December 10, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Birthday: Emily Dickinson, b. December 10,1830.

There’s a certain
Slant of light,
Winter Afternoon
That oppresses,
like the Heft Of
Cathedral Tunes
-Emily Dickinson.

1998 – Six astronauts opened the doors to the new international space station.  Go to article »

China’s experimental cancer cure offers hope — and hidden dangers. -Bloomberg.

Haemin Sunim was a frustrated graduate student when a friend told him the solution was to “be good to yourself first — then to others.” Now a Buddhist monk, he espouses the power of self-care through Buddhist teachings.

He offers five easy steps to quiet the mind: Breathe, accept, write, talk, walk.

“Even if you feel there are many things in your life that are imperfect,” he says, “if you look at them in a compassionate way, you discover that imperfection, in and of itself, is beautiful and has meaning.”

-from The New York Times

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Members of Dance Centre Kenya (DCK) perform during a production of the ‘Nutcracker’, a ballet primarily performed during the Christmas period as their annual show, along with the Nairobi Philharmonic Orchestra with foreign guest musicians at the National Theater in Nairobi. DCK, founded by passionate families in early 2015, teach over 700 students at 3 studios in Nairobi, and provides lessons based on the Royal Academy of Dance Syllabus. Selected students in various schools and slums receive scholarships to promote developing their talent.
CREDIT: YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

People take a ride in a vintage subway car during Holiday Nostalgia Rides in New York’s subway, the United States. Every Sunday between Thanksgiving and New Year, vintage 1930’s R1-9 trains will be placed in regular New York City subway service on specific routes during the annual Holiday Nostalgia Rides, taking passengers back into old times.
CREDIT: XINHUA/WANG YING

Travellers were surprised when they were invited to enjoy the an impromptu pantomime performance on a train between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport. Rather than treading the boards, Prince Charming could be seen riding the rails and running the aisles of a Heathrow Express carriage in search of travellers to try on the famous glass slipper. Meanwhile, Cinderella was busy avoiding the ugly sisters and desperately trying to get her tickets to the ball stamped by the on board team. The performance was held by the Natural Theatre Company, and has been specially scripted to last just 15 minutes- the duration of the Heathrow Express Journey between London Paddington Station and Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3 in London.
CREDIT: SWNS

Trekkers look through fog as it covers landscapes at Mount kupe in Seydisehir district of Konya, Turkey.
CREDIT: FAHRI KUBILAY/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES

Market Closes for December 10^th, 2019  

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1984, Sandy Lerner and Leonard Bosack—two professors in different academic departments at Stanford who were frustrated by their difficulty in communicating by computer—founded Cisco Systems to make improved network switching equipment.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were flat Tuesday while U.S. peers were slightly lower. The S&P/TSX Composite declined slightly to 16,950.70 in Toronto. Marijuana stocks were among the weakest performers Tuesday, and things are expected to get worse before they get better in 2020. Meanwhile, House Democrats embraced the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement after securing key revisions and announced plans to vote on the deal next week, putting President Donald Trump closer to a political win as he heads into the 2020 election.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $20.10 discount to WTI
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,464.46 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar flat around C$1.3232 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose 1.1 basis points to 1.599%
Insights
* This quarter, the index rose 1.8%
* This year, the index rose 18%, heading for the best year in at least 10 years
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1% below its 52-week high on Nov. 28, 2019 and 23% above its low on Dec. 24, 2018
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 0.3% in the past 5 days and rose 0.4% in the past 30 days
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Communication Services | -7.8542| -0.8| 2/5
Financials | -4.5949| -0.1| 11/16
Information Technology | -4.2610| -0.5| 3/6
Health Care | -3.8695| -1.7| 4/5
Utilities | -0.8591| -0.1| 9/7
Consumer Staples | -0.4419| -0.1| 4/6
Real Estate | 1.5815| 0.3| 17/7
Consumer Discretionary | 1.9665| 0.3| 9/7
Industrials | 2.1472| 0.1| 16/16
Materials | 7.9885| 0.4| 28/20
Energy | 8.0354| 0.3| 22/10
US
By Vildana Hajric and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for a second day as investors pulled back ahead of the Federal Reserve rate decision, U.K. election and Sunday’s tariff deadline. Treasuries slipped. The S&P 500 Index fluctuated for most of the day before ending lower. Trade took center stage, with investors debating whether China and the Trump administration will reach a meaningful trade deal to avert fresh tariffs. Multiple reports indicated a delay was likely, before administration officials said the outcome depends on how talks progress. The two sides say a partial deal remains within reach, though the contours have not been made clear. Crude rose. “The trade talks and headlines are going to be very fluid this week,” said Ryan Nauman, market strategist at Informa Financial Intelligence’s Zephyr. “You’ve got a lot of stuff going on this week, just a lot of information that traders are having to contend with. But trade talks and headwinds are definitely driving risk-on or risk-off trades right now.”
In other trade news, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. moved toward an agreement that appeared to have legislative support in each of the countries. Mexico’s peso was little changed. “Those three countries are highly dependent on each other so I don’t think there likely to be anything that is that far away from where we’re at,” said Jim Besaw, chief investment officer at GenTrust. Trade continued to dominate sentiment on equity markets, with the dispute between the world’s two largest economies taking much of the blame for a slowdown in global growth. The spat is overshadowing a spate of central bank meetings this week, including the Federal Reserve gathering Wednesday. House Democrats are expected to unveil impeachment charges later Tuesday against President Donald Trump. The pound rose ahead of a key political poll and just two days before a general election dominated by Brexit. The euro advanced while European bonds drifted lower after French and German economic data beat expectations.
Here are some key events to watch this week:
* The Federal Reserve decides on interest rates on Wednesday, followed by a press briefing from Chairman Jerome Powell.
* The next European Central Bank policy decision is on Thursday.
* The U.K. holds a general election Thursday.

These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index fell 0.1% at 4 p.m. New York time.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.1%.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.1%.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index was flat.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1% to 1,199.25.
*The Japanese yen fell 0.2% at 108.75 per dollar.
*The euro added 0.2% to $1.1085.
Bonds
*The yield on two-year Treasuries rose four basis points to 1.65%.
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed two basis points to
*1.84%, the highest in almost four weeks.
*Germany’s 10-year yield gained one basis point to -0.30%.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 0.5% to $59.32 a barrel, its sixth consecutive advance.
*Gold futures added 0.3% to $1,469.20 an ounce.
*Brent crude gained 0.3% to $64.43 a barrel.
–With assistance from Sarah Ponczek.
Have  a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
                                                              -C.S. Lewis, 1898-1963

We turn not older with the years, but newer every day.
                                                       -Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886.

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