December 5, 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Walt Disney was born on  this day in 1901.

Notable & Quotable: Post-Election Picasso
Joshua J. Whitfield, writing in “Why I took my daughter to an art museum after the election,” Nov. 16 in the Dallas Morning News:

We walked among art, Spanish mostly, Miro’, Picasso, Dali, others.  We wondered, we imagined, we talked about what is, what might be, what could be – about the art, that is.  We shared favorites, asked questions, giggled at the nudes, wondered what on earth a few things were….
   I think it was a good thing to do, and I recommend it to you, to my fellow parents wondering what to say to your children.
   The danger is that we use our children to assuage our angst, recycling our anger through them, seeking in them the validation of our fears or the vindication of our bitterness.  We forget that our children are not us, and so we foist upon them opinions and fears for which they’re unready, ruining their purposeful innocence with our foolish seriousness – lecturing, sentimentalizing, manipulating.  Sometimes when talking to our children, we talk too much.  We try to make the world right with words when we know we can’t.
   Which is why I chose art instead.  It speaks better than me, teaches better.  And it’s why I think that instead of talking politics with your children, you should take them to experience beauty wherever you may find it – your nearest art museum, your nearest artist. –WSJ, December 3,2016.

Edit your life frequently and ruthlessly.   It is your masterpiece after all.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

People cross Westminster Bridge as dusk falls behind the Houses of Parliament on a clear evening in central London, Britain on Monday.Toby Melville/Reuters
A young Native American man rides his horse through the snow near the Oceti Sakowin camp as ‘water protectors’ continue to demonstrate against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota. Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Market Closes for December 5^th, 2016

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a second day, trading near the highest level in 18 months, as energy producers climbed with crude extending gains while copper lifted industrial metals higher.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.3 percent to 15,095.17 at 4 p.m. in Toronto. The index has risen 16 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, well ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 11 percent advance.
     Energy producers added 0.4 percent as a group as seven of 11 industries advanced in the benchmark index. Crude in New York rose 11 cents to $51.79 a barrel, settling at the highest close since July 2015 as OPEC invited non-members to Vienna to secure additional output cuts after last week’s deal. Oil has climbed more than 15 percent since the group agreed last week to reduce output by 1.2 million barrels a day starting in January.
     In other moves:
* Marijuana producer Canopy Growth Corp. lost 5.3 percent after agreeing to sell shares to raise C$60 million for capacity expansion, working capital and general purposes. Canopy is still up 270 percent this year. Smaller competitor Aurora Cannabis Inc. tumbled 12 percent
* Bombardier Inc. advanced a second day after its transportation unit announced France’s national railway company has ordered an additional 52 Bombardier trains in a deal valued at about $370 million
* Raw-material stocks rose 1 percent, reversing an earlier loss, as base metals producers gained. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. climbed 5.8 percent as copper posted a 17-month high on speculation demand will accelerate amid improving U.S. growth 
* Kinross Gold Corp. and OceanaGold Corp. retreated at least 2 percent as the price of gold fell to near a 10-month low; concern about political turmoil in Italy appears to be contained as stock markets in Europe and the U.S. advanced after Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigned upon losing a key referendum
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks climbed and the Dow Jones Industrial Average set a record as a rally in financial and technology shares reversed a dip in early trading after Italian voters rejected a constitutional referendum.
     The S&P 500 rose 0.6 percent to 2,204.71 at 4 p.m. in New York as financial stocks extended a post-election rally to 14 percent. Eight of 11 primary groups advanced after the benchmark on Friday capped its first weekly decline since the presidential election Friday. The Dow rose 46 points to 19,216.24.
* Markit reports on services and manufacturing were in line with or better than expectations
* Federal Reserve officials announce a policy decision on Dec. 14; futures traders are pricing in a 100 percent chance they’ll boost borrowing costs, up from 68 percent at the start of November
* European Central Bank meets on Dec. 8; investors will be watching for insight on how Italy vote will factor into Mario Draghi’s quantitative easing program
* S&P 500 is heading for its first annual advance since 2014, up 7.9 percent this year
Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Fear is one of the greatest problems in life.  A mind that is caught in fear
lives in confusion, in conflict, and therefore  must be violent, distorted and aggressive.
Krishnamurti

As ever,
 

Carolann

I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.
                                       -Florence Nightingale, 1820-1910

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
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