November 26, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
John Harvard, Harvard University founder, b. 1607.
Charles M. Schultz, creator of “Peanuts”, b. 1922.
Tina Turner, singer b. 1938

There’s a review of the new musical about Tina Turner (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) that just made it to Broadway in the latest edition of the New Yorker magazine.  It was playing in London when I was there last month to critical acclaim. 

43 BC~ Second Triumvirate alliance of Roman leader Octavian (later Caesar Augustus), Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Mark Antony formed. Go to article »

Jupiter’s great red spot isn’t dying anytime soon. 
A comet from another solar system is zipping toward Earth.

Following a $1 billion theft, a German museum finds it’s uninsured.

With American Thanksgiving on Thursday, there are lots of terrific cooking guides and recipe suggestions in the papers this week.  On the weekend, there was this one in the New York Times and  Gary and I decided to make it last night.  It is really a terrific side dish:

Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Garlic
From MARK BITTMAN

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pint brussels sprouts (about a pound)
• 4 to 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, to coat bottom of pan
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled
•  Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Trim bottom of brussels sprouts, and slice each in half top to bottom. Heat oil in cast-iron pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers; put sprouts cut side down in one layer in pan. Put in garlic, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Cook, undisturbed, until sprouts begin to brown on bottom, and transfer to oven. Roast, shaking pan every 5 minutes, until sprouts are quite brown and tender, about 10 to 20 minutes.
3. Taste, and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Stir in balsamic vinegar, and serve hot or warm.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A black-and-white ruffed lemur tries to grab a photographer’s camera by dropping down from a tree by its tail at the Andasibe National Park in Madagascar. The cheeky lemur hung upside down and tried to grab a camera from a photographer who was trying to take its photo.
CREDIT: LUCA BRACALI/SWNS.COM

Prince Charles attends a community event focused on Oceans at Lawson Tama Stadium during his visit to The Solomon Islands.
CREDIT: TIM ROOKE/REX

A lunging lioness misses out on a meal of zebra in Kenya.
CREDIT: JENNY VARLEY/CATERS NEWS

Aerial view of Brazil’s Flamengo fans surrounding a bus carrying the Flamengo football team during a celebration parade after their Libertadores Final football match victory against Argentina’s River Plate, Rio de Janeiro.
CREDIT: CARL DE SOUZA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Market Closes for November 26^th, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
A strong open sesame for Alibaba in Hong Kong. Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares rose nearly 7% in their debut, after the Chinese online-retail giant completed the biggest stock offering so far this year.
Silicon Valley is adjusting to a new reality as $100 billion evaporates. Once Silicon Valley’s highest-flying darlings, companies from WeWork to Uber Technologies have collectively lost about $100 billion in value this year, prompting some start-up executives to talk up profitability over growth.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite advanced slightly to 17,035.88 in Toronto.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 5.2 percent. Silvercorp Metals Inc. had the largest increase, rising 7.0 percent. Today, 102 of 233 shares rose, while 126 fell; 5 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.

Insights
* This month, the index rose 3.4 percent, heading for the biggest advance since January
* This year, the index rose 19 percent, heading for the best year in at least 10 years
* The index advanced 13 percent in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 17 percent in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.1 percent below its 52-week high on Nov. 25, 2019 and 23.7 percent above its low on Dec. 24, 2018
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 3.8 percent in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.3 on a trailing basis and 15.8 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 3 percent on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$2.62t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 4.17 percent compared with 4.16 percent in the previous session and the average of 5.77 percent over the past month

================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | 23.5297| 2.6| 8/1
Industrials | 12.6167| 0.7| 15/17
Materials | 12.0109| 0.7| 29/20
Consumer Staples | 6.5138| 1.0| 9/1
Consumer Discretionary | 1.1717| 0.2| 8/8
Real Estate | -0.5899| -0.1| 10/13
Utilities | -1.2008| -0.2| 7/9
Health Care | -1.8834| -0.9| 1/8
Communication Services | -2.0809| -0.2| 2/5
Financials | -23.2707| -0.4| 8/19
Energy | -23.8012| -0.9| 5/25
* The benchmark 10-year bond rose and the yield fell 2.7 basis points to 1.438 percent
US
By Vildana Hajric and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities closed at all-time highs for a second consecutive day after President Donald Trump said he’s been talking to Chinese President Xi Jinping and that they continue to work for a trade deal. Treasuries rose. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite climbed to fresh records. China said earlier that negotiators “reached consensus” on certain issues in a phone call and agreed to stay in contact on the remaining points. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index edged higher for a third day, while Asian shares were mixed. “This phase one trade agreement between the U.S. and China would be at least a step in the right direction,” said Dave Campbell, a principal of San Francisco based BOS, which manages about $4.5 billion. “Markets would interpret that pretty positively — in fact, they’re already starting to lean that way.” The dollar was mixed versus major peers after five consecutive days of gains. Brazil’s central bank intervened in the foreign exchange market for the first time in three months, selling greenbacks to prop up the real after it slumped to a record low. Crude oil gained. Hopes that a partial trade deal is just around the corner have pushed a global benchmark of stocks to within 1% of an all- time high. A flurry of buyouts has also helped.
”We’re getting to the point where they need to show us the money,” said Michael Reynolds, investment strategy officer at Glenmede Trust Co. “Talk is one thing but an actual deal on paper, pen to paper, is what is going to dramatically change the market narrative.” Investors are continuing to weigh the dispute’s impact on the world’s largest economy. Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard painted a mostly positive picture of the near-term outlook for the U.S. economy while advocating longer-term changes in the conduct of monetary policy in an era of low interest rates and subdued inflation. Elsewhere, Bitcoin fell for a 10th day, its longest losing streak on record.
Here are some key events coming up this week:
* U.S. consumer spending data is due Wednesday, along with GDP, jobless claims and durable goods.
* The U.S. celebrates Thanksgiving on Thursday, when equity and bond markets will be shut.
* Euro-area inflation for October is due Friday.
* The Bank of Korea sets policy on Friday.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index advanced 0.1% to 3,140.40 as of 4:01 p.m. New York time, the highest on record.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.1% to 28,120.73, the highest on record.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 0.2% to 8,647.93, the highest on record.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index gained 0.1% to 547.93, the highest in 22 months.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed at 1,207.48, hitting the highest in six weeks with its sixth straight advance.
* The euro advanced 0.1% to $1.1024, the first advance in a week.
* The Japanese yen depreciated 0.1% to 109.04 per dollar, hitting the weakest in two weeks with its fifth straight decline.
* The British pound dipped 0.3% to $1.2864.
Bonds
* The yield on two-year Treasuries dipped three basis points to 1.58%, the largest decrease in more than a week.
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 1.74%, the lowest in more than three weeks.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to -0.37%, the lowest in more than three weeks.
* Britain’s 10-year yield dipped five basis points to 0.65%, the lowest in more than three weeks.
Commodities
* Gold strengthened 0.5% to $1,462.44 an ounce, the first advance in a week and the largest climb in more than a week.
* West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 0.6% to $58.37 a barrel.
* Copper climbed 1.3% to $2.70 a pound, the highest in more than two weeks.
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.
                                                            -Erica Jong, b. 1942

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