September 18, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Yom Kippur begins at sundown.
G’mar Hatima Tova.
Yom Tov.

Yesterday, the Tokyo Stock Exchange was closed in observance of Respect for the Aged Day.  Isn’t that a terrific idea?

French winemakers are cheering an “incredible” 2018.

September 18,1759 – The French surrendered Quebec to the British.  Go to article >>

On this day in 1851, the first edition of The New York Times was printed. (See the front page here.) 

Happy birthday to The New York Times 

Then called The New-York Daily Times, the paper was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones. 

The first edition cost one penny and lacked any imagery or color. 

The founders declared that the newspaper would be issued every morning but Sunday, “for an indefinite number of years to come.” (Ten years later, The Times was among several papers that started Sunday editions to accommodate demand for news of the Civil War.) 

During a time when sensationalist journalism was commonplace in media, The Times vowed to avoid such tactics in favor of neutral, fact-based reporting. 

“We do not believe that everything in Society is either exactly right or exactly wrong,” Mr. Raymond said in the introductory article of the paper’s first edition. “What is good we desire to preserve and improve; what is evil, to exterminate, or reform.” 

Throughout the years, the paper would shorten its name to The New-York Times and eventually drop the hyphen in favor of its current style. Read more about the history of The Times here. 

Adriana Lacy wrote today’s Back Story, New York Times, September 18, 2018.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A giant balloon of Papa Smurf floats during the Balloon Day Parade along the downtown boulevards, as part of the “Comic Strip Festival”, in Brussels, Belgium. Credit: Eric Vidal/Reuters

Circus 1903 at the Southbank Centre, which includes stunningly created, larger-than-life puppet elephants alongside a huge cast of the most unique, amazing and dangerous circus acts. From acrobats to contortionists, jugglers to trapeze, high wire performers and much more. Credit: Julian Simmonds for The Telegraph.

This aerial view shows French artist Saype posing inside his giant land art fresco representing a little girl dropping an origami boat into Lake Geneva that he painted to support the cause of the NGO SOS Mediterranee. The giant fresco covering 5,000 square meters was produced with biodegradable paints made from natural pigments. Credit: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
Market Closes for September 18^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Market Commentary:
Canada
By Tatiana Darie
   (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks followed their global peers higher on Tuesday as top-level Nafta negotiations are set to resume in Washington, where Republicans are warning time is running out for Canada to join the U.S.-Mexico trade deal. The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.7 percent, the most in two months, with health care extending gains to the highest levels since mid-2016 as marijuana stocks rallied again. Real estate fell the most. The loonie strengthen against the dollar, climbing to the highest in nearly three weeks. Canada manufacturing sales rose more than expected in July.
                            Stocks
* Aurora Cannabis Inc. led cannabis peers higher while Tilray Inc. gained another 29 percent after receiving approval from the U.S. government to import medical cannabis into the country for a clinical trial. 
* Lumber stocks, including West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. And Canfor Corp, fell as futures plunged to the lowest since July 2017 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. 
* Canadian grocers such as Loblaw, Empire and Metro Inc. rose after Macquarie analyst Christopher Li wrote that they should be able to manage a likely Amazon.com launch of free two-hour delivery from Whole Foods stores in Canada.
                            Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $32 discount to WTI
* Gold fell 0.3 percent to $1,202.80 an ounce FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar gained 0.5 percent C$1.2982 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield gained 4.4 basis points to 2.380%
US
By Vildana Hajric and Sarah Ponczek
   (Bloomberg) — Global equity markets climbed Tuesday, shrugging off the latest salvos in the trade war between the U.S. and China. Treasuries retreated and oil rose. President Donald Trump announced 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods to start later this month. The rate would jump to 25 in January if Beijing refuses to offer concessions. China, in return, said it would levy duties on $60 billion of U.S. goods.
   Still, the S&P 500 Index registered its biggest gain in almost three weeks, led by technology stocks, which had been hammered in Monday’s session. Asia equities recovered from early weakness, with benchmarks in Japan and Shanghai jumping. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index also closed higher.
   “The market is properly looking at this as a type of de-escalation of the escalated tensions,” said Brian Jacobsen, a multi-asset strategist at Wells Fargo Asset Management. “The 10 percent tariffs are weaker than the 25 percent originally threatened. China retaliated with $60 billion compared to the U.S.’s $200 billion. This could be the start of the tapering of trade tensions.”
   Treasuries declined, pushing the yield on 10-year U.S. bonds above 3 percent, as most European government bonds drifted lower. Italian debt dropped earlier after a report of yet more tension over the country’s impending budget, though it later reversed the move after Finance Minister Giovanni Tria spelled out his fiscal balancing act at a Bloomberg event.
   Trump had vowed to increase pressure on China if the Asian nation retaliated against U.S. tariffs, which raises the risk of even more escalation between the world’s two biggest economies. However the rhetoric has been running for months, and many assets have priced in rising tensions, helping to cushion the latest blows.
   Elsewhere, the Australian dollar shrugged off trade concerns to reverse earlier losses as the central bank reaffirmed its next interest-rate move would likely be higher.
Turkey’s lira fell for a third day. The U.S. dollar fluctuated.
Oil jumped after Saudi Arabia expressed comfort with Brent oil prices rising above $80 a barrel. West Texas crude briefly breached $70 a barrel.
Here are some key events coming up this week:
* Japanese trade-flow numbers are due on Wednesday.
* The Bank of Japan holds its policy meeting on Wednesday.
* Britain releases inflation data on Wednesday.
* European PMIs are due on Thursday.
* The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies meet in Algiers this weekend.
These are the main moves in markets:
                            Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index climbed 0.5 percent as of 4:01 p.m. New York time.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.1 percent.
* The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index fell less than 0.05 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index climbed 0.3 percent.
                            Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index advanced 0.1 percent.
* The euro declined 0.1 percent to $1.1669.
* The British pound fell 0.1 percent to $1.3143.
* The Japanese yen declined 0.4 percent to 112.33 per dollar, the weakest in two months.
                            Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries jumped six basis points to 3.05 percent, the highest in almost four months.
* Germany’s 10-year yield rose two basis points to 0.48 percent, the highest in almost 14 weeks.
* Britain’s 10-year yield climbed three basis points to 1.568 percent.
                            Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 1.3 percent to $69.84 a barrel.
* LME copper gained 2.4 percent to $6,086.00 a metric ton.
* Gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,198.56 an ounce.
–With assistance from Andreea Papuc, Samuel Potter and Luke Kawa.

Have a great night.
 

Be magnificent!
 

As ever,

Carolann

Everyone rises to their level of incompetence.
                  -Laurence J. Peter, 1919-1990

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
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www.carolannsteinhoff.com