October 2, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Happy Monday!

The eighth month of the ancient Roman calendar (Latin octo meaning eight) when the year began in March, but now the tenth month.   The old Dutch name was Wynmaand, the Old English Winmōnath, “wine month”, or the time of vintage.  Another Old English name was Winterfylleth, perhaps meaning “winter full moon”, but possibly from fyllan, “to fell” , as a time of tree felling.  In the French Revolutionary calendar, the equivalent month was  Vendémiaire, “time of vintage” corresponding to the period from 23^rd September to 22^nd October.

On this day…
1985    actor Rock Hudson becomes the first major U.S. celebrity to die of complications from AIDS. Hudson’s death focused worldwide attention on the disease and helped change public perceptions of it.
1950    The comic strip “Peanuts” by Charles M. Schulz was first published.
1959    “The Twilight Zone” debuted on CBS.
2000    The International Space Station got its first residents as an American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts arrived aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule for a four-month stay.
1991 – October 2 – Record – Toronto Blue Jays baseball club clinches the American League East title and become first team in sports history to draw four million fans in one season. Toronto, Ontario

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A giant puppet representing a grandmother, is sleepy after the last acts and leaves Geneva during the “The Saga of the Giants” street theatre, at Lake Geneva in Geneva, Switzerland.
CREDIT: MARTIAL TREZZINI/KEYSTONE VIA AP

A woman rides a cardboard car on Place de la Bastille during a “car free” day in Paris.
Parisians were encouraged to roller-blade, bike or stroll through the City of Light for a “car-free” day intended to leave the streets vacant for slower, clean forms of transport.
October 1, marks the third time the French capital has experimented with a car ban, but it is by far the most ambitious with the zone set aside for pedestrians or cyclists covering the entire historic heart of the city – 105 square kilometers (40 square miles).
CREDIT: ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Market Closes for October 2^nd, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day:
4
The number of times the S&P 500 has closed out the third quarter at a record high
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canada’s stock benchmark continued to claw back its losses for the year, closing at its highest since April even as oil prices fell the most in three weeks.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 70 points or 0.5 percent to 15,705.00 on the first trading day of the fourth quarter. The index is now only 217 points from the all-time high it reached in February.
     The materials index added 1 percent as lead prices climbed to a 10-month high and zinc settled at the highest since 2007. Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. added 8.8 percent and Lundin Mining Corp. rose 5.6 percent.
     Energy stocks slipped 0.2 percent, outperforming the price of West Texas Intermediate crude, which tumbled 2.1 percent. Precision Drilling Corp. lost 6.4 percent and Ensign Energy Services Inc. fell 4.5 percent.
     In other moves:
                           Stocks
* DHX Media Ltd. closed up 5.5 percent after earlier falling as much as 4.2 percent. The company is considering a sale after weak quarterly results
* Pengrowth Energy Corp. lost 3.9 percent. Billionaire investor Seymour Schulich increased his stake in the company, betting that oil prices will rise
* Metro Inc. lost 1.3 percent and Jean Coutu Group Inc. rose 1.7 percent. Metro said it will sell assets to reduce its financing needs as part of a C$4.5-billion deal to buy Jean Coutu
* Heroux-Devtek Inc. jumped 7.2 percent. The aerospace parts company is buying a Spanish subsidiary of Airbus SE for $205 million
                          Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at an $11.30 discount to WTI, 5 cents wider than Friday
* Aeco natural gas traded at a $2.31 discount to Henry Hub
* Gold fell 0.7 percent to $1,272.70 an ounce, the lowest since early August
                           FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 0.4 percent to C$1.2514 per U.S. dollar, the lowest since August
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose 3 basis points to 2.13 percent
US
By Randall Jensen
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. equities rose to all-time highs and the dollar strengthened as factory data and the prospect for tax cuts boosted optimism in the economy.
     The S&P 500 Index closed at another record to start the fourth quarter and the dollar headed for the strongest level since July after data showed U.S. manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace in 13 years. Oil fell toward $50 a barrel and Treasuries fluctuated. Investors are also watching developments in Las Vegas, where more than 50 people have died in the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history.
     Global shares began the final quarter of the year on firm footing amid signs manufacturing is strengthening. China reported an unexpectedly strong factory gauge and Bank of Japan’s quarterly Tankan survey showed the country’s big manufacturers are the most confident in a decade. While U.S. factories got a lift from two major hurricanes, the U.K.
reported slowing growth.
     U.S. investors also took into account the prospects that Congress will enact a pro-growth tax plan and ongoing speculation that President Donald Trump will opt for a Fed boss who might pursue more aggressive policy tightening.
     “What we’re looking at today is very similar to what we’ve been looking at the last couple of days and the last couple of weeks and it goes across a few lines,” Chris Harvey, head of equity strategy at Wells Fargo, said by phone. “One is the reinflation trade, the other one is tax reform and the third is technology.”
     Stocks in Spain slumped and the common currency was one of the worst performers among major peers after a violence-marred vote in Catalonia spurred the regional government to press toward a unilateral declaration of independence. The tensions also had a clear impact in the bond market, with Spanish premiums rising as yields on comparable German debt declined.
     Elsewhere, the pound tumbled on concerns about the stability of Prime Minister Theresa May’s government and after manufacturing data.
     Among the key events this week:
* Manufacturing PMIs for September are due for most of the world’s major economies.
* Investors will monitor progress toward forming coalition governments in Germany and New Zealand after elections last month left no party in either country with a majority.
* Other American data this week include trade, durable goods and Friday’s September non-farm payrolls report, which may have less predictive power than usual for the economic outlook due to likely distortions from hurricanes that hit from late August.
* Australia’s central bank on Tuesday is forecast to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of 1.5 percent.
* The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday is projected to keep benchmark rates unchanged.
* China is due to report monthly foreign-exchange reserves Thursday.
* Fed Chair Janet Yellen speaks at an event on Wednesday.
* Minutes of the last ECB meeting are the European economic highlight this week.

     Here are the main moves in markets:
                          Stocks
* The S&P Index climbed 0.4 percent to 2,529.17 as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 153 points to 22,558.42, another record close.
* The Nasdaq 100 Index was steady as tech shares struggled.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.5 percent, highest since June.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.9 percent to the highest in almost two months
* Germany’s DAX Index jumped 0.6 percent to a record close.
                          Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index advanced 0.5 percent, headed to highest since July.
* The euro fell 0.7 percent to $1.1737, near a six-week low.
* The British pound decreased 0.9 percent to $1.3276, earlier falling the most since the June.
                           Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose less than one basis point at 2.34 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield dropped one basis point to 0.45 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield decreased four basis points to 1.328 percent, the largest dip in more than three weeks.
                           Commodities
* Gold declined 0.6 percent to $1,272.48 an ounce, the weakest in almost seven weeks.
* West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 2.1 percent to settle at $50.58 a barrel, lowest level in more than a week.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

We do not progress from error to truth, but from truth to truth.
Thus we must see that none can be blamed for what they are doing, because they are,
at this time, doing the best they can.  We learn only from experience.
Swami Vivekananda

As ever,

Carolann

What is right to be done cannot be done too soon.
                                -Jane Austen, 1775-1817

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
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