July 6, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: HAPPY FRIDAY!

July 6, 1854: Republican party formed.

Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.  -Ronald Reagan

Since a boys’ soccer team became trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand on June 23, a sprawling rescue effort has captured the world’s attention.

The effort is the latest chapter in the annals of cave rescues.

A cave rescue in Germany in 2014.
Bergwacht Bayern, via Getty Images

The sport of caving was first developed in the late 19th century, and its popularity grew partly as a result of explorations by Édouard-Alfred Martel, a caving pioneer from France. The first clubs were formed in England in the 1920s and ’30s.

Comprehensive data on worldwide cave rescues since then is scarce. But one study found that there were 1,356 documented cases of “cavers requiring rescue” in the U.S. from 1980 to 2008.

And the Cave Rescue Organization, the oldest cave-rescue group in Britain, says it has responded to 2,927 episodes since its founding in 1935. Of those, 745 were in caves; the rest were on mountains and in disused mines or other locations.

The all-volunteer group says the episodes involved 4,193 people and hundreds of animals, including 252 lambs, 226 sheep, 79 dogs, nine cows, nine ducks, one rabbit and one cat. 

Mike Ives wrote today’s Back Story., New York Times, July 6, 2018

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A vendor waits for clients at a flower booth at a local market during the 2018 soccer World Cup in Kazan, Russia. Credit: The Telegraph

A man looks at goldfish during a press preview of the 2016 EDO Nihonbashi Art Aquarium exhibition om Tokyo, Japan. Credit: Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images

Rare Bioluminescent Plankton light up the ocean in Penmon, Anglesey, Wales. Credit: Paul Joinson/SWNS.COM

A woman views an installation of umbrellas at a night market in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Credit: Taylor Weidman/Bloomberg
Market Closes for July 6^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Stefanie Marotta
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose even as the country’s trade deficit in May widened thanks to an unexpected decline in exports.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.7 percent to 16,371.78, the largest gain in two weeks. Telecom led gains, rising 1.7 percent to the highest point since January. Rogers Communications Inc. climbed 1.8 percent, the most since April.
     Transcontinental Inc. added 5.5 percent, the most in four weeks. The printing company dropped below $30 for the first time in a month yesterday, spurring some investors to jump on the lower price.
     In other moves:
                             Stocks
* Cogeco Communications Inc. climbed 3.6 percent after National Bank of Canada upgraded it to outperform from sector perform.
* Meg Energy Corporation rose 3 percent despite AltaCorp Capital downgraded to sector perform from outperform
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $19.60 discount to WTI
* Aeco natural gas traded at a $1.89 discount to Henry Hub
* Gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,255.80 n ounce
                              FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.2 percent to C$1.31027 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell two basis points to 2.128 percent
US
By Sarah Ponczek and Olivia Schaber
     (Bloomberg) — Technology beat the trade war, for a day at least.
     U.S. stocks rose in light trading Friday as biotech shares drove gains following a report that Biogen Inc.’s Alzheimer’s drug showed positive results in a large clinical trial. The dollar extended losses and Treasuries climbed as investors assessed a mixed jobs report and the impact of an escalating trade rift with China.
     All major U.S. equity benchmarks were higher. The S&P 500 Index rose, clinching its biggest weekly increase in a month, following the release of the employment report, which showed U.S. hiring topped forecasts in June. Nasdaq gauges jumped by more than 1 percent with biotech firms, chipmakers, and software and tech hardware companies leading the way.
     Volume was soft, with trading in S&P 500 stocks 23 percent below normal and Dow Jones Industrial Average shares 32 percent off their daily average. The dollar was lower and Treasuries rose as traders tried to determine how the Federal Reserve will react to the jobs report showing wage increases slowing.
     “In many respects, it’s the best of a lot of worlds,” David Ader, chief macro strategist at Informa Financial Intelligence, said of the jobs report. “You’re not seeing inflation in this number. This doesn’t change anything for the Fed, and that I think is very, very important.”
     Global stocks had been under pressure after China said it was retaliating over U.S. tariffs and President Donald Trump threatened to impose levies on even more Chinese goods. The escalating tit-for-tat is stoking market fears that the world economy could become destabilized amid a trade war that isn’t set to end anytime soon. For example, billionaire Ray Dalio, founder of the investment firm Bridgewater Associates, tweeted that “Today is the first day of the war with China.”
     “If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past couple of years, it’s that politics hasn’t been rattling the markets,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network. “But it’s the next phase, when it shows up in things people buy on a day-to-day basis — that’s when it starts to get nasty.”
     Follow our live blog as China says it is forced to retaliate on U.S. tariffs.
     The Bloomberg Commodity Index reversed a loss and moved higher. West Texas crude slipped below $73 a barrel early in the session before surging higher, and copper traded at a one-year low after suffering its worst week since January 2015. Emerging- market shares put up their first gain of the week.
     In Europe, stocks drifted higher, with defensive plays such as utilities among the leaders, underscoring the cautious mood. Deutsche Bank AG rose on speculation of takeover bids. The euro rose after a jump in German industrial production.
     Here are the main market moves:
                           Stocks
* The S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent to 2,759.71, while the Nasdaq 100 Index rose 1.5 percent and posted its best week since May.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.2 percent
* The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 0.8 percent to the highest in two weeks.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index increased 0.7 percent, the first advance in a week.
                            Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4 percent to the lowest in about a month.
* The euro jumped 0.5 percent to $1.1744, the strongest in more than three weeks.
* The British pound climbed 0.4 percent to $1.3277, the strongest in more than a week.
* The Japanese yen nudged 0.2 percent higher to 110.44 per dollar.
                            Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped less than a basis point to 2.8336 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield slid one basis point to 0.292 percent, the lowest in more than five weeks.
* Britain’s 10-year yield added one basis point to 1.267 percent.
                           Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index rose 0.8 percent.
* West Texas Intermediate crude surged 1.2 percent to $73.82 a barrel.
* LME copper sank 1 percent to $6,282 per metric ton, reaching the lowest in about a year on its worst week since January 2015.
* Gold dipped 0.2 percent to $1,255.08 an ounce.
–With assistance from Sid Verma, Eddie van der Walt and Katia Dmitrieva.

Have a great weekend. 

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Romance is everything.
-Gertrude Stein, 1874-1946 

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
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