July 20, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On July 20^th, 1818, the poet John Keats wrote a letter to his beloved youngest brother, Tom.  Keats was on a walking tour of Scotland with Charles Brown.  Later that year, he was summoned home by friends because of Tom’s failing health.   When he returned home, Keats devoted himself to nursing his brother who was dying from tuberculosis – ensuring his own demise from the same disease less than three years later.  Here is part of that letter:

I cannot give you a better idea of Highland life than by describing the place we are in [south of Oban].  The inn or public is by far the best house in the immediate neighbourhood.  It has a white front with tolerable windows.  The table I am writing on surprises me as being a nice flapped mahogany one; at the same time the place has no water-closet nor anything like it.  You may, if you peep, see through the floor chinks into the ground rooms.  The old grandmother of the house seems intelligent though not over clean.  N.B. No snuff being to be had in the village, she made us some.  The guid man is a rough-looking hardy stout man who I think does not speak so much English as the guid wife, who is very obliging and sensible and moreover though stockingless, has a pair of old shoes.  Last night some whisky men sat up clattering Gaelic till I am sure one o’clock to our great annoyance.  There is a Gaelic Testament on the drawers in the next room.  White and blue chinaware has crept all about here.  Yesterday there passed a donkey laden with tin pots.  Opposite the window there are hills in a mist – a few ash trees and a mountain stream at a little distance.  They possess a few head of cattle.  If you had gone round to the back of the house just now, you would have seen more hills in a mist, some dozen wretched black cottages scented of peat smoke which finds its way by the door or a hole in the roof, a girl here and there barefoot.  There was one little thing driving cows down a slope like a mad thing – there was another standing at the cow-house door rather pretty faced all up to the ankles in dirt.

And…
On July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.
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PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Italy’s Eugenio Amos and co-driver Sebastien Delaunay of France traversing sand dunes Thursday during the 12th stage of the Silk Way Rally between Jiayuguan and Alxa Youqi, China. FRANCK FIFE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

A ballet dance class during the Joinville Dance Festival, which kicked off Wednesday in Joinville, Brazil. LI MING/XINHUA/ZUMA PRESS
Market Closes for July 20^th, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 2000, Vietnam opens its stock exchange to trade shares in the nation’s two stocks, Refrigeration Electrical Engineering and Cables and Telecommunications Materials.

Number of the Day
$86.2 billion
Morgan Stanley’s market capitalization at Wednesday’s close, just below Goldman’s $87.7 billion. Morgan Stanley’s market value hasn’t finished a session above its rival’s in more than a decade
Canada
By Natalie Wong
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose as gains in health care and telecoms offset declines in industrials and energy.
     The S&P/TSX composite index rose 0.1 percent to 15,264.64. Telecoms gained 0.9 percent as Rogers Communications Inc. jumped 1.4 percent after posting strong second-quarter earnings and setting a high bar high for its new CEO.
     Health care gained 1.2 percent, extending a two-day rally, as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. increased 1.9 percent and Knight Therapeutics Inc. jumped 2.9 percent.
     Industrials fell for a fourth day, dropping 0.4 percent, after Exchange Income Corp. slid 8.2 percent, the worst- performing stock in Canada, as short-seller Marc Cohodes sent the stock tumbling again even as the CEO fought back.
     In other moves:
* Energy shares fell slightly, paring a morning gain, as Encana Corp. dropped 2.9 percent and Crescent Point Energy Corp. lost 4.4 percent ahead of posting second-quarter results next Thursday
* Materials rose 0.2 percent as Yamana Gold Inc. gained 1.3 percent, Eldorado Gold Corp. increased 1.9 percent and Tahoe Resources Inc. jumped 3.3 percent after being raised to hold at Haywood
* Utilities increased 0.3 percent as Hydro One Ltd. posted a 0.8 percent gain, recovering from a morning’s decline when investors soured on Avista’s $3.4b acquisition price.
US
By Eric J. Weiner
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks gyrated Thursday following reports that U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller is expanding his investigation of President Donald Trump to examine his financial dealings. The euro climbed after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled the bank would discuss language on bond purchases in the autumn.
     The Nasdaq Composite Index closed at an all-time high for a third straight day, while the S&P 500 Index was little changed and Dow Jones Industrial Average declined. The dollar dropped, and bonds advanced. Gold gained after tumbling 0.5 percent earlier in the session.
     The euro whipsawed, retreating as the central bank deferred the delicate decision on policy normalization until later this year, and then advancing as Draghi pointed to a timeline for policy makers to consider any change in their language.
     “The ECB has maintained a very supportive approach, because inflation remains too low, despite better growth prospects,” said Gilles Pradere, portfolio manager at RAM Active Investments SA.
     Here’s our live blog on the ECB’s policy decision and Draghi’s briefing
     The euro’s jump hit stocks in the region, which erased a gain before fluctuating, and the greenback, which pared an advance as it continued to recover from Tuesday’s lowest close in 11 months. The yen dropped after Japanese policy makers delayed the time-frame for reaching their inflation target — a sign stimulus will be in place for a while to come. Oil climbed a third day.
     And here are the main moves in markets:
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 closed essentially unchanged after an up-and-down session. The Nasdaq 100 Index and Nasdaq Composite added 0.1 percent.
* EARNINGS:
** After-market Thursday: Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), E*TRADE Financial (ETFC), Visa (V), People’s United Financial (PBCT), Cintas (CTAS), Capital One Financial (COF), Microsoft (MSFT), eBay (EBAY)
** Pre-market Friday: Honeywell International (HON), Regions Financial (RF), Synchrony Financial (SYF), Huntington Bancshares (HBAN), Moody’s (MCO), General Electric (GE), Kansas City Southern (KSU), SunTrust Banks (STI), Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), Schlumberger (SLB), Citizens Financial Group (CFG)
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.4 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index gained 0.2 percent, reaching the highest on record with its 10th consecutive advance.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index added 0.8 percent to the highest in a month.
* Germany’s DAX Index declined less than 0.1 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index advanced less than 0.1 percent.
     Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3 percent to its lowest level in almost a year.
* The euro rose one basis point to $1.1625, the highest since January 2015.
* The British pound dipped one basis point to $1.2969.
* The Japanese yen slid less than one basis point to 111.94 per dollar.
     Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 2.2624 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield dropped one basis point to 0.53 percent for its fifth consecutive decline.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 1.205 percent.
     Commodities
* Gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,243.61 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.7 percent to $46.79 a barrel, reversing earlier gains.
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index rose 0.1 percent to the highest since May 26.
     Asia
* The Aussie traded lower as a characteristically volatile monthly jobs report for June showed a surge in full-time employment. It’s the best-performing G-10 currency this year, climbing 10 percent.
* Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.5 percent and Japan’s Topix Index rose 0.7 percent to close at its highest in nearly two years.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

What is it exactly that hurts you?
Open your heart and speak.  Open your eyes and see.
At the moment that you look with your eyes wide open,
everywhere you will find differences, an infinite variety.
Swami Prajnanpad

As ever,

Carolann

Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise.
                         -Alice Walker, b. 1944

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