June 16, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
June 16, 1936 – Bob Brown discovers a major oilfield at Turner Valley; beginning of Alberta’s oil boom.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Bjork performs a DJ set onstage during Sonar Festival 2017 in Barcelona, Spain.
SANTIAGO FELIPE/REDFERNS

Mount Sinabung spews out volcanic ash in North Sumatra, Indonesia on June 15,2017.  Mount Sinabung is one of Indonesia’s 129 active volcanoes.
XINHUA/BANCROFT IMAGE

Lavender plantation, Huocheng County, IliKazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regio, China.
REX FEATURES
Market Closes for June 16^th, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1812, the State of New York charters a new institution called City Bank of New York, capitalized at $2 million, with $800,000 already raised. Today it’s a called Citigroup.
$36.73 billion
The People’s Bank of China on Friday injected a net 250 billion yuan ($36.73 billion) into the financial system—more than it has on any single day since mid-January, in a move that suggests Chinese authorities are now more concerned about financial turmoil inside the country than money flowing out of it.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed higher Friday, snapping a four-day losing streak that drove the benchmark into a brief loss for the year to date.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 32 points or 0.2 percent to 15,192.39 as gains in energy offset a big decline in consumer stocks. The benchmark fell 1.8 percent on the week, its biggest weekly loss since February.
     Energy stocks rose 1.1 percent as the price of crude gained 0.6 percent. The consumer staples index fell 1.2 percent and the consumer discretionary index lost 1 percent after Amazon.com Inc. agreed to buy Whole Foods Market Inc. for $13.7 billion, raising fears of increased grocery competition.
     In other moves:
* Empire Co. Ltd. lost 3.6 percent, Loblaw Cos. Ltd. fell 3.6 percent and North West Co. Inc. slipped 3 percent on news of the Amazon-Whole Foods deal
* ProMetic Life Sciences Inc. tumbled 11 percent after offering 31 million shares for C$1.70 a share, 15 percent below Wednesday’s closing price
* Aimia Inc. added 10 percent following a two-day decline, including a 27 percent slump on Wednesday after the loyalty- program operator said it would suspend its dividend
US
By Jeremy Herron
    (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks eked out a gain, while the dollar weakened with Treasury yields after poor housing data and a slump in consumer sentiment added to signs the American economy’s growth rate may be slower than forecast. Oil rose with metals.
     Food retailers led losses in the S&P 500 Index after Amazon.com Inc. agreed to buy Whole Foods Market Inc. The benchmark for American equity pushed into the green in the final minute of trading during an event known as quadruple witching, when futures and options contracts expire. Tech shares slipped, pointing the Nasdaq 100 Index to a second straight weekly decline. The dollar capped a weekly drop after new-home construction faltered for a third month and consumer confidence fell the most since October. Oil pared a fourth straight weekly decline.
     Equities largely weathered a week that saw the Federal Reserve hike rates and renewed tumult in Washington that continues to delay the Trump administration’s policy agenda. Data Friday ratcheted up concerns that slower U.S. growth may take hold just as the Fed’s third hike since December lands. Oil’s woes add to slowing inflation. In France, newly elected Emmanuel Macron looks set for an historic majority in the National Assembly on Sunday.
     “The data this week has not been encouraging,” said Mariann Montagne, a portfolio manager at Gradient Investments LLC, which oversees about $1.4 billion. “We need to see consumer spending pick up and more confidence across the board before we can get going again. We’re in a weird limbo, coupled with the the summer doldrums. But if we had great numbers coming out, there would be decisions made.”
     Here’s what investors will be facing in the next few days:
* France completes its election with a second round of voting on Sunday that’s expected to hand President Macron an overwhelming legislative majority.
*MSCI Inc. announces on Tuesday the results of its 2017 Annual Market Classification Review, including whether the MSCI Argentina and MSCI China A indexes will be added to the emerging-markets gauge.
     Here are the major movers:
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose less than one point to 2,433.14 as of 4 p.m. in New York, leaving it higher by 0.1 percent for the week.
* The Nasdaq 100 lost 0.3 percent, giving it a 1.1 percent slide in the week. It’s at the lowest since May 19.
* Amazon climbed 2.5 percent while Whole Foods spiked 29 percent to the highest since April 2015. Food retailers in the S&P 500 lost 5.1 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.7 percent, paring its weekly decline to 0.5 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index fell 0.1 percent to cap a 1.4 percent decline in the week.
     Currencies
* The yen rose 0.1 percent to 110.865 per dollar, after dropping 1.2 percent in the previous session, the most since January.
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3 percent as the greenback underperformed all Group of 10 peers. It slid 0.3 percent on the week.
* The euro rose 0.5 percent to $1.1199.
     Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasury notes fell one basis point to 2.15 percent, after Thursday’s four-basis point jump. The rate dropped on Wednesday to 2.13 percent, the lowest level since November.
* German benchmark bund yields lost one basis points to 0.27 percent.
     Commodities
* West Texas crude futures rose 0.6 percent to settle at $44.74 a barrel. Oil fell more than 2 percent for the week to cap its longest run of weekly losses since 2015. OPEC member Libya restored production and the surplus in the U.S. shows little sign of abating.
* Gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,254.82. The metal is heading for a second weekly loss, falling 0.9 percent.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

We ask ourselves
is it possible to break through this heavy conditioning of centuries immediately
and not enter into another conditioning – to be free,
so that the mind can be altogether new, sensitive,
alive, aware, intense, capable?
Krishnamurti

As ever,

Carolann

Facing it, always facing it.  That’s the way to get through.  Face it.
                                                     -Joseph Conrad, 1857-1924

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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com