November 28, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

1962, Jon Stewart, comedian, b.

On Nov. 28, 1943, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin met in Tehran during World War II.
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Also on this day in 1895, the first automobile race in U.S. history is held on a 54-mile course that runs from Chicago to Evanston and back. The winner finishes after averaging a speed of about 7 mph.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A general view shows a giant Christmas tree and the art deco glass dome in Galeries Lafayette department store in Paris.

Decorations are displayed at the Christmas market is Regensburg, Germany.

This picture shows Steve Tsai, an APP designer of Zihun, displaying his smart phone showing traditional Chinese characters during an interview in Taipei.  Concerns in Taiwan are growing over the survival of the traditional Chinese characters used only in Taiwan and Hong Kong as the system of simplified characters created by China in the 1950s has been adopted by all other ethnic Chinese societies and become the predominant way of writing Chinese.
Market Closes for November 28^th, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
$48 billion
SoftBank will offer to buy shares of Uber from existing stakeholders at price that values the company at $48 billion, a nearly 30% discount to its most recent valuation.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks declined a second day as Bank of Nova Scotia fell the most in seven months, weighing on financials.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 12 points or 0.1 percent to 16,029.64. Canada’s third-largest lender fell 2.1 percent after 4Q profit and revenue missed estimates on a slump in capital markets activity. The financial index lost 0.2 percent.
     Consumer discretionary shares were the biggest gainers, adding 0.9 percent. Cineplex Inc. rose 3.7 percent amid reports of merger talks between two of its peers.
     In other moves:
                          Stocks
* Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. added 0.8 percent after earlier gaining as much as 3.6 percent. Quarterly earnings beat the highest analyst estimate
* Home Capital Group Inc. rose 2 percent, shrugging off news that West Face Capital has provided a draft statement of claim alleging misrepresentation
* Stelco Holdings Inc. gained 1 percent. BMO initiated coverage with an outperform rating
                          Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil narrowed to a $16.70 discount to WTI as TransCanada resumed service on its Keystone pipeline
* Aeco natural gas traded at a $1.40 discount to Henry Hub
* Gold was little changed at $1,294.90 an ounce
                          FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.4 percent to C$1.2821 per U.S. dollar, the lowest in more than a week
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield lost two basis points to 1.84 percent, the lowest in three months
US
By Randall Jensen
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose to records as corporate tax cuts inched closer to reality after passing another hurdle in the Senate. The dollar extended gains and Treasuries traded little changed.
     The S&P 500 Index gained the most in more than two months as the Senate budget committee advanced the Republican tax bill. Lenders saw the largest rally since March after Federal Reserve chair nominee Jerome Powell signaled a lighter touch on financial regulations. Shrugging off a ballistic missile launch by North Korea, 10-year Treasury yields fluctuated near 2.33 percent and the dollar rose for a second day.
     In commodities, copper slid the most in two weeks, while West Texas crude traded below $58 a barrel after touching the highest level in more than two years before OPEC and its allies meet this week.
     Meanwhile, the Senate tax bill is headed for a marathon debate this week after the budget committee voted Tuesday along party lines to send the Republican plan to the floor. Republican holdouts, Bob Corker of Tennessee and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, dropped their objections shortly before the vote.
    “This week is about Senate republicans and the ability to get the wavering republican senators on board,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial.
     Earlier, Powell faced his Senate confirmation hearing in Washington, saying during testimony the case for a December rate hike “is coming together.” In a statement ahead of the meeting, the current member of the board of governors signaled broad support for how the Fed operates, regulates and guides the economy.
    Elsewhere, sterling pared losses after a report said the U.K. and European Union reached an agreement-in-principle on settlement ahead of a meeting next week.
     Here are some key events coming up this week:
* The U.S. Senate as soon as this week could debate and vote on tax-cut legislation.
* President Trump will meet with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders Tuesday to discuss a federal spending plan to prevent a partial shutdown and keep the government open after current funding expires Dec. 8.
* In China, the official and Caixin manufacturing PMIs are expected to show mostly steady momentum.
* Japan industrial production is forecast to have rebounded in October, but CPI may show a sharp divergence between headline and core inflation, Bloomberg Intelligence said.
* The second print of third-quarter U.S. GDP on Wednesday may be revised up thanks to consumer spending and inventory accumulation, Bloomberg Intelligence said. The core PCE deflator, the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation, is due Thursday.
* OPEC meets in Vienna on Thursday.
     These are the main moves in markets:
                            Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 1 percent to 2,627.04 as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Down Jones Industrial Average rose 257 points to 23,837, the biggest gain since Sept. 11.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.6 percent, the biggest advance in a week.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index climbed 0.2 percent.                         
                            Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2 percent.
* The euro fell 0.5 percent to $1.1845, the biggest drop in a week.
* The British pound rose 0.4 percent to $1.3365.
* The Japanese yen decreased 0.4 percent to 111.48 per dollar.                           
                             Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 2.33 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell less than one basis point to 0.34 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 1.253 percent.
* Japan’s 10-year yield declined less than one basis point to 0.04 percent.                        
                             Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.3 percent to $57.91 a barrel.
* Gold dropped 0.1 percent to $1,293.09 an ounce.
* Copper declined 1.9 percent to $3.09 a pound, the lowest in more than a week.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

To slight a single human being is to slight those divine powers
and thus harm not only that being but with him the whole world.
Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,

Carolann

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
                          -Alan Kay, b. 1940

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

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