January 15, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Martin Luther King Jr, b. 1929
1943, Pentagon completed.
January 15, 2009 – US Airways Capt. Chelsey Sullenberger guided a jetliner disabled by a bird strike just after takeoff from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to a safe landing in the Hudson River. All 155 people aboard survived. Go to article »

It’s time for the Kumbha Mela. What, you’ve never heard of it? It’s only the largest gathering of humanity in the world. -CNN
The statues on Easter Island hold many mysteries, but researchers think they’ve solved one of them.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (R) and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, view a new sculpture erected to mark the 100th  anniversary of the poet Wilfred Owen’s death, during their visit to Birkenhead, northwest England. The Duke and Duchess viewed a new sculpture erected in to mark the 100th anniversary of the poet Wilfred Owen’s death. The statue, by artist Jim Whelan, is entitled ‘Futility’ after one of Owen’s poems, is cast in bronze and represents an exhausted World War One solider. Credit: Paul Eillis/AFP/Getty Images

A dragon lantern is illuminated during a lantern show to mark the upcoming Lunar New Year of the Pig in Hong Kong, China. Credit: Zhou Yi/China News Service/VCG Via Getty Images

Nest Light Artwork ‘Welcome to The Forest’ celebrating Waltham Forest becoming Borough of Culture, London, UK. Credit: Jack Dredd/Rex
Market Closes for January 15^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 2008, in the depths of the financial crisis, Citigroup eliminated 4,200 jobs and secured $14.5 billion in fresh capital from a group of investors after it announced a fourth-quarter loss of $9.8 billion.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
     (Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the eighth day, climbing 0.5 percent, or 70.75 to 15,046.28 in Toronto. The index advanced to the highest closing level since Dec. 5. 
     Enbridge Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 2.0 percent. Precision Drilling Corp. had the largest increase, rising 6.8 percent.
     Today, 140 of 239 shares rose, while 95 fell; 7 of 11 sectors were higher, led by energy stocks.
===============================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | 49.4416| 1.8| 37/6
Financials | 24.3232| 0.5| 14/12
Information Technology | 8.9959| 1.5| 9/0
Utilities | 7.5023| 1.3| 11/4
Industrials | 1.3255| 0.1| 18/10
Consumer Staples | 0.6751| 0.1| 5/5
Communication Services | 0.0816| 0.0| 3/4
Consumer Discretionary | -0.5108| -0.1| 9/8
Real Estate | -0.5700| -0.1| 12/9
Health Care | -1.3097| -0.5| 6/3
Materials | -19.1927| -1.2| 16/34
================================================================
Top Contributors |Index Points Move| % Change
================================================================
Enbridge Inc | 13.3800| 2.0
Suncor Energy | 9.1010| 2.0
TD Bank | 8.8820| 1.0
Canadian National | -2.1260| -0.4
Canopy Growth | -2.3840| -2.8
Barrick Gold | -7.5700| -3.7
================================================================
Biggest Gainers | % Change |Index Points Move
================================================================
Precision Drilling | 6.8| 0.3980
CES Energy | 5.2| 0.3150
Husky Energy | 4.7| 1.5030
================================================================
Biggest Losers | % Change | Index Points Move
================================================================
First Majestic | -10.1| -0.9600
Aphria | -5.0| -0.7190
New Gold | -4.9| -0.2890
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.08 percent to 1.3275 against the U.S. dollar
* The benchmark 10-year bond fell and the yield rose 0.5 basis points to 1.969 percent
US
By Randall Jensen and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — Technology stocks fueled a rally after China ratcheted up stimulus to combat slowing growth. The pound turned higher after U.K. politicians voted down a Brexit deal.
     The S&P 500 gained the most in more than a week, rising above the key 2,600 level — which it failed to breach on three occasions last week — for the first time in a month. The tech- heavy Nasdaq 100 recouped two days of losses after China announced more measures to boost its economy, easing concerns about the impact of the trade war. Netflix Inc. surged after saying it planned to raise prices, while the rest of the FAANG cohort rose by at least 2 percent.
     The pound erased a decline against the dollar after British lawmakers overwhelmingly voted down a Brexit deal and planned a confidence vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s government, spurring speculation Britain’s exit from the European Union could be derailed. The 10-year Treasury yield traded around 2.71 percent, while the dollar advanced against major peers. The euro dropped after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the economy is weaker than expected.
     “The market today is reacting favorably to the second-largest economy in the world actually doing stimulus rather than trying to throttle their economy,” said Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. “Tech has a lot to do with what happens in China also. The tech sector has more revenues coming from China than any other sector in the U.S.”
     The potential stimulus in China and warm welcome it received from markets reflects the delicate balance underpinning 2019’s risk-asset rebound: The same weak macro data that prompted a sell-off at the end of last year has the potential to spur looser monetary policies and therefore ignite a rally.
     Plenty of risks are clouding the outlook, not least the ongoing U.S. shutdown and the increasingly frantic countdown to Brexit.
     Investors must also factor in corporate earnings as the results season gets underway.
Here are some important events coming up:
* Some of the world’s biggest banks announce earnings, including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Alcoa, Indian IT company Mindtree, Netflix, Taiwan Semiconductor, American Express and BlackRock also post results. 
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 1.1 percent as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.4 percent.
* Germany’s DAX Index gained 0.3 percent.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.1 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 1.2 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.2 percent.
* The euro declined 0.5 percent to $1.1407.
* The British pound rose 0.2 percent at $1.284 after falling as much as 1.5 percent.
* The Japanese yen dropped 0.5 percent to 108.67 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose one basis point to 2.71 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield decreased two basis points to 0.21 percent, the lowest in more than a week.
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 1.258 percent.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 3.1 percent to $52.08 a barrel.
* Gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,289.10 an ounce.
–With assistance from Cormac Mullen, Arie Shapira, Samuel Potter, Reade Pickert and Brendan Walsh.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Jealousy is all the fun you think they had.
                          -Erica Jong, b. 1942

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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com