January 25, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday!

On Jan. 25, 1915, the inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, inaugurated U.S. transcontinental telephone service. 
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In today’s New York Times:

A Scottish feast honoring a poet

Robert Burns, the Scottish poet, was born on this day in 1759. He wrote hundreds of poems and songs, including the New Year’s Eve favorite “Auld Lang Syne,” before his life was cut short by illness.

Robert Burns, circa 1786.  Hulton Archive, via Getty Images

His use of vernacular is a barrier for many English speakers, but it is difficult to overstate the esteem he commands in Scotland and in the hearts of expatriates like this writer, who grew up in Burns’s home of Ayrshire.

His verses gave dignity and voice to the disenfranchised, and he is beloved for his romanticism and sense of humor. Scots around the world celebrate his birth with “Burns suppers.”

The most elaborate celebrations feature pipers marching in with a haggis (a traditional concoction of minced offal, oatmeal and spices) to a standing ovation, and a recitation by the host of Burns’s praise-filled “Address to a Haggis.”

So tonight, whatever is on your plate, join me in a toast to one of Scotland’s best-loved sons. — Chris, NY Times, January 25, 2019.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A cheeky robin hops inside a camper van hoping to be fed on a cold afternoon at Loch Lomond. < Scotland, UK. The unfortunate bird has an overgrown and misshapen beak which may take feeding itself more difficult. Credit: Kay Roxby/Alamy Live News

Indian soldiers of the President’s Bodyguard stand guard during a rehearsal for the upcoming Indian Republic Day parade at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi. They are the most elite regiment in the Indian Army, handpicked by height and heritage from a pool of thousands bedecked in the finest regalia befitting their status. The President’s Bodyguard, a 200-strong cavalry unit, have for centuries been assigned to India’s uppermost VIPs, from British viceroys to modern-day heads of state. Credit: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images

A visitor plays a game with water spray Water is thrown into the air and freezes, Beiji Village, Mohe City of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, China. With the lowest temperature approaching minus 30 degrees Celsius, visitors in Mohe Village experienced the game of ‘pouring water into ice’ here. Credit: Xinhua/Rex
Market Closes for January 25^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1997, pyramid schemes promising returns of 8% per month collapsed all at once throughout Albania. Furious mobs of bilked investors besieged the nation’s deputy prime minister, Tritan Shehu, who cowered for safety in the locker room of a soccer stadium. By some estimates, $1 billion—or 30% of the nation’s gross domestic product—was invested in the Ponzi schemes. Investors lost nearly everything—and ended up overturning the government.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose for a fifth straight week, the longest stretch since May, amid strong earnings and optimism that an end to the U.S. government shutdown may be in sight.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 0.6 percent to 15,366.05, its highest close since Nov. 7. For the week, the benchmark rose 0.4 percent.
     Health-care stocks led the gains in Friday’s session, up 3 percent, as Canopy Growth Corp. jumped 8.6 percent to the highest since Oct. 17, the day Canada legalized recreational marijuana. Piper Jaffray analysts raised their price target on the stock, citing its entry into the U.S. hemp market.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Linamar Corp. gained 4.8 percent to the highest since November. The auto parts supplier said it plans to buy back up to 4.5 million shares
* Interfor Corp. added 7.1 percent and Canfor Corp. rose 6.3 percent as lumber prices continue to rebound from their 2018 lows
* Cameco Corp. rose 2.8 percent. The company plans to buy about 12 million pounds of uranium this year after shutting mining and milling operations in 2018 due to low prices
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $9.75 discount to WTI
* Gold rose 1.7 percent to $1,308.20 an ounce, topping $1,300 an ounce for the first time in three weeks
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 1 percent to C$1.3224 per U.S. dollar, the biggest gain since September, as the U.S. dollar weakened
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose 4 basis points to 1.98 percent
US
By Sarah Ponczek and Reade Pickert
     (Bloomberg) — Stocks rose as corporate earnings bolstered confidence in the economy and President Donald Trump said U.S. lawmakers agreed to re-open the government on an interim basis.
     Treasuries yields rose and the dollar weakened against most of its major peers.
     The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite indexes erased their first weekly declines of the year to finish in the green, while the S&P 500 finished marginally lower. The rally in emerging-market assets picked up steam on speculation the arrival of a Chinese delegation in Washington next week may help pave the way for a trade deal. Adding to optimism were reports that the Federal Reserve is weighing an end to a program of reducing its balance sheet sooner than previously expected, a move that could ease measures of financial conditions.
     “My sense is there’s potential for the risk taking channel to kick in,” said Tim Alt, a portfolio manager at Aviva Investors.
     The shutdown deal was a dramatic turnaround for Trump after insisting for five weeks that he wouldn’t allow the government to reopen without funding for a border wall. He pivoted as his job approval plunged, air travel was disrupted and smooth processing of tax refunds was threatened.
     “We still have the uncertainty but at least the crisis has been postponed or averted,” said John Carey, managing director and portfolio manager at Amundi Pioneer Asset Management. “It’s a question of relieving the short term pressure.”
     Elsewhere, Venezuela’s defaulted 2027 dollar bonds climbed to 30.9 percent of face value as the European Union appeared to be moving toward pushing for an immediate election. West Texas oil futures closed higher as traders weighed the Venezuelan crisis and its possible effect on production with the outlook of a market that’s otherwise comfortably supplied. And the pound posted its best week since September 2017, extending its increase on heightened optimism that a no-deal Brexit will be averted.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.9 percent to 2,664.76 as of 4:05 p.m. New York time, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.3 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.8 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.6 percent.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.1 percent.
* Germany’s DAX Index rose 1.4 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index rose 1.4 percent, the biggest gain in almost two weeks.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dropped 0.7 percent, the biggest decline in about two weeks.
* The euro jumped 1 percent to $1.1417.
* The British pound rose 1.1 percent to $1.3214.
* The Japanese yen gained 0.1 percent to 109.49 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed three basis points to 2.75 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 0.19 percent, the first increase in five days.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose four basis points to 1.31 percent. 
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate rose 0.8 percent to $53.56 a barrel.
* Gold rose 1.5 percent to $1,300 an ounce.
–With assistance from Liz Capo McCormick, Sophie Caronello and Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou.Have a great night.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.
                                            -Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882

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
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com