April 13, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
April 13^th, 1962, Silent Spring published by Rachel Carson.
On April 13, 1970, Apollo 13, four-fifths of the way to the moon, was crippled when a tank containing liquid oxygen burst. (The astronauts managed to return safely.) 
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PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Wiley the 12-week old Dalmatian puppy who has a heart shaped mark on his nose. 
Credit: Nathan G. Lucas/Caters News

Vendors sit under umbrellas inside a wholesale flower market in Bengaluru, India. 
Credit: Abhishek N. Chinnappa/Reuters

A clock face on Elizabeth Tower is seen without its hour and minute hands as conservation work continues on the Houses of Parliament in London. 
Credit: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images
Market Closes for April 13^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
7.85
The U.S. dollar traded as high as 7.85 Hong Kong dollars in Asian trading on Thursday, hitting the upper limit of a trading band that has been in place for decades.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks posted a small increase Friday, pushing the weekly gain to 0.4 percent, as the health- care sector rose the most in nearly six weeks on a surge in cannabis shares.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added five points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 15,273.97. Health-care stocks jumped 5 percent after U.S. President Donald Trump said he supports letting states decide how to regulate marijuana. Aphria Inc. rose 15 percent, the most since February.
     Energy shares gained 0.9 percent as Canadian crude traded near the smallest discount to West Texas Intermediate since January. Financials fell 0.5 percent amid weakness in U.S. banks.
     In other moves:
                         Stocks
* Restaurant Brands International Inc. fell 1.8 percent. Canadian Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said the government will investigate the company for potential breach of conditions related to its takeover of the Tim Hortons chain
* Tricon Capital Group Inc. rose 4.7 percent to the highest since February after TD Securities upgraded to action list buy
* Iamgold Corp. added 5.6 percent. The stock was upgraded to buy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch on its valuation and growth prospects
                         Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $15.00 discount to WTI
* Gold rose 0.5 percent to $1,344.80 an ounce
                          FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.1 percent to C$1.2605 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell four basis points to 2.24 percent
US
By Sarah Ponczek and Janine Wolf
     (Bloomberg) — Stocks fell as weakness in shares of U.S. banks and finance firms added to the political and trade tensions weighing on the market. Treasury yields slid and oil rose for a fifth straight day, reaching its highest level since December 2014.
     All major U.S. benchmarks ended lower in lighter than normal trading, with the financial sector pacing losses on a drop of more than 1.5 percent. Wells Fargo & Co. warned that its better than anticipated first-quarter results may change as a settlement with regulators looms, loans dropped and mortgage- banking results trailed predictions. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. posted quarterly earnings that topped analysts’ expectations, but shares of both companies plunged as JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said, “the environment is intensely competitive and lending was flat for the quarter.”
     “You’re getting a very high expectation for earnings season, which makes me a little bit nervous,” said Tom Essaye, the former Merrill Lynch trader who founded market newsletter ‘The Sevens Report.’ After banks reported results “and it wasn’t another positive catalyst, you just saw people come in and sell the market,” he said.
     The market’s focus also is on political turmoil surrounding President Donald Trump, potential military activity in Syria and trade tensions between the U.S. and China. On Thursday, President Donald Trump expressed optimism on trade deal with China and hinted that the U.S. may rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade deal that he pulled out of shortly after taking office.
     “Thus far it’s really all been theater,” Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, said of the trade issues. “Where we might actually start to see it show up in the market again is if companies start talking about the effect of the tariffs on their earnings calls. I think it’s fairly likely that it will at least be mentioned. A lot of companies look for reasons to kind of dial down expectations, and this certainly is a very real one, even though it’s theoretical at the moment.”
     The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose but retreated from an earlier climb to a six-week high, led by raw-material producers as industrial and precious metals advanced. Aluminum headed for its biggest weekly increase since at least 1987 on concern U.S. sanctions on Russia’s United Co. Rusal will disrupt supplies.
     Meanwhile, the dollar declined. Sterling climbed to the strongest level against the euro in almost a year against as investors bet on a Bank of England interest-rate hike next month, after the European Central Bank revealed a dovish slant in the account of its March meeting published Thursday.
     Here are the main moves in markets:
                          Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.3 percent to 2,656.30, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 123 points, or 0.5 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.1 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index slipped 0.1 percent.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.1 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index fell 0.6 percent.
                          Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.1 percent.
* The euro gained 0.1 percent to $1.2339.
* The British pound increased 0.1 percent to $1.4246.
* The Japanese yen declined less than 0.1 percent to 107.37 per dollar.
                          Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell two basis points to 2.8193 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield dipped one basis point to 0.511 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield dropped two basis points to 1.435 percent.
                          Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.3 percent to $67.27 a barrel.
* Gold rose 0.7 percent to $1,344.45 an ounce.
* Copper added 0.1 percent to $3.07 a pound.
–With assistance from Grant Smith and Robert Brand.

Have a great weekend.
 

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

I saw and loved.
-Edward Gibbon, 1737-1794

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