November 6, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Gustavus Adolphus Day: Swedish king killed in 1632.

Aldolphe Sax, saxophone inventor, b. 1814.
Sally Field, actor, b. 1946.
James Naismith, basketball creator, b. 1861.
On Nov. 6, 1860, former Illinois congressman Abraham Lincoln defeated three other candidates for the U.S. presidency.
Go to article »

HOW BEETS BECAME BEET-RED:
As the seasons change, a riot of red shows up in the world around us, showcasing some of the most vivid hues that plant biochemistry can create.  The red pigments in maple leaves, called anthocyanins, are the same kind that light up the cranberries…or the ruddy apples you’d put in a pie.
  But as you slide a tray of beets into the oven to roast, you’ll be seeing something that’s completely different at the molecular level. Biologists have discovered a key step in the evolution of this process.
  The pigments that give red beets their incandescent tint are called betalains.  They’re made using an amino acid called tyrosine, the starting material for thousands of compounds made by plants.  A tyrosine-making enzyme, which in most plants gets turned off after a certain amount is made, stays on longer in beets and some related species, producing an overload of the amino acid.  This is likely the pivotal change that gave beets what they would need to develop their special red.  Veronique Greenwood, NYTimes.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The moon rises over the Sacre Coeur Basilica in Montmartre in Paris, France.
CREDIT:  CHRISTIAN HARTMANN/REUTERS

A stunning Aurora Borealis lights up the northern Europeanskies.

Fisherman try their luck from a boat in a morning fog at the Liptovska Mara dam near the village of Liptovska Sielnica, Slovakia.

