July 24, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1969 Apollo 11, the first manned mission to the moon, splashed down safely in the Pacific.  Go to article »

Wednesday: named after Woden, principal Teutonic god.  Other languages have divine inspiration for the weekday names also.   In French and in Italia, Wednesday’s mercredi or mercoledi Is named after the Roman god Mercury.  In business, we call it “hump day”.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

“Gateway’, an intricately designed swimming pool by Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, is unveiled at the Jupiter Artland sculpture park at Kirknewton, Edinburgh, before it opens to the public on Saturday as part of the 2019 Edinburgh Art Festival.
CREDIT: OWEN HUMPHREYS/PA WIRE

A man rides a jet ski during sunset on Lake Van in Edremit district of Van, Turkey.
CREDIT: OZKAN BILGIN/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES

A daredevil admires a spectacular fireworks display from a highline. Slackliner Sarah Rixham, 28, flung her arms wide open as she watched the colorful show from the 65ft-high wire. While two million people watched the fireworks from the ground at Zurich Fest, Switzerland, adrenaline junkie Miss Rixham spent five minutes up on the line watching the action. Professional slackline photographer Aidan Williams captured these images of Mis Rixham enjoying the fireworks show.
CREDIT: AIDAN WILLIAMS/SOLENT NEWS

A professional balance performer hiked to the edge of a cliff to perform a deadly dangerous handstand at more than 1300ft. The adrenaline-filled footage was captured by Eskil Ronningsbakken at Rampestreken viewpoint in Andalsnes, Norway on his fortieth birthday, June 24. The viewpoint was 400 metres high and overlooked some incredible Norwegian scenery and required Eskil to travel 1.7 km in order to reach the spot.
CREDIT: CATERS NEWS
Market Closes for July 24th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Stocks in Canada erased earlier losses, with the key benchmark ending Wednesday at a three-month high. Transportation shares paced the gains as Canadian National Railway Co. topped second-quarter earnings estimates. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.2% to 16,611.84 in Toronto, reaching the highest level since April. Industrials, technology and materials were the best-performing sectors, while energy and health-care posted the only losses.
Energy shares slipped more than 1% after oil fell on news that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will coordinate the resumption of crude output in a disputed neutral zone that could yield 500,000 barrels a day. Meanwhile, pot stocks declined as CannTrust Holdings Inc. slumped on a report that executives knew the cannabis company was growing pot in unlicensed rooms well before government regulators unearthed the violation.

In other moves:
Stocks
* Gold and silver companies such as Sandstorm Gold Ltd., Pan American Silver, Torex Gold Resources Inc. and Eldorado Gold Corp. were among miners that gained as metal prices rose
* Hexo Corp. fell after Quebec said it will ban sweet pot edibles ahead of next legalization phase
Ratings
* BCB CN: Cott Upgraded to Buy at Goldman
* EDR CN: Endeavour Silver Downgraded to Neutral at PI Financial; PT C$3
* ESI CN: Ensign Energy Services Raised to Sector Perform at Scotiabank
* EXN CN: Excellon Resources Cut to Neutral at PI Financial; PT C$1.15
* HNL CN: Horizon North Logistics Cut to Sector Perform at Scotiabank
* PD CN: Precision Drilling Raised to Sector Perform at Scotiabank
* RCI/B CN: Rogers Communications Upgraded to Buy at Echelon Wealth; PT C$79
* TRI CN: Thomson Reuters Downgraded to Sell at Canaccord
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $14.75 discount to WTI
* Gold spot price rose 0.5% to $1,425.52 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell about 0.06% to C$1.3144 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.445%
U.S.
By Sarah Ponczek and Olivia Rinaldi
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks pushed higher for a third day as investors looked past weak economic data and mixed corporate results, including an unexpected quarterly loss for Boeing. Treasuries advanced along with bonds in Europe. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed to a record after Texas Instruments posted strong earnings, while UPS’s bullish profit guidance helped push the S&P 500 to an all-time closing high. Along with Boeing, Caterpillar weighed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. After the close of regular trading, Facebook climbed on higher-than-forecast revenue, while Ford slumped as earnings missed estimates.
“I like that we do have this idiosyncratic risk in the market right now where these indices are being pushed by the underlying constituents, not necessarily global-macro forces,” said Joe Mallen, chief investment officer of Helios Quantitative Research in Tampa, Florida. European bond yields dropped to unprecedented lows as disappointing manufacturing data added to concerns about the region’s growth and bolstered expectations for more central bank accommodation, including by the Federal Reserve. “The Fed backdrop is providing some cushion so-to-speak,” Nancy Perez, senior portfolio manager at Boston Private Wealth, said by phone. “It would be very healthy to trade sideways here and digest the earnings, digest trade policy.”
Broadly positive earnings reports have buoyed stocks this so far week, though Deutsche Bank’s woes and flagging demand reported by carmakers and other manufacturers gave investors a reminder of the uncertain outlook for the global economy. To add to that, the U.S. Justice Department opened a broad probe into whether dominant technology firms are unlawfully stifling competition, hitting shares of Amazon and Alphabet. Central banks remain in focus after the IMF on Tuesday revised its forecasts for global growth lower and the Federal Reserve is seen trimming its policy rate by a quarter percentage point next week. The European Central Bank may hold fire tomorrow, though its message will be closely parsed for signs of a September move as the poor economic data ramp up pressure to deliver stimulus.
Elsewhere, Britain’s pound rebounded from a two-year low following Boris Johnson’s victory in the contest to succeed Theresa May as U.K. prime minister, though the nation’s equity benchmark underperformed. The dollar dropped for the first time in four days.
Here are some key events coming up:
* Earnings season rolls on with companies including Amazon.com, Alphabet, Unilever and McDonald’s still to report this week.
* Thursday brings the European Central Bank policy decision. Economists widely expect officials to signal their readiness to cut interest rates and potentially broaden stimulus. Some see the chance of an immediate rate cut. ECB President Mario Draghi holds a briefing afterward.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index climbed 0.5% to 3,019.56 as of 4:06 p.m. New York time, the highest on record.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.8% to 8,321.50, the highest on record with the biggest increase in more than three weeks.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 27,269.97, the largest fall in a week.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was little changed at 391.73, the highest in almost three weeks.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index sank 0.7% to 7,501.46, the largest decrease in almost eight weeks.
* Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 0.4% to 21,709.57, the highest in almost three weeks.
* Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.2% to 28,524.04.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1% to 1,198.85.
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 108.20 per dollar.
* The euro sank 0.1% to $1.1138, the weakest in almost eight weeks.
* The British pound increased 0.3% to $1.2482.
* The Swiss franc was little changed at $0.9854, the weakest in a week.
* The Canadian dollar decreased 0.1% to C$1.3148 per U.S. dollar, the weakest in more than four weeks.
* The Australian dollar decreased 0.4% to 0.698 per dollar, the weakest in almost two weeks.
Bonds
* The yield on two-year Treasuries sank two basis points to 1.82%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to -0.38%, reaching the lowest in almost three weeks on its sixth straight decline and the biggest fall in a week.
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined four basis points to
2.04%, the largest fall in a week.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.678%, reaching the lowest in almost three weeks on its sixth straight decline.
–With assistance from Vildana Hajric.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

The most common error made in matters of appearance
is the belief that one should disdain the superficial and let
the true beauty of one’s soul shine through.  If there are
places on one’s body where this is a possibility,
you are not attractive – you are leaking.
                                          -Fran Lebowitz, b. 1946

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