December 30, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Carolann is out of the office today, I will be writing the Newsletter on her behalf.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A young girl stands on a Victoria Amazonica water lily at Suan Malai Victoria Water Lily garden on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand.
CREDIT: DIEGO AZUBEL/REX

People watch at confetti as its thrown from the Hard Rock Café marquee as part of the annual confetti test ahead of the New Year’s Eve ball-drop celebrations in Times Square in New York City.
CREDIT: JEENAH MOON/ REUTERS

Thousands of Lanterns have been lit in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam during the fourth edition of the Lantern campaign by Dutch KWF Fight against cancer, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
CREDIT: REX/ REMKO DE WAAL


Market Closes for December 30^th, 2019  

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1963, American Express Warehousing, a unit of American Express, declared bankruptcy after storage tanks in Bayonne, N.J., that were supposed to contain $150 million worth of salad oil turned out to hold nothing but seawater. Con man Anthony “Tino” De Angelis had borrowed millions of dollars using the nonexistent oil as collateral, leaving AmEx on the hook. As the stock skidded from $60 to $35, Warren Buffett put nearly 25% of his assets in it; within four years, he had a 150% profit.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for the second straight session on thin volume as investors looked toward the new year. Mining stocks were the only one of 11 main industry groups to advance on the second-to-last trading day of the year as precious metals prices rose. Gold extended its year-end rally as the dollar weakened and funds plowed more money into exchange- traded funds backed by the metal. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.4% to 17,098.56. Trading volume was about 37% below the 30-day average. The benchmark for Canadian equities is up 19% in 2019, on track for its best year since 2009. Maxar Technologies Inc. was among the few standout gainers
on Monday. the satellite company’s shares jumped 15% to the highest in a year after it said it would sell its Canadian space and defense unit for C$1 billion.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $22.00 discount to WTI
* Spot gold rose 0.3% at $1,515.08 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.1% to C$1.3062 per U.S.dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose to 1.646%
US
By Randall Jensen and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell in light trading on the penultimate day of a blockbuster year for markets. Treasuries and the dollar declined. The S&P 500 fell the most in more than three weeks amid the countdown to the New Year’s Day holiday Wednesday. Tech shares paced losses, with Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Google’s parent company among the biggest decliners. The benchmark is still headed for its best year since 2013. Ten-year Treasury yields pared earlier gains to trade around 1.88%, while the dollar fell for a third straight session as the yen and the pound strengthened. “This whole week’s going to be slow, so I wouldn’t attribute any day’s movements or any movements this week to anything in particular,” said Jeff Mills, chief investment officer at Bryn Mawr Trust.
“The market is in an interesting spot, we’ve run up quite a bit, technically the market is overbought.” Investors are acting with caution in thin pre-holiday trading at the end of a year that’s propelled global equity benchmarks to record highs. And with the Federal Reserve apparently on hold and U.S. trade talks seemingly far from a new breakthrough, traders may remain reluctant to jump back into risk markets. Elsewhere, West Texas crude turned lower following a report that Iran detained a fuel tanker.

Here are some events to watch for this week:
* China’s official manufacturing PMI is due Tuesday, and the Caixin version comes Thursday.
* Most global markets will be closed on Jan. 1. U.S. fixed- income markets also close early at 2 p.m. EST Tuesday.
* World leaders including China’s Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un are set to deliver New Year addresses.
* Federal Open Market Committee minutes will be released on Friday.
* U.S. ISM manufacturing is also due Friday. The Institute for Supply Management’s PMI is forecast to show a contraction for a fifth straight month.

These are some of the moves in major markets:

Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.6%, the most since Dec. 3, as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.9%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipped 0.2%.
* The British pound rose 0.3%.
* The euro climbed 0.2% to $1.1203.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.6% to 108.82 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose two basis points to1.90%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield climbed seven basis points to -0.19%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield jumped 11 basis points to 0.867%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3% to $61.54 a barrel.
* Gold climbed 0.3% to $1,515.45 an ounce.

–With assistance from Christopher Anstey, Andreea Papuc and Todd White.

Have a great evening.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Isabel

You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.
                                            – Indira Gandhi, 1917–1984

Isabel Luo,
Assistant to Carolann Steinhoff

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com