September 27, 2018 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

Tangents:

On Sept. 27, 1964, the Warren Commission issued a report concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy. Go to article »

The Back Story, NYT:

The illustrations that appear on Google’s home page to celebrate special occasions, like its 20th birthday today, began as a sly out-of-office message.

When the company’s founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, left for Burning Man in 1998, they added a drawing of the annual festival’s logo to their home page as a wink that they were away. The first Google Doodle was a hit.

A Google Doodle celebrating the birthday of Roger Hargreaves, the creator of the “Mr. Men” and “Little Miss” children’s books. Alamy

Google now employs a team of more than a dozen “Doodlers” to keep up with global demand for designs.
A few of the thousands of Doodles have caused controversy, including one honoring the Japanese-American activist Yuri Kochiyama, who expressed support for terrorists including Osama bin Laden.

But other Doodles have stirred creativity.

Ryan Germick, whose title is principal designer, Doodleland, said 40 million songs had been created with an interactive guitar Doodle celebrating Les Paul’s 96th birthday. And the Birth of Hip-Hop Doodle allowed visitors to mix samples from classic breakbeats, which he called the Doodles’ high-water mark.

Living in Doodleland, however, comes with a cost for Mr. Germick: seeing Doodles everywhere.

“Like at the supermarket,” he said in 2016, “the cucumbers and tomatoes are arranged a certain way and I’m like, ‘You know what, if I had a watermelon, that could work as a G.’ ”

Robb Todd wrote today’s Back Story, New York Times, September 27, 2018

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

A photographer has captured the oh no moment when a fish realizes its about to be gobbled down by a heron. The amazing snaps show the fish with its mouth wide open as if its life is flashing before its eyes – moments before the herons beak clamps down on it. Credit: Dave Potts/Mercury Press

An aerial view shows a surfer paddling out during a free surf session in Flackstad, Northern Norway, at the eve of the Lofoten Masters 2018. – Lofoten Masters 2018 is the most northern Surf contest, hold from September 27 to 30, in Unstad, within the Arctic circle. Credit: Photo by Oliver Morin/AFP

A drone shot showing the last of the summer sun shining through the remains of Corfe Castle in Dorset. Credit: Photograph by Chris Gorman/Bigladder.
Market Closes for September 27^th, 2018

International Markets

Bonds

Currencies

Commodities

Market Commentary:
On this day in 1985, Philip Morris agreed to buy General Foods for $120 per share, or $5.75 billion, the largest takeover on record outside the oil industry. Many Philip Morris shareholders were angry that the tobacco company was diversifying into a slow-growing business like processed food.
Canada
By Tatiana Darie
     (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks gained, following U.S. peers higher, getting a boost from a rally in energy and technology shares. The loonie weakened for a second day as the U.S. dollar strengthened against major peers after the latest Federal Reserve rate hike.
     The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.2 percent, with energy stocks leading gains amid a rally in oil prices and hopes for a Canadian LNG project. Health stocks extended losses as pot shares fell on proposed regulations in Ontario to limit cannabis producers to one location.
                            Stocks  
* Cenovus Energy Inc. rose 9 percent after signing deals to transport about 100,000 barrels a day of heavy crude by rail to the U.S. Gulf Coast from Alberta as a pipeline bottleneck depresses Canadian oil prices.
* Painted Pony Energy gained for a fifth day, rose 6.3 percent, after a report said Shell Canada and its partners are set to announce a decision on a liquefied natural gas terminal in western Canada.
* Tourmaline Oil Corp. gained 8 percent after Tudor Pickering named it its preferred, long-term pick on the LNG Canada theme.
                            Commodities
* Western Canada Select crude oil traded at a $35.25 discount to WTI
* Gold fell about 1 percent to $1,187.50 an ounce
                             FX/Bonds
* The Canadian dollar fell 0.2 percent to C$1.3041 per U.S. dollar
* The Canada 10-year government bond yield gained 0.5 basis points to 2.415%
US
By Brendan Walsh and Vildana Hajric
     (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks climbed and the dollar jumped to a two-week high after the Federal Reserve cited a strong economy when it raised interest rates. Gains in the largest tech companies made the Nasdaq the best performing major gauge, with both Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. up about 2 percent. The likelihood of more Fed rate increases stretching into next year helped lift the greenback the most in a month. Argentina’s peso weakened a fourth day even after the country won a promise of extra cash from the
     International Monetary Fund. Ten-year Treasury yields held steady; the euro fell. Volume in the S&P 500 Index was about 9 percent below average as some traders turned their attention to a U.S. Senate panel hearing testimony from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and a woman who accuses him of sexual assault.
     U.S. stock traders brushed aside concerns that trade tensions could increase and accepted the outlook for higher borrowing costs a day after Fed officials signaled policy tightening was here to stay, even as President Donald Trump said he was “not happy” about Wednesday’s rate increase. He also struck a downbeat tone about trade talks with Canada, and accused China of trying to interfere in U.S. congressional elections in November.
     “The stock market’s telling me the trade thing is not that big of a deal,” said Jeffrey Saut, the chief investment strategist at Raymond James. “Trump always asks for the moon and then walks back his position and declares victory.”  Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 ended higher after declines in Asian shares. The euro fell with Italian bonds and equities before Italy’s coalition government agreed on a 2019 budget deficit. Crude climbed as U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said the nation’s strategic oil reserves won’t be tapped to expand global supplies.
These are the main moves in markets:
                            Stocks
* The S&P 500 Index rose 0.3 percent as of the close of trading in New York
* The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.3 percent.
* The MSCI All-Country World Index was little changed.
* Italy’s FTSE MIB Index sank 0.6 percent.
* The Nikkei 225 fell 1 percent, breaking an eight-day winning streak.
                            Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.5 percent to the highest since Sept. 11.
* The euro fell 0.8 percent to $1.1651.
* The pound fell 0.7 percent to $1.308.
* The Japanese yen declined 0.6 percent to 113.38 per dollar.
* The Turkish lira advanced 1.7 percent to the strongest in a month.
* The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index increased 0.2 percent.
                            Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.05 percent.
* Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.53 percent.
* Britain’s 10-year yield edged higher to 1.6 percent.
* Italy’s 10-year yield rose three basis points to 2.88 percent.
                            Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude advanced 0.9 percent to $72.20 a barrel, approaching the highest in almost four years.
* Copper dropped 1.8 percent to $2.7765 a pound.
* Gold declined 0.9 percent to $1,184.12 an ounce, the weakest since mid-August.
–With assistance from Adam Haigh, Andreea Papuc, Cormac Mullen, Christopher Anstey, Eddie van der Walt, Yakob Peterseil and Andrew Cinko.

Have a great night.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

It is certainly desirable to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.
                                                                                           -Plutarch, c.46-c.125

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