January 16, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this day in 1919, prohibition takes effect in the U.S. when the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes,” is ratified.

1874: Poet Robert Service was born.

The Shooting of Dan McGrew
          BY ROBERT W. SERVICE

A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malamute saloon; 
The kid that handles the music-box was hitting a jag-time tune; 
Back of the bar, in a solo game, sat Dangerous Dan McGrew, 
And watching his luck was his light-o’-love, the lady that’s known as Lou. 

When out of the night, which was fifty below, and into the din and the glare, 
There stumbled a miner fresh from the creeks, dog-dirty, and loaded for bear. 
He looked like a man with a foot in the grave and scarcely the strength of a louse, 
Yet he tilted a poke of dust on the bar, and he called for drinks for the house. 
There was none could place the stranger’s face, though we searched ourselves for a clue; 
But we drank his health, and the last to drink was Dangerous Dan McGrew. 

There’s men that somehow just grip your eyes, and hold them hard like a spell; 
And such was he, and he looked to me like a man who had lived in hell; 
With a face most hair, and the dreary stare of a dog whose day is done, 
As he watered the green stuff in his glass, and the drops fell one by one. 
Then I got to figgering who he was, and wondering what he’d do, 
And I turned my head — and there watching him was the lady that’s known as Lou…
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Angler Kenny Docherty casts from the banks of the river Tay during the traditional opening of the river Tay Salmon Season in Kenmore, Scotland. The traditional opening of the River Tay salmon season takes place in the middle of January each year. It has been staged at Kenmore since 1947. Fisherman from all over Scotland gather in front of the Kenmore Hotel before heading to the river Tay.

Charlotte Nowacki prepares a cast Berlinale bear trophy for the 68^th Berlin International Film Festival  at the Hermann Noack Bildgiesserei foundry in Berlin, Germany.

View from North Hill, Worcestershire showing the mist in Great Malvern.  Photographer with his head in the clouds captures stunning series of enchanting images showing stars above the cloud cover of Great Malvern, Worcestershire.

A humpback whale, that was freed after being entangled, breaches out of the water off Maken Beach on Hawaii’s island of Maui.  The humpback whale was freed if braided line caught in its mouth on Friday.  It was first spotted on Thursday by the captain of a fishing vessel. Rescue teams then went to the scene and began to remove the more than 285 feet (87 metres) if braided line that the whale was trailing.
Market Closes for January 16^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell the most in a month as the recent rallies in metals and oil stumbled, pressuring mining and energy shares.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index declined 0.5 percent to 16,298.88, the first drop in four trading days. Materials stocks fell 1.2 percent, the most in six weeks. Tahoe Resources Inc. lost 7.2 percent and Kinross Gold Corp. fell 4.3 percent.
     The energy index retreated 1.2 percent as crude prices tumbled 0.9 percent, ending a five-day rally. NexGen Energy Ltd. fell 6.8 percent and Peyto Exploration & Development Corp. lost 6.6 percent.
     In other moves:
                        Stocks
* Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. lost 5.6 percent. The proposed $290 million settlement between Valeant and Pershing Square Capital Management faces hurdles from a U.S. federal judge
* Home Capital Group Inc. fell 1.2 percent. Short-seller Marc Cohodes is suing the company for C$4 million, citing “significant misrepresentations”
* Constellation Software Inc. jumped 6.9 percent to a record high after announcing a deal to buy Acceo Solutions Inc. for C$250 million
                        Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $21 discount to WTI, the narrowest gap since early December
* Gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,337.10 an ounce, the highest since September
                         FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was unchanged at $1.2430 per U.S. dollar ahead of the Bank of Canada rate decision Wednesday
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell one basis point to 2.18 percent
US
By Adam Haigh
     (Bloomberg) — Asian stocks looked set to pullback from record highs, following declines seen in their U.S. counterparts as weaker metals and oil prices weighed on commodity producers. Treasuries rose amid Congressional talks to avert a government shutdown Friday.
     Futures on equity indexes in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong all declined. The S&P 500 Index’s drop left it more than 1 percent lower than its session high Wednesday. The yen held on to gains that’s made it a top currency wager for funds betting on a shift in policy from the Bank of Japan. Bitcoin joined a slump in cryptocurrencies, tumbling as much as 26 percent to below $11,000.
     Traders are questioning the pace of gains in equity markets at the start of 2018 as earnings season ramps up and bond investors bet monetary policy in the U.S. may be tightened more quickly. The flattening of the yield curve is also back in focus after a brief movement in the opposite direction earlier this month.
     “While the backdrop for equities and other risk assets remains strong, we are seeing warning signs,” said Bob Doll, senior portfolio manager and chief equity strategist at Nuveen Asset Management LLC. Investors “should be assessing their risk tolerances in preparation for more volatility.”
     Here’s what to watch out for this week:
* Earnings season ramps up: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., ASML Holdings NV, Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are among some notable releases.
* Industrial production in the U.S. probably increased in December, a report may show Wednesday, completing a solid year for manufacturing.
* U.S. housing starts probably slipped in December for the first time in three months as frigid winter weather impeded work, forecasts show ahead of Thursday’s release.
* The Bank of Canada’s interest-rate decision comes Wednesday. Monetary policy announcements are also this week due in South Korea, South Africa and Turkey.
* China releases fourth quarter GDP, December industrial production and retail sales Thursday.

      And these are the main moves in markets:
                           Stocks
* Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 0.5 percent in Chicago.
* Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.5 percent.
* Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dipped 0.2 percent.
* The S&P 500 lost 0.4 percent.
                          Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was essentially unchanged, erasing an earlier advance.
* The euro slid 0.1 percent to $1.2254.
* The pound was little changed at $1.3791.
* The yen traded flat at 110.46 per dollar near the strongest in four months.
                           Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries slipped less than one basis point to 2.54 percent.
* Australia’s 10-year yield was steady at 2.77 percent.
                           Commodities
* Gold dipped 0.1 percent to $1,338.55 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.7 percent to $63.88 a barrel, the first retreat in more than a week.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Ah!  The clock is always slow: It is later than you think.
                                   -Robert Service, 1874-1958

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
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