Category: Events

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On this day in…
1469 – Niccolo Macchiavelli was born.
1936 – Baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio made his major league debut with the New York Yankees.
1937 – Margaret Mitchell won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel “Gone with the Wind.”
1948 – The Supreme Court ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks and other minorities were legally unenforceable.

And on May 3^rd, 1810, Lord Byron , on board the frigate Salsett, wrote to Henry Drury the following immortal words.  In the legend to which he refers, Leander swam the Hellespont every night to be with the priestess Hero; one night he drowned, whereupon Hero threw herself into the sea:

Now we are in the Dardanelles waiting for a wind to proceed to Constantinople.  This morning I swam from Sestos to Abydos, the immediate distance is not above a mile but the current renders it hazardous, so much so, that I doubt whether Leander’s conjugal powers must not have been exhausted in his passage to Paradise.  I attempted it a week ago and failed owing to the north wind and the wonderful rapidity of the tide, though I have been from my childhood a strong swimmer, but this morning being calmer I succeeded and crossed the “broad Hellespont” in an hour and ten minutes.
   The Troad is a fine field for conjecture and snipe-shooting, and a good sportsman and an ingenious scholar may exercise their feet and faculties to great advantage upon the spot, or if they prefer riding, lose their way (as I did) in a cursed quagmire of the Scamander [river].  The only vestige of Troy, or her destroyers, are the barrows supposed to contain the carcasses of Achilles, Antilochus, Ajax, etc., but Mt. Ida is still in high feather, though the shepherds are nowadays not much like Ganymede…
   I see not much difference between ourselves and the Turks, save that we have foreskins and they none, and they have long dresses and we short, and that we talk much and they little.  In England the vices in fashion are whoring and drinking, in Turkey, sodomy and smoking; we prefer a girl and a bottle, they a pipe and pathic [catamite]…I like the Greeks, who are plausible rascals, with all the Turkish vices without their courage.  However some are brave and all are beautiful, very much resembling the busts of Alcibiades, the women not quite so handsome.
   At Malta I fell in love with a married woman and challenged an aide-de-camp of General Oakes (a rude fellow who grinned at something, I never rightly knew what), but he explained and apologized, and the lady embarked for Cadiz, and so I escaped murder and adultery. –from The Book of Days.

Be careful with your words.  Once they are said, they can be only forgiven, not forgotten.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Britain’s Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, looks at lambs in a field with schoolchildren on Wednesday during a visit to the Farms for City Children charity in Gloucester, England. The charity gives young people from inner cities the chance to spend a week on a working farm. Richard Pohle/AP

A mother goose swims with her four gosling on the Main River in Frankfurt, Germany, on Wednesday. One gosling fell into the river with no chance to get out again. The mother jumped into the river to help followed by her other three goslings. In the end, the father decided to join as well. Michael Probst/AP

An honor guard marches during Constitution Day celebrations in the Old Town in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday. Constitution Day commemorates the adoption of the Polish constitution in 1791, which was Europe’s first and the world’s second written constitution. Kacper Pempel/Reuters
Market Closes for May 3^rd, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20957.90	+8.01   +0.04%
S&P 500	2388.13	-3.04   -0.13%
NASDAQ	6072.551	-22.815   -0.37%
TSX	15543.41	-76.51
		-0.49%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19445.70	+135.18
		+0.70%
HANG SENG	24696.13	+81.00
		+0.33%
SENSEX	29894.80	-26.38
		-0.09%
FTSE 100*	7234.53	-15.52
		-0.21%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.545		1.513
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.146		2.135
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3198		2.2892
U.S. 30 Year Bond		2.9689		2.9760

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.72838	0.72924
US $	1.37292	1.37130
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.49430	0.66921
US $	1.08841	0.91877

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1250.30	1255.45
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	47.82	47.66

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints Nellie Tayloe Ross as director of the U.S. Mint. She is the first woman to hold the position. She serves five terms, retiring in 1953.
NUMBER OF THE DAY
$100 million
The charge General Motors is taking to write off its operations in troubled Venezuela, where authorities last month unexpectedly seized its production plant on a court order.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed lower with all sectors in the red as a rout in copper prices weighed on materials producers.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 77 points or 0.5 percent to 15,543.14. Materials stocks fell 1.3 percent as the price of copper tumbled as much as 4.5 percent, its biggest drop since 2015, leading other base metals lower. Teck Resources Ltd. was the biggest drag on the benchmark, falling 5.8 percent.
     Energy stocks slipped 0.2 percent along with the price of oil after data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed crude stockpiles declined less than forecast.
     In other moves:
* Tahoe Resources Inc. jumped 15 percent after the company’s first-quarter earnings beat the highest analyst estimate
* Home Capital Group Inc. fell 12 percent. Canadian banks and financial firms are showing little interest in buying the company
* Kinross Gold Corp. gained 11 percent, the most in almost a year, as earnings per share and revenue beat estimates
* Cott Corp. fell 5 percent. The beverage maker said it expects2017 revenue of about $3.7 billion, below the average estimate.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks ended little changed Wednesday after Federal Reserve officials held benchmark interest rates steady and continued to assert strength in the economy. Apple shares pared earlier losses after the company reported iPhone sales that missed analysts’ estimates.
     The S&P 500 lost 0.1 percent at 4 p.m. to 2,388 in New York. The benchmark rose 0.1% on Tuesday as investors assessed corporate earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed at 20,957 on Wednesday.
* Financial (+0.6%) and energy (+0.3%) stocks were the biggest gainers on day; financial shares reversed earlier drop of as much as 0.5%
* Real estate, materials and telecom shares down at least 0.6%
* Bonds decline, with 10-year U.S. Treasury yield up 4 bps
* Volume in S&P 500 16% above 30-day average
** Advanced Micro Devices trading 150% above 30-day average for 7% of S&P 500 volume
** Akamai Technologies, Delphi Automotive, Verisk Analytics and Molson Coors and Automatic Data Processing all trading with volume at least 5x 30-day average
* VIX up to 10.6
** Volatility movers: Kimco Realty, Sempra Energy, Host Hotels & Resorts, Hologic Inc. and Ball Corp have the highest put/call volume ratios in the S&P 500
* POLITICS:
** President Donald Trump hosted Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on Wednesday as he weighed how to approach the Middle East
** Russian President Vladimir Putin continued his diplomatic push for a plan to establish safe zones in Syria backed by peacekeepers as he began talks with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Wednesday
* ECONOMY:
** Expectations for an interest rate hike in June jumped to more than 95%, according Fed funds futures trading, as Fed officials said economic growth wouldn’t derail the committee’s plan to raise rates twice more this year
** Apple sold 50.8 million iPhones in the quarter ended April 1, down from 51.2 million units in the same period a year earlier and less than the 51.4 million predicted in a Bloomberg survey of analysts
** About two-thirds into the U.S. earnings season, 74% of companies beat EPS estimates, versus 69% a year ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In absolute terms, EPS are up 14% year over year, set to be the strongest quarterly profit growth since 2011
** Market’s reaction to the robust earnings season has been muted so far, and asymmetric to the downside, JPMorgan equity strategists Emmanuel Cau and Mislav Matejka wrote in a note
** After-market Wednesday: Pioneer Natural Resources Co (PXD), Lincoln National Corp (LNC), CenturyLink Inc (CTL), Concho Resources Inc (CXO), Prudential Financial Inc (PRU), CF Industries Holdings Inc (CF), Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT), Qorvo Inc (QRVO), Facebook Inc (FB), Murphy Oil Corp (MUR), Albemarle Corp (ALB), MetLife Inc (MET), Williams Cos Inc/The (WMB), Kraft Heinz Co/The (KHC), American International Group Inc (AIG), Transocean Ltd (RIG), Alliant Energy Corp (LNT), American Water Works Co Inc (AWK), Level 3 Communications Inc (LVLT)
** Pre-market Thursday: Ball Corp (BLL), Fluor Corp (FLR), Scripps Networks Interactive Inc (SNI), Global Payments Inc (GPN), PPL Corp (PPL), Dominion Resources Inc/VA (D), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (REGN), Willis Towers Watson PLC (WLTW), Eversource Energy (ES), Quanta Services Inc (PWR), Gartner Inc (IT), Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK), AmerisourceBergen Corp (ABC), Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY), Viacom Inc (VIAB), Church & Dwight Co Inc (CHD), Incyte Corp (INCY), Zoetis Inc (ZTS), Apache Corp (APA), Kellogg Co (K)
* First Word Street Wraps:
** Sprint Falls as Future Hinges on T-Mobile M&A: Street Wrap
** New Etsy CEO Won’t Turn Things Around Any Time Soon: Street Wrap
** First Solar Soars on Series 6 View, Suniva Petition: Street Wrap

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Guard your tongue, for it is highly dangerous;
unguarded words can cause terrible distress.
A single bad word can destroy a vast quantity of good.
A wound caused by fire will eventually heal;
but  a wound caused by the tongue leaves a scar that never heals.
Valluvar

 

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Consider the postage stamp, my son.  It secures success through its ability to stick to one thing until it gets there.
                                                                                                        -Josh Billings, 1818-1885

 

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
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this day in…
1519, Leonardo da Vinci died.
1611, the King James bible was published.
1903, Benjamin Spock, pediatrician was born.
1932, Pearl S. Buck won the Pulitzer Prize.
1939, New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig removes himself from the lineup, ending his streak of consecutive games played at 2,130.
1945, the Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin and the Allies announced the surrender of Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria.
Go to article »

The Poem

1988

By Lachlan Mackinnon

In the last full year of the second Reagan
administration, all seemed setting fair
for freedom.  Noble dreams were coming true.

