February 9, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Terrance Hayes selected this poem for inclusion in last Sunday’s NY Times magazine.  He writes, “This pithy poem could double as a writing prompt.  The poet gets you started, opening with the seemingly surreal image of a six-legged horse.  It unfolds with a mix of aphorism, fantasy and myth….Try adding another 36 words to the poem…..toward the imaginativeness the poem invokes:

Beginning With a Horse
       By Alan Felsenthal

A horse has six legs
two belong to a man
who might be Pluto
disguised as the devil
abducting a unicorn
whose horn was used
to purify a spring
that whetted the infinite
now behind us

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A member of the AMADEE-18 Mars simulation mission wears a spacesuit standing in the doorway of a simulation habitat, with a view of the night sky above in Oman’s Dhofar desert, during an analog field simulation in a collaboration between the Austrian Space Forum and the Oman National Steering Committee preparing for future human Mars missions.
CREDIT: KARIM SAHIB/AFP

A praying mantis fitted with miniature 3-D glasses, in a research facility at Newcastle University. Praying mantises sporting tiny 3-D glasses held in place with beeswax, have revealed a new kind of “stereo” vision that may help improve robot sight, researchers said.
CREDIT: MIKE IRWIN/AFP

A model holds a 102.34 carat white diamond, described as the rarest white diamond ever to come to market, at Sotheby’s in New Bond Street, London, ahead of its private sale at Sotheby’s Diamonds retail boutique where it is expected to fetch in excess of 33.7 million in US Dollars.
CREDIT: GEOFF PUGH FOR THE TELEGRAPH

Charlotte Riordhan from Lyon and Turbull with the key used to open Glasgow School of Art in 1899, not seen in public since the school’s opening ceremony, on display at Lyon and Turnbull in Edinburgh where it will be auctioned in April.
CREDIT: ANDREW MILLIGAN/PA WIRE
Market Closes for February 9^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1585, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is established.
Number of the Day
19%
Despite the massive selloff recently, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is still up 19% over the past year.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell to their lowest level since early September after a wild day that saw the benchmark rise as much as 0.3 percent and fall as much as 1.9 percent.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 31 points or 0.2 percent to 15,034.46. Materials were the biggest decliners, losing 1.1 percent as gold miners retreated from Thursday’s gains. Guyana Goldfields Inc. fell 7.6 percent and Eldorado Gold Corp. lost 7.1 percent.
     Utilities rose 0.7 percent and the real estate index added 0.2 percent as government bond yields fell for the first time in four trading days.
     In other moves:
                          Stocks
* Sierra Wireless Inc. tumbled 14 percent to the lowest since 2016 after its forecast for first-quarter earnings missed the lowest analyst estimate
* Cameco Corp. fell 4.9 percent. The uranium miner reported a fourth-quarter loss and lower revenue
* Canada Goose Holdings Inc. fell another 4.6 percent for the biggest two-day decline ever. Analysts blamed high expectations and the stock’s recent rally.
                          Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $23 discount to WTI, the narrowest gap in three and a half weeks
* Gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,313.10 an ounce
                           FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.1 percent to $1.2588 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell two basis points to 2.35 percent
US
By Sarah Ponczek and Randall Jensen
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. equities ended their worst week in two years on a positive note, but rate-hike fears that pushed markets into a correction remain as investors await American inflation figures on Feb. 14.
     The S&P 500 tumbled 5.2 percent in the week, its steepest slide since January 2016, jolting equity markets from an unprecedented stretch of calm. At one point, stocks fell 12 percent from the latest highs, before a furious rally Friday left the equity benchmark 1.5 percent higher on the day. Still, the selloff has wiped out gains for the year.
     Signs mounted that jitters spread to other assets, with measures of market unrest pushing higher in junk bonds, emerging-market equities and Treasuries. The Cboe Volatility Index ended at 29, almost three times higher than its level Jan.26. . The VIX’s bond-market cousin reached its highest since April during the week, and a measure of currency volatility spiked to levels last seen almost a year ago.
     Pressure on equities came from the Treasury market, where yields spiked to a four-year high, raising concern the Federal Reserve would accelerate its rate-hike schedule. Yields ended the week at 2.85 percent, near where they started, as Treasuries moved higher when equity selling reached its most frantic levels. Commodities including oil, gold and industrial metals moved lower Friday. The dollar, euro and sterling all declined.
     Traders are now focusing on next week’s U.S. consumer-price data after a week in which the 10-year yield pushed as high as 2.88 percent. Equity investors took the signal to mean interest rates will rise as inflation gathers pace, denting earnings and consumers’ spending power.
     “Sometimes making a bottom can take time,” Ernie Cecilia, chief investment officer at Bryn Mawr Trust Co., said by phone. “Investors should be at least aware, cognizant, and expect a little more volatility after we go through this period of more cathartic volatility.”
     Europe and Asia weren’t spared from the drama that’s afflicted global stocks. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index clocked its worst week since 2016, losing almost half a year’s gains. China’s benchmark fell the most in almost two years earlier, while the MSCI World Index had its biggest weekly drop since 2016.    
     These are the main moves in markets:
                          Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 1.5 percent as of 4 p.m. in New York.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.4 percent and the Nasdaq 100 added 1.7 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 1.4 percent, the lowest in more than five months.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index decreased 1.1 percent to a 13-month low.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index fell 1.6 percent, the seventh straight decline.
                          Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1 percent.
* The euro declined 0.1 percent to $1.2236.
* The British pound sank 0.7 percent to $1.3819, the weakest in more than three weeks.
* The Japanese yen fell less than 0.05 percent to 108.77 per dollar.
                           Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose two basis points to 2.85 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield dipped two basis points to 0.75 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 1.57 percent.
                          Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 3.2 percent to $59.18 a barrel, the lowest in six weeks.
* Gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,314.59 an ounce.
* Copper decreased 1.3 percent to $6,755 a metric ton.
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index fell 1.6 percent, its sixth straight decline.   
–With assistance from Cormac Mullen, Robert Brand and Kailey Leinz.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.
                                      -Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894

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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