November 29, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday!

1877 US inventor Thomas Edison demonstrates his hand-cranked phonograph for the first time. Go to article »

1989 -Czechoslovakia ends communist rule.

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

From Bloomberg today:  This avatar-style robot is helping disabled people experience the outside world. It allows them to remotely see through its eyes, talk with its voice and gesture with its arms and avoid isolation.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A lighting installation made to resemble huge dandelions on Mykoly Vashcuka Street, at night, Vinnytsia, central Ukraine.
CREDIT:UKRINFORM/BARCROFT MEDIA

The river Severn has flooded fields near lower Apperley in Gloucestershire, UK.
CERDIT: STEVE PARSONS/PA WIRE

Morning fog rolls across the countryside surrounding Glastonbury Tor, Somerset, UK.
CREDIT: JASON BRYANT/APEX

Sheep walking in Chinese larch forest, Tianquan Lake in Xuyi, east China’s Jiangsu Province.
CREDIT: XINHUA/ALAMY LIVE NEWS

Market Closes for November 29^th, 2019  

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1912, John Marks Templeton was born in Winchester, Tenn., to Vella Handly and Harvey Maxwell Templeton, a lawyer and cotton-gin operator. He went on to found the Templeton Growth Fund and invent the discipline of global investing.
Canada
By Bloomberg Automation
By Aoyon Ashraf and Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell as the U.S. market resumed with shorter trading hours after the Thanksgiving holiday. However, the S&P/TSX Index closed out November with biggest monthly gain since January of this year. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.4% to 17,040.20 on Friday. Energy stocks led the market lower, as oil fell after bearish OPEC signals. Canadian National contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.3%. Aurora Cannabis had the largest drop, falling 4.9%. Gildan Activewear provided the biggest boost to the index, advancing 3.5%. MAG Silver had the biggest gain, rising 3.7%. Meanwhile, Canada’s economy slowed sharply in the third quarter, as weaker exports an drawn down business inventories masked a rebound in domestic demand. The Canadian dollar pared earlier losses after data showed the economy slowed to a 1.3% annualized pace in 3Q, matching analyst estimates
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $19.35 discount toWTI
* Spot gold rose 0.5% to $1,463.95 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was unchanged at C$1.3282 per U.S. dollar
* The 10-year government bond yield slightly higher to 1.460%
Insights
* So far this week, the index rose 0.5%
* This month, the index rose 3.4%, heading for the biggest advance since January
* This year, the index rose 19%, heading for the best year in at least 10 years
* The index advanced 12% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 15% in the same period

Canadian National Railway Co. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 1.3 percent. Aurora Cannabis Inc. had the largest drop, falling 4.6 percent. Today, 132 of 233 shares fell, while 93 rose; 9 of 11 sectors were lower, led by energy stocks.

* 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$2.63t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 4.35 percent compared with 4.00 percent in the previous session and the average of 5.53 percent over the past month
================================================================
| Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Energy | -30.1918| -1.1| 1/30
Industrials | -18.5442| -1.0| 9/23
Financials | -13.2746| -0.2| 12/14
Information Technology | -9.0597| -1.0| 1/7
Health Care | -4.0211| -1.8| 5/5
Consumer Staples | -2.7192| -0.4| 2/7
Real Estate | -1.9894| -0.3| 10/15
Consumer Discretionary | -1.7004| -0.2| 4/10
Utilities | -1.2659| -0.2| 9/7
Communication Services | 2.2227| 0.2| 5/2
Materials | 6.1974| 0.3| 35/12
* The benchmark 10-year bond rose and the yield fell 0.3 basis points to 1.466 percent
US
By Vildana Hajric and Claire Ballentine
(Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks dropped from record highs in thE wake of lower European and Asian equities, rounding out a lackluster finale to the third straight month of gains for global benchmarks. The dollar strengthened. The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones Industrial Average all finished lower as trading resumed on Wall Street after the Thanksgiving break. Shares of energy and consumer discretionary goods companies were the biggest decliners, with overall trading volume about 16% below the 30-day average. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slumped, while Asian shares closed lower. Treasuries were mixed as they returned to trading post- holiday. The dollar posted a ninth straight session of gains, the longest winning streak since January 2016. U.S. equity
markets closed at 1 p.m. New York time, while bond trading ended an hour later. ”It looks like it will be a lazy day with the U.S. half day of trading,” said Didier Anthamatten, senior portfolio manager at Unigestion SA. “Very low liquidity and most of the traders digesting the turkey.” Investors are hungry for evidence of progress on a China- U.S. trade deal, with the next batch of American tariffs on Chinese goods due to begin Dec. 15 and additional tension building over Hong Kong.
China’s foreign ministry warned again of unspecified retaliation for U.S. President Donald Trump’s signing of legislation that expresses support for protesters in Hong Kong. “The real issue is not the Hong Kong bill,” Macquarie Group’s Thierry Wizman told Bloomberg TV. “The real issue is whether or not if you do not see convergence on those negotiations by Dec. 15, do we get an increase, a scheduled increase, in those U.S. tariffs and does thatderail the negotiations?” Elsewhere, West Texas-grade oil traded dropped below $57  barrel amid signals OPEC and allied crude producers are averse to deepening output cuts when they convene next week. The won closed lower in normal trading hours after the Bank of Korea kept its policy rate unchanged, as expected.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
*The S&P 500 Index sank 0.4% to 3,140.98 as of 1:20 p.m. New York time, the first retreat in more than a week and the largest
decrease in more than seven weeks.
*The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 0.5% to 8,665.47, the first retreat in more than a week.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to 28,051.41, hitting the lowest in a week with the first retreat in more than a week.
*Germany’s DAX Index declined 0.1% to 13,236.38, the lowest in a week.
*The MSCI All-Country World Index sank 0.5% to 546.67, the lowest in a week on the largest decrease in more than seven weeks.
Currencies
*The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed at 1,209.08, the first retreat in more than a week.
*The euro climbed 0.1% to $1.1017.
*The Japanese yen was little changed at 109.47 per dollar, the biggest climb in more than a week.
*The British pound increased 0.2% to $1.2934, the strongest in more than a week.
Bonds
*The yield on two-year Treasuries decreased one basis point to 1.61%.
*The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 1.78%, the highest in more than a week.
*Germany’s 10-year yield gained less than one basis point to -0.36%.
*Britain’s 10-year yield increased two basis points to 0.697%, the highest in a week.
Commodities
*West Texas Intermediate crude sank 4.6% to $55.42 a barrel, the lowest in more than a week on the biggest tumble in more than 10 weeks.
*Gold strengthened 0.6% to $1,463.92 an ounce, the highest in more than a week on the largest climb in more than four weeks.
–With assistance from Todd White.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues,  but the parent of all others.
                                                        -Cicero, 106 BCE-43 BCE

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