November 24, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

Interesting story out this week:
Rare 400-Year-Old Map Traces Indigenous Roots in Mexico
By Megan Gannon, Live Science Contributor | November 22, 2017

A rare, indigenous-made map of Mexico from the era of the Nahuatl people’s first contact with Europeans is now in the collection of the U.S. Library of Congress.
The library announced  on Nov. 21, 2017 that it acquired the so-called Codex Quetzalecatzin(also known as the Mapa de Ecatepec-Huitziltepec) and that a digitally preserved copy is now online.
For more than 100 years, the map had passed through private collections, including that of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst. [Cracking Codices: 10 of the Most Mysterious Ancient Manuscripts]
According to the Library of Congress, few manuscripts of this kind have survived into the present, and the codex, created in 1593, is a rare example of the many maps that were produced for the Spanish Empire to document the histories of local families —and their resources.
The manuscript shows the genealogy of the members of the “de Leon” family, indigenous Nahuatl people who were descended from a political leader named Quetzalecatzin. The map also illustrates the land and property this family owned, using Aztec-style graphic symbols for riversand roads, and hieroglyphic writing.
But there are also traces of Spanish influence in the manuscript. Some hieroglyphic labels are translated with the Latin alphabet. The names of indigenous elites —like “don Alonso” and “don Matheo”—imply that some locals had been baptized with Christian names.
The map also “shows churches, some Spanish place names and images suggesting a community adapting to Spanish law and rule,” said John Hessler, curator of the Jay I. Kislak Collection for the Archaeology of the Early Americas of the Library of Congress.
“The codex shows graphically the kinds of cultural interactions taking place at an important moment in American history,” Hessler said in a statement. “In a sense, we see the birth of what would be the start of what we would come to know as the Americas.”
The map covers some recognizable geographic terrain. It features the church of Todos Santos in modern-day Mexico City suburb of Ecatepec, the now-drained Lake Texcoco and the Atoyac River.
Original article on Live Science. 

On Nov. 24, 1963, Jack Ruby shot and mortally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President Kennedy.
Go to article »

One thing you will probably remember well is any time you forgive and forget. -Franklin P. Jones
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Polar bears gather around the carcass of a bowhead whale on the shore of Russia’s Wrangel Island.

Visitors wearing traditional Japanese kimonos walk under the colourful autumn leaves at Enkakuji Buddhist temple in Kamakura, west of Toyko, Japan.

6 year old Josh Thomson, on holiday from Bathgate with his family, enjoys the snow at the Cairngorms in Scotland.
Market Closes for November 24^th, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Kristine Owram
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed near a record high amid higher oil prices and retail optimism, with all but one sector in the green.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 34 points or 0.2 percent to 16,108.09, the highest in nearly three weeks. The weekly gain was 0.7 percent.
Consumer discretionary stocks added 0.6 percent as Black Friday deals drew shoppers to bricks-and-mortar stores. Dollarama Inc. rose 1.2 percent.
     The energy sector gained 0.3 percent as the price of crude jumped 1.6 percent. Russia and OPEC have reportedly reached the outline of a deal to extend production cuts.
     In other moves:
                            Stocks
* Aurora Cannabis Inc. jumped 7.4 percent and CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. fell 1.3 percent. Aurora launched a hostile takeover bid for CanniMed, while CanniMed said Aurora’s share price is inflated
* The Stars Group Inc. rose 1.1 percent after reaching a deal to sell its holdings of NYX Gaming Group Ltd. to Scientific Games Corp.
* Empire Co. Ltd. gained 1.1 percent. The Globe and Mail reported that the Sobeys grocery chain, owned by Empire, is cutting 20 percent of its office staff
                            Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $17.25 discount to WTI
* Aeco natural gas traded at a $1.42 discount to Henry Hub
* Gold fell 0.4 percent to $1,291.80 an ounce
                             FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was unchanged at C$1.2713 per U.S. dollar The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell one basis point to 1.89 percent
US
By Andrew Dunn and Robert Brand
     (Bloomberg) — A rally in oil and optimism at the mall buoyed U.S. stocks to a record at the traditional start of the American holiday shopping season.
     Retailers sought to build on positive earnings as consumers descended on stores looking for “Black Friday” bargains. Meanwhile, West Texas crude reached a two-year high, boosting shares in energy companies. Macy’s Inc., and Amazon.com Inc. were among the S&P 500 Index’s top performers in a shortened post-Thanksgiving session, as were Hess Corp. and Marathon Oil Co.
     Stocks in Europe pared earlier gains as the euro headed for a two-month high, while bonds fell as Germany moved closer to ending a political impasse and business confidence in the region’s biggest economy improved. Higher Treasury yields weren’t enough to sustain early gains in the dollar, which headed for a third weekly loss. 
     Iron ore climbed to a two-month high, while industrial metals headed for the best weekly gain in six. Crude rose as OPEC and Russia were said to have agreed on a framework to extend supply cuts.
     Germany’s biggest opposition party said it’s open to talks on backing a government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, offering a way to restore political stability to Europe’s biggest economy. A jump in German business confidence in October added to positive sentiment, with global stocks heading into the final weeks of 2017 at record highs as investors place their faith in economic growth and an earnings’ expansion.

    Here are some key events scheduled for the remainder of the week:
* November preliminary U.S. Markit manufacturing and services PMIs.
* South Africa faces credit-rating reviews from Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings.
* Colombia’s central bank announces its policy decision, with analysts in a Bloomberg survey divided on whether it’s set to maintain rates at 5 percent or cut by 25 basis points.
     These are the main moves in markets:
                          Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index gained 0.21 percent Friday.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.1 percent.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index declined 0.1 percent.
* Germany’s DAX Index jumped 0.4 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index rose 0.1 percent. 
                          Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.2 percent to the lowest in eight weeks.
* The euro increased 0.7 percent to $1.1931, the strongest in two months.
* The British pound rose 0.2 percent to $1.3331, the strongest in eight weeks.
* The Japanese yen decreased 0.3 percent to 111.56 per dollar.
                           Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased two basis points to 2.34 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield gained one basis point to 0.36 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield gained less than one basis point to 1.25 percent.
                           Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude increased 1.6 percent to $58.95 a barrel, the highest in more than two years.
* Gold declined 0.2 percent to $1,288.59 an ounce.
* Copper rose 0.6 percent to $7,002 a ton, hitting the highest in a month.
                            Asia
* The Topix index rose 0.2 at the close in Tokyo, bouncing from a drop of 0.6 percent. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average was up 0.1 percent, reversing a 0.6 percent decline. Both indexes are up over the week, their 10th weekly advance in 11.
* Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index decreased 0.1 percent.
* The Hang Seng Index rose 0.5 percent and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Chinese stocks traded in Hong Kong climbed 1.4 percent after a 1.9 percent slide on Thursday.
* The Shanghai Composite Index was little up 0.1 percent.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

Propaganda can never tell the truth; truth can never be propagated.
Krishnamurti

As ever,

Carolann

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

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Portfolio Manager &
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