Zeks were trekking homeward from the camps
in their first fours and fives to find what faces
waited in villages now parts of cities.

From Petersburg to Vladivostok, troubled
small people were enjoying making trouble
for the brute, the berk and the bureaucrat.

They would soon learn about the insurance scams,
the speed with which poems give way to porn,
the greed that keeps the market cycle turning.

but this was spring in Europe, cleaning house
with windows open to the song of birds,
I’m grateful to have lived at such a time.

and sorry truth exacts that I add this:
eighty-eight was also the last full year
of the red threat that kept our bankers honest.

From “Doves” (Faber).

Yes, there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
There’s still time to change the road you’re on
And it makes me wonder…
          -Led Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Australian Academy of Tai Chi and Qigong hosts the first Tai Chi martial arts class over Australia’s largest city on Tuesday. BridgeClimb Sydney/Reuters

A piano is planted with flowers on a floating barge, which is planted with fruit trees, with the Manhattan skyline in the background, as part of the Swale project called a collaborative floating forest, in the East River in Brooklyn, on Tuesday. Carlo Allegri/Reuters

A woman under an umbrella is pictured behind rain drops as she walks along a meadow in Frankfurt, Germany, on a rainy Tuesday. Michael Probst/AP
Market Closes for May 2^nd, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20949.89	+36.43   +0.17%
S&P 500	2390.17	+1.84   +0.08%
NASDAQ	6095.367	+3.766   +0.06%
TSX	15622.32	+46.69
		+0.30%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19445.70	+135.18
		+0.70%
HANG SENG	24696.13	+81.00
		+0.33%
SENSEX	29921.18	+2.78
		+0.01%
FTSE 100*	7250.05	+46.11
		+0.64%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.513		1.574
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.135		2.187
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.2892		2.3216
U.S. 30 Year Bond		2.9760		3.0054

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.72924	0.73110
US $	1.37130	1.36780
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.49825	0.66745
US $	1.09257	0.91527

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1255.45	1266.45
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	47.66	48.84

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
10.11
The CBOE Volatility Index slumped 6.6% Monday to 10.11, its lowest level since February 2007.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed higher as strength in health care, industrial and energy companies offset a decline in the financial sector in the midst of a busy week for earnings.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 44 points or 0.3 percent to 15,619.65. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. jumped 6.7 percent, boosting the health care index to a 2.4 percent gain, after the CEO proposed a name change and said he wants to cut the company’s debt in half.
     The energy index gained 0.4 percent despite a 2.5 percent drop in the price of crude following Pembina Pipeline Corp.’s $4.3-billion acquisition of Veresen Inc., announced Monday. Financial stocks slipped 0.2 percent to their lowest level of the year.
     In other moves:
* Home Capital Group Inc. rose 11 percent, retracing much of Monday’s 13 percent decline, even as as Canadian banks show little interest in buying the troubled company
* Colliers International Group Inc. added 6.8 percent after the commercial real estate services provider reported a first- quarter profit
* Finning International Inc. rose 4.4 percent on an upgrade from Canaccord Genuity
* WestJet Airlines Ltd. lost 3.2 percent after its first-quarter earnings missed the lowest analyst estimate.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks edged higher Tuesday with technology companies rallying for the fourth day as investors assessed corporate earnings.
     The S&P 500 added 0.1 percent to 2,391.17 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark gained 0.2 percent on Monday, holding onto gains even after U.S. President Donald Trump said he is actively considering breaking up big Wall Street banks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.2 percent to 20,949.89.
* Small-cap stocks drop 0.6% for third loss in four sessions
* Industrial (+0.5%) and health-care shares (+0.3%) lead market as seven of 11 sectors advance
* Consumer staples and energy stocks end at least 0.5% lower
* S&P 500 trading with volume 40% above average at this time
** Volume movers: Cummins, AMD, Coach, Affiliated Managers and Mosaic all trading with at least 5x 30-day average volume
* VIX nudges up to 10.6
** “As VIX falls further, equity prices get boosted and financial conditions loosen, which will likely keep the Fed on track for hikes despite the hard data from the economy showing a soft trend,” writes Ben Emons of Intellectus Partners
** Volatility movers: Macerich, Stryker, Motorola Solutions and Clorox have highest put/call volume ratio in S&P 500
* POLITICS:
** President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday to force a government shutdown later this year after congressional Democrats and Republicans struck a budget deal that largely neglected his priorities.
** Buzz on Wall Street is that, financial considerations aside, the administration’s ambitious, pro-growth agenda could make ultra-long bonds a reality in the Treasury market
* ECONOMY:
** Wards Total Vehicle sales 16.81m vs 17.10m estimate
** Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. posted deeper U.S. sales declines than analysts projected; average new-car price in the U.S. rose about 2 percent over the past year, according to data from TrueCar Inc.’s ALG
* EARNINGS:
** After-hours, Apple sees 3Q revenue below analyst estimates while boosting dividend
** So far in the earnings season, about 60% of S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly results, with profits up 16% year over year, data compiled by Bloomberg show; about 76% of companies have reported better-than-expected earnings, versus 69% in the same period a year ago
** After-market Tuesday: Newfield Exploration Co (NFX), Western Union Co/The (WU), Assurant Inc (AIZ), ONEOK Inc (OKE), FMC Corp (FMC), Akamai Technologies Inc (AKAM), Verisk Analytics Inc (VRSK), DaVita Inc (DVA), Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD), Envision Healthcare Corp (EVHC), Mondelez International Inc (MDLZ), Devon Energy Corp (DVN), Hanesbrands Inc (HBI), Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC), Allstate Corp/The (ALL), Apple Inc (AAPL)
** Pre-market Wednesday: Time Warner Inc (TWX), Automatic Data Processing Inc (ADP), Exelon Corp (EXC), NiSource Inc (NI), Reynolds American Inc (RAI), Garmin Ltd (GRMN), Clorox Co/The (CLX), Humana Inc (HUM), Harris Corp (HRS), Estee Lauder Cos Inc/The (EL), Yum! Brands Inc (YUM), Southern Co/The (SO), Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE), Molson Coors Brewing Co (TAP), Delphi Automotive PLC (DLPH)
* First Word Street Wraps:
** Breaking Up Big Banks Has Low – But Not Zero – Odds: Street Wrap
** Automakers Lack Compelling Models to Lure Buyers: Street Wrap
** AMD Bears Pounce on Disappointing Gross Margin View: Street Wrap

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Being human,
I feel profoundly the necessity of putting an end to violence,
and I will make sure to put an end to it in myself.
Krishnamurti

As ever,

 

Carolann

Don’t knock the weather.  If it didn’t change once in a while, nine out of ten
people couldn’t start a conversation.
                                        -Kin Hubbard, 1868-1930

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
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

MAY 1^ST –Beltane – the ancient Celtic union of goddess and god, water and light.  All fires are extinguished at sunset on Beltane Eve, the midpoint between the spring equinox and the summer solstice.  In blackness of night, bonfires are struck from standing stone or drilled from sacred oak.  At the height of spring Beltane begins, celebrating all that is powerful and sensual in nature.   At dawn the sun dances, dancers grasp ribbons, weaving, the ribbons intertwine;  the Lord and Lady of Misrule preside over all.  The ancient Celts saw joy and life as one with suffering, death, and rebirth.

