May 2, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On this day in…
1519, Leonardo da Vinci died.
1611, the King James bible was published.
1903, Benjamin Spock, pediatrician was born.
1932, Pearl S. Buck won the Pulitzer Prize.
1939, New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig removes himself from the lineup, ending his streak of consecutive games played at 2,130.
1945, the Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin and the Allies announced the surrender of Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria.
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The Poem

1988

By Lachlan Mackinnon

In the last full year of the second Reagan
administration, all seemed setting fair
for freedom.  Noble dreams were coming true.

Zeks were trekking homeward from the camps
in their first fours and fives to find what faces
waited in villages now parts of cities.

From Petersburg to Vladivostok, troubled
small people were enjoying making trouble
for the brute, the berk and the bureaucrat.

They would soon learn about the insurance scams,
the speed with which poems give way to porn,
the greed that keeps the market cycle turning.

but this was spring in Europe, cleaning house
with windows open to the song of birds,
I’m grateful to have lived at such a time.

and sorry truth exacts that I add this:
eighty-eight was also the last full year
of the red threat that kept our bankers honest.

From “Doves” (Faber).

Yes, there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
There’s still time to change the road you’re on
And it makes me wonder…
          -Led Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Australian Academy of Tai Chi and Qigong hosts the first Tai Chi martial arts class over Australia’s largest city on Tuesday. BridgeClimb Sydney/Reuters

A piano is planted with flowers on a floating barge, which is planted with fruit trees, with the Manhattan skyline in the background, as part of the Swale project called a collaborative floating forest, in the East River in Brooklyn, on Tuesday. Carlo Allegri/Reuters

A woman under an umbrella is pictured behind rain drops as she walks along a meadow in Frankfurt, Germany, on a rainy Tuesday. Michael Probst/AP
Market Closes for May 2^nd, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
10.11
The CBOE Volatility Index slumped 6.6% Monday to 10.11, its lowest level since February 2007.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed higher as strength in health care, industrial and energy companies offset a decline in the financial sector in the midst of a busy week for earnings.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 44 points or 0.3 percent to 15,619.65. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. jumped 6.7 percent, boosting the health care index to a 2.4 percent gain, after the CEO proposed a name change and said he wants to cut the company’s debt in half.
     The energy index gained 0.4 percent despite a 2.5 percent drop in the price of crude following Pembina Pipeline Corp.’s $4.3-billion acquisition of Veresen Inc., announced Monday. Financial stocks slipped 0.2 percent to their lowest level of the year.
     In other moves:
* Home Capital Group Inc. rose 11 percent, retracing much of Monday’s 13 percent decline, even as as Canadian banks show little interest in buying the troubled company
* Colliers International Group Inc. added 6.8 percent after the commercial real estate services provider reported a first- quarter profit
* Finning International Inc. rose 4.4 percent on an upgrade from Canaccord Genuity
* WestJet Airlines Ltd. lost 3.2 percent after its first-quarter earnings missed the lowest analyst estimate.
US
By Oliver Renick
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks edged higher Tuesday with technology companies rallying for the fourth day as investors assessed corporate earnings.
     The S&P 500 added 0.1 percent to 2,391.17 at 4 p.m. in New York. The benchmark gained 0.2 percent on Monday, holding onto gains even after U.S. President Donald Trump said he is actively considering breaking up big Wall Street banks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.2 percent to 20,949.89.
* Small-cap stocks drop 0.6% for third loss in four sessions
* Industrial (+0.5%) and health-care shares (+0.3%) lead market as seven of 11 sectors advance
* Consumer staples and energy stocks end at least 0.5% lower
* S&P 500 trading with volume 40% above average at this time
** Volume movers: Cummins, AMD, Coach, Affiliated Managers and Mosaic all trading with at least 5x 30-day average volume
* VIX nudges up to 10.6
** “As VIX falls further, equity prices get boosted and financial conditions loosen, which will likely keep the Fed on track for hikes despite the hard data from the economy showing a soft trend,” writes Ben Emons of Intellectus Partners
** Volatility movers: Macerich, Stryker, Motorola Solutions and Clorox have highest put/call volume ratio in S&P 500
* POLITICS:
** President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday to force a government shutdown later this year after congressional Democrats and Republicans struck a budget deal that largely neglected his priorities.
** Buzz on Wall Street is that, financial considerations aside, the administration’s ambitious, pro-growth agenda could make ultra-long bonds a reality in the Treasury market
* ECONOMY:
** Wards Total Vehicle sales 16.81m vs 17.10m estimate
** Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. posted deeper U.S. sales declines than analysts projected; average new-car price in the U.S. rose about 2 percent over the past year, according to data from TrueCar Inc.’s ALG
* EARNINGS:
** After-hours, Apple sees 3Q revenue below analyst estimates while boosting dividend
** So far in the earnings season, about 60% of S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly results, with profits up 16% year over year, data compiled by Bloomberg show; about 76% of companies have reported better-than-expected earnings, versus 69% in the same period a year ago
** After-market Tuesday: Newfield Exploration Co (NFX), Western Union Co/The (WU), Assurant Inc (AIZ), ONEOK Inc (OKE), FMC Corp (FMC), Akamai Technologies Inc (AKAM), Verisk Analytics Inc (VRSK), DaVita Inc (DVA), Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD), Envision Healthcare Corp (EVHC), Mondelez International Inc (MDLZ), Devon Energy Corp (DVN), Hanesbrands Inc (HBI), Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC), Allstate Corp/The (ALL), Apple Inc (AAPL)
** Pre-market Wednesday: Time Warner Inc (TWX), Automatic Data Processing Inc (ADP), Exelon Corp (EXC), NiSource Inc (NI), Reynolds American Inc (RAI), Garmin Ltd (GRMN), Clorox Co/The (CLX), Humana Inc (HUM), Harris Corp (HRS), Estee Lauder Cos Inc/The (EL), Yum! Brands Inc (YUM), Southern Co/The (SO), Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE), Molson Coors Brewing Co (TAP), Delphi Automotive PLC (DLPH)
* First Word Street Wraps:
** Breaking Up Big Banks Has Low – But Not Zero – Odds: Street Wrap
** Automakers Lack Compelling Models to Lure Buyers: Street Wrap
** AMD Bears Pounce on Disappointing Gross Margin View: Street Wrap

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

Being human,
I feel profoundly the necessity of putting an end to violence,
and I will make sure to put an end to it in myself.
Krishnamurti

As ever,

Carolann

Don’t knock the weather.  If it didn’t change once in a while, nine out of ten
people couldn’t start a conversation.
                                        -Kin Hubbard, 1868-1930

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
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