October 25, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday!
St. Crispin’s Day, England, France.
Pablo Picasso, b. 1881

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Artist Katie Paterson poses for a picture with her piece Totality at the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, Scotland which is the sixth instalment of the ground-breaking NOW series at the galleries.
CREDIT:DUNCAN MCGLYNN

A woman walks past the sculpture ‘The Poetry of Logical Ideas’ by Simon Hodgson, on Bondi beach in Sydney, Australia. The Sculpture is part of the 23^rd edition of the exhibition Sculpture by the Sea, featuring artists from Australia and overseas.
CREDIT: JOEL CARRETT/EPA-EFE/REX

A woman looks on as an art installation is projected on the interior of York Minster ahead of their Northern Lights opening.
CREDIT: DANNY LAWSON/PA WIRE

Lightning flashing through the sky over the French riviera city of Nice, southeastern France.
CREDIT: VALERY HACHE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Autumn leaves are reflected on Loch Faskally, Pitlochry, Scotland, Britain.
CREDIT: REUTERS/ RUSSELL CHEYNE

Market Closes for October 25^th, 2019  

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Google on Friday announced massive changes to its search engine. The new system relies on an artificial intelligence tool designed to parse long, complicated sentences, rather than just strings of key words.
On this day in 2000, AT&T announced it would break itself up into four separate businesses: broadband, wireless, business services and consumer services.  After years of slowing growth, the floundering behemoth was finally showing that its all-things-to-all-people strategy was a failure. “It’s really the end of an icon,” said analyst Ken McGee, “and no matter how they try to put a positive spin on it, it’s the death of a corporate giant.”
Canada
By Michael Bellusci
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose Friday while U.S. peers briefly surpassed its closing record amid positive signs on trade talks and as investors assessed corporate earnings. The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the second day, climbing 0.2%, or 35.17 to 16,404.49 in Toronto. Health care stocks led the way Friday as Aphria Inc. had the largest increase, rising 8.5%. Looking ahead, energy majors like Suncor Energy Inc., MEG Energy Corp., Cenovus Energy Inc.and Encana Corp. are expected to report results within a span of about 12 hours straddling Halloween Day.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $17 discount to WTI
* Spot gold rose 0.05% to $1,504.45 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar was little changed at C$1.3063 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose to 1.541%
Insights
* This week the index gained 0.2%, its biggest advance since the week ended Sept. 20
* So far this month, the index is down 1.5%
================================================================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Materials | 23.5034| 1.3| 35/11
Financials | 10.7182| 0.2| 15/11
Energy | 5.5521| 0.2| 22/9
Consumer Staples | 4.8891| 0.8| 6/4
Communication Services | 4.8872| 0.6| 5/2
Health Care | 4.1886| 1.9| 4/6
Real Estate | -1.9835| -0.3| 4/19
Consumer Discretionary | -2.1211| -0.3| 6/9
Utilities | -3.6833| -0.5| 4/12
Industrials | -4.9035| -0.3| 16/16
Information Technology | -5.8761| -0.7| 4/5
US
By Rita Nazareth and Sarah Ponczek
(Bloomberg) — The S&P 500 Index climbed above its closing record amid positive signs on trade talks and as investors assessed corporate results. Equities extended their weekly advance after the U.S. said it’s close to finishing some sections of phase one of the trade agreement with China. Intel Corp. drove gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on an upbeat outlook. Amazon.com Inc.’s first profit drop since early 2017 prompted target cuts from firms including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and RBC Capital Markets. Stock investors cheered signs of progress on trade negotiations between the world’s two largest economies, hoping they could ease a dispute that’s rattled global markets and weighed on growth. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He spoke by phone on Friday. President Donald Trump has already said he wants to sign the first phase of a deal with China at a summit in Chile next month.
More on corporate news:
* Visa Inc. issued forecasts that were better than expected.
* Verizon Communications Inc. exceeded Wall Street’s expectations for profit and subscriber growth.
* Juniper Networks Inc. boosted its stock buyback authorization by $1 billion and reported earnings that beat estimates.
* Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. reported net sales that missed the lowest analyst projection.
* Charter Communications Inc. posted revenue that met the average analyst estimate.

“We feel like it’s one step forward, one step back,” said Emily Roland, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management, referring to the earnings season. “You’ve seen some good beats, and on the same side some misses. We’d characterize it as OK or decent so far.” Elsewhere, the pound dropped as French President Emmanuel Macron blocked the European Union’s attempt to delay Brexit for three months. Treasuries fell after data showed U.S. consumer sentiment pared gains from earlier in October while remaining elevated.
These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to 3,026.96 as of 11:27 a.m. New York time.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7%.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 0.6%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.1%.
* The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.1%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
* The euro dipped 0.2% to $1.1086.
* The British pound decreased 0.1% to $1.2834.
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 108.66 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained two basis points to 1.78%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose three basis points to -0.37%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield climbed four basis points to 0.664%.
Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index increased 0.3%.
* West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.3% to $56.40 a barrel.
* Gold rose 0.3% to $1,509.60 an ounce.
–With assistance from Caroline Hyde, Adam Haigh, Todd White,
Samuel Potter, Yakob Peterseil, Sophie Caronello and Nancy Moran.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Be as you wish to seem.
                                 -Socrates, c.470 BC-339 BC

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