April 10, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

For someone who called Canada home for only about five years, Frederick Arthur Stanley certainly found effective ways for his name to live on. 

The park that dominates Vancouver’s downtown bears his name. Even more famously, there’s the Stanley Cup, the silver trophy he donated in 1892. (It cost about $50.) Top teams in the National Hockey League begin this year’s competition for it today.

Stanley was a British politician who was appointed governor general of Canada in 1888. Canadians were still British subjects, and he was Queen Victoria’s representative.

He created the hockey award because of his sons’ interest in the sport. Originally called the Dominion Challenge Trophy, it was for the best amateur team in Canada.

But there is no indication that the man who first awarded it ever picked up a stick and took to the ice. His passion was horse racing. -from The NY Times, 4/10/19.

April 10, 1849: Safety pin patented.

19,555: Estimated weight (in pounds) of Scotty, a Tyrannosaurus rex whose fossil remains were discovered in the province of Saskatchewan.  Scotty is the largest T. rex ever found, outweighing previous record-holder Sue by about 900 pounds.

Interesting app to check out: MinutePhysics YouTube channel: www.YouTube.com/user/minutephysics.

Scientists discovered a new human species.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Fishermen drag their net during the traditional Poutine fishing in Cagnes-Sur-Mer, France, April 9, 2019. Poutine are minute baby sardines which are exclusively fished between Antibes and Menton on the French Riviera for only 45 days each year at the end of the winter and fetch around 50 Euros per kilos at market. CREDIT: REUTERS/ERIC GAILLARD

English Heritage staff secure a temporary installation of giant inflatable snakes at Whitby Abbey in North Yorkshire, as the imposing ruin re-opens to the public today. The installation, to celebrate the charity’s £1.6 million revamping of the abbey including a new museum, is based on the legend of St Hild, the founder of the abbey who drove a plague of snakes over the cliffs where they turned to stone. The installation will remain on site until Sunday 14 April. CREDIT: JIM HOLDEN

Betty Bromage completes her Wing Walk this afternoon, Pilot David Barrell A daredevil grandmother is celebrating her 90^th birthday in spectacular style by taking on a series of adrenaline-fuelled charity challenges. At a time of life when others are content to sit back and retire gracefully, Betty Bromage is gearing up to not only complete a dizzying wing-walk hundreds of feet above the Gloucestershire countryside, but a high-octane zip line ride, and a thrilling abseil. The nonagenarian hopes her fearless exploits will help raise £10,000 to build a new summerhouse and wheelchair friendly community garden at the Abbeyfield Gloucestershire home in Cheltenham where she lives. CREDIT CHARLOTTE GRAHAM FOR THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.
Market Closes for April 10^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 2000, Jeffrey M. Applegate, chief U.S. investment strategist at Lehman Brothers, recommended that his clients have at least 60% of their portfolios in tech stocks, nearly twice the market weighting. Over the next year, tech stocks lost over half their value as their earnings growth completely disappeared.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rebounded from their first drop in seven days as oil prices rose and soft U.S. inflation was seen as encouraging a dovish tone from central bankers. The pot sector also rose after a two-day decline.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.4 percent to 16,396.29 in Toronto. Energy stocks rose as crude traded near a five-month high, boosted by a sharp drop in U.S. gasoline stockpiles.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. was among the best performers in pot stocks after saying it will expand a production facility by one-third to support global demand for high-quality medical pot.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Energy stocks that advanced included Baytex Energy Corp., Whitecap Resources Inc., MEG Energy Corp. and Crescent Point Energy Corp.
* Shaw Communications Inc. added 0.9 percent, rebounding from Tuesday’s 3.3 percent drop. The telecom firm added fewer wireless subscribers than analysts expected in its fiscal second quarter
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $8.90 discount to WTI
* Gold rose 0.3 percent to $1,312.30 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was little changed at C$1.33227 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell 5 basis points to 1.683 percent
US
By Randall Jensen and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks advanced, while Treasuries held gains after Federal Reserve meeting minutes confirmed the central bank’s dovish tilt on policy this year. The dollar declined.
The S&P 500 rebounded from its first loss in nine days as unexpectedly soft inflation reading potentially boosted the Fed’s new wait-and-see approach to rate hikes. The bank’s March minutes showed that a majority of committee members saw risks warranting rates on hold through 2019.
“I think this confirms the message that we got from the March meeting,” said James McCann, senior economist at Aberdeen Standard Investments, which has about $736 billion in assets under management. “This is a Fed that’s pretty happy to just sit on its hands for the time being and stay on hold and see how some of these cross currents play out.”
Tech shares paced the advance, boosting the Nasdaq indexes. Boeing continued its slide in the wake of the 737 Max fallout, helping to hold down the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The dollar slid against the euro after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi reiterated warnings that global risks continue to batter the region’s economy as the ECB signaled no rate hikes for the rest of 2019. The pound advanced as the European Union leaders met in Brussels to hash out the terms of a Brexit delay.
The weaker-than-expected inflation data has heightened the focus on Fed policy, as investors try to figure out what it will take to budge the central bank out of its steady approach. The central bank’s minutes offered few clues. Sentiment remains fragile after the ECB’s and IMF’s somber economic reports Tuesday, and amid an escalation of the U.S.-EU trade dispute while negotiations with China remain unsettled.
Elsewhere, Israeli stocks climbed as Benjamin Netanyahu looks set for a fifth term as prime minister after a bruising election campaign. Oil futures gained as speculation that supplies will tighten outweighed Russian caution on more output cuts. Emerging-market stocks advanced for a 10th day, extending their longest run since January 2018.
Here are some notable events coming up:
* U.S. banks begin reporting first-quarter earnings, led by JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.
* The spring meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF continue in Washington.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index gained 0.4 percent to 2,888.21 as of 4:00 p.m. New York time.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.7 percent, while the Nasdaq 100 added 0.6 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.3 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 0.3 percent, hitting the highest in almost 10 months.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1 percent.
* The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.1273.
* The British pound increased 0.3 percent to $1.3095.
* The Japanese yen gained 0.2 percent to 110.95 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell three basis points to 2.47 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to -0.03 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield dropped less than one basis point to 1.119 percent.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude increased 0.8 percent to $64.46 a barrel.
* Gold rose 0.3 percent $1,312.30 an ounce.
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index gained 0.5 percent.
–With assistance from Sarah Ponczek and Robert Brand.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

One man that has a mind and knows it can always beat ten men who haven’t and don’t.
                                                                        -George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950

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