December 23, 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Happy Holidays – Merry Christmas – Happy Hanukkah!

On December 23^rd, 1812, Lady Granville, at Lilleshall in Shropshire, a house belonging to her husband’s family, wrote to her sister, Lady Morpeth:

  We are here for three days, quite alone and very very comfortable.  Blazing fires of Staffordshire coal, weather that allows one never to put one’s nose out, an easy conscience on it, two new Reviews, early hours, wholesome dinners, a comfortable bed and Granville, adored Granville, who would make a barren desert smile….You will think I am growing quite a misanthrope but Chatsworth will make me very worldly again.  How smart we must be ….in sapphires and diamonds and amethysts as big as eggs, doing l’impossible to be gracious and agreeable.
  Chatsworth was the home of their brother, the Duke of Devonshire.
                                                               -from The Book of Days

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The choir sings and gestures to the audience at Boston’s Paramount Theater during ‘Black Nativity.’ For 46 years, Boston’s black community has come together to re-create the show as their ‘Christmas gift to the world.’ It was written by Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Most of the actors and singers in the National Center of Afro-American Artists’ production of ‘Black Nativity’ wear simple white robes. It’s a multigenerational effort: The youngest performer (aside from the infant Jesus) is 5 years old. The oldest are in the their 60s. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Market Closes for December 23^rd, 2016

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Aleksandra Sagan
     (Canadian Press) — TORONTO — The Toronto Stock Exchange’s main index broke its six-day streak of gains to conclude the last full trading week of the year as North American markets remained relatively flat ahead of the holiday weekend.
     The S&P/TSX composite index shed 7.08 points to 15,328.15. Throughout the day, the market seemed poised to cap off the week with a seventh consecutive day in the positive, only to see that evaporate just before markets closed.
     There was barely movement in New York, where the Dow Jones industrial average advanced 14.93 points to 19,933.81, the S&P 500 rose 2.83 points to 2,263.79 and the Nasdaq composite gained 15.27 points to 5,462.69.
     Toronto and New York stock markets will be closed Monday. New York will reopen Tuesday, while trading in Toronto resumes Wednesday.
     “Volumes are significantly lower than normal as we roll into the holiday time,” said Stephen Carlin, managing director and head of equities at CIBC Asset Management.
     He said trading is likely to remain relatively flat in the week ahead as investors take time off and the markets take a break after recent strong growth following Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the U.S. presidential election.
     A number of stocks have also moved up in value due to expectations of economic growth based on developments like a recent agreement by OPEC to limit crude oil production and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to hike interest rates, Carlin said.
     The central bank’s move has lent strength to the U.S. dollar, which in turn has hurt the loonie, he said.
     The Canadian dollar lost 0.21 of a U.S. cent to 73.88 cents US. The last time it closed below that was on Feb. 25 at 73.85 cents US.
     Weaker economic data north of the border hasn’t helped either, Carlin said.
     Statistics Canada said Friday that Canada’s economy saw its first monthly decline since the Fort McMurray, Alta., wildfires in May. GDP shrank by 0.3 per cent for October, with weak performance in the manufacturing and the oil and gas sectors.
     On the commodity markets, the February contract for oil gained seven cents to US$53.02 per barrel and February gold rose US$2.90 to US$1,133.60 an ounce.
     The February natural gas contract, which was more heavily traded than January’s, added 12 cents to US$3.68 per mmBTU and March copper shed about two cents to US$2.48 per pound.  
US
By Lu Wang:
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. equities rose in light trading before the Christmas holiday, with gains in health care shares outweighing declines in consumer-discretionary and energy companies. Canada’s stock benchmark was little changed.
     The S&P 500 Index gained 0.1 percent to 2,263.79 at 4 p.m. in New York, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched closer to the elusive 20,000 level after dropping for two- consecutive days. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell less than 0.1 percent in Toronto. Trading volume in all three indexes was more than 50 percent lower than the 30-day average.
* Gains in heath care companies exceeded 0.7%, offsetting losses of 0.2% in consumer discretionary and energy companies
* The S&P 500 rose 0.3% this week
* The Dow gained 0.5% in its seventh weekly gain, the longest winning streak since December 2014
* Strategists on average expect the S&P 500 to end 2017 at 2,356, according to the mean of 15 estimates compiled by Bloomberg, implying a 4% gain from Friday’s close
* The CBOE Volatility Index rose less than 0.1%, trimming its weekly slide to 6.2%. The gauge of investor anxiety, known as the VIX, touched a two-year low earlier this week
By Lu Wang and Dani Burger:
     (Bloomberg) — The Trump rally seems to have hit a roadblock: 20,000.
     The Dow Jones Industrial Average failed to surpass that milestone again, despite a seven-week advance that lifted the gauge to within 15 points of it. Investors appeared to have stepped to the sidelines before the holidays as the S&P 500 Index spent the last five days trading in the tightest range in 19 months and eked out a weekly gain of only 0.3 percent.
     The buying spree that added $1.5 trillion to U.S. equity values in a month after Donald Trump’s surprise presidential election win has lost some momentum as investors await policy details on taxes and public spending. In a week when trading volume dwindled ahead of the Christmas holiday, chipmakers were among the best performers after Micron Technology Inc.’s sales forecast exceeded some analysts’ estimates.
     “Everyone seems to be neutral or bullish,” said Andrew Brenner, head of international fixed income for National Alliance Capital Markets. “Going into the first quarter, I would tend to think you’re going to have some sort of correction. You’ve already taken a lot of potential gains next year because a lot of it has already been priced in.”
* The Dow added 0.5% over five days, rounding out seven consecutive weekly gains, the longest winning streak since December 2014
* The blue-chip gauge’s intraday advance stopped around 19,987 on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21, after pulling within 50 points of 20,000 for a second week
* The S&P 500 fluctuated in a range of only 0.7 percent, the tightest since May 2015
* Volume averaged about 5 billion shares a day, the slowest week this year
* The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index jumped 3.1% over five days
* The CBOE Volatility Index, a gauge of investor anxiety also known as the VIX, slipped 6.2 percent, touching a two-year low.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

Live your own life.
That is to say, where you are, as you are, with what you are, and with who you are…
Accept the situation in which you find yourself and try, at the same time, to adapt to it.
You cannot escape from it.
Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

Carolann

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
                             -Sir Richard Steele, 1672-1729

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Portfolio Manager &
Senior Vice-President

Queensbury Securities Inc.,
St. Andrew’s Square,
Suite 340A, 730 View St.,
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808
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