February 15, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: HAPPY FRIDAY!
1965 – Canada’s new maple leaf flag was unfurled in ceremonies in Ottawa.  Go to article »
1564 – Galileo Galilei, astronomer was born.

Some interesting news…
The Easter Islands:  researchers say they cracked the mystery of the famous head statues.  The statues were erected by the Rapa Nui people, who landed on the islands 900 years ago.  Scientists already knew that the carved figures were important representations of ancestral figures.  But when one of the islands was mapped, researchers found that the statues locations correlated with underground sources of a precious resource: fresh water.

Zwolle, Netherlands: A new cycle path made entirely form plastic waste has opened.  The 100-foot long stretch of path is part of an experiment to find ways to reuse plastic.  The paving material – made from 218,000 recycled cups – is prefabricated and allows rainwater to easily drain away.  It could also reduce the use of asphalt, a source of carbon emissions.  New paths may soon be opened in two different cities, and the program may evolve into a larger network of roads.
Sources: CNN, The Guardian.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

As the sun sets dramatically in the west at the end of a glorious day of spring-like warm weather, people line the pier in Aberystwyth Wales to watch the tens of thousands of starlings swooping to roost for the night on the forest of cast iron legs underneath Aberystwyth’s Victorian seaside pier. Credit: Keith Morris/LNP Credit

A Waxing Gibbous 62% Moon sets over the city of London, UK, next to The Shard skyscraper building in the early hours of the morning. Credit: Guy Corbishley/Alamy Live News

A view of the newly-restored Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island in Northumberland which has reopened to the public for the first time since the £3 million conservation programme. Credit: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

A man bikes during a winter snow storm in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Credit: Reuters/Chris Wattie
Market Closes for February 15^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Correction: Ford announced on Jan. 14, 1982, that it would skip paying a quarterly dividend for the first time since the company went public in 1956. Thursday’s newsletter incorrectly said the date was Feb. 14.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose to the highest in more than four months, part of a broader global rally prompted by reports that the U.S. and China had reached consensus on the main points in their trade talks.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.9 percent to 15,838.24, bringing its weekly gain to 1.3 percent. This marks the eighth consecutive week of gains for the benchmark, the longest such streak since 2017. Energy stocks led the way Friday, adding 1.9 percent as the price of oil approached a three-month high.
     The health-care index rose 0.8 percent, boosted by positive news from a couple of pot stocks. Aphria Inc. gained 5.2 percent after a special committee found it paid an “acceptable” amount for assets that were the subject of a short-seller attack, while Canopy Growth Corp. added 2.5 percent after quarterly revenue beat expectations.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Suncor Energy Inc. added 3.8 percent to the highest since November after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought 10.8 million shares of the company
* Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. gained 2.6 percent. The gold miner hiked its dividend by 14 percent and its CEO said there’s room to raise it further even if gold prices stay flat
* MTY Food Group tumbled 13 percent, the most since 2003, after fourth-quarter earnings per share missed the lowest analyst estimate
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $13.50 discount to WTI, the widest gap since New Year’s Eve
* Gold rose 0.6 percent to $1,318.10 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.4 percent to C$1.3251 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose 2 basis points to 1.90 percent
US
By Reade Pickert
     (Bloomberg) — Equities surged to a 10-week high as the U.S. consumer outlook brightened and positive developments in China trade talks overshadowed lingering concerns about global growth. Treasury yields climbed, while the dollar retreated after an early-morning rally.
     The S&P 500 Index closed at session highs Friday, with all sectors gaining, on reports that the U.S. and China had reached consensus in principle on the main topics in their trade negotiations. It was the third straight weekly gain for the benchmark. U.S. consumer sentiment rebounded from a two-year low, further fueling the rally and bolstering the case that yesterday’s dire retail sales figures were out of sync with reality.
     Trade continues to dominate markets as the two sides race to reach a deal that would avert a tariff increase on Chinese goods by March 1. At the White House Friday, President Donald Trump said that the U.S. is “a lot closer” to a deal with China and that he might “extend the date.”
     “The market got more constructive on China-U.S. trade negotiations,” said Michael Antonelli, equity sales trader at Robert W. Baird. “It’s starting to put the slowing of last year into the rear-view mirror, it’s starting to look forward now.
     There’s a whole group of people now who are just jumping back in on the market because the sell-off hasn’t happened, but in the end that’s kind of when a retest has its biggest chance of happening.”
     On Wall Street, the reaction was muted to Trump’s announcement that he will declare a national emergency to get more federal money for a border wall.
     In Europe, banks and miners helped drive gains in the Stoxx 600 Index. Asian shares retreated, with Chinese stocks falling as weak factory prices highlighted the tough environment for industrial profitability, adding to other disappointing data from major economies. Elsewhere, West Texas crude hit a 12-week high on supply cuts and metals advanced. Emerging-market shares fell, while EM currencies edged higher.
Exchanges in the U.S. will be closed Monday for Presidents’ Day.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index increased 1.1 percent as of 4 p.m. New York time, the highest in over 10 weeks.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.7 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 1.4 percent to the highest in more than four months.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose 0.6 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index fell 0.7 percent to a two-week low.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.2 percent.
* The euro rose less than 0.05 percent to $1.1299.
* The British pound gained 0.7 percent to $1.2892, the biggest jump in three weeks.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1 percent to 110.41 per dollar.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index climbed 0.3 percent.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed one basis point to 2.66 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell less than one basis point to 0.10 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield increased one basis point to 1.16 percent.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index gained 1.2 percent to the
highest in more than a week.
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.4 percent to $55.72 a barrel, the biggest gain in two weeks.
* Gold climbed 0.7 percent to $1,321.29 an ounce.
–With assistance from Garfield Reynolds, Cormac Mullen, Adam Haigh, Luke Kawa and Eddie van der Walt.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

I insist on a lot of time being spent almost everyday, to just sit and think.  That is very uncommon in American business.  I read and think.  So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business. -Warren Buffett, b. 1930

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