October 25, 2017 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
On Oct. 25, 1971, the United Nations General Assembly voted to admit mainland China and expel Taiwan.
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On this day in 1854, James Cardigan leads an ill-fated charge of the Light Brigade cavalry against well-defended Russian artillery during the Crimean War. It was later revealed that the order to charge was not given intentionally, but the event was nonetheless immortalized in a famous poem by Alfred Tennyson.

Pablo Picasso, b. 1881
Geoffrey Chaucer, d. 1400

St. Crispin’s Day, England, France:  the day of the Battle of Agincourt.   Shakespeare makes Crispin Crispian one person, and not two brothers.  Hence Henry V says to his soldiers:

And Crsipin Crispinian shall ne’er go by –
But we in it shall be remembered.
     –Henry V, IV, iii(1598)
PHOTOS OF THE DAY

After the harvest: Winemaker Brian Shirley enjoys the autumn colours breaking out at his vineyard south of the Mendip Hills in Somerset.
CREDIT: JASON BRYANT/APPEX

High priestess passes the Olympic flame at the Temple of Hera during a lighting ceremony of the Olympic flame in ancient Olympia in Olympia, Greece. The flame will be transported by torch relay to the Pyeongchang, South Korea, which will host the 2018 Winter Olympics.

A woman uses the escalators under “Life Line” by artist David Svensson located at the new city line station of Odenplan in Stockholm. “Life Line” is a 350 square meter light work inspired by a child’s heartbeat. The two new commuter train stations Odenplan station and Stockholm city station are a brand new arena for artwork.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi on show at Christie’s Kings Street, before it is offered at auction by Christie’s new York on the 15^th November as part of the Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction on 15 November, the estimate in the region of 100 million dollars.
Market Closes for October 25^th, 2017

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Number of the Day
$712 billion
High-grade companies, excluding financial institutions, have issued about $712 billion in bonds so far this year, the most ever for a comparable period, according to Dealogic records going back to 1995.
Canada
By Kristine Owram
     (Bloomberg) — Canada’s stock benchmark posted its biggest drop in two weeks amid declines in industrial, energy and financial shares, while the loonie fell to its lowest since July.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 50 points or 0.3 percent to 15,854.77. The industrial sector was the biggest decliner, falling 0.8 percent as shares of Bombardier Inc. tumbled 4.9 percent. Moody’s cut the company’s debt rating, citing high leverage and execution risk.
     Financials fell 0.4 percent and energy shares lost 0.7 percent as the price of crude fell 0.6 percent. The biggest surge in U.S. oil output in half a decade overshadowed record overseas demand.
     In other moves:
                            Stocks
* Roots Corp. tumbled 17 percent in its trading debut, making it the second-worst first day for a large Canadian IPO this year
* Eldorado Gold Corp. lost 12 percent, bringing its three-day decline to 39 percent. The miner on Monday cut the production forecasts for its flagship project in Turkey for the second time this year
* Canadian National Railway Co. fell 1.1 percent, moderating an earlier loss of as much as 3.6 percent on higher-than-expected operating costs
                            Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $12.70 discount to WTI
* Aeco natural gas traded at a $1.94 discount to Henry Hub
* Gold was little changed at $1,275.40 an ounce
                            FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar weakened 1 percent to C$1.2800 per U.S. dollar, the lowest since July, following dovish signals from the Bank of Canada
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell two basis points to 2.04 percent
US
By Sarah Ponczek
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks dropped the most in seven weeks while the dollar slumped as an uneven batch of corporate earnings reports thwarted a risk-on rally and turmoil in Washington threatened the president’s tax overhaul.
     The S&P 500 Index fell for the second time this week, with weak results hammering shares in Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Ten-year Treasury yields narrowed after reaching their highest since March, and gold rose as investors sought havens from slumping equity markets.
     Wednesday’s stock retreat comes the day after Republican senators Jeff Flake and Bob Corker publicly criticized President Donald Trump just as he tries to push through big changes in the U.S. tax code.
     “The whole Jeff Flake episode at the end of the day yesterday took some time to sink into the markets,” Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC, said by phone. “If you’re at the point where you have Flake and then Corker coming after the president, he’s really going to have to negotiate to get the tax reform he wants.”
     The loonie fell after Canada’s central bank warned it would remain “cautious” when considering future rate increases, while Mexico’s peso rallied. Sterling jumped as accelerating U.K. growth spurred rate-hike bets. The rand plunged after South Africa’s finance minister signaled the country would ramp up debt to help plug the budget deficit.
     Investors are looking hard this week at earnings and economic data for indications of broadening growth that may sustain the rallies even as the Federal Reserve and other central banks start to pull back on stimulus. 
     The European Central Bank is expected to announce a reduction in the size of its monthly bond buying at its policy meeting Thursday, the biggest scheduled event for markets this week. U.S. orders for business equipment increased more than forecast in September, pointing toward economic growth for the quarter.
     The Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined as companies in the region reported mixed results. Benchmarks in Asia were largely higher, but Japan’s Nikkei finally snapped its record run of gains. India’s S&P BSE Sensex jumped as much as 1.6 percent after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government said late on Tuesday it will inject an unprecedented 2.11 trillion rupees ($32 billion) into the banks over two years to revive growth.    
     These are some of the key events coming up:
* South Korea reports on GDP and Hong Kong on imports and exports, while Japan reports on CPI later in the week.
* The U.S. economy probably expanded at about a 2.5 percent annualized pace in the third quarter, restrained in part by the effects of two hurricanes, economists forecast the government to report on Friday.
* Companies reporting earnings this week include Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Twitter Inc. in the technology sector. Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG headline cars. European banks reporting include UBS Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG and Barclays Plc.
* The week also boasts rate decisions from Norges Bank and Riksbank.

      And here are the main moves in markets:
                          Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.47 percent Wednesday in New York, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.48 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.52 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.57 percent.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index decreased 1.1 percent.
* Germany’s DAX Index dropped 0.46 percent.
                          Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index decreased 0.2 percent.
* The euro gained 0.3 percent to $1.1801.
* The British pound climbed 0.9 percent to $1.3249.
* The rand fell 2.2 percent to 14.0609 per dollar, the weakest in about 10 months.
* The Mexican peso rose 1 percent against the greenback; the Canadian dollar sank 1 percent.
                           Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained two basis points to 2.44 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield climbed one basis point to 0.48 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield gained five basis points to 1.404 percent, the highest in almost nine months.
                           Commodities
* Gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,277.61 an ounce.
* West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 0.5 percent to $52.21 a barrel.
                            Asia
* Japan’s Topix index fell 0.3 percent and the Nikkei 225 declined 0.5 percent at the end of trading in Tokyo. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.1 percent. The Hang Seng Index climbed 0.5 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3 percent. India’s Sensex advanced 1.3 percent.
* The Japanese yen gained 0.1 percent to 113.75 per dollar.

Have a wonderful evening everyone.

Be magnificent!

He who seeks to understand violence belongs to no country, no religion, no political party, no particular system.
What matters to him is the complete understanding of humanity.
According to one school violence is found inside a man;
according to another, it is the result of his social and cultural heritage.
Neither of these viewpoints interests us:
they have no importance; what is important is the way that we are violent,
not the reason for it.
Krishnamurti

As ever,

Carolann

Minds are like parachutes.  They only function when they are open.
                                                   -James Dewar, 1842-1923

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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com