November 16, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
1885 – Louis Riel is hanged in the North West Mounted Police barracks in Regina.
On this day in 1907, Oklahoma officially becomes the 46th U.S. state.

SMARTIFY YOURSELF
By using the Smartify app, you can hold your phone in front of a piece of art to identify the work and learn how it was created.  The app is currently usable for works of art in galleries including New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles’s J. Paul Getty Museum, and London’s National Portrait Gallery.  It’s free for iOS and Android.

An Ancient Skull, and Telltale Signs of a Deadly Wave:
In 1929, a geologist found bone fragments embedded in a creek bank on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea.  Analysis would show it belonged to a human who lived 6,000 years ago.
  New research suggest the remains – known as the Aitape skull – could be something more: the earliest known victim of a tsunami.
  The findings may offer historical context for how ancient humans living along the Pacific Ocean’s coasts faced fierce natural hazards.
  Researchers found that the sediment collected from the skull site contained fossilized deep sea diatoms, microscopic organisms that were a sign that ocean water had drowned the area at some point.  They also found geochemical signals that provided evidence that tsunami had struck around 6,000 years ago.

-Nichola St. Fleur, NYTimes.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Ice sculptor Darren Jackson puts the finishing touches to an ice sculpture of two stags, which makes up part of a forthcoming exhibition, “The Ice Adventure: A Journey Through Frozen Scotland”, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Two Bedouin men walk their camel in Bidiya, Oman.
Market Closes for November 16^th, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
70
The weighted average maturity of U.S. debt has exceeded 70 months for the past year, near a multidecade high and up from 49 months in 2008. The Treasury Department is now looking to issue more short-term debt.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks snapped a seven-day losing streak, as most major sectors — with the exception of energy — moved higher.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index added 57 points or 0.4 percent to 15,935.37, the biggest gain since Nov. 6. Technology shares rose 1.2 percent as Shopify Inc. jumped 6 percent, part of a broader tech rally in the U.S.
     Financials had the biggest influence to the upside, rising 0.7 percent, while energy fell 0.3 percent, tracking the decline in the price of crude.
     In other moves:
                        Stocks
* Seven Generations Energy Ltd. tumbled 9.2 percent to the lowest in 20 months after issuing its 2018-19 growth outlook
* Aurora Cannabis Inc. lost 13 percent, the most in a year. It will issue warrants to raise C$100 million in financing
* Restaurant Brands International Inc. gained 2.8 percent. The fast food operator is favored by 10 hedge funds, 13F filings show
                        Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $14.20 discount to WTI
* Aeco natural gas traded at a $1.48 discount to Henry Hub
* Gold was little changed at $1,278.20 an ounce
                        FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.1 percent to C$1.2754 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose six basis points to 1.97 percent, the biggest gain since early September
US
By Randall Jensen
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks gained the most in two months amid a rally in technology shares and rising odds of corporate tax cuts. Treasuries fell and the dollar traded little changed.
     The S&P 500 Index rose within 0.5 percent of a record as results from Cisco Systems Inc. boosted tech shares and earnings from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spurred consumer staples. Equities in Europe and Japan halted the longest slumps in a year. A slide in commodities eased following an injection of cash by China’s central bank into its financial system. Treasury yields pushed higher after two sessions of declines.
     Chances American firms will get a tax break appeared to improve after Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who had declared his opposition to the Senate’s tax plan, said he is optimistic his concerns can be addressed. The House passed its version of the bill Thursday.
     Investors seem to be regaining their appetite for risk after several days of global declines in stocks and high-yield credit that had many questioning whether the selloff could become a rout. Volatility measures had been climbing since the record high reached last week in equities gave way to days of decline. Global growth remains resilient and earnings forecasts strong, despite uncertainty surrounding U.S. tax overhaul, the path for China’s economy, and the U.K.’s exit from the European Union.
     “We’re just running out of time to have a correction, we’ve only got six weeks left (this year), and I think we’re seeing more positive data,” Mariann Montagne, a portfolio manager at Minnesota-based Gradient Investments, which manages $1.8 billion, said by phone. “It looked like we were going to get that pullback, but we’re seeing progress on the earnings front and the political front.”

     Here are some key events slated for the remainder of this week:
* A string of Fed appearances may further illuminate the FOMC’s commitment to a December hike.
    And these are the main moves in markets:
                       Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index gained 0.8 percent to 2,585.65 as of 4 p.m. in New York, on track for the largest gain since Sept. 11.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 185.84 points to 23,457.12, the biggest rise in two months.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.3 percent, touching a record on the biggest advance in three weeks.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.8 percent, the first advance in more than a week.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index gained 0.8 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index rose 1.4 percent.
                       Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
* The euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.1769, the biggest decrease in more than a week.
* The Japanese yen dropped 0.1 percent to 112.96 per dollar.
* The British pound climbed 0.1 percent to $1.3182, the strongest in more than two weeks.
                        Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose five basis points to 2.368 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield gained two basis points to 1.309 percent.
                        Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index fell 0.4 percent.
* West Texas Intermediate crude decreased 0.4 percent to $55.13 a barrel.
* Gold rose less than 0.1 percent to $1,278.73 an ounce.

Have a lovely evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

It is this desire to express himself that leads him to search for riches and power.
But he must understand that to accumulate material wealth is not to find this fulfillment.
What brings him back too himself is the interior light, and not exterior objects.
Rabindranath Tagore

As ever,

Carolann

It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.
                                   -Amelia Barr, 1831-1919

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
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com