August 02, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday!
On August 2, 2019, the Queen of Italy, Margherita Savoy, ordered the first pizza delivery.

An asteroid bigger than the Empire State Building is passing by Earth next week. You (probably) shouldn’t worry about it.

I just finished reading the book Happiness  last night by Aminatta Forna and I recommend it if you’re looking for something to read this summer.  It is a novel (fiction) that takes place in London and the main characters are a biologist who studies urban foxes and a psychiatrist from Ghana whose career was spent in war zones and conflict areas counselling those in the field and afterwards, those with PTSD.  They meet when he is in London for a convention of psychiatrists.  His definition of happiness which is expressed toward the end of the novel is intriguing and a profound conclusion to the novel.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Palestinian men perform fire breathing on the beach as an entertainment for children during the summer vacation in Gaza City.
CREDIT: MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Fireworks illuminate the sky in Basel, Switzerland, on the eve of Switzerland’s birthday.
CREDIT: GEORGIOS KEFALAS/EPA-EFE/REX

A helicopter from the Swedish icebreaker Oden lands on an ice floe to pick up crew members involved in the retrieval of a scientific acoustic recorder containing valuable data on Arctic marine movements in the Canadian Arctic.
CREDIT: INNER SPACE CENTER VIA REUTERS ATTENTION

This satellite image provided by NASA shows winds carrying individual plumes of smoke in Russia, centre right, towards the southwest, mixing with a swirling storm system. Forest fires have engulfed nearly 30,000 square kilometres (11,580 square miles) of territory in Siberia and the Russian Far East – an area the size of Belgium.

Market Closes for August 2nd, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Kristine Owram
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks tumbled Friday to close out their worst week of the year, as strong gains in pot stocks weren’t enough to offset declines in most other sectors. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.6% to 16,271.66 amid an escalation in the U.S.-China trade war, bringing its weekly decline to 1.6%. Technology stocks led the decline as Open Text Corp. fell 8.8%, the most since 2015, after Veritas Investment Research Co. downgraded the stock to sell from buy.
The health-care sector jumped 4.8%, the most in two months, as pot stocks rose. Aphria Inc. surged 40%, the most since December, on strong earnings that beat expectations on virtually all metrics. Cronos Group Inc. gained 8.5% after announcing it will enter the U.S. CBD market with a $300 million acquisition.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Restaurant Brands International Inc. rose 5.9% to a record high. Second-quarter profit beat estimates on strong global sales at Burger King
* SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. lost 5.9% to the lowest since 2004. The engineering firm cut its quarterly dividend to two cents from 10 cents after reporting a wider-than-expected loss
* Spin Master Corp. fell 4.2% after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans for additional Chinese tariffs that could hit toy makers
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $12.60 discount to WTI
* Gold rose 1.7% to $1,445.60 an ounce, the biggest gain in six weeks
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was little changed at C$1.3215 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell two basis points to 1.38%
US
By Randall Jensen and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks suffered the worst week of 2019 as investors fretted over Donald Trump’s escalation of his trade war with China. Treasuries rose, while the yen strengthened. The S&P 500 fell for a fifth straight day, its steepest weekly loss since December’s sell-off. Trade angst recaptured center stage after Trump said Thursday he’d slap more tariffs on Chinese goods, adding to worries that the spat could derail the global economy. China vowed it would counter the threat. The president ratcheted up his rhetoric late Friday, saying he could boost the levies to a “much higher number.” Stocks were already under pressure after investors groused that the first Federal Reserve rate cut in a decade didn’t come with assurances of further easing.Ten-year Treasury yields held near the lowest level since 2016 after the July U.S. jobs report did little to alter views on the economy and path for future rate policy. The dollar was lower against most major currencies. West Texas crude clawed back some of its 8% slide on Thursday, while copper fell to a two-year low in London.
“The Fed is largely easing policy because of the possibility that trade tensions will impact the global economy and the feedback into the U.S. economy would be negative, and that calculus appears to be correct,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance. “Yesterday’s announcement of an escalation of trade tensions is the key risk to markets now that the Fed is easing monetary policy and it bears watching how far the administration will push tariffs that ultimately impact the consumer, which up to this point has been very resilient.” The jobs report Friday added another piece to an already large puzzle that includes the Fed, earnings and trade. While China has yet to offer details on what measures it would take, the sudden escalation of the spat has put markets in a spin in an already action-packed week of corporate earnings and central-bank meetings.
The developments come after the Federal Reserve chief cast doubt about a long cycle of interest-rate cuts, provoking the president’s ire and disappointing many investors. Elsewhere, most European government bonds rose alongside the common currency. The pound gained after a by-election loss reduced U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s House of Commons majority to a single seat.
Here are the main moves in markets (all sizes and scopes
are on a closing basis):

Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index dipped 0.7% as of 4 p.m. New York time, hitting the lowest in five weeks and capping the worst weekly loss since December 2018.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 0.6% to the lowest in more than six weeks.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1.6%, hitting the lowest in five weeks.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 2.5%, the lowest in more than six weeks.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.
* The Japanese yen gained 0.7% to 106.47 per dollar, the strongest in 16 months.
* The euro rose 0.2% to 1.1112 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell four basis points to 1.85%.
* The yield on two-year Treasuries decreased two basis points to 1.72%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield dipped five basis points to -0.495%, hitting the lowest on record.
Commodities
* Gold dropped 0.2% at $1,441.85 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 2.5% to $55.29 a barrel.
–With assistance from Elena Popina, Laura Curtis and Luke Kawa.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Science is what you know; philosophy is what you don’t know.
                                           -Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970

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