August 12, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1851 – sewing machine invented.
On Aug. 12, 1981, IBM introduced its first personal computer, the model 5150.  Go to article »

Night of the Shooting Stars: 
Tonight is the peak of the Perseid Meteor shower – don’t forget to gaze at the night sky.
Peak: Aug 12–13 in Victoria
            Up to 150 meteors per hour
Made of tiny space debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle, the Perseids are named after the constellation Perseus. This is because the direction, or radiant, from which the shower seems to come in the sky lies in the same direction as Perseus. The Perseids are widely sought after by astronomers and stargazers because most years at its peak, one can see 60 to 100 meteors in an hour from a dark place.
How to See the Perseids
You don’t need any special equipment or a lot of skills to view a meteor shower. Even though all you really need is a clear sky, lots of patience, and our handy Interactive Meteor Shower Sky Map with a visibility conditions meter to see a meteor shower, the following tips can help maximize your shooting star viewing experience.

• Find a secluded viewing spot, away from the city lights. Once at the venue, your eyes may take 15 to 20 minutes to get used to the dark.
• Dress for the weather, and make sure you are comfortable, especially if you plan to stay out long. Bring a blanket or a comfortable chair with you—meteor watching can be a waiting game.
• Once you have found your viewing spot, lie down on the ground and look up in the direction of the radiant. Use our Interactive Meteor Shower Sky Map or the table above to find the current direction of the radiant in the sky. –from TimeandDate.com

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The shoreline of Penmon on the island of Anglesey is lit up by glowing neon blue plankton.
CREDIT: ROB AMSBURY/SOLENT NEWS

Staff a wildlife park have expressed their delight after hatching a pair of snowy owl chicks. One of the chicks is being nursed by zookeepers at Beale Wildlife Park and Gardens, who removed it from its parents, to ease the burden of raising a hungry, demanding twosome.
CREDIT: BEALE WILDLIFE PARK/ SWNS
 

This Saturday, Aug 10, 2019, photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says the launch of a short -range ballistic missile from the east coast of North Korea. North Korea on Saturday extended a recent streak of weapons displays by firing what appeared to be two short- range ballistic missiles into the sea, according to South Korea’s military.
CREDIT:KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY /KOREA NEWS SERVICE VIA AP
Market Closes for August 12th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
The market value of negative-yielding debt in the world recently rose to $15.6 trillion, or about 28% of the global total, per BAML. 

On this day in 1920, Charles Ponzi was arrested for financial fraud in Boston after taking in more than $6 million from thousands of investors. He repaid each $1,000 invested with $1,500 just 90 days later—but only by taking more money from newcomers or, as a judge later put it, “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” Such pyramid arrangements were forever afterwards known as “Ponzi schemes.”
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell with U.S. equities as political unrest in Hong Kong and Argentina fueled a rally in global bonds, continuing to raise the specter of a looming recession.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.6% to 16,237.77 on Monday, with all 11 sectors declining, led by consumer discretionary and financial stocks.
Meanwhile, Monday saw two high profile deals. Canadian billionaire Jim Pattison, offered to take lumber producer Canfor Corp. private for about C$982 million ($742 million). And Air Canada boosted its takeover offer for Transat A.T. by 38%, or C$200 million ($151 million), securing support from the tour operator’s largest shareholder in the process.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Canfor rallied +73% on Pattison’s offer. Other lumber stocks also gained.
* MAG Silver rose 3.7% after reporting second quarter earnings and gold/silver rallied
* Sleep Country climbed 3.3% after CIBC upgraded the stock, citing an earlier-than-expected return to same-store sales growth
* CannTrust plunged 28% as Health Canada found more breaches of pot rules
* Stars Group plunged 19% after cutting its adjusted annual EPS guidance to below analysts’ average estimate
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $10.75 discount to WTI
* Gold spot price rose ~1% at $1,511.72 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.1% to C$1.3240 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.199%
US
By Sarah Ponczek and Olivia Rinaldi
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell more than 1% as political unrest in Hong Kong and Argentina fueled a rally in global bonds that continues to raise the specter of a looming recession. Gold surged.
The S&P 500 Index slumped for a second day and now sits almost 5% below its all-time high as the rally in Treasuries sparked by last week’s escalating trade tensions picked up steam. Risk assets came under pressure after authorities closed Hong Kong’s airport and a Chinese official said the city was at a “critical juncture.” Argentina’s peso and equities sank after voters turned on the president in a primary vote. Corn futures plunged the most since 2013 as more of the grain was planted than analysts had estimated.
The weakness in stocks fed demand for haven assets, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield lower by 10 basis points and boosting the yen for a fourth day. China’s central bank fixing continued to signal its determination to manage an orderly depreciation.
Italian bonds led gains in European debt after Fitch affirmed the country’s credit rating on Friday. The pound strengthened following three sessions of declines.
Monday’s sell-off in risk assets provided another reminder of the fragile mood across markets as it extended the tumultuous start to August. Gains for the safest government bonds show lingering caution by traders who’ve increased bets for central bank easing in recent weeks, as the U.S. and China escalate their trade war and a slew of global data point to slowing growth.
“It’s a day with very little news in terms of economic calendar and earnings and a week that’s going to have a lot of earnings that are very important. But it doesn’t look like there’s true sort of resiliency in the sell right now,” said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade. “The flight to bonds is really the more concerning element only because it flattens the yield curve.”
Here are some key events coming up:
* Companies releasing results include China’s Tencent, JD.com and Alibaba, Cisco, Brazilian utility Eletrobras, the U.K.’s Prudential, Australia’s Telstra, giant retailer Walmart, Nvidia, Swisscom and the Danish brewer Carlsberg.
* The U.S. consumer price index, out Tuesday, probably picked up to a 1.7% annual pace in July, according to economist estimates. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, are seen rising 2.1%.
* Wednesday brings data on China retail sales, industrial production and the jobless rate.
* Thursday sees the release of U.S. jobless claims, industrial production and retail sales data.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 1.2% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dipped 0.2%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased less than 0.05%.
* Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.4%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose less than 0.1%.
* The euro climbed 0.1% to $1.1211.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.3% to 105.33 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell 10 basis points to 1.65%.
* The two-year rate lost six basis points to 1.5857%.
* The spread of Italy’s 10-year bonds over Germany’s declined five basis points to 2.33 percentage points.
* Germany’s 10-year yield decreased two basis points to -0.59%.
Commodities
* Gold futures rose 1% to $1,524 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude added 0.5% to $54.75 a barrel.
* Corn futures for December delivery fell by the limit of 25 cents to $3.9275 a bushel, down 6%.
–With assistance from Luke Kawa, Adam Haigh and Samuel Potter.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.
                                   -Oprah Winfrey, b. 1954

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