We were there last night when the dark drew down:
we set the bonfires leaping.
Then we vanished in the heather and we couldn’t be found until
the dawn came creeping. –Celtic rock group Annwn

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A man in fancy dress, representing ‘new growth,’ participates in May Day Beltane festivities on Monday at Chalice Well, Glastonbury, England. The ancient Celtic festival of Beltane heralds the first signs of spring. Ben Birchall/PA/AP

Leicester Morrismen dance during May Day celebrations at Bradgate Park in Newtown Linford, in Leicestershire, England, on Monday.Darren Staples/Reuters
Market Closes for May 1^st, 2017

MarketIndex	Close	Change
DowJones	20913.46	-27.05  -0.13%
S&P 500	2388.33	+4.13  +0.17%
NASDAQ	6091.602	+43.995  +0.73%
TSX	15577.50	-8.63
		-0.06%

International Markets

MarketIndex	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19310.52	+113.78
		+0.59%
HANGSENG	24615.13	-83.35
		-0.34%
SENSEX	29918.40	-111.34
		-0.37%
FTSE 100*	7203.94	-33.23
		-0.46%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND.10 Year Bond		1.574		1.543
CND.30 Year Bond		2.187		2.158
U.S.   10 Year Bond		2.3216		2.2838
U.S.30 Year Bond		3.0054		2.9547

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.73110	0.73252
US$	1.36780	1.36515
Euro Rate1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.49081	0.67078
US$	1.08993	0.91749

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London GoldFix	1266.45	1266.45
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	48.84	49.33

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
8
The number of consecutive quarters during which Amazon has reported a profit, the longest such streak since 2012
Canada
By Kristine Owram
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed with a slight decline as lower crude and gold prices weighed on commodity producers, offsetting a big deal in the oil patch.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 11 points or 0.1 percent to 15,575.63. Materials shares lost 1.4 percent as the price of gold fell, with Eldorado Gold Corp. and Guyana Goldfields Inc. both down more than 6 percent. The energy index was flat as a 1.2 percent drop in the price of crude counteracted a takeover of Veresen Inc. by Pembina Pipeline Corp. Veresen’s shares jumped 19 percent while Pembina lost 3.3 percent.
The financials index was flat amid ongoing worries about Home Capital Group Inc.’s future. Home Capital fell another 13 percent while competitor Equitable Group Inc. jumped 30 percent after securing a loan to boost its liquidity.
In other moves:
* Martinrea International Inc. gained 5.4 percent after the auto supplier reported first-quarter results that beat estimates
* Natural gas player Keyera Corp. rose 4.9 percent on speculation that it could be a target following the Pembina- Veresen deal
* Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. added 4.5 percent.
The company said it cut its debt by $220 million and is on track to repaying $5 billion of debt by early 2018
US
By Oliver Renick
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks held onto early gains, even amid headlines from President Trump on North Korea and the banking industry.
The S&P 500 added 0.2 percent to 2,388.33 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark ended down 0.2 percent on Friday as losses in credit-card providers offset gains in technology stocks, trimming its weekly advance to 1.5 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 27 points to 20,913.46.
* Tech stocks (+0.9%) and real estate (+0.6%) lead market higher
** Lam Research, Applied Materials up at least 2.7%
* Financial shares end higher after dropping on a Bloomberg News interview in which President Trump said he is actively considering breaking up big banks
** Volume in XLF ETF surged to almost 3x 30-day average between 12:30 and 1pm
** Earlier, Vice President Mike Pence says replacing the Dodd- Frank banking overhaul law is a top priority
* Utility, telecom and consumer staples shares down at least 0.5%; bond yields higher with 10-year up 4bps
* Volume in S&P 500 7% below the 30-day average; real estate and tech shares only groups trading on higher volume
** Volume movers: O’Reilly Automotive, Newell Brands, Affiliated Management, Harris Synchrony Financial all traded on volume at least 2x 30-day average
* VIX down to 10.1
** Volatility movers: LKQ Corp, JB Hunt Transport, Kellogg, Eastman Chemical and Scana Corp have highest put/call volume ratios in S&P 500
* Most equity markets in Europe and developing economies such as China, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey were closed on Monday for holidays
* POLITICS:
** U.S. House and Senate negotiators reached a bipartisan agreement Sunday night on a $1.1 trillion bill that would keep the government open through the end of September
** “The avoidance of a U.S. government shutdown helped markets shift from a neutral to more positive tone overnight in Asia,” said Jasper Lawler, senior market analyst at London Capital Group
* ECONOMY:
** Fed’s Cut in Bond Holdings May Be Messier Than Yellen Hopes
** U.S. March Personal Income rose 0.2%; est. Up 0.3%
** U.S. consumer spending stalled in March while inflation slowed to below the Federal Reserve’s target
* EARNINGS:
** After-market Monday: Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc (ARE), Noble Energy Inc (NBL), Vornado Realty Trust (VNO), Flowserve Corp (FLS), FMC Corp (FMC)
** Pre-market Tuesday: Fidelity National Information Services Inc (FIS), Coach Inc (COH), HCA Holdings Inc (HCA), Martin Marietta Materials Inc (MLM), Becton Dickinson and Co (BDX), PG&E Corp (PCG), Aetna Inc (AET), AMETEK Inc (AME), HCP Inc (HCP), Emerson Electric Co (EMR), NRG Energy Inc (NRG), Pinnacle West Capital Corp (PNW), Ecolab Inc (ECL), Eaton Corp PLC (ETN), ConocoPhillips (COP), Merck & Co Inc (MRK), Pfizer Inc (PFE), CVS Health Corp (CVS), Xylem Inc/NY (XYL), Charter Communications Inc (CHTR), WEC Energy Group Inc (WEC), Altria Group Inc (MO), Mosaic Co/The (MOS), Archer-Daniels-Midland Co (ADM), Cummins Inc (CMI), Mastercard Inc (MA)
* Street Wraps:
** Fox May Play Defense to Thwart Sinclair Tribune Bid: Street Wrap
** Hess Midstream’s Stable Cash Flows Please Analysts: Street Wrap
** Schneider National ‘Secret Sauce’ Gets Analyst Love: Street Wrap

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

What is then worth having?
Mukti, freedom.
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

Carolann

Thought is the wind, knowledge the sail, and mankind the vessel.
                                                    -Augustus Hare, 1834-1903

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
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1789 – The crew of the British ship Bounty mutineed, setting Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific.
1937 – Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was born near the desert town of Tikrit.
1945 – Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed.
1996 – President Bill Clinton gave 4 1/2 hours of videotaped testimony as a defense witness in the criminal trial of his former Whitewater business partners.
2001 – A Russian rocket lifted off from Central Asia bearing the first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito.
2003 – Apple Computer Inc. launched the iTunes store.

Read more books.  Ask more questions.  Listen more closely.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Workers and wine growers light heaters early in the morning, to protect vineyards from frost damage outside Chablis, France, on Friday.Christian Hartmann/Reuters

Sergei Bobkov paints Siberian cedar nut oil onto a life-size sculpture of Pallas’s Cat, also known in Russia as Manul Cat, which he made from Siberian cedar wood shavings using more than 700 thousand pieces over four years, in the village of Kozhany, southwest of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia on Friday. Ilya Naymushin/Reuters
Market Closes for April 28^th, 2017

MarketIndex	Close	Change
DowJones	20940.51	-40.82  -0.19%
S&P 500	2384.19	-4.58  -0.19%
NASDAQ	6047.605	-1.332  -0.02%
TSX	15591.65	+85.19
		+0.55%

International Markets

MarketIndex	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19196.74	-55.13
		-0.29%
HANGSENG	24615.13	-83.35
		-0.34%
SENSEX	29918.40	-111.34
		-0.37%
FTSE 100*	7203.94	-33.23
		-0.46%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND.10 Year Bond		1.543		1.576
CND.30 Year Bond		2.158		2.181
U.S.   10 Year Bond		2.2838		2.2946
U.S.30 Year Bond		2.9547		2.9642

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.73252	0.73376
US$	1.36515	1.36285
Euro Rate1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.48747	0.67228
US$	1.08960	0.91777

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London GoldFix	1266.45	1262.80
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	49.33	48.97

Market Commentary:
On this day in 2004, Comcast drops its $48.7 billion unsolicited bid for Walt Disney.

