September 04, 2019

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
September 4,1781, City of Los Angeles founded.
September 4, 1888 George Eastman received a patent for his roll-film camera and registered his trademark: Kodak.  Go to article »

Late-night comedy: President Trump spent most of the weekend golfing and tweeting, and some hosts wondered whether that was just as well. “Making Trump monitor the hurricane would be like making your 4-year-old do the dishes,” Seth Meyers said. “After about five minutes, you’d be like, ‘You know what, Tyler? Just go out and play.’”-The New York Times.

According to The Economist Intelligence Unit:
The world’s most livable cities 2019
1. Vienna, Austria
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Sydney, Australia
4. Osaka, Japan
5. Calgary, Canada
6. Vancouver, Canada
7. Toronto, Canada
7. Tokyo, Japan
9. Copenhagen, Denmark
10. Adelaide, Australia
The world’s least livable cities 2019
1. Damascus, Syria
2. Lagos, Nigeria
3. Dhaka, Bangladesh
4. Tripoli, Libya
5. Karachi, Pakistan
6. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
7. Harare, Zimbabwe
8. Douala, Cameroon
9. Algiers, Algeria
10. Caracas, Venezuela

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A red squirrel going nuts for a spot of yoga in Copeland, Cumbria.
CREDIT: DAVID FOX / SWNS

Aerial shots of Icelandic glacial rivers look like works of art as they flow towards the sea. The stunning variety of colours and patterns are formed by the sediment carried in the meltwater. Biochemistry scientist Andro Loria photographed the beautiful glacier rivers over the course of 18 months flying over Iceland’s four man rivers.
CREDIT: ANDRO LORIA / SOLENT NEWS

Feeding sea birds are disturbed by waves that break against the shoreline as the sun rises over the North Sea on September 3, 2019 in Saltburn By The Sea, England.
CREDIT: IAN FORSYTH/GETTY IMAGES

Market Closes for September 04, 2019

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — The Bank of Canada’s reluctance to signal a potential interest rate cut created some unease with stock investors Wednesday. The S&P/TSX Composite Index reversed an early morning rally and closed 0.3% higher after the central bank’s decision, which contained few hints on future policy, bucking a global trend toward easing. The probability of a rate cut in October dropped to about 50% compared with about 60% on Tuesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In comparison, the S&P 500 Index soared 1.1%.“The market response/interpretation for today’s announcement was largely one of disappointment – as the Bank of Canada was unable to succumb to the market’s more dovish bias,”  Candice Bangsund, a portfolio manager at Fiera Capital, said by email.
The Canadian dollar rose by the most in more than two months as traders expect the second-best currency among Group-of-10 currencies this year may hold steady as the central bank said stronger than-expected growth and inflation on target mean the current degree of monetary stimulus is appropriate. Not everyone’s disconcerted. “The Bank of Canada is acting prudently at this time, said Brooke Thackray, analyst at Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. “It is keeping as much ammunition as possible to fight a potential slowdown in the future. Investors respect this position and realize that there is still time for the Bank of Canada to act on an appropriate basis in the future.” Bank of Canada resisting pressure from investors to signal it will soon follow global peers in easing monetary policy was a wise move,” according to Ed Devlin, a managing director at Pacific Investment Management Co. Canada’s in a slightly different spot than rest of world in terms of consumer debt/cycle, so cutting rates could help in the short term, but hurt longer term, he said.

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Here are some of the most notable equity movers today:
==================================
Dirtt Plunges as Analysts Downgrade Ratings After Forecast
CutAdvantage Oil Test is ‘Significant Positive Development’:
ScotiaRestaurant Brands Offering by Holder Prices 17m Shares

Materials were the best performing stocks after the U.S.
dollar fell and Hong Kong tensions eased. Healthcare was the only sector in the red.

