February 21, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
-from today’s NY Times:

Gerald Holtom, the Briton who designed the peace symbol, was in “deep despair” when he created it on this day in 1958.

I drew myself,” wrote Mr. Holtom, a World War II conscientious objector who was alarmed by the nuclear arms race. “The representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outward and downward in the manner of Goya’s peasant before the firing squad.”

An early sketch of the peace symbol designed by Gerald Holtom, on display at the Imperial War Museum in London. -Yui Mok/PA Wire, via Associated Press

The symbol also combined the semaphores, or flag-signaling codes, for the letters “N” and “D,” or “Nuclear Disarmament.” The circle around it represented the earth. 

Later that spring, the symbol appeared on buttons and signs in an antinuclear march to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, a warhead factory in Aldermaston, England. (The march became an annual event.) 

The symbol, which isn’t trademarked, was embraced by the broader antiwar movement and disparaged by critics as anti-Christian. 

Mr. Holtom is said to have later expressed a desire that the symbol be inverted so that it resembled hands reaching to the sky. Such a symbol, in addition to being more celebratory of peace, would also evoke the semaphore for the letter “U” — as in “Unilateral Disarmament.” 

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which still uses the symbol as its logo, is taking it on an anniversary tour around Britain this year. – Jennifer Jett contributed reporting.

Also on this day in…
1916- Battle of Verdun in France occurred: over 1 million men killed.
1925: New Yorker Magazine debuts.
1965: former Black Muslim leader Malcolm X was assassinated in New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood. He was about to speak to the Organization of Afro-American Unity.  He was 39. Go to article »

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Gallery assistants straighten Tigre jouant avec une tortue by Eugene Delacroix during a photo call for highlights from the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller at Christie’s in London.
CREDIT: KRISTY O’CONNOR/PA WIRE

Rudolf Stingel’s monumental painting of the Tyrolean Alps in Italy, based on a historic photograph, is prepared for exhibition at Sotheby’s in London.
CREDIT: SAMIR HUSSEIN/GETTY IMAGES FOR SOTHEBYS

A restorer works on a portrait of Oopjen Coppit, one of two full-length wedding portraits, by Dutch painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
CREDIT: DAVID VAN DAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for February 21^st, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
$18.5 billion
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest U.S. public pension fund, lost $18.5 billion over a 10-day trading period that ended Feb. 9 as markets fell into correction territory.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed at the highest level since Feb. 2 as financials gained the most since April ahead of bank reporting season, which kicks off Thursday morning.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 85 points or 0.6 percent to 15,524.01 after earlier rising as much as 1.2 percent. Financials gained 1.3 percent as Royal Bank of Canada added 2 percent and Bank of Montreal rose 1.7 percent.
     The industrials index gained 1.6 percent to the highest in a month. TFI International Inc. jumped 10 percent, the most since 2014, after strong earnings prompted at least two analyst upgrades.
     In other moves:
                           Stocks
* Shopify Inc. fell 6.7 percent, the most since November. The company is offering 4.8 million shares for $137 per share
* Bombardier Inc. lost 1.8 percent after a major shareholder said the delays plaguing its Toronto streetcar contract are unacceptable
* Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. jumped 8.8 percent after reporting adjusted earnings per share and revenue that beat the average analyst estimate
                          Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $28.45 discount to WTI, the widest gap in two weeks
* Gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,330.00 an ounce
                          FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.3 percent to C$1.2687 per U.S. dollar, the lowest since December, after the U.S. dollar gained on speculation that the Fed will speed up its tightening schedule
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose two basis points to 2.35 percent
US
By Jeremy Herron and Kailey Leinz
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks erased gains to end lower for a second day, while the dollar jumped with Treasury yields on speculation that the pickup in inflation signaled by data since the Federal Reserve’s last meeting will force a faster tightening schedule.
     The catalyst for the late-day selloff was Fed meeting minutes that painted the picture of a central bank increasingly confident that economic growth will pick up steam but still concerned inflation could miss targets. The initial reaction saw stocks jump with bonds, while the dollar fell.
     Assets reversed course as investors pointed to economic data subsequent to the gathering that upend the idea of lagging inflation. The S&P 500 Index erased a gain that topped 1 percent to finish at a one-week low and Bloomberg’s dollar index climbed a fourth day. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 2.94 percent.
     “What we’re seeing on the committee on the growth side is consistent with the fact that there’s clear upside risks to the forecast that they have embedded from December,” James McCann, senior global economist at Aberdeen Standard Investments, said by phone. “A revision of those to be consistent would probably require them to put a little more policy tightening into the mix.”
     When officials next convene March 20, they will consider for the first time a January jobs report that indicated rising wages and consumer prices that surged faster than forecast last month, two data points that belie their concern that inflation will lag.
     Investors have also been watching a deluge of Treasury sales that are slated to put $258 billion up for auction this week. Surging rates gave impetus to one of the steepest equity selloffs in years two weeks ago. While investors seem to have adjusted to 10-year yields at a four-year high for now, the rush of fresh debt could push them higher, weakening the case for owning stocks at elevated valuations.
     European equities rose even after data showed a fading outlook for manufacturing and services in the region. Sterling slumped following a rise in unemployment. Stocks climbed in Hong Kong, cementing a rebound from one of the worst routs in years at the start of February.
     Elsewhere, the rand jumped as traders took South Africa’s budget positively. Oil in New York dropped ahead of U.S. government data that’s forecast to show crude inventories gained for a fourth week. Bitcoin fell below $11,000.
     Here are some key events scheduled for this week:
* Fed policy makers speaking this week include New York Fed President William Dudley and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester is among speakers at the U.S. Monetary Policy Forum in New York City.
* Companies announcing earnings this week include Woolworths, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland.
* Shanghai’s market reopens on Thursday after holidays.
     These are the main moves in markets:
                           Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent at 4 p.m. in New York.
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.3 percent, after rising as much as 1.5 percent.
* The Cboe Volatility Index fell 2.6 percent to 20.07.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index erased losses to close higher by 0.2 percent.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.3 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index jumped 1.2 percent.
                           Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4 percent for a fourth day of gains.
* The euro dipped 0.1 percent to $1.2329.
* The Japanese yen decreased 0.3 percent to 107.701 per dollar.
* South Africa’s rand jumped 0.7 percent to 11.654 per dollar.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index advanced 0.1 percent.
                            Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose four basis points to 2.94 percent.
* The two-year rate jumped five basis points to 2.26 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.72 percent.
                            Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude decreased 0.3 percent to $61.58 a barrel, the first retreat in more than a week.
* Gold futures were little changed at $1,330.90 an ounce.
–With assistance from Sophie Caronello, Andreea Papuc, Kristine Aquino and Samuel Potter. 

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

God damn you all: I told you so.
             -H.G. Wells,1866-1946
-Suggestion for his own epitaph, 1939

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

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