Number of the Day
$1.4 billion
Insiders at publicly traded commercial banks with a market value greater than $1 billion, but excluding the largest national banks, sold about $1.4 billion in their company stock between the election and the end of March, up 65% from the 10-plus months in 2016 before the election, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed higher on strength in resource companies and banks, capping a 10th straight monthly gain for the benchmark.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 80 points or 0.5 percent to 15,586.13. Materials stocks led the way with a 1.8 percent rise as Detour Gold Corp. and Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. both posted double-digit gains following strong earnings.
     The energy index rose 0.4 percent along with the price of oil, while the financial index added 0.3 percent after nearing a 2017 low on Thursday amid fallout from a run on Home Capital Group Inc.’s deposits.
     In other moves:
* Cameco Corp. lost 8.3 percent. The miner reported a wider- than-expected first-quarter loss amid uranium market weakness
* Bombardier Inc. fell 4.1 percent. Boeing Co. accused the aerospace company of selling its C Series jets at unfairly low prices
* Thomson Reuters Corp. rose 4 percent on better-than-expected results due to higher subscription revenues and cost cuts
* Jean Coutu Group PJC Inc. fell 4.2 percent after being downgraded to sell by Desjardins
US
By Lu Wang
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks slipped, with the S&P 500 Index trimming its weekly advance, as losses in credit-card providers offset gains in technology companies that were sparked following better-than-expected results from Amazon.com Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc.
     The S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent at 4 p.m. in New York while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost a similar amount, led by Intel Corp. Small-cap shares saw the worst of selling as the Russell 2000 Index sank 1.2 percent.
     Despite the losses, all three benchmarks have advanced at least 1.5 percent this week, hitting or approaching record highs, as the first round of the French election eased risk that the European Union might unravel and the Trump administration released its guidelines for tax cuts.
* Since earnings season began, 81 percent of S&P 500 companies have exceeded profit estimates and 65 percent beat on sales, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
* Synchrony Financial tumbled the most in the S&P 500 today, sinking 16 percent, after the issuer of private-label credit cards set aside more money for soured loans in the first quarter than analysts expected.
* Capital One Financial Corp. and Discover Financial Services also dropped after a surge in soured credit-card loans hurt profit at the two lenders.
* Alphabet gained 3.7 percent to a record after beating analysts’ sales projections in the first quarter, ending a four- year streak of missing Wall Street estimates after the holidays.
* Amazon advanced 0.7 percent, also to a record, after it showed no signs of slowing an unbroken 20-year streak of double-digit revenue growth.
* The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 1.7 percent, paced by Intel, which lost 3.4 percent after revenue at its data- center business fell short of estimates.
* Starbucks Corp. slid 2 percent after reporting slower sales growth than analysts projected.
* The U.S. economy expanded at an annualized rate of 0.7 percent in the first quarter, the slowest pace in three years, as weak auto sales and lower home-heating bills dragged down consumer spending.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

We have at the present moment everybody claiming the right of conscience
without going through any discipline whatsoever
that there is so much untruth being delivered to a bewildered world.
Truth is not to be found by anybody who has not got a sense of humility.
If you would swim on the bosom of this ocean of Truth
you reduce yourself to a zero.
Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,

Carolann

 

Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction
being written today.     –Herman Wouk, b. 1915

 

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
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

 

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Number of the Day:
2
Foreign drivers stopped in Iceland by police in the course of a week for “driving under the influence of the aurora [borealis].”  The beauty of the northern lights made them drive erratically. –Iceland magazine.

On this day in…
1947 – “Babe Ruth Day” was held at Yankee Stadium to honor the ailing baseball star.

1972 – Apollo 16 returned to Earth after a manned voyage to the moon.

1982 – John W. Hinckley Jr. went on trial in Washington, D.C., in the shooting of President Ronald Reagan. (He was acquitted by reason of insanity.)

1992 – The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed in Belgrade by the Republic of Serbia and its lone ally, Montenegro.

2006 – Construction began on a 1,776-foot building on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.

2011 – President Barack Obama produced a detailed Hawaii birth certificate in an extraordinary attempt to bury the issue of where he was born.

And on April 27^th, 1859, Edward FitzGerald wrote to E.B. Cowell; Cowell, an oriental scholar, had introduced him to the original of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:
I sent you poor old Omar…I hardly know why I print any of these things, which nobody buys; and I scarce now see the few I give them to.  But when one has done one’s best, and is sure that that best is better than so many will take pains to do, though far from the best that might be done, one likes to make an end of the matter by print.  I suppose very few people have ever taken such pains in translation as I have:  though certainly not to be literal.  But at all cost, a thing must live:  with a transfusion of one’s own life if one can’t retain the originals better.  Better a live sparrow than a stuffed eagle.

Knowledge is learning something every day.  Wisdom is letting go of something every day.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A model, painted by the artist Avi Ram from Airbrush Hero, poses for a photo at the Tower of David in Jerusalem’s Old City on Thursday as part of a calendar project. Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

An installation representing Gibraltar is displayed during the presentation of the art exhibition ‘La Terra Inquieta’ (Restless Earth) at the Triennale Palace of Arts in Milan, Italy, on Thursday. Through the works of more than 60 artists from all over the world, ‘Restless Earth’ addresses the problem of migration and the crisis of refugees. The exhibition will run until Aug. 20. Luca Bruno/AP
Market Closes for April 27^th, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20981.33	+6.24   +0.03%
S&P 500	2388.77	+1.32   +0.06%
NASDAQ	6048.938	+23.712   +0.39%
TSX	15506.47	-143.08
		-0.91%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19251.87	-37.56
		-0.19%
HANG SENG	24698.48	+120.05
		+0.49%
SENSEX	30029.74	-103.61
		-0.34%
FTSE 100*	7237.17	-51.55
		-0.71%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.576		1.479
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.181		2.165
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.2946		2.3035
U.S. 30 Year Bond		2.9642		2.9602

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.73376	0.73416
US $	1.36285	1.36210
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.48186	0.67483
US $	1.08733	0.91969

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1262.80	1261.85
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	48.97	49.62

Market Commentary:
A Chinese money market fund set up as a repository for leftover cash from online spending has emerged as the world’s biggest, with $165.6B under management. Alibaba’s (NYSE:BABA) four-year-old Yu’e Bao fund – which means leftover treasure – has overtaken JPMorgan’s U.S. Government Money Market Fund (MUTF:MJGXX), which has $150B. Yu’e Bao pays 3.93%.

On this day in 1992, Russia and 12 other former Soviet republics won entry into the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks suffered a triple-digit loss as financial shares neared their lowest level of the year and commodity prices dragged down mining and energy companies.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 143 points or 0.9 percent to 15,506.47. Financial shares retreated 1.7 percent, briefly hitting their lowest level of the year in intraday trading, as fallout from Home Capital Group Inc.’s run on deposits weighed on the sector. Home Capital rallied 34 percent after securing a high-interest loan and hiring bankers to explore a possible sale.
     Materials shares fell 1.3 percent and energy stocks lost 1.2 percent as commodity prices declined.
     In other moves:
* New Gold Inc. lost 8.7 percent. The miner said its Rainy River tailings permit has been pushed to January 2018 from the third quarter
* Lundin Mining Corp. fell 6.8 percent after first-quarter revenue missed estimates
* Toromont Industries Ltd. jumped 6.7 percent. First-quarter revenue beat the highest estimate
* Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. rose 2.3 percent after raising its full-year profit forecast.
US
By Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks and the dollar were little changed after an up-and-down session amid a whirlwind of policy news as the Trump administration seeks to burnish its record ahead of its 100th day in office.
     The S&P 500 Index eked out a gain to close near all-time highs amid a flurry of headlines on everything from Nafta to tax reform, the budget and health care. Energy producers tumbled after crude slid to $49 a barrel on concern over a supply glut, while earnings lifted technology indexes to fresh records. Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc. climbed after hours as results topped estimates, while Intel Corp. slipped.
     The Mexican peso pared gains and Canada’s dollar was little changed amid mixed signals from the White House on the Nafta regional trade agreement. The euro weakened after the European Central Bank signaled its commitment to stimulus even as the region’s economy firms. Gold was little changed and emerging- market assets slipped.
     Politics remained in focus this week as the Trump administration unveiled a hastily assembled plan to cut taxes on Wednesday and gave mixed signals on its intentions for the North American trade agreement. The machinations left markets unsure of the policy direction, with lots of discussion and few concrete actions on which to trade. Congress is also considering a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown, while House Republicans attempt to revive legislation to repeal Obamacare.
     The U.S. political turmoil overshadowed the ECB’s latest policy commentary. President Mario Draghi showed growing enthusiasm about the state of the euro-area economy, while cautioning that inflation pressures remain too weak to contemplate paring back stimulus.
     Read our Markets Live blog here.
     Here are some key upcoming events investors are watching:
* U.S. GDP is due Friday. It’s projected to show the economy expanded at a 1 percent annualized rate in the first quarter, the weakest pace in a year.
* Earnings will contribute to trading on U.S. markets Friday, with a flood of postmarket releases setting the tone.
     Here are the main moves in markets:
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent to 2,388.86 at 4 p.m. in New York.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index jumped 0.5 percent to a record, while the Nasdaq Composite ended at an all-time high.
* In late trading, Alphabet rose 3.7 percent and Amazon added 3.6 percent as of 4:28 p.m. Intel lost 3.6 percent.
* PayPal jumped and Under Armour Inc. surged amid earnings announcements. Energy shares lost 1.1 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.2 percent after climbing for six straight sessions to the highest level since August 2015.
* Deutsche Bank dropped 3.7 percent after debt and equity trading missed estimated in the first quarter.
* Tokyo stocks fell for the first time in six days and the yen slipped. The Bank of Japan kept its policies unchanged while lowering its inflation forecast, underscoring that any exit from its monetary easing remains far away.
     Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index added less than 0.1 percent, after increasing 0.3 percent on Wednesday.
* The euro saw choppy trading during the ECB press conference, rising to 1.0933 from its interim low as Draghi’s more upbeat tone appeared to align with trader expectations that had built over the course of the week. It traded lower by 0.3 percent to $1.0874.
* The Mexican peso rose 0.7 percent, paring a gain of 1.4 percent as the White House continued to give mixed signals on Nafta. The peso slid 1.7 percent on Wednesday.
* The Canadian dollar was little changed, erasing earlier gains.
     Bonds
* Treasuries advanced, with the yield curve steepening, as a risk-off sentiment took hold across markets after posturing by lawmakers in Washington.
* The 10-year Treasury yield slipped to 2.29 percent. The rate fell three basis points to 2.30 percent on Wednesday, after climbing for five straight sessions.
* German benchmark yields slid five basis points to 0.296 percent after the ECB’s signal that inflation remains tepid.
* Swedish government bonds rallied after the central bank unexpectedly extended its bond-buying program, prompting investors to bet that policy makers will delay a rate increase.
     Commodities
* Oil dropped to a one-month low as Libya reopened its biggest field and U.S. crude production climbed a 10th week. Futures slid 1.3 percent to settle at $48.97 a barrel in New York.
* Gold futures advanced 0.1 percent to $1,265.50 an ounce in New York. Contracts remain below the pre-election level of $1,305.06 an ounce. Prices cratered more than 13 percent through Dec. 22. They ground back to $1,289.76 this month after Trump’s airstrikes on Syria and Afghanistan.
* Iron ore’s sell-off may be set to worsen. The world’s largest mining company says that global supplies are poised to increase in the coming years as low-cost producers add more tons to the market, delivering its warning just hours after a similar red flag from the World Bank.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

