) — Technology shares propelled U.S. stocks to all-time highs after Alphabet posted strong results and a jump in gross domestic product failed to deter expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut rates next week. The euro traded at a two-year low. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes hit fresh records as Twitter and Google-parent Alphabet rallied after their sales beat estimates, though Amazon slid on lower-than-forecast earnings. The second-quarter GDP report came in the wake of Thursday’s European Central Bank meeting, where Mario Draghi failed to deliver the dovish signals investors sought.
“Stocks are hitting all-time highs based on the fact that the GDP report was better than expected and earnings continue to come in better than expected,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance. “But you also can see that as rates continue to stay low, people are looking to the Fed to cut.” Corporate results have largely buoyed stocks this earnings season, though investors continued to watch for any hints of a slowdown in companies’ bottom lines. Central banks remain at the top of the agenda, with policy makers expected to boost stimulus at next week’s Fed meeting. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note finished the day little changed after briefly spiking following the GDP report.
“There’s nothing about this that would cause them to either not cut rates next week or to cut rates say by 50 basis points instead of 25,”said David Donabedian, chief investment officer of CIBC Private Wealth Management.The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed as much as 0.2% on the day after comments from White House adviser Larry Kudlow on CNBC that the U.S. has ruled out plans to intervene in foreign-exchange markets. Elsewhere, Turkey’s lira strengthened a day after the central bank cut its key rate by the most on record. Most Asian benchmarks fell, but stocks in Shanghai bucked the trend.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index gained 0.7% to 3,025.84 as of 4:03 p.m. New York time, the highest on record with the largest rise in more than three weeks.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.2% to 27,192.45.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.1% to 8,330.21, the highest on record with the largest climb in more than five weeks.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.3% to 390.73.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.2% to 1,202.61, the highest in more than five weeks.
* The Japanese yen decreased 0.1% to 108.71 per dollar, the weakest in more than two weeks.
* The euro declined 0.2% to $1.1124, the weakest in more than two years.
* The Turkish lira advanced 0.3% to 5.6775 per dollar, the strongest in a week on the biggest gain in more than a week.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped one basis point to 2.07%.
* The yield on two-year Treasuries decreased less than one basis point to 1.86%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to -0.38%.
Commodities
* Gold climbed 0.2% to $1,416.88 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude increased 0.3% to $56.17 a barrel.
–With assistance from Sarah Ponczek.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Never say you know a man until you have divided
an inheritance with him.
                        -Johann Lavater, 1741-1801

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