February 07th, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday!

A Snow Moon, the first supermoon of 2020, will light up the sky this weekend
If you’re in parts of the world that have been unseasonably warm, you can consider it more of a tepid rain moon. –CNN.

THE MAN IN THE MOON
             -by Billy Collins
He used to frighten me in the nights
of childhood,
the wide adult face, enormous, stern, aloft
I could not imagine such loneliness, such coldness
But tonight as I drive home over
these hilly roads
I see him sinking behind stands of winter trees
And rising again to show his familiar face
And when he comes into full view
over open fields
he looks like a young man who has fallen in love
with the dark earth
a pale bachelor, well-groomed and
full of melancholy
his round mouth open
as if he had just broken into song.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A golden sunset at Bats Head near Lulworth in Dorset looking west towards Weymouth and the Isle of Portland viewed from Swyre Head.
CREDIT: GRAHAM HUNT/ALAMY LIVE NEWS.

Willem Van Gogh, the great grand-nephew of the artist Vincent Van Gogh, Stands next to a large version of one of Van Gogh’s paintings of Sunflowers at the Meet Vincent van Gogh experience, London.
CREDIT- EDDIE MULHOLLAND FOR THE TELEGRAPH

All the way from the Outer Hebrides to Outer Space. The Hebridean Dark Skies Festival is a two week celebration where the stars will literally be themselves – and guaranteed to appear most nights.
CREDIT: MIKE MERRITT

A woman walks in a park during a heavy snowfall in Sofia.
CREDIT: NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Market Closes for February 07^th , 2020 

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 2008, Congress approved a $168 billion economic-stimulus plan, paving the way for over 130 million households to get tax-rebate checks of $300 to $1,200.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for the first time this week after the U.S. Federal Reserve Board warned that the coronavirus presents a “new risk” to the economy, putting investors in a risk-off mood. The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 0.6% to 17,655.49 Friday, reducing its weekly gain to 2%. Health-care stocks led the decline as Aurora Cannabis Inc. tumbled 15%. The pot company announced that its CEO is departing, it’s cutting jobs, it’s writing down as much as C$1 billion and its preliminary revenue was well below estimates. Canada Goose Holdings Inc. took a hit from the spreading coronavirus fallout, losing 4.3% after it cut its full-year forecast on the impact on China sales.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $17.90 discount to WTI
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,573.80 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.2% to C$1.3303 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield fell 4 basis points to 1.33%
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | -41.1794| -2.2| 6/40
Industrials | -22.6156| -1.1| 5/26
Energy | -15.8494| -0.6| 7/23
Financials | -11.1677| -0.2| 8/19
Health Care | -9.6811| -4.4| 0/10
Consumer Discretionary | -5.1136| -0.7| 4/13
Consumer Staples | -2.4538| -0.3| 3/7
Information Technology | -0.1785| 0.0| 2/8
Real Estate | 0.9845| 0.2| 17/7
Communication Services | 2.0787| 0.2| 5/3
Utilities | 3.1880| 0.4| 11/5

US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities limped into the weekend as renewed concern the coronavirus will slow global growth overshadowed fresh signs of a strong labor market. Treasuries jumped. The S&P 500 Index halted a four-day rally, but still notched its best week since June. The latest jobs report showed hiring stayed robust last month, bolstering optimism growth can persist. But stocks remained lower after reports of further infections, an increase in deaths and more quarantines. The Federal Reserve warned the outbreak posed a “new risk” to the economy. The fallout for companies is starting to come into focus, with corporations such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. temporarily halting operations in China. Apple Inc.’s iPhone maker Foxconn told employees not to return to work when China’s extended break ends Monday. The 10-year Treasury yield slumped below 1.6% and crude lost its grip on $51 a barrel.
“The market moved up so quickly over the last few days and I think papered over the continued risk associated with the coronavirus,” said Robin Anderson, senior global economist at Principal Global Investors. “There’s still a lot of unknowns out there.” Australia’s dollar dropped to its lowest level in a decade with the fallout from the coronavirus hurting riskier assets. Equities pushed lower across most of Asia as news of further infections on a cruise ship off Japan offered another reminder that cases remain on the rise. Singapore boosted its disease response to the second-highest level, the same one for the SARS epidemic. Confirmed cases worldwide now total 31,432, having risen more than 3,000 in one day, while the death toll reached 638. Meanwhile, the presidents of China and the U.S. reaffirmed their commitment to the implementation of a phase-one trade deal in a phone call Friday.
And these are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index decreased 0.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.5%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.3%.
* The MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index fell 0.7%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.2%.
* The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.2896.
* The euro fell 0.3% to $1.0946.
* The Japanese yen strengthened 0.2% to 109.77 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell seven basis points to 1.57%.
* The two-year rate dropped to 1.4%
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.57%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield dipped two basis points to -0.39%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1% to $50.42 a barrel.
* Gold futures added 0.3% to $1,574.20 an ounce.
* Copper fell 1.7% to $2.55 a pound.
–With assistance from Adam Haigh, Cormac Mullen, Constantine Courcoulas and Todd White.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Beauty is no quality in things themselves.  It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them. 
                                                                                               –David Hume, 1711-76.

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM
Senior Investment Advisor

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com