May 15, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

May 15, 1893 – First Stanley Cup presented to the Montreal Hockey Club (MHC).

Rockefeller Art Smashes Records at Christie’s: At $646 million, the sale is the largest by a single owner ever held at auction.

NASA”s Goddard Space Flight Center released a virtual tour of the moon, Tour of the Moon in 4K, which provides more insight into the area we may think we know.  Our highlight is seeing the bottom half of the Apollo 17 lunar lander, which is still on the moon.  Find the video at http://bit.ly/tourofthemoon .  -CSM, May 7, 2018

Henry James, writer, b. May 15, 1843.

Live all you can – it’s a mistake not to.  It doesn’t matter what you do in particular, so long as you have your life.  If you haven’t had that, what have you had? -Henry James.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A meadow of wildflowers comes into bloom on the Northumberland coastline near Bamburgh Castle. Credit: Paul Kingston/NNP

A small snail is reflected in rainwater covering a wooden floor after a shower in a garden in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. Credit: Frank Rumpenhorst/AFP/Getty Images

Marguerites are in full blossom on a meadow in the outskirts of Frankfurt, Germany. Credit: Michael Probst/AP
Market Closes for May 15^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
$~On this day in 1911, the Supreme Court upheld the U.S. government’s decision to break up John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Co. on the grounds that it was such a powerful monopoly that it violated the “rule of reason.”
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks eked out an eighth consecutive gain as Air Canada and pot producer Aphria Inc. helped to propel the health care and industrial sectors higher.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 12 points or 0.1 percent to 16,097.81, the highest close since Jan. 26. The benchmark is the third-best performer among developed markets this month, behind Portugal and New Zealand.
     Health-care stocks rose 1.7 percent as Aphria Inc. gained 7.5 percent. The company has been left out of the recent barrage of deal-making in the cannabis space.
     Industrials added 0.8 percent as Air Canada rose 4.4 percent, the most in three months. The airline has identified about half of its planned cost cuts and is encouraged by success in pushing through fare hikes, its chief financial officer said.
     In other moves:
                          Stocks
* Element Fleet Management Corp. jumped 12 percent to the highest since February after investors were encouraged by a new CEO and a clean earnings report
* Premium Brands Holdings Corp. rose 3.9 percent after earlier falling as much as 4.7 percent. While first-quarter profit missed estimates, the company boosted its 2018 sales and Ebitda guidance
* Boyd Group Income Fund rose 4.8 percent, the most in a year, as results beat expectations
                         Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $13.50 discount to WTI, the narrowest gap since October
* Gold tumbled 2.1 percent to $1,290.30 an ounce, the lowest since December, as the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields rose
                         FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.4 percent to C$1.2867 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose six basis points to 2.48 percent, the highest in more than four years
US
By Jeremy Herron and Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks halted a four-day rally with the steepest slide in almost two weeks, while 10-year Treasury yields pushed to levels last seen in 2011 as investors weigh the prospect for higher Federal Reserve rates.
     The S&P 500 Index slumped as health-care and tech shares retreated. The Treasury selloff sent note yields to 3.07 percent. Higher rates sap demand for equities that have been on a tear for two weeks. Upbeat retail sales data fueled bets the Fed may raise rates three more times this year, pushing Bloomberg’s dollar index to its 2018 high. Emerging-market equities dropped the most since March. Gold fell below $1,300 an ounce for the first time since December.
     Investors grappled with trade, growth, and geopolitical worries as a risk aversion spread across assets. Rising yields, a stronger dollar and sliding stocks are fast becoming a familiar and uncomfortable cocktail for investors. Now violence in the Middle East, the U.S.-China trade spat, uncertainty on Italy’s government and global growth concerns are helping cement the prevailing sentiment.
     “Markets don’t know where to look, they don’t know where to focus,” said Samantha Azzarello, global market strategist for JPMorgan ETFs, in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters. “It’s odd — rates are going up and we’re late cycle, and then volatility is back after volatility being so low, almost painfully low. And then I think clouds of uncertainty coming from Washington and geopolitics lays on top of all of it.”
     European equities were mixed but benchmarks fell in South Korea and Australia earlier, and in Hong Kong after data signaled investment slowing in China. Shanghai shares bucked the declines as the same numbers showed economic momentum broadly holding The euro slid following disappointing German growth data. Despite the sour mood, established safe-haven assets failed to catch a bid. Gold and the yen dropped, and the Swiss franc weakened.
     Elsewhere, the Turkish lira hit a new low, plunging after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he intends to tighten his grip on the economy and take more responsibility for monetary policy if he wins an election next month. Emerging-market stocks slumped.
     These are some key events to watch this week:
* China plans to send Vice Premier Liu He to Washington for more trade talks.
* European Union Chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier briefs European affairs ministers on the status of talks with the U.K.
* U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May meets with her Brexit cabinet Tuesday to discuss plans for a post-withdrawal customs union.
* U.S. industrial production numbers are due this week.
     These are the main moves in markets:
                          Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.9 percent at 3:20 p.m. in New York.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index lost 1.4 percent and small caps were little changed.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.1 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index declined 1 percent, the first retreat in a week.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index declined 1.7 percent, the first retreat in more than a week and the biggest tumble in almost seven weeks.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 1.1 percent, the largest decrease in almost seven weeks.
                          Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 0.6 percent to the highest in almost 20 weeks.
* The euro declined 0.7 percent to $1.1846.
* The British pound dipped 0.3 percent to $1.3510.
* The Japanese yen dipped 0.7 percent to 110.375 per dollar, the weakest in 16 weeks.
                          Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries jumped seven basis points to 3.07 percent, the highest in about seven years.
* The two-year rate climbed three basis points to 2.576 percent, the highest since 2008.
* Germany’s 10-year yield increased three basis points to 0.64 percent, the highest in more than two months.
                          Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose to settle at $71.31 a barrel.
* Copper futures decreased 1.1 percent to $3.06 a pound.
* Gold futures fell 2 percent to $1,291.60 an ounce.
–With assistance from Samuel Potter and Sophie Caronello. 

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures.
                  -Jessamyn West, 1902-1984

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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com