December 8, 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

From the New York Times last Sunday:
C.D. Wright (1949-2016) died suddenly earlier this year.  Whether she was writing about social issues, like the life of prisoners in Louisiana, or the personal, her poetry was always marked by intelligence, passion  and a genuine inquiry.  This poem sets a vivid scene then seems to take the words of an unnamed rambler – “we’ll pick up at the next chapter/my beloved” – as emblematic for the thrilling and troubling distances in a relationship.

Light Bulb Poem
By C.D. Wright 

at 4 o’clock I am at the door
with a bare hand of snow
laughing shamelessly
I undo my shirt
we’ll pick up at the next chapter
my beloved are the words
of the rambler
if not the words the substance
the snow smeared across my front
warm to the touch
though we remain separated
as if by a chair
and I unwilling to read ahead.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A rainbow shines in the sky above the city following a rainstorm, in Beit Lahiya City, Gaza Strip on Thursday. Adel Hana/AP

Aaron from San Francisco, wearing a Hillary Clinton mask, gives a thumbs up as he walks through the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Thursday. Andrew Harnik/AP
Market Closes for December 8^th, 2016

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Eric Lam
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks headed for their longest streak of gains since October as big banks extended a rally to record-high levels after reporting quarterly earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.4 percent to 15,295.20 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, the highest close since May 2015. The index has risen almost 18 percent in 2016, the top performer among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg, well ahead of No. 2 market Norway’s 13 percent advance.
     A measure of financial stocks advanced 1 percent, leading to a record close for the third day in a row. Bank of Nova Scotia, the best-performing of Canada’s six major lenders this year, added 0.8 percent. Bond desks at the six biggest Canadian banks are the big revenue winners this year, as trading from fixed-income products including bonds, currencies and commodities soared 26 percent to C$7.34 billion this fiscal year — the most in at least six years.
     Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and National Bank of Canada reported financial results that beat analysts’ estimates for the fourth quarter, while Toronto-Dominion Bank matched expectations and Royal Bank of Canada missed. Bank of Montreal rose 2 percent to extend an advance after surging to a record as the lender boosted its dividend.
     Financial services stocks overall are up 19 percent this year. Raw-materials producers are the top industry among 11 in the S&P/TSX with a 42 percent advance, followed by energy, fueled by rebounding gold and crude prices in 2016. Teck Resources Ltd., Canada’s largest diversified mining company, is up six-fold on a resurgence in commodities from metallurgical coal to zinc.
     In other moves:
* Financial services firm DH Corp. added 3.4 percent for a fourth day of gains, after jumping a record 14 percent yesterday after disclosing it has formed a committee to evaluate a possible sale; stock raised to a buy at Industrial Alliance, with the analyst estimating DH could be worth C$36.52 a share in a takeout
* Energy producers ended flat as crude settled above $50 a barrel in New York. Futures rose in New York, paring a 3.9 percent loss over the previous two sessions as investors shifted their focus to whether OPEC will be able to persuade other producers to commit to output cuts
* Questerre Energy Corp. soared 46 percent, the most since 2008, with the rise possibly linked to the prospect of an energy bill in Quebec coming into force, CEO Michael Binnion said in an interview with Bloomberg
US
By Jeremy Herron and Stephen Kirkland
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stock benchmarks set new records, rising amid a renewed selloff in bonds after Mario Draghi signaled he will bolster stimulus in the euro area if a proposed reduction in the current level of asset purchases fails to shore up the economy.
     The European Central Bank’s pledge to cut bond buying, while extending quantitative easing until the end of 2017, initially propelled gains in the euro. The common currency reversed its climb after President Draghi kept the option open to add to asset purchases. The S&P 500 Index tracked gains in European stocks as emerging-market equities also rallied. Treasuries slipped with sovereign debt across Europe, while oil rose above $50 a barrel in New York.
     The ECB fueled gains in an equity market still trading off the boost provided by Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president. The S&P 500 is breaking records with the Dow Jones Industrial Average amid speculation Trump will boost fiscal spending, shoring up growth in the world’s largest economy. The attention now shifts to the Federal Reserve, with traders all but convinced policy makers will end the year with an interest-rate hike. The debt market, meanwhile, has been the chief casualty of Trump exuberance, with about $2 trillion rotated out of bonds and into equities since his victory.
     The ECB has “left themselves a degree of wiggle room between now and the end of March to say that if conditions are sufficient” they will maintain the current stimulus, said Jeremy Stretch, head of Group-of-10 foreign-exchange strategy at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in London. “There was clearly a degree of surprise in terms of the reference” to the cut from April, he said.
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index climbed 0.2 percent to 2,246.19 as of 4 p.m. in New York, reaching a new peak and swelling its post-election rally to more than 5 percent. The Dow Average added 65 points to a record 19,614.81, its seventh gain in eight days.
* Financials shares and commodity producers led gains Thursday, with both groups rising at least 0.7 percent, while utilities slipped as the increase in Treasury yields damped demand for their payouts.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 1.2 percent for a fourth day of gains that took the measure to a one-month high. Banks and resource producers led gains.
* Emerging-market equities climbed 1.3 percent in a fourth straight advance.
* Asian index futures signaled further gains, as contracts on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed at least 0.2 percent with futures on benchmarks in Australia, Hong Kong and South Korea.

     Bonds
* Yields on Treasuries due in a decade rose by seven basis points, or 0.07 percentage point, to 2.41 percent after falling almost six basis points in the prior two days.
* Italian sovereign debt securities due in a decade tumbled, sending the nation’s 10-year bond yield up by 11 basis points.

     Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 2.2 percent to $50.84 a barrel, with investors pivoting to prospects for the OPEC-led output deal despite a surge in U.S. stockpiles.
* The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has invited 14 producers from outside the group to discuss further curbs at a meeting in Vienna on Saturday.
* “The market seems to be optimistic about this weekend’s meeting and about OPEC’s compliance with its agreement to cut output,” said Rob Haworth, a senior investment strategist in Seattle at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, which oversees $133 billion of assets. “The market has turned positive and price declines will be followed by speculators building and rebuilding positions.”
* Copper futures retreated 0.6 percent, while gold lost 0.3 percent.

     Currencies
* The euro slumped 1.3 percent to $1.0615, after earlier gaining as much as 1.1 percent.
* Draghi’s mixed message — reducing bond buying while extending the current purchase program by three more months than economists had expected — initially sent investors scattering in different directions as they struggled to digest its implications.
* The yen dropped 0.2 percent to 114 per dollar, swinging back to losses amid a retreat from haven currencies.
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major peers, advanced 0.5 percent, rising for the second time in four days.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

When a man begins to have a vision larger than his own truth,
when he realizes that it is much larger than it at first seemed, he begins to become conscious of his moral nature.
His perspective on life necessarily changes, and his will takes the place of his desires.
So comes about the conflict between our inferior self and our superior self,
between our desires and our will, between our greed for objects that appeal to our senses
and the purpose that comes from the bottom of our heart.
Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,
 

Carolann

In most things success depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed.
                                             -Charles de Montesquieu, 1689-1755

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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