January 28, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

St. Paul’s Winter Carnival begins today – January 28-February 6.

In 1885 a New York reporter wrote that St. Paul was “another Siberia, unfit for human habitation” in winter.  Offended by this attack on their capital city, the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce decided to not only prove that St. Paul was habitable but that its citizens were very much alive during winter, the most dominant season.  Thus was born the St. Paul Winter Carnival.  In 1888, the tallest building in St. Paul was made from 55,000 blocks of ice.  Standing 130 feet at its highest point, the castle included a Sioux Indian village, skating rinks, toboggan run, and ski slide within the castle’s 30-foot tall walls.  In 1937, the Carnival was revived on a large scale by a group of enthusiasts who sought to instill life in a city recovering from the Great Depression.  Although simpler in design than its predecessors, the 1937 castle was the first to include an elevator. See www.winter-carnival.com

1986- Challenger Space Shuttle explosion.

2009 -In a swift victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House approved a $819 billion stimulus bill.  Go to article »

José Marti, writer, b. 1853.
Man has to suffer.  When he has no real afflictions, he invents some. – José Marti.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

England’s largest Castle, Dover Castle is photographed by drone at golden hour before sunset. Credit: Chris Gorman

Members of the English Civil War Society reenactor for the commemoration of the execution of Charles I, who was taken by the King’s Army from St. James Place to the Banqueting House in Whitehall, for his execution on 30^th January 1694. Credit: Dinendra Haria/LNP

With the five-storied pagoda of Kofukuji temple in the foreground, Mount Wakakusayama in Nara is ablaze in flames in Nara, Japan. Credit: The Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images
Market Closes for January 28^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 15,378.62 in Toronto.
     Canopy Growth Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 4.9 percent. Cronos Group Inc. had the largest increase, rising 16.0 percent. Today, 113 of 239 shares rose, while 121 fell.  
     Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ousted his ambassador to China in the middle of a diplomatic feud with Beijing after a string of public remarks drew criticism. Trudeau asked for, and got, the resignation of John McCallum on Friday, according to a statement from his office issued Saturday. The move comes amid the fallout of Canada’s arrest in December of Huawei Technologies Co. Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, at the request of the U.S., which has angered China.
* SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. dropped the most in at least 27 years after the builder warned it would miss its full-year profit target due to a “serious problem” with a mining contract
* Iamgold Corp. climbed after the company said it decided to wait for improved, and sustainable, market conditions in order to proceed with the Côté Gold Project construction 
* SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. dropped the most in at least 27 years after the builder warned it would miss its full-year profit target due to a “serious problem” with a mining contract
* Iamgold Corp. climbed after the company said it decided to wait for improved, and sustainable, market conditions in order to proceed with the Côté Gold Project construction 
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $9.50 discount to WTI
* Gold fell about 0.1 percent to $1,303.66 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell about 0.5 percent to C$1.32784 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose to 1.961%
US
By Jeremy Herron and Reade Pickert
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell after Caterpillar and Nvidia blamed slowing global growth for disappointing results, augmenting concern the trade war with China is hitting corporate profits. Oil slid.
     The S&P 500 halted a three-day rally to start a week packed with events that could move markets, with the sector bellwethers dousing enthusiasm over the young earnings season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 210 points, with all but six of its 30 members in the red. Caterpillar sank 9.1 percent after pinning its biggest quarterly profit miss in a decade on weak demand from China. Nvidia plunged 14 percent after slashing its revenue forecast. AMD tumbled 8 percent.
     “When you see the big cyclical companies missing earnings or missing forecasts, it worries the market because it confirms what they’ve already been hearing from the macro side,” Dave Lafferty, chief market strategist at Natixis Investment Managers, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters. “Everyone knows the world is decelerating, they’re just waiting to see if the corporate earnings confirm that.”
     The disappointing results come amid a busy week for American corporate reports, highlighted by Microsoft, Apple and 10 other Dow components. Investors will also grapple with trade negotiations, amid a report Monday that U.S. prosecutors are planning to file criminal charges related to China’s largest smartphone maker. A Federal Reserve policy decision and Brexit votes also loom, while the U.S. stepped up pressure on Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro by announcing sanctions on PDVSA. To cap it all, a flurry of American economic figures including GDP and jobs data are also set for release.
     European equities fell, though miners bucked the decline as iron ore jumped following a deadly dam collapse at a mine in Brazil. Earlier in Asia, Japanese and Chinese shares retreated, while stocks in Hong Kong pared gains to close little changed.
     The yuan appreciated to its strongest against the dollar since July before Vice Premier Liu He travels to Washington for trade talks, and as the People’s Bank of China freed up a potential $37 billion for bank lending.
     Elsewhere, Bitcoin fell, putting the biggest cryptocurrency on track for its lowest close since December. Emerging-market stocks slipped while their currencies climbed. Gold retreated, and Venezuela bonds extended their rally. Russia’s MOEX stock index touched an intraday record high after sanctions were lifted on Rusal, before reversing gains as oil prices slumped.
Among key events in the coming days:
* Chinese President Xi’s top economic aide, Vice Premier Liu He, will meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday and Thursday.
* Tech giants Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Alibaba, SAP, Qualcomm, Tesla, Samsung and Sony announce earnings.
* On Tuesday the U.K. Parliament votes on amendments to Theresa May’s Brexit deal with the EU. The EU Parliament debates Brexit on Wednesday.
* Wednesday Fed Chairman Jerome Powell holds a news conference after the FOMC rate decision.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.8 percent as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index lost 1.3 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 1 percent.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 0.2 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index dipped 0.4 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed less than 0.1 percent.
* The euro increased 0.2 percent to $1.1433.
* The British pound declined 0.3 percent to $1.3158.
* The Japanese yen gained 0.2 percent to 109.29 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased two basis points to
2.74 percent.
* The two-year rate was little changed at 2.61 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield gained two basis points to 0.21 percent.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate oil futures fell 3.7 percent to $51.72 a barrel.
* Gold futures rose 0.3 percent to $1,307.50 an ounce.
–With assistance from Cormac Mullen and Samuel Potter.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.
                                                     -Lou Leo Holtz, b. 1937

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
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com