When you abandon every desire that rises up within you,
and when you become content with things as they are, then you experience inner peace.
When your mind is untroubled by misfortune, when you desire no pleasures,
when your emotions are tranquil, and when you are free from fear and anger,
then you experience inner calm.  When you are free from all attachments,
when you  are indifferent to success and failure,
then you experience inner serenity.
When you can withdraw your senses from pleasures of the senses,
just as a tortoise withdraws its limbs,
then you experience inner wisdom.
The Bhagavad Gita

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.
                                                                                 -George Eliot, 1819-1880

 

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
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On April 26, 1986, the world’s worst nuclear accident occurred at the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union. An explosion and fire in the No. 4 reactor sent radioactivity into the atmosphere; at least 31 Soviets died immediately.
Go to article »
1607 – An expedition of English colonists went ashore at Cape Henry, Va., to establish the first permanent English settlement in the Western Hemisphere. (They later settled at Jamestown.)
1865 – John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, was surrounded and killed by federal troops near Bowling Green, Va.
1937 – Planes from Nazi Germany raided the Basque town of Guernica, Spain during the Spanish Civil War, causing the massacre that inspired what is perhaps Picasso’s most famous painting.
1945 – Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, the head of France’s Vichy government during World War II, was arrested.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A bolt of lightning strikes over harbor cranes in Cape Town, South Africa, on Wednesday. Mike Hutchings/Reuters

Bats are seen in the Old City in Caesarea, Israel, on Wednesday. Amir Cohen/Reuters

Seiichiro Nishimoto, CEO of Shelter Co., poses wearing a gas mask at a model room for the company’s nuclear shelters in the basement of his house in Osaka, Japan, on Wednesday. Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
Birthday: Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher, b. 1889
I don’t know why we are here, but I’m pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves. –Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Market Closes for April 26^th, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20975.09	-21.03   -0.10%
S&P 500	2387.45	-1.16   -0.05%
NASDAQ	6025.227	-0.265   —
TSX	15649.54	-95.65
		-0.61%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19289.43	+210.10
		+1.10%
HANG SENG	24578.43	+122.49
		+0.50%
SENSEX	30133.35	+190.11
		+0.63%
FTSE 100*	7288.72	+13.08
		+0.18%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.479		1.519
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.165		2.188
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3035		2.3304
U.S. 30 Year Bond		2.9602		2.9863

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.73416	0.73683
US $	1.36210	1.35716
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.48539	0.67322
US $	1.09052	0.91700

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1261.85	1267.80
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	49.62	49.21

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1973, the Chicago Board Options Exchange opens for trading, with call options available on 16 U.S. common stocks.
Number of the Day
328 million
Twitter’s average monthly active users for the first quarter, a 6% increase on a year-over-year basis and up from 319 million in the previous quarter.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks accelerated losses in the last hour of trading, propelling the benchmark index to its biggest decline in nearly two weeks as financials and energy lost ground.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 96 points or 0.6 percent to close at 15,649.54. Financial stocks were the biggest drag, dropping 1.3 percent as bond yields fell following the unveiling of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tax plan. Home Capital Group Inc. plunged 65 percent after securing a costly new loan.
     The energy index fell 1.1 percent as West Texas Intermediate crude prices dropped 0.6 percent to $49.28 a barrel.
     In other moves:
* Westshore Terminals Investment Corp. plunged 12 percent after British Columbia said it will seek to ban shipments of thermal coal through its ports in retaliation for the Trump administration’s softwood lumber tariffs
* Equitable Group Inc. lost 32 percent, Street Capital Group Inc. fell 9.8 percent and Genworth MI Canada fell 8.2 percent as home lender and insurer stocks fell in reaction to the Home Capital deal
* Restaurant Brands International Inc. fell 2.9 percent after Burger King’s same-store sales fell in the first quarter
* Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. gained 8.9 percent. The financial services firm expects earnings for the quarter ended March 31 to be significantly higher than previous quarters.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks ended a volatile day little changed, with equity benchmarks near record levels, as investors sifted through details on President Donald Trump’s tax plan, as well as corporate earnings.
* S&P 500 down less than 0.1% to 2,387 at 4 p.m.
* Dow Industrials down 0.1% to 20,975.09
* Telecom (+1%), health care (+0.5%), consumer discretionary (+0.5%) biggest gainers
* Real estate (-0.9%), consumer staples (-0.8%) biggest laggards as 10-year yield drops 3 basis points
* Financial and industrial shares little changed
* Volume in S&P 500 16% above 30-day average at this time
* Volume movers: Seagate (STX), CR Bard (BCR) and Juniper Networks (JNPR) all traded with volume at least 3x 30- day average
* VIX up to 10.9
* Volatility movers: Global Payments (GPN), Advanced Auto Parts (AAP), Ameriprise Financial (AMP) and Snap-On Inc. (SNA) have highest put/call volume ratio in the S&P 500
* Stock market valuations have become divorced from reality, David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital wrote to clients on Tuesday, warning of a bubble
* S&P 500 trades near highest valuation since 2002, based on a forward P/E basis
* POLITICS:
* The White House made its opening bid for what officials called the “biggest tax cut” in U.S. history — with cuts that would benefit businesses, the middle class and certain high-earning individuals — but left unanswered questions about whether the plan would be paid for, or how
* Plan calls for slashing federal income-tax rate to 15% for corporations; imposes one-time tax on $2.6 trillion in overseas earnings
* Individual plan proposes condensing seven-tier income-tax structure into just three
* ECONOMY:
* MBA mortgage applications index rose 2.7% in week ended April 21 after falling 1.8% in prior week
* EARNINGS (S&P 500):
* After-market Wednesday: Varian Medical Systems Inc (VAR), Extra Space Storage Inc (EXR), AvalonBay Communities Inc (AVB), Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc (FBHS), Amgen Inc (AMGN), F5 Networks Inc (FFIV), XL Group Ltd (XL), Tractor Supply Co (TSCO), Cincinnati Financial Corp (CINF), Fiserv Inc (FISV), Equifax Inc (EFX), Equinix Inc (EQIX), Public Storage (PSA), Kimco Realty Corp (KIM), TechnipFMC PLC (FTI), Xilinx Inc (XLNX), Raymond James Financial Inc (RJF) ,Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc (MAA), PayPal Holdings Inc (PYPL), Citrix Systems Inc (CTXS), Unum Group (UNM), O’Reilly Automotive Inc (ORLY)
* Pre-market Thursday: Simon Property Group Inc (SPG), Allegion PLC (ALLE), Air Products & Chemicals Inc (APD), L3 Technologies Inc (LLL), Marsh & McLennan Cos Inc (MMC), Iron Mountain Inc (IRM), Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC), National Oilwell Varco Inc (NOV), EQT Corp (EQT), LKQ Corp (LKQ), International Paper Co (IP), CME Group Inc (CME), Helmerich & Payne Inc (HP), Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc (ALXN), Praxair Inc (PX), American Airlines Group Inc (AAL), BorgWarner Inc (BWA), Xcel Energy Inc (XEL), Teradata Corp (TDC), AbbVie Inc (ABBV), American Electric Power Co Inc (AEP), Boston Scientific Corp (BSX), Southwest Airlines Co (LUV), Dow Chemical Co/The (DOW), Johnson Controls International plc (JCI), Invesco Ltd (IVZ), Under Armour Inc (UAA), CBRE Group Inc (CBG), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY), Comcast Corp (CMCSA), American Tower Corp (AMT), Ford Motor Co (F), Union Pacific Corp (UNP), Raytheon Co (RTN), Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc (ZBH), Parker-Hannifin Corp (PH), Celgene Corp (CELG), SCANA Corp (SCG), United Parcel Service Inc (UPS)
* Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.5% by close
* Index is poised for its best weekly gain of the year.
 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

