March 29, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

RESILIENT WINDMILLS
Windmills located in Nashtifan, Iran, are believed to have been create between AD 500 and 900 and are still operational today.  Check out National Geographic’s video about the history of these structures at http://bit.ly/natgeowindmills.

On March 29, 1973, the last United States troops left South Vietnam, ending America’s direct military involvement in the Vietnam War.
Go to article »

Worry is a misuse of your imagination.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Some of the 404 participants pose for a photo in Toronto, Canada, on Tuesday during the ‘Next Einstein’ competition, which set a Guinness World Record for the ‘largest gathering of people dressed as Albert Einstein,’ according to organizers of the Einstein Legacy Project to encourage innovation and free-thinking. Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University/Reuters

Models wear floral arrangements as they interact with travelers at Central Station in Utrecht, Netherlands, on Wednesday. About 20,000 spring flowers were used to promote Keukenhof, the largest flower show in the world. Peter Dejong/AP

A protester wearing a European Union-flag-themed beret takes part in an anti-Brexit demonstration in Birmingham, England, on Wednesday after Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May triggered the process by which the United Kingdom will leave the European Union. Darren Staples/Reuters
Market Closes for March 29^th, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1999, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 10,000 for the first time, finishing the day at 10006.78.
Numbers of the Day
1%
The Dow industirals have drifted lower for 10 of the past 12 sessions but are down just 1% over that period.
$37,000
The U.S. price for a year of a newly approved eczema drug, a figure that Regeneron and Sanofi said was reached after months of negotiations with pharmacy-benefit managers.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed higher, buoyed by crude producers as oil rose to a three-week high.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 59 points or 0.4 percent to 15,657.63 after data from the Energy Information Administration showed a decline in U.S. fuel supplies last week.
     The price of West Texas Intermediate crude jumped 2.1 percent to $49.40, pushing the energy index up 1.1 percent.
     Materials stocks added 0.7 percent, led by Eldorado Gold Corp., which jumped 9.9 percent after the company said it received improved terms for concentrate sales at its Olympias mine.
     In other moves:
* Enghouse Systems Ltd. plunged 9.4 percent after the company’s rating was cut by RBC
* The health-care index rose 1.7 percent as Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. gained 4 percent.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks edged higher on the third slowest trading day of the year as investors assessed economic data and continued to weigh the likelihood of legislative reform in the Trump administration.
     The S&P 500 added 0.1 percent to 2,361 at 4 p.m. in New York, as Europe ended higher and Asian markets were mixed. The U.S. benchmark gained the most in nearly two weeks on Tuesday as data showed consumers are more upbeat than any time since 2000, helping investors shrug off President Donald Trump’s health-care flop last Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 42 points to 20,659.
* Utility shares lower by 0.5% and real estate stocks higher by 0.3%
** 10-year Treasury yield down 4bps
* Financial shares lost 0.5% for biggest decline in market after rallying Tuesday
* Oil extended Tuesday’s gain as an unexpected disruption in Libyan crude output overshadowed record U.S. stockpiles; energy shares gained 1.2%
* VIX down for 4th session to 11.4
* Volume reached 5.86b shares, third-lowest of 2017
* A gauge tracking global stocks excluding the U.S. has outperformed America by almost 300bps so far in 2017; that trend will continue over the next 12 months because policy optimism and valuations are high in the U.S., whereas overseas markets show a better cyclical backdrop, according to strategist Ian Wright at Goldman Sachs
* ECONOMY:
** MBA mortgage applications index fell 0.8% in week ended March 24
** February pending home sales index rose 5.5% to most since July 2010
** Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said post- market yesterday that two more interest-rate increases in 2017 seem about right
* EARNINGS (S&P 500):
** Wednesday: Perrigo (PRGO)
* Europe Market
** Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.3% as oil extended gains after U.S. crude stockpiles rose less than forecast
** Mining shares climbed the most, tracking copper prices higher

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

My work will be finished if I succeed in carrying conviction to the human family, t
hat every man or woman, however weak in body,
is the guardian of his or her self-respect and liberty, and that this defence prevails,
though the world be against the individual resister.
Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,

Carolann

It does not so much matter what happens.  It is what one does when it happens that really counts.
                                                                                                     -Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957

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