November 18, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

The Poem
On Opening the Manuscript of a Late Quartet in the Music Archive, Krakow
                                 -by Ruth Padel

“A new manner of part-writing, and, thank God, less lack of imagination than before.” -Beethoven, 1825.

Does being deaf break the chains?
Could he have written this otherwise?
Blue placard in a leafy street.
The ordinary trance of morning light
on flickering poplars windblown jade.
Bentwood chairs with metal legs.  Pine desks.
Bound manuscripts and marbled covers.
I never believed I’d meet him here.  Still less
that my fingers could touch his touch on the page.
–from “Beethoven Variations” (published in January 2020 by Chatto & Windus).

On this day in 1789, Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre was born outside of Paris, France. Like his friend and fellow inventor Samuel F.B. Morse, Daguerre began as a painter. By 1839, Daguerre had perfected the world’s first practical process of photography, which he called the daguerreotype. Not seeing much profit in it, he sold the commercial rights to the process to the French government.
Margaret Atwood, writer, b.1939
Mickey Mouse, b. 1928
1883~The United States and Canada adopted a system of standard time zones. Go to article »

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Multicolored hot air balloons take flight during the International Balloon festival 2019 in Leon, Mexico.
CREDIT: LUIS RAMIREZ/EPA-EFE/REX

Spectacular array of woodland autumn colours at Great Penwood near Highclere in Hampshire, UK. Photographed by the drone over the A343.
CREDIT: PICTUREEXCLUSIVE.COM/NICK BULL

Sheryl Crow and Michael J. Fox perform on stage at A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To Cure Parkinson’s benefitting The Michael J. Fox Foundation in New York, US.
CREDIT: NOAM GALAI/ GETTY IMAGES FOR THE MICHAEL J. FOUNDATION

Venetian people in a bar amid rising water in Venice, northern Italy.
CREDIT: ANDREA MEROLA/ANSA/ AP

Market Closes for November 18^th, 2019  

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:

28,004.89

The closing price of the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday surged above 28,000 points for the first time. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite also closed at record highs. 

Canada
By Michael Bellusci and Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The Canadian stock benchmark snapped an 11-day streak of gains on Monday as oil fell from an eight-week high amid dimming signals for a resolution to the long running U.S.-China trade war. The S&P/TSX Composite declined slightly to 17,025.11 in Toronto. Health care and energy led the index lower. Cannabis stocks tumbled as U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden said that marijuana may be a “gateway drug,” a sign one of the leading challengers to President Trump may be at odds with much of his party when it comes to pot. Also, Canadian National Railway Co. faces disruption as more than 3,000 workers at the country’s largest railroad threaten to strike just after midnight over safety issues and health benefits.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $16.00 discount to WTI
* Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,471.23
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.1% to C$1.3208 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield rose to 1.486%

================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | -27.5582| -1.0| 3/28
Health Care | -8.9597| -4.3| 1/9
Financials | -1.7924| 0.0| 14/10
Consumer Discretionary | -1.2934| -0.2| 6/9
Communication Services | 0.2552| 0.0| 4/3
Utilities | 2.7457| 0.3| 14/2
Real Estate | 3.1404| 0.5| 19/5
Industrials | 3.5085| 0.2| 14/17
Consumer Staples | 5.1157| 0.8| 7/3
Materials | 10.5174| 0.6| 33/13
Information Technology | 10.9552| 1.3| 5/2
US
By Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks edged higher to fresh records as investors looked for signs of progress in U.S.-China trade negotiations. The dollar weakened and Treasury yields dipped. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite all fluctuated throughout the day, but ended up eking out a gain. Defensive shares such as consumer staples and utilities performed best. Word that White House would extend a license to allow U.S. companies to do business with Chinese telecom firm Huawei competed with reports that said Beijing was skeptical about reaching a broad deal anytime soon. U.S. equities are showing their sensitivity to any developments on trade after months of closely followed negotiations. Today’s records extended gains from last week, when White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow’s had said that U.S.-China talks were nearing the final stages. “I don’t know how many times we’ve seen optimism turn into pessimism,” said Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer of First American Trust, in Santa Ana, California, which manages around $1.7 billion. “If it was easy, it would already be signed.”
Meanwhile, the dollar extended a slide after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell met with President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday to discuss the economy. Japanese and Chinese equities closed higher, while stocks slipped in India and Australia. Hong Kong’s market outperformed, even as unrest in the city continued. Most members of the Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell. The pound jumped as the Conservative Party maintained its poll lead less than a month before U.K. elections.
China’s yuan dipped after the country’s central bank lowered borrowing costs on shortterm loans for the first time since 2015 and injected $26 billion into the financial system. The moves were seen as aimed at shoring up confidence following a string of poor data in the second-biggest economy. On the energy front, Saudi Arabia set an IPO valuation target for Aramco well below the kingdom’s goal of $2 trillion and pared back the size of the sale. It looks set to rely on local investors after most international money managers balked at even the reduced price target.
Here are some key events coming up this week:
* U.S. economic indicators due for release include housing starts Tuesday and initial jobless claims on Thursday.
* Britain holds its first televised leadership debate before next month’s election Tuesday.
* Federal Reserve speakers this week include district bank presidents John Williams, Loretta Mester and Neel Kashkari.
* European central bankers speaking this week include European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann, along with Yves Mersch, Luis de Guindos, Pablo Hernandez de Cos and Philip Lane.
* China announces its loan prime rates, a benchmark for borrowing costs, on Wednesday.

These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose less than 0.1% at the close of trading in New York.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was little changed.
* Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 1.3%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1%.
* The euro strengthened 0.2% to $1.1075.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.1% to 108.65 per dollar.
* The offshore yuan sank 0.3% to 7.0254 per dollar.
* The British pound gained 0.5% to $1.2955.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped two basis points to 1.81%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose two basis points to 0.75%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.34%.
* Italy’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to 1.21%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude decreased 1.5% to $56.84 a barrel.
* Gold rose 0.2% to $1,471.77 an ounce.
–With assistance from Michael Msika, Andreea Papuc and Todd White.
Have a great night!

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have  gotten off the ship in the storm.
                             -Charles F. Kettering, 1876-1958

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