Hold the reins of your mind, as you would hold the reins of a restive horse.
Svetasvatara Upanishad

As ever,

 

Carolann

Beware of missing chances; otherwise it may be altogether too late some day.
                                                                     –Franz Liszt, 1811-1886

 

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
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,
Tangents:
On this day in…
1859 – Ground was broken for the Suez Canal.
1874 – Radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi was born in Bologna, Italy.
1901 – New York becomes the first state to require license plates on automobiles.
1915 – Battle of Gallipoli.
1945 – U.S. and Soviet forces linked up on the Elbe River, in central Europe, a meeting that dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany.
1945 – Delegates from some 50 countries met in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.
1959 – The St. Lawrence Seaway opened to shipping.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Bluebells are lit by the rising sun in Micheldever Wood in southern England, as a blast of Arctic weather brought snow to northern parts on Tuesday. Victoria Jones/PA/AP

A dog sits in the shade of a tree in front of a rapeseed field near Harpenden, Britain, on Tuesday. Peter Cziborra/Reuters
Market Closes for April 25^th, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20996.12	+232.23   +1.12%
S&P 500	2388.61	+14.46   +0.61%
NASDAQ	6025.492	+41.673   +0.70%
TSX	15745.19	+32.73
		+0.21%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	19079.33	+203.45
		+1.08%
HANG SENG	24455.94	+316.46
		+1.31%
SENSEX	29943.24	+287.40
		+0.97%
FTSE 100*	7275.64	+10.96
		+0.15%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.519		1.483
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.188		2.150
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.3304		2.2730
U.S. 30 Year Bond		2.9863		2.9288

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.73683	0.74053
US $	1.35716	1.35039
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.48350	0.67408
US $	1.09310	0.91483

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1267.80	1269.40
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	49.21	48.88

Market Commentary:
Numbers of the Day
15%
President Donald Trump has ordered White House aides to draft a tax plan that slashes the corporate tax rate to 15%, even if that means a loss of revenue, the Journal reported Monday.
1,000
The estimated number of people working on Apple’s self-driving cars project—dubbed Project Titan—according to people familiar with the matter. The plan calls for putting senior engineers—some with NASA experience—in its cars for road tests.
Canada
By Kristine Owram 
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed slightly higher as gains in financials and energy offset a plunge in shares of Barrick Gold Corp.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 33 points or 0.2 percent to 15,745.19, its highest close in two months. Global stocks rallied for a second day on relief over the French election and the promise of U.S. tax reform. The MSCI World index of developed countries’ stock markets closed at an all-time high for the second day in a row.
     TSX energy shares rose 1.2 percent as the price of oil gained 0.8 percent, while financials added 0.6 percent. The materials index lost 2.5 percent as Barrick Gold Corp. tumbled 11 percent after missing first-quarter estimates and reporting higher mine costs.
     In other moves:
* Forestry stocks jumped after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 20 percent tariffs on softwood lumber imported from Canada — less than some analysts had expected. West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. rose 8.8 percent and Canfor Corp. gained 7.9 percent
* Grocery retailer Metro Inc. added 6.9 percent as second- quarter earnings beat estimates despite food deflation
* Teck Resources Ltd. lost 2.5 percent. The miner missed first- quarter profit estimates amid challenges at a mine in Alaska
* Canadian National Railway Co. fell 3 percent after a key measure of efficiency dropped in the first quarter.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks climbed, following a global equity rally on Monday, as investors assessed corporate earnings and awaited a tax plan from the White House scheduled for Wednesday.
* S&P 500 up 0.6% to 2,388.61 at 4pm
* Index on Monday advanced most since March 1 after the French election result sparked an appetite for riskier assets
* First back-to-back gains this month; 1.7% gain is biggest two-day advance since Nov. 8
* Dow up 1.1% to 20,996.12
* Russell 2000 Index climbed for sixth day in past seven
* Materials shares up 1.6% as Bloomberg Commodity Index snaps six-day losing streak
* Freeport-McMoRan up 7.1% and DuPont adds 3.6%
* Financial stocks up 0.8% as Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley add at least 1.6%
* Utility and telecom shares little changed or down; 10-year yield about 6 bps higher
* Volume in S&P 500 16% above 30-day average at this time; about 7.3 billion shares traded hands on all U.S. exchanges, compared with 6.9 billion one-year average
* Volume movers: Express Scripts (ESRX), Ryder System (R), CR Bard (BCR), Laboratory Corp (LH), all traded at volume at least 3x 30-day average
* VIX swings to loss, down to 10.8
* Volatility movers: Vornado Realty (VNO), Dover (DOV), Dominion Resources (D) have highest put/call volume ratio in S&P 500
* U.S. equities remain a “relative safe-haven” in a low return world, though reflation risks remain, HSBC analysts led by Ben Laidler wrote in a report
* POLITICS:
* Republicans voiced relief Tuesday that President Donald Trump appears to be retreating from a government shutdown fight by relenting on his demand that Congress immediately start funding a border wall
* Investors are awaiting a tax reform plan: Trump will call for cutting taxes for individuals and lowering the corporate rate to 15% when he unveils his plan Wednesday, according to a White House official
* Geopolitical concerns persist after a U.S. nuclear- powered submarine arrived in South Korea on Tuesday as North Korea celebrated the 85th anniversary of its army
* ECONOMY:
* March new-home sales rose to 621,000 rate; est. 584,000
* Richmond Fed’s April mfg. survey at 20 vs 22 last month
* Home prices rose 6.4% y/y, according to a report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency
* Home prices in 20 U.S. cities accelerated in the year through February for a fifth month, while nationwide property values also picked up, according to S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data reported Tuesday
* EARNINGS:
* After-market Tuesday: Chubb Ltd (CB), Edwards Lifesciences Corp (EW), Realty Income Corp (O), CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (CHRW), Stryker Corp (SYK), Illumina Inc (ILMN), Universal Health Services Inc (UHS), Discover Financial Services (DFS), AT&T Inc (T), Equity Residential (EQR), Boston Properties Inc (BXP), Juniper Networks Inc (JNPR), Wynn Resorts Ltd (WYNN), Capital One Financial Corp (COF), Arconic Inc (ARNC), Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG), Total System Services Inc (TSS), Texas Instruments Inc (TXN)
* Pre-market Wednesday: Waste Management Inc (WM), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (TMO), TE Connectivity Ltd (TEL), Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC), Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc (DPS), Rockwell Automation Inc (ROK), DTE Energy Co (DTE), Seagate Technology PLC (STX), PepsiCo Inc (PEP), United Technologies Corp (UTX), Anthem Inc (ANTM), WestRock Co (WRK), Wyndham Worldwide Corp (WYN), Ingersoll-Rand PLC (IR), Entergy Corp (ETR), Avery Dennison Corp (AVY), Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ), Baxter International Inc (BAX), State Street Corp (STT), Procter & Gamble Co/The (PG), Hershey Co/The (HSY), Boeing Co/The (BA), Hess Corp (HES), FLIR Systems Inc (FLIR), General Dynamics Corp (GD), Norfolk Southern Corp (NSC), Amphenol Corp (APH), Alaska Air Group Inc (ALK)
* Europe Market
* Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.2% at the close in London
* Technology stocks were among the biggest gainers, led by Austrian chipmaker AMS AG, up 20%.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

