April 9, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1865 – US Civil War ends.
1866 – US Civil Rights Bill passed.
1917 – Canadians Capture Vimy Ridge.  Go to article »
Source: History.com
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Women dressed in historical costumes making their way to a photo session making the start of the asparagus harvesting season in a field in Beelitz, eastern Germany. FROM THE TELEGRAPH, 4.9.19.

Indian married women take part in the Gangaur festival in Udaipur, in Rajasthan state. During the Gangaur festival, married women worship the Hindu goddess Gauri, consort of the deity Shiva. CREDIT: HIMANSHU SHARMA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES.

Workers checking the tulips in Britain’s last remaining bulb field near King’s Lynn, Norfolk, UK, in the warm spring sunshine. Siblings Finley and Aimee Everitt tiptoed through the tulips with the flowers blooming two weeks early this year. CREDIT: GEOFF ROBINSON
Market Closes for April 9^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1998, K-Tel International, which sold compilations of old rock’n’roll songs on late-night TV, announced that it would soon begin selling music over the Internet. The stock, which closed at $6.63 the day before, surged to $67.75 by May 4. Within two years, the stock had been delisted from Nasdaq and traded at about $2 a share.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks snapped six days of gains on Tuesday, falling along with U.S. equities, as pot stocks underperformed for a second straight session. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.4 percent to 16,336.45. The pot sector contributed to the decline in health care, the worst performing sector, dropping again after Cowen cut revenue estimates for several marijuana stocks yesterday, citing expectations for “modest” growth in first quarter.
Meanwhile, Canadian market potential for legal marijuana continues to be hindered by a patchwork of provincial regulations, according to a new report. Canadian sales are expected to grow to $5.2 billion in 2024, Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics said. That’s down from a January forecast of $5.9 billion by 2022.
Stocks
* Gold miners rose as bullion gained on tension from Europe-U.S. tariff threats. Endeavour Mining, New Gold, Eldorado Gold were among gainers
* Canada Goose climbed after planning to open six new stores in 2019
* Pot companies led by CannTrust, Hexo were among the decliners
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $8.40 discount to WTI
* Gold spot price rose 0.6 percent to $1,304.57 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.08 percent to C$1.3324 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.728 percent
US
By Randall Jensen and Sarah Ponczek
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks ended the longest winning streak in 18 months Tuesday amid renewed concerns about slowing global growth and an escalation of trade tensions. Treasuries advanced.
The S&P 500 fell for the first time in nine sessions as the Trump administration threatened tariffs on the European Union and the International Monetary Fund cut its global growth outlook to the lowest since the financial crisis. Multinationals bore the brunt of the selling, with Caterpillar and Boeing dragging the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower. Airlines tumbled along with materials and energy producers.
Ten-year Treasury yields fell below 2.50 percent, while the greenback was mixed against major currencies. The pound dropped
as the EU looked set to force the U.K to delay Brexit for as long as a year.
“Equity markets have been up for a really long time,” Josh Kutin, head of asset allocation for North America at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters. “It seems that there is just more and more data coming in which is suggesting the economy is slowing down — not in a recession, but slowing down,” he said, adding the IMF’s outlook cut is “sort of endemic of what’s going on right now.”
Investors remain on edge as the IMF’s latest report on global growth helped renew fears about a slowing world economy just as the U.S. and the EU appeared to open another front in their trade war, all while negotiations with China remain unsettled. Federal Reserve minutes, American inflation data and a European Central Bank decision later this week could add to anxieties or help provide calm.
Elsewhere, Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, received more than $100 billion in orders for its debut bond sale, kick-starting an offering with yields likely to fall in line with or below Saudi Arabia’s sovereign debt. Israel’s stocks climbed with the shekel as the country went to the polls. Emerging-market currencies and shares advanced. Crude held near a five-month high.
Here are some notable events coming up:
* U.S. banks begin reporting first-quarter earnings, led by JPMorgan and Wells Fargo.
* The annual Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF begin in Washington Tuesday.
* The Federal Reserve release minutes of its March meeting Wednesday.
* The ECB will probably leave its key interest rates unchanged Wednesday. Investors will be looking for further details on TLTRO.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.6 percent to 2,878.24 as of 4 p.m. New York time, the most since March 22.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 0.5 percent.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.4 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index rose 0.4 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
* The euro was steady at $1.1263.
* The Japanese yen increased 0.3 percent to 111.12 per dollar.
* The British pound fell 0.1 percent to $1.3054.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index advanced 0.2 percent.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries sank two basis points to 2.49 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to -0.01 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield dipped two basis points to 1.099 percent.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index fell 0.2 percent.
* West Texas crude fell 0.5 percent to $64.05 a barrel.
* Gold gained 0.5 percent to $1,308.10 an ounce.
–With assistance from Javier Blas, Eddie van der Walt and Vildana Hajric.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

 
Logic will get you from A to B.  Imagination will take you everywhere.
                                                         -Albert Einstein, 1879-1955

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
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