January 2, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  WISHING YOU A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

OUR STORY
-William Stafford

Remind me again – together we
trace our strange journey, find
each other, come on laughing.
Some time we’ll cross where life
ends.  We’ll both look back
as far as forever, that first day. 
I’ll touch you – a new world then.
Stars will move a different way.
We’ll both end.  We’ll both begin.
Remind me again

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A “wolf moon” rises behind St. Paul’s Cathedral and London City’s skyline.

A flock of starling morphs into one giant bird in the skies over Spain’s Costa Brava. Daniel Biber, 53, spent four days observing hundreds of thousands of birds before capturing the breathtaking event.

Brazilian surfer Marcelo Luna rides a wave during the first surf lesson session of 2018 at Praia do Norte in Nazare, Portugal.

A dune buggy practices during a sand dune racing at the Liwa 2018 Moreeb Dune Festival in the Liwa desert, some 250 kilometres west of the Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Market Closes for January 2^nd, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1915, a scant 23,505 shares trade hands on the New York Stock Exchange, its slowest trading day of the 20th century. By the end of the year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average will have gained 82%, its greatest annual gain of all time.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks kicked off 2018 with a fresh high, gaining the most in almost four weeks as gold and energy shares rose.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 101 points or 0.6 percent to 16,309.99. Materials stocks jumped 2.7 percent as gold prices posted their longest stretch of gains since mid-2011. Barrick Gold Corp. rose 4.6 percent.
     The energy index gained 1.9 percent to the highest since early November as crude prices hovered above $60 amid anti- government protests in Iran. Cenovus Energy Inc. jumped 6.1 percent, the biggest gain since September.
     In other moves:
                         Stocks
* Canopy Growth Corp. gained 8.8 percent and Aphria Inc. rose 8 percent as long line ups to buy newly legalized marijuana in California and a new exchange-traded fund boosted pot stocks
* Westport Fuel Systems Inc. jumped 11 percent. The company is in a development and supply pact with Tata Motors Ltd.
* Brookfield Asset Management Inc. fell 1.5 percent. The company raised $885 million for its first infrastructure debt fund
                         Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $25 discount to WTI, the narrowest gap in two weeks
* Gold rose 0.5 percent to $1,316.10 an ounce, the highest since mid-September
                         FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.3 percent to $1.2508 per U.S. dollar, the strongest since October
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose four basis points to 2.08 percent, the highest in nearly three months
US
By Lu Wang and Kailey Leinz
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose to record highs, Treasuries tumbled and the dollar weakened against all of its G-10 peers in the first official day of trading in 2018.
     Technology shares led the rally and analyst upgrades fueled gains in consumer-discretionary companies. The NASDAQ 100 Index climbed 1.8 percent, the biggest gain since Oct. 27. The NASDAQ Composite closed above 7,000 for the first time, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index also finished at an all-time high. European stocks started the year in the red, failing to capitalize on a positive Asian session as the strength of the region’s common currency weighed on exporters.
     European bonds dropped and the euro strengthened to near a three-year high against the dollar as the region’s manufacturing activity expanded in line with estimates in December. The Bloomberg Dollar Index hit a three-month low, helping propel gold to the highest since September. West Texas oil fluctuated as Iran said protests in the country will fade in days. Bitcoin recovered from Monday’s losses.
     “The backdrop for the dollar is just not very good,” said Mark McCormick, head of FX strategy for North America for Toronto Dominion Bank. “The global reflation trade is progressing along and the backdrop is that we’re rotating into a regime shift and that comes with a changing backdrop for capital flows.”
     The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped, with consumer staples leading the decline as a majority of industry sectors ended lower. In Asia, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed to a record, though markets in Tokyo remain closed until Thursday for Japanese holidays. Chinese equities led gains as property shares soared and a gauge of the nation’s manufacturing strength beat expectations. 
     Investors begin 2018 on the heels of a winning year for equities and a losing one for the greenback. Global stocks last year posted their best performance since 2009, fueled by a synchronous expansion and a go-slow approach toward monetary- stimulus withdrawal in major economies.
     Here are the main events to watch for this week:
* MiFID II, the biggest change to European investment industry rules in a decade, takes effect Wednesday.
* FOMC December meeting minutes also expected Wednesday.
* U.S. non-farm payrolls due Friday.     
     These are the main moves in markets:
                           Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index climbed 0.8 percent to 2,695.79 as of 4:11 p.m. in New York, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4 percent to 24,824.01 and the NASDAQ Composite Index rose 1.5 percent to 7,006.898.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dipped 0.2 percent, after reaching the lowest in almost four weeks.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index declined 0.5 percent.
* Germany’s DAX Index fell 0.4 percent, after touching the lowest in almost 14 weeks.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index jumped 1 percent to the highest on record.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index jumped 1.8 percent to the highest in almost seven years.
                          Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.5 percent to 1,153.42, after touching the lowest in 14 weeks.
* The euro increased 0.4 percent to the strongest in about three years.
* The British pound climbed 0.7 percent to $1.3597, the strongest in almost 15 weeks.
* The Japanese yen advanced 0.3 percent to 112.26 per dollar, the strongest in almost five weeks.
                           Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased five basis points to 2.46 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose four basis points to 0.46 percent, the highest in almost 10 weeks.
* Britain’s 10-year yield advanced 10 basis points to 1.29 percent, the highest in about a month.
                           Commodities 
* West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed at $60.37 a barrel.
* Gold gained 1.2 percent to $1,317.69 an ounce, the highest in more than 15 weeks.
* Copper dipped 0.6 percent to $3.28 a pound.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Man is able to do what he is unable to imagine.
                             -Rene Char, 1907-1988

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
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com