If a man does not of his own free will put himself last among his creatures,
there is no salvation for him.
Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

It is often merely for an excuse that we say things are impossible.
                             -Francois de la Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680

 

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
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On April 24, 1898, Spain declared war on the United States after rejecting America’s ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba. 
Go to article »

BIRTHDAYS:
1934 –actress Shirley MacLaine
1942 –singer Barbara Streisand

The past is a place of reference, not a place of residence.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People walk between barbed-wire fences in the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz as thousands of people, mostly youth from all over the world, gather for the annual ‘March of the Living’ during Holocaust Remembrance Day in Oswiecim, Poland, on Monday. Jakub Porzycki/Agencja Gazeta/Reuters

A man rides his bike up snow-covered Hohe Salve mountain in the western Austrian town of Hofgarten on Monday. Dominic Ebenbichler/Reuters

Farmer Piet Warmerdam picks up a yellow tulip from a red flower field as its growth could damage the rest in Den Helderin, Netherlands, on Saturday. Cris Toala Olivares/Reuters
Market Closes for April 24^th, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20763.89	+216.13   +1.05%
S&P 500	2374.15	+25.46   +1.08%
NASDAQ	5983.820	+73.299   +1.24%
TSX	15712.46	+97.98
		+0.63%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18875.88	+255.13
		+1.37%
HANG SENG	24139.48	+97.46
		+0.41%
SENSEX	29655.84	+290.54
		+0.99%
FTSE 100*	7264.68	+150.13
		+2.11%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.483		1.470
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.150		2.141
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.2730		2.2480
U.S. 30 Year Bond		2.9288		2.9015

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.74053	0.74128
US $	1.35039	1.34901
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.46733	0.68151
US $	1.08659	0.92031

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1269.40	1281.85
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	48.88	49.27

Market Commentary:
294

The number of tech startups that raised at least $50 million apiece in 2014 and 2015. Almost three-quarters of those companies—216—have neither raised money nor been acquired since the end of 2015. Startups tend to raise funding every 12 to 18 months.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canada’s stock benchmark briefly hit its highest level since February before paring some of those gains as relief over the French election led a global rally that boosted financial stocks.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 98 points or 0.6 percent to close at 15,712.46. Earlier in the day it rose as much as 1 percent, nearing the record high of 15,922 set on Feb. 21.
     Financial stocks were the biggest gainer, adding 1.5 percent, the sector’s biggest increase since March 1. IGM Financial Inc. and Manulife Financial Corp. both rose more than 3 percent.
     The materials index took some of the steam out of the rally, falling 0.8 percent along with the price of gold as demand for safe havens waned. Semafo Inc. plunged 15.7 percent after it cut its full-year gold production forecast.
     In other moves:
* Home Capital Group Inc. fell 9.1 percent. Founder Gerald Soloway will step down from the board and an interim chief financial officer was named in response to allegations that the lender misled investors and broke securities laws
* Canfor Corp. lost 3.6 percent and West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. fell 2.9 percent. The U.S. is expected to issue preliminary countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber this week
* IGM Financial Inc. rose 3.4 percent, its biggest gain since November, following an upgrade by analysts at RBC.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stock benchmarks rallied along with European shares Monday as Sunday’s vote in France triggered a relief rally in global equities. President Donald Trump’s vow to announce tax reforms this week also fueled gains.
* S&P 500 up 1.1% to 2,374.13 at 4pm
* Fell 0.3% on Friday as financial companies underperformed
* Dow Industrials up 1.1% to 20,764
* Nasdaq Composite makes a new high, up 1.2% to 5,984
* The index is up 15% since Nov. 8, compared with 11% in the S&P 500
* S&P 500 Financials (+2.2%) with industrial (+1.3%) and tech stocks (+1.3%) leading the market
* Energy shares up 0.5% despite 0.8% drop in crude oil prices
* Volume in S&P 500 14% above 30-day average
* VIX falls 25% to below 11, its biggest drop since August 2011 and the lowest level since February
* POLITICS:
* Centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen won the first round of France’s presidential elections Sunday, triggering a runoff on May 7 between two radically different visions of France’s economy
* Trump tweeted on Saturday that he plans to announce a “big” tax reform and reduction plan on April 26
* A U.S. government shutdown is possible April 29 if Congress doesn’t approve a spending bill to fund the government past April 28
* ECONOMY:
* U.S. March Chicago national activity below est: March Chicago Fed national index 0.08 vs est. 0.50 (range -0.1 to 0.75); February revised to 0.27 from 0.34
* U.S. April Dallas Fed manufacturing index 16.8 vs est. 17.0
* EARNINGS
* After-market Monday: Range Resources (RRC), Newmont Mining (NEM), Ameriprise Financial Inc (AMP), Express Scripts Holding (ESRX), Zions Bancorporation (ZION), Crown Castle International (CCI), UDR (UDR), Whirlpool (WHR)
* Pre-market Tuesday: Centene (CNC), Laboratory Corp of America Holdings (LH), Ryder System (R), PulteGroup (PHM), DuPont (DD), Biogen (BIIB), Pentair (PNR), McDonald’s (MCD), Corning (GLW), Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), Eli Lilly (LLY), Baker Hughes (BHI), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Nielsen Holdings (NLSN), Xerox (XRX), Coca-Cola (KO), Valero Energy (VLO), AutoNation (AN), Waters (WAT), Masco (MAS), S&P Global (SPGI), Lockheed Martin (LMT), T Rowe Price Group (TROW), Northern Trust (NTRS), 3M (MMM), Caterpillar (CAT), Paccar(PCAR)

 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

You can live with few clothes or with one meal a day, but  that is not simplicity.
So be simple, don’t live in a complicated way, contradictory and so on, just be simple inwardly.
Krishnamurti

As ever,

Carolann

 

A somebody was once a nobody who wanted to and did.
                                    -John Burroughts, 1837-1921

 

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
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Tomorrow is Earth Day so that time of year again to celebrate with an earth dinner!   For ideas on giving an Earth Dinner, see www.earthdinner.org.

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. –Marcus Aurelius.

On April 21, 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Conn. 
Go to article »

On April 21, 1926, Queen Elizabeth was born was born – she is today, the longest-reigning monarch in British history.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Members of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery take part in a ceremonial 41 gun salute in Hyde Park to mark Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II’s 91st birthday, in London, on Friday. Alastair Grant/AP

The snow-covered Nordkette Mountains are pictured behind the city of Innsbruck, Austria, on Friday. Dominic Ebenbichler/Reuters
A dentist wearing a virtual reality (VR) headset demonstrates VR simulation program for dental surgeons in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday. Issei Kato/Reuters
Market Closes for April 21^st, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20547.76	-30.95   -0.15%
S&P 500	2348.69	-7.15   -0.30%
NASDAQ	5910.523	-6.254   -0.11%
TSX	15614.48	-11.08
		-0.07%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18620.75	+190.26
		+1.03%
HANG SENG	24042.02	-14.96
		-0.06%
SENSEX	29365.30	-57.09
		-0.19%
FTSE 100*	7114.55	-3.99
		-0.06%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.470		1.483
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.141		2.153
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.2480		2.338
U.S. 30 Year Bond		2.9015		2.8845

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.74128	0.74237
US $	1.34901	1.34703
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.44682	0.69117
US $	1.07250	0.93240

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1281.85	1282.10
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	49.27	50.27

