June 21, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
It’s official – HAPPY SUMMER!!!

Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!
Growth sed, and bloweth me [meadow]
A springeth the wude nu.
        -Anonymous, “Cuckoo Song, c. 1250

Charles Greville, Memoirs, June 21, 1837:
At twelve She [Queen Victoria] held a Council, at which She presided with as much ease as if She had been doing nothing else all her life, and though Lord Lansdowne or Bathurst had contrived between them to make some confusion with the Council papers, She was not put out by it.  She looked very well, and though so small in stature, and without any pretension to beauty, the gracefulness of her manner and the good expression of her countenance give her on the whole a very agreeable appearance, and with her youth inspire an excessive interest in all who approach her, and which I can’t help feeling myself. –from The Book of Days.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Revelers gather to celebrate the festival of Summer Solstice at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. CHRIS J RATCLIFFE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

People take part in the 15th annual Times Square yoga event celebrating the Summer Solstice, in New York on Wednesday. The event marked the international day of yoga. TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

A reveler walks among the tepee tents at the Glastonbury Festival of Music and Performing Arts in Somerset, England. OLI SCARFF/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Aymara Indians hold up their hands to receive the first rays of sunlight in a New Year’s ritual in the ruins of the ancient city of Tiwanaku, Bolivia, on Wednesday. Bolivia’s Aymara Indians are celebrating the year 5,525 as well as the Southern Hemisphere’s winter solstice. JUAN KARITA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Market Closes for June 21^st, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks were little changed following a roller-coaster day that saw the benchmark spike on falling oil inventories, then fall back into the red.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 1 point to 15,148.53. Financial stocks fell 0.5 percent and energy shares lost 0.2 percent, offsetting a 1.5 percent gain in materials.
     The energy index jumped then fell, taking the broader market along with it, after data showed U.S. crude and gasoline stockpiles fell last week but crude output jumped. Oil fell 1.6 percent to $42.53 a barrel, deepening a slump that saw prices enter a bear market on Tuesday.
     In other moves:
* Baytex Energy Corp. was the biggest decliner on the energy index, losing 7.5 percent after it was cut to underperform at Macquarie
* Sears Canada Inc. plunged 23 percent to a record low after people familiar with the matter said it was preparing to seek court protection from creditors
* Concordia International Corp. jumped 20 percent, the most since November, after it hired a financial adviser to explore options including a sale
* Cenovus Energy Inc. fell 3.3 percent, adding to Tuesday’s 8.1 percent drop. The company’s CEO will retire in October as it grapples with investor concerns about a ~$13 billion acquisition.
US
By Jeremy Herron
     (Bloomberg) — Most U.S. stocks fell as oil’s worsening slump weighed on energy and industrial shares, overshadowing fresh rallies in high flying technology and biotech companies.
     Brent crude slid beneath $45 a barrel to join West Texas Intermediate in a bear market as stockpiles in America remain above seasonal averages and Libya resumed some production. That sent energy shares in the S&P 500 Index to the lowest level in two months. The equity benchmark almost eked out a gain as chipmakers led a rally in its biggest component, tech shares. Treasuries were virtually unchanged after erasing losses, while the dollar slipped.
     Oil’s slide into a bear market is showing some signs of spilling over into other assets, with energy junk bonds at the cheapest since November, though contagion remains largely contained. Persistently lower commodity prices raises the specter that inflation will have trouble rising toward levels central banks prefer even as the Federal Reserve reiterates its intention to tighten monetary policy.
     The rebound in biotech comes on signs that the Trump administration has softened its stance on drug pricing and as breakthroughs such as Clovis Oncology Inc.’s cancer treatment renew investor interest. 
     Read more: Liquor Titans to Coal Miners: the Chinese Stocks in MSCI’s Club
     Here are some of the key events on the agenda:
* Still to come on the Fed speaker list: Jerome Powell, James Bullard and Loretta Mester.
* New Zealand’s central bank is expected to leave its benchmark interest rate at a record low when it meets on Thursday.
     And here are the main moves in markets:
     Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.1 percent to 2,435.61 as of 4 p.m. in New York. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. contributed the most to the decline..
* The Nasdaq 100 Index climbed 1 percent, continuing its rebound from a two-week selloff. It’s still 1.8 percent from its June 8 high.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.2 percent, with financial shares leading the way.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid 0.2 percent.
* Saudi Arabian equities jumped amid a palace reshuffle. Chinese shares rose after winning entry into MSCI Inc.’s emerging- markets gauge.
     Commodities
* Brent crude entered a bear market, plunging below $45 a barrel for the first time since November as skepticism that a supply glut will ease worsens. The world benchmark settled $1.20 lower at $44.82, down 22 percent from its January peak.
* West Texas oil lost almost $1 to settle at $42.53. Futures tumbled more than 2 percent on Tuesday, touching the lowest since August.
* Gold futures rose 0.2 percent to $1,245.96 an ounce after falling for five straight days.
* Zinc rose the most in five months, leading other industrial metals higher amid signs of shrinking global supply.
     Currencies
* The pound grabbed the center of the G-10 currency stage for a second day, after remarks from Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane contrasted sharply with the tone set by the bank’s Governor Mark Carney just the day before. Sterling rose more than one cent before paring gains to $1.2663.
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1 percent after rising 0.3 percent on Tuesday and 0.4 percent the previous day. The euro climbed 0.3 percent to $1.1162 after two days of declines.
* The yen was little changed at 111.421 per dollar, after gaining 0.1 percent on Tuesday.
     Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was virtually unchanged at 2.16 percent, after declining three basis points on Tuesday.
* Investors still aren’t demanding higher overall premiums for the riskiest corporate debt and the $18.4 billion iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF has gained 3.9 percent this year, even as credit spreads for energy companies widened to the highest since September after crude slid below $43 a barrel.
* The yield on U.K. benchmark bonds rose four basis points.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

I have always fought not to project but to be myself.
To retain my own scale, which is a dot, but a vibrating dot, a pulsating dot that is what I’d like to be.
I would like to remain that pulsating dot
which can reach out to the whole world, to the universe.
Chandralekha

As ever,

Carolann

There is nothing like practice.
-Alan Hovhaness, 1911-2000

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