April 27, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Number of the Day:
2
Foreign drivers stopped in Iceland by police in the course of a week for “driving under the influence of the aurora [borealis].”  The beauty of the northern lights made them drive erratically. –Iceland magazine.

On this day in…
1947 – “Babe Ruth Day” was held at Yankee Stadium to honor the ailing baseball star.

1972 – Apollo 16 returned to Earth after a manned voyage to the moon.

1982 – John W. Hinckley Jr. went on trial in Washington, D.C., in the shooting of President Ronald Reagan. (He was acquitted by reason of insanity.)

1992 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed in Belgrade by the Republic of Serbia and its lone ally, Montenegro.

2006 – Construction began on a 1,776-foot building on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.

2011 – President Barack Obama produced a detailed Hawaii birth certificate in an extraordinary attempt to bury the issue of where he was born.

And on April 27^th, 1859, Edward FitzGerald wrote to E.B. Cowell; Cowell, an oriental scholar, had introduced him to the original of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:
I sent you poor old Omar…I hardly know why I print any of these things, which nobody buys; and I scarce now see the few I give them to.  But when one has done one’s best, and is sure that that best is better than so many will take pains to do, though far from the best that might be done, one likes to make an end of the matter by print.  I suppose very few people have ever taken such pains in translation as I have:  though certainly not to be literal.  But at all cost, a thing must live:  with a transfusion of one’s own life if one can’t retain the originals better.  Better a live sparrow than a stuffed eagle.

Knowledge is learning something every day.  Wisdom is letting go of something every day.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A model, painted by the artist Avi Ram from Airbrush Hero, poses for a photo at the Tower of David in Jerusalem’s Old City on Thursday as part of a calendar project. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

An installation representing Gibraltar is displayed during the presentation of the art exhibition ‘La Terra Inquieta’ (Restless Earth) at the Triennale Palace of Arts in Milan, Italy, on Thursday. Through the works of more than 60 artists from all over the world, ‘Restless Earth’ addresses the problem of migration and the crisis of refugees. The exhibition will run until Aug. 20. Luca Bruno/AP
Market Closes for April 27^th, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
A Chinese money market fund set up as a repository for leftover cash from online spending has emerged as the world’s biggest, with $165.6B under management. Alibaba’s (NYSE:BABA) four-year-old Yu’e Bao fund – which means leftover treasure – has overtaken JPMorgan’s U.S. Government Money Market Fund (MUTF:MJGXX), which has $150B. Yu’e Bao pays 3.93%.

