March 29, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: HAPPY FRIDAY!

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 »

Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.
                                                         –Mao Zedong, 1893-1976

Japan’s famous Nara Park, home to more than 1,000 sacred deer that have learned to bow for treats. -CNN

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

‘Companion’, an inflatable sculpture by US artist and designer Brian Donnelly, known professionally as Kaws is shown at Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. CREDIT: PHILIP FONG/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

A couple watch the sun set off Newquay, Cornwall, UK. CREDIT: APEX

Tourists go sightseeing at the Tianlong Bridge of Tiansheng Sanqiao scenic area in Wulong District of Chongqing, southwest China. The Tiansheng Sanqiao scenic area, where three natural limestone arches look like bridges, is a popular tourist attraction. CREDIT: XINHUA/REX

Dramatic sky at sunset in Adelaide, Australia: Grange jetty is silhouetted under a dramatic with stunning colours during sunset. CREDIT: AMER GHAZZAL/BARCROFT IMAGES

Gardner Rob Ternent, 31, pushes his wheelbarrow through a sea of daffodils at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, UK. CREDIT: OWEN HUMPHREYS/PA WIRE
Market Closes for March 29^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1989, Michael Milken was indicted on 98 felony charges of violating federal securities laws as head of the junk-bond desk at Drexel Burnham Lambert. Prosecutors disclosed that he earned $550 million in compensation in 1986.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell for a second week to close out March, but still gained 12.42% in the first quarter, the best in nineteen years. U.S. stocks capped their bestquarter since 2009.
     The quarter’s gains were led by health-care stocks whichhave surged 49 percent since the beginning of the year onoptimism for the cannabis sector. Information technology and real estate stocks were also among the best performing industries, while materials underperformed, even while notching an 8.2 percent gain year-to-date.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.3 percent to 16,102.09 Friday. Energy stocks lagged the market while information technology and health care rose.
     Separately, President Trump granted permission to TransCanada Keystone Pipeline “to construct, connect, operate and maintain pipeline facilities at the international border of the United States and Canada at Phillips County, Montana, for the import of oil from Canada to the United States.”
In other moves:
Stocks
* Patriot One Technologies Inc. jumped 8.2% after getting financing from Raytheon’s Canada unit 
* Lassonde Industries Inc. rose 4.4% after 4Q results
* Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. fell 12.2% after 4Q results and 2019 outlook 
* Osisko Mining Inc. lost 5.2%, down for a third straight session 
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $9.30 discount to WTI
* Gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,296.80 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.6 percent to C$1.3363 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose to 1.618 percent
US
By Rita Nazareth and Vildana Hajric
     (Bloomberg) — Stocks climbed to round out a strong quarter and Treasuries fell amid hopes for a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies. The pound dropped as a political crisis in the U.K. deepened.
     The S&P 500 Index posted its best quarter since 2009, and Lyft Inc. surged in its debut after investors rushed to get a piece of the first big U.S. technology listing this year.
     Treasury 10-year yields increased, following a plunge earlier in the week that triggered concern over an economic slowdown. The pound retreated as Britain edged closer to a general election after Parliament rejected Theresa May’s Brexit deal for a third time.
     Traders have piled into risk assets this quarter as major central banks showed willingness to stay accommodative and concern over a trade war eased. Further gains may depend in part on the outcome of negotiations between Washington and Beijing, who are said to be working line-by-line through the text of a deal. White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow told CNBC Friday that the U.S. is still making good headway in talks with China.
     The American economy looks on track for continued growth, though the inversion of the yield curve may be signaling that the central bank may have set policy too tight, said Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari. Meantime, Kudlow called on the Fed to “immediately” cut rates by a half percentage point, according to a report by Axios.
     “The real lesson we take away from this quarter is that over time fundamentals control,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, which has $161 billion in assets. “We saw consumer confidence high, we saw jobs growth high, earnings continuing to grow, albeit somewhat slower. When you put all these things together, it says there may be panic-driven declines, but ultimately the fundamentals control.”
     Elsewhere, oil closed above $60 for the first time since early November — capping its best quarter since 2009 — amid signs of thinning supplies from Siberia to the U.S. shale fields. The ruble slumped after the U.S. was said to have prepared new sanctions on Russia as punishment for a 2018 nerve- agent attack in the U.K. The Turkish lira dropped despite an organized effort to stem losses before elections on Sunday.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent to 2,834.41 at 4 p.m. in New York.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.6 percent.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.7 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index rallied 1.1 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.1 percent.
* The euro was little changed at $1.1218.
* The Japanese yen decreased 0.2 percent to 110.82 per dollar.
* The British pound fell 0.1 percent to $1.3025.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose one basis point to 2.40 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield slid less than one basis point to -0.07 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield was unchanged at 1 percent.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index was little changed.
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.4 percent to $60.14 a barrel.
–With assistance from Shoko Oda, Ksenia Galouchko, Adam Haigh, Sophie Caronello, Nancy Moran, Todd White, Eddie van der Walt and Sarah Ponczek.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Resolve not to be poor: whatever you have, spend less.  Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys liberty, and it makes some virtues impracticable, and others extremely difficult.  -Samuel Johnson, 1709-84

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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com