January 7, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Monday!

On this day1999 President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial began in the Senate. Go to article »
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The sun sets on Bosham Harbour in West Sussex, reputedly the spot where King Canute commanded the waves to retreat. Credit: Chris Gorman/Bigladder

The Lions, part of a group of professional performers on Bankside, appear during the annual Twelfth Night celebrations on the South Bank in central London. Credit: Yui Mok/PA

A partial solar eclipse is seen through a silhouette of a bird setting on tree branches in Yinchuan, China. Credit: Reuters
Market Closes for January 7^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1992, the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite eclipsed the 600 threshold, finishing the day at 602.29.  (Nasdaq closed today at 6823.473).
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks ended Monday in the green after a weak start, with the S&P/TSX Composite Index gaining 0.5 percent. Information technology and consumer discretionary led the way while materials underperformed.
     Heavy Canadian crude surged to the strongest level in more than a year as rail shipments keep rising even as production was curtailed, while AltaCorp Capital was bullish on the marijuana sector.
Stocks
* Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc. rose 12 percent after getting license to process cannabis from Health Canada 
* Green Thumb Industries Inc. gained 11.4 percent after deal to buy Advanced Grow Labs 
* Maxar Technologies Inc. lost 33 percent after one of its imaging satellites, WorldView-4, failed 
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $10.50 discount to WTI
* Gold gained 0.3 percent to $1,289.90 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.6 percent to C$1.32979 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.944%
US
By Reade Pickert and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rallied Monday but gave back some early gains as small-caps and technology shares led the way amid the resumption of trade talks with China. The dollar fell to its lowest level since October and Treasury yields ticked higher with traders assessing the seemingly dovish remarks from
     Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell on Friday. All major U.S. equity benchmarks ended higher. The S&P 500 Index added 0.7 percent after rising as much as 1.4 percent earlier in the session on strength in retailers, automakers and clothing companies. Amazon.com Inc. jumped 3.4 percent, pushing its market cap to $796.8 billion. It surpassed Microsoft Corp. as the most valuable company after the software firm only edged higher by 0.1 percent for a value of $788.9 billion
     The biggest jump among major gauges came from the small- capitalization Russell 2000 Index, which picked up 1.8 percent.
     Meanwhile, the Nasdaq benchmarks rose more than 1 percent with telecommunications services and semiconductor shares pacing gains, giving the Nasdaq 100 Index its first back-to-back 1 percent gains since November.
     “What you really, really want to see, are things like the Russell 2000 outperforming — and it is massively right now,” said Michael Antonelli, equity sales trader at Robert W. Baird.
     “You want to see the risky, risky stuff bouncing hard.” Despite the enthusiasm, investors remain in a quandary after the wild end to 2018 in which the S&P 500 lost more than 9 percent in a month. Powell’s soothing comments on Friday and China’s moves to shore up its economy lifted sentiment somewhat, sending the S&P 500 up 1.9 percent last week, but risks remain.
     And U.S. lawmakers are still unable to reach agreement on a budget, leaving the federal government shut down for a third week. “We have a respectable probability that Friday’s rally and the last week-and-a-half’s rally has more legs behind it,” said David Sowerby, managing director and portfolio manager at the investment firm Ancora, which manages $6.9 billion. “It’s Fed policy right now, that’s first and foremost the most important gauge impacting the market today. Trade issues, number two. A very distant number three is the government shutdown.”
     Fresh trade talks between the U.S. and China helped sap demand for the greenback, while Treasuries slipped after a substantial retreat on Friday. The pound slid against the euro as U.K. lawmakers sought to avoid a no-deal Brexit. The common currency remained solidly up even as data showed German factory orders fell more than expected in November.
     Elsewhere, emerging-market shares jumped, and the Indonesian rupiah led gains in major developing-nation currencies. Oil rose to the highest in three weeks, and gold climbed after China reported increased holdings.
Here are some events investors may focus on this week:
* A U.S. delegation is in Beijing for trade talks with Chinese officials, the first face-to-face encounter since Trump and Xi agreed to a temporary truce on Dec. 1.
* Wednesday sees the release of minutes from the Fed’s Dec. 18-19 policy meeting. Powell will speak to the Economic Club of Washington D.C. on Thursday. 
* U.K. Parliament resumes a debate on the Brexit withdrawal bill, with Prime Minister Theresa May seeking to avoid defeat in a vote set for the week of Jan. 14.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent to 2,548.71, while the Russell 2000 climbed 1.8 percent and Nasdaq 100 gained 1 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.4 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index increased 0.9 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index advanced 1.3 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.4 percent to the lowest since October.
* The euro gained 0.7 percent to $1.1475, the most in more than a week.
* The Japanese yen slipped 0.2 percent to 108.72 per dollar.
* The British pound increased 0.4 percent to $1.2768, the strongest in a month.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index advanced 0.3 percent to the highest since July.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained two basis points to 2.6924 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 0.221 percent. 
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to 1.254 percent.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index climbed 0.3 percent.
* West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 1.5 percent to $48.66 a barrel, the highest in three weeks on its sixth consecutive gain.
* Gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,288.94 an ounce.
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, John Ainger, Eddie van der Walt and Randall Jensen.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Adventure is worthwhile in itself.
  -Amelia Earhart, 1897-1937

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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com