On this day in 1992, Russia and 12 other former Soviet republics won entry into the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks suffered a triple-digit loss as financial shares neared their lowest level of the year and commodity prices dragged down mining and energy companies.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 143 points or 0.9 percent to 15,506.47. Financial shares retreated 1.7 percent, briefly hitting their lowest level of the year in intraday trading, as fallout from Home Capital Group Inc.’s run on deposits weighed on the sector. Home Capital rallied 34 percent after securing a high-interest loan and hiring bankers to explore a possible sale.
     Materials shares fell 1.3 percent and energy stocks lost 1.2 percent as commodity prices declined.
     In other moves:
* New Gold Inc. lost 8.7 percent. The miner said its Rainy River tailings permit has been pushed to January 2018 from the third quarter
* Lundin Mining Corp. fell 6.8 percent after first-quarter revenue missed estimates
* Toromont Industries Ltd. jumped 6.7 percent. First-quarter revenue beat the highest estimate
* Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. rose 2.3 percent after raising its full-year profit forecast.
US
By Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks and the dollar were little changed after an up-and-down session amid a whirlwind of policy news as the Trump administration seeks to burnish its record ahead of its 100th day in office.
     The S&P 500 Index eked out a gain to close near all-time highs amid a flurry of headlines on everything from Nafta to tax reform, the budget and health care. Energy producers tumbled after crude slid to $49 a barrel on concern over a supply glut, while earnings lifted technology indexes to fresh records. Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc. climbed after hours as results topped estimates, while Intel Corp. slipped.
     The Mexican peso pared gains and Canada’s dollar was little changed amid mixed signals from the White House on the Nafta regional trade agreement. The euro weakened after the European Central Bank signaled its commitment to stimulus even as the region’s economy firms. Gold was little changed and emerging- market assets slipped.
     Politics remained in focus this week as the Trump administration unveiled a hastily assembled plan to cut taxes on Wednesday and gave mixed signals on its intentions for the North American trade agreement. The machinations left markets unsure of the policy direction, with lots of discussion and few concrete actions on which to trade. Congress is also considering a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown, while House Republicans attempt to revive legislation to repeal Obamacare.
     The U.S. political turmoil overshadowed the ECB’s latest policy commentary. President Mario Draghi showed growing enthusiasm about the state of the euro-area economy, while cautioning that inflation pressures remain too weak to contemplate paring back stimulus.
     Read our Markets Live blog here.
     Here are some key upcoming events investors are watching:
* U.S. GDP is due Friday. It’s projected to show the economy expanded at a 1 percent annualized rate in the first quarter, the weakest pace in a year.
* Earnings will contribute to trading on U.S. markets Friday, with a flood of postmarket releases setting the tone.
     Here are the main moves in markets:
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent to 2,388.86 at 4 p.m. in New York.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index jumped 0.5 percent to a record, while the Nasdaq Composite ended at an all-time high.
* In late trading, Alphabet rose 3.7 percent and Amazon added 3.6 percent as of 4:28 p.m. Intel lost 3.6 percent.
* PayPal jumped and Under Armour Inc. surged amid earnings announcements. Energy shares lost 1.1 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.2 percent after climbing for six straight sessions to the highest level since August 2015.
* Deutsche Bank dropped 3.7 percent after debt and equity trading missed estimated in the first quarter.
* Tokyo stocks fell for the first time in six days and the yen slipped. The Bank of Japan kept its policies unchanged while lowering its inflation forecast, underscoring that any exit from its monetary easing remains far away.
     Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index added less than 0.1 percent, after increasing 0.3 percent on Wednesday.
* The euro saw choppy trading during the ECB press conference, rising to 1.0933 from its interim low as Draghi’s more upbeat tone appeared to align with trader expectations that had built over the course of the week. It traded lower by 0.3 percent to $1.0874.
* The Mexican peso rose 0.7 percent, paring a gain of 1.4 percent as the White House continued to give mixed signals on Nafta. The peso slid 1.7 percent on Wednesday.
* The Canadian dollar was little changed, erasing earlier gains.
     Bonds
* Treasuries advanced, with the yield curve steepening, as a risk-off sentiment took hold across markets after posturing by lawmakers in Washington.
* The 10-year Treasury yield slipped to 2.29 percent. The rate fell three basis points to 2.30 percent on Wednesday, after climbing for five straight sessions.
* German benchmark yields slid five basis points to 0.296 percent after the ECB’s signal that inflation remains tepid.
* Swedish government bonds rallied after the central bank unexpectedly extended its bond-buying program, prompting investors to bet that policy makers will delay a rate increase.
     Commodities
* Oil dropped to a one-month low as Libya reopened its biggest field and U.S. crude production climbed a 10th week. Futures slid 1.3 percent to settle at $48.97 a barrel in New York.
* Gold futures advanced 0.1 percent to $1,265.50 an ounce in New York. Contracts remain below the pre-election level of $1,305.06 an ounce. Prices cratered more than 13 percent through Dec. 22. They ground back to $1,289.76 this month after Trump’s airstrikes on Syria and Afghanistan.
* Iron ore’s sell-off may be set to worsen. The world’s largest mining company says that global supplies are poised to increase in the coming years as low-cost producers add more tons to the market, delivering its warning just hours after a similar red flag from the World Bank.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

When you abandon every desire that rises up within you,
and when you become content with things as they are, then you experience inner peace.
When your mind is untroubled by misfortune, when you desire no pleasures,
when your emotions are tranquil, and when you are free from fear and anger,
then you experience inner calm.  When you are free from all attachments,
when you  are indifferent to success and failure,
then you experience inner serenity.
When you can withdraw your senses from pleasures of the senses,
just as a tortoise withdraws its limbs,
then you experience inner wisdom.
The Bhagavad Gita

As ever,

Carolann

Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.
                                                                                 -George Eliot, 1819-1880

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com