April 25, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

1901: First license plates issued.

1915: Battle of Gallipoli

1926: the era of films with sound–known as “talkies”–began after AT&T, Western Electric and Bell Labs announced they had developed a device to provide “perfect automatic music for movies.”

1959 – Icebreaker D’Iberville opens eastern section of the new St. Lawrence Seaway for traffic. 
The Birth of a Seaway

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Members of the Honourable Artillery Company fire a 62 gun salute from the Tower of London to welcome the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s third child. 
Credit: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Lenticular clouds over the 5,317 meters high Mount Ararat in Agri, Turkey. Credit: Bulent Mavzer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A canoe lays on ice near holes made by fishermen on the melting frozen sea off the coast of Raipaluoto island, western Finland. Credit: Oliver Morin/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for April 25^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
3.001%
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 3.001% early in Tuesday’s trading session before retreating to end the day at 2.983%.
Canada
By Kristine Owram(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks gained, led by railways and energy producers, while government bond yields rose for a sixth consecutive day.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 33 points or 0.2 percent to 15,509.75. Industrials posted the biggest sector gain, adding 1.1 percent. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. rose 2.7 percent and Canadian National Railway Co. gained 2.4 percent, boosted by strong results and an upbeat forecast from U.S. competitor Norfolk Southern Corp.
     Energy shares rose 0.7 percent as lingering issues around an Iran nuclear deal gave a lift to crude prices. Cenovus Energy Inc. added 6 percent, the most since January, after CEO Alex Pourbaix said he expects to see “material volumes of oil moving by rail” in the second half of the year.
     In other moves:
                          Stocks
* TFI International Inc. gained 1.5 percent. The trucking company’s first-quarter earnings beat the highest estimate
* Sherritt International Corp. slid 4.9 percent after reporting results
* The Stars Group Inc. fell 1.8 percent, bringing its two-day loss to 5.6 percent. Moody’s Investors Service placed the company’s rating on review for downgrade
                          Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $17.10 discount to WTI
* Gold fell 0.8 percent to $1,321.20 an ounce, the lowest in five weeks
                           FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.1 percent to C$1.2845 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose two basis points to 2.37 percent, the highest since mid-February
US
By Sarah Ponczek and Janine Wolf
     (Bloomberg) — Most U.S. stocks closed higher after swinging between gains and losses while investors mulled the implications of rising U.S. bond yields and disappointing earnings. The dollar resumed its rally, climbing to the highest in three months.
     “We’re going to have to continue this back and forth because the question is going to be throughout the year whether or not and at what level are rates too high for the economy,” Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co., said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters.
     Tech weakness sent the Nasdaq Composite to its fifth straight loss, the longest slide since 2016. Disappointing earnings weighed on some of the biggest names in tech, with Twitter dropping more than 4 percent as analysts questioned its pace of growth. The greenback strengthened against almost every major peer, with the euro among the losers a day before the European Central Bank’s next rate decision.
     Upward momentum in the dollar looks set to force a rethink on many of the most popular trades just now, giving equity investors yet another factor to grapple with after rising yields and threats to global trade roiled markets. They had been looking to earnings for some cheer, but even good earnings results have failed to inspire a pick up in equities, causing worries over peak growth to materialize.
     “The sharp sell-off in rates has hijacked market sentiment,” Mark McCormick, the North American head of foreign- exchange strategy at Toronto-Dominion Bank, wrote in a note to clients. “The 3% level on the U.S. 10-year does not have any magical properties, but market participants are trying to navigate a global markets regime shift with a toolkit of mostly unstable correlations.”
     Wednesday’s moves weren’t entirely risk-off, however, and established safe-haven assets including gold and the yen retreated.
     Elsewhere, most industrial metals declined. Emerging-market currencies mostly weakened, led by South Africa’s rand. Turkey’s lira reversed a gain even as the central bank raised one of its lending rates.
     These are some important events coming up this week:
* U.S. GDP data are due Friday.
* Earnings season continues. Among those reporting: Amazon.com and Samsung.
* The European Central Bank has a rate decision on Thursday.  Investors will watch for any sign that officials are preparing a shift in stimulus plans for their June meeting.
* The Bank of Japan announces its latest policy decision Friday and releases a quarterly outlook report.
* The leaders of North and South Korea meet Friday.
     And these are the main moves in markets:
                           Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.2 percent to 2,639.39 as of 4:02 p.m. New York time, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2 percent to 24,082.66 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was little changed at 7,003.74.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.8 percent on the largest decrease in more than a month, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index dipped 0.7 percent.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell 0.6 percent, the first retreat in more than a week.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index fell 1.1 percent.
                           Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4 percent to the highest in almost 15 weeks.
* The euro declined 0.5 percent to $1.2172, the weakest in almost 15 weeks.
* The British pound decreased 0.3 percent to $1.3933, touching the weakest level in almost six weeks.
* The Japanese yen dipped 0.5 percent to 109.34 per dollar, after hitting the weakest in 11 weeks with its sixth straight decline.
                            Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose two basis points to 3.02 percent, reaching the highest in more than four years on its eighth straight advance.
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.63 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 1.54 percent.
                            Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2 percent to $67.94 a barrel.
* Gold declined 0.6 percent to $1,322.76 an ounce. 
–With assistance from Cormac Mullen and Samuel Potter.

Have a great evening.
 

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art.
                                          -Andy Warhol, 1927-1987.

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