September 24, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:  Autumn officially arrived yesterday.
On Sept. 24, 1996, the United States and the world’s other major nuclear powers signed a treaty to end all testing and development of nuclear weapons. 
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1936- F. Scott Fitzgerald b.

US poet Danez Smith wins Forward prize for best collection
Poets are “opening the window and looking out at the world” as readership increases. – from The Financial Times, September 22, 2018.

The Poem

it won’t be a bullet
                       -by Danez Smith

becoming a little moon – brightwarm in me one night.
thank god. i can go quietly. the doctor will explain death
& i’ll go practice.

in the catalogue of ways to kill a black boy, find me
buried between the pages stuck together
with red stick. ironic, predictable. look at me.

i’m not the kind of black man who dies on the news.
i’m the kind who grows thinner & thinner & thinner
until light outweighs us, & we become it, family
gathered around my barely body telling me to go
toward myself. 

From “Don’t Call Us Dead” (Chatto Poetry), winner of the 2018 Frorward Prize for Best Collection.   The competition is sponsored by Bookmark Content. -FT.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A cow’s silhouette against the almost full moon in Aitrang, Germany. Credit: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/AFP

The Sydney Opera House has received carbon neutral certification five years ahead of schedule through a range of initiatives, including replacing incandescent bulbs in the Concert Hall with custom LED lights, upgrading its seawater cooling and waste management systems and in its recycling room. Credit: James D. Morgan/Getty

Actors and staff at the Bristol Old Vic theater (left to right) Actor Simon Callow, Poet Miles Chambers, Chief Executive Emma Stenning and Artistic Director Tom Morris stand in newly created openings in the building’s original frontage as the oldest continuously working theatre in the English speaking world, built in 1766, is reopening to the public after a £26M renovation project. Credit: Ben Birchall/PA Wire
Market Closes for September 24^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary
On this day in 1998, eBay went public on the Nasdaq, selling about 3.5 million shares at an initial offering price of $18 a share that gave the e-commerce company a projected market cap of $715 million. Today, eBay is worth roughly $35 billion. 
Canada
By Tatiana Darie
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks followed their global peers lower amid rising trade tensions.  The loonie weakened against the dollar for a second day as concern that Nafta will take a back-burner to the China impasse is putting a damper on traders’ enthusiasm for the Canadian dollar. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump are not expected to sit down at the United Nations General Assembly this week as Nafta negotiations hang in the balance, the Toronto Star reported.
    The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 0.1 percent on Monday, with telecom, consumer discretionary and industrials leading losses. Pot stocks recovered from a selloff on Friday and energy rose as oil rallied.
                            Stocks
* Barrick Gold Corp rose 5.8 percent after agreeing to buy Randgold Resources Ltd. for about $5.4 billion, creating a global gold mining behemoth with a focus on Africa and the Americas; On a call with analysts Randgold CEO Mark Bristow ruled out selling its top assets after the merger with Barrick.
* Calfrac Well Services Ltd fell 2.5 percent while Trican Well Service Ltd fell 2.6 percent after Scotia Capital analyst Vladislav Vlad downgraded the stocks to sector perform from sector utperform.
* Enbridge Inc fell 1.6 percent after Citi resumed coverage of Enbridge Inc. with a neutral recommendation.
                            Commodities 
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $33.75 discount to WTI
* Gold gained 0.2 percent to $1,203.40 an ounce
                            FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.3 percent C$1.2946 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield gained 1.6 basis points to 2.442%
US
By Sarah Ponczek and Brendan Walsh
     (Bloomberg) — Stocks slipped on growing concern about the outlook for global trade and U.S. politics. Oil rallied toward a four-year high. Industrial shares led the S&P 500 Index lower after China warned it won’t meet with American officials unless they stop threatening to expand tariffs, while reports that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will leave his post also weighed on stocks. The Nasdaq 100 eked out a gain as the largest tech shares advanced. Comcast Corp. plunged after agreeing to buy Sky Plc.
     European sovereign bond yields jumped as Central Bank President Mario Draghi predicted a pickup in underlying inflation. Automakers were the worst performers as the Stoxx Europe 600 fell. An uptick in political tensions and the escalation in cross-Pacific trade tensions are testing global equities, which have posted two strong weeks of gains in part due to optimism that economies can weather any potential tariffs. JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it’s starting to factor into its strategy a growing potential for a “Phase III” of the tariff war next year affecting all Chinese imports, which would lead to weaker growth in the country and hit U.S. stocks.
     “Geopolitical disruption can certainly grab headlines and rock capital markets in the short term,” said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco Ltd. “However, I continue to caution that investors focus on the geopolitical disruption that actually has the potential to impact fundamentals – and that is trade. Everything else is just noise.”
     Coming up this week is the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting that will likely see interest rates increased for the third time this year, with markets increasingly pricing for another one in December.
    Elsewhere, Hong Kong stocks fell as holidays in China and Japan reduced volume. Indian shares and the rupee slid as cracks appear in Asia’s best-performing stock market this year amid concerns about troubles in the non-bank financial sector.
     Emerging-market shares weakened and their currencies edged lower. Brent crude climbed above $80 a barrel as OPEC and its allies signaled less urgency to boost output despite U.S. pressure. The pound strengthened on increasing talk of a second U.K. referendum on the final Brexit deal.
Here are some key events coming up this week:
* Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meets with President Donald Trump in New York to discuss trade.
* The Fed decision on Wednesday will be followed by a press conference with Chairman Jerome Powell.
* Thursday sees durable goods, GDP data and jobless claims for the U.S.
These are the main moves in markets:
                            Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.4 percent as of the close of trading in New York; the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1 percent while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.7 percent.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index sank 0.6 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index dipped 0.5 percent.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Index decreased 1.1 percent, the first retreat in a week.
                            Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2 percent.
* The euro was little changed at $1.1746.
* The British pound added 0.3 percent to $1.3113.
* The Japanese yen slipped 0.2 percent to 112.77 per dollar.
* The Turkish lira surged 2.5 percent to 6.1388 per dollar.
                            Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased two basis points to 3.08 percent, hitting the highest since May.
* Germany’s 10-year yield increased five basis points to 0.51percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield rose six basis points to 1.61 percent.
                            Commodities
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index gained 0.5 percent to the highest in six weeks.
* West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 2.1 percent to $72.26 a barrel, approaching the highest in almost four years.
* Copper fell 1.1 percent to 2.8265 per pound.
* Gold slipped 0.1 percent to $1,198.85 an ounce.
–With assistance from Adam Haigh, Christopher Anstey, Eddie van der Walt and Yakob Peterseil.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
                                           -Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900

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