September 24, 2019 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:
Birthday: F. Scott Fitzgerald, writer,  b. 1896

Scientists say they’ve discovered a lost continent, but it’s not sitting at the bottom of the ocean. It’s shoved underneath Europe.-CNN.

The $100 tube of toothpaste is here. 

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.  Go to article »

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex dance as they visit a Justice Desk initiative in Nyanga township, during their royal tour of South Africa in Cape town, South Africa. The Justice Desk initiative teaches children about their rights and provides self defense classes and female empowerment training to young girls in the community.
CREDIT: CHRIS JACKSON/ GETTY IMAGES

A lion shares a touching moment with his young cub. The pair play together in a rare moment of gentleness between the male lion and the three-month-old cub. The intimate moment was captured by amateur photographer Limor Bahar, who went looking for lions at a reserve in South Africa.
CREDIT: LIMOR BAHAR/SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

Pelicans fly through the sky while they are migrating as the moon is seen behind in Adana, Turkey.
CREDIT: EREN BOZKURT/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES
               
Market Closes for September 24^th, 2019  

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1998, the dot-com era heated up after eBay went public on the Nasdaq, selling nearly 3.5 million shares at an initial offering price of $18 a share. The stock closed the day at just over $47 a share.
Canada
By Aoyon Ashraf
(Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks fell as BlackBerry tumbled on an earnings miss and reports said U.S. Democrats would launch a formal impeachment inquiry amid the Ukraine controversy. The S&P/TSX Composite fell for the second day, dropping 0.4%, or 68.87 to 16,798.33 in Toronto. The move was the biggest drop since falling 1.3% on Aug. 23. Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index decline, decreasing 6.%. BlackBerry Ltd. had the largest drop, falling 23%.
Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $12.75 discount to WTI, the widest gap since July
* Gold spot price rose 0.7% to $1,532.12 an ounce
FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar rose 0.2% to C$1.3243 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield fell to 1.304%
Insights
* This month, the index rose 2.2%
* This quarter, the index rose 2.5%
* The index advanced 3.6% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 1.6% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.9% below its 52-week high on Sept. 20, 2019 and 22% above its low on Dec. 24, 2018
* The S&P/TSX Composite is little changed in the past 5 days and rose 4.7% in the past 30 days
================================================================
| Index Points |
Sector Name | Move | % Change | Adv/Dec
================================================================
Information Technology | -26.3022| -3.1| 3/6
Financials | -23.3006| -0.4| 8/19
Energy | -18.6171| -0.7| 3/29
Health Care | -11.0710| -4.4| 1/9
Consumer Discretionary | -6.1942| -0.8| 0/16
Industrials | -2.3539| -0.1| 11/21
Real Estate | 0.6835| 0.1| 13/10
Utilities | 2.6049| 0.3| 11/5
Communication Services | 3.8625| 0.4| 5/2
Consumer Staples | 4.5727| 0.7| 9/1
Materials | 7.2478| 0.4| 29/19
================================================================
US
By Jeremy Herron and Vildana Hajric
(Bloomberg) — Stocks slid as political turmoil in the U.S. whipsawed shares after reports said Democrats would launch a formal impeachment inquiry amid the Ukraine controversy. The S&P 500 fell the most in a month after it was reported that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would announce a formal impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. The benchmark cut losses earlier in the day after Trump said he would release a complete transcript on Wednesday of his phone call with the Ukrainian president, which is the subject of a congressional investigation and a whistle-blower complaint from an unidentified intelligence official. A host of other factors also weighed on equities. FAANG stocks — made up of Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Netflix Inc., and Google parent Alphabet Inc. — fell after Trump made negative remarks about China and the growing power of social media platforms during his speech at the United Nations Tuesday. Weakening consumer confidence added to the gloom.
The 10-year Treasury yield hit a two-week low, while the dollar fell to session lows. The pound gained after the U.K.’s top judges inflicted an unprecedented legal defeat on Prime Minister Boris Johnson, adding to Brexit chaos. “We’re dealing with a bunch of geopolitical situations and uncertainties,” said Stephen Carl, a trader at Williams Capital Group. “They’re re-highlighting the China trade situation, uncertainties there, that’s coming back into focus. More so today Trump speaking with Ukraine and Iran is in the mix. Domestically Pelosi is potentially talking about impeachment talks. All this coming together in one day today really drove the selling pressure.” The new impeachment push in the U.S. adds to swirling concerns hovering over global markets. Trump’s speech at the United Nations Tuesday ratcheted up tensions between the U.S. and China, keeping markets on edge ahead of planned high-level talks between the world’s two biggest economies in October. His renewed pressure on some of the biggest American companies sent a jolt through technology indexes.
Meanwhile, underwhelming economic indicators are muddying the picture, with the U.S. consumer showing signs of losing momentum adding to worries. Downbeat numbers from Japan and mixed data from Germany were stark reminders of the fragility of global growth. And political risks loom large for investors, from Brexit to a U.S. Congressional investigation into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. Elsewhere, Oil fell on signs Saudi Arabia is making progress in restoring lost output following a drone attack on its facilities.
These are some key events coming up this week:
* Chicago Fed President Charles Evans will discuss the economic outlook and monetary policy in Illinois on Wednesday.
* Decisions are due Wednesday from central banks in New Zealand and Thailand. Thursday brings a monetary policy decision in the Philippines.
* Core PCE — the Fed’s preferred inflation measure — is forecast for 1.8%. That’s due Friday.

Here are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index fell 0.8% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
* The Nasdaq 100 sank 1.4%.
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index ended virtually unchanged. The DAX Index dropped 0.3% and the FTSE fell 0.5%
* The MSCI Emerging Market Index slid 0.4%.
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index slid 0.3%.
* The euro increased 0.2% to $1.1019.
* The British pound jumped 0.5% to $1.2493.
* The Japanese yen rose 0.5% to 107.03 per dollar.
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries sank nine basis points to 1.64%.
* The yield on two-year Treasuries declined six basis points to 1.61%.
* Germany’s 10-year yield dropped two basis points to -0.60%.
* Britain’s 10-year yield fell two basis points to 0.528%.
* Japan’s 10-year yield fell three basis points to -0.234%.
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 2.8% to $57.03 a barrel.
* Gold futures rose 0.6% $1,540.40 an ounce.
–With assistance from Yakob Peterseil and Todd White.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!
As ever,

Carolann

Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good
put together that overwhelm the world. 
                                         -Desmond Tutu, b. 1931

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