August 11, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
August 11, 1928, Virginia Woolf Diary: 

At Charleston we had tea from bright blue cups under the pink light of the giant hollyhock.  We are all a little drugged with the country; a little bucolic I thought. It was lovely enough – made me envious of its country peace; the trees all standing securely – why did my eye catch the trees? The look of things has a great power over me.  Even now, I have to watch the rooks beating up against the wind, which is high, and still I say to myself instinctively “What’s the phrase for that?”  and try to make more and more vivid the roughness of the air current and the tremor of the rook’s wings slicing as if the air were full of ridges and ripples and roughnesses.  They rise and sink, up and down, as if the exercise rubbed and braced them like swimmers in rough water.  But what a little I can get down into my pen of what is so vivid to my eyes, and not only to my eyes; also to some nervous fibre, or fanlike membrane in my species. 

Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday.

On Aug. 11, 1965, deadly rioting and looting broke out in the predominantly black Watts section of Los Angeles. 
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On this day in 1992, the world’s largest shopping center, the $650-million, 4.2-million-square-foot Mall of America, opens in Bloomington, Minn.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The Red Arrows perform a colourful display above yachts at Falmouth in Cornwall. CREDIT: APEX

The Clipper 2017-18 Round the World Yacht Race fleet has departed Portsmouth Harbour, headed to Albert Dock, Liverpool, for the eleventh edition of the biennial challenge, the only race of its kind which trains non-professional sailors to complete a circumnavigation. The Race Start is 20 August. CREDIT: ONEDITION

Dancers from ‘Tutu’, perform at St Margaret’s Lock in their spoof Swan Lake costumes in Edinburgh, Scotland. Their Edinburgh Festival Fringe show is an invitation to those who love dance to experience familiar favourites, in an opportunity to explore some of the most famous and significant works in the repertoire from Swan Lake to Pina Bausch in a fun way with a twist. CREDIT: ROBERTO RICCIUTI/GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for August 11th, 2017 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
58
The number of consecutive sessions the S&P 500 had gone without a move of 1% or more in either direction, the second longest such streak of the current bull market.
Canada
By Natalie Wong
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell, continuing a week-long slump, as escalating military tensions between the U.S. and North Korea continue to spook markets around the world.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 0.3 percent to 15,028.19 at around 9:46 a.m. Telecom stocks fell 0.7 percent, slumping for the third-day, as Telus Corp. lost 2.2 percent after its second quarter adjusted basic earnings per share missed the lowest analyst estimate. 
     Materials slipped 0.7 percent, breaking a two-day rally.
Intertape Polymer Group Inc. fell 6.7 percent after full-year adjusted Ebitda forecast trailed estimates, Pretium Resources Inc. lost 2.4 percent and B2Gold Corp. decreased 1.5 percent.
     In other moves:
* CES Energy Solutions Corp. jumped as much as 7.4 percent, the most intraday since January, after falling for five-days straight. It reported revenue for the second quarter that beat the highest analyst estimate yesterday after market close
* Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust dropped 8 percent, the most since February, after it was downgraded to underperform at the Bank of Montreal. It became the worst performing stock on the index
* Enerplus Corp. rose 5.7 percent becoming the top-performing stock in the index after it forecast production for the full year of 84,000 to 86,000 boe/d
US
By Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose and volatility eased as markets showed signs of stabilizing after days of verbal sparring between the U.S. and North Korea. The dollar fell after American inflation remained subdued.
     The S&P 500 Index rebounded from its worst day since May as a measure of calm returned to global equity markets roiled by tensions on the Korean peninsula. The latest reading on core prices showed a below-forecast rise, making it tougher for the central bank to stay on its tightening course. That pushed the greenback lower and boosted gold.
     The calm on Friday wasn’t enough to undo the damage done by the geopolitical confrontation that rattled markets all week.
The S&P 500 had its worst period since March, European shares fell the most since Trump’s election and the credit had its deepest slump in a year. While the CBOE Volatility Index slipped Friday, it’s still higher by almost 50 percent in the week, the most since January 2016. Gold stood at a two-month high and the yen briefly pushed through 109 per dollar.
     The week of angst continued a sobering pattern for financial markets in August, when volatility tends to rise even as many investors head for vacation. The latest saber rattling has some firms preparing contingencies for the weekend — just in case, especially with little in the way of economic data or central bank action to focus on in the coming week.
     Some big investors have been warning now would be a good time to reduce levels of risk in portfolios. Ray Dalio, who leads the world’s largest hedge fund at Bridgewater Associates, recommends investors consider placing 5 percent to 10 percent of their assets in gold as a hedge against current political and economic risks.
          Here are the main moves in markets:
                             Stocks
* The S&P 500 added 0.1 percent to 2,441.42 as of 4 p.m. in New York, paring its weekly slide to 1.4 percent, the most since March.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 1 percent, for five-day retreat of 2.7 percent, the most since Nov. 4.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index was down 0.1 percent Friday and 1.5 percent in the week.
* The CBOE Volatility Index lost 2.7 percent, after yesterday’s 44 percent rise.
                           Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4 percent, sparked by the latest CPI report.
* The euro jumped 0.5 percent to $1.1833.
* The British pound rose 0.3 percent to $1.3015.
* The Japanese yen increased 0.2 percent to 109.016 per dollar, the strongest in more than 15 weeks.
                             Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 2.19 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield dipped three basis points to 0.382 percent, the lowest in almost six weeks.
                          Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5 percent to settle Friday at $48.82 a barrel. The contract fell 1.5 percent in the week.
* Gold futures rose 0.5 percent to $1,296.80 an ounce, the strongest in two months. 
                              Asia
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.8 percent and was headed for a 1.2 percent slide this week.
* Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 1.2 percent at the close in Sydney. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong tumbled 2 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite Index was down 1.6 percent.
* South Korea’s Kospi index lost 1.7 percent and volatility on the Kospi 200 surged as much as 27 percent. Japanese markets are
closed for the Mountain Day public holiday.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

To love is to understand and feel that the other person is different.

Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

Carolann 

Procrastination is the thief of time.

       -Edward Young, 1683-1765 

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
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