============================
|Index Points | |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
============================
Materials | 19.6292| 1.0| 34/13
Financials | 11.8907| 0.2| 18/8
Consumer Staples | 4.4830| 0.7| 8/2
Energy | 4.2096| 0.2| 29/9
Information Technology | 3.4853| 0.4| 7/3
Industrials | 2.4680| 0.1| 14/17
Communication Services | 2.1885| 0.2| 6/1
Consumer Discretionary | 2.0714| 0.3| 12/4
Utilities | 1.4120| 0.2| 12/4
Real Estate | 1.2289| 0.2| 16/8
Health Care | -3.4415| -1.4| 5/6
Ratings
* CAR-U CN: Canadian Apartment Downgraded to Hold at Canaccord; PT C$55.50
* CGY CN: Calian Group Rated New Buy at Canaccord; PT C$40
* CHP-U CN: Choice Properties REIT Upgraded to Buy at Canaccord; PT C$15.25
* GRT-U CN: Granite REIT Upgraded to Buy at Canaccord; PT C$70
* ONC CN: Oncolytics Biotech Rated New Buy at Roth Capital
* PD CN: Precision Drilling Upgraded to Action List Buy at TD; PT C$4.50
* WCN CN: Waste Connections Reinstated at Macquarie With Outperform
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $11.80 discount to WTI
* Gold spot price rose 0.5% to $1,554.61 an ounce at 4pm ET
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.8% to C$0.7559 per U.S. dollar as of 4pm ET
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield rose to 1.132% as of 4PM ET
US
By Randall Jensen and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Stocks advanced as a broad easing of risks across the globe gave investors a reprieve. The dollar fell the most since June, while Treasuries were mixed. The S&P 500 rebounded from Tuesday’s losses along with European and Asian shares as political tensions appeared to subside in Hong Kong, Italy and the U.K., while indicators in China and Europe hinted global economic growth may not be as bad as some expected. Technology shares, which led yesterday’s decline that was the first in four sessions, paced the advance. The 10-year Treasury yield traded around 1.45%, while the dollar gained versus the yen. Equities in Hong Kong rose the most since 2018 after embattled leader Carrie Lam said she formally withdrew legislation to allow extraditions to China, the detonator for three months of often-violent protests. In the U.K., the pound held gains after a law that would block a no-deal Brexit passed a key Vote in Parliament. The euro advanced after purchasing managers indexes for the region beat expectations, while the onshore Chinese yuan gained following another stronger-than- forecast currency fixing.
“The main news is geopolitical, with less risk in Hong Kong, and Italy and the U.K. Investors are reacting positively to the lower geopolitical risks even though there’s still concerns over trade tensions as well as slower economic growth,” said Kate Warne, an investment strategist at Edward Jones. “Overall, it’s a positive day. It’s about offsetting the worries of yesterday which really focused, I think, on geopolitical risks.” Traders are rushing back into riskier assets as event risks seem to be receding, from a possible Chinese crackdown in Hong Kong to confrontations between the European Union and two of its biggest members. At the same time, investors remain on the alert for any news on China-U.S. trade talks. And remaining in the background is the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting, and the speculation surrounding how much the central bank may cut this year to stave off a potential economic slowdown.
Elsewhere, oil futures climbed above $56 a barrel. The Canadian dollar gained after the Bank of Canada left interest rates unchanged. In the U.S., with Florida orange groves seemingly escaping major damage from Hurricane Dorian, concern now turns to soy, corn and cotton fields as well as livestock in Georgia and the Carolinas as the storm churns northward.
Here are some key events coming up:
* Fed speakers this week include Fed chair Jerome Powell on Friday.
* The U.S. jobs report on Friday is projected to show the widely watched nonfarm payrolls rose by 160,000 in August, versus 164,000 the month prior. Estimates are for unemployment to be steady at 3.7% and the average hourly earnings rate of increase to slow to 3.0%.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 1.1% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.3%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.9%
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.6%.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index jumped 1.8%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index sank 0.6%, the biggest slide since June 20.
* The euro gained 0.5% to $1.1031.
* The British pound increased 1.2% to $1.2222.
* The Japanese yen weakened 0.4% to 106.36 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was steady at 1.45%.
* The yield on two-year Treasuries fell two basis points to 1.43%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield jumped eight basis points to 0.493%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield climbed three basis points to -0.67%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 4.4% to $56.31 a barrel.
* Gold rose 0.5% to $1,564.10 an ounce.
–With assistance from Robert Brand.
Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann
A smile is an inexpensive way to change your looks.
                           -Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790

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