March 7, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
March 7, 1876 – Scottish-Canadian Alexander Graham Bell received a patent for the telephone. 
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1933- Monopoly invented.
1869- Suez Canal Opens.

Significant Numbers:
801
Speed (in miles per hour) achieved during a flight from Los Angeles to London on February 18, sue to a boost from the jet stream.  The speed of sound is 767 miles per hour.
180
Miles between Stonehenge and the quarries from which dozens of its stones came.  Researchers who discovered the exact location say the natural pillar shape of the stones explains why they were so prized. -USA Today.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A Balinese man holds a burning coconut shell during Mesabetan Api, a purification ritual to enter the holy day of Nyepi, which is a day of silence for self-reflection to celebrate the Balinese Hindu New Year, in Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia. Credit: Johannes P. Christo/Reuters

A series of lightning strikes over Santa Barbara, California, seen from Stearns Wharf in the city’s harbour. A storm soaking California on Wednesday could trigger mudslides in wildfire burn areas where thousands of residents are under evacuation orders, authorities warned. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office ordered 3,000 residents to evacuate hillside neighbourhoods scarred by fires. Credit: Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department/AP

A staff member restores the sculptures of the Issenheim altarpiece from the Unterlinden Colmar museum, at the Centre for Research and Restoration of Museums in the Louvre in Paris, France. Credit: Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for March 7^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Being rational is a moral imperative.  You should never be stupider than you need to be.  –Charlie Munger, The Tao of Charlie Munger.
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks slipped Thursday after a two-day gain, while a drop in tech shares helped send U.S. stocks to their longest losing streak this year.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.2 percent to 16,056.51. Consumer-discretionary and health care companies, mainly marijuana, led the declines. The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF (HMMJ CN) lost 3.5 percent, the most since February 6.
     Separately, Canada’s economic slump may end up lasting longer than first thought amid surprising signs of weakness in household spending and investment, a central bank official said.
In other moves:
Stocks
* Painted Pony Energy gained 20% after 4Q earnings release
* Obsidian Energy lost 13% after CEO to step down and proposed 7:1 common share consolidation 
* Paramount Resources fell 10% after 2019 production guidance miss 
* Largo Resources lost 8.7%; the company said it’s unaware of any material change 
* Martinrea International dropped 4.9%, the most since November 26 
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $11.20 discount to WTI
* Gold fell 0.1 percent to about $1,286.10/ounce 
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.1% to C$1.3459 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.761 percent
US
By Reade Pickert
     (Bloomberg) — A drop in tech shares helped send U.S. stocks to their longest losing streak this year as the ECB’s grim economic forecasts reinforced concerns that global growth is slowing. The euro fell to the lowest since 2017.
     The S&P 500 Index sank for a fourth day, with Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook the biggest drags. The gauge closed just below the closely watched 200-day moving average of 2,750 that has provided support in the past. Government bonds surged, with the yield on Germany’s 10-year notes reaching the lowest since 2016. The dollar climbed for a seventh day.
     Economic concerns have moved to the forefront once more for investors, with European Central Bank officials cutting expansion estimates to justify a dovish turn a day after the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development downgraded almost every growth outlook for Group of 20 nations. A U.S. jobs report tomorrow will shed light on the health of the world’s largest economy. Trade remains in the picture with markets awaiting details of a possible accord, as President Donald Trump is said to be pressuring U.S. negotiators to cut a deal with China soon.
     The ECB provided “another indication that our fears of slow growth are actually being confirmed,’’ said Tim Courtney, the chief investment officer of Exencial Wealth Advisors in Oklahoma City. “For the U.S. markets, it just shows that it is going to be harder and harder for these companies to hit their targets if the rest of the world is either in very, very slow positive growth or in contraction mode.”
     Banks in Europe’s main equity index tumbled as much as 2.6 percent after the ECB’s plan to support the economy by issuing a new series of long-term loans disappointed some traders.
     Elsewhere, shares fell in Japan and Hong Kong, with China bucking the trend. The pound fell even after the European Union was said to make a new offer to the U.K. in an attempt to break the Brexit impasse. Oil climbed toward $57 a barrel in New York as investors weighed a U.S. crude-stockpile surge that threatens to undermine OPEC’s bid to avert a glut against a drop in fuel inventories. Here are some key events coming up:
* The U.S. jobs report Friday may show hiring moderated in February. Nonfarm payrolls may have increased by 180,000 while the jobless rate fell to 3.9 percent, according to estimates.
These are the latest moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.8 percent at the close of trading in New York.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 0.4 percent.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index declined 0.5 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index sank 1.3 percent.
* The Nikkei-225 Stock Average fell 0.7 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.7 percent, hitting the highest in 10 weeks.
* The euro sank 1.1 percent to $1.1182, the weakest since June 2017.
* The British pound dipped 0.7 percent to $1.3076, its sixth consecutive decline.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1 percent to 111.61 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries decreased five basis points to 2.64 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield sank six basis points to 0.062 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield dipped five basis points to 1.17 percent.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 0.6 percent to $56.54 a barrel.
* Gold was little changed at $1,285.66 an ounce.
–With assistance from Ksenia Galouchko, Adam Haigh, Yakob Peterseil, Christopher Anstey and Eddie van der Walt.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence,
then is not an act, but a habit.
                        -Aristotle, 384 BC-322 BC

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