October 22, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

ICYMI

from the NY Times today:

“Je refuse le prix,” Jean-Paul Sartre said on this day in 1964. 

With these words, the French writer and philosopher became the first person to freely decline the Nobel Prize. 

Jean-Paul Sartre in 1964. Associated Press 

But the Swedish Academy wasn’t the first to hear them. 

A young journalist landed the scoop after tracking down Sartre at a Paris bistro. The 59-year-old “pope of existentialism” was lunching with Simone de Beauvoir, his long-time partner. 

Interrupted before the cheese course, Sartre was stunned to hear that he had just been named the academy’s literary laureate. (A week earlier, after learning that he had been nominated for the honor, he had written to the jury asking not be chosen. His letter didn’t arrive in time.) 

That evening, Sartre read a statement to the Swedish media to explain why he refused the prize — and the $53,000 that came with it. 

Official honors, he said, exposed his readers “to a pressure I do not consider desirable.” 

The jury did not change its decision. 

More than a decade later, Sartre, or someone related to him, allegedly asked for the money that he had turned down, according to the Swedish Academy’s former secretary. 

This time, it was the academy that declined. 

Lara Takenaga wrote today’s Back Story.

1962~Cuban missile crises.
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

The Berryman celebrates the apple harvest at the Borough Market Apple Day in London. Credit: Dave Rose For The Telegraph

This combination of pictures created shows Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral during a light show entitled “Dame de Coeur” as part of the first World War centennial celebrations. Credit: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images

Sheep are mustered along the streets of Madrid city centre during the 25^th anniversary of the livestock migration festival, Madrid, Spain. Credit: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images
Market Closes for October 22^nd, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Tatiana Darie
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell on Monday, with pot and commodity shares pacing losses. U.S. peers were mixed as the FANG cohort lifted tech-heavy Nasdaq indexes ahead of several mega cap earnings reports later this week. On the trade front, Mexico’s incoming foreign affairs minister Marcelo Ebrard said that steel tariffs could end when the USMCA trade pact is signed.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.4 percent, with a sell-off in cannabis stocks sending the health-care sector to the lowest in more than a month. Chemical stocks also fell on macro fears. Tech shares, industrials and utilities rose.
Stocks
* Stantec Inc. rose 5.8 percent, climbing for a second day after announcing plans to sell its construction division; the move prompted an upgrade from CIBC, which said the sale would remove earnings surprises and improve the company’s margin profile. 
* Cenovus Energy Inc. rose 1.1 percent after TD analysts raised the stock to buy from hold, citing an outlook for material upside.
* Pot stocks post their worst session in more than two years, as Canopy Growth Corp., Aurora Cannabis Inc. and Aphria Inc. plunged.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $43.50 discount to WTI
* Gold down 0.3 percent to $1,225.30 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was little changed at C$1.3101 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell 1.4 basis points to 2.482%
US
By Sarah Ponczek and Vildana Hajric
     (Bloomberg) — Most U.S. equities fell, with financial and commodity shares pacing losses as an overnight rally in Asian equities failed to hold ahead of a spate of key earnings reports this week. The dollar rose to the highest level in two months.
     More than three stocks fell for every two that rose in the S&P 500 Index, with banks tumbling the most. Energy producers slumped more than 1 percent as crude traded at a five-week low. 
     The FANG cohort lifted tech-heavy Nasdaq indexes ahead of a spate of mega cap earnings later this week. Earlier, the Shanghai Composite Index surged the most since March 2016 in the wake of verbal interventions from authorities.  “This week’s earnings announcements are the bulk of them, so it will be crucial to see what happens, especially to industrials to see whether there’s been any sort of disruption of their business due to the trade disputes,” said John Vail, chief global strategist at Nikko Asset Management.
     Risks still abound across global markets, from the continuing U.S.-China trade showdown and tension surrounding the killing of a Saudi journalist to Italian budget fears and President Donald Trump’s unpredictable actions ahead of American midterm elections. Still, equities were attempting to bounce back after a miserable few weeks, and company results from the likes of Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Intel as well as U.S. growth data may provide a welcome stimulus in the coming days.
    “It’s early days with under 15 percent of companies having reported [earnings], but the beats have been above average, and margin strength has continued despite some concerns about higher input costs,” said Katie Nixon, chief investment officer at Northern Trust Wealth Management. “That said, corporate earnings calls have highlighted several potential and real headwinds as we face 2019.”
     Italy’s sovereign bonds pared their advance after the nation’s populist government called for a budget dialogue with the European Union to address their differences. The pound retreated as the U.K. blurred more red lines in its Brexit negotiations, heightening the danger to Prime Minister Theresa May.
    Elsewhere, commodities were mixed. Gold dropped. The South African rand rallied before the country’s budget.
Here are some key events coming up this week:
* Earnings season gathers pace with notable highlights including  Amazon.com, Alphabet, Intel, Verizon, Microsoft, Twitter, McDonald’s, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Total, United Technologies, Caterpillar, Halliburton and Linde.
* Monetary policy decisions are due in Europe, Indonesia, Sweden and Canada.
* ECB policy makers could on Thursday confirm that asset purchases will end this year, reiterating its pledge to keep interest rates at record lows through summer 2019. President Mario Draghi will hold a press conference.
* U.S. gross domestic product growth may have slowed in the third quarter, yet remained near its best pace since mid-2015, according to forecasts ahead of Friday’s release. 
And these are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent to 2,755.88 as of 4:03 p.m. in New York, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.5 percent to 25,317.48 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.3 percent to 7,468.63.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.4 percent. 
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 eased 0.1 percent.
* Germany’s DAX Index edged 0.3 percent lower.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index jumped 1.1 percent.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.4 percent.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index increased 0.3 percent.
* The euro weakened 0.4 percent to $1.1470.
* The British pound fell 0.8 percent to $1.2972.
* The Japanese yen weakened 0.3 percent to 112.83 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.19 percent, while the two-year note yield was 2.90 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.45 percent.
Commodities
* Crude oil increased was little changed at $69.17 a barrel.
* Gold dropped 0.4 percent to $1,222.43 an ounce, the first decline in three days.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

A man who cannot find tranquility within himself will search for it in vain elsewhere.
                                   –François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680  

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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com