March 5, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Mardi Gras!
                          *Shrove Tuesday*
A Mardi Gras tradition

King cake is no ordinary cake. The circular pastry shines with stripes of sugared New Orleans Carnival colors: purple for justice, gold for power and green for faith.

It’s stuffed with fruit and pecans — and a plastic baby that brings luck to the finder (along with the responsibility of providing the next year’s cake).

Plastic babies have usually been in, not on, the king cake.   Pableaux Johnson for The New York Times 

The notion of embedding an object in cake dates from at least the Roman Empire. For Saturnalia, a predecessor of Christmas, it was a fava bean. Whoever received the slice containing the bean ruled the day.

But the Romans also associated fava beans with death. That might be because of a genetic disorder, most common in the Mediterranean, that creates an often lethal bean allergy.

So perhaps eating a cake with a fava bean was a morbid joke, a moment on the edge, or what could be thought of as letting the good times roll. –from The New York Times, March 5, 2019.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Revellers covered in talcum powder take part in ‘Los Indianos’ street carnival in Santa Cruz de la Palma, on the Spanish Canary island of La Palma. Credit: Desiree Martin/AFP/Getty Images

Performers of the Imperio Serrano samba school wait to take part in the first night of Rio’s Carnival parade at the Sambodrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Credit: Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images

Choirboys from the Pilgrim school, Winchester, practice for the Shrove Tuesday races which will be held at Winchester Cathedral. The race will see them take on 19 other teams from the Fire Service to Opticians in a race that spans a 38 metre course. Credit: Russell Sach for The Telegraph
Market Closes for March 5^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1923, Montana’s Old-Age Pension Law—the first state law that provides retirement pensions and stands up to constitutional challenges—is enacted, setting a key precedent for the creation of Social Security a decade later.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks edged higher on Tuesday, helped by a surge in marijuana shares, while the U.S. market meandered in thin trading.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.3 percent to 16,086.54. Health care led the market, while utilities and consumer staples underperformed. Meanwhile, investors turned their attention to tomorrow’s Bank of Canada meeting. The spread between Canadian and U.S. two-year government-debt yields is the widest since 2007 ahead of the event, a sign traders are reducing expectations for interest-rate hikes this year.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Aurora Cannabis surged 12.5% after a new outperform rating from Cowen 
** Cronos Group, rated a new market perform at Cowen, also rose
* Vivo Cannabis jumped 11.2% after announcing the launch of a new online store 
* Green Organic Dutchman Holdings jumped 6.5% after receiving organic certification from Pro-cert Organic Systems Ltd.
* Theratechnologies dropped 6.7%, extending losses for a third-straight session 
* Stelco Holdings lost 3.8% after a new equal weight rating from Morgan Stanley 
* Semafo declined 2.9% ahead of post-market 4Q earnings
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $11 discount to WTI
* Gold rose 0.1% to about $1,288.60/ounce 
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.4% to C$1.3352 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.880 percent
US
By Jeremy Herron and Reade Pickert
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks edged lower as investors struggled to find inspiration after a torrid start to the year. The dollar rallied for a fifth day.
     The S&P 500 Index fell 0.1 percent. Equities opened lower amid a lack of progress on the U.S.-China trade deal before briefly erasing losses on home-sales and service-industries data that beat estimates. General Electric Co. tumbled after its chief executive officer forecast negative industrial free cash flow this year. Target Corp. and Kohl’s Corp. buoyed consumer shares on the back of solid earnings.
     “The market has priced in a lot of good news and I think now the fact that returns are moderating some is a reflection of now they need to see the follow-through,” Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters. “They need to see the specifics on that U.S.-China trade deal and they need more assurances that the Fed isn’t going to change track again.” 
     Investors are hungry for concrete details about progress on a U.S.-China trade deal before they push a global equities rally further, leaving the S&P 500 Index seemingly stuck below the key 2,800 level. Trade and slowing growth are on the agenda as China’s most powerful officials gather in Beijing for the National People’s Congress, while investors will get the latest read on the U.S. economy with the monthly jobs report Friday.
     Elsewhere, European shares ended slightly higher, while equities in Japan, Korea and Australia slumped after China lowered its target for economic growth. Indian stocks recouped early losses made after the U.S moved to end key trade concessions for New Delhi.
Here are some key events coming up:
* Australia’s central bank Governor Philip Lowe will give a speech on the housing market Wednesday.
* Bank of Canada Governor is expected to keep rates on hold Wednesday due to lingering uncertainty on housing and investment, while sticking to his message that borrowing costs eventually need to head higher.
* European Central Bank policy makers are expected to leave rates unchanged amid a deteriorating outlook. President Mario Draghi will hold a news conference on Thursday after the decision.
* The U.S. jobs report Friday may show hiring moderated in February. Nonfarm payrolls may have increased by 185,000 while the jobless rate fell to 3.9 percent, according to estimates.
These are the latest moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.1 percent as of the close in New York.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index rose 0.1 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.2 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index climbed 0.2 percent.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 0.2 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index increased 0.2 percent, its fifth straight advance.
* The euro fell 0.3 percent to $1.1306, the weakest in more than two weeks.
* The British pound was little changed at $1.3176.
* The Japanese yen decreased 0.1 percent to 111.87 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 2.72 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield climbed one basis point to 0.17 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose less than one basis point to 1.28 percent.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed at $56.61 a barrel.
* Gold added 0.1 percent to $1,287.73 an ounce, reaching a six-week low.
–With assistance from Cormac Mullen and Yakob Peterseil.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life,
in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which 
God has implanted in the human soul. –J. W. Goethe, 1749-1832

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