August 22, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On August 22, 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt became the first United States chief executive to ride in an automobile in public. 
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1942: Battle of Stalingrad

Back Story
New York Times, August 22, 2018

Dorothy Parker, who was born on this day in 1893, once suggested her own epitaph: “Excuse my dust.”

It was a classic, coolly unsentimental remark by Ms. Parker, the acerbic wit whose writing was a mainstay in Vanity Fair and The New Yorker for years. But her other post-mortem plans came as a surprise to many.

The sharp-witted Dorothy Parker.
Associated Press

When she died on June 7, 1967, the bulk of her estate was left to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr., whom she had never met. Ms. Parker, a champion of humanitarian and left-wing causes, admired the civil rights leader’s work, but even Dr. King was surprised.

Her will also stipulated that, if anything were to happen to Dr. King, control of her estate should pass to the N.A.A.C.P., which it did after his assassination the next year. That decision appalled some of her friends.

“She must have been drunk when she did it,” her executor, Lillian Hellman, said in an interview with The Times Book Review in 1973.

Ms. Parker was cremated, and her ashes were finally placed at the organization’s headquarters in Baltimore in 1988, after spending the previous 15 years in her lawyer’s filing cabinet because they were never claimed. 

Joumana Khatib wrote today’s Back Story.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Irina Kolesnikova and Denis Rodkin perform Swan Lake, with the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre, at the London Coliseum in London. Credit: Ian West/PA

A photogenic fox is seen ready for his close up with Giedrius Stakaukas in his back garden in London. Credit: Dalia Kvedaraite/Caters News Agency
Market Closes for August 22^nd, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Carolina Wilson
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks gained on Wednesday, boosted by energy and health-care firms as West Texas crude rose above $67 a barrel and U.S. equities slipped after a four-day advance.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.3 percent to 16,347.34 in Toronto. Health-care companies gained most, rising 1.8 percent, as Bausch Health Co. extended its 4-day advance after a Mizuho analyst boosted her PT to match a Street-high on continued margin improvement. Energy companies also rose, gaining 1.2 percent after a U.S. government report showed the biggest decline in crude inventories since late July.
     In other moves:
                            Stocks
* Canopy Growth Corp. closed up 3.6 percent, now rallying for three-straight days, as pot stocks boast a strong week
* Raging River Exploration Inc. climbed as much as 7.1 percent and Baytex Energy Corp. rose as much as 6.4 percent after shareholders approved a merger between the two
* MEG Energy Corp. gained 7 percent following crude’s gains
* Element Fleet Management Corp. fell as much as 4.6 percent, the most intraday since July 24, after Amerit Fleet Solutions closed a minority investment from Element Fleet and a majority investment from Ridgemont Equity Partners
                            Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $27.00 discount to WTI
* Aeco natural gas traded at a $1.94 discount to Henry Hub
* Gold gained 0.2 percent to $1,202.50 an ounce
                            FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was little changed to C$1.2999 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield was barely changed at 2.26 percent
US
By Randall Jensen
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slipped, halting a four-day advance as weakness in industrials outweighed gains in technology shares. The dollar slumped amid ongoing political turmoil and Federal Reserve minutes that signaled no change to the pace of tightening.
     The S&P 500 Index dropped less than a point, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq indexes added almost 0.4 percent. Small caps also rose. Oil prices climbed above $67 a barrel, driving energy producers higher, after a U.S. government report showed the biggest decline in crude inventories since late July.
     The dollar weakened a fifth day and the 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.82 percent after the Fed signaled in meeting minutes a readiness to hike again if the economy stays on track.
     “The Fed demonstrated that it’s sticking to its game plan by raising rates once a quarter at least for the next two quarters. Nothing in the FOMC minutes indicates any change to those plans,” said Bob Baur, chief global economist at Principal Global Investors.
     While all eyes focused on the legal drama in Washington, U.S. stocks remained near records amid double-digit corporate profit growth. At the same time, benchmark Treasury yields have held below 3 percent even as the Fed remains on track to raise rates amid a strengthening economy. Add to the mix trade wars and turmoil in emerging markets. Some clarity could come from a meeting of central bankers on Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
     Elsewhere, the Mexican peso gained after a White House official suggested a Nafta deal was near. Emerging-market shares rallied, while the Japanese yen edged lower.
     Here are some key events coming up this week:
* Companies announcing earnings include Alibaba, Qantas and China’s Bank of Communications.
* Central bankers gather at the Kansas City Fed’s annual Jackson Hole symposium, where Powell speaks Friday.
* The Fed releases the minutes from latest FOMC meeting on Wednesday.
* Euro area preliminary PMI data for August is due on Thursday.
     These are the main moves in markets:
                            Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell less than 0.1 percent to 2,861.82 of 4 p.m. New York time.
* Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.4 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was little changed.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index increased 0.7 percent to the highest in more than a week.
                            Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased 0.2 percent, its fifth straight decline, the longest streak in six months.
* The euro rose 0.3 percent to $1.1606, its sixth straight advance.
* The Japanese yen fell 0.2 percent at 110.50 per dollar.
* The Mexican peso increased 1 percent to 18.87753 per dollar, the strongest in more than a week.
                            Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 2.82 percent.
* The yield on two-year Treasuries was little changed at 2.59 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined less than one basis point to 0.33 percent.
                            Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index advanced 0.2 percent to the highest in more than a week.
* West Texas Intermediate crude reached the highest in more than two weeks on its fifth straight advance.
* Gold was steady at $1,195.71 an ounce, the highest in more than a week.
–With assistance from Sarah Ponczek and Todd White.

Have a great night. 

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Wisdom lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two.
                                                             -Octavio Paz, 1914-1998

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