November 29, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Nov. 29, 1947, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution calling for Palestine to be partitioned between Arabs and Jews. Go to article »

1989: Czechoslovakia ends Communist rule.

Under capitalism, man exploits man.   Under communism, it’s just the opposite.  –John Kenneth Galbraith, 1908-2006

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Participants in the 2018 Siberian Snowkiting Cup compete on the surface of the Novosibirsk Reservoir. Credit: Itar-Tass News Agency/Alamy Live News

Goldfinch bird does the splits as it tries to balance between two teasel plants in Hawick, Scottish Borders. Credit: Mediadrumimages/Ron McCombe

A two-masted schooner is dwarfed by a 300 foot tall turquoise iceberg off the coast of Scoresbysund, West Greenland. Credit: James Rushforth/Solent News & Photo Agency

Israeli archeologist Ronit Lupu of the IAA Antiquities Theft Prevention Unit holds a rare stone mask dating to the Neolithic (new stone age) period which was found the Pnei Hever region of southern Hebron mount, at the Rockefeller archeological museum in Jerusalem. The mask is made of pinkish-yellow limestone, carefully shaped with stone tools to resemble a human face, 4 holes were drilled along the perimeter of the mask, probably in order to tie it to the face of a living person, or maybe to a pole or other designated artefact in order to display it. Credit: Gali Tibbon/AGP/Getty Images
Market Closes for November 29^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1912, John Marks Templeton was born in Winchester, Tenn. He went on to found the Templeton Growth Fund and invented the discipline of global investing.
Canada
By Tatiana Darie
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks inched up for a second day, fueled by a rally in heavy Canadian crude, outperforming the U.S. market where trade anxiety before the highly anticipated sit-down between the U.S. and China weighed on sentiment.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.2 percent, with energy and consumer staples pacing gains. Six of the 11 subsectors fell. Anticipation that the Alberta government might impose production cuts to reduce a glut of crude in the west of the country sent the price of heavy Canadian crude up. Meanwhile, Tenaris SA is suspending work at a steel-pipe plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and put part of the blame on U.S. metal tariffs.
Stocks
* Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce fell 3.2 percent after reporting profit that missed analysts’ expectations for the first time in almost four years. analysts blamed lower-than- expected revenues in Canadian and U.S. operations.
* Bombardier rose 1.9 percent after the finance chief said the company is reviewing options to renegotiate existing deal with Caisse; Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec CEO Michael Sabia said in an interview that Bombardier’s team is “doing a lot of the right things.”
* Enbridge rose 2.4 percent after Height Capital Markets noted that the co.’s Line 5 replacement project is a step closer to becoming a “done deal” as legislation expected to hit Michigan governor Rick Snyder’s desk by year-end.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $30.00 discount to WTI
* Gold gained 0.02 percent to $1,223.90 an ounce FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar slipped 0.09 percent to C$1.3287 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell 2.4 basis points to 2.300%
US
By Randall Jensen and Vildana Hajric
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks fell for the first time in four days as fresh trade anxiety outweighed a dovish shift by the Fed ahead of a highly anticipated sit-down between the U.S. and China. Treasuries rose, while the dollar dropped.
     The S&P 500’s late rally faltered as speculation that President Donald Trump won’t be able to tamp down his trade spat with China at the G-20 meeting hurt sentiment. Tech firms that led Wednesday’s rally paced declines. Banks also fell as the 10- year Treasury yield held near its lowest level since September as Fed minutes appeared to signal the central bank is preparing for a more flexible path. Chairman Jay Powell sparked the biggest stock rally since March with dovish comments.
     “The G-20 meeting is a binary event — no one knows what the outcome is,” Nathan Thooft, Manulife Asset Management’s head of global asset allocation, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters. “The optimists are looking for some evidence of thawing in the China, US trade dynamics, the pessimists are saying there’s no way they’re going to resolve it.”
     Trade and political developments vied for attention Thursday as Trump heads to Buenos Aires to meet President Xi Jinping. The latest twist in Robert Mueller’s investigation threatened to distract Trump after his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to new crimes related to the his business dealings in Russia. While the dovish Fed turn potentially removed a market overhang, the trade tensions remained a problem for investors concerned that global growth is slowing.
     In Europe, shares and bonds rose, while the pound fell as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May raised the prospect of a “no deal” Brexit. Deutsche Bank AG slid after prosecutors said its headquarters were being searched in a money laundering probe.
Coming Up
* Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping plan to meet at the G-20 meeting of world leaders in Argentina that kicks off on Friday.
* Thursday sees the release of the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s November meeting.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.2 percent as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.1 percent. 
* The Nasdaq composite declined 0.3 percent, while the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.1 percent. 
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.2 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index rose 0.5 percent.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.6 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1 percent. 
* The euro climbed 0.2 percent to $1.1392.
* The British pound declined 0.3 percent to $1.2785.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.3 percent to 113.39 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell three basis points to 3.03 percent, the first decline in four days.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to 0.32 percent, the lowest in more than 14 weeks.
* Britain’s 10-year yield dipped three basis points to 1.345 percent, the lowest in more than three months.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.1 percent to $51.34 a barrel.
* Gold was steady at $1,230.10 an ounce.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

Champions keep playing until they get it right.
                        -Billie Jean King, b. 1943

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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com