July 16, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: 
Carolann is out of the office this afternoon, I will be writing the newsletter on her behalf.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Proud to be blue: Fans on the Champs Elysees in Paris celebrate the victory of France in the World Cup 2018. CREDIT: STEPHANE CARDINALE – CORBIS

A butterfly and bees sit on a sunflower in Sieversdorf, eastern Germany. CREDIT: PATRICK PLEUL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

A 10-metre installation depicting a whale, made up of five tons of plastic waste pulled out of the Pacific Ocean is displayed in Brugges, Belgium, for the 2018 Bruges Triennial. CREDIT: JOHN THYS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for July 16^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell as the federal government considered new quotas and tariffs to curb an increase in foreign steel imports as a result of the ongoing trade war.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.4 percent to 16,494.73 points. Health care led losses, tumbling 3.3 percent, the most in more than two weeks. Aphria Inc. dropped 7.2 percent as cannabis stocks weighed on the sector.
     Among the outperformers, bus maker NFI Group Inc. climbed 3.1 percent, the most since March, after saying it expects rising aluminum and steel prices to have an “immaterial” impact.
     In other moves:
     Stocks
* Guyana Goldfields Inc. fell 22 percent, the most since 2008, after second quarter mining fell behind by about 2.5 million tonnes
* Pan American Silver Corp. dropped 3.9 percent after Scotiabank downgraded the company to sector perform from sector outperform
* Bombardier Inc. fell 3.5 percent even as Canada’s innovation minister said that he expects to hear good news on Airbus 220 sales. Even so, Cormark Securities downgraded the aircraft maker to reduce from market perform
     Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $16.25 discount to WTI* Gold was little changed at $1,241.10 an ounce
     FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.2 percent to C$1.3137 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose 0.5 basis points to 2.138 percent
US
By Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — Stocks struggled for direction as investors continue to weigh earnings against a backdrop of trade tensions.
The dollar and Treasuries declined.
     The S&P 500 Index drifted near the key 2,800 level, as losses in energy shares offset gains in financials. Earnings were better-than-expected from the likes of Bank of America Corp. and BlackRock Inc., while there was an upbeat early release from Deutsche Bank AG, but it did little to spur equities. Ten-year Treasury yields rose, while the greenback declined against most peers following strong upward revisions to U.S. retail sales.
     Commodities fell, with West Texas Intermediate oil slumping below $70 a barrel as Saudi Arabia was said to offer extra crude supplies to some customers. Emerging-market currencies edged higher, while their shares fell.
     “If things remain the way they are, where the fundamentals are good, but trade remains a relevant issue, I think we will be doing what we have been doing for the last few months,” Krishna Memani, the chief investment officer at OppenheimerFunds Inc., said by phone. “A two days up, two days down kind of a situation.”
     With no fresh signs of a trade war escalation and President Donald Trump at a summit with Vladimir Putin, investors will no doubt remain occupied by a slew of numbers coming over the next few days, including economic data and company earnings. Later this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to lay the groundwork for further tightening.
     These are some key events coming up this week:
* Earnings season continues with reports due from companies including: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, American Express, Netflix, Microsoft, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson and IBM.
* Fed’s Powell delivers the semi-annual Monetary Policy Report to the Senate Banking Committee and answers lawmakers’
questions.

     These are the main moves in markets:
                             Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.1 percent as of 1:35 p.m. in New York.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose less than 0.1 percent.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.2 percent.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index dropped for the first time in three days, falling 0.8 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index slumped 0.5 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.3 percent.
                           Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2 percent.
* The euro rose 0.2 percent to $1.1712.
* The British pound gained 0.1 percent to $1.3230.
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 112.32 per dollar.
* South Africa’s rand rose 0.4 percent to 13.22 per dollar.
                             Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose three basis points to
2.86 percent, while the yield on the 30-year increased three basis points to 2.96 percent.
* Italian 10-year yields rose three basis points to 2.58 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose two basis points to 0.36 percent.
                          Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 4.4 percent to $67.87 a barrel.
* Gold fell 0.1 percent at $1,239.69 an ounce.

Have a great evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Megan

Knowledge is learning something every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day. 
– Zen Proverb

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