May 22, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
May 22, 1867 – Queen Victoria proclaims that the Confederation Act should go into effect and the Dominion of Canada should come into being on July 1, 1867. She also announces the names of Canada’s first seventy-two Senators, thirty-six Conservatives and thirty-six Reformers. Windsor, England.

-from The New York Times, May 22, 2018:

Sherlock Holmes is “the most famous fictional character of the past two centuries, rivaled only by Dracula and James Bond,” a reviewer for The Times once argued.

Even so, the creator of the character, Arthur Conan Doyle, couldn’t wait to kill him off. Doyle was born in Edinburgh on this day in 1859.

Arthur Conan Doyle at his home in England in 1927.
Fox Photos/Hulton Archive, via Getty Images

Although Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories featuring the great detective and his companion Dr. John Watson, by 1893 he was bored of his creation.

In “The Final Problem,” Doyle sent his protagonist plunging over the Reichenbach Falls with his arch-nemesis, Prof. James Moriarty, seemingly to their deaths. (More than 20,000 outraged readers canceled their subscriptions to The Strand Magazine when the story was published.)

Doyle later said of Holmes, “I have had such an overdose of him that I feel towards him as I do towards pâté de foie gras, of which I once ate too much.”

Although he eventually resurrected Holmes, Doyle also had time for pursuits worthy of his eccentric sleuth: He helped popularize skiing, tried his hand (unsuccessfully) at politics and was knighted for his report on the Boer War.

He also had a deep interest in the supernatural and helped popularize a famous hoax of the early 20th century: a series of photographs of garden fairies.

Charles McDermid wrote today’s Back Story.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A colourful kingfisher emerges from the water with its lunch in Kirkcudbright, Scotland. Credit: Isabel Hardman/Solent News & Photo Agency

Lightning strikes over the Ikiyaka Mountains in Hakkari, Turkey. Credit: Okzan Bilgin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A plane flies past the moon over Turkey-Iraq border in Semdinli district of Hakkari, Turkey. Credit: Okzan Bilgin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Market Closes for May 22^nd, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
$~ On this day in 1928, Thomas Boone Pickens was born in Holdenville, Okla. With his unsolicited bid to buy Cities Service Co. in 1982, he set off the hostile takeover wars of the 1980s.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
     (Bloomberg) — Market breadth for the S&P/TSX Composite Index strengthened as 8.5 percent of companies rose to new 52- week highs, compared with 4.4 percent the previous day, the most since Oct. 26.
     The Canada S&P/TSX was little changed at 16,144.79, ending a 11-day gain. The loss follows the previous session’s increase of 0.12 percent.   
US
By Sarah Ponczek
    (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks erased early gains and turned lower Tuesday as optimism over improving trade relations with China gave way to renewed concerns about geopolitical tensions with North Korea. The dollar fell, Treasuries were steady and crude slid to a loss after surging to the highest since November 2014.
     The S&P 500 Index tumbled with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq benchmarks in late trading after President Donald Trump cast doubt on a possible summit with North Korea during his Oval Office meeting with South Korea President Moon Jae-in.
     “What we saw when the meeting was originally scheduled was that the market reacted favorably to that, so I think that any cancellation could cause a little bit of a pullback,” said Adam Phillips, director of portfolio strategy at EP Wealth Advisors. “I would expect that that would be short lived, because at the end of the day we’re back where we started and it means uncertainty is back on the table, but I think the factors underpinning the economy are still quite strong.”
     Earlier, stocks rallied following China’s announcement that it will cut the import duty on passenger cars to 15 percent, signaling a further easing of trade tensions with the U.S. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed, and emerging-market shares advanced, ending a three-day losing streak.
     ‘‘At the end of the day, the more trade the better,” said Lee Caleshu, chief investment officer of Halite Parters. “The more openness, the less tariffs, the less government regulations coming in to affect industry, the better.”
     The euro fell slightly as investors weighed the chances that Italy’s president will seek to curtail a potential populist government, while the country’s bonds rebounded from a two-day slide. The Turkish lira sank to yet another record low. Sterling strengthened amid speculation there could be another U.K. election and after upbeat comments from a Bank of England policy maker.
     Beyond politics, central banks are also in focus this week. The Federal Reserve will release minutes of its latest policy meeting on Wednesday, while the ECB follows suit on Thursday. A raft of U.S. debt sales adds to the busy agenda.
     Elsewhere, the Chilean peso and South African rand led gains in emerging currencies. WTI crude climbed to a three-year high.
     These are some key events to watch this week:
* The Federal Reserve releases minutes of the central bank’s May 1-2 meeting on Wednesday; U.S. new home sale also released as are euro-area and Japan PMIs.
* Thursday sees the Bank of England Markets Forum at Bloomberg London. Speakers include BOE Governor Mark Carney and New York Fed President William Dudley.
* At the St. Petersburg Forum Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe participate on a panel moderated by Bloomberg News Editor-in- Chief John Micklethwait.
* Also Friday, European Union finance ministers discuss the latest on Brexit talks, in Brussels.
     These are the main moves in markets:
                           Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 2,724.46 while the Dow dropped 179 points, or 0.7 percent, to 24,834.41.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.3 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index increased 0.7 percent, the largest gain in more than a week.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.1 percent.
                          Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased 0.1 percent.
* The euro declined 0.1 percent to $1.1779.
* The British pound added less than 0.1 percent to 1.3433.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.2 percent to 110.88 per dollar.
* The Turkish lira sank 2.1 percent to 4.6728 per dollar, the weakest on record.
                          Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.0615 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield increased four basis points to 0.56 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield gained five basis points to 1.523 percent.
* Italy’s 10-year yield declined six basis points to 2.328 percent, the largest drop in more than a week.
                          Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude slid 0.2 percent to $72.13 a barrel.
* Gold fell 0.1 percent to $1,291.87 an ounce.
–With assistance from Luke Kawa and Yakob Peterseil

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.
                                   -Francis Bacon, 1561-1626

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