April 16, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
“The Rolling Stones (England’s Newest Hitmakers),” the band’s debut album, was released. Go to article »

The Poem:

Bugs In A Bowl
 -by David Budbill

Han Shan, that great and crazy, wonder-filled
Chinese poet of a thousand years ago, said:

We’re just like bugs in a bowl.
All day going around
never leaving their bowl.

I say: that’s right!  Every day
climbing up the steep sides,
sliding back. Over and over again.
Around and around.
Up and back down.

Sit in the bottom of the bowl, 
head in your hands, cry, moan,
feel sorry for yourself.

Or.

Look around.
See your fellow bugs.
Walk around. Say,
Hey, how you doing?
Say, Nice bowl!
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The sun is out and shining as the weather starts to warm up and Cookie the cockapoo dog goes for a walk amongst the bulebells in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK. CREDIT: PAUL MARRIOTT PHOTOGRAPHY

Sumo wrestlers attend a ritual ceremony at the Yasukuni Shrine for the ‘Honozumo’, a ceremonial sumo tournament in Tokyo, Japan. More than six thousand spectators enjoyed this one-day event where sumo wrestlers demonstrate their skills. CREDIT: FRANCK ROBICHON/EPA-EFE/REX

A bird’s eye view of the 326 Tai Haku (or Great White Cherry) trees in blossom in The Alnwick Garden in Northumberland, UK. It is thought to be the largest orchard of the trees outside Japan and is in full bloom as the temperatures look set to rise ready for the Easter weekend. CREDIT: OWEN HUMPHREYS/PA WIRE

Norwegian surfer Jono Dunnett (45), who set sail for world trip with his windsurf from Norway, sails as he arrives Abana district of Kastamonu, Turkey. CREDIT: SEMIH YUKSEL/ANADOLU AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for April 16^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1998, Cendant, one of the great growth stocks of the 1990s, collapsed as the firm disclosed “potential accounting irregularities” resulting from its binge buying of other companies. The stock lost 46% of its value in a single day—right after leading analysts at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Goldman Sachs, BT Alex. Brown and Furman Selz had all strongly recommended buying it.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks dropped Tuesday, stopping a four-day advance, as the market took a steep drop in late trading.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 0.1 percent to 16,502. Information technology, materials and real estate lagged while health care and consumer discretionary outperformed. Cannabis companies will continue to miss analyst estimates and their own forecasts by “a thousand miles,” but shareholders will shake it off because of the industry’s long-term growth potential, a group of investors said Tuesday. Additionally, Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd. is literally going the extra mile to boost returns during tough times for the Canadian oil industry.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Journey Energy Inc. jumped 26.7% after well test results
* Green Growth Brands Inc. gained 7.8%, the most since March 11
* Village Farms International Inc. lost 10.9% after Citron revealed a short idea
* Constellation Software Inc. fell 2.5%, the most since February 25  Ratings
* CG CN: Centerra Gold Reinstated at Credit Suisse With Neutral; PT C$8
* CVE CN: Cenovus Energy Upgraded to Neutral at Goldman
* ELD CN: Eldorado Gold Reinstated at Credit Suisse With Neutral
* EXE CN: Extendicare Rated New Buy at Laurentian Bank Securities; PT C$10
* GTE CN: Gran Tierra Reinstated at RBC With Top Pick
* MG CN: Magna International Rated New Buy at Seaport
* MG CN: Magna Gets New Bull as Seaport Positive on Supply Position
* NGD CN: New Gold Reinstated at Credit Suisse With Neutral
* NGD CN: Barrick, First Majestic, Magna, Obsidian: Canada Pre-Market
* POW CN: Power of Canada Resumed at BMO With Outperform; PT C$34
* PWF CN: Power Financial Resumed at BMO With Market Perform; PT C$33
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $9.25 discount to WTI
* Gold fell 1 percent to $1,279.50 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.1 percent to C$1.3353 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose to 1.781 percent
US
By Jeremy Herron and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Most U.S. stocks rose as a group of high- profile earnings offered divergent clues on the strength of the American economy. The 10-year Treasury yield reached its highest level since the March Federal Reserve meeting.
The S&P 500 eked out a gain, while the Nasdaq 100 closed within 0.1 percent of an all-time high. Apple Inc. was flat and Qualcomm Inc. surged after the two dropped litigation against each other. Netflix Inc. ended the regular session higher, but slid in late trading after a key metric missed estimates. IBM Corp. fell afterhours as sales fell short of forecasts. Financial firms paced gains after BlackRock Inc.’s results offset weakness at Bank of America Corp. UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s earnings call rekindled concern about policy uncertainty, dragging insurers lower. Johnson & Johnson advanced after strong earnings.
Treasuries continued to slump, with rates reclaiming levels last seen before the Fed’s dovish tilt a month ago. In Europe, equities climbed for a fifth day, driven by insurance and financial services firms. In Asia, shares in China and Hong Kong outperformed markets in Japan and South Korea. The euro pared a decline after Bloomberg reported that European Central Bank officials are said to lack enthusiasm for any revamp of their negative-interest rate tool.
“You’re seeing some fairly significant companies — last Friday, JPMorgan, a few others here this week, BlackRock today – – a lot of these financials that had gotten pummeled this quarter seem to be doing pretty well in beating earnings.” said Wayne Wicker, CIO at Vantagepoint Investment Advisers, which has about $28 billion in assets under management as of the end of March. “It’s starting to give investors a little encouragement that maybe we have not breached the lower end of expectations.” Investors are spending the holiday-shortened week assessing the chances that stocks will sustain their rally even as similar gains in global investment-grade bonds have ebbed since late March. Optimism over earnings appears to be boosting bullish sentiment in equities, though volumes have been muted. Central banks are also in the frame, with Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, who currently sees rates on hold until the fall of 2020, saying that the nation’s central bank may need to cut them if inflation falls. Officials from Australia, New Zealand and Japan also indicated appetite to support growth through monetary policy.
Elsewhere, oil held near the lowest in a week in New York on estimates that U.S. crude inventories increased again. Emerging-market stocks climbed, though the currencies weakened.
Here are some notable events coming up:
* Earnings season rolls on this week, with reports due from: Morgan Stanley, American Express, Netflix, IBM, United Continental, PepsiCo, Honeywell, Alcoa and Taiwan Semiconductor.
* Wednesday brings China GDP, industrial production and retail sales data.
* Stock markets will be closed for the Good Friday holiday in countries including the U.S., U.K. and Germany.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent to 2,907.09 as of 4 p.m. in New York.
* The Dow was up 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq 100 Index climbed 0.3 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.3 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index rose 0.7 percent, the largest advance in two weeks.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.3 percent to the highest in more than six months.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index increased 0.2 percent to the highest in more than a week.
* The euro was little changed at $1.1290.
* The British pound declined 0.3 percent to $1.3059.
* The Japanese yen climbed 0.1 percent to 111.97 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased three basis points to 2.59 percent, the highest in four weeks.
* Germany’s 10-year yield climbed one basis point to 0.066 percent, the highest in almost four weeks.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 1.1 percent to $64.11 a barrel.
* Gold futures fell 0.9 percent to $1,279.20 an ounce.
–With assistance from Sarah Ponczek, Andreea Papuc and Yakob Peterseil.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men.  No machine  can do the work of one extraordinary man.
                                                                                                            -Elbert Hubbard, 1859-1915

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