A man representing the Winter King holds a flaming sword as her takes part in a ceremony as they celebrate Samhain at the Glastonbury Dragons Samhain Wild Hunt 2017 in Somerset, England.  To celebrate Samhain, the Glastonbury Dragons, alongside Gwythyr Ap Greidal, the Summer King and the Winter King, Gwyn Ap Nudd, were paraded through the town to the lower slopes of Glastonbury Tor where the event was marked with ritual theatre, dancing and a fire to honour the dead.  The Celtic festival of Samhain, which was later adopted by Christians and became Halloween, is a very important date in the Pagan calendar as it marks the division of the year between the lighter half (summer) and the darker half (winter).
Market Closes for November 6^th, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
$103 billion
The enterprise value of Broadcom’s bid on Monday for fellow-chip maker Qualcomm. The $70-per-share offer represents a 28% premium from Thursday’s closing price, before the Journal reported that an approach might happen.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks closed at a fresh high, their fifth in seven trading days, as oil prices soared to levels not seen since mid-2015.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 72 points or 0.5 percent to 16,092.20. Energy shares jumped 1.6 percent as the price of crude rallied 3.1 percent above $57 a barrel, spurred by widespread arrests that raised fears of instability in Saudi Arabia.
     The materials sector was close behind, gaining 1.5 percent. Nickel closed it its highest level since 2015 and copper rose 1.3 percent. First Quantum Minerals Ltd. added 7.2 percent and Hudbay Minerals Inc. rose 5.2 percent.
     In other moves:
                          Stocks
* Canopy Growth Corp. jumped 14 percent to a record high as most marijuana stocks rallied
* Sierra Wireless Inc. fell 7.2 percent to a nine-month low. CIBC lowered its price target and said it doesn’t recommend buying the shares
* Cogeco Communications Inc. lost 6 percent, the most since July, after Macquarie and Canaccord Genuity downgraded the shares
                          Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $14 discount to WTI
* Aeco natural gas traded at a 90-cent discount to Henry Hub
* Gold rose 1 percent to $1,281.60 an ounce, the biggest gain since September
                           FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.4 percent to C$1.2708 per U.S. dollar, the highest in two weeks
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell three basis points to 1.93 percent, the lowest since early September
US
By Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks climbed and bonds advanced, while the dollar slipped as President Donald Trump tried to tackle trade on his Asia tour. A crackdown on corruption in Saudi Arabia sent oil soaring to its highest price in more than two years.
     Equities posted broad gains despite weakness in telephone shares following the collapse of merger talks between Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile U.S. Inc. Technology stocks rose as Broadcom Ltd. geared up for a hostile bid for Qualcomm Inc., in what would be the largest tech deal ever.
     The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed after a European purchasing managers index indicated strong momentum at the start of the fourth quarter. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average reached its highest level in more than 21 years. Commodities rallied, and precious metals surged.
     “We have stressed repeatedly that the biggest ‘risk’ to our conservative (oil) price forecast is a destabilization of the situation in Saudi Arabia,” commodity analysts at Commerzbank AG wrote in a note to clients Monday. “The probability at least of such a scenario increased at the weekend after eleven princes, four ministers and dozens of former ministers were arrested in Saudi Arabia. If we also consider the reports of another ballistic missile from Yemen that was intercepted near Riyadh, the crash of a helicopter in Saudi Arabia with a number of government representatives on board, and the completely unexpected resignation of Lebanon’s Saudi-backed prime minister, the tensions in the Middle East become virtually tangible.”
     News out of Asia was a dominant theme for many assets, with investors digesting inflation comments from Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, remarks on excessive leverage from his Chinese counterpart Zhou Xiaochuan and the grievances on the balance of trade from the U.S. president, who goes on to South Korea and China this week.
     “I think there is a bit too much noise that comes from Trump’s trips abroad to get a decent signal for markets,” said Mark McCormick, North American head of foreign-exchange strategy at Toronto-Dominion Bank. “The good old macro story is still running behind the scenes, so I don’t see Trump headlines offering much impact on the markets this week.”
     McCormick added that Wall Street’s more likely to react to geopolitics than trade chatter.
     “I think you have to keep North Korea on the radar this week, especially if they try to poke the bear over the next two weeks,” he said. “I think many are concerned they might to provoke Trump on the visit, with a missile launch or nuclear test. That would have a much greater impact (though fleeting) than rhetoric on trade or economic policy.”
     News on central bankers also will be closely watched. Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley plans to retire in the middle of next year. His early departure would mean changes at the Fed’s top three positions within a relatively short period. Trump announced last week that Fed Governor Jerome Powell will be nominated to replace Chair Janet Yellen when her term expires in February. Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer retired in mid-October. But investors are hopeful that despite the moves there won’t be an acceleration of rate hikes on the horizon.
     “The U.S. economy really bottomed out during the summer and has been on a clear upward trend since then,” said Jon Adams, a Chicago-based senior investment strategist with BMO Global Asset Management. “Investors are digesting payrolls figures from Friday as well as tax reform prospects right now. But payrolls in particular really solidified our view that we’re on solid economic footing and there’s really no reason for central banks to get too carried away as far as rate hikes right now.”
     Here are key events to watch out for this week:
* The European Commission’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and U.K. Brexit Secretary David Davis resume talks.
* Earnings season continues with announcements from Toyota Motor Corp., BMW AG, Walt Disney Co., Adidas AG, and Siemens AG. European financial companies set to report include Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA,Credit Agricole SA, Allianz SE and Zurich Insurance Group AG.
* Donald Trump continues on his first official trip to Asia as president, accompanied by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and a group of U.S. business leaders.
* New Jersey and Virginia will choose new governors Tuesday in an off-year election
* U.S. consumer sentiment probably cooled in early November from a more than 13-year high; the University of Michigan’s report is out on Friday.
* OPEC releases its World Oil Outlook.
* Argentina, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Malaysia, Poland, Serbia and Thailand set monetary policy. \

    And these are the main moves in markets:
                           Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index closed up 0.1 percent at 2,591.13, while the Nasdaq 100 Index added 0.3 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 climbed 0.1 percent.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index gained less than 0.1 percent to the highest on record.
* Germany’s DAX Index fell less than 0.1 percent.
* Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose less than 0.1 percent to the highest since June 1996.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index increased 0.7 percent.
                           Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dropped 0.3 percent.
* The euro gained less than 0.05 percent to $1.161.
* The British pound climbed 0.7 percent to $1.3174.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.3 percent to 113.75 per dollar.
                            Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis point to 2.316 percent, the lowest in more than two weeks.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to 0.336 percent, the lowest in almost two months.
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined less than one basis point to 1.256 percent, the lowest in more than seven weeks.
* Japan’s 10-year yield decreased three basis points to 0.024 percent, the lowest since September.
                            Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 3.1 percent to $57.34 a barrel, the highest since June 2015.
* Gold increased 0.9 percent to $1,281.04 an ounce.
* Copper rose 1.4 percent to $3.16 a pound, the highest in more than a week.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

It is man’s social nature which distinguishes him from the brute creation.
If it is his privilege to be independent, it is equally his duty to be inter-dependent,
Only an arrogant man will claim to be independent of everybody else and be self-contained.
Mahatma Gandhi

As ever,

Carolann

Happiness is not a reward – it is a consequence
                  -Robert Green Ingersoll, 1833-1899

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

Tel: 778.430.5808
(C): 250.881.0801
Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895
Fax: 778.430.5828
www.carolannsteinhoff.com