August 23, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday!

August 23, 1943 – Trans Canada Airlines starts transatlantic service; now Air Canada. Montréal, Québec. Go to article>>  
August 23, 1977 ~ first human powered flight.
1912- Gene Kelly, dancer, b.
1927-Sacco and Vanzetti executed.

Hop to it! A new study shows higher levels of physical activity at any intensity lowers the risk of early death in middle-age and older people.

Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.  – AJ Willingham, CNN.

‘The Wizard of Oz’
The film is celebrating its 80th anniversary on Saturday, but it very nearly ended up a disastrous footnote in the history of Hollywood.

The production was a mess, cycling through directors and screenwriters. Victor Fleming, the sole credited director, replaced Richard Thorpe less than two weeks into filming, and shot most of the scenes before sprinting off to save “Gone With the Wind.” King Vidor finished the job.

They’re off to see the wizard.  MGM Studios, via Getty Images

Cast members were injured during filming: Margaret Hamilton, who played the terrifying Wicked Witch of the West, was severely burned; and Buddy Ebsen, cast as the Tin Man, was poisoned by his makeup. (Jack Haley took over the role.)

The movie went over budget and wasn’t a hit on its initial release. Today, it endures as a cultural icon, thanks in large part to TV syndication from the late 1950s; Judy Garland’s signature performance of “Over the Rainbow”; and those coveted ruby slippers. –New York Times.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Ground keeper and 1992 Knighthood winner Terry Whitear, 75, carries out some last minute mowing of the bowling green before this year’s competition begins, at Southampton Old Bowling Green, the oldest bowling green in the world.
CREDIT: SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

A mischievous young fox pulls on the tail feathers of a golden eagle in the mountains of Avila, Spain.
CREDIT: GUILLERMO ARTEAGA/ SWNS.COM

 A boatman rests on his boat in the flooded Ganges river under the Shastri bridge at Daraganj Ghat, in Allahabad.
CREDIT: SANJAY KANOJIA/AFP/GETTY IMAGE
Market Closes for August 23rd , 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Mark Carney laid out a radical proposal for an overhaul of the global financial system that would eventually replace the dollar as a reserve currency with a Libra-like virtual one. -Bloomberg.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell Friday as U.S.-China trade tensions heated up. The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 1.3% after Donald Trump said he’ll respond to new Chinese tariffs and blasted Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The index fell 0.7% this week. Materials were the only shares to advance Friday as gold hit a fresh six-year high. Separately, Cargojet Inc. soared to a record high after Amazon.com Inc. signed a deal that would allow the online retailer to buy a stake in the Canadian cargo carrier. Additionally, Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s top integrated oil producer, is joining the push against Enbridge Inc.’s attempt to change how producers purchase space for their crude on a key pipeline system.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Yamana Gold jumped 10%, a leader among materials shares
* Birchcliff Energy dropped 9.4%
* MEG Energy lost 8%
* Village Farms retreated 7%
* Canada Goose fell 6.7%
* BRP Inc. fell 6.1%
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $13 discount to WTI
* Spot gold gained 1.9% to $1,527 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was flat around C$1.3297 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.170
US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slumped and Treasuries rallied as the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies deepened. The dollar fell. After the close of regular trading, President Donald Trump confirmed he’ll boost tariffs on Chinese imports in response to Beijing’s retaliation. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust was little changed following the announcement. Prospects for heightened tension rattled markets Friday, overshadowing speculation that the Federal Reserve will cut rates after Chairman Jerome Powell’s remarks. Energy and tech stocks led losses in the S&P 500 Index, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 623 points as only Boeing Co. advanced among its 30 blue-chip companies. The Nasdaq-100 Index plunged more than 3% The bond market’s U.S. recession indicator — the spread between 2- and 10-year rates — flirted with inversion again. Elsewhere in the yield curve, three-month and 10-year Treasuries hit the most-inverted level since March 2007.
The greenback dropped as Trump said that “we have a very strong dollar and a very weak Fed,” fueling chatter about a possible move to weaken the currency. Oil sank, while gold surged. The trade war escalation rekindled concerns about the outlook for global growth that’s already looking shaky. The announcement comes as leaders from the Group of Seven nations prepare to meet in France and central bankers gather in Jackson Hole. Trump tweeted that the Fed chairman could be a greater “enemy” of the U.S. than Chinese President Xi Jinping. “As usual, the Fed did NOTHING!,” he wrote. “Trade trumps Jackson Hole,” said John Augustine, chief investment officer at Huntington Private Bank. “Fed Chair Powell was fairly dovish today and markets were reacting to that positively, but when the trade tweet came out, that obviously changed market dynamics.”
The plunge in the S&P 500 Friday destroyed what was shaping up to be a rally for the week. There have bee just four other weeks during this bull market when a Friday rout erased a gain of more than 1% through Thursday, data compiled by SentimenTrader show. This had never occurred from 1950 to mid-1980s, and since then, it’s happened just 15 other times before this week. “It’s all about trade, it’s all about global growth,” Scott Wren, senior global equity strategist for Wells Fargo Investment Institute, told Bloomberg TV. “Right now, people aren’t all that worried about the Fed. They’re a lot more worried about global growth and these trade negotiations.”
Here are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 sank 2.6% to 2,847.11.
* The CBOE Volatility Index surged 19%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.8%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.4%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index sank 0.35%.
* The euro jumped 0.6% to $1.1144.
* The Japanese yen appreciated 1% to 105.39 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell eight basis points to 1.54%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield decreased three basis points to -0.68%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 0.481%.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index decreased 0.5%.
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.1% to $54.17 a barrel.
* Gold surged 1.9% to $1,537.60 an ounce.

–With assistance from Caroline Hyde, Joanna Ossinger, Adam
Haigh, Todd White, Yakob Peterseil, Namitha Jagadeesh, Susanne
Barton, Sarah Ponczek, Dave Liedtka, Elena Popina, Alexandra
Harris, Liz Capo McCormick and Nancy Moran.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision.
                                                  -Edith Wharton, 1862-1937
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