June 11, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1578 – Elizabeth I grants Humphrey Gilbert patent to explore & colonize North America

From CNN today:

RED MEAT VS WHITE MEAT

It’s a commonly held belief that white meat (like chicken) is better for you than red meat (like beef). But according to a new study, both have the same negative impact on your cholesterol. Overall, white meat is probably less harmful to your heart, the researchers say, because there may be other effects of eating red meat that contribute to cardiovascular disease.

“Finding by finding, we are confirming that a plant-based diet tends to have better health results,” said one registered dietician who reviewed the study. Here are the things she says you should be eating more of.

Along with what we choose to eat and drink, we ingest tiny pieces of plastic called microplasticsevery day. New research estimates that Americans consume between 74,000 and 121,000 microplastic particles every year. Do you drink bottled water? It can add up to 90,000 particles to your annual total. The full impact on our health isn’t known, but research shows that some particles are small enough to enter our tissues, where they can trigger an immune reaction or release toxic substances and pollutants absorbed from the environment, including heavy metals.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A woman watches the sunset on the 42^nd Street in Manhattan, New York, the United States
CREDIT: XINHUA/ BARCROFT MEDIA

Rice seedling festival is a traditional folk festival in longji, guangxi, China, during grain in ear season.
CREDIT: COSTFOTO/ BARCROFT MEDIA

Demonstrators march during a protest against a proposed extradition law in Hong Kong, China. Hong Kong’s Beijing – backed government faced new pressure to withdraw legislation easing extraditions to China after as many as 1 million people turned out to oppose the measure.
FROM: TELEGRAPH, JUNE 11, 2019
Market Closes for June 11th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1930, New York Stock Exchange President Richard Whitney tried to rebuild public confidence in the market by making a bid (with his own money) of $160 a share for a 60,000-share block of U.S. Steel stock in front of the press. “Shortly thereafter,” the stock sunk below $150, on its way to $21 in the market bottom of 1932.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian equities advanced as metals and mining companies rose on China trade optimism and lumber producers gained after additional production curtailments.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index increased 0.2%. Materials stocks were the best performers among 11 industry groups, rallying 1.4%. New Gold Inc. rallied 11%. Health care stocks fell the most, dropping 0.7%.
     Meanwhile, Quebec is ready to take more risks to support its companies. Investissement Quebec, the financing arm of the provincial government, will increasingly buy subordinated debt or take outright stakes in local businesses under a revamped mandate, according to Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon.
In other moves:
Stocks
* BRP shares rallied 7% on receding Mexico tariff risk
* SNC rose +7% following news that the company named Ian Edwards as interim CEO;
* Canfor Corp. rose 7.4%, along with other lumber companies after it said will curtail additional production in B.C.
* Canadian retail stocks such as Spin Master Corp. and Dollarama Inc. were among the biggest losers
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $13.10 discount to WTI
* Gold spot price fell 0.08% to $1,326.90 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was little changed at C$1.3281 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose to 1.532%
US
By Vildana Hajric and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks ended their longest winning streak in two months as investors weighed the outlook for trade talks and interest rate policy. Treasuries were steady along with the dollar.
     The S&P 500 Index closed slightly lower as a drop in industrial companies weighed on the gauge, which had climbed more than 5% over the previous five sessions. U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to raise duties again on China if President Xi Jinping doesn’t meet with him at this month’s Group of 20 summit overshadowed some of the optimism generated by last week’s deal to avoid tariffs on Mexican imports.
     Sentiment is still cautious among stock buyers after a horrific month of May for global equity markets, with investors looking to the G-20 summit in Japan as the next possible site for a breakthrough in the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies. As traders have added bets on lower U.S. interest rates, Trump stepped up his criticism of Fed policy in tweets Tuesday, calling borrowing costs “way too high” amid “VERY LOW INFLATION.” “We are going to continue to be range-bound,” Joe “JJ” Kinahan, the chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters. “There’s the fear of missing out in case the tariffs situation with China is completely settled, so people don’t want to necessarily sell. Now we’re at the top of the range, and I think we’re going to see people who are hesitant to continue to buy.”
     Elsewhere, mining and automobile shares pulled the Stoxx Europe 600 Index higher. Mexico’s peso added to gains after posting its best day in almost a year following the country’s accord with the U.S. late Friday. China’s stocks rallied and the onshore yuan recovered after closing at its weakest level of the year. Emerging-market stocks and currencies both gained.
Here are some key events coming up:
* The U.S. releases consumer prices for May on Wednesday.
* ECB President Mario Draghi speaks at a conference in Frankfurt on Wednesday.
* The race to succeed Theresa May heats up with the first Conservative Party leadership ballot Thursday.
* Euro-area finance ministers meet in Luxembourg Thursday. On the agenda: financial penalties for Italy over its debt load, and the euro-area budget.
* China and the U.S. release industrial production, retail sales data Friday.
And these are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.03% at the close of trading in New York.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.7%, in the sixth gain in seven sessions.
* The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 2.6% on the biggest surge in more than a month
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Index climbed 1% to the highest in more than a month.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 108.5 per dollar.
* The onshore yuan climbed 0.3%, the biggest increase in almost eight weeks.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index gained 0.3%.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 2.14%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to -0.23%.
* The U.K.’s 10-year yield rose two basis points to 0.86%
Commodities
* Gold slipped 0.1% to $1,326.98 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.1% $53.32 a barrel.
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, David Wilson, Todd White and Yakob Peterseil.

Have a great night!

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical.

                                   -Yogi Berra, 1925-2015

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