Market Commentary:
40%
The U.S. share of world soybean exports, down from more than 70% three decades ago. We take a look at how and why America’s agricultural dominance has eroded.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed slower as financial shares lagged, while energy stocks rose even as oil prices posted their biggest weekly loss since early March.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 11 points or 0.1 percent to 15,614.48. For the week, the benchmark gained 0.5 percent.
     Energy shares rose 0.5 percent, led by a 2.4 percent gain at Cenovus Energy Inc., despite a 2.3 percent drop in West Texas Intermediate crude prices to $49.49 a barrel, its first close below $50 since March 29. The financials index fell 0.5 percent.
     In other moves:
* Home Capital Group Inc. jumped 8.7 percent. The alternative- mortgage lender released preliminary first-quarter results after a regulator accused it Thursday of misleading investors, causing the shares to plunge 21 percent
* SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. gained 2.3 percent after announcing Thursday that it reached a deal to buy U.K.-based WS Atkins Plc for C$3.6 billion
* Kinross Gold Corp. and New Gold Inc. gained more than 2 percent as the price of gold edged higher.
US
By Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. ended lower in heavy trading, while Treasuries and the dollar were little changed as markets struck a note of caution ahead of this weekend’s French presidential election.
     The S&P 500 Index slumped in the final minutes of trading on volume 16 percent above the 30-day average. Stocks ended above session lows after Donald Trump said the White House will present a tax-reform plan next week. The statement to the Associated Press sent the Treasury 10-year yield lower, leaving it unchanged for the day and week. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed, paring a second weekly loss. Crude slid below $50 a barrel, while gold advanced.
     Trump’s promise for a tax plan next week injected the market with a modicum of hope that the administration will push forward with reforms that appeared to have stalled in recent week. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday signaled that tax reform remained a priority. Investors continue to grapple with a spate of geopolitical risk events, with the murder of a policeman on the Champs-Elysees adding to uncertainty before France’s vote.
     “The need to hedge the downside risks on the euro without capping the upside potential, has mostly pushed investors toward the currency options through the week,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a market analyst at London Capital Group Ltd., wrote in a note. Heightened stock volatility has been spurred by investors’ need to protect against political risk into and following the first round, she said.
     Read our Markets Live blog here.
     Here are some events that investors will be watching:
* The first round of voting in the French election is on Sunday, and the two leading candidates will run off in a winner-takes- all contest on May 7. Currency desks are gearing up for the event, with memories still fresh from last year’s Brexit vote and U.S. presidential election.
* U.S. Markit manufacturing PMI and Markit services PMI for April will be gleaned for clues about economic growth and outlook
* The annual Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund bring government officials, central bankers, journalists, academia and the private sector to Washington for briefings on the global economy and international development.
     Here are the main markets moves:
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 2,348.78 as of 4 p.m. in New York. The measure advanced 0.9 percent in the week, the most since Feb. 17.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 rose less than 0.1 percent, trimming a weekly decline to 0.7 percent.

     Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.1 percent after trading most of the session little changed. It’s down 0.2 percent for the week.
* The yen rose 0.2 percent to 109.099.
* The euro weakened 0.1 percent to $1.0702. Sterling fell 0.1 percent to $1.2799.

     Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was unchanged at 2.23 percent on Friday, leaving the rate identical to where it ended the prior week.
* Corporate issuance was muted in the week with $25 billion in three sessions, largely from financials as JPMorgan Chase & Co. Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley all sold debt.
* French 10-year yields were little changed at 0.93 percent. Bunds gained, with the yield on the benchmark due in a decade one basis point lower at 0.24 percent.

     Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate fell as investors lost faith that an extension of OPEC-led supply cuts will overcome growing U.S. production and ease a global glut.
* Front-month futures lost 2.2 percent Friday to settle at $49.62 a barrel, the lowest close since March 29. The contract fell 6.7 percent in the week.
* Gold futures rose 0.2 percent to $1,287.20 an ounce, as a measure of the metal’s volatility fell to a 4-year low before the first round of voting in French elections.
* Iron ore futures climbed 5.1 percent.
* London Metal Exchange copper settled unchanged at $5,623 per ton, after swinging between gains and losses.

 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The first condition of humanness is a little humility and a little diffidence
about the correctness of one’s conduct and a little receptiveness.
Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,
 

Carolann

 

The wise man must remember that while he is a descendant of the past,
he is a parent of the future.  -Herbert Spencer, 1820-1903

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
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On this day in 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform kills 11 workers and causes an estimated 200 million gallons of crude to begin spilling into the Gulf of Mexico.

EXIT GUIDANCE
Yes, the sign says you can find gas and lunch at that highway exit.  But how far will you  have to drive to get there?  The app iExit will tell you exactly where a restaurant is and where you can find Wi-Fi, among other information, taking the guess-work out of pit stops.  The app is free for iOS and Android.-CSM.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Two girls ride their horses between fields of rapeseed on the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany, on a sunny Thursday evening. Michael Probst/AP

A woman takes a selfie with her smartphone next to a bed of tulips at a Beijing park on Thursday. Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Market Closes for April 20^th, 2017

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	20578.71	+174.22   +0.85%
S&P 500	2355.91	+17.74   +0.76%
NASDAQ	5916.7777	+53.743   +0.92%
TSX	15626.22	+73.34
		+0.47%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	18430.49	-1.71
		-0.01%
HANG SENG	24056.98	+231.10
		+0.97%
SENSEX	29422.39	+85.82
		+0.29%
FTSE 100*	7118.54	+4.18
		+0.06%

Bonds

Bonds		% Yield		Previous  % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond		1.483		1.465
CND. 30 Year Bond		2.153		2.139
U.S.    10 Year Bond		2.338		2.2143

Currencies

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.74237	0.74177
US $	1.34703	1.34812
Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	1.44349	0.69286
US $	1.07156	0.93322

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	1282.10	1279.05
Oil	Close	Previous
WTI Crude Future	50.27	50.44

Market Commentary:
Numbers of the Day
3.76%
The percentage that U.S. crude futures fell Wednesday, their worst day since early March.
$1.93 billion
Morgan Stanley’s first-quarter profit, as it rode a boost in debt trading to surpass rival Goldman Sachs and join other big Wall Street firms in posting strong results to start the year.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks ended the day higher as industrials shares gained on strong rail earnings and financials rallied together with their U.S. peers.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 73 points or 0.5 percent to close at 15,625.56. The industrials index rose 1.1 percent as Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. jumped 2.6 percent and Canadian National Railway Co. climbed 1.7 percent. CP reported strong first-quarter earnings, including its first sales increase since the third quarter of 2015.
     Financial shares rose 0.6 percent despite a plunge in shares of Home Capital Group Inc., which lost 20.7 percent following allegations that current and former executives misled investors on the reason behind a decline in mortgage originations.
     In other moves:
* Nevsun Resources Ltd. gained 6.7 percent, its biggest gain since Nov. 10. The miner said its pre-feasibility study for a Serbian project is on track and infill drilling is largely complete
* Mullen Group Ltd. dropped 6 percent. The trucking company reported earnings late Wednesday that missed expectations
* Martinrea International Inc. added 3.2 percent.
US
By Jeremy Herron and Dani Burger
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks jumped amid corporate results and comments from the Treasury Secretary that bolstered bets the Trump administration would cut taxes soon. The dollar all but erased losses and Treasuries fell as the odds for a June interest-rate hike climbed.
     The S&P 500 Index had its second best day since March as Steven Mnuchin said plans to reform taxes have progressed. Financial shares continued an up-and-down week as American Express Co. powered the group to a gain of 1.6 percent two days after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sent it tumbling. Bloomberg’s dollar spot index was flat after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the country will maintain an accommodative monetary policy.
     Mnuchin’s comments eased growing concern that President Donald Trump’s fiscal agenda is foundering, while the odds for a rates hike in June surged toward toward 60 percent after Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan reiterated that three increases this year remain appropriate. Earnings continued paint a mixed picture on the health of the economy, while investors kept an eye on a series of elections in Europe and tensions around North Korea and Syria that threaten to ratchet up market risks.
     Read our Markets Live blog here.
     Here are the events that investors will be watching:
* U.S. Vice President Mike Pence continues his Asia-Pacific trip with a stop in Jakarta.
* The first round of voting in the French election is on Sunday, and the two leading candidates will run off in a winner-takes- all contest on May 7.
     And here are the main moves in markets:
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.8 percent to 2,355.92 at 4 p.m. in New York.
* AmEx surged nearly 6 percent to pace gains in the financial group after its results topped estimates.
* Qualcomm Inc. rose slightly and EBay Inc. retreated on earnings reports, while CSX Corp. jumped after announcing a share buyback.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index edged higher by 0.2 percent after swinging between gains and losses.
* Emerging-market equities jumped 0.6 percent.

      Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was unchanged, erasing a loss that reached 0.3 percent after Kuroda’s comments to Bloomberg News. The measure surged 0.5 percent Wednesday.
* The pound rose 0.3 percent to $1.2819 and the euro climbed 0.13 percent to $1.0725.
* The yen weakened 0.4 percent to 109.34 per dollar, following a 0.4 percent decline on Wednesday.

     Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose two basis points to 2.24 after a five-basis-point advance Wednesday.
* German government bond yields with a similar maturity added four basis points to 0.24 percent.

     Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate oil fell 0.3 percent to $50.27 a barrel, after tumbling 3.8 percent Wednesday when a report showed U.S. gasoline supplies increased for the first time since February, while crude output keeps rising.
* Gold futures were little changed at $1,282.80 an ounce in New York.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

 

Be magnificent!

The first condition of humanness is a little humility and a little diffidence
about the correctness of one’s conduct and  a little receptiveness.
Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,

 

Carolann

 

The evil of the world is made possible by nothing
but the sanction you give it.
                             -Ayn Rand, 1905